Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

Besides the fact that the gathering of huge numbers of new humans and non-participating Servants necessitates martial law, the main reason is the unexpected 'combination' for this Holy Grail War elimination tournament—Mitsuki Chizuru and her Servant Lucius.

As the creators of the new world, the duo are renowned figures worldwide, naturally possessing a certain star effect. Moreover, this is their first time watching the Holy Grail War, so there are quite a few people who come to see them because of their reputation.

"I never expected you would come to watch this farce."

Lucius removed his white hat, his pupils reflecting the gradually boiling audience below. "I knew a grandmother would at least care about her granddaughter..."

"Can you finish your food before you talk?"

Wearing a black sailor uniform, Chizuru Masato's fingers lightly brushed across the armrest of the spectator stands, and the mycelium-like magical veins silently dissipated at her fingertips.

Lucius, who was standing next to her in a white suit, was actually carrying a bag full of nuts and drinks, and holding a freshly made hot dog in his hand.

"This is the bread from 'Bread and the Circus'. There also seems to be a small shop selling porridge and rice, but I don't know if it's good, so I didn't buy any."

Lucius ate the hot dog in his hand without any hesitation. "But speaking of which, since we used the Colosseum as a model, the opening ceremony should include a lion strangulation performance."

"why?"

"Because the second pope quite liked strangling lions in the arena."

"That's probably something the Leidenforth family forgot to add when they first held the event."

Chizuru Makoto continued expressionlessly, "The reason those guys broke the rules and developed the Holy Grail Wars to extract magic power from all the participating Masters and spectators was probably because they wanted the things of the now-extinct Einzbern family."

They participated in the Holy Grail War multiple times around the world and appointed homunculus ...

"The Holy Grail? But everyone in the new era has the Holy Grail, so there's no point in them continuing to gather more."

"Who knows? Maybe it's the Holy Grail that will overturn this wish."

The New World was born from the wish made by Chitose Manazuru, the victor of the Holy Grail War, to the Holy Grail: "The Holy Grail, as a wish-granting machine, shall continue to exist and be distributed." If the Leidenfoss family wants to overturn this wish, they must find another Holy Grail that can rival the first Holy Grail. After all, the distributed Holy Grails can only help the vessel find a suitable Servant and use Command Seals to heal itself, but cannot fulfill personal wishes.

"Haha, it doesn't matter."

Lucius laughed heartily, "Then let me, the Holy Lance that pierces through 'infinity,' see if such a possibility exists."

In 2011, the Holy Grail War broke out globally, with more than thirty battles taking place simultaneously at its peak. The victor of the Holy Grail War did not simply win one battle, but rather, after winning the Holy Grail War in a region, he would travel to other battlefields to fight for a higher purity.

The one who brought this quagmire-like battle to a close was Chitose Manazuru and her servant Longinus.

However, there are exceptions. For example, the victor in the Izumo region, Yukinobu Yoru, betrayed his own Servant in the end. Also, the battle in the Fuyuki region was inconclusive, the victor of the ritual was unknown, the ritual itself failed to take place, and the magical energy collected by the Holy Grail disappeared...

According to Circe of Fr, Medea was summoned in Fuyuki, but it is unknown whether she returned to the Throne of Heroes. Since the resummoned Servant does not have the memory of the previous one, it is also impossible to inquire about the local Medea in Shinjuku.

At that time, the strongest enemy that Lucius and Chizuru faced in the final battle was Ouroboros, the Infinity Serpent.

After the two of them painstakingly defeated Ouroboros, a new era began where everyone had a Servant.

"Alright, all of that is in the past."

Chizuru Masatsuki lay down wearing sunglasses, seemingly unconcerned, saying, "Let's just enjoy the first match."

"Erise's opponent is Jack the Ripper. If she is careful enough, she should still be able to win."

The Holy Grail Tournament has evolved to include three types: class tournaments, individual tournaments, and team tournaments.

