Walking in the Question and Answer System of Heroic Spirits

[This is a conceptual weapon capable of striking mysterious entities, which is also the reason why those skeletal soldiers could not be resurrected.]

Illumia's smile grew ever wider, for the moment she vanquished the heresy was the very meaning of her existence, and the moment she found fulfillment.

Weber: "This woman is a battle maniac."

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Are all agents like this?"

Kotomine Risei: "No, she is not qualified. The Agent cuts out evil to save it. Fighting for self-gratification is an absolutely unqualified mentality."

Kotomine Shiro: "It seems my training isn't enough."

"Getting rid of Grey would be nice, but you could be the target too. Even if this village is really trying to perform some foolish ritual to bring back King Arthur, getting rid of you or Grey would solve the problem, right?"

[Ilumia declared, licking her lips as if to launch an attack on the masked girl, but before she could act, she stopped abruptly, retaliating with a powerful backhand punch that shattered the skeletal soldier attacking from behind, her face showing some astonishment.]

Irumia: "Wait, what's this?"

The fallen skeletal soldiers rose again, their shattered parts instantly repairing themselves, like watching a movie played in reverse.

[This isn't right. The skeletal soldiers that her gray locks destroyed in the passage before clearly lost their resurrection ability, so why isn't it working here?]

"The mana underground here is unusually thin, but why are even the low-level minions' magic power so high? Does this mean we have to deliver a fatal blow?"

Ilumia swung another uppercut, shattering the enemy soldier's jaw, and created distance to avoid being caught.

"Sister Ilumia! This is...on the ground..."

Fernand, flustered, looked up and down, hinting at the reason.

"So, it really was those villagers who supplied it?"

Ilumia immediately understood what he meant.

At this very moment, many villagers are praying before the black-faced statue of the Virgin Mary on the ground.

The villagers are offering up their magic to allow this underground space to continuously produce skeletal soldiers.

It is through accepting the will and prayers of the living that the dead are able to leave new footprints on this earth and wield their weapons.

Rin Tohsaka: "Absorbing magic power through prayer? What's the principle behind that?"

Feng Xi: "You can think of it as something like the power of faith."

Weber: "It must have been some kind of magic array or something."

Lion's Tribulation: "But now these two are in danger. There are just too many skeleton soldiers to kill them all."

"This is never going to end!"

Irumia dodged the relentless enemy attacks and clicked her tongue softly.

"No, it will all come to an end."

[A hollow thought echoed in her mind, and the masked girl, who had been observing the battle, began to act.]

【“!!!”】

Suddenly, Ilumia collapsed to her knees, as if all her strength had left her.

Something seemed to be draining her life force.

The form manifested from the spirit was devouring the villagers' life essence, the thinning Great Source, and all power. Instead, it seemed to be forcibly moving the surrounding air, creating a storm that shouldn't exist underground.

She had noticed the underground energy source was unusually thin since earlier; could the reason be...?

Illumia: "Because that exists?"

She looked at the masked girl's hand.

Chapter 248 - The Second Holy Lance?

Rin Tohsaka: "What is that?"

Weber: "It looks...like a gun!"

Rin Tohsaka: "It's not the Holy Lance, is it?"

Kenneth: "Impossible! There's only one Holy Lance, isn't it with Grey?"

Kenneth: "And the gun was black, though I don't know if it was because the surroundings were so dark that it appeared that color."

Lion's Robbery: "Could it be a replica of the Holy Lance?"

Kiritsugu Emiya: "Indeed, it's not surprising that this village, which can produce replicas of King Arthur, could also manufacture a replica of the Holy Lance."

Lancelot: "I'm afraid it's another one of Morgan's masterpieces."

On the other side, as if guided by the stars, the Second Generation and the others entered a vast open space.

[There was some kind of building in the space; the solemn stone structure was a religious temple, and it was quite old.]

[Grey: "Underground, there's a temple?"]

[Second Generation: "This might be the grave."]

