Type-Moon, the Path of a Magician

"Then aren't you worried that he'll be killed by Emiya Kiritsugu?"

"Oh, he won't die. It's destined."

The count shook his head and said affirmatively: "In the end, I have to do this myself. I have to kill him with my own hands. Before that, he will never die..."

"That's a very decisive answer."

Amakusa Shiro shook his head: "Although I am curious about the reason, I am sure you won't tell me even if I ask."

"The truth or fate is predetermined. You just need to do your own thing, saint."

"Yes, that young man has lost his Servant and can't have any impact on my plans, so just leave him alone."

"Then let's separate here first, sad saint, wait and hope! Krypton hahahaha——"

Bear--

After a crazy laugh, the Cave King stood up and flashed away, leaving only a roar like a burning flame in the church.

"He is such a self-willed guy..."

Amakusa, who remained where he was, scratched his head.

"But a long-cherished wish? Of course I will fulfill it, I will definitely do it this time..."

Chapter 34: Events are gradually beginning

[Foresight is a dream, and events wake us up from the dream——]

……

……

Xia Yuan had a dream.

He saw the black sun falling from the sky. Beside him were ruins burning with pitch-black flames. A huge crack appeared in the sky, and a dark red waterfall poured down.

Malice, resentment, sadness...

In an environment where everything was extinct, he could not see any living creatures, only the darkness beneath his feet.

The earth is pitch black and the sky is dark red above.

Ominous mud, chaotic sky, boundless malice, he had seen and heard descriptions of these things before, and here was the burning Fuyuki City.

When the Holy Grail absorbs enough of the Servant's magic power and soul, the hole in the Holy Grail will finally open completely, and the evil of this world poured out from it will bring everything into the sea of ​​fire.

When you witness this scene with your own eyes, it is definitely more shocking than the truth you learn from text or the screen. Xia Yuan swore that this scene was definitely the most realistic "hell" he had ever seen. Even the descriptions of hell in myths and legends were probably no more than this.

"Hey - it hurts!"

While he was still shocked by the hellish scene before him, he felt a strange heat in his left hand, forcing him to grit his teeth. He looked down and saw that the three bright red Command Seals began to emit a strange glow, followed by a powerful pulling force that was guiding him in one direction.

"--What's this?!"

This strange pulling force caused Xia Yuan to stagger, and he could only allow himself to be dragged away by the invisible force.

Then the scene in front of his eyes began to change rapidly. The burning sea of ​​fire and ruins around him gradually disappeared. The hole in the sky and the pouring black mud also gradually disappeared from his sight. Instead, there was a gorgeous and warm room. At this time, a girl in gorgeous clothes was reading a book in the room.

There was an invisible door between them.

Xia Yuan couldn't see the girl's face clearly, but he felt very familiar with her. There was a very familiar feeling about the girl that made him subconsciously want to get closer, but his steps were blocked outside the door by an invisible barrier, so he always kept a subtle distance from the girl.

Looking through the thin veil and the invisible door, all he could see was the girl's long golden hair and a pair of beautiful eyes like gemstones.

Although he couldn't see her full appearance, Xia Yuan was sure that she was definitely a rare beauty.

"you are?"

Xia Yuan wanted to ask, but the girl shook her head at him.

"Haidee..."

Then, Xia Yuan subconsciously said the girl's name, and he himself didn't know what was going on. When and where had he seen this girl? How did he know this name?

"It is I, my dear Count, but it seems that you are not him..."

The girl spoke gently, but there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes when she looked at Xia Yuan. Perhaps it was because the person she was waiting for was not the one she really wanted to see.

Before Xia Yuan could say anything else, Hai Dai had already walked up to him with nimble steps. Then he felt a warm touch on his chest and a gentle voice whispered in his ear.

"It's not time yet..."

…………

"I think it's time."

The familiar voice woke him up, and his original tiredness and haziness were instantly shattered.

Looking at Merlin, who was sitting opposite him with a serious expression, Xia Yuan frowned slightly and looked around, but he did not see Haidai anymore.

Merlin, this is indeed Avalon, but what happened just now? Why did I dream of Haidee?

