On how PhDs become human evil

The earth was shattered once more. Bai Jie rapidly approached Athena, whom he had blasted away, and unleashed a storm of holy spears radiating dark light!

The spear fell on Athena's waist. Although Athena managed to block it with her scythe in time, she was still cleaved in two by the holy spear. The holy spear fell heavily on Athena like a whip, sending her flying!

"Buzz!"

The winds of magic rippled, and several magic circles appeared above Athena's head. The next moment, more than a dozen bolts of lightning crashed down from the magic circles, striking Athena, who was in mid-air, with perfect accuracy!

This is a complete and utter crushing defeat.

Although Bai Jie's various techniques were not particularly outstanding, and even beginners could perform the same moves as him, let alone seasoned warriors, Bai Jie's strength and speed transformed these moves into a deadly surprise attack!

(Wow, that's fast! Even faster than my full speed! And I didn't even use magic!)

Because her Master has changed to Bai Jie, Artoria's various stats have been comprehensively enhanced, all of them upgraded to A-rank, making her a true all-A-rank king. In Artoria's opinion, even with her A-rank agility and the enhancement from her magic release, she could definitely keep up with Bai Jie's burst speed just now!

Is my Master really just a magician?

Bai Jie tapped the Holy Lance on his shoulder and looked in Athena's direction: "Still alive? I don't think those few harmless blows could kill you."

"How could that be? I was just a little amazed at how quickly your strength has increased."

The raging wind dispersed the lingering dust, and Athena's figure emerged from the crater in the ground. Her clothes were already tattered from Bai Jie's attacks, and most of her tender loli body was exposed to Bai Jie's eyes. If there were any loli lovers present, they would definitely shout "awsl" immediately and have a nosebleed, losing all reason on the spot.

However, Bai Jie's focus was not on that. Although he was indeed looking at her body, Bai Jie was more concerned about the spot where she had just been hit.

"You're completely unharmed. Putting aside the time I hit you, magic is indeed useless against you."

Disobedient gods and god-slayers can be directly immune to magical interference below the level of gods, whether good or bad. Bai Jie's lightning strike just now was indeed very powerful, but it was still within the realm of humans and did not reach the realm of gods.

Touching her waist where she had just been struck by the Holy Lance, Athena laughed and said, "It's been a long time since I've felt this heavy blow. When we first met, you also injured me with that sword of heavenly fire."

"So you want to be executed by the Heavenly Fire Saint Judgment?"

Bai Jie took out two Heavenly Fire Judgments, transformed them into the Calamity Annihilation Greatsword, and held them in his hands.

"Oh? Compared to last time, the form of the Heavenly Fire Sword has changed quite a bit. Has its true power been unleashed?" Athena laughed. "This is quite troublesome. I have not yet returned to my Trinity form. It would be unwise to confront you head-on in this state."

"Don't fight?"

"Anyway, the Holy Grail War has only just begun, there's plenty of time."

As she spoke, Athena stuck out her tongue and licked her lips. Despite her seemingly innocent appearance, this gesture exuded a unique and alluring charm. Combined with her tattered clothes, she appeared unexpectedly seductive, like the kind of loli that often appears in doujinshi and makes people want to have sex.

"It's a bit vulgar for you to say that, but Bai Jie felt... a little bit 'boki' (a slang term for someone who is a bit rude or vulgar)."

(What are you thinking, Bai Jie! How many wives do you have at home? Still thinking about little lolis? Three years to life, death penalty at the very least!)

Taking in Bai Jie's actions, Athena smiled even more smugly: "Don't get eliminated before I defeat you, Godslayer, or I'll find it extremely boring."

"You're the one who should be careful not to get caught off guard. The Holy Grail War is a very deep place." Bai Jie shrugged. "By the way, what class are you again? After fighting for so long, I still don't know what class you are."

"...Archer."

After saying this, Athena transformed into countless owls and flew off in all directions.

Touching his chin, Bai Jie looked troubled: "Archer, it seems she hasn't shown her true abilities tonight. Oh dear, things are getting interesting."

Since she appears in the world as an Archer, it means that Athena is specialized in ranged combat abilities, such as archery. However, tonight she fought with a scythe the entire time, which clearly means she was holding back.

Even so, she still suppressed Artoria. If she were to use her full strength, Artoria would probably be killed by her.

"Master... I'm so sorry, my performance tonight was extremely embarrassing."

Artoria approached Bai Jie and said this.

"As your servant, I not only failed to defeat the enemy, but I even made you take action yourself. This is my dereliction of duty."

