Anime: Fight Sukuna at the beginning?.

Chapter 320: Enemies that break through the limit and the arrogance of planning

On the way to the next city, night.

With the huge inertia of the brakes, [Tousaka Rin], who was drowsy and a little tired from her first long trip, woke up in the back seat.

The little black girl with twin ponytails struggled to open her eyes and asked her mother who was driving in a vague voice.

"Mother, what happened?"

The only answer she got was the loud sound of a car door opening and closing and a somewhat cold voice.

"I'll take care of them."

[Enemy? Are they coming for us?]

[Tousaka Rin] subconsciously turned her head to look out the car window, and saw a scene that was deeply engraved in her memory and would not be forgotten for years to come.

The 'agent' who used to be beside him, with an indifferent face, occasionally teaching him some small 'tricks' and judging him to be quite talented.

At this moment, he was standing in the middle of the road and confronting a group of hideous "corpses".

[Tousaka Rin] looked at the group of strange and hideous "corpses" and couldn't help but widen her eyes and her body began to tremble.

Because gradually, under the shining of the holy light in Zhuang Zhengyan's hand, the "corpse" that came into her sight was far different from the creatures such as zombies she had seen on TV.

The "corpses" standing in front of Zhuang Zhengyan had their skins peeled off.
-
Under the increasingly intense holy light from Zhuang Zhengyan's fingers, the true appearance of those "corpses" gradually became apparent.

Each "corpse" was stripped of its human outer shell called 'skin'.

They looked like tomatoes that had been scalded in boiling water and then put into cold water to peel off the skin to reveal the flesh. Someone had removed their skin in an extremely sophisticated way.

Only the exposed muscle tissue, which was an unpleasant bright red, and the blood vessels tangled on the surface were left.

What is strange is that even after losing the restraints of skin and suffering a punishment similar to slow slicing, only flesh and blood are left.

This group of 'corpses' did not bleed a single drop of blood or make even a single sound.

They just hide silently in the darkness, like crocodiles lurking at water sources waiting for prey to approach to hunt, standing in the middle of the road waiting for their "prey" to arrive.

[Are these monsters humans whose skins have been sucked out? ]

How do these monsters act? Are they driven by my father's enemies? Or...?

Before [Tousaka Rin] could suppress her fear and start thinking, the "tree" that gradually "appeared" in her sight under the holy light that illuminated the darkness and melted all things completely answered her doubts.

Under Zhuang Zhengyan's blazing holy light, a 'tree' appeared out of thin air in the middle of the road, its branches dancing wildly, covered with human skins of various colors.
-
"My Master, I always encounter new and interesting things when I follow you.

"This is the first time I've seen such bizarre and strange spells and monsters. It seems that watching the journey of a [protagonist] like you will not make me lonely.

“Is that for you?

"It's fun, but if you want me to help you, you have to answer the teacher's questions."

Listening to the relaxed teasing voice of the "teacher" beside her ear, Zhuang Zhengyan frowned slightly.

She watched as the holy light emanating from her three specially crafted [Black Keys] appeared in the middle of the road, only to be forced back and stagnant for a few seconds.

He stretched out his branches again, waved his 'human skin', and manipulated the 'skinless' corpses to rush towards him like a 'tree'.

The uneasy feeling of being spied on in her heart became stronger and stronger.

"This doesn't feel right. This attack wasn't something the [protagonist] should have triggered."

"It's more like laying a spider web, trying to get some clues about the prey and then explore its exact location."

"The tactics over there don't seem to be aimed at me, so they should be aimed at Fang Yi. There's also a small chance they're targeting the person who entered the scene."

He looked at the "corpses" that were only dispelled for a second by his holy light, barely slowing down their pace, and then surrounded him again.

Without a moment's hesitation, Zhuang Zhengyan immediately answered the teacher's questions and began to exchange for help.

"This tree is a 'probe' that shouldn't exist at this level.

"It's used to find people with great luck and gather information about them, like me and that girl named [Tousaka Rin]."

Zhuang Zhengyan saw that the 'teacher' did not respond while she was speaking, so she had to give him more 'information' that he wanted to hear.

"In my opinion, it's more like a stopgap measure, like looking for a needle in a haystack, after failing to hunt down certain reincarnations and then being unable to accurately locate them.

"Killing this thing will earn you a special reward from the space."

She knew her somewhat contemptuous "teacher" too well.
-
What answered Zhuang Zhengyan was the teasing voice of "teacher" that was so familiar to her.

“Good answer, there is a reward.

