You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Yinmeng's eyes darted around, a cute smile appearing on her lips: "No way~"

I'm the youngest sister in the family, so I'm no threat to the older sisters. Akame-nee-san can totally trust me, okay?

Chapter 421 Have you had enough of the good life?

The Bankai incident did not disrupt Iori's original plans. She continued to build her army in an orderly manner and carried out intelligence work against the enemy. She was currently poised to act, waiting for the "undercover agent" in Hueco Mundo to send a message before she could begin her operation.

Of course, as a commander of the Grim Reapers, Iori couldn't completely trust Hueco Mundo, so he had to go through the motions of verification... In short, if you're going to put on an act, you have to go all the way.

Before the war began, Iori returned to Type-Moon, and Chaldea indeed prepared the magical core he needed.

One is based on the Ishtar Gate, which utilizes the divinity and symbolism of the goddess of abundance, and has the effect of connecting with the earth and continuously drawing on its essence.

It should have been like a Pixiu, only taking in and not giving out, but because Ishtar herself had very bad luck with money, there were also channels for it to flow out, which turned it from a "treasury door" into a very good "two-way valve".

Incidentally, this thing was specially cut out from the old city of Uruk as punishment after Ishtar caused trouble and was suppressed. Ishtar herself even did it while crying and wailing... Iori didn't see the scene at the time and deeply regrets it.

Another one is based on the [Old-style Machine God]. In the FGO setting, the Olympian gods of the Greek Lostbelt are all Machine Gods created by alien civilizations. For various reasons, they were stranded on Earth and given a localized image.

The [Old-Style Mech God] is an obsolete machine that lacks personalized functional components. With enough of them, it has been redesigned and, in terms of performance alone, can be considered a Mech God without a divine core, easily serving as a magic furnace core.

In addition, there are some small to medium-sized ones made with the Holy Grail as the core, used as supporting auxiliary devices.

In short, the magicians from Chaldea performed admirably this time, and surprisingly, they didn't do any personalized modifications... perfectly meeting Iori's requirements.

When Iori saw Ritsuka again, he was naturally very grateful, but neither he nor Ritsuka were the type to be pretentious, so they didn't stand on ceremony.

"Iori, is something bothering you?"

"Ok?"

"I'm in charge of so many distinctive Heroic Spirits, I've long since developed an extraordinary sensitivity... You must have something on your mind, right?"

Ritsuka and Iori sat down facing each other in the cafeteria.

She ordered a special Mapo Tofu and then chatted with Iori.

After thinking for a moment, Iori realized there was nothing she couldn't say, so she revealed that her "Noble Phantasm" had been restricted. Since Type-Moon also has the concept of "True Name," Ritsuka was able to understand the specifics of the situation.

"That's really bad~ But you have more than one Noble Phantasm, right?"

Ritsuka looked at Iori's waist: "To be honest, your class affinity isn't prioritized [Saber], so you should have a more powerful Noble Phantasm."

That's how it is for now.

Iori casually said, "It's just a matter of feeling. Just like cockroaches aren't harmful to humans, but we definitely wouldn't like living with them."

"On the other hand, even though there are cases of people being bitten or even killed by cats and dogs every year, people still like to choose them as pets."

Ritsuka smiled and nodded, then asked, "Do you need my help?"

"Ok?"

"I'm very good at this kind of thing. Many Servants have had their Noble Phantasm rank and skill level increased after completing certain 'trial missions' with me, and some have even changed their true names."

Ritsuka looked past Iori and gestured with her eyes: "That Archer in the red apron has had many similar missions, and has gradually upgraded all her skills and Noble Phantasm~"

"..."

Iori turned around and saw Archer looking up at him strangely. He could only give a friendly smile as a greeting.

Emiya, why are you always involved in every upgrade? Being popular has its advantages!

Treasure Trove and Interlude...?

Type-Moon would certainly not have a storyline dedicated to Iori, but Ritsuka still appreciated Ritsuka's kindness.

Even so, I still have no clue.

Iori shook her head. "I am not a heroic spirit who left behind regrets or wishes in my life, so I can't think of any 'trial missions' to do right now."

"Let's leave it at that for now. Don't forget me when you think of me later."

