Those time travelers that year

“Oh, I see. If we interpret it literally…” Charles continued with a smile, “…you’re just like those executioners who specialize in beheading people!”

"I am a deacon belonging to the Holy Temple, under the jurisdiction of the Judgment Domain." Iris showed no anger at Charles's sarcasm, maintaining her composed demeanor as she sat calmly opposite him, arms crossed, responding with equally icy words. However, this time she didn't attack Charles directly as before. "As for my duties, Mr. Gretel, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to consider me an executioner, after all, I am indeed a weapon specifically responsible for strangling heretics like you."

"Who kills whom is still uncertain, Miss Galgwin!" Charles still wore a smile, a stark contrast to Iris's perpetually cold expression. With a slightly arrogant tone, Charles continued, "But I guarantee that if we act now, none of the ordinary people on this train will survive!"

The atmosphere in the private room froze abruptly after Charles finished speaking, as if something terrifying had forced its way into the narrow space, like darkness that devours everything, or the embers that burn the world to ashes.

No, perhaps it wasn't an illusion. Starting from the chair where Charles was sitting, the light dimmed. Although a light had been on in the private room the whole time, it was now dim. And black shadows began to extend from Charles's side, gradually enveloping the room.

Iris's indifferent gaze shifted slightly, a pale gold glint flashing in her pupils. Then, little by little, golden specks of light, like fireflies, began to rise from her body. At the same time, a cross embroidered with a rose, hanging around her neck, also began to emit a faint golden glow.

Darkness gradually encroached upon the entire private room, but a sliver of light firmly held back the encroachment of darkness in about a third of the space.

'Master, the cross around that girl's neck reminds me of a Servant's Noble Phantasm...'

Just as Ciel was slightly surprised that Iris could withstand his power, Medea's voice rang in his mind. After leaving the Type-Moon world, without the support of the Holy Grail War system, Medea was unable to maintain the Servant body granted to her by the Third Law. Instead, she became a spirit, existing within Ciel's Reality Marble. Of course, if Ciel expended most of his magic power, he could still maintain Medea's physical body.

Normally, Medea chooses to remain in her spirit form, sharing the same vision with Ciel through the power of their inherent barrier. At this moment, Medea's sudden speech startled Ciel, who then looked at the cross hanging around Iris Galgwen's neck.

In the Type-Moon universe, Noble Phantasms are the ultimate weapons used by Servants. They are materialized miracles, the proof of heroism held by Servants. They are the crystallization of humanity's yearning for miracles, and are weapons celebrated in the legends of Heroic Spirits.

If we set aside the mythological elements and legends associated with them, Noble Phantasms can essentially be seen as the part of a story concerning Heroic Spirits, elevated through legends, tales, and records, and then transformed into fantastical weapons. To put it more simply, the essence of Noble Phantasms is related to so-called faith; their foundation lies in the dissemination and knowledge of the Heroic Spirits' deeds during their lifetimes. Of course, some Noble Phantasms are not merely legends, but can be traced back to even more ancient times.

This can be considered a unique feature of the Type-Moon universe, where Noble Phantasms have a wide variety of effects. Most Noble Phantasms, to a certain extent, possess the power to alter certain rules of reality. Examples include Gilgamesh's Ea, which cuts through space to create spatial rifts; Avalon's ability to sever all physical interference, parallel world interference, and multidimensional communication; the anti-magic effect of the Crimson Rose Spear; and the incurable effect of the Yellow Rose Spear.

To some extent, the Holy Grail War is not about the strength of the Servants' attributes, but about the strength of their Noble Phantasms.

Previously, in Ciel's eyes, the Type-Moon world was more advanced than the Elder Scrolls world, not because of their different levels of existence. In Ciel's view, the real reason why the Type-Moon world was more advanced than the Elder Scrolls world was that this world had most things that could touch upon the laws of nature: the Noble Phantasms of Heroic Spirits, various Mystic Eyes, the five elements of magic, and all kinds of Reality Marbles.

Perhaps in terms of god-like life forms, Earth in the Type-Moon universe is not as chaotic as the Skyrim universe where demons have made the world a mess, but in terms of various things involving the modification or application of laws, Earth in the Type-Moon universe certainly has more than the Skyrim universe.

But unexpectedly, in this world where mystery has almost disappeared and science is flourishing, I have come across an item that is equivalent to a Noble Phantasm of a Heroic Spirit.

