—Swoosh!!
In the blink of an eye.
The cold axe blade, carrying terrifying force, swung down toward Roy without warning, slicing through the air with a piercing sound.
The moment Roy's words landed, the old gravekeeper acted. Gripping his massive single-handed axe, he aimed for the magus who knew too many secrets, intending to disable him first, then interrogate how he knew so much.
"Hm…"
But the young man before him seemed prepared. Facing the giant axe blade swinging down, Roy's lips curved into a slight smile, his expression devoid of panic. He calmly observed the sudden attack, and just before the axe reached him, he swiftly flicked open the thermos at his waist.
"—Fervor mei sanguis (Boil, my blood)."
The next moment.
A short, familiar incantation left his lips calmly. Under the old gravekeeper's stunned gaze, a silver light shot from the thermos like lightning, streaking through the dark night sky, reaching the edge of his vision.
"What?!"
The sudden turn shocked the old gravekeeper, his eyes widening. Then he heard—
—Pfft!!
The sound of a sharp object piercing flesh, followed by "drip, drip…" as blood fell steadily.
Thud!
The intense pain from his right arm, pierced by the Moonlit Essence, forced the axe to slip from his grasp and fall to the ground. The old gravekeeper, mid-leap for the assault, halted his attack, clutching his pierced arm while warily eyeing the young magus who had anticipated his move and countered sharply.
"Ugh… you predicted it and prepared?" he asked.
"Something like that. If you really meant to escort me out, you wouldn't have sent Gray away, would you?"
Roy nodded, calmly sharing his view: "You just didn't want Gray to see something gruesome, so you sent her off, right? Like, say, chopping off my limbs?"
"You didn't aim to kill because that axe wasn't for my head but my arm. Otherwise, the Moonlit Essence's autonomous counter wouldn't have just pierced your arm—it might've been your chest, or even your heart. My Mystic Code has crisis detection and self-identification functions. So, in a way, your actions saved your own life, old man."
"You…"
Hearing Roy's unhurried, almost leisurely explanation, the old gravekeeper's eyes narrowed beneath his robe, his stern expression breaking.
He realized he'd underestimated this young man. He'd thought him like the reckless magi before, but this counter, awareness, and eerie Mystic Code had cost him dearly. He'd used multiple reinforcement spells for the ambush, yet he was the one worse off.
"Hmph."
With a cold grunt, he tore a strip of cloth from his robe to bind the bleeding wound from the Moonlit Essence, then switched hands to pick up the fallen axe. He glared at Roy and the silver Moonlit Essence in the thermos, coiled like a venomous snake, ready to strike, his eyes full of caution.
"You're no ordinary magus… Who are you? What's your purpose here? What do you know?!"
"Finally ready to listen, old man?"
"My purpose? That's a tough one to answer, but no need for complex explanations. Just know I mean no harm. I'm here to find one—well, maybe three people—and an item. As for what I know… that's even harder to answer."
"Because I know all your secrets."
Roy spoke casually, unfazed even as several crows suddenly attacked from behind.
The next moment, the Moonlit Essence shot out like lightning again, downing the black birds mid-air. The old man seized the moment to launch a new attack, but this time, it wasn't physical.
As magical energy flowed, blue circuit lines glowed faintly under his black robe, a unique magical presence emerging.
The axe was a feint to mislead Roy into expecting another melee attack, while the crow familiars distracted him, preventing the silver liquid Mystic Code from interrupting his spell. His combat strategy was meticulous.
As descendants of gravekeepers protecting this land for a millennium under the witch's command, they were far from simple, or they couldn't have thrived on this mana-rich leyline for so long.
The next moment, as the old gravekeeper performed a strange ritual akin to activating magecraft, the cemetery ground trembled violently. Countless blue flames rose from ancient tombstones, and several bounded fields surged, encircling Roy and the old man.
"…Interesting. As expected, over fifteen hundred years, this intricate cemetery and land have fused with the leyline, forming a massive magical array. What a masterful feat."
"This technique is a hundred times more advanced than modern magical arrays. Morgan le Fay taught you this? It could only be so. But I can tell—you only have partial control, not mastery, right?"
Roy faced the tense old gravekeeper, who'd revealed a trump card, yet his expression remained unfazed, his tone leisurely.
"…"
The old man continued manipulating the bounded field, ignoring his words.
"So… you plan to kill me with this?"
"…No, I won't kill you. You know too many secrets. I must uncover the truth, magus."
