Crack...
Amber, standing rigidly behind the Archbishop, slightly shifted her eyes behind her glasses towards the direction of the sound.
Crimson wine slowly flowed from the shattered wine glass onto her pale hand, then dripped from her Soul-Steel hand onto the desk.
Yet, Otto Apocalypse, the owner of that hand, seemed completely oblivious, his eyes fixed intently on the large screen directly in front of him.
The screen was broadcasting the live stream being shown on televisions worldwide.
This was the first time she had seen the Archbishop like this.
Amber leaned down to clean the desk stained with red wine for Otto, thinking as she caught a glimpse of Otto's expression.
Otto, who had always seemed to handle everything with a relaxed smile, now wore a serious expression.
However, this expression didn't convey seriousness; instead, it made Amber feel a sense of dread.
Such an expression only inadvertently appeared on Master Otto's face when it concerned that person.
Her prototype... Kallen Kaslana.
Amber could understand the reason for Otto's current lapse in composure.
As an android created from Kallen's genes, and currently the person closest to Otto, Amber naturally understood what her Archbishop's long-standing wish was.
Although she had never questioned Otto's actions on matters outside of slacking off and gaming, it didn't mean she had no thoughts of her own.
She knew Otto's feelings for that person, and she knew the driving force and purpose behind his actions up to now. Naturally, she could understand what the content of the current broadcast meant to Otto.
Otto didn't react at all as Amber cleaned up the mess he had made in his lapse of composure.
Because he was staring intently at the screen, unwilling to miss a single word.
Even though there would be a recording later, allowing him to watch it as many times as he wanted, he still didn't want to miss a single word due to distraction.
Meanwhile, in other places, similar situations were also occurring.
After all, what Takatsuki said about Heroic Spirit was not much different from the sudden appearance of Honkai in an ordinary world; both were matters that could change the world's pattern.
To draw a comparison, it was like a game undergoing a massive version update; every player lamented the bold decisions of the developer, yet they had no choice but to play.
"No wonder the true form of the so-called Throne of Heroes has never been found for tens of thousands of years. Does it have the same ability as the End?"
In a hidden room at the bottom of the sea, a figure in pure black with a hood watched the screen with a single scarlet eye.
In fact, given his unique nature, he wouldn't normally need to receive information through such a primitive method.
But even a snake, rumored to be immortal, had things it feared.
After multiple failed attempts to breach the so-called Fire Seed website, he decisively abandoned that part of the Gray Serpent network to protect himself, and dared not connect to it again.
After all, although the other party hadn't shown any tendency to attack him before, who knew if they would suddenly decide to control the very foundation of his existence, the Gray Serpent network?
As a member of the Previous Era, and one of the auxiliary and executive personnel of the plan, he naturally knew about the Throne of Heroes that had briefly appeared in the Previous Era.
But that so-called Throne of Heroes was like a huge deception; the contracts signed seemed like mere waste paper, and in the tens of thousands of years that followed, there was no related information.
Although there were legends of the Throne of Heroes in mythology, he and several Flame-Chasers at the time had investigated, and those were merely myths imagined by humans of that era, with no real-world reference.
Now, when he had almost forgotten about it, he unexpectedly heard this term again. He had a feeling that the Heroic Spirit and Throne of Heroes mentioned in this broadcast were the same entities spoken of by the one who appeared fifty thousand years ago.
In that case...
"Do the Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era also have a chance to reappear?"
He was very familiar with the combat power of the Flame-Chasers.
Their Venerable, Kevin Kaslana, was one of them. Although the others might not be as powerful as Kevin, it was not difficult for them to defeat Herrschers other than the End.
Not to mention, the current civilization had not yet reached the state of the Previous Era, and there were still ample opportunities.
"If that's truly the case, then perhaps there's a real chance. Before welcoming the Venerable's return, let me see if this thing can replace the plan."
...
"Welt! Did you know about this all along?!"
Tesla grabbed Yang's collar and shook him repeatedly, demanding.
"Sort of, but I don't know much either."
Yang replied calmly, without getting angry.
"The records don't explain this in detail, only that Joyce didn't become a Heroic Spirit and that Bronya was to participate in the Holy Grail War."
"Bronya to participate?"
Bronya, standing beside him, pointed at herself with some confusion: "What is the Holy Grail War?"
"I'm not sure, it's just mentioned in the records. I think Takatsuki might be about to clarify it for us."
Welt said, looking at Takatsuki, who was wearing a mask on the screen.
Ultimately, his relationship with Takatsuki was not very close, and because Takatsuki felt he knew the future but didn't tell him part of it, he hadn't revealed anything to him.
But that was fine; as long as the future described in the records could be achieved, it didn't matter if he knew nothing. Some of his previous actions were merely things mentioned in the records to be done, and due to limited capacity, these records only stated what to do, not why to do it.
The four members of Anti-Entropy also refocused their attention on the screen.
At this point, Takatsuki had also briefly introduced the concept of Heroic Spirit.
Heroes of human history who left a profound mark on it, yet whose existence depended on people's legends.
Under normal circumstances, they were entities completely unable to interfere with the world, just like others in the world of the dead, completely separated from the real world.
"Therefore, I found an ancient ritual. The ritual borrows the name of a miraculous item from Christian legends, the Holy Grail—"
"This Holy Grail is not the one from legends, but an artificial miracle constructed through special methods. However, it is indeed a genuine miracle, because the Holy Grail possesses real great power. Within it contains vast and pure energy, with which it can distort causality, that is, achieve wishes. Becoming strong, becoming rich beyond compare, resurrecting the dead, reversing time—the Holy Grail can grant these wishes. However, its energy also has limits; the Holy Grail can only do what its energy allows. So, a wish like directly defeating Honkai cannot be completed by one Holy Grail. Let's not discuss that for now."
"Following the history of the Holy Grail being contended for, the final step of this Holy Grail's ritual is to contend for the Holy Grail, which is a war initiated to contend for the right to use the miracle. It can be called the Holy Grail War."
"Although it's called the Holy Grail War, there are only seven participants. Only seven people can participate in the Holy Grail War. They will obtain the right to participate. Others who haven't obtained the right, let alone lifting the Holy Grail in the end, don't even have the qualification to participate."
"Perhaps some are wondering why I suddenly jumped from Heroic Spirit to the Holy Grail. Here, I need to explain the qualifications for participating in the Holy Grail War, which is the summoning of Servants. Only those who successfully summon a Servant can participate in the Holy Grail War. And what is a Servant? It is the form that the Heroic Spirit I mentioned earlier takes when summoned by the power of the Holy Grail, projecting part of its power and personality into the world. We can also consider them as the Heroic Spirit itself."