Ritsuka looked down at the black coffee in the disposable paper cup and smiled nostalgically, "How many times have I repeated this... It's been so long since I've done a new mission."

Iori smiled silently: "It's the off-season, that's how it is."

While gamers can simply check in or quit, Ritsuka has no other choice. And in these endless cycles, she has long since experienced everything she hasn't.

This might be why she likes to talk to Iori—after all, in the entire Gari, she's the only one whose bond with Iori hasn't been maxed out yet, and she hasn't even unlocked the first Interlude.

"I'll remember that."

Iori raised her glass in a gesture of respect.

"Your divine status is at the level of a main god, and your spiritual foundation is much stronger than that of an ordinary main god. Who is the person who can seal your treasure?"

Ritsuka rested her chin on her hand, watching Iori with great interest: "Could it be a new [Beast]?"

—It's clear that the off-season is quite tough.

"No, quite the opposite. If you have to say, they should be on the 'lawful' side. They will not only not harm the world, but will also strive to maintain the existing order."

Iori pondered for a moment: "But his rank is indeed very high. If we compare it with mythology, and consider the creator of the world as the first generation of gods, then he is the leader of the second generation, the one who manages specific matters."

"Like Odin?"

Ritsuka said with relief, "In that case, it's not surprising that you were able to fall for it."

"Yes~ And my Zanpakuto... Noble Phantasm, was born from my soul. You should be able to understand my anger that something so important was tampered with, right?"

"But judging from your expression, it's less about anger and more about shame, like a great demon being bitten by a mosquito—the loss isn't significant, but being hurt by such a treacherous creature makes you feel annoyed."

Ritsuka leaned back slightly, looking calmly at Iori: "You definitely won't let this go until you get your revenge."

"...You really know me well."

After a moment of silence, Iori couldn't help but laugh.

Now that Ritsuka has said that, it does seem to make sense.

Although the Great Monk is positioned as a near-final boss in "Bleach," Iori, even when he was weak, was only cautious and careful, without any sense of panic or unease.

As his strength gradually increased and he gained more power in various other worlds, he became even less concerned. In fact, the Warlord Clan, which was integrated with the Spirit King Palace, was seen by him as no different from earthbound spirits, posing no threat whatsoever.

That's why Iori lost his composure when he discovered that the Bankai had been tampered with, and even unleashed his uncontrollable killing intent in front of the Muramasa.

At this moment, he felt a sense of absurdity, as if he had already decided to let him go, but the other person forced him to take action.

In all honesty, this "Aizen" never even considered rebelling—he didn't care about that position at all!

Not to mention the ghostly appearance of the Soul King, even as a proper world king, Iori has been the one more than once!

"Speaking of which, this sword was born from a soul... like Souji's Rengoku-chan, right?"

"Uh... almost."

Iori's expression was strange.

This refers to the Servant Demon God Souji (Swimsuit). Her weapon, Purgatory, comes with a small doll-like figure that is split from her own spirit origin, making it quite similar to a Zanpakuto...

Chaldea really has all sorts of strange and wonderful Servants!

"If it's a curse spell targeting a Spirit Origin, Chaldea has quite a few solutions, but if it's a conceptual alteration of the True Name... that means a part of the soul's power has been sealed, right?"

Ritsuka had truly experienced all sorts of situations. She started to think carefully about past cases, and suddenly her eyes lit up.

"Why don't you try bypassing the seal and directly developing that part of the power?"

"Bypass the seal?"

Iori's expression shifted.

“Your true name symbolizes power, and having your true name erased means losing that power, but your soul hasn’t become weaker because of it, has it?”

Ritsuka said seriously, "Then this only blocks your potential, preventing you from using it, but it doesn't cut off this power."

"…Indeed."

Iori nodded slowly.

According to the original work, Hyosube Ichibei's "Black" can weaken the power of the target through direct contact, making steel brittle, lowering the temperature of flames, and making humans as weak as ants.

However, Iori was not directly affected. Instead, he exploited a loophole and used a backdoor in the system to block the Bankai. The rule of Zanpakuto is that you must call out the name to release its power, so the monk only needed to cover the name and did not need to make direct contact with Iori.

"Then how about we try bypassing the name and developing soul power in a more direct way?"

