On how PhDs become human evil

"That makes sense. Let's just take them down one by one. Kill those we can, and we'll deal with the ones we can't kill next time. That's basically our strategy. Anyway, there's still plenty of time before dawn, so let's continue exploring Fuyuki City."

"Yes."

P.S.: Emmm, I guess it's because this book is about to end that I haven't been in the mood. I just haven't felt any passion for writing lately.

P.S.: Are you guys all so eager to see a three-wheeled motorcycle? I thought you guys preferred Kamen Rider.

Interlude 466: The Storm Is Coming

Itogami Island, or the Night Empire, was a small artificial island belonging to Japan decades ago. But now, it is one of the four great Night Empires of the world, and the highest-ranking of the four dynasties. Its former name as a special zone for demons has been changed to a holy land for demons, becoming a place that almost all demons yearn for.

The Cornerstone Gate, which serves as the central hub of Itogami Island and the core of its operation, is the most important place on the island. Unlike decades ago, it has not only been developed into a commercial district, but is also normally off-limits to visitors.

But today, the cornerstone gates welcomed a guest.

Wearing black high-heeled leather boots and tossing her orange-red hair, Fujimaru Ritsuka, in the prime of her youth, stood like a proud rose before the Gate of Foundations.

"Bai Jie! I need to talk to you! Get your ass out here right now!"

A shout that was anything but ladylike came from Fujimaru Ritsuka's mouth, so loud that the entire Keystone Gate could hear it.

Despite Fujimaru Ritsuka's clearly disturbing shouts, there was no reaction from inside the Keystone Gate, as Fujimaru Ritsuka's presence was not unfamiliar to the people of the Keystone Gate.

Everyone knows that Fujimaru Ritsuka has a thing with that guy at the top of the Foundation Gate! Even though that guy has never publicly stated it, almost everyone accepts it, since everyone has witnessed the chocolates Fujimaru Ritsuka sends her every Valentine's Day.

As Fujimaru Ritsuka's voice fell, less than ten seconds later, the gate to the Foundation Gate opened, and Bai Jie, casually draped a white coat over his shoulders, walked out.

Yawning, Bai Jie rubbed his eyes and said, "Fujimaru, what are you doing? I was having a nice nap and you woke me up with your yelling, damn it."

"Sleep, sleep, all you do is sleep! Sooner or later you'll turn into a pig from sleeping!"

"If you have any complaints, go talk to Talulah. I don't know if she was on drugs or what last night, she was incredibly strong."

"Then marry me! I'll take care of all the women in your family for you!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka was eager to try.

She had liked this jerk in front of her for a long time, but for some reason, he just wouldn't agree to marry her. In his words, "I already have enough wives at home, I can't handle another one."

To this, Fujimaru Ritsuka only had one thing to say—Go to hell!

If you hadn't been so impulsive back then and married over a dozen wives, would things be like this now? You're so listless and look like you're dying of kidney deficiency. People who don't know you would think you, Bai Jie, are a starving ghost who hasn't eaten for days.

"Will I marry you?"

Bai Jie raised an eyebrow. He had heard Fujimaru Ritsuka mention this suggestion hundreds of years ago, but the fact that he hadn't married her yet told him the answer.

"Give me a break. If you step into my house, I won't be able to have a single day of peace. So, what's this that you need my help with? Which world has been destroyed? Or has that kid Goetia caused trouble again?"

"No, actually, there was a problem on my end."

As she said this, Fujimaru Ritsuka looked somewhat embarrassed.

"Logically, this should be something Chaldea should handle themselves, since we're the ones who caused the trouble. But this time, the trouble that Da Vinci and her group have caused is a bit too big for me to handle alone, so I had to come to you."

"So what did Da Vinci actually do that you can't even tear apart with your bare hands?"

"An artificial life form with 99% physical and magical resistance, an indestructible body, and 20 times the destructive power of a curry stick, created by Leonardo da Vinci, P-Uncle, Andersen, Mephistopheles, and Morgan."

Immunity to 99% of physical and magical damage was enough to shock even Bai Jie. Add to that the destructive power equivalent to 20 times that of a curry stick, and the fact that his body was virtually indestructible, and it's no wonder that Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't tear him apart.

Of course, if given time, she could definitely tear it up, but then Chaldea would probably be gone too.

"How could those casters have come up with the idea of ​​creating something like that?"

"I heard from Leonardo da Vinci that it was because of Godzilla's influence. I teamed up with Godzilla to beat up King Ghidorah, and ever since then they have become obsessed with monsters and have been trying to create a perfect monster."

"And then they created monsters that you couldn't even defeat?"

Bai Jie had a string of "mmp"s running through his mind, but he didn't know whether to say them or not. Those Casters at Chaldea were seriously too idle! They should use that time to study magic properly! Why were they messing around with monsters all the time?!

Rubbing his temples, Bai Jie finally understood the situation: "So you've come to ask me to take care of that thing."

"Hmm, I've figured it out. That guy's physical resistance and magical resistance are separate, and the conversion between the two takes about 0.5 seconds. So, with one of us specializing in physical resistance and the other in magical resistance, we can definitely take it down if we team up!"

"I see, I understand now."

Bai Jie nodded, then extended one hand.

Looking at the hand, Fujimaru Ritsuka paused for a moment: "What?"

"As for payment, I don't want to work for free. Give me three hundred Saint Quartz and I'll help you."

"Holy crap, are you robbing me?! I only have a little over two hundred on hand, and you come here wanting three hundred? That's outrageous!"

"I was woken up in the middle of the night by you, and I haven't even asked you for compensation for emotional distress! Besides, even brothers keep clear accounts!"

"Screw your idea of ​​keeping accounts clear even between brothers! What kind of relationship do we have? Talking about money hurts our feelings!"

