Walking in the Question and Answer System of Heroic Spirits

Chapter 265 - Everything Returns to Calm

Rin Tohsaka: "Ador has finally woken up. So, we can use the Holy Lance now."

Ilya: "This makes it feel like Sir Kay is Yad."

Weber: "Actually, it should be about the same."

[Grey: "Lend me your power, Yad!"]

[Yad: "Sigh, there's really no other way, I can only lend you a little bit! Don't cry and whine!"]

[Grey: "Of course!"]

Meanwhile, the Second Prince and his companions were also busy.

[Second King: "Flat, I have already transmitted the constructed spell to you telepathically. If you want to interfere with the reaction of reason and law, using this spell should be more efficient."]

[Flatter: "Professor, is this part of Hartles's affinity diagram?"]

[Second Generation: "That's right, the theoretical part has been analyzed. With your abilities, this should be enough, right?"]

"As expected of a professor! Leave it to me! This is like adding wings to a tiger, like Mario eating a star, like karate with a boomerang!"

Flat glared at the fallen sacred bird Hermes and grinned, "Alright, you just wait!"

[Grey, on her side, had already charged towards the sacred bird, leaping high into the air before Hermes could take off again, shouting, "Yad! Deactivate the first stage restriction!"]

[Yad: "Hehehe! This is your first time using that, isn't it! Can you do it well?!"]

The scythe instantly transformed back into a box, then into a giant boomerang.

However, Gray didn't intend to use it for throwing attacks; she planned to use it as a hang glider.

Although it's impossible to fly very far, with a sufficient running start, it's still possible to achieve a very short glide.

Lion Robber Jie Li: "Using a boomerang as a hang glider, that's really impressive."

Kenneth: "It seems this girl is quite quick-witted in battle."

Grey frantically jumped onto Hermes' back, and the sacred bird immediately sensed this, its back forming a spear of red sand that shot towards Grey.

[Grey brandishes her scythe, which has transformed back into its original form, and charges straight forward.]

She already knew where the target was, because she clearly saw a certain spot on the back of the sacred bird when it descended.

[Slicing through the sand spears in front of her, Gray mustered all her strength and leaped into the air, hurling her short sword.]

Of course, doing this would only allow the short sword to pierce the surface, not the core of the sacred bird, so...

[Grey: "Remove the first phase of restrictions, battering ram!"]

[Yad transforms again, this time into a massive battering ram.]

This form was originally designed for multi-player operation; its prototype was a siege weapon used to break down city gates, and it is also the form with the highest attack power for Yad.

Weber: "Good heavens, a battering ram! You can conjure something like that?"

Shiki Jie Li: "I wonder if I can conjure up a cannon."

Weber: "That shouldn't be possible..."

【"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!"】

[Grey used all the magic she had left, roaring as she pushed the battering ram down.]

The sand spear blocking her path was easily knocked away, and Gray, with a full-force strike, successfully pushed the infiltrated golden nail that had pierced her skin.

Hermes jerked violently, and this time he truly plummeted, throwing Gray into the air as well.

Coincidentally, the sacred bird landed precisely where the Second Emperor and his companions were waiting.

[King II: "Now, Flat!"]

[Flatter: "Understood! Begin interfering with Game.Select! Connect the entire circuit to Circuit.FullConnect!"]

A beam of light, adorned with intricate numbers and symbols, swept across Flat's hand, while Sphinx supplied him with magical energy and provided olfactory support.

The light extended towards the crystal ball, then transformed into mysterious chains that bound the sacred bird.

However, the sacred bird did not sit idly by and await its doom; it immediately began a desperate struggle. Another force began to flow against the chains.

At this moment, the scales of victory are tipping between Hermes and Frat. The intense, almost imperceptible battle of attack and defense makes it nearly impossible to tell how much time has passed.

[Grey: "The winner will be..."]

"That goes without saying. At the point when everything became completely formulaic, the outcome was already decided."

The Second Prince calmly replied, "If you don't know your opponent's abilities, you might fall into their trap. But I figured it out during our first encounter. With that in mind, my student shouldn't be able to lose."

This isn't about setting a goal, but rather about absolute confidence in the students and in achieving victory.

And the result was exactly as he predicted.

[The sacred bird collapsed, and a dazzling light illuminated the entire space.]

Rin Tohsaka: "Did we win?"

Lion Jie Li: "It seems so."

Weber: "It's not just apparent, it's absolute. It can't hold out for long after being pierced by the gold blade."

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "It's still a bit unbelievable that a group of students could defeat the Seven Great Weapons of Atlas Academy."