Ritsuka made a suggestion that sounded quite good.

"That power hasn't disappeared; it's just that you can't find a way to sense it or awaken it now."

"Then let's be more direct—how about setting off some fireworks to wake it up?"

Iori also became interested: "How do we do it?"

“I’m not a professional either, but I once heard in Ms. Aozaki’s magic class that everyone has their own ‘origin,’ which is the deepest primal driving force in the human soul.”

Ritsuka tilted her head: "This must be closer to the essence of the soul than the 'true name,' right?"

"..."

Iori blinked.

Is it a bit too radical to explore the "origins" just to use a Zanpakuto?

—Iori's expression turned strange.

In his eyes, this thing was far more troublesome than Bankai!

In essence, the Bankai is a typical talent or superpower. Similar settings exist in many works (though most are not as cool as Zanpakuto). The Origin is not an "ability" at all, but a "way of being".

Unlike typical superpower works, the power manifested by awakening the [Origin] is merely a byproduct and is not necessarily a good thing; in fact, it can be harmful!

In Type-Moon, the so-called "origin" refers to the most fundamental directionality of things.

To put it in a more easily understandable way, it's assuming that people have "past lives," then each past life would have a previous life... In the end, at the very end of countless nested doll-like tracings, the 'single cause' found is the [origin]!

What you find may not be human or biological; it may be inorganic matter or just an intangible concept, but it is undoubtedly the original essence.

Just as the literal meaning suggests: origin.

Not only humans have origins, but animals, plants, minerals... everything has an origin.

The "Vortex of Origin" that magicians seek can also be broadly viewed as the "origin of everything (the universe)".

Every cause has an effect. The initial cause determines the direction, just as entropy increase determines future heat death. No matter how many branches appear in the process (cycle), the general trend will not change.

In other words, all existence in the world was born and determined in that initial vortex!

This is why magicians are so obsessed with exploring the Vortex of Origin, because it truly represents the truth and everything!

This is similar to the "Laplace's Demon" in the scientific community, but the difference is that scientists may lose their enthusiasm because of the existence of the demon, while magicians believe that it must exist and pursue it madly.

Everyone has an origin. For example, the origin of Ryougi Shiki is the concept of "emptiness," while black tung flowers are a "taboo."

However, even if everyone owns it, most people are unaware of its existence, and their daily lives are not affected by it. At most, they will only show a preference similar to an "interest".

For example, if the origin is "flying", one may yearn for the sky more and have a more romantic personality, but in the end, that's all, and there will be no more outrageous behavior - before awakening.

Once awakened, it's a completely different story!

Their personality, abilities, talents, preferences... everything will be changed by the [Origin]. If they can follow their heart, that's fine, but often it will make them suffer more.

It's like suddenly realizing that you're a lolita lover with a serious obsession with mature women.

As for Iori specifically, his situation is extremely unique; he's not even from the Type-Moon world... Although according to this theory, he could also find the "Origin," he's living a perfectly good life, so why would he bother looking for trouble...?

He still vividly remembers how he felt when he last entered the [Cave of the Sangharama] realm.

Don't be fooled by the seemingly ordinary battle scenes in "Kara no Kyoukai" (The Garden of Sinners); the things that emerge from it are too mysterious, and it's generally best to keep your distance.

"I think we should forget it. You don't seem very interested."

Ritsuka took the plate from Red A and looked at the lava-like dish inside, her face slightly flushed.

As she ate her Mapo Tofu with a spoon, she breathed out hot air and said to Iori, "But you can record the relevant techniques first... Hmph... Even if you don't awaken the [Origin], exploring the essence of the soul will still be helpful... Hmph, maybe you can bypass the name and use that power directly... Hmm!"

"Thank you very much."

Seeing Ritsuka's satisfied expression, Iori broke out in a cold sweat. He glanced at the visually unappetizing Mapo Tofu, then at the black coffee next to him, and suddenly had a strange feeling.

"correct."

Iori's meal was ordinary chashu ramen, but the Chaldea kitchen was naturally excellent, which he enjoyed very much. Just then, as if he remembered something, he suddenly asked a question.

"Ritsuka, have you tried this method before... Awakening [Origin]?"