"..." Hades leaned against a wall expressionlessly. Before him was Sérényke, whose face was flushed, eyes filled with greed, and who was constantly panting heavily.
"Lord Hades... please become my Servant... I beg you..." Sérényke clung to Hades like cotton, licking his neck with her tongue. Both her tone and mannerisms were utterly seductive.
Hades, however, saw through the true nature of the beautiful woman's soul: she was an extreme sadist, pathologically so, and specialized in cruel Black Magic.
Hades said nothing, pushed Sérényke away with one hand, and left immediately.
Sérényke, with heart-shaped eyes and a look of infatuation, watched Hades, twisting her body as she said, "Lord Hades The more you act like this the more I want to possess you~!!"
The Black Magic rituals of Sérényke's family, the Escale, do not allow the sacrifice to fall into a daze. The target must always be viewed and treated with cold eyes, similar to maintaining a serious attitude toward the life of a creature when preparing meat.
This was the correct attitude when dealing with a sacrifice, at least according to the teachings of the Escale family. However, perhaps the cumulative number of sacrifices was simply too great. This resulted in the threads of the curse wrapped around the Escale family becoming thick and strong, impossible to sever, and compounded by the effects of relocation, they declined rapidly. The Escale family members noticed Sérényke's perversion but ignored her interest in sadism because they deemed her talent rare.
Just then, Astolfo passed Hades. Hades glanced at him and said, "It must be hard having a woman with such a murky soul as your Master."
"Huh?" Astolfo tilted his head in confusion, not understanding.
Hades left without further comment. Meanwhile, in the magical workshop beneath the Millennia Fortress, a male artificial life form immersed in a vat of green liquid opened his eyes and looked at his abandoned brothers and sisters piled up in the corner.
'Move.' For the first time in his life, he moved a finger. He struggled to move his hand, clench his fist, and raise his arm.
'Move.' He checked his situation again. He realized that he was sealed within the emerald preservation solution so that Mana could be supplied efficiently.
He temporarily set aside the meaning of his existence, which had yet to be activated, and clarified his immediate goal. He had to escape this place, right now.
'Move!' He swung his arms, frantically pounding the reinforced glass. But he immediately realized this was a meaningless action and gave up. The physical impact he generated could not break the glass.
After a moment of thought, he scanned his own magic circuits. Having absorbed the atmospheric Mana and currently supplying it to allow the Servant to materialize, he was ready to activate the circuits.
"Strasse/Gain!!" Cutting the supply. Using the language he knew, he drove his own Mystery. The desired result was destruction, bringing his hands into contact with the reinforced glass. The Mana that had already flowed into his body detected the release destination and immediately surged toward his palms.
He grasped what kind of mineral the glass he touched was. The Mana transformed, enabling him to destroy it with the optimal and minimal force. His hands filled with light—with only the faint force of a balsa wood panel, he shattered the reinforced glass.
Immediately, his body tipped outward. He attempted to make contact with the world that should have been segregated. Ignoring the broken glass tearing at his back, he fell toward the passage—the real world.
'It hurts, something is wrong.' His chest felt tight, and when he tried to open his mouth, he found he couldn't.
His mouth was covered by something like a respirator. He peeled it off and took another deep breath.
"...Guh, ah...!" He choked violently. His throat burned. As he inhaled the heavily scented gas, a convulsive pain shot through his lungs.
He must escape. Fast, as fast as possible!
The Homunculus youth took his first steps.
At this moment, the gears of fate began to turn. Astolfo appeared, looked at the Homunculus youth collapsed on the ground, squatted down, and said curiously:
"What's wrong? You'll catch a cold if you only wear shorts."
"S-save me..." The Homunculus youth weakly reached out to Astolfo before him, with no other reason than the desire to live.
"Okay." Astolfo said, flashing an incredibly innocent smile. He then helped the Homunculus youth up, took him to a room, and placed him on a bed.
At the same time, Astolfo called Charon, who possessed pharmaceutical and medical knowledge, to diagnose the Homunculus youth.
Charon's diagnosis was that he was extremely frail, like a newborn infant, and his lifespan was likely very short.
After hearing this, Astolfo recalled another Servant, the King who presided over Death, who should be able to save this Homunculus youth.
"So you dragged me here, Rider." Hades, wearing his underworld armor, crossed his arms and looked at Astolfo with a tone like he was interrogating a criminal.
"Hehehe~~!!" Astolfo scratched his head, hearing Hades's tone, and let out a simple-minded laugh.
Hades looked at the Homunculus youth on the bed, knowing he was Sieg, but turned to Charon and said, "He doesn't have long to live, right, Big Brother?"
Hearing this, Charon nodded without hesitation.
"His Death is already set in stone and cannot be changed. You should give up trying to save him, Rider." Hades closed his eyes, turned his back on Astolfo, and said.
Seeing that Hades looked ready to leave at any moment, Astolfo anxiously grabbed Hades's hand and said, "I beg you, Saber! Only you can save him now! Aren't you the King of the Underworld who presides over Death?!"
Hades turned his head to look at Astolfo and said:
"Why do you want to save him, Rider? Is there a reason?"
"No reason!! I just want to save him, that's all!!" Astolfo looked at Hades with eyes as clear as untainted spring water and loudly stated his feelings.
Hades first looked at Astolfo in front of him, then glanced at Sieg lying on the bed, who turned his head and slightly moved his lips, the lip-read message being: "Save me."
Then the corner of his mouth curved up into a faint smile.
"Hah~~!!"
Then Hades stepped forward and said to Astolfo, "Rider, go get a set of slightly larger clothes."
"Saber, you?" Astolfo said, looking incredulous.
"Hurry up!!" Seeing that Astolfo hadn't moved, Hades quickly urged him.
"Yes!!" Astolfo said, laughing happily, and immediately rushed out the door.
Hades walked to Sieg's bedside. Charon said to Hades, "Hades, are you going to use your Authority to rewrite his Death?"
Hades took out the myriad dragon codex, flipped through the pages, and pulled out a card, saying, "No, I'm just giving him a chance. Whether he can extend his life depends on whether this artificial life form can endure it."
"Do you dare to try?" Hades looked at Sieg lying on the bed and asked.
"Mm..." Sieg nodded with difficulty, saying that he was willing to try anything to live.
The card between Hades's fingers flipped. Depicted on the white card surface was a massive brown dragon, slightly yellow in color, with a body and limbs as heavy as rock, and a great sword equipped on its left wrist.
[Life Stream Dragon] (Level: 8 / Attribute: Earth / Race: Dragon / ATK: 2900 / DEF: 2400)
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