Thanks for the invitation. I'm in Type-Moon, inheriting the legacy of Zi-O.

Purple energy bullets poured from the gun muzzle, heading towards the blonde girl standing in the crater.

"—" As she watched the barrage of comments coming her way, the girl slung the sword over her shoulder and leaned slightly forward.

Then, with a powerful stomp, the girl faced the purple light blast head-on.

Clang—a sound like something being opened came from the sword, and crimson lightning enveloped Mordred's entire body.

Time seemed to slow down at that moment. Mordred laid his sword flat and slashed horizontally.

The bright silver blade sliced ​​through the purple light bullet, splitting it in two.

The crimson lightning roared and moved, dazzling the eyes.

All the light projectiles were shredded by the girl's crimson lightning.

"—!" With a muffled groan, Nian Zhuo saw Mordred Crimson Lightning's figure spinning in the air, as if dancing.

However, the blade in her hand rushed straight towards him.

"—Thump!" The air trembled as Mordred 1 spun in the air, his crimson lightning carrying an undeniable force as it hurtled toward Nian Zhuo.

"—Mashu!" Nian Zhuo immediately raised his gun and pulled the trigger, but he also understood that no matter how many light bullets he fired, it would only be one more swing of his sword for the girl. He quickly shouted to the shield-bearer girl who was closely following him.

"Understood!" Mash had already caught Mordred's figure and quickly held up her shield to block Nian Zhuo's path.

Wielding her sword in mid-air, Mordred once again sliced ​​through the incoming bullets, and crimson lightning struck down rapidly, hitting Mash's raised shield.

"Ugh—!" Mash felt the immense power emanating from the shield and couldn't help but let out a muffled groan, her feet uncontrollably taking a step backward.

“But—” she bit her lip and raised her head, “If this is all you can do, it will work!” Her petite body burst forth with unexpected power as Mash shoved her shield forward.

"What—?!" This time, it was Mordred's turn to be surprised. The force rebounding from the shield caused her sword to rise, and even her own figure was forced to retreat.

"Mr. Nianzhuo, now's the time!" Mash successfully blocked Mordred's attack and quickly dodged to the side.

Emerging from behind her massive shield was Nian Zhuo, who gripped the Time Gunsword tightly.

The hand gripping the weapon was knocked upwards by the returning force, and the body was thrown backwards due to inertia. Mordred's eyes narrowed sharply as he faced the straight-stabbing blade.

"It's not over yet!" Then, she lightly touched the ground with her toes, spun around, and kicked the tip of Nian Zhuo's sword.

"—!" Because the kick hit the tip of the sword, Nian Zhuo's thrusting sword deflected to one side at a certain angle, avoiding the girl's body.

But it wasn't over yet. After spinning around, Mordred landed on the ground and kicked Nianzhuo in the side again.

With a heavy thud, Nianzhuo's figure staggered backward to one side.

Mordred's right fist, crackling with lightning, slammed into Mash's raised shield as he turned.

"Ah!" Mash was also pushed back by the force of the shield.

Then, Mordred felt a rustling sound of wind behind him.

"!" Turning around, what greeted him was the Time Gun Sword that Nian Zhuo had thrown out.

"I learned this from you!" Nian Zhuo threw out the Time Gun Sword and charged towards Mordred at the same time.

"Too naive!" Mordred dodged to the side, letting the Time Gunsword graze his body.

"Is that so!" Nian Zhuo threw a punch at Mordred, but his other hand flipped the driver at his waist. "Then—how about this move!"

However, no strange phenomena appeared on Nianzhuo's fist, and Mordred simply grasped his hand.

"I told you, you're too naive!" Mordred grabbed Nian Zhuo's wrist and flung him away in the opposite direction behind her.

"—Ha." Mordred thought Nian Zhuo would click his tongue in disappointment, but instead heard him chuckle softly.

Then Mordred saw it and caught the Time Gunsword he had dodged.

"What—!" That was a tactic he'd used before, but Mordred still didn't dodge. "There aren't any walls around that would allow you to jump a second time!"

