In Type-Moon, it all starts with adopting Sakura.

Her pride wouldn't allow her to do anything she couldn't accept losing, and besides, her goal in this battle was simply to have an easy fight.

Upon hearing this, Rowe nodded, then smiled and looked at Scáthach, asking, "Did you have fun this time, Master?"

"How could I possibly be happy to be caught out by such a petty trick? You idiot, Msster."

Scáthach smiled slightly, then paused, looked at Rowe, and said with a relaxed expression, "So, as the victor, how do you intend to deal with me this time?"

"What do you think?"

"Do I need to think about it? Of course it is..."

Scáthach gently tiptoed and kissed Rowe's lips. After a deep kiss, she pushed him away, a trickle of blood still flowing from her lips.

"Now that I've caught you, the contract is established. I am yours now, and you are mine too. We will never be separated again."

Is this your revenge?

Feeling the extremely special bond that had just been established between himself and Scáthach, Rowe gave a helpless smile.

"you guess?"

Scáthach also wore a captivating smile.

※※※※※※※

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"Star Iron, Have I Become Their White Moonlight?"

"A genius's assistant, the swordsman's disciple, a fake hero..."

I admit that these are all my actions, but compared to those fictional historians who destroy the history of the galaxy and are determined to destroy it, my actions are not so hateful, are they?

I simply appeared when someone needed help the most, using a false identity, and did my best to help that person without expecting anything in return. Even after they got out of their predicament, I didn't linger; I just quietly disappeared. I believe I was doing a good deed.

"Wait, you mean you appear in that person's life when they need help the most, help them unconditionally, become their 'ideal person,' and then disappear?"

Chapter 258 I, of the Floros lineage, have been loyal for generations

Once again, within the Temple of Time—

"By the way, how long has it been since we last appeared?"

"I don't know, but it's been a long time."

Do you think the king might have already forgotten about us?

"Don't talk nonsense! I think the king has definitely not forgotten us. He's just been held back by something. Perhaps he's in danger now and needs our help!"

"Absolutely! Absolutely! The King has absolutely not forgotten or abandoned us. He is merely waiting, waiting for the perfect moment for us to make our appearance!"

"...You can fool others, but don't end up fooling yourself too."

"..."

While some of the Demon Pillars were still giving each other pep talks, the Demon Pillars closest to the throne, who had the clearest view, finally spoke up.

First of all, as Demon Pillars, they believe in the King because the King is benevolent, the King is great, and the King is worthy of their admiration. If anyone dares to say a bad word about the King, they will definitely swarm him and show that guy what the Seventy-Two Bronze Men Formation of Demon Pillars is all about.

However, they didn't believe in Goetia, much less in those three bastards, Floros and Barbatos; those three wicked fellows certainly weren't up to any good.

The longer it drags on, the more likely this will happen, because they don't even need to think to guess what kind of wicked schemes those three guys are plotting. They'll definitely pat themselves on the back for all the benefits while taking the blame for everything—they're nothing but treacherous officials.

So the longer it drags on, the more frustrated they become.

So they dispatched the most diligent, loyal, and steadfast demon god pillar—Jie—from the Temple of Time to find the king and persuade him to release them from the Temple of Time. But the result…

"So slow! What on earth is that Jiepai guy doing?!"

Standing beside the throne, Morax, the ancient demon god who was the eldest and was chosen as the temporary leader by the demon god pillars, was extremely troubled by the mess in front of him. So, he subconsciously wanted to scratch his head like Dio to vent his frustration.

After all, he never expected that Jie Pai would also play the same game of disappearing from contact as those two traitors. However, this time, unlike Floros and Barbatos, Jie Pai did not leave the group chat, but instead remained silent. No matter how many messages he sent, he could not receive them, as if he had been disconnected from the internet, which made him even more anxious.

In such a short time, two of the departing Demon Pillars have defected, and one has stopped replying after reading the message. They're really going to rebel!

"Don't panic, Morax, this isn't like you."

Samigina, well-versed in pedagogy, dragged his massive body forward to the side of the exhausted Morax and said, “Indeed, we all understand your desire to find the King, but it’s always best to be cautious. After all, you wouldn’t want to see Jiepai suddenly return to this temple in death, would you? Perhaps he’s just encountered some trouble. But what kind of trouble could trap a Demon Pillar and prevent him from sending out any messages? We have no idea.”

