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

"Is anyone there? Can you open this door? Can anyone help me?"

Ding!

A sharp pain swept across her scalp, like an electric current running through her body; this familiar sensation made her momentarily dazed.

This is a sign of connection with a Servant, but here... could it be inside this door?

"Hey! Is anyone there?!"

Ritsuka could only desperately pound on the cell door, trying to awaken the heroic spirit inside.

"it's useless."

At that moment, a voice came from inside the cell: "This is a mythical magic, which cannot be undoed by human power alone... Young girl, escape to another place before they catch up."

"Ugh! I want to too... No, it's too late!"

The figure of the Dragon Fang Soldier was already faintly visible, and the sound of metal clashing against each other grew clearer and clearer, like a death knell, which made Ritsuka's expression serious. She stood in front of the sealed door and assumed the starting stance of an ancient Chinese boxing style.

"Master Li and Yan Qing's legacy... Disciple Li Xiang will never bring shame upon my masters!"

The instant a sword-wielding Dragon Fang soldier lunged out of the darkness, Ritsuka advanced instead of retreating, delivering a sharp elbow strike to the chest. Time seemed to slow down; the girl's movements paused noticeably, and then—

boom!

The Dragon Tooth soldiers, whose fighting strength was comparable to that of Roman soldiers, were shattered in a single blow!

"Hoo... Enhancement!"

Magical patterns crawled up Ritsuka's hands and feet. This was one of the magic features of the combat suit, but it wasn't an external type; rather, it was a continuous enhancement, designed to deal with emergencies and ensure that the Master had some self-defense capabilities.

With enhanced magic combined with Master Li's Bajiquan, the mere Dragon Tooth Soldiers are no match for him—at least until his magic power is depleted.

"Wow, big sister, you're really amazing!"

"Of course, I am the last Master of mankind. With so many good teachers, wouldn't it be a waste not to learn a thing or two?"

However, this will eventually lead to exhaustion; magic and physical skills are ultimately not enough...

If only she could form a contract with a Servant. Although her individual magical battles are average, when combined with a Servant, they can achieve an effect far greater than the sum of its parts.

But then again, why are Mash and Fou, who were always by my side, no longer here?

I hope we're just separated, otherwise... and who should I ask to save me?

Perhaps it was a flashback at the brink of life and death. Ritsuka's mind was filled with images of her entire life, one familiar Servant after another, many of whom she trusted deeply. But in the end, a stranger's figure flashed through her mind.

Even though she had never made a contract with him, she felt inexplicably reliable.

Just then, the Command Seal on her hand suddenly became hot, and the intense pain made her cry out in surprise. Responding to the sudden message in her mind, she shouted with all her might, "Come on, [Foreigner]!"

A dazzling light flashed, and a tall, slender figure instantly appeared before her. This person held a long sword, his eyes cold and stern, and swung it forward without hesitation. In the flash of the sword, an invisible force left deep marks on the wall; the Dragon Fang soldiers, as if run over by a chariot, had their bones shattered and fell one after another, turning to ashes and vanishing.

"Servant Aizen Iori, who has come in response to the summons... Ritsuka?"

His voice sounded somewhat surprised, as if he had encountered something incomprehensible, but he quickly suppressed his emotions.

"Are you OK?"

Iori turned around and asked, her tone tinged with concern.

"...My name?"

Ritsuka nodded, but then asked with some doubt, "Have we met before?"

"Ok?"

Iori narrowed her eyes, paused for a moment, and her eyes, which could see through the past and future, flashed with golden iridescent light, revealing an extremely complex expression, which was then concealed.

"It's nothing. You might have amnesia. We made a contract in another singularity before."

"Is that so...? Yes, my mind feels like a mess, and I can't remember a lot of things..."

Do you remember how you got here?

"No, I..."

Before he could answer, the magical runes on the cell door suddenly began to flash, and a cheerful voice came from inside: "Hey, finally someone's come to save me!"

"This voice!"

Iori's attention was drawn to the incantation on the door. Suddenly, she kicked it open, sending the broken door flying and hitting someone inside, pinning them underneath.

"Ouch... be gentle! I'm the vulnerable one!"

The door was moved aside, and a petite boy gradually emerged from the shadows. When he reached the firelight, Ritsuka could finally see his face clearly and couldn't help but reveal a strange smile.