Grey was deeply puzzled. Was this a village secret? One that hadn't been told to the gravedigger of Blackmore? At least not a part of it.

[Second King: "Well, Bersak, what are your thoughts?"]

[Belsauk shook his head and said, "No, I've heard that there are such underground structures, but this is the first time I've seen one in person."]

Seeing this, the Second King did not pursue the matter further, and the group stepped directly into the temple.

As soon as you step through the entrance, new figures come into view.

Oh, that's not a person, but a statue that closely resembles a human body placed inside the temple.

Those were statues they were already very familiar with, having seen them countless times in the villages on the ground; now they sat regally in a corner of the temple.

[Grey: "Is there a Black-faced Madonna here too?"]

Rin Tohsaka: "Another Black-Faced Mother? What on earth is this statue...?"

Feng Xi: "Haven't you realized yet? This isn't the Black-Faced Holy Mother at all, but that woman."

Rebellious Knight: "Mother..."

Artoria: "Sister Wang..."

Everyone now understands that this is not a statue of the Black-faced Virgin Mary at all, but Morgan's.

"When I visited the village before, I made a hypothesis about this Virgin Mary."

The Second Virgin looked up at the Virgin Mary and said, "The Black-faced Virgin Mary can be seen all over Europe, but there are several different versions, most of which are a combination of local earth goddesses."

[Grey: "The Earth Mother?"]

[The Second Virgin: "Many patron saints are like this. Even large religions need a certain degree of flexibility. When they go to new territories to preach, they don't just impose their doctrines on the people, but also leave room for them to absorb local myths and legends. The Black-faced Our Lady is one such example."]

"Within these deities of the Earth Mother, there exists a witch, whose legends are passed down through various eras and locations, and who is often a composite of several figures."

"Yes, 'Morgan le Fay,' a familiar name from the Arthurian legends you appear in, Sir Kay?"

Kai shrugged and said, "...What a headache for a teacher."

However, it seems less like he actually had a headache and more like he was trying to be sarcastic.

[Second Generation: "Leaving aside the Arthurian legend, Morgana, a witch who frequently appears in Celtic mythology, is sometimes the queen of nightmares, sometimes the goddess of war, and sometimes one of the three Fates. Legend has it that she is accompanied by ravens and prefers to transform into one."]

Kay chuckled wryly, "Ha! It's a pity I don't know much about Morgan; after all, she's a very complicated woman. No, most women are like that."

"But this village must indeed have been connected to Morgan. This statue of the Black-faced Madonna vaguely resembles her. Hmph, that's probably why they chose this village."

The Second Prince shook his head and said, "I don't know what Morgan expected back then. Since you don't know, I can't possibly know either. However, whether Morgan hoped for it or not, he left behind a spark. That spark was passed down through generations, and more than a thousand years later, it produced a certain result."

"So, that's Grey?"

Weber: "Sir Kay seems to think that Morgan is not the one in charge of the village's actions."

Kenneth: "That's just his guess."

"Belsauk, what's your opinion?"

The Second King's gaze slowly shifted to Belsak.

[Belsauk: "The previous gravedigger only told me about the rules, those rules that are also related to the Blackface Mother, and they will be passed down from generation to generation to the gravediggers of Blackmore."]

[Second Generation: "Those four rules, right?"]

[Belsauk nodded solemnly.]

"That's right. The magical crest passed down by the gravediggers can only sense when a few rules have been broken; this part hasn't been transplanted to Gray yet."

"There are four rules..."

The Second Prince murmured, pressing his hand to his brow.

["First, you must worship the Black-faced Our Lady upon entering the village, then..."]

He drew a circle on the ground with his finger; the slight indentation matched the village on the map.

"Not approaching a cemetery alone and going with the gravedigger mean the same thing, right?"

[Belsauk: "Yes, that's it."]

"Since when...no, in this case, for whom..."

The Second Prince lowered his head, lost in thought, while Belsac and Kai remained silent beside him.