Is this a dream within a dream? Or did my spirit just arrive in a space that does not belong to dreams?

And... Haidée, he knew this name, she was a supporting character in The Count of Monte Cristo and also a very important person to the Count.

Ever since he summoned the Count, he had deliberately read books related to the Count. He naturally knew the story of The Count of Monte Cristo by heart. Although the King of the Caves in the book was very different from the Count he had seen, there were always similarities between them.

With his attainments in magic, he certainly couldn't understand what had just happened, so he once again turned his attention to the unruly nightmare in front of him, hoping to get an answer from him.

"Ah, dada, for this kind of dream interpretation, you should ask me, your caring elder brother. You have good vision——"

Merlin scratched the back of his head and said nonchalantly, "As a dream demon, no one understands dreams better than me. Whether it's making people dream or helping people interpret dreams, it's all my specialty."

After listening to Xia Yuan's brief story, Merlin showed a slightly inexplicable smile on his face, which he also noticed.

"Are you aware of this situation?"

"Of course, big brother, who am I? I am the mentor of King Arthur and the court magician of Great Britain. Isn't it easy to handle such a small situation?"

"That is to say?"

Xia Yuan raised his eyebrows. This guy likes to leave his words halfway.

"Ahem, this situation is very complicated. It would be troublesome to explain it in detail, so I will make it short. As for the root cause of this situation, it is——"

Merlin stood up, pointed at Xia Yuan's left hand, and smiled mysteriously.

"Do you understand? Even though that person has left you and his behavior can be considered a betrayal, he never chose to cut off contact with you. Why do you think that is?"

"Of course, I don't know exactly what he was thinking, but the state you described can only be entered when your soul is silent, that is, when you are dead or dying."

"When Haidee said 'not yet in time', maybe she meant that you are not dead yet. When you were seriously injured, I used magic to relieve your injuries. When you are dead, then it will be time."

"What do you think? Do you want to try to die right now? See what happens?" Merlin raised his eyebrows and showed a sly expression.

"........."

Xia Yuan rolled his eyes at him, ignoring Merlin's antics and just thinking about the answer he had just given.

Having Kiritsugu Emiya place explosives in the magic camp and almost sending the three of them away was undoubtedly a betrayal.

But why did the Count do that? Why did he kill himself? Was it because he was an outsider?

No, that didn't make sense. If that was the case, he would have taken action long ago and wouldn't have to play with me until now. After all, with the speed of the Cave King, it would be easy for him to kill me before he could use the Command Spell.

Moreover, the Earl absolutely did not have any murderous intent or hatred towards him. After spending such a long time together, he was very sure of this.

The space he arrived at when he was on the verge of death and the Haidee he met also proved that things were not that simple. The Count did not kill himself for such a boring reason.

So he had a bold guess that the Count wanted to achieve a goal, and a condition for achieving that goal might be his own death...

And meeting Haidee was only part of the plan.

Thinking of this possibility and relating it to his own situation, Xia Yuan felt cold all over. Looking at the Command Seals in his hands, he felt that they were so dazzling.

I began to think, if I were to use three command spells to make the earl commit suicide, what would the success rate be? Do I really want to do that?

Merlin, who saw through Xia Yuan's thoughts, reminded him: "I advise you to give up this idea."

"You know what I'm thinking?"

Xia Yuan suddenly looked up and stared at Merlin, trying to read some information from his expression.

"The intention is written all over the face..."

"Don't look at it. Big brother is also completely unaware of this matter. Otherwise, I wouldn't be busy doing such a time-consuming and laborious task of repairing your body."

Merlin shook his head and smiled. "The deal I made with him was that I told him the real names of Amakusa Shiro and all the Servants, as well as the hidden information, and he let me enter your dream and contact you. Other than that, I didn't have much contact with that evil guy."

"And the reason why I advised you to give up this idea is because of your connection with him. I mentioned before that your soul has impurities, as if something has been mixed into it. At first I couldn't guess the reason, but now it is clear."