"But using [Hero Creation] to deal with this is a bit of an overkill.

“Using [Give His Hands Light] is a bit much.”

Until the "corpses" gradually surrounded the car parked in the middle of the road, [Tousaka Rin] and [Tousaka Aoi] in the car closed their eyes in despair.

This [Ms. Avalon] finally got rid of her choice dilemma.

"Should I use Rune Magic? That's a bit of a waste.

“Ah, I found it.

"I'll just make do with what I've picked up during this time."

【Magic Addition】&【Enhanced Magic】

As the woman spoke at a speed so fast that she almost bit her tongue, she performed the [High Speed ​​Chanting] in an unimaginable way, and the buff was completed.

In just a moment, two kinds of enhanced [magic] that seemed like divine realm were added to Zhuang Zhengyan's body.

As the holy light in her body began to stir, her somewhat weak attributes, which had just reached 20 points, instantly rose to 35 points.

Without a moment's hesitation, Zhuang Zhengyan pressed down her arm, revealing a densely packed array of fifteen [Command Seals].

In order to avoid revealing more information and end the battle quickly, she needs to invest more mana in this attack.

The [Command Seals] that were stripped and transplanted during the last [Holy Grail War] can just serve as magic power.

[High-Speed ​​Chanting] [Soul-Cleansing Holy Flame]

With her increasingly skilled chanting skills, a stroke of the [Command Seal] suddenly disappeared and turned into almost endless magical power that poured into her body.

Finally, it transformed into a blazing holy light, and a "sun" emitting blazing light was constructed at her fingertips.

She waved her hand, and the 'sun' slowly broke away from her hand and rose into the air.

The next moment, it was dawn.
-
The dazzling light emitted by the 'sun' shot straight into the sky, illuminating the road that was originally filled with gloomy corpses and strange ancient trees as if it were daytime.

The silent 'corpses' approaching her let out shrill screams the moment the light touched them.

It began to evaporate rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into bursts of black smoke that drifted away.

The human skin hanging on the "tree" seemed to be burned by flames, emitting a burnt smell. In the blink of an eye, it turned into ashes along with the tree and disappeared into the air.

The world has returned to peace.

The scorching 'sun' slowly shrank and finally returned to her palm, transforming into a faint 'hair ball' that exuded warmth.

She let out a light breath and looked up at the sky which had returned to darkness.

Then he walked towards the car, opened the door, and threw the tiny "ball of hair" in his hand to [Tousaka Rin] who was very curious about it and wanted to explore its structure.

After sitting down, Zhuang Zhengyan gave the next instructions to the stunned [Tousaka Aoi] in the front seat.

"It's settled, Ms. Tousaka Aoi, you can drive now.

“I have an appointment with someone and need to hurry back to Fuyuki.

"I need to help him deal with a somewhat tricky 'bug'."

[Tousaka Rin] stared at Zhuang Zhengyan's profile, which unconsciously became gentle after she mentioned Fang Yi, her eyes full of longing.

[So strong! Can I become someone like her in the future? ]

At the same time, her curiosity about the 'man' she mentioned quickly grew.

[Such a powerful, elegant, and admirable woman, is willing to assist a man? ]

【Who is that man? 】

At this moment, the young [Tousaka Rin] really wanted to see the man that Ms. Zhuang mentioned.
-
At the same time, a somewhat gloomy house.

A woman dressed in black gauze with golden bells on her feet was kowtowing with a look of horror towards a human skin draped over a piece of strange flesh in the room.

The smooth floor tiles were broken at a speed that was difficult to capture with the naked eye, and blood marks were also left on the bright and beautiful face due to the kowtow.

The human skin, which was covered with strange flesh and blood and had begun to take human form and have the ability to move, began to speak.

"Stop, Shen Li.

"Your kowtow posture is wrong, and it's disgusting."

After hearing Renpi's words, Shen Li's face became even more frightened, and he froze.

It is not right to kowtow, and it is not right not to kowtow.

Renpi had no choice but to add two more words in a bad mood.

“Get up, you probably don’t know Yuan Zhongli.

"I still have to give face to Yuan Zhongli, who asked you to 'smuggle' me into this mission and provided this piece of strange flesh and blood.

"Besides, it wasn't completely fruitless just now."

After hearing this, Shen Li raised his head tremblingly and asked excitedly.

"My lord, you mean..."

Human Skin said calmly.

“The person who burned the tree is not a simple person.

"But the trees are gone, and in the final analysis, it's just the loss of a few pieces of extremely low-quality 'hides'.