'Are you sure, Medea?' Ciel asked inwardly. 'You know the state of this world. Mysticism has retreated to the shadows, and science has risen. Even in your original world, Heroic Spirits have long since become legends, and almost all the existing Treasures have vanished… And this world is far worse than yours.'

"I'm sure, Master!" Medea's words were filled with surprise. She had also learned about this world and knew its state. "That feeling I got, yes, Master, that cross around that girl's neck, it's definitely a Noble Phantasm."

After hearing Medea's confirmation, Charles finally turned his gaze to the cross on Iris's chest. After examining it closely, Charles realized that the thing blocking most of his power was not the girl in front of him, but the seemingly inconspicuous cross on her chest.

'This world is truly amazing!'

“Mr. Charles Grett…” Just as Charles was inwardly marveling at this increasingly unfamiliar main world, Iris’s icy voice rang out. This time, if her voice was like a cold wind before, it was like a thick block of ice.

Charles shifted his gaze to Iris's face.

At this moment, the beautiful young girl looked at Ciel with a gloomy expression, her eyes revealing a look of hostility and disdain, as if she were looking at something filthy.

"Please show some respect. Don't you think it's incredibly impolite to stare at a lady like that?" Her tone rose, but it still felt as cold as ice. "Or is it that most men think with their lower bodies? On one hand, they dress impeccably and act like gentlemen, while on the other hand, they're constantly trying to unleash their filthy lust..." As she spoke, Iris moved her hands up slightly.

"What did I do?" Ciel asked in bewilderment via telepathy.

"Um... Master, it's good that you're focusing on the important points..." Medea's voice changed slightly. "But please, pay a little attention, that cross is still in the same position..."

Ciel: (￣△￣|||||)

76. An Encounter on the Train (3)

Honestly, as a seasoned FFF (Fearless Forever) member, in his daily life, Ciel doesn't expect any girls to be involved in any kind of romantic relationship with him. Besides, in this life, apart from one brother, he doesn't have any childhood sweethearts or distant cousins. Although as a nobleman he has maids, he's not the head maid, so he has no interest in anything romantic about them. Therefore, even now, he's still someone who hasn't even held a girl's hand… well, Medea is an exception.

Leaving the group is wrong; otherwise, what would you expect from your fellow countrymen who are suffering in anger?

Just now, because of Medea's reminder, Ciel had been staring at the cross without paying attention to its location. Only after being reminded did he come to his senses.

'Not bad,' for some reason, this was the first thought that flashed through Ciel's mind when he came to his senses. 'Wait... why am I thinking about such a gentlemanly topic?'

"Ahem!" Regaining his senses, Charles coughed lightly, slightly turning to avoid the cold, disdainful gaze directed at him. "I apologize, Miss Galgwin, I overstepped my bounds. Hmm, the cross is quite nice!"

Frowning slightly, Iris instinctively clutched the cross on her chest.

At this moment, the private room returned to normal. The black shadow retreated, curled up back towards Ciel, and finally dissolved into Ciel's shadow. After giving Ciel a deep look, Iris lowered her hands, and the golden light that had emanated from her disappeared into the air.

For a while, the two did not exchange any words. Iris, lost in thought, turned her gaze to the window of the private room, looking out at the scenery through the glass.

Outside the car window, the sky had completely darkened, with dark clouds obscuring the view. With a loud bang, a bolt of lightning ripped through the sky and fell from the clouds, followed by thunder. Soon after, an even denser downpour began.

Meanwhile, Ciel sat bewildered in his chair. This kind of plot, which clearly belonged in a light novel or harem manga, was pure torture for this veteran member.

"This script is all wrong!" Ciel roared internally. "Haven't I been openly playing the villain all along? Even if I'm on the side of the XXX Church, while I wouldn't directly accept the sword-drawing hymn, I should at least show some kind of response. Why did that seemingly righteous but actually melodramatic situation happen like this? If this continues, won't it soon turn into a harem slice-of-life story disguised as fantasy? Seriously, this is blatant sabotage!"

Wait, could it be that the author is jealous that I brought a girl back, so they did this on purpose?! I can already feel that deep killing intent from the FFF group, crossing dimensions! No, I don't want to be in the inquisition...

As various thoughts raced through his mind, Ciel forced himself to put on an indifferent expression, but quickly realized that this was just burying his head in the sand, so he immediately changed his attitude.