Under immense pressure, the old gravekeeper chose to strike first, using the leyline's stored mana to restrain Roy.
It went smoothly.
As a divine-age witch's workshop, designed over fifteen hundred years, its souls and leyline mana surpassed even Fuyuki's Greater Grail. Restraining a magus was effortless.
This was why the gravekeepers endured, why even Clock Tower Lords hesitated to provoke them. On this land, opposing them meant facing all its dead souls and the entire leyline. Even Lords couldn't match such power.
Yet…
Despite the blue ghost flames and the bounded field cage surrounding him, Roy's expression barely changed.
Though the old gravekeeper saw him trapped, he felt no relief, unease gnawing at him, as if something was about to happen.
"Neat trick, but sadly, you can't wield its full power—you're not Morgan."
"What do you mean?"
"Sorry, old man. Trespassing uninvited was rude, but I mean no harm. I didn't expect a simple talk would scare you this much."
Roy spoke calmly, ignoring the old man's darkening gaze.
"Hmph! Sly magus, you didn't come by chance. You know Gray's existence and the gravekeepers' fate. You think I'll believe you?"
The old gravekeeper scoffed, refusing to trust Roy. He was convinced Roy hid ulterior motives for infiltrating.
As the new generation guarding this land, he wouldn't let an outsider disturb its peace.
"…As expected, no good."
Seeing this, Roy shook his head with a sigh.
He turned, studying the bounded field and the altered land, then acted under the old man's stunned gaze.
This time, he didn't use the Moonlit Essence but his true means.
With a flick of his hand, a golden chalice appeared steadily in his palm. The moment it emerged, vast magical energy enveloped the area, intensifying the flickering ghost flames.
"What's… that?!"
The old gravekeeper stared at the Holy Grail in Roy's hand, shocked.
It was the Grail's core, preserved after Fuyuki's Holy Grail War, though its wish had drained most of its mana. Seeing the old man tap the leyline's mana, Roy had a bold idea. His family's leyline was tied up sustaining an angel, unusable. He'd been seeking a mana source to recharge, and this place—steeped in fifteen hundred years of leyline mystery—was perfect.
Though lacking Servant souls as Grail offerings, the land's dead souls and accumulated mana were comparable. An ideal recharging spot, weakening Morgan while powering his Grail. All he needed was to insert it into the leyline.
"You… you can't mean—wait!!"
Roy's audacious move startled the old gravekeeper, who tried to stop him, but Roy raised a blazing red magical array at his feet, ignoring the protests, and gently placed the Grail upon it.
Buzz!!
With an eerie hum, as the Grail connected to the leyline, the mana-starved Greater Grail, like a parched traveler in a desert, greedily siphoned the leyline's energy.
The stable bounded field and land trembled violently, risen souls shrieking in agony, their piercing wails prompting the old gravekeeper to halt Roy's vile act.
"Stop!!"
The second massive mana drain, beyond the workshop's, shook the hill. Realizing the leyline's mana was being siphoned and the souls' pained cries, the old man hurriedly dispelled his magecraft to restore calm, but—
Too late.
With a 'Bang!!', the bounded field, weakened by the drain, became fragile. Roy seized the moment, raising his hand adorned with Solomon's Ring, and struck without hesitation.
Angelic protection, runes, Avalon's blessing, and Solomon's Ring's amplification—
Under multiple buffs, the crumbling bounded field shattered like glass under Roy's fist, magical fragments flying outward, startling the old gravekeeper ahead.
His sudden action and the unimaginable turn, with fragments too fast and numerous, overwhelmed the old man. Unable to dodge, blood soon flowed from much of his body.
A cold sensation coiled up his ankle, emitting an icy aura, chilling his heart. Looking down, he saw the Moonlit Essence, transformed into a venomous snake, slithering from the ground to bind his ankle. Any reckless move, and it would bite his legs off.
Roy, holding the Grail, approached, several ruby projectiles turning into searing magical bullets, knocking the old man's weapon away again.
The victor was clear.
"…"
Facing the snake at his feet and the approaching mysterious youth, the old gravekeeper raised his hands helplessly, signaling surrender.
Roy merely smiled.
"Relax, old man. I sensed it—the leyline and souls here are too deeply bound. Forcing mana extraction would damage and harm them, so I won't continue."
Looking at the tense old man, he spoke slowly: "Now, as the victor, can I ask you to sit and talk properly, Mr. Gravekeeper? Maybe we don't need to fight at all."