As the name suggests, the class-based tournament assigns battles according to class; otherwise, you can't expect a warlock to defeat a berserker. This is a relatively fair tournament, but it's also rather boring, since most people watch it to satisfy their own desires, not to see 'fairness'.

Therefore, the most popular are the randomly matched individual matches and the team matches divided into two camps. The former offers exciting gameplay, while the latter showcases a larger and more spectacular performance, allowing viewers to draw more magic from the emotions of the new humans watching.

The special nature of the Descendant class means that they can only register for individual competitions.

"Jack the Ripper...?"

Shinsui Chizuru muttered to herself thoughtfully.

This is mainly because the Servants 'Jack the Ripper' are too numerous. As far as she knows, Jack the Ripper can be found all over the world, from Shinjuku to Rome to London, and without exception, they are all possession-type... It seems that they all emerged collectively at the same time.

Perhaps it's because the various speculations of the old humans were too accurate? This is the judgment of the AI ​​regarding its proliferation.

As the two were talking, the music in the arena suddenly turned up, and the music was so exciting that it seemed that the competition was about to begin.

The music suddenly stopped, and as the arena fell silent, the event's loudspeaker announced its arrival. In the original Roman Colosseum, the front row seats below would have been reserved for nobles, but now, eerie magical light emanated from there, and on the platform extending forward, a petite figure walked forward and unfurled a pair of wings.

Meanwhile, the main screen in the venue showed a close-up shot of a young girl named Circe wearing a Greek-style white hooded tunic.

"My lovely little pigs, I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting!"

The opening greeting, delivered at an extremely loud volume, resounded throughout the entire arena.

"Today marks the first time the individual battle stage of the Holy Grail Wars will be shown to the audience. That's right, when you think of the Holy Grail Wars, you think of me. Today, let the Great Witch 'Circle' give you a live broadcast!"

Soon, the audience responded with thunderous cheers, as if to show how much they were looking forward to it. Some of them even loudly mocked the broadcaster with offensive language. This is something that has become commonplace after the mystery has been dispelled.

"OK, OK. I love you all! Alright, before introducing our glorious achievements, let's get to know the two players who will be competing today."

As the broadcaster spoke, two photos were displayed on the spirit screens on either side of the arena.

One is naturally Eri, who has silver hair; the other is a silver-haired girl, namely Jack the Ripper.

This is certainly not the Jack the Ripper that Novia knows, but just one of the many who were 'purified'. The world they were reincarnated into was the Fr world, which was in ruins after the great war. After all, Shinjuku, the new capital of Japan, only had a population of a few hundred thousand, and this was even with the constant recruitment of refugees. This shows how scarce the population was at the moment.

"As a Servant of the special class of Descendant, the Demon King is a Servant materialized from Goethe's epic poem 'The Demon King'! Could he actually be Goethe himself? After all, there are similar cases! But just how strong is he? Let's wait and see! Utsumi's blood relative! The arrogant granddaughter!"

As the broadcast of the witch's lively atmosphere continued, Eri, with her silver hair, slowly walked out from the left passage of the arena.

She appeared calm and collected, despite it being her first appearance. Yet, she was met with cheers and shouts from the sidelines. After all, she was Utsumi Erise, a well-known Servant-less person in Shinjuku, and especially the granddaughter of Masato Chizuru. This identity and her presence in the elimination rounds were a signal in themselves.

Some people even believe that Chizuru Masato may have already mastered the means to summon several Servants, and that her granddaughter is the test subject.

However, Eri was actually muttering dejectedly, "That's why I don't want to watch these kinds of matches that make others look bad."

Ultimately, the essence of the Holy Grail War is to stimulate the 'emotions' of the viewers, thereby gaining more magical power. Therefore, the competition was designed to be 'fun' rather than rigorous from the very beginning. In the end, the Servants have long lost the mystery of years ago, and regular battles are simply boring. Therefore, being fun is the important thing.

