The infinite sword system has been mastered, and you say this is the dragon clan?

Chapter 187 Deal?
On the other hand, Eri was not immersed in her favorite bathing session as usual.

The bathroom was filled with warm steam, and the hazy mist condensed into fine water droplets on the mirror surface, slowly sliding down. The bathtub was only half full, and the water surface was as calm as a mirror, reflecting the dim light on the ceiling. Eri's slender body curled up in the water, her porcelain-white skin looming under the water, like a flawless jade.

However, her eyes were fixed on her arm. Under the clear water, tiny black veins were slowly rising from the lower layer of the skin, spreading on her skin like vines, leaving ugly lines.

Eri's pupils shrank slightly, and a gloomy look gradually appeared in her eyes.

[You couldn't escape the fate of becoming a monster. How pitiful! You sincerely wanted to be a hero, made a vow in your heart, and even tried hard to act, but you still couldn't make your wish come true... I have to say, this world is really unfair, right? ]

The shadow's whisper rang in Eri's ears, the voice was low and cold, as if it came from the abyss.

Eri's body stiffened slightly, and her fingers unconsciously clenched the edge of the bathtub. She slowly turned her gaze to the source of the sound, and saw a dark shadow gradually forming in the shadows beside the bathtub.

This time, the image of the black shadow was clearer than ever.

Its surface was covered with a thick black aura, as if it could swallow up the surrounding light. Its long red hair was scattered on its shoulders, and it was wearing a red and white miko costume, the sleeves of which moved without wind. What made Eri most uneasy was that the face was somewhat similar to hers.

Eri raised her arm suddenly, trying to use her power to destroy the black shadow. However, her palm only waved away a puff of air, and the moment the black shadow was penetrated and eliminated, it recondensed like smoke, not affected at all.

It was no use. The dark shadow seemed to have taken up residence in her heart, like a demon that could not be shaken off.

"Who are you?" Eri looked at the shadow's face and became increasingly hesitant.

The other party seemed to be able to hear Eri's inner voice, "Does it matter who I am? What's important is that you will soon become a monster. In two days, you will be completely unable to hide your current state. In four days, if you don't receive treatment, you will be on the verge of losing control."

"…" Eri remained silent, and the light in her eyes began to dim.

She lowered her head, looked at her reflection in the water, and continued to think about the story Emiya had told her - how Minamoto no Raikou had overcome the ugly Gozen in his heart in order to achieve transformation and eventually became a hero. Whenever she felt down, she could not stop recalling this story.

It was because of the inspiration from that story that Eri was able to take the first step towards self-change. However, reality was teaching her a lesson:

Monsters are always monsters, the path to being a hero is out of reach, and self-change is nothing more than an illusory castle in the sky. It is undoubtedly beautiful to dream occasionally, but once you fall back into reality, it will become bloody and so bleak that you cannot bear to look at it.

His eyes dropped dimly, and the black lines that were spreading bit by bit on his own body reflected in the water seemed to be announcing some irreversible fate.

【Trade? 】

The shadow suddenly said to her.

What? Eri's eyes widened slightly, and she saw the shadow smile in a sarcastic or mocking manner.

[Don't you want to be a hero? ...Look at your ugly appearance, you don't want to be seen as a monster, right?]

The shadow's voice was gentle and concerned, as if every word was for her own good. However, the hoarse tone made people feel creepy, as if a cold snake's tongue was licking their ears gently.

Eri's fingers clenched around the edge of the bathtub, her eyes fixed on the inky black lines on her arms, and horrific scenes of herself losing control and turning into a monster began to emerge in her mind.

[The process is very simple. I take a part of your soul, and as a price, I will fulfill your wish! ]

"A wish?" Eri's face was filled with disbelief, and her lips trembled silently. She didn't understand the meaning of collecting souls, but the Aladdin's lamp in the fairy tale emerged in her mind - could the shadow also directly fulfill her wish like that?

[That's right - just like I did last time, I'll remove those ugly lines on your body and even help you become a hero! ]

[In addition, I can also help your beloved brother Emiya...] The black shadow's voice was hoarse and unpleasant, but it sounded like the whisper of a devil.

[You heard the call outside, right? He is suffering from the lack of progress in the investigation, but I can help you find the entrance to the mirror world instantly! Then, your brother Emiya will be very happy. ]

[You will no longer turn into a monster, and you can still get his praise... How about a deal? ]

Steam continued to rise in the bathroom. In the mist, Eri's breathing became slightly rapid, and her chest rose and fell with the fluctuations of her emotions. Her eyes moved back and forth between the shadows and the lines on her arms, as if she was struggling or weighing the pros and cons.

