Eichi and Artoria were walking through the dilapidated, decaying Miyagi.
Lifeless land, gray-white coral, and clusters of Cursed Energy floating in the air, resembling fish.
These scenes all spoke of Miyagi's decay.
They stepped onto gray-white stairs that seemed like they would crumble with a slight touch.
Crack.
It really did crumble.
Eichi bent down and picked up a bead embedded in the broken step on the ground.
"It looks a bit like a pearl."
He casually tossed the pearl away.
The two continued cautiously to the main gate of the Miyagi.
Creak.
Bang.
As Eichi pushed with both hands.
The gate, like rotten wood, let out a creaking sound under the strain, then collapsed with a crash.
Eichi looked at the shattered gate, speechless.
The moment the gate fell, Eichi even felt the shock of being'scammed' from his previous life.
In novels, aren't all these palaces and ruins full of historical charm, but they become shiny and new with a wipe? What's going on with this Miyagi?
To be so dilapidated from disrepair, it's truly something else.
"Be careful later. Don't let this palace collapse and bury us both."
"Mm, I understand."
Artoria nodded solemnly.
At the same time, she was planning in her mind how much power she would need to use in a battle later to ensure the palace wouldn't collapse.
The two entered the palace, greeted by two rows of tall pillars and giant pink seashells.
Continuing forward, passing through the two rows of seashells, Eichi and Artoria arrived at what seemed like the deep part of the main hall.
Here, the two finally encountered a Cursed Spirit.
Its lower body was like a snake's tail, with fins growing at its waist, spine, and elbows.
Its skin was very white, but not the tender white of a human, rather the white of a fish's belly, giving a greasy sensation.
Its eyes were like human eyes yet somewhat like fish eyes, and the hair on its head resembled seaweed.
Eichi, who had initially thought he had encountered a mermaid, now somewhat regretted observing this Cursed Spirit so closely.
He seemed to recall something.
Eichi closed his eyes and opened them again.
The scenery in the main hall changed.
Vermilion coiled Dragon pillars.
Large, girlish-pink seashells, inside which were beds resembling clam meat, and a giant pearl.
The originally dirty floor also transformed into a red carpet.
Sparkling coral, unnamed sea flowers, and luminous pearls on the ceiling of the main hall—everything was so dreamily beautiful.
Finally, Eichi's gaze fell upon the Dragon throne in the main hall.
It was an incomparably beautiful goddess, her tail like a Dragon's tail.
Her exquisite face, paired with the small and delicate Dragon horns on her head, could fulfill all your fantasies of a Dragon maiden.
Eichi closed his eyes again, and upon opening them, everything before him reverted to the dilapidated palace.
The graceful and beautiful goddess also transformed into an ugly Cursed Spirit resembling a Nure-onna.
The Cursed Spirit on the Dragon throne slowly glided towards the two.
Seeing this, Eichi and Artoria instantly assumed combat stances.
The Cursed Spirit tilted its head, seemingly not understanding why Eichi and the other had such great hostility towards it.
The Cursed Spirit continued to twist its watery snake-like waist, moving towards the two.
"Ria."
"Mm."
As their voices fell, Artoria was the first to attack with her sword.
The Cursed Spirit grew enraged, emitting a hoarse roar from its throat.
Its sharp claws, like five keen daggers, lunged towards Artoria.
Clink.
Artoria blocked the Cursed Spirit's attack with her Holy Sword, then sidestepped to deflect the Cursed Spirit's body.
She then left a huge wound on the Cursed Spirit with a single sword strike.
The Cursed Spirit opened its fanged mouth and bit down towards Artoria.
Artoria back-jumped, escaping the Cursed Spirit's attack range.
Just as Artoria was preparing to attack again, the Cursed Spirit twisted agilely, lashing its snake tail towards Artoria.
Hiss, hiss, hiss.
The snake scales continuously scraped against the Holy Sword in Artoria's hand.
As the attacker, Artoria's Holy Sword remained completely unharmed.
Instead, large areas of scales on the Cursed Spirit's snake tail were scraped off.