That might be why Eri was chosen as the first contestant to appear in the competition.

Then, the background music, which had been playing and adapted from German style, suddenly changed to a strange yet simple British style.

"Although she is a regular Servant, the assassin, Miss Jack the Ripper has become so rampant in various places that it is extremely unbelievable!"

Silver-haired Jack walked out slowly with her arms crossed. Although the crowd cheered, she remained serious, creating an unapproachable atmosphere.

After both sides finished introducing their contestants, the magic of the arena began to rapidly fill.

"Jack the Ripper...?"

During her class, Eri learned that famous Heroic Spirits left behind legends or names during their lifetimes. The more people know about them, the stronger they become. This is a characteristic of Servants. The tragedies that happen behind the stories and legends sometimes give birth to Servants with abnormal characteristics, known as innocent monsters.

Jack the Ripper is like that. It's not that she's innocent, but because she 'guessed' too much, she was able to summon many different types of Jack, none of which were the real Jack.

"Dark Fog City".

The sudden burst of cheers from the audience swallowed Jack's murmurs. Thick fog, like a living thing, surged from the cracks in the earth's veins, carrying the coal dust and blood of the Industrial Revolution era. Dressed in Victorian clothing, she hummed an off-key nursery rhyme, and four small knives flew between her fingers, turning into pale silver rings.

Because the fog can disorient you, you need a skill of "Intuition" of rank B or higher or a certain type of magic to break Jack's Noble Phantasm. It is for this reason that one of the conditions for the other Noble Phantasm, "requires fog", can be met unconditionally.

The moment the barrier artifact was activated, Novia felt the fear rising from Eri's hair. The evil spirits that had been haunting her all day long let out dying cries under the suppression of the barrier. In a sense, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Fog City at that time was a different kind of underworld.

Jack tilted his head, the scalpel tracing an arc: "This is... Mom's smell... How strange? Why does it feel so familiar..."

This Jack felt that one of the conditions for his Noble Phantasm, the Disintegration of the Mother Goddess, was that the opponent was female, had risen to 100%. He felt that 100% was just his limit, not the limit of the effect.

The four small knives vibrated and resonated in the mist, and blood-red patterns appeared on their blades.

Novia saw the evil spirits that haunted the girl all day long cheering—they were greedily licking the 'wailing' contained in Jack's Noble Phantasm through the girl's senses.

"This is the misty shadow entering the vast expanse."

The silver-haired girl's chanting pierced through the mournful cries of the magic, and the spiritual projections around the arena suddenly flickered, while the advertisements on the holographic billboards were covered with German poems.

"Mom is singing."

Upon hearing this, Jack tilted her head, a gesture that should have been cute but became rather creepy due to the twisting of her neck. "But the pitch is wrong~"

"This is the sound of the wind blowing withered leaves."

The moment the second line of poetry was uttered, the flow of magic in the entire arena changed, and gasps of surprise erupted from the audience—the magic that had been atomized by Jack's Noble Phantasm was now condensing into countless crystals shaped like withered leaves, which were frantically absorbing the magic emanating from the audience.

After absorbing enough magic, the withered leaves transformed into a tornado over a hundred meters high that rose up behind Novia.

Just now.

Jack realized that all three conditions for the Noble Phantasm had been met, probably because the Demon King was said to be the embodiment of 'darkness,' so he directly turned the arena into night.

Therefore, at the very moment when the terrifying gale was about to engulf Jack's entire body:

"The Mother of Disintegration".

When Jack uttered that word, the flow of time in the entire arena seemed to be severed.

Four scalpels drew a cross in the mist, a common anatomical gesture used in London church hospitals at the end of the 19th century.

In that instant, Eri even seemed to see dense stitches emerging from under her skin.

