Chapter 127 The double kill ends, and the Holy Grail falls?
Moonlight, like frost, poured down upon the broken walls and ruins of the church.
Arthur half-knelt before Chiron, his cold gaze almost palpable.
A Moonlight Drop had pierced through Chiron's chest, his limbs were firmly bound by black holes, and more than half of his skull had been blown away by a magic bullet.
Even after suffering such fatal heavy damage, Chiron still maintained his inorganic, stiff expression, only struggling in vain.
"No reason, only destruction… How deep is your malice towards the world?"
Chiron ignored Arthur's question, just like all the unknown entities he had encountered before—pure, yet defiled.
Seeing this, a cold, sharp smile slowly formed on Arthur's lips, and the crimson magic bullet in his fingertips solidified even further.
"Don't worry, I will find your true bodies, and then—completely eradicate them!"
Bang!
The magic bullet plunged into the skull, and the highly compressed energy exploded, scattering bone and blood!
Chiron's life completely ceased. The Servant, who should have dissipated into magical particles, was now crumbling into ashes.
Just then, dust exploded, and Mordred, holding her royal sword, rushed out.
Her silver armor was covered in cracks, and a trace of blood stained the corner of her mouth, which only added a few points of untamed wildness to her.
"Done! Are you alright, Master?"
Arthur casually raised his hand, his tone relaxed: "Oh, I'm done here too. Good luck."
Mordred casually wiped away the bloodstain from her mouth, raised an eyebrow at the crumbling Chiron, her expression subtle.
"Good luck?"
As an opponent she had briefly clashed with, she knew very well how terrifying his archery was.
If it weren't for Arthur's powerful magical supply, which forcefully bridged the performance gap, she would probably have had to fight for a long time to cut off his head.
Thinking about it carefully, the Master was also responsible for intercepting an Archer last time.
Having fallen into the hands of a human Magus twice in a row, it seemed that the Black Faction's Archer was indeed not good at close combat.
Arthur stood up, and a surging torrent of magic power poured into Mordred's body. The cracks on her armor mended at a visible speed.
"Have you confirmed the death of the Black Faction's Berserker?"
Mordred, her injuries healed, shook her arms. Remembering what she had just experienced, she couldn't help but grimace.
"That guy self-destructed after turning into a black monster. The power was considerable, it should be a Noble Phantasm that results in mutual destruction with the enemy."
Arthur raised a hand to lightly tap his chin, his eyes slightly darkening.
"Self-destruction, huh… That certainly fits the unknown entity's style of action."
"You've worked hard, Mordred. Next, we wait for tomorrow's general offensive."
Mordred looked down at her brand new silver armor, then suddenly thought of something and turned her head to look in the direction of Sighisoara.
"Master, now that the Black Faction only has three Servants left, shouldn't we be more wary of that priest in tomorrow's decisive battle?"
Hearing this suggestion, Arthur pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly.
"So far, we have only seen five of the Red Faction's Servants. The Caster has never shown his face."
"Caster is a class where the more complex the preparation process, the greater its effect. I can't help but suspect that the priest is preparing a decisive trump card."
Due to her past experiences, Mordred also had no good feelings for Magus, and she agreed with a look of approval.
"Most Magus are insidious fellows who hide their true intentions. It's good that Master is aware."
Arthur nodded with a light smile, then turned to look at the ruins on the left.
Fiore, who had fallen into a coma due to the Servant's backlash, let out a low moan, her eyelashes trembling, and finally broke free from the darkness.
"Awake? As expected of the next head of Yggdmillennia, her magical aptitude is extraordinary."
Fiore, with her consciousness muddled, couldn't hear what he was saying. She instinctively tried to mobilize her magic power, but found her body empty and her magic circuits almost collapsing.
Arthur slowly walked to her, looking down at the frail girl who couldn't even get up, his tone flat.
"You'd best not move around. The unknown entity won't show any mercy. Your magic circuits have been mostly devoured."
