Chapter 36: El-Melloi II Is Assassinated
"Clatter!"
Olga Marie stood up abruptly, her expression shifting entirely.
The previous lazy, playful, and nonchalant demeanor vanished without a trace, replaced by a pressure so heavy it was almost tangible.
Something was churning deep within her pupils.
"Hey, kid."
Olga Marie's voice was very low.
"There are some things you don't need to understand too clearly."
Sigma looked at her, neither flinching nor showing fear. He simply met her gaze calmly, his cold eyes reflecting Olga Marie's current expression.
Sigma said: "Oh."
Olga Marie sat back down on the sofa.
"This topic ends here."
Dead silence filled the box.
Only the faint sound of Flat and Richard's duet drifted through the walls and the Bounded Field from the next room, the two of them roaring a classic rock song at the top of their lungs:
"♪~WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU~♪"
"♪~WE WILL WE WILL ROCK YOU~♪"
El-Melloi II's gaze moved back and forth between Sigma and Olga Marie, his mind racing.
Beast.
He seemed to have heard the term somewhere, but the records were too blurry and fragmented to recall at a moment's notice.
El-Melloi II looked at Olga Marie, his brow furrowing deeper.
He decided to find an opportunity to speak with Sigma alone later.
For now, El-Melloi II broke the silence.
"I understand. This topic ends here."
He stood up and straightened the hem of his suit.
"Thank you for your candor. Today's conversation has been quite enlightening."
"Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment. Gray, you stay here."
"Yes, Master," Gray nodded.
El-Melloi II walked to the window at the end of the corridor, pulled a cigarette case from his pocket, took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag.
The taste of nicotine rushed into his lungs, slightly alleviating his headache.
He leaned against the wall, looking out at the night through the window.
The neon lights of Snowfield City flickered in the distance; everything seemed as usual.
But El-Melloi II knew things were different.
From the moment Olga Marie declared war on the world, this city and this world had embarked on a path of no return.
And he, his student, the Clock Tower, the Mage's Association, and the various national governments... everyone had been dragged into this absurd farce.
"Truly..." El-Melloi II muttered to himself, exhaling a smoke ring, "it's a total disaster."
Meanwhile, news of Lord El-Melloi II's arrival in Snowfield City had already reached the highly-strung various factions.
To others, it might have just been a piece of information and nothing more.
After all, it was no secret that his disciple was participating in the Holy Grail War.
But Faldeus was different.
Ever since Olga Marie revealed the existence of the Mystery Side to the globe and issued that declaration of war, his heart had not known a moment of peace.
And now, he was told that Lord El-Melloi II and Olga Marie had successfully met and entered a closed space together to discuss heaven-knows-what. How could he possibly set his mind at ease?
Faldeus stood before the sink, hands braced on the cold ceramic surface, head bowed as he gasped for air.
The faucet was still running, and cold water splashed onto the backs of his hands and wrists, bringing a piercing chill.
He raised his head, looking at himself in the mirror.
Unease, anxiety, panic.
These things were wrapping around him, tightening further and further, making it hard to breathe.
"This won't do..." he murmured lowly, his fingers tightening unconsciously as his nails dug into the flesh of his palms, "I can't let this continue..."
There were too many variables.
Olga Marie was an unpredictable lunatic; her very existence was a massive variable.
She was so powerful that he was helpless; even his Servant, Assassin, had bluntly stated, "That is an enemy I cannot handle even if I stake everything."
And now, Lord El-Melloi II had joined the fray.
That man—though his talent for magecraft was mediocre and his actual combat ability was worrying—possessed a mind, a network, and an influence on the Mystery Side that...
Faldeus knew it all too well.
If El-Melloi II and Olga Marie joined forces, heaven knew what kind of trouble they would stir up.
He had to do something.
He had to eliminate the most unstable factor before they could act.
Faldeus stared at his distorted reflection in the mirror and took a deep breath, his voice raspy:
"Assassin."
The lights flickered.