It should be noted that the Noble Phantasm 'Disintegration Mother' is a curse. What is needed to defend against the effect of this Noble Phantasm is not physical defense, but rather resistance to the curse... Therefore, in reality, neither Novia nor Erise, as the daughter of Izanami, could be harmed too much by this Noble Phantasm. However, special cases require special analysis, and it also depends on the Master. If the Master is Fujimaru Ritsuka, it should be able to exert some influence beyond that.

Jack was met with a sudden surge of steam and the phantom of a giant quill pen appearing above the arena.

Novia used Eri's body to extend her hand and write in the air. With each wave of her hand, new German characters emanated from around the quill and gathered on a piece of paper.

When the paper touched Jack's forehead, the assassin's magic power quickly dissipated, a testament to his defeat and exit from the scene.

"Mother……"

Goodnight, one of the many Jacks.

Novia caught the overflowing German characters, gently blew on them, and transformed into a blue butterfly, flying towards the stands. Upon contact with the defensive barrier, it exploded into magic, transforming into spider lilies that drifted down onto the shoulders of each spectator.

The silence lasted for a full three seconds.

Then, the referee, Circe, shouted incredulously:

"The victor—Foreigner Demon King! Unbelievable! Just a few rounds and he easily defeated Jack, who is practically a counter to women! Hmm, and Jack with his Noble Phantasm fully unleashed! Anyway, it was quite a romantic battle, no wonder it's the embodiment of an epic poem... Oh no, those guys from Borgia's underground casino have made a fortune! All the Q coins I've accumulated from being a streamer for so many years, I've lost them all! Aaaaaah, I need to go back to my seat..."

The streamer witch's eerie screams echoed throughout the arena, and the accompanying staff immediately shut down her communications upon seeing this.

But for Eri, who was standing there in a daze, she was now wondering who the 'mother' Jack was talking about was.

If it's Jack possessing himself, that's normal, because that's how Jack always is. But if it's referring to the Demon King, then that's a different story...

Surely Jack shouldn't be seen as his mother too, since his Noble Phantasm was clearly fully unlocked back then.

……

In the audience, Lucius, who had just finished eating a hot dog, said with a look of lingering satisfaction:

"Looks like that guy actually held back back then."

"Ah."

Suddenly, Chizuru Masuru took off her sunglasses, revealing unfathomable pupils.

"Stop? I think it was a recent decision."

It's strange, considering that Chizuru Masato's personality is as cold as ice, Lucius has never seen her smile in all these years, this is the first time... Of course, the forced smile after accidentally cutting a big gap in Eri's ear doesn't count.

However, just as Lucius was about to ask why she was laughing, he saw Chizuru Masatsuki quickly revert to her cold demeanor and get up to leave.

"What? Aren't you going to watch the next game?"

"A boring performance."

Upon hearing this, Lucius sighed, then left with the food he had just bought.

But just as the two were walking through the passage leading outside, an unexpected person called out to Chizuru Masatsuki.

"Miss Zhen Sui".

"Kuenji? What are you..."

For Chizuru Masatsugu, the long-lost Kuonji Yuzu appeared before her. She looked exactly as Chizuru Masatsugu remembered her, dressed in black like a funeral, standing in the dark outer passage.

"Yoru no Yukinobu, the Night Raider of the Izumo Holy Grail War, is dead. The city AIs want people outside to determine how he died."

Kuonji said calmly, "And there's Utsumi's daughter. The demon king on her is very special. Is it a particularly evil spirit?"

Chitose narrowed her eyes: "As her reviewer, it was you who judged the concept of the 'concretization of the ballad,' so you probably don't need to ask me about that."

"Everything I do is in accordance with the judgment of the City Holy Grail."

Kuonji Yuju remained unmoved and continued, "Since the city has agreed, there is no need for me to get involved."

"Those Roman traders are really annoying."

Chitose glanced at Lucius. "Is that so, Lord Holy Lance?"

"Haha, it was Masuru who made the rule of accepting outsiders, so it has nothing to do with me."