On how PhDs become human evil

In response to Artoria's shouts, Bai Jie sneered: "Saber, have you forgotten what kind of person I was ten years ago? I'll use anyone I can."

"Ten years ago, I took advantage of the master-servant relationship between you and Lancelot. Now, ten years later, I can use this kid to blackmail you."

"Ugh... you despicable scoundrel!"

Artoria's beautiful face was filled with anger. She despised people like Bai Jie who played tricks and schemes. She wanted to have a fair duel with him!

Taking in Artoria's expression, Bai Jie felt a surge of wonderful pleasure. The feeling of building happiness on the suffering of others was truly amazing—

"Duang~~~!"

Suddenly struck hard on the back of his head, Bai Jie fell straight to the ground.

Standing behind Bai Jie, holding the Oath of Judah, Kiana snapped, "How old are you? Can't you talk normally? Do you think it's cool to act like a schemer? Are you some kind of chuunibyou?"

"Um... my lovely little sister, do you know that throwing Judas at someone will get you killed?"

I don't know if it will kill someone else, but it certainly won't kill you.

Kiana put away Judah and looked at Artoria: "Sorry, my brother has some mental issues. He speaks without thinking and is still acting like a chuunibyou at his age."

"This isn't called chuunibyou!"

That means you haven't lost your childlike heart.

"I'm almost a hundred years old! What do you mean by 'still a childlike heart'?!"

Seeing the brother and sister suddenly start arguing, Artoria was at a loss for words, and couldn't even find a moment to interject. She could only stand there blankly.

After bickering with Kiana for a while, Bai Jie glared at her and said, "I'll show you what I'm capable of tonight in bed! -- Now, let's get back to the point, Saber."

"Although I could use mental magic to control this kid right now and make you commit suicide, forcing you to leave the stage on the first night, that would be rather boring. So I'm giving you a choice now."

"First. During this Holy Grail War, you will obediently listen to me and act according to my orders, so that I can keep your little Master safe and sound."

"Second. I'll cut off this kid's hand, force you to become my servant, and then throw him into some unknown garbage dump to fend for himself."

"Tell me, which one do you choose?"

No sooner had Bai Jie finished speaking than Artoria retorted sharply, "Do you want me to become your lackey? Don't even dream about it! I would never serve a despicable person like you!"

"Pfft!"

The sharp end of the wooden staff pierced directly into the red-haired boy's stomach.

"Sorry, my hand slipped."

Bai Jie laughed.

"May I allow you to rephrase your words, Saber?"

"Will you watch this kid's hand get chopped off by me and his Command Seals be taken away before he becomes my Servant? Or will you agree to become my Servant yourself in order to save this kid?"

"Well...."

"What's wrong? Is the King of Knights, whose duty is to protect the weak, going to watch his fragile Master suffer?"

As he said this, Bai Jie pulled out his wooden staff and stabbed it through the red-haired boy's thigh.

"Ughhhh!"

The red-haired boy's mournful cry reached Artoria's ears.

clang!

With the holy sword hanging on the ground, and a look of extreme reluctance and frustration on her face, Artoria trembled as she said, "I agree to become your Servant... release my Master."

With a slight smile, Bai Jie put away his wooden staff, cast two healing spells to cure the red-haired boy, and then stood in front of Artoria: "Good, as expected of the King of Knights, a very correct decision. Sacrificing yourself to save your Master, you are truly full of chivalry."

“...a despicable person..."

"Oh dear, don't say that. I was just using tactics appropriately. You are both a king and a general, so you naturally know the importance of tactics and strategies. Don't tell me you've never used tactics before."

With a swift reach, the Command Seal etched on the red-haired boy's hand instantly transformed into pure magic and flew out, then, guided by Bai Jie, was re-etched onto Kiana's hand.

"Huh?"

Kiana was stunned.

"Why are you giving this to me, bro? Didn't you want it?"

"Please, I already have Mostima, why would I need this Saber King? You can keep him, he's a free bodyguard anyway. He did this Saber King ten years ago."

Bai Jie was referring to the events involving Artoria and Irisviel ten years ago.

"Although I gave you a lot of equipment and helped you upgrade it, you still need a tool to take the hits for you, so I'm giving this girl to you. You can order her around however you want, and if she doesn't listen, just use Command Spells to make her do what she wants."

Upon hearing this, Artoria was immediately displeased. How could she, the dignified King of Knights, be reduced to a tool for shielding others from harm?

After casting an amnesia spell and a sleep spell on the red-haired boy, erasing all his memories of the evening, Bai Jie stretched and yawned: "Hmm, came out for a bit, caught a King Knight Pokémon, not bad haul, time to go home and sleep."

P.S.: As the title says, I'm currently practicing Ghost Step with Nero. I was amazed by a video on Bilibili showing a six-hit and nine-hit combo, but I can't even do a three-hit combo yet... It's so embarrassing.

Section 453, paragraph 10: Delete this sword-breaker!

Inside the Tohsaka mansion, Athena sat on the sofa, sipping her black tea. However, while she was drinking tea, her vision was connected to the owls that were scattered throughout Fuyuki City, monitoring every move in the city.

Looking at the state of Emiya's residence, Athena's lips unconsciously curved into a smile.

"He actually managed to win over that knight in this way, huh? It was a bit of a hassle, but since he's up to his wicked ways, let him be."

In Athena's view, Bai Jie definitely had a better way to bring Artoria under his command, but he chose this troublesome method instead, which can only be explained by his perverse sense of humor.

However, Athena was genuinely surprised that Bai Jie was not subdued by force as before; in her memory, Bai Jie was someone who preferred to use his hands rather than talk.