Upon hearing this bad news, Fiore's first thought was not of herself, but of her younger brother, whose aptitude was far inferior to hers.
When she looked around and saw the cold, stiff figure of Caules not far away, her pupils suddenly constricted.
Arthur followed her gaze and shrugged.
"The unknown entity's rate of erosion on him was much faster than on you, so…"
Fiore froze in place, two lines of clear tears silently falling. She murmured distractedly.
"You won… Kill me."
Arthur's eyebrow slightly raised: "I say, have you perhaps misunderstood something?"
He reached out and pinched Fiore's chin, forcing her heartbroken face to lift, and pointed at Chiron, who was still turning to ash.
"It was his own Servant who killed your brother. What does that have to do with me?"
"Do you think you're a victim? I'm sorry, everything stems from the greed of your Yggdmillennia. It was you who actively provoked the unknown entity."
Fiore's pupils refocused: "unknown entity?"
She tremblingly raised her hand, gripping Arthur's sleeve tightly, her voice filled with an unresolvable hatred.
"What is that? Please, tell me!"
Seeing the flame rekindle in her eyes, the curve of Arthur's lips deepened a few points.
"As an enemy, I can only suggest you investigate your own magic workshop. The magic power supplied from there to the Black Faction's Servants has a big problem."
After speaking, Arthur shook off Fiore's hand and gestured to Mordred to prepare to leave.
But they hadn't walked a few steps before the clang of steel boots on the ground approached from a distance.
The wind howled, and Jeanne, clad in silver chainmail and holding a holy flag, descended from the sky. Her gaze immediately fell upon the devastated square.
"This…"
Ruler's gaze instantly locked onto Arthur and his Servant, who were in perfect condition, and she questioned in a deep voice.
"Red Faction's Saber team, please tell me what happened here?"
Arthur glanced at this Ruler, who seemed to always be out of the loop. A flash of insight crossed his mind, and he responded indifferently.
"We set a trap here to intercept the Black Faction's Assassin, and then we were attacked by the Black Faction's Archer and Berserker."
"The battle has just ended. May I ask, Ruler, have we violated any rules?"
"…No, you haven't."
Jeanne looked around at the mess, her brows tightly furrowed.
"However, the Holy Grail War must be conducted in secrecy. Please avoid fighting within towns in the future."
With that, the Ruler, who only existed to uphold the rules, turned and left.
Arthur's eyes narrowed slightly, gazing at her retreating figure, his perception abilities expanding with unprecedented focus.
A moment later, he turned his head and asked Mordred in an extremely low tone.
"From the end of the battle until now, can you still feel the magic power provided by the greater grail?"
"Huh? The greater grail?"
Mordred was stunned, then quickly concentrated to sense her body, and her expression immediately changed dramatically.
"The magic source is cut off!? Master, what exactly is this…?"
Previously, because the magic power supplied by Arthur was too surging, she hadn't noticed that the greater grail's supply had been interrupted.
Even when her post-battle recovery slowed, she only attributed it to the power of the Black Faction's Berserker's Noble Phantasm.
She hadn't expected it was because she had lost the additional support from the greater grail.
Just as Mordred was filled with doubt, Arthur had already connected all the clues in his mind, and a terrifying truth gradually became clear.
The Yggdmillennia clan used artificial life forms as magic batteries, and the Black Faction's Servants who received this magic power were, without exception, subjected to erosion.
So, assuming—
An artificial life form broke free from its restraints and entered the greater grail.
Would that entity then erode the vast source of magic power that had accumulated for decades?
At the same time, in the deepest part of Millennia Castle.
On the pale, massive altar, the core of the Holy Grail, storing terrifying magic power, was undergoing a slow and bizarre quickening.
Within it, the magic circuits, like precise gears, were the place that governed the system itself.
At this moment, the earth vein magic power, crisscrossing and flowing endlessly here, was violently reversing due to the intrusion of an uninvited guest.
Not long after, an ominous, layered shadow mist rose from the castle shrouded in night, and a piercing shriek flashed and vanished!
Malice had already surfaced!