"Alright, you handle it by yourself. I'm going back to sleep."

Seeing Bai Jie turn to leave, Fujimaru Ritsuka immediately became anxious. She had finally found an excuse to come and see Bai Jie, and if she let him go, she would probably have to wait until the New Year to come and see him again.

"Ugh! Fine! Three hundred Saint Quartz, right? I'll give them to you!" Fujimaru Ritsuka scratched her hair in a self-deprecating manner. "I must have owed you something in my past life. It feels like I've been being extorted by you ever since we met."

"What do you mean by extortion? This is a fair trade, okay? Don't make me sound like a heartless businessman." Bai Jie, who had returned, laughed heartily. "Then lead the way. You've got it under control, right?"

Unexpectedly, Fujimaru Ritsuka shook her head.

"No, after I killed it more than ten times, it realized it couldn't beat me and ran away. It even accidentally activated the spirit transfer and ran to another world."

"You mean we still need to look for it?"

"No, it's certain which world it went to, it's Type-Moon, but the problem is that it went to a point in the past, and according to observations, it seems that another version of you was also at that time."

"Huh? Doesn't that mean..."

Bai Jie recalled his own humanity, which was almost equivalent to the Lostbelt, and then looked at the nemesis of humanity in front of him. He immediately felt his mentality collapse.

(Let's inform Gaia and Alaya to prepare to flee.)

Section 467, paragraph 21: Who came up with this piece of crap, the Law for the Protection of the Seas?!

"Oh my, what an exciting battle! I never expected that little girl Saber could fight on par with that Berserker and that unknown Servant."

Hundreds of meters above Einzbern Castle, atop a chariot pulled by two black divine bulls, Iskandar uttered these words of reflection.

Thirty minutes ago, he sensed the provocative magic released by Bai Jie and Artoria, so he pulled his Master along and drove the chariot here. After arriving here, he did not choose to join the battle, but simply stayed in the air to observe the battle below.

Then he witnessed Artoria holding her own against two opponents, and Whitebeard beating up fellow Servant Hajime Nagumo.

"I didn't expect to run into these two old acquaintances in this Holy Grail War. How interesting. You think so too, kid?"

"What nonsense are you spouting, you idiot!"

Weber, standing next to him, yelled at him in annoyance.

"They just left the chariot parked so high up like that! Hurry up and let me down! I'm freezing! And I'm afraid of heights!"

"Ah, you haven't changed a bit in ten years." Iskandar scratched his red hair and flicked Waver's forehead helplessly. "Aren't you a monarch now? At least show some courage. It's been ten years and you're still so timid. That won't do."

"Mind your own business! At the end of the day, I'm just a third-rate magician—Achoo!"

Seeing Iskandar suddenly sneeze, he was speechless with his Master. He had thought that after ten years, Iskandar would have become much more reliable, but it seemed that he was still the same as before—but that was fine too.

Iskandar glanced at Bai Jie and Artoria, who were already leaving below, and clapped his hands: "Well, alright, I've decided. Let's go and say hello to Saber and the others."

"Huh?!"

Webber's mouth was so wide open from the shock that an apple could fit inside.

"The probability of two Heroic Spirits being summoned in two consecutive Holy Grail Wars is even lower than winning the lottery. You could call it fate, right? In that case, how could I not go and say hello to Saber?"

"Furthermore... I'd like to see if Saber is still as naive and laughable as she was ten years ago."

Iskandar couldn't help but smile as he recalled that royal banquet ten years ago.

"Oh, you're laughing so happily, son of Zeus."

Suddenly, a clear, cold female voice rang out behind Iskandar, and the way she addressed Iskandar made him shudder.

Slowly turning around, Iskandar looked at the person who had just arrived.

It was a silver-haired little girl wielding a giant scythe.

Goddess Athena.

"A Servant? I didn't expect there to be such a young Servant."

“After all, I have not yet returned to my Triune form, so I can only appear in this form,” Athena said with a smile. “Then I will not waste any more words. You may leave here, son of Zeus.”

Although there is no concrete evidence, Iskandar is often described as the son of Zeus in many mythological biographies, and he is also depicted as having a C-rank divinity in his chart.

Iskandar looked troubled. "Just because I am the son of Zeus, you want to kill me? That's quite an arrogant reason. By the way, you don't actually think you can defeat me—the Conqueror Iskandar—alone, do you?"

By the end, Iskandar's body was exuding a fierce and domineering kingly aura. Magic surged throughout his body, and the wheels of his chariot were bursting with dazzling divine lightning!

Athena's tone made it seem as if Iskandar was an opponent she could easily defeat. This fact immediately enraged Iskandar's kingly side. As the conqueror who ravaged the world, he had never been so disrespected except by the King of Heroes!

Feeling the unpleasant and hateful lightning, Athena's discomfort intensified. Apart from her nemesis, the god-slayer, she hated the sky and lightning the most!

"My name is Iskandar! I appear in this world as a Rider! Unknown Servants, state your names!"

Iskandar's shouts echoed through the night sky.

With a cold laugh, Athena pointed her scythe at Iskandar: "My name is Athena, the disobedient Athena, and in this Holy Grail War, I am Archer."

"Athena?!"

It wasn't Iskandar who exclaimed in surprise, but Weber.

"Isn't that a goddess of god-like status? Why would such a being be summoned as a servant!?"

"It's actually that famous goddess! She's taking a god as her opponent right from the start... Hahahaha!"

In contrast to Weber's panic, Iskandar let out a hearty laugh of pure joy!

"I originally thought that the strongest opponents in this Holy Grail War would be Saber and Berserker, but I never expected to be able to fight against the goddess! This is truly exhilarating!"