Chapter 502: Mercenary Tao's New Master
Kaito Shirogane frowned and descended from the air. He attempted to track Void Shiki, but after just a few corners, that woman bizarrely disappeared.
Because in Fuyuki City, after being restricted by the [Class], Kaito Shirogane's [Mantra] ability could not be deployed, so for a while, there was no way to continue tracking.
However, he was thus certain that the holder of the [Mystic Eyes of Death Perception] who appeared in Fuyuki City was indeed Void Shiki.
And the scene the other party showed him when he attacked was highly likely the reason Void Shiki appeared in Fuyuki City.
White Mask prepared to initiate the [Human Instrumentality Project] in Fuyuki City to directly reach the Root, but this kind of plan could not be kept completely secret in this world, and the Counter Force reacted.
Void Shiki thus appeared.
And judging from the fact that she didn't fight him and even called him a "wicked savior," from the Counter Force's perspective, he was actually judged as a party that could be cooperated with.
Or rather, even his [Despairing Salvation] ability from [Savior of Evil Men] was also taken into consideration by the Counter Force.
If all means failed, the Human Instrumentality Project was successfully implemented, and humanity fell into a situation akin to extinction, then at that time, his Despairing Savior mode would probably be another "hero" assigned by the Counter Force.
Kaito Shirogane gained a new understanding of the Type-Moon world's Counter Force. This kind of precise calculation and proper arrangement indeed seemed like it was conducted from the [Cause] of everything—the [Swirl of the Root].
[Attention, Assassin·EX051, insufficient magical energy. Obtained negative effect: Weakness]
Kaito Shirogane was about to leave when a new prompt appeared before his eyes. He almost immediately felt his body become much heavier.
This heaviness of the body was different from turning on a high-tier gravity environment in the training room; instead, it was like a dual exhaustion of mind and body.
Exhaustion was something that very rarely appeared on Kaito Shirogane. Right now, he felt quite unaccustomed to it.
It was as if he had been passively shackled. He tried it out; generating force and moving would both be affected.
Tsk, since you've already arranged for me to be a "savior candidate," even if I'm a wicked savior, you shouldn't treat me like this...
Kaito Shirogane criticized inwardly, but no panic appeared.
Since his first attempt to kill the Master failed immediately after entering, he had already planned to let the Master die at an appropriate time in subsequent battles.
A Master who couldn't provide magical energy and couldn't provide strategic intelligence support was completely unnecessary to Kaito Shirogane. Not to mention, that guy's personality was quite unstable; holding Command Spells that could control his authority was really not a very wonderful thing.
Therefore, when Gilgamesh's three swords fell, Kaito Shirogane didn't block with full force. Instead, he took advantage of the situation and let the "King of Heroes" kill his Master, successfully breaking free from the restrictions.
He felt the anomaly of his body, an expression of thought on his face. With a leap, his figure landed on a nearby treetop. Having lost the convenient Mantra, he could only find people through other means.
[Presence Concealment]!
In his ability corrections as Assassin, this ability to conceal his presence had the highest rank. It was probably considered compensation for his inability to use Mantra.
Kaito Shirogane seemed to disappear from this world in an instant.
He was conspicuously leaping on the treetops, but no one could detect him.
A Servant who had lost their Master during the Holy Grail War was both precious combat power and undoubtedly the most useful sacrificial pawn.
Kaito Shirogane had to use his identity as an [Assassin] to quickly find himself a new Master in order to continue participating in the Holy Grail War and complete the main mission.
[Main Mission·Flower of Evil—Please survive until the end of the Holy Grail War as the Assassin Class]
Put another way, this main mission was to have Kaito Shirogane win the Holy Grail War as an Assassin.
Because basically, those Masters and Servants participating in the Holy Grail War to "fulfill their wishes" would all compete with the mindset of killing all other Servants.
Kaito Shirogane wasn't entirely without gains this night. At least he confirmed that the current timeline was probably during the Fifth Holy Grail War, and the Holy Grail War should have just begun not long ago.
Saber·Artoria had already been summoned.
Moreover, it could be known at this time that the first difference from the original work was that the Assassin Class had changed because of his appearance. Then, theoretically, Matou Zouken, who originally summoned Assassin [Hassan of the Cursed Arm] in this Holy Grail War, had lost the chance to summon an Assassin-class Heroic Spirit.
While searching for the location of the Matou household, Kaito Shirogane organized the current intelligence.
The Fifth Holy Grail War was rather special. Depending on the direction, three different timelines were generated in the original work.
But the basic Heroic Spirits and Masters were fixed. Kaito Shirogane was currently preparing to throw himself under Matou Zouken, who had already twisted everything for longevity.
The other party was one of the members who created the Holy Grail War, and his personality had now become despicable. Kaito Shirogane's [Savior of Evil Men] would probably have a quite good effect on him.
At the same time, Matou Zouken could also provide Kaito Shirogane with some support.
Tap tap tap...
The panicked footsteps were somewhat urgent. Kaito Shirogane's figure flashed, rapidly crossing thousands of meters over treetops and rooftops like a ninja.
He soon saw a petite girl running around in a panic.
"Berserker?!"
The girl had clear Command Spells on the back of her hand, but the light of the Command Spells lit up and then disappeared.
This is...
Kaito Shirogane narrowed his eyes, standing on a rooftop. He recognized this person as exactly a Master in the Fifth Holy Grail War, and also the living [Lesser Grail]—Illyasviel von Einzbern.