"Looking at you like this... Merlin, do you also have a Lily form?"

"It seems you're quite familiar with my adult form, Chaldea Master."

The boy had short, silver-white hair, eyes that shone like stars, and wore a long white robe embroidered with golden magic runes. He held a small magic wand in his hand, with a shimmering gem set at the top.

The overall tone is gorgeous white, with a slight pink tinge at the ends of the hair, giving off a handsome and even eerie feeling.

Although his appearance was slightly different from that of the adult Merlin, Ritsuka recognized him immediately because of his familiar aura.

“That’s right, I am Merlin’s juvenile form, Merlin Lily… sort of.”

Young Merlin smiled slightly, his tone tinged with mischief.

Originally, Lily means "lily flower," symbolizing purity and also representing the childhood of female Servants. Merlin appears to be a male Servant, but as a Nightmare, he is actually genderless, merely displaying a male physique and desires; reversing this is a matter of a single thought.

The current juvenile form... can be considered a genderless state for the time being, and can be barely referred to as "Lily".

"But now is not the time for idle chatter; the situation at Chaldea is not good."

What exactly happened at Chaldea?

Ritsuka asked eagerly.

Merlin Lily's expression turned serious: "Chaldea has been attacked from within. The enemy has used the power of the Holy Grail to take control of most of the facilities. The Heroic Spirits have been scattered and imprisoned, and communications have been cut off."

They will use Chaldea to unify all the singularities and detonate them all at once. At that time, Panhuman History will be completely destroyed. We must go to the core area as soon as possible and regain control.”

"so serious?"

Ritsuka was startled. "By the way, do you know where Mashu is? She's been locked up too?"

"I don't know about that. Maybe so. After I was defeated by the enemy, I stayed in the cell and don't know what happened after that."

Chaldea is now divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower. We are in the lowest level, the abandoned area. Chaldea's original core facilities are concentrated on the upper level. Most of the Servants are likely imprisoned on the middle and lower levels.

"...This is really worrying."

Ritsuka pursed her lips: "I hope everything's alright... Then let's start breaking through from the very bottom!"

The three sprang into action, making their way down the dimly lit corridor toward the prison exit. Along the way, they encountered numerous enemies, but with Iori and Merlin Lily working together, they were no match for them.

"The door to the upper level is just ahead."

Merlin Lily pointed to a huge iron gate ahead and said, "However, there may be more enemies behind the gate, so be careful."

Ritsuka nodded, took a deep breath, and pushed open the iron gate. It was as if she had opened a barrier; the narrow passage behind her instantly disappeared and turned into a solid wall—there was no turning back now.

Behind the door was a long staircase, the end of which shone with a slightly glaring light.

"Let's go, we must take back Chaldea!"

Ritsuka said firmly, and the three of them stepped onto the stairs, heading towards the controlled Chaldea core area.

at the same time--

Deep within a cave, Merlin, his face covered in wounds, was suspended in mid-air in a suffering pose. The Roman bigwigs, led by Romulus, had just left, leaving behind a mess.

Suddenly, ripples spread through the air, and space seemed to be "pulled" up like an elastic membrane, and then a slender figure slowly emerged.

"...Iori?"

Merlin slowly raised his head in a daze, and when he saw the familiar stranger in front of him, his eyes gradually focused.

He said wearily but with delight, "You've come! That's wonderful... Chaldea..."

“I can roughly ‘see’ what’s going on.”

Wearing a white turtleneck trench coat, with a calm and composed expression, and radiating a reassuring aura, the man who arrived was none other than Iori. Merlin didn't need to explain; with the blessing of the [Wisdom of the Sky] and the Eye of the Soul King, everything that had happened in Chaldea over the past few days was instantly analyzed as pure information.

He looked at Merlin hanging upside down and raised an eyebrow: "You look really pathetic."

"There's nothing I can do. I've offended too many people... They must really hate me, this court jester."

"In the eyes of most Heroic Spirits, you are just a 'treacherous minister' by Ritsuka's side, so it's normal for you to be ostracized... But torturing prisoners is not their style."

"They want me to reveal the Master's whereabouts... Oh right, Master! Iori, now that you're here, hurry up and go find him—"

"Fujimaru Ritsuka has been protected by 'me'."