Merlin pointed at Xia Yuan's eyes, and the reflection in his pupils seemed to ignite a black flame: "It is the soul of that A.venger!"

"soul?!"

"Yes, he separated his soul and merged it into your body. Haidee is the best proof. That was one of the most important experiences of the Cave King during his lifetime. Even if it was sublimated into a treasure after death, there would be no problem. But he let your dying soul contact her, which means that your soul has been tampered with long ago."

"And in this situation, if you use the Command Spell to force him to commit suicide, let alone whether it will succeed, even if it succeeds, there is no way to guarantee what kind of impact his soul will have on you."

"........."

"But in the dream, you should feel much more relaxed, right? I used your spirit as a medium to perform healing magic on your body and soothe your spirit, so you must repay me later."

Repay?

"Help you to enlighten Altria?" Xia Yuan sighed: "In this situation, do you still think I can do that? Originally, I agreed to your request because we have enough fighting power here, but now things have become like this. You can't expect me to fight Altria head-on, right?"

"Ah, this is indeed very disturbing. Although I could see his movements in advance, you were not asleep at that time, so I couldn't notify you, right?"

"Well, okay, but what are you going to do now? It seems your plan has failed. Without the help of the Count, I can't face Altria directly."

Xia Yuan paused, then continued, "With her stubborn personality, if she could be persuaded by words alone, she wouldn't have ended up like this."

"If you want to persuade her, you have to subdue her first. Only in this way will she listen to you obediently. As her teacher, you must know her character better than I do."

"Hahaha, you really understand little Al. You even understand her better than the Knights of the Round Table. You're like his older brother."

"That's absolutely right. Little Al's personality is indeed very troublesome. She is kind but stubborn and a bit one-track-minded. Sometimes I can't do anything about her."

Merlin nodded upon hearing this and agreed with Xia Yuan's words, but he was not distressed by this situation. He still had that unchanged smile on his face.

He said: "But don't worry about this. If it was any other enemy, I might find it difficult to deal with, but if the enemy is Little Al, I certainly have a way to deal with her."

"But before that, please allow me to ask, are you interested in Servant?"

Merlin's words were suggestive and profound, but Xia Yuan didn't notice.

"As for the Servant? Artoria... what do you mean? You don't want to leave her to me to take care of? Forget it. I don't dare to be interested in such a big eater. I can't afford to support her. I can't afford to support her."

Xia Yuan thought about it for a while, but did not realize what Merlin really meant. Instead, he thought of something even more outrageous.

"Ah?"

This answer was somewhat beyond Merlin's expectations, but he didn't say anything, just laughed like a child.

"Hahaha! You're not interested in little Al because of this? If she knew, she'd probably be angry for a long time, right? But she doesn't have much charm as a woman, so you're also a big sister, right? If that's the case, let's stop chatting—"

"Then let's have a good discussion about how to trick Little Al and help you deal with the situation that's coming..."

"Because we don't have much time left, big brother's methods may be a bit extreme." Merlin raised his head, stared at Xia Yuan seriously, and said with a somewhat happy tone.

"You must hold on. If you die, everything will be over."

Chapter 35: Holy Swordsman vs. Hero King

Rumbling--

The continuous explosions carried dazzling light and flashed continuously in the night sky.

The huge wind pressure and destructive force caused by the release of magic power left the surrounding trees in tatters.

The beautiful knight with blond hair and blue eyes wielded a powerful weapon in her hand, shooting out wind blades that destroyed the surrounding arrangements to pieces. Even the familiars that were watching over the place in the sky were perfectly cut apart by the sharp wind blades.

Along the way, Altria crushed the others with her absolute strength as a Servant. The traps and barriers set by modern magicians were like nothing in front of a top Servant like her.

[Anti-magic A——]

After simply forcing her way through, Altria finally stopped in front of the gate of the Tousaka family manor.

"This is it."

After taking a quick look at the densely packed magic arrangements on the gate, she raised the holy sword in her hand and slashed at it without hesitation.

Originally, she wanted to raid Toosaka's house and catch him off guard, but as she got deeper, she realized what kind of magical fortress Toosaka's house had been armed into.