"The 'leather' that this world can produce is nowhere near as good as the reward Yuan Zhongli gave me for taking action.

"The person he asked me to find is starting to make some headway."

After calculating for a while with the human skin draped over the flesh and blood, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

[Strange, why did the result change again?]

Yuan Zhongli didn't tell me the truth. This person seems to have something closely related to that powerful figure, "curse" and "luck."

【This person is not simple. 】

The human skin changed its tone and began to send Shen Li away. "But we still need to confirm it. Go ahead and do your thing first."

After hearing Renpi's words, Shen Li leaned down and immediately left this somewhat gloomy space.

After turning her back, the respect on her face disappeared without a trace.

"Hmph, you old immortal, you don't look that capable. You didn't even notice that there was something wrong with the piece of flesh I secretly replaced to make the [implant]. "

"I'll let you be arrogant for a while. Once I get that [holy relic] the church has collected, you'll become my 'nutrient'."

After comforting the somewhat wanton-voiced woman in her mind to be patient, she walked out of the house.

As the moonlight shone down, the three bright red lines on the back of her hand were also reflected.

Command Spell
-
In Fuyuki City, the Hyatt Hotel where [Kenneth] is.

Following the Lancer [Diarmuid Odin] who looked at Matou Zouken with a wary look, he was sent away by [Kayneth] who was disgusted with him and suspected that he was having an affair with his fiancée [Sora] by forcing him to use the [Command Seal].

Kenneth, who had lemon-yellow hair, smiled slightly and adjusted the angle of his head.

He changed his attitude of looking at people with his chin pointed and asked Matou Zouken a question.

"Then, what reward can you offer us for sending Lancer to support the attack on Saber?

"The head of the Matou family.

"I hope the reward you give me later won't disappoint me too much."

Matou Zouken didn't smile strangely or act mysteriously like he did to other people.

Instead, he offered his reward voluntarily with a humble attitude.

"Your Majesty, Lord El-Melloi.

"In my Far East region, only a few generations of magicians in my family can provide knowledge and create magic.

"Of course, I wouldn't dare compare myself to the skills mastered by the Archibald family, who have a long and rich history of studying magic."

After laying the groundwork, Matou Zouken offered the monarch of the Clock Tower a reward that he could not refuse.

In exchange for the other party's help.

"What I present to you today is a somewhat crude [Command Seal] technique that will allow you and your fiancée to participate in the [Holy Grail War] together and share the glory of victory.

"You will gain a better understanding of the technique of the Command Spells, and it may even be possible to perform [Illegal Summoning] at the appropriate time."

As he spoke, Zouken Matou took out a manuscript and handed it to Kenneth.

This manuscript was exactly the one he had shown Fang Yi before, which contained knowledge about the Command Spells.

He brought it out again after Fang Yi "failed to master" it, as capital for this "vertical and horizontal alliances".
-
Seeing Kenneth taking the manuscript and carefully studying and gesturing at it, Matou Zouken couldn't help but feel happy.

According to intelligence, although this [Kenneth] is extremely talented in the way of magic, he has a fatal flaw.

This unromantic genius has been looking for opportunities to please his fiancée [Sora].

【As long as we grasp this point, we can make him take action! 】

As expected, when Kenneth studied the manuscript, he nodded continuously, just as Zouken Matou had expected.

Finally, the other party raised his head suddenly and gave an answer.

“I am very satisfied with your gift.

"I agree to your request for Lancer's assistance in the joint campaign against Saber."

Hearing Kenneth nod in agreement, Matou Zouken felt secretly proud.

[This is the crystallization of my wisdom over the past few hundred years. Even a genius like this would surely look up to me.]

[Now with Lacner's help, and with the addition of [Matou Kariya]'s Berserker, annihilating that man called Fang Yi is almost certain!]

Just as Matou Zouken was about to speak, he saw [Kenneth] wiping the [Command Seal] on the back of his right hand with one hand.

After investing some magic power and consuming a stroke of the [Command Spell], a brand new but thick ancient book appeared out of thin air.

Seeing some familiar books, Matou Zouken's pupils shrank slightly, and for a moment he was a little hesitant to confirm his own eyes.

How is this possible? You only read the literature once and you already know what I've been studying for hundreds of years?

He had no choice but to ask tentatively.

"This is?"

[Kenneth] smiled slightly and spoke rather arrogantly in a calm tone.

"You should recognize this. This is the [Book of False Minister] described in your [Command Spell] technique, which can transfer control of a Servant to another.

“It took me a while to master it and I made some refinements.

"So that you, who possess it, can better command Lancer in battle."