"His travels to another world have changed him quite a bit. It seems that our duel will be much more interesting than before."

Thinking of this, Athena's smile became even more pronounced, showing that our little goddess was in a very good mood.

Meanwhile, watching Athena leisurely sitting on the sofa drinking tea, Rin Tohsaka grabbed her hair in frustration: "Ugh, even though summoning a god-level Servant all at once is incredibly lucky, why is she so disobedient? I couldn't even use Command Spells!"

"Heh, although I am not the complete Trinity, I am still a goddess. If it were not for the interference of magic power of the same god level, it would have no effect at all."

Athena simply smiled and said something in response to Rin Tohsaka's complaint, then put down her empty teacup.

"Get ready, witch, I'd like to visit a friend tonight."

"Huh?" Rin Tohsaka was taken aback. "So you're finally planning to participate in the Holy Grail War, my goddess!"

Athena's unwillingness to participate in the Holy Grail War is something that has been troubling Rin Tohsaka for a long time.

After summoning Athena, Rin Tohsaka asked Athena to lend her her power to help her win the Holy Grail War. Athena naturally refused. Although she descended as a Heroic Spirit, Athena did not heed the wishes of a human mage. She came to this world solely to find Haku and have him fulfill the promise they made.

However, now that she knows Bai Jie has also participated in the Holy Grail War, Athena has no reason not to participate in the Holy Grail War.

"Be happy, witch," Athena laughed. "The Holy Grail War, since it's a war, naturally needs someone to lead the charge. I'll take the blame and be the one to start the first battle."

Magic surged from Athena's body, shooting into the sky like a signal flare.

......

In the presidential suite on the top floor of the Fuyuki Hotel, Bai Jie, who was sitting on the sofa reading a book, suddenly stopped turning the pages and looked out the window with his eyes slightly turned to the side.

"Oh? So brazenly unleashing your magic, are you afraid of being forgotten because you're hiding too well?"

Although it is the location of the Holy Grail War, Fuyuki City is still a city without much mystery. If you release magic power casually, you will be noticed immediately, just like now.

"I'm afraid the other Masters have noticed it too... Oh dear, some people have already gone. I can't be left behind."

Closing the book, Bai Jie raised his left hand: "In the name of the Command Spell, I command you to come before me, Saber."

A Command Seal vanished from Bai Jie's hand, and a magic circle for summoning Heroic Spirits appeared on the carpet. The figure of Artoria, clad in armor, emerged from the magic circle.

"What are your orders, Master?"

Master.

Artoria is no longer Kiana's Servant, but rather Whitebeard's Servant.

Last night, Bai Jie did indeed transfer ownership of Artoria to Kiana, and the Command Seals were successfully engraved on the back of Kiana's hand. However, not long after, the Command Seals on Kiana's hand disappeared, and the connection between her and Artoria was even severed, almost causing Artoria to return to Valhalla due to losing her Master.

Bai Jie initially thought there was something wrong with his spell, so he tried several more times with a hundred different spells, but all of them ended in failure.

After some research, Bai Jie finally understood the source of the problem—Kiana's Herrscher core.

The Herrschers are the apostles of Honkai (gods), and the power contained in the Herrscher core is naturally the power of Honkai (gods). Each Herrscher core is the ultimate manifestation of the laws of physics and is the authority of the gods.

Under the influence of the Herrscher Core, Kiana's body is gradually transforming towards a divine form. In a few decades at most, Kiana's body will truly become a perfect divine body—that is, a goddess.

And that's the problem.

Kiana's body is that of a god, but her Command Seals are artificial creations, used by humans, not gods. Following the principle that "mysteries are devoured by higher mysteries," artificial Command Seals are naturally suppressed and devoured by the power of a higher-level god, which is why Kiana cannot obtain Servants.

As for Bai Jie, although he is a top-level mystery, he is still a collection of magical power, and Command Seals are the crystallization of magical power. Therefore, even if the Command Seals are devoured, Bai Jie only needs to give up a part of his power to act as Command Seals. In fact, his Command Seals cannot even be called Command Seals, but are just a connection between him and his Servant.

Therefore, besides Mostima, Bai Jie now has Artoria, the Knight King, as one of his Servants.

In response to Artoria's question, Bai Jie smiled and said, "You felt it too, didn't you? Some idiot brazenly released his magic to provoke us, just like ten years ago. In that case, don't you, the Knight King, think you should show your face?"

Ten years ago, on the first night of the Holy Grail War, Lancer Diarmuid released his magical power to attract other Servants, just like now, although it's unknown whether the other party is an upright Servant like Diarmuid.

"Shall we set off now, Master?"

"What else did you think?"

Bai Jie got out of bed and stretched.

"Well, if possible, I'd like to sit back and watch the fight from a distance of several thousand meters, just like ten years ago. But unfortunately, this time it's you as my servant, so I can only stand on the stage."

In fact, Bai Jie could have done the same as Kiritsugu Emiya, letting Artoria go alone while he hid in the shadows and waited for an opportunity to strike.

But to be fair, Bai Jie doesn't mind using schemes and tricks. If it saves him time and effort, he's happy to scheme against others.

However, the current situation is that it is easier and less effort for him to take direct action than to use his brain. He can confidently say that even if all the Servants attacked together, they would not be enough to defeat him.

If his skill level is this low, does he even need to use his brain? Why doesn't he just go for it?

P.S.: I got completely destroyed in Teamfight Tactics. The enemy had a 3-star Berserker with Swordbreaker, Guinsoo's Rageblade, and Bloodthirster. I went from first place to third and was eliminated. Damn it, my three 3-star units couldn't beat his one 3-star unit. Swordbreaker made it so I couldn't even auto-attack. Who came up with this disgusting item?