'Forget it, let's just pretend she doesn't exist. Hmm, let's put on a few more shields first!'

Lost in thought, Charles continued to open the magic book about Agmani in his hands. Although the atmosphere was rather awkward, especially the 'burn, burn, burn…' sounds that seemed to come from across dimensions, making him particularly tense, he wasn't sure if they were truly from another dimension or just his own imagination. In any case, Charles felt he needed to find something to distract himself.

So he decisively ignored the girl in front of him and focused his attention on the book in his hands.

——————————FFF Group's dividing line——————————

His distorted face was hidden beneath a hood as he secretly sat in the last cargo compartment of the steam train, the piercing pain in his soul causing him unbearable agony. Even then, he still clutched a demon statue tightly, panting heavily.

This was an elderly man, his eyes glowing a blood-red light, radiating fear and twisted malice. As the once-renowned leader of a cult, Gran should have enjoyed boundless glory—or at least, that's how he perceived it. But ever since he stumbled upon and acquired this demon statue over a decade ago, he had entered a new world, the inner world. For over a decade, he had painstakingly built the cult known as Dark Corner, performing numerous horrific blood sacrifices—all for what? Power and life!

Who could have imagined that more than a decade ago, he was just a half-dead old beggar on the verge of death in a garbage dump, who one day stumbled upon the devil statue he now possesses in the junkyard by sheer luck?

He soon discovered that the statue could grant him power and extended life through killing and blood sacrifice. So, from that day on, the man who had spent his life as a beggar disappeared, and in his place became the high priest of the Dark Corner.

However, this statue is like a real demon, its demands are getting bigger and bigger. At first, killing one or two people would reward it with power and life. Gradually, the demands became higher and higher. Now, the statue will not react at all if dozens of people are sacrificed at once. Without the sacrifice of hundreds of people, the statue will not even pay attention.

However, fifteen years ago, driven by his lust for power, he secretly used his cult members to massacre several remote towns, earning him a place on the blacklist. The Sanctuary, a supernatural organization hidden behind history, began relentlessly hunting him down, while other societies from the underworld also harbored no goodwill towards him.

After years of hiding, he had been unable to draw power from the statue for a long time. He had intended to instigate a large-scale and prolonged blood sacrifice by igniting a civil war in the country of Ruman, but unexpectedly, an accident occurred. That night, after clashing with an unknown mystic using the power of the demon statue, he was horrified to discover that the ghastly green beam of light not only repelled him but also directly damaged his soul.

After that, the plan failed, and the Holy Temple intervened to annihilate them. In the deepest sewers beneath the Ruman Empire, everyone in the main base lost contact, including one of his trusted fourth-tier confidants. If he hadn't seized the opportunity to leave with the demon statue first, he would likely have suffered the same fate.

But now, his soul is gradually weakening, causing his power to decline. And at this moment, the demon statue has undergone another change—having not been subjected to blood sacrifice for a long time, it has begun to devour his life instead.

Unwilling to die, he had no choice but to take a desperate gamble after losing all his forces. There were hundreds of people on the train, plus a fourth-order member from the Holy Temple. If he could sacrifice these lives, he could survive and even regain his original power.

"I want to live, I want to live..." Grandet muttered to himself as if he had gone mad. "I want to enjoy everything, I want more strength to live."

At this moment, the demon statue he held in his hand also emitted a blood-red light from its eyes.

An inexplicable sound drifted from a place where no one could hear it...

'Greed, selfishness—use everything you have to kill, to destroy. The sacrifice of blood and souls will be your assistant in breaking my seal.'

'Go, my puppet, slaughter these mortals and use their souls to please me!'

'And also, that symbol of glory left behind by Korg, the sacred relic held by that little church girl, will be... the key to unlocking me.'

'I will break through the barriers, return to this world, and once again rule my kingdom…'

77. An Encounter on the Train (4)

Grandet rose from the ground, his soul wounded and the life-devouring power of the demon statue in his hand leaving him increasingly weak. Time was running out; if he didn't want to die, he had to act immediately.

Pulling at his robe, Grandet's bloodshot eyes looked toward the door of the wagon compartment. He walked over, his withered, tree-like hands grasping the iron doorknob. Just as he was about to open the door, he heard voices outside.

"Oh, this damn weather!" a complaint rang out. "Why do we have to inspect the carriages in this weather?!"