Iori narrowed her eyes. "I owe her a lot of favors, so of course I won't just sit idly by... But what exactly is going on?"

What are you asking?

“Fujimaru Ritsuka… The one I encountered is probably not your original ‘Master’. If it were the Ritsuka I knew, she wouldn’t need anyone to protect her.”

Iori stared directly into Merlin's shifty eyes: "This 'Fujimaru Ritsuka' is a cyborg!"

Chapter 557 Are you guys playing in a band?

After some twists and turns, the three of them rescued several Servants in the fallen Chaldea, but without exception, they were all entangled by newly appeared enemies and could not help them at all, as if an invisible will was preventing Ritsuka from getting help.

Escorting their Master to the upper level, the three arrived at the core area of ​​the middle level. Passing through a towering and magnificent corridor, they found themselves in a spacious hall behind the door, with a huge crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, illuminating the entire space.

It's less of a palace and more of an art museum, with intricate and exquisite patterns carved on the walls and ceilings, and the floor paved with gleaming marble that perfectly reflects the patterns on the dome, giving one the feeling of being in a dream.

However, this beautiful hall was filled with enemies—dragon tooth soldiers, golems, automatons, and even several enormous magical beasts with red light flashing in their eyes, clearly not benevolent beings.

"No Servants?"

"The enemy has set up an ambush here."

Merlin Lily smiled slightly, her tone tinged with a hint of teasing, "Don't be careless, they might suddenly come out and ambush us."

Having witnessed Iori's fighting prowess along the way, the white-haired boy is now full of confidence!

Iori glanced at him, said nothing, and charged straight at the enemy.

His figure moved like a ghost among the enemies, his longsword drawing silver arcs, each strike hitting the enemy's vital points with precision—but in terms of the power of the strikes, whether it was a vital point or not was actually irrelevant.

Whether it was the Dragon Tooth Soldiers or the Magic Puppets, they were all as fragile as paper under his blade, shattering and turning to ashes in an instant!

Merlin Lily stood at the back. Compared to Merlin, who preferred to use auxiliary spells to conceal his true abilities, the boy waved his wand lightly, and countless magic circles appeared in the air, releasing scorching flames, chilling frost, and lightning that could penetrate the human body.

When he was firing at full power, he was like a human artillery turret, working with Iori to completely suppress all the enemies in the hall.

"strengthen!"

Ritsuka wasn't idle either; she used the enhancement magic of her battle suit to empower Iori. Although her magical power was limited and the effect was mediocre, negligible to Iori, her will was undoubtedly conveyed to her Servant.

There were indeed those who secretly plotted to ambush the Master, but under the protection of Iori and Merlin Lily, she remained unharmed and was even able to play a significant role.

The battle lasted less than three minutes, and all the enemies in the hall had been cleared out. Iori sheathed her longsword and took a slight breath—pretending that "the battle just now took a lot of effort."

"This is just the beginning."

Ritsuka walked to his side with a serious expression and said softly, "The enemy won't let us break through so easily."

"indeed."

Iori nodded, her gaze drifting to the other end of the hall, where a large door led to the upper level. However, just as they were about to proceed, the hall floor suddenly began to shake, and then a massive crack appeared before them.

"careful!"

Ritsuka exclaimed in surprise and quickly retreated, but she couldn't keep up with the speed. Fortunately, Iori was right next to her and reached out to pick her up around the waist. They escaped the range of the spell in a few steps.

From the crack, a gigantic monster slowly crawled out. It was several times larger than the previous enemies, its body covered in thick scales, and it breathed out scorching flames.

"This is... a fire dragon, no, it's a Salamander?!"

Merlin Lily frowned. "A fantasy species... and a dragon species at that. The enemy has really gone all out."

"A mythical beast with a name?"

"Salamander!"

Merlin Lily took a deep breath. "If my clairvoyance is not mistaken, that should be Salamander, which shares the same origin as 'Saint George Slaying the Dragon.' Be careful!"

Without a word, Iori charged directly at the dragon. He was incredibly fast, his longsword slashing fiercely at the dragon's head. The dragon's scales were exceptionally hard, and the longsword only left a shallow mark on them. Only after Iori moved away did the dragon's hideous maw suddenly burst open, spurting out crimson blood that stained the entire hall.