[Kenneth] tossed the freshly-published [Book of Treason] beside him and gave Zouken Matou a somewhat twisted smile.

"However, if you want to obtain this [Book of False Ministers], you can better control Lancer to complete your plan.

“In addition to signing a [Self-Compulsory Certificate] to ensure that you do not leak this information, our cooperation can proceed smoothly.

“I have one additional request.

"I don't think you will refuse."

Matou Zouken tightened his grip on his cane, hesitated for a moment, and then agreed.

[To be on the safe side, we must ensure that the two Servants work together to kill that man and Saber! ]

After signing a preliminary confidentiality agreement to ensure that no secrets would be leaked, [Kenneth] opened the silent barrier.

After repeatedly confirming that his fiancée, who was constantly fawning over her servants, couldn't hear him, he said something that was difficult for Zouken Matou to understand.

"I don't want to see my Servant (Diarmuid Odin) come back alive.

"You will bury him and his naive chivalry in this battle.

"You must accept this condition. Only then will I lend you the [Book of False Ministers] and ask that Lancer, who believes in [Chivalry], to join the war."
-
A few minutes later.

After watching Zouken Matou sign the [Self-Enforcement Certificate] with numerous clauses, he took the [Book of Treason] and walked away with [Diarmuid Odin], who talked about [Chivalry] but didn't obey orders and had an unclear relationship with [Sora].

Kenneth smiled with satisfaction.

[Disobedient inferior [familiars] should be put to death.]

"I, Kayneth, have made sufficient preparations to ensure victory even without the help of this familiar."

He turned around and asked the tall man who appeared behind him.

"Your Majesty, my three magic furnaces for supplying magic are quite good, aren't they?

“That should be enough to unleash the power of your cannon.

"I might ask you to take action later."

Before the Servant standing behind him could answer, Sora walked out of the room with lazy steps and interrupted Kenneth's question.

"Where's Lancer (Diarmuid Odin)?
"Didn't I come back with you?"

After hearing his fiancée's speech, [Kenneth] suppressed the anger rising in his chest and responded calmly.

"That 'Knight' went to challenge Saber, whose location and identity have been confirmed.

"Why don't you sleep a little longer? Keep your magic power full."

Yawning, Sora showed the three-stroke Command Seal on his hand and said nonchalantly.

"It's just a magic competition in a remote area, what's there to prepare for?
"We have two servants, and Lancer is so good.

"And Archer, it's only natural that we win."

I heard my fiancée's obsessive speech about Diarmuid Odin.

[Kenneth] responded and after sending the other party away, he turned his back and frowned secretly.

However, he looked back at the three extremely powerful, powerful, and valuable [Magic Furnaces] and recalled Archer's [Noble Phantasms].

He also used the familiar used for reconnaissance to calculate the distance between the Matou residence mentioned by Matou Zouken and this hotel.

The genius's frown suddenly relaxed, and he finally revealed his usual arrogant smile.

"That Matou Zouken is really stupid.

"I thought that with that little bit of shoddy technology and some understanding of me,

"You can plot against me and make me fight for nothing?"

[Kenneth] picked up the manuscript brought by Zouken Matou and threw it into the hotel's trash can.

"Long before you came, I had already improved the Command Spell system.

"And I only took a glance at your crude technology and found several 'backdoors' that can be exploited."

[Kenneth] looked at [Diarmuid Odin] who came alone to the door of the Matou residence in the vision shared by the [familiar], and revealed a hideous smile.

[The reason I gave you Lancer is simply because you can advance my plan! ]

[Even if he is a 'sacrificed pawn', he should be able to show his due value in my hands, Kenneth!]
-
A few minutes later, Fang Yi opened his eyes at the Matou residence.

He had already sensed the presence of a Servant outside the mansion.

The person he had been waiting for to get his gold coins suddenly showed up.

Miss Zhuang has already returned to the church and is rushing here.

Without a moment's hesitation, Fang Yi immediately held down the eager swordsman lady and asked her to stay and watch over the house.

Then, under the supervision of several magicians' familiars, a man walked out of the courtyard of the Matou family at a leisurely pace.

He also thoughtfully closed the iron gate behind him, locking the battlefield outside the mansion.

So as not to damage the house that Fang Yi already regarded as his own property.

Then he looked at the heroic spirit holding two guns in front of him and drew the [California Clear Light] from his waist.

[First, let me test the results of my half-day sword training with this Heroic Spirit who is good at hand-to-hand combat.]

Fang Yi thought so.

(End of this chapter)