The fluorescent tube at the top of the bathroom buzzed with the sound of a current, the light turning dim and bright as if the connection were faulty.
The reflection in the mirror began to change.
Faldeus's face melted and twisted, replaced by a pale skull mask. Within the eye sockets of the mask, two sparks of eerie blue soul-fire flickered quietly in the dim light.
A chilling voice echoed in the small space, coming from no clear direction:
[O my contractor]
[Thy wish is known to me]
Faldeus stared at the skull mask in the mirror.
"Help me kill someone."
[Whom]
"Lord El-Melloi II."
The soul-fire in the mirror leaped slightly.
[Art thou certain?]
"I'm certain," Faldeus nodded. "He is a variable, and a very dangerous one. Eliminating him will make the situation much clearer."
It wasn't that he hadn't tried to have Assassin eliminate Olga Marie; it was just that Assassin had rejected him outright, stating, "That is not one I can face as an enemy."
So, he could only settle for the next best thing: assassinating El-Melloi II.
"El-Melloi II's talent for magecraft is not outstanding, and his combat ability is even more fragile. Assassin, for you, eliminating him should not be difficult."
The skull mask in the mirror remained silent, the blue soul-fire leaping once more.
[I understand]
[However, O contractor]
[Thou must know, once this deed is done, there is no path back]
"I know," Faldeus closed his eyes. "I will not regret it."
From the moment he staked everything on this Holy Grail War, collaborated with those forces, and employed those forbidden methods, he had already stepped onto this path of no return.
Either win and win everything.
Or lose and fall into the abyss.
There was no middle option.
[If it is so...]
The skull mask in the mirror began to fade.
The blue soul-fire leaped one last time, the voice gradually receding:
[As thou wishest]
The lights returned to stability.
Faldeus was left alone in the bathroom with the sound of the running water.
He stared at his pale face in the mirror for a long time.
Then, he splashed his face violently several times with cold water.
Droplets dripped from his chin, creating dark water stains on the collar of his shirt.
He raised his head, squeezing out a distorted smile.
"So be it."
...
"Master?"
Gray's voice came from behind El-Melloi II.
El-Melloi II turned his head to see Gray walking out of the box, gently closing the door.
"Why did you come out?" El-Melloi II asked.
Gray walked to his side, her voice very soft. "I felt... it wasn't quite right for me to stay in there."
El-Melloi II nodded and took another drag of his cigarette. "How is the atmosphere inside?"
"Very quiet," Gray said. "Miss Olga Marie is playing on her phone, Miss Sajyou is struggling with how to speak, Miss Zealot is meditating, and Mr. Sigma is staring at the ceiling."
"...A harmonious scene indeed."
"You..."
Gray looked at him with concern.
El-Melloi II stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray on the windowsill and reached out to pat her head.
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine."
"Could you call Flat for me? I have a few things to say to him."
"Yes."
Gray nodded and turned back toward the neighboring box.
Lord El-Melloi II watched Gray's figure disappear through the door, a tender smile touching his lips; only this disciple of his could set his mind at ease.
However, in the next moment, he felt a sudden, inexplicable palpitation. He clutched his chest, only to feel a sensation of wetness.
This was...
El-Melloi II's body froze suddenly.
He looked down at his chest.
On the shirt over his chest, a dark red flower had bloomed at some unknown moment.
Blood surged from the center of the flower, spreading rapidly and soaking a large patch of fabric.
Wet, warm, and carrying a metallic scent like rust.
It was a puncture wound to the heart.
'When was it...'
El-Melloi II opened his mouth, and a sweet, metallic taste surged into his throat.
He coughed once, and blood-specked froth spilled from the corner of his mouth.
His vision began to rock, the lights blurred, and sounds grew distant.
Before his consciousness sank entirely into darkness, the last thing El-Melloi II saw was the horrified expression on Gray's face as she turned around, and her mouth opening as she cried out.
In the next moment, the whole world changed, becoming exceptionally quiet.
It seemed as if it were peeling away and twisting.