Actually, Artoria's performance was quite good. Her opponent was a true god, and it was already quite impressive that she was able to suppress him for a period of time. However, this rigid knight seemed completely unable to accept it.

Bai Jie rolled his eyes and suddenly laughed, "Well, that makes sense. But let's go back first. Even if we're going to punish you, we can't do it in public."

P.S.: I have my last exam, Basic Electrical Engineering, tomorrow afternoon. Does anyone know what Thevenin's theorem is?

Section 456, Question 13: How do I get Nero to get three red hits with every attack?

This is a desolate desert, where the scorching sun relentlessly casts its blazing rays, and the hot winds that sweep across the face, carrying yellow sand, make one involuntarily close their eyes.

Standing in the middle of the desert, Artoria looked at Bai Jie and Kiana behind her with a puzzled expression: "Master, may I ask where this place is?"

It is noon on the second day. After the battle last night, Artoria thought that Bai Jie would use Command Spells to order her to do something she resisted, but Bai Jie only called her out now and brought her to this place.

“I created this alternate dimension. You can think of it as a Reality Marble,” Bai Jie said. “Saber, your strength is already very high for a Heroic Spirit. Your stats, skills, and Noble Phantasm are all top-notch. In a normal Holy Grail War, as long as your Master doesn’t mess things up, victory is a sure thing.”

Unfortunately, whether it was the Fourth Holy Grail War or this Holy Grail War, the Servants summoned were all overpowered, leaving Artoria with no chance to show her abilities. Coupled with her mental state, Artoria's performance was even worse.

"Well, I couldn't care less about your Master being Kiritsugu Emiya ten years ago, but now you're my Servant and you're supposed to fight for me. I can't let you lose face in front of outsiders, so I came up with a plan."

Stepping on the desert beneath his feet, Bai Jie said, "The flow of time in this alternate dimension is different from the outside world. Even if you spend hundreds or thousands of years here, you'll only spend a day at most outside. Ah, I really have to thank Mostima. It's so great to have a teammate who specializes in time-space skills."

"Since one hour outside is equivalent to hundreds of years in this alternate dimension, it would be a shame not to make good use of it. Just last night, Athena reminded me that I have a few abilities that I haven't used for a while."

"—O Valkyrie, who has answered my call and gallops across the battlefield!"

Silver light shone around Bai Jie, and as the light faded, more than a dozen Valkyries in golden armor appeared in front of him. The leading Valkyrie pounced on Bai Jie the moment she appeared.

"Ahhh! My lord! You have finally summoned us once again!"

"Brynhildr, don't suddenly pounce on me!"

Bai Jie quickly dodged Brunhilde's lunge.

"Even if I haven't summoned you for a while, there's no need for you to just pounce on me like that. What happened to your dignity as Valkyries?"

“Master, you know it’s been a long time since you summoned us.” Orrun showed a very resentful expression. “We know that as your strength has grown rapidly, we can no longer provide you with any assistance. But even so, we still hope that you can summon us to fight for you. That is the meaning of our existence.”

"Uh......"

Bai Jie wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Orluen's tone sounded a bit like that of a widow who had been abandoned by her husband and was left at home in resentment.

But to be honest, even if Bai Jie wanted to summon them, they wouldn't be of any use in a battle at Bai Jie's level. At most, they would just be cannon fodder, which would be a bit cruel to the Valkyries. Although Bai Jie isn't a good person, he wouldn't send a bunch of beautiful girls to their deaths.

The Valkyries were somewhat aware of Bai Jie's attitude, having followed him for decades and understanding his care for them. However, if possible, they still hoped Bai Jie would give them more orders.

"Ah... So, my lord, what is the purpose of summoning us this time?" asked Alvit, the leader of the Valkyries.

Pointing to Artoria, who was standing there in a daze, Bai Jie said, "Look, do you see that blonde girl over there? She fought with Athena last night and realized she's too weak and needs to become stronger, so I hope you guys can give her some good training."

"This... Master, she is a Heroic Spirit, isn't she?"

Orluen frowned.

"Now that she has become a Heroic Spirit, she is naturally summoned in her most peak form from her lifetime. Since she is already at her peak, it means that she has no room for growth. So how can she be trained?"

As Orluen said, Heroic Spirits are summoned in their most powerful form in life. While there may be some exceptions, this is generally the case. Therefore, the power that Artoria is currently displaying is already the strongest power she can unleash, and it is basically impossible for her to go any further.