【Trade? 】

The shadow's voice sounded again, and Eri thought again and again -

Should she endure for a few days and eventually lose the change she longs for? Or should she pay the price and keep everything?

Finally, when the water temperature had become noticeably cooler, Eri couldn't help but look towards the shadow and nodded slightly.

Seeing this, the black shadow's mouth curled up into a victorious smile.

----

The Great Cavern Under Tokyo.

Fenrir lost the opportunity to secretly watch his beloved TV as usual, because his sister no longer allowed it. His sister suspected that he was slacking off, which gave the White King in the Holy Grail the opportunity to tamper with the earth veins outside.

So now, Fenrir had to leave his daily entertainment environment and was forced to become a miserable giant pit excavator, working hard in the large hollow strata and the dark caves below to explore abnormalities in the earth veins.

Now, only a faint light came through the large hole above, illuminating Fenrir's huge body. Its mountain-like dragon body was crawling deep in the earth, its sharp claws digging through the hard rock, breaking open the huge deep hole with a casual move, and easily exerting a more terrifying excavation efficiency than Xia Mi.

At the edge of the cave, Xia Mi stood with her arms folded across her chest, looking after her foolish brother while asking Norton on the other side of the communication:
"Norton, why didn't you mention the possibility of such abnormalities in the ley lines when you mentioned the precautions for the operation of the Holy Grail War?"

In the mercury curtain, Norton's figure seemed a little blurry, but his expression was clearly visible - it was a face full of helplessness and irritability.

After hearing what Xia Mi said, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and he even had the urge to slap her twice across the screen. Because he clearly heard the intention of Xia Mi to put the blame on him.

"...Do you think I'm very experienced? Don't you think that the first Holy Grail War will not be smooth sailing?"

Norton raised his voice and said, "Besides, I am not as familiar and professional as the King of the Earth and the Mountain when it comes to the ley lines. At most, I can provide an engineering design drawing. The actual execution depends entirely on you brothers and sisters."

At this point, Norton's tone was clearly filled with dissatisfaction.

"But what about you? One of you only knows how to put pressure on me and make demands all day long, and the other only knows how to watch TV and slack off from morning to night. Now there is a problem. After checking, we found: Oh, under the ground vein that has been arranged, there is an even older ground vein hundreds of meters deep..."

"Moreover, these two layers of originally unrelated leylines were modified and connected together without anyone noticing, which led to an unexpected incident in the Holy Grail War. So they hurriedly contacted me... Could it be that they expect me, the King of Bronze and Fire, to provide a more professional leyline solution for you, the King of Earth and Mountain?"

Xia Mi frowned and fell into an unspeakable silence... She was in a hurry to complete the construction goals of the underground veins and failed to carefully explore the deeper environment. She really can't get rid of this blame.

Fenrir below was still working hard, seemingly unaware of the dispute between his sister and Norton. In the large cave, only the sound of Fenrir's claws digging into the rocks echoed from the depths of the cave, which seemed particularly dull.

"Forget it! Let's talk about something more practical, such as an unexpected incident. The Rider group, which is the pseudo-Servant group we chose, disappeared on the night of the summoning and lost contact. It seems that they were pulled into another closed Nibelungen."

Xia Mi suppressed her temper for once, "Norton, you can think of something about this, right? Even if the White King's soul has a chance to touch the earth veins occasionally, it is not enough to instantly create the Nibelungen and pull people thousands of miles away into it, right?"

In the mercury curtain, Norton's figure swayed slightly. After a few seconds, he finally spoke:
"There is no doubt that since the White King's soul is still inside the Greater Holy Grail, even if she has a chance to escape, at most she can only escape with some fragments of her soul. An incomplete soul is not enough to construct the Nibelungen. At most, she can rely on the existing Nibelungen to interfere with reality."

Norton analyzed in an orderly manner, "The deepest ancient venation must be used to maintain a special Nibelungen. Although this Nibelungen has been closed, it is completely open only to the White King."

Xia Mi suddenly understood, "So the White King only needs to connect the vein that maintains the Nibelungen with the vein that operates the Holy Grail War, and he can use it to interfere with the masters and servants participating in the Holy Grail War!"

"Yes, but it's useless to just think about this. It depends on whether you can restore the abnormality of the earth veins, destroy the earth veins that maintain the Nibelungen, or find the 'tentacles' that split off from the White King's soul, and then kill him!"

"Then let Fenrir be responsible for troubleshooting the earth vein system. I will go find the entrance to the Nibelungen. The soul fragments of the White King who escaped are likely hiding inside."

(End of this chapter)