As mentioned before, the Einzbern, Tohsaka, and Matou families were not trying to fulfill wishes through some Holy Grail War. That was just an excuse. They each had their own purposes, but without exception, they all wanted to use the Holy Grail War to reach the Root.
The method was precisely to temporarily store the deceased Heroic Spirits in the [Lesser Grail], and then, as the Heroic Spirits returned to the Throne of Heroes, punch a hole in time and space. They would use the Greater Grail's magical energy to fix that hole, thereby entering the Root.
This white-haired girl was precisely the living Lesser Grail meant to contain the deceased Heroic Spirits.
Whoosh.
A figure went from blurry to solid, appearing less than fifty meters behind Illya.
This was a man wearing black night-stalker clothing. He held a clear tachi with one hand, the blade pointing down. As he walked all the way, the tip of the sword didn't touch the ground, but some kind of sharp power cut clear marks on the ground.
"Let me state beforehand, I'm different from those guys. I'm not a guy who likes killing children, but..."
This person said words that Illya completely couldn't understand, but the sword had already been raised. Then, with a swing of the sword, a bright white sword light flew out instantly.
Flying Slash. A Reincarnator with Swordmaster-level swordsmanship specialization.
Kaito Shirogane's eyes lit up. Illya, however, fled backward in panic to dodge.
Buzz!
Another figure appeared on a streetlight. This person wore a white robe, eyelids lowered, and spoke indifferently:
"Hurry up. No one can be sure how long that item will be effective against Heracles."
"Kill her, and the plot will highly likely head towards the HF route. Only that route is the plotline closest to opening the Root."
"The difficulty of the world this time is somewhat abnormal. There's a high probability some reckless Reincarnators have entered. Let's not cause extraneous problems."
The tachi at the man's waist let out a soft sword hum.
The man in night-stalker clothing remained silent and stopped playing around. His figure appeared behind Illya like a phantom, and a sword fell.
Illya's pupils shrank. Only then did she realize the enemy had already arrived behind her. Her silver-white hair instantly turned into sharp swords and familiars.
But through previous battles, she was already very clear that the enemy was too fast, and her wire-frame magecraft was hard to counter them.
The silver-white sword light instantly cut open the newly formed familiar, slashing towards the girl's neck without a moment's pause.
But in the next moment, a hand seemed to appear out of thin air.
Clang!
The clear tachi fell into that hand, emitting the sound of clashing metal.
In Illya's pupils, a figure appeared in front of her, grabbing that longsword she found hard to counter with just his bare hands.
And that person met her eyes, a smile of incomparable greed revealing on the corners of his mouth.
[Phantom Dragon] had his longsword pinched. He didn't try to pull it out like other swordsmen would. He knew very well that someone confident enough to pinch his sword barehanded was absolutely a guy extremely confident in his strength.
In the next moment, he focused his mind. Pitch-black demonic aura instantly spewed from his hand. In just an instant, it was like a massive pitch-black python, completely covering the sword blade.
Kaito Shirogane felt slightly surprised and released his hand. At the same time, he lifted the collar of the living Lesser Grail with one hand and floated backward for seven or eight meters.
"To actually have this kind of strength?"
The strength of these two somewhat exceeded Kaito Shirogane's expectations. He re-evaluated the difficulty of this mission.
Originally, because of his previous encounter with that Reincarnator who summoned a Guardian Spirit, he thought the strength of the Reincarnators who entered was only at that level. He didn't expect this guy in front of him to not only have a swordsmanship specialization level exceeding Lv7 but also possess a special bloodline and energy.
That kind of demonic aura was purer than the one Li Qingzi strengthened, and seemed more adept at energy release.
Phantom Dragon held the magic sword entwined with black demonic aura, slowly bending his figure. He sheathed the sword, his eyes becoming extremely dangerous.
Mercenary Tao...
Whoosh.
Flickering like a phantom, the other person also instantly arrived beside Phantom Dragon. He reached out and pressed his waist.
"Mercenary Tao, it's you?!"
These two didn't flee directly. Very obviously, in their own judgment, they didn't believe Mercenary Tao possessed strength that overwhelmingly surpassed the two of them.
Kaito Shirogane paid no attention to the two of them. He just put Illya down and said:
"Assassin·Mercenary Tao, currently lacks a Master. If it's Miss Illya, you should have enough magical energy to command a new Servant, right..."
Kaito Shirogane didn't expect to have an unexpected pleasant surprise on his way to find Matou Zouken. Illya, this living Lesser Grail, purely in terms of aptitude as a magus, had almost no one who could surpass her in the Fifth Holy Grail War.
Because she had undergone multiple modifications while still a fetus in her mother's womb, her whole body was covered in Magic Circuits, possessing magical energy far exceeding a normal magus. Furthermore, her entire body was engraved with Command Spells. Standing on the land of Fuyuki, she could even resonate with the Greater Grail from afar, possessing almost infinite magical energy.
As a Master, she was far more suitable than that Matou Zouken who played with crest worms.
Moreover... she was the Lesser Grail, a key factor that could influence the subsequent direction of the Holy Grail War.
[Your actions have gained Illya's appreciation. Your reputation with Illya has increased. Current: Friendly (14/100)]
Friendly...
Kaito Shirogane looked at the pure-looking silver-haired girl in front of him, feeling neither joy nor sorrow. Because of the passive effect of [Savior of Evil Men], he theoretically could obtain innate reputation with both good and evil people on the Order side. But with Illya, his reputation started accumulating from the base level.
Which meant that in the Space's judgment, Illya did not belong to the Order side...
(End of Chapter)
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