Upon hearing Orluen's statement, Bai Jie stroked his chin and said, "Wait a minute, I'll make a call to ask my junior. She has quite a few Garudas, so she should be able to offer some advice."

After saying that, Bai Jie took out his phone and called Fujimaru Ritsuka.

This is Fujimaru, may I ask who you are?

"Fujimaru, it's me, Bai Jie."

[Senior? What's wrong? Why are you calling all of a sudden? Weren't you participating in the Holy Grail War?]

"Ah, actually, my Saber King here is a bit depressed because he was beaten by a god and wants to become stronger, so I came to ask you if you have any methods."

[How to make Saber stronger? ...If you ask me, there are three relatively legitimate methods.]

"Which three?"

[In the Holy Grail War, Saber doesn't have a scabbard. Finding and giving her her scabbard would allow her to become powerful enough to directly confront Gilgamesh.]

"You mean Avalon? Okay, what about the other two?"

[The second is the Holy Lance. Although the Holy Sword is quite powerful, the one wielding the Holy Lance, Artoria Pendragon (Lancer), is a true goddess, a god-level Servant. However, this is unlikely. The Counter Force is extremely strict with the Holy Lance. I'm fine, but you probably won't be able to get it, Senpai.]

"Tch, at worst I'll just go beat up the Counter Force. It's not like I can't beat it."

【Uh...for the sake of world safety, senior, you should probably tone it down a bit. Even if you were to fight, you'd already be killed. Their existence is still very important. —Oh, right, the third method, and the simplest one, is to just pluck out Saber King's ahoge.】

"...Plucking the ahoge?" Bai Jie glanced at the ahoge fluttering in the wind on Artoria's head. "What kind of method is this to get stronger? Does it work?"

[Of course it works! The ahoge (cowlick) is the true form of the Saber King. Once it's plucked, she immediately transforms into the Dark Saber King, and the curry stick she used to hide is now just something she throws around like a basic attack. Although the improvement isn't as great as the first two methods, it's definitely the most ruthless one.]

"I see. The scabbard, the holy spear, and the ahoge (cowlick) – I've got it. Thanks."

[You're welcome, I'm off to get busy—Ah! This Tomb Raider is toxic! How did I get bitten to death by wolves again! No way, Devil May Cry 5 is so much more fun!]

Fujimaru Ritsuka's exasperated voice came from the other end of the phone, along with what sounded like a keyboard being smashed. However, Bai Jie chose to ignore it, put away his phone, and looked at Artoria: "Saber, you stay here and practice with Brunhilde and the others. I'll go find your scabbard and Holy Lance for you."

Chapter 457 Brothers, I'm out drinking with friends, so I'm taking the day off.

Final exams are over today. I'm out having a buffet and drinking with my roommates. I'll probably be completely out of it when I get back to the dorm, so sorry everyone, I'm taking the day off. I'll update as usual tomorrow, and then I'll start updating like crazy the day after tomorrow. I'll be on vacation from the 11th until the 21st of next month, so updates are definitely coming!

One hundred words One hundred words One hundred words

Section 458, Chapter 14: Could the "Furnace Showing Off the Year" have happened before the Doctor lost his memory?

The scabbard and the holy lance.

Upon hearing these two terms, which were already quite distant to her, Artoria's expression momentarily became dazed, after all, she had lost these two things for far too long.

The scabbard Avalon, which is paired with Excalibur, and the holy spear Rungomminiad, which is known as the anchor of the storm that binds the stars.

The former is the strongest personal defensive artifact. Neither physical interference, nor magical interference, nor even conceptual interference can touch the person inside Avalon. Avalon itself can also heal all injuries. In mythology, King Arthur suffered fatal injuries more than once, but he recovered from them all under the effect of Avalon. This is enough to prove how powerful Avalon's healing ability is.

The latter, however, is the Holy Lance used by King Arthur when he killed Mordred at Camlann Hill. Its true form is the tower that holds the skin of the world together, one of the towers at the end of the world that separates the surface world from the inner sea of ​​the stars. It has the same level of power as the Holy Sword, and is even superior in some aspects.

Both of these Noble Phantasms are of great significance to Artoria, and the last one is missing. She used one to kill her rebellious son, and now Bai Jie suddenly says he wants to find it. No wonder Artoria feels dazed.

"Master, how will you find my scabbard and holy spear?" Artoria asked. "My scabbard was lost before I died, and the holy spear is an extremely important treasure to the world. It's not something you can find easily."

"Well, putting the Holy Lance aside, I already have some ideas about the scabbard."