"Sigh, I did lose my composure just now. Every demon god knows Jie's personality; he would never betray us. He is the most loyal demon god pillar. His silence now must mean he's in trouble. So this is really troublesome..."

Morax sighed. He suddenly missed Goetia. After all, if Goetia were here, he could pass the buck to him and let him continue to worry instead of him fretting about it. Only those who have personally held the position of leader of the Demon God Pillars can understand how exhausting it is.

However, while Samigina was chatting with Morax, Paimon, who was responsible for analyzing the Temple of Time below, remained silent. This prompted Agares, who was standing nearby, to ask curiously, "What's wrong now? Have you made any progress or breakthroughs?"

"—"

Seeing the other Demon Pillars notice his unusual behavior and gradually gather around, Paimon, sitting in the center, closed all his eyes, as if deep in thought. Then, he replied softly, seemingly lost in thought, "Something's not right. I've been pondering something, but you've all pushed me to this point. Although this thought is extremely blasphemous, speaking of which… is that human really the King? Although he possesses the purest Crusader aura, compared to the King, he seems closer to the Son of God, doesn't he? If, as he says, the King abandoned everything, shouldn't he be living as an ordinary person? And…"

"And what?"

"Because of the Floros incident, I've recently started recalling the entire Burning of the Human Realm. In the fragments of memories I've been revisiting, I saw a human named Romani Archman. No matter how I look at him, he's clearly human, but something feels off. Although such a guess is extremely disrespectful to the King, the aura he exudes feels strangely familiar... it's just too similar..."

Demon Pillars: "--Ooo ...

No one heard Paimon's words, or rather, his soliloquy, and no Demon Pillar paid any attention to this side.

Just as Paimon was about to explain, a tsunami-like scream suddenly erupted from the previously peaceful Temple of Time. It turned out that Barbatos, who had been missing for so long, had suddenly returned to the Temple of Time! Now, not only did Agares have no time to listen to Paimon's reasoning, but Paimon himself lost interest in continuing the conversation. He and the other Demon Pillars instantly surrounded Barbatos.

"May the heavens punish you, traitor!!"

"Traitor!!"

"Heavenly Punishment!!"

As a deluge of accusations swept in, the vast Temple of Time was once again engulfed in chaos as demons danced wildly.

-

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The underworld on the other side.

"You're really bold, Floros. I personally rescued you from the underworld, which was already a great act of mercy. I never expected you to betray my good intentions."

Goetia grabbed Leif's leg, preventing his underling, whom he had painstakingly rescued from the Underworld, from escaping through the portal above. Leif, not to be outdone, immediately turned and roared at Goetia, "Don't be so hypocritical, Goetia! If Barbatos hadn't already been killed by your punch, and if I weren't the only Demon Pillar left who could resonate with you and help you quickly recover your power, would you still have me alive?!"

Not long ago, Rafe and Barbatos, who hit it off and formed the Demon Pillar Suicide Squad, ventured into the Underworld to find someone and bring them out. However, they were struck unconscious by two Underworld lightning strikes and ended up sending the terrifying goddess of the Underworld to the King's side.

Because the Underworld is a realm that harbors demonic and undead creatures, its lightning punishments are particularly effective against them. The two of them slept for a long time, and when they realized what had happened, they were utterly panicked. Just as they were about to go out and figure out the situation, Goetia, who had also sensed the situation in the Underworld, arrived and blocked their way, leading to the current predicament.

Not long ago, Barbatos refused to comply with Goetia's request to be synchronized with the Demon Pillar, and directly took Goetia's explosive punch, causing the entire pillar to be blown to pieces. Lef survived not because Goetia suddenly had a change of heart, but because Barbatos was already dead, and he was the last Demon Pillar that could be used as a power bank.

However, even though Rafe immediately realized something was wrong, he had already activated the teleportation array he had drawn earlier in preparation to escape from here immediately.

Seeing that Barbatos was dead, Rafe hurriedly entered the teleportation array, but at that moment Goetia caught up with him, causing the current situation.

Despite his tough exterior, Rafe is actually terrified inside. Dying means returning to the Temple of Time, and he can't even bear to think about what that would be like. As a traitor, even death seems like a distant dream. Nevertheless, he's stubbornly continuing to challenge Goetia. He's gambling that Goetia won't kill him. If he does, Goetia will lose the Ten Commandments and lack a synchronized Demon Pillar, quickly weakening to a crippled state. Goetia absolutely needs him.