Kenneth: "It should be. Physicochemical reactions are not purely offensive weapons, and the future Webber and his team have thoroughly understood the enemy's strengths and weaknesses, which is why they were able to win."

Kiritsugu Emiya: "This is the importance of tactics and intelligence."

[Scene shifts to the outside world.]

It was nearing dusk; it seemed the battle was drawing to a close.

[Long on the foothills, far from the village, King II and his entourage, along with Tsbia, gathered here.]

After the battle ended and they were teleported back from that space, everyone's mission was finally over. The cleanup work was left to Tsbia, who also gave a few explanations.

According to him, the contract was to be lent out until King Arthur was resurrected or it was determined that the contract could not be fulfilled, and it was stipulated that the Atlas Court must not interfere with the continuation of the Atlas contract during this ceremony.

The main reason for this problem is Gray's mother, and the rational response to the severing of the mental connection with King Arthur seems to be entering a self-diagnosis and repair phase, and it shouldn't activate again for several years. Considering the interval between the Holy Grail Wars in Fuyuki City, there's no need to worry for now.

Of course, the most devout grandmother in the village probably hasn't given up yet, but even if she hasn't, there's nothing more she can do.

Weber: "Phew, it's finally over. There were no more mistakes."

Rin Tohsaka: "Were Gray's mother and that fat priestess brought back to life?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Keep watching, the answer should be here soon."

[Zibbia stood in the shade of a tree and said to Grey, "Is it alright not to go see your mother?"]

[Grey: "Yes, Mom's okay, right?"]

[Zibbia: "It's alright. Since both she and Priest Fernand were near death, after giving them some first aid, I took them, along with Sister Illumia, to a hospital near the foothills connected to the Church. Her life is not in danger. The Church doesn't know that your mother was your double, and her connection with the Skeleton King is severed, so she won't become a sample in a magical sense."]

"In the end, no one in that village perished. If one had to categorize her, perhaps the skeletal spirit of King Arthur would be an exception, but she merely returned to the realm of reason as a mental model. For beings that exist only in spirit, time is ambiguous and indistinct. The years she spent underground were no different from a short afternoon nap."

[Grey: "Does Mom know I'm still alive?"]

[Zsbia: "She should have received the message, after all, she was temporarily connected to the rational response. Although an ordinary person's brain can't even process that amount of information, she should still have the impression that you're alive."]

[Grey: "That's good. As long as she knows I'm still alive, that's enough."]

She can't visit her mother's group yet, because if she does, the village might find out. This could lead to her grandmother and other believers acting out of control.

Rin Tohsaka: "Thank goodness, they're all back to life."

Kenneth: "Yes, that's a very rational approach. Your judgment wasn't clouded by emotions."

Lion Jie Li: "Hmph, mother and daughter cannot meet, what kind of world is this?"

[Venerable II: "The fact that the Knights or other groups are not taking action at this stage probably indicates that the Holy Church has not yet realized this situation."]

[Sphinx: "Huh? The villagers have been missing for half a year, including representatives of the Holy Church, Sister Ilumia and Priest Fernand. Is the Church's reaction that slow?"]

[Second Generation: "No, someone manipulated the intelligence..."]

[Grey: "...Is that Hartress?"]

“Who knows?”

The Second Prince didn't want to continue the topic, saying, "Flatter, Sven, could you go and check on the situation in the town? I think it should be fine, but it would be troublesome if the Holy Church or other organizations came."

【"knew!"】

After watching the two students leave, the Second Prince turned to Tsbia again and said seriously, "There is something that is on my mind. May I ask you before we part?"

[Tsbia: "Really? What is it?"]

[Second Generation: "I think the order of the village rules is wrong."]

"Those four rules are connected to the gravedigger's magical insignia. In other words, they can be seen as rules passed down from the Blackmore family, whose history can be traced back to before the Common Era. However, the Black-faced Madonna is mostly derived from Morgan le Fay, whose era was after the Common Era. If so, why was the Black-faced Madonna included in the gravedigger's four rules?"

[Tsbia: "This is not a contradiction; it's likely that someone added new rules in later generations."]

[Second Generation: "Yes, new magic is recorded in the Magic Crest generation after generation, which I think is natural. However, the period when those four rules were established is surprisingly not that long ago, isn't it? For example, several hundred years ago, around the same time you became the Dean of the Atlas Academy, isn't it?"]

[Tsbia: "...What are you trying to say?"]

[Second Generation: "Contrary to the order I just mentioned, I believe that of the four rules, only the one about the Black-Faced Mother has truly been passed down from ancient times. Its purpose is to identify King Arthur's genes and efficiently increase the sample size. That statue is also a magical artifact, isn't it? However, the other rules are actually unnecessary..."]