If Artoria's Holy Sword were used to scale fish for Heroic Spirit Emiya, it would definitely be effective.
This thought suddenly popped into Eichi's mind.
Then Eichi continued to observe the scene in the main hall.
This Cursed Spirit was not very strong.
It was just one of the more top-tier Grade 1 Cursed Spirits.
If he wasn't afraid of using too much force and demolishing this palace, the battle would probably have ended in a few rounds.
After wandering around the palace for a few circles, Eichi found no useful clues.
Eichi pulled out his phone, intending to check how long he had been inside.
14:07.
Eichi frowned.
"What's wrong, Eichi?"
Artoria, who had defeated the Cursed Spirit, walked up from behind Eichi.
"The time is wrong."
Eichi turned his phone towards Artoria.
"Indeed, it's wrong. 14:07 should be the time we entered here, and now..."
Artoria fell into contemplation.
"It should be at least 16:00 now."
After entering here, the sense of time had been somewhat chaotic.
However, Artoria still made a judgment based on her rich experience.
"So, the phone's timer stopped after we entered here?"
Eichi rubbed his chin, falling into thought.
"This area is uninhabited, right?"
"Mm, this island isn't big. Only in the center do some fishermen temporarily stay when fishing."
Facing Eichi's question, Artoria gave an affirmative answer.
"Ria, use your Noble Phantasm."
Since that was the case, Eichi had no intention of procrastinating.
Isn't there a saying, if you can't solve the problem, solve the person who caused the problem?
Since the problem lay with this Miyagi, wouldn't it be simpler to just use a Noble Phantasm to completely destroy this palace?
"I understand."
Artoria nodded.
After leaving the palace, the two arrived at the entrance.
They planned to evacuate immediately after Miyagi was destroyed.
"The entrance, it's gone?"
Eichi strangely touched the wall in front of him, then slammed his Cursed Energy-infused fist heavily against the wall.
Bang.
There was no flying earth and stone, nor did the wall crack.
There was only a ripple on the wall, like on a water surface.
"This feeling, is it a Barrier?"
Artoria recognized what this was immediately.
There were many Barriers in the High School, and Eichi and Medea often studied Barriers together.
Through osmosis, Artoria also gained a deep understanding of Barriers.
"Mm, it seems the opponent really intends to trap us here until we die."
Eichi formed hand seals, and the figure of Qiongqi appeared behind the two.
"Let's begin."
Eichi looked towards Artoria.
"Mm."
Artoria held her Holy Sword upright in front of her with both hands.
Whoosh.
The Wind Barrier dissipated from the Holy Sword, and specks of light began to gather on the blade.
The light gradually converged into a dazzling beam.
Artoria raised her Holy Sword high, then swung it down towards the Miyagi.
"Excalibur!"
A destructive beam of light shot forth, and Miyagi was reduced to ashes in this single strike.
Qiongqi was the first to flap its wings and fly above the two, with strong winds swirling around it, ready to shatter any falling rocks.
However, what surprised Eichi was that not many rocks fell on their heads.
Instead, a strange wail echoed in Eichi's ears.
After flying into the sky on Qiongqi, Eichi finally confirmed the true identity of the Cursed Spirit.
Note:
Hello everyone!
First of all, I want to send my warmest wishes to you and your families. May your Lunar New Year be filled with warmth, reunion, and joy. I hope you all stay healthy and have a wonderful year ahead!
I have a small announcement: I will be taking a Lunar New Year holiday starting on February 15th, 2026, and will return on February 23rd, 2026. During this time, I want to rest, spend time with my family, and enjoy the traditional New Year atmosphere.
Don't worry! During this break, I will prepare new chapters so I can post them regularly when I return. So please be patient and wait, the upcoming story will be even better!
Thank you so much for your support. Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!
----------------------------------
I've already posted 40 new chapters on Patreon!
If you like the story and want to reaad more, please visit my patreon. Every support is very meaningful!
[patreon.com/Kazenova223]
Thank you very much!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"