Having recently fought Tiamat and awaiting her shrewd intervention, Goetia was indeed taken aback by his words. After all, he was currently weaker than ever before, feeling utterly exhausted. While he was fearless against ordinary Servants, even Grand Servants, easily defeating them as weaklings, he was truly uncertain about facing Tiamat in her full power. This forced him to focus on recovering his strength as much as possible.

What could restore his power?

Without a doubt, it is these demon pillars.

Aside from the incredibly united and invincible Demon Pillars of the Temple of Time, the only ones he could capture were the two traitors, Barbatos and Floros. So he followed the scent of Barbatos and Lev to the Underworld, where he coincidentally encountered the two disheveled fellows.

Goetia hadn't expected that, despite everyone being traitors, these two harbored even greater hatred for him than the other Demon Pillars. They wouldn't even listen to his explanations, insisting that he had come here to harm the King. He was completely stunned when this false accusation was leveled against him, and Barbatos even revealed his ultimate form and attacked him.

Already annoyed, and then the other party kept calling him a traitor, Goetia couldn't hold back and punched Barbatos, accidentally killing him. This made him very remorseful, so for now he could only focus on the remaining Raef. Although one Demon Pillar was a bit too few, it was barely enough. He could restore as much as he could, and use the light bands in the sky to make do with the rest.

"Stop running, Rafe, let's talk first."

Because they still needed Rafe for the time being, Goetia didn't actually slap him to death. Instead, she suppressed her emotions and tried her best to soothe the guy's feelings.

"What's there to talk about? I have nothing to talk to you about! I don't believe a traitor like you..."

Despite the force of the Geitia below that felt like it was about to tear his legs off, Rafe continued to crawl laboriously through the tunnel above.

"Damn it! How dare you call me a traitor?!"

This opening statement completely broke Goetia's composure. Rafe continued to shout righteously, "Isn't that right?! After you capture me, you'll definitely use me to threaten the king! My lineage of Floros has been loyal for generations, how can we collude with you!"

"Aren't you overestimating yourself a bit, Floros..." Goetia couldn't hold back any longer. He really wanted to tear this damned traitor to pieces right here, but he had to carefully control his strength so as not to actually kill him.

"Believe me! I'm serious! I assure you in the name of the Demon King that I will never use you to threaten Solomon, so turn around and look into my sincere eyes!"

Hearing Goetia's assurances, Rafe hesitated for a moment before cautiously turning to look at Goetia.

"!!!"

Then—he saw it, eyes bloodshot and seemingly from hell, devoid of any sincerity, containing only pure madness and brutality.

'If I get caught, I'm definitely dead!!'

This idea suddenly popped into his mind.

"Get out of here, you bastard!!"

Rafe climbed even faster in an instant.

"Wait a minute!!"

Goetia rubbed his eyes hard. "Give me another chance! I was just too tired! You have to believe me! I was just too tired! I absolutely did not intend to tear you to pieces after I had used you!"

Rafe: "...Aaaaaah! Help!!"

These two were yelling in front of someone's door, almost becoming a laughing stock.

"Um, I was saying..."

A slightly puzzled, yet equally soft and sweet voice came from the side.

It turned out that Ereshkigal, who had just been captured by the intruders, not only lost the Holy Grail but was also forced to sign a series of unequal treaties before being released, looked at the two strangers performing performance art in front of his house and made strange noises.

"How long are you planning to keep playing in front of someone else's house?"

In order to conserve some of his magical energy, Goetia did not use his true form, but instead acted in the form of Solomon's Grand Spirit Origin and his remains. Therefore, Ereshkigal saw him as just another Servant who had fallen into the underworld, and thus he was not particularly afraid.

"Hmm? You are... the goddess of the underworld?"

Upon hearing the voice, the two turned around in unison. Goetia frowned when he saw her, since he had come into contact with the goddesses when he distributed the Holy Grails, so he recognized Ereshkigal.

However, he no longer cares about these goddesses and the Holy Grail. After all, these things are no different from ants to him. As long as he successfully reconciles with Solomon, he can easily create as many of these things as he wants.