"Save your energy, this is our job!" another voice rang out. "Instead of complaining, let's hurry up and check all the carriages so we can go back and have a hot cup of coffee."

"What could possibly happen!" The voice that started it was still complaining. "It's impossible for some lowly commoners or slaves to have boarded this train that originated from the capital, right?"

……

Hearing the conversation coming from outside, Grandet stopped his outstretched hand and leaned against the wall next to the carriage door.

With a whoosh, the iron gate was pulled open, letting in the wind and rain. Then, two train patrol officers, wearing raincoats and police uniforms, walked in.

"Oh, damn weather, damn train carriage!"

"Stop complaining, let's check and see if any illegal immigrants have come up here..."

"If you have one, what do you plan to do?"

"Just throw them out of the car, what else can we do? Treat them to good food and drink? Who has the time for that!"

"It's not a good day outside, but like you said, who has the time for that..."

The two patrol officers chatted casually as they entered the cluttered carriage. Unbeknownst to them, behind them, Grandet, his eyes glowing red, approached them, and then…

With a tearing sound, Grandet's hand stabbed an unsuspecting policeman in the back, piercing his chest. Blood splattered everywhere, and at the same time, a warm, still-beating heart was grasped in the withered hand.

"What...no, monster...Aa ...

Soon, another patrolman followed suit, his throat ripped open by Grandet before he could even draw his pistol. Blood flowed everywhere, filling the air with a thick, pungent stench. Grandet brought the heart he had just bought to his lips... and then bit down.

A chilling sound of swallowing filled the air, and soon, Grandet, his hands and even his cloak stained with blood, had swallowed a heart whole. His face, smeared with blood, made him look like a demon crawling out of hell.

Then, Grandet bent down, his hands tearing open the chests of the two corpses like knives, pulling out their internal organs. Using the blood on the ground, he began to draw a magic circle, unsettling to behold, on the carriage floor. Placing his prized demon statue atop the magic circle, Grandet began to mutter something in a low, indistinct language.

Soon, the entire magic circle lit up with a red light, and a pale red mist began to spread from the statue. The two corpses on the ground quickly melted away in the mist, like melting ice, eventually turning into a pool of blood. At that moment, all the blood in the carriage was drawn by an invisible force, flowing towards the statue…

A red light flashed across the statue that had absorbed all the blood, and then Grandet's body shuddered, causing him to curl up on the ground in pain. However, he quickly got up again. At this moment, Grandet, who had originally been an old man, was now creaking and twisting all over. After he stood up completely, he was no longer an old man, but a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties.

"Hahahaha!" Grandet laughed maniacally. "Power, my power is back, my life is back... Hahahaha..." If anyone from the mystical world were here, they would notice that Grandet, who was once an old man, now exuded a completely different aura, becoming bloodthirsty and insane. Even the heavy rain outside couldn't mask the strong, rotten smell emanating from him, like the stench of corpses piled up in a slaughterhouse...

"This is divine power that transcends the fifth rank. With this power, that little girl from the sanctuary is no threat at all. Everyone on this train will become a part of my life..."

However, the madly infatuated Grandet failed to notice that the cracks on the demon statue were multiplying, and that the pale red mist was actually seeping out from these cracks. An even more terrifying aura, like that of blood and war, was slowly seeping from the demon statue, but Grandet, as the cult leader, was completely oblivious, or rather, now almost entirely a puppet, couldn't detect it at all.

And that mysterious voice continued to echo in the void...

'Very good, very good...'

'Finally, finally, the time has come for me to find the proof of Korg's glory. The prophecy will be fulfilled, and I can finally see the light of day again from this damned prison.'

'Hundreds of years of waiting, hundreds of years of torment, are about to end.'

'Hundreds of years of accumulation, hundreds of years of lying in wait, are coming to an end today.'

……

After laughing, Grandet finally stopped. Sensing the evil magic emanating from the statue, he bent down and picked it up. Then, unknowingly, a series of incantations came to his lips. He didn't realize he was chanting nameless spells, nor did he notice that, along with his incantations, the pale red mist in the carriage thickened and then drifted out, unaffected by the rain outside.

And this fog, as if alive, seeped in from the gaps in one of the carriages ahead.

——————————Past Divider——————————

Long ago, almost a thousand years ago, there once stood a powerful kingdom on this land, ruled by a young and ambitious king. This young king spent over a decade subduing the power-hungry nobles and leading the kingdom toward outward expansion.