"…Do I have a choice?"
"You tell me."
Roy smiled, the meaning in his eyes clear.
"…"
…
In the dark night, on the cemetery's central grass, two figures sat.
"So… that's roughly the situation."
"I'm here to find my friend who might be, uh… excavating—cough, I mean, archaeologically exploring."
"So… you two bastards are here to rob graves?!"
Hearing Roy's explanation, the old gravekeeper's brows knitted tightly. Though restrained, his grim gaze never left Roy.
Admitting to "archaeological excavation" in a gravekeeper's village was tantamount to provocation, akin to seeking death. If not for his inferior skill, unable to beat Roy, he'd teach him and his so-called friend to respect the dead.
Worse, Roy's friend worried him more. He hadn't noticed anyone entering the village and didn't know where they hid.
His oversight.
He hadn't detected how they bypassed the village's bounded field.
The thought of a magus possibly digging beneath his feet fueled his rage.
"Calm down, old man, don't get worked up… We don't even know what Lev's doing. Maybe he's just sightseeing, not causing trouble."
Noticing the old man's face, darker than the night, Roy awkwardly defended Lev.
But he got only a look from the old man that said, "Do you believe that?"
Did Roy believe it?
Of course not.
If he were Lev, before getting caught by Morgan or the gravekeepers, he'd be mining treasures beneath their feet.
But he couldn't say that now.
"By the way, old man, I'm Roy Crowley, a magus from the Clock Tower. Your name?"
Noticing the awkward atmosphere, Roy offered his name to ease the tension.
"As expected, Clock Tower magi… Hmph! You lot who disrespect the dead will face punishment someday!"
The old man's attitude remained furious.
But seeing the Moonlit Essence reemerge from Roy's thermos, he realized the situation favored the other. Unlike past magi, a misstep could doom the village.
He wasn't afraid of death, but thinking of the land, the village, and his disciple Gray, he didn't dare provoke Roy further, answering his question.
"I'm Belsac Blackmore, a gravekeeper."
Looking at Roy, he lowered his head, his voice low and pleading: "Magus, I know it's laughable, as the defeated, to make requests of you."
"If you want something from this land, take it, but I beg you—don't harm the innocents trapped by fate here."
"Punish only me for offending you, not them."
"…"
Seeing the old man's bowed head and somber tone, Roy felt he'd misunderstood something.
True, showing up in their cemetery at night was suspicious, especially with his partner possibly digging below, but Roy wanted to clarify—he was a good person, here only to…
Well, maybe like when he took Sakura, he planned to take Gray and the holy lance too. If Waver did it in the original timeline, he should have a shot, right?
Rather than letting a girl unrelated to Artoria bear her fate, Roy thought taking her to London or around the world to see broader skies and choose her path was better.
He wouldn't harm Gray or force her into anything. This was his way of making amends for Artoria. It's why he held back earlier.
This old gravekeeper, Gray's master, was dear to her. Killing him would complicate things. Their actions—his and Lev's—were indeed shady. The old man was just doing his duty, though aggressively, and didn't deserve death. Roy used only mineralogy-learned or family-inherited golden magecraft, measured throughout.
"Wait, old man, you've definitely misunderstood. I'm not here to cause trouble. And you attacked first, right?"
Roy hurriedly stopped Belsac, explaining: "I'm really a good person, believe me?"
"…"
No words, but the look said everything. Belsac's skeptical gaze left Roy exasperated.
"If you say you're a good person, I might believe it. Facing someone who tried to kill you, yet staying calm after subduing them—you're unusual for a magus."
Glancing at Roy, Belsac continued in a low voice.
"But you know Gray's existence and the village's secrets with Artoria. You're not here by chance—you have a goal. That's undeniable."
"So… great magus from the Clock Tower, as the victor, could you indulge a defeated man's curiosity? How do you know these secrets, and what's your true purpose?"
"…"
Facing the old man's pleading, Roy didn't answer directly.
Words held little weight here; no matter how much he said, the old man wouldn't believe him.
So, under Belsac's shocked gaze, Roy slowly reached into his chest, pulling out a radiant, seven-colored light that floated in his palm.
"This should explain everything, right, Mr. Belsac?"
Roy asked calmly.
"This… this is…?!!"
Seeing the light's true nature, Belsac's cloudy eyes widened, staring at the treasure in Roy's hand, his voice trembling with awe.
***
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