Behind Nian Zhuo was a wide street, with no wall that could allow him to rush over again.

"Walls? Those inanimate objects are hardly enough to describe our teamwork!" Nian Zhuo shouted, grabbing the Time Gun Sword in his hand. Purple light immediately gathered on the blade. "Come on! Mash!"

"—!" Mordred's eyes narrowed rapidly as he saw the girl breaking through the mist. "Could it be—!"

Mash charged out with her shield raised to meet the oncoming Nencho.

Nian Zhuo raised his leg and stepped on the shield, his figure spinning as he flew towards Mordred, sword in hand.

"Finish Time—!"

"Damn it!" Mordred tried to retaliate, but found that the opponent's speed was beyond his expectations, and the purple blade rushed towards him immediately.

"Time Break—!"

Nian Zhuo swung his purple sword.

Belated Growth: The Search for the Magic Book

As the smoke cleared, the purple blade was only centimeters away from Mordred's neck.

“…” Nian Zhuo simply gripped the sword blade that emitted a purple light, staring into Mordred’s eyes before him.

"The battle is over," she said in a deep voice, announcing the end of the fight.

"—Is that so?" Mordred nodded. "But, do you really think you've won a complete victory, Nianzhuo?"

She gently raised her hand, and Nianzhuo felt something bump against her abdomen.

Before anyone knew it, Mordred had grasped the bright silver blade in his hand, and it was now aimed at Nianzhuo's abdomen.

"Whoosh..." The purple light dissipated, and Nian Zhuo remained silent, but had not yet chosen to move the blade away.

—Because he was waiting for two girls.

This victory wasn't achieved through their own efforts, but rather through the help they received as they matured.

Therefore, Nianzhuo wants to show them the final result to prove that their growth was worthwhile.

The significant physical exertion left him feeling a bit dizzy, but he was far from needing to rest.

"Mr. Nianzhuo! And Mordred!" Ritsuka rushed over, bringing Mash, who was still panting, with her.

“Nian Zhuo… Mr…” Mash gasped for breath, looking up to see Nian Zhuo pressing the blade against Mordred’s neck. “—That’s great, senpai… you… you saw it…?” She tried to calm herself, but could only keep wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"The battle... is over—I... and Mr. Nianzhuo... succeeded... I... can catch Mordred's sword..." Leaning on her shield, Mashu looked much more tired than Nianzhuo due to the side effects of the emergency enhancement. "I... I finally... successfully helped Mr. Nianzhuo..."

“…Alright, that’s settled then.” Nian Zhuo moved the sword away and took a step back.

"Wow, you're pretty strong too, Nianzhuo." Mordred slung the horizontal sword back over his shoulder, touching his neck with lingering fear. "For a moment, I thought you were really going to sever my neck."

“How could that be?” Urataros patted Nencho’s shoulder. “He’s not the kind of person who would harm his own comrades, you know?” He turned around and stood with Ryotaro, who was smiling.

"Phew—" After calming herself down, Mordred put on a smile again. "How are you feeling, Mash? Do you understand how to use your Noble Phantasm better now?" She pointed to the shield in Mash's hand as she recovered.

“Hmm…” Mashu nodded, feeling her strength returning. “Thank you… I feel… that… it’s like a knot in my heart has been untied… This is the most Spartan training session since Mr. Cú Chulainn’s magic…”

"Eh...?!" Ritsuka seemed to have just realized something, looking at Mordred in surprise. "Then what was that just now...?"

“…That’s right.” Since everyone had guessed it, Mordred nodded without any hesitation. “Just used a strong medicine, a strong medicine.” She then pointed to Mash beside her. “Because this girl always says she’s a Demi-Servant and has been suppressing her power. So I put on a clumsy play to make her understand her mission. That way, she’ll improve a little, right?” With a satisfied smile, Mordred scratched her head.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch..." Then she twitched the corner of her mouth and held her waist.

“Mordred…” Mash fell silent, unsure how to express her gratitude.

"What~" Ritsuka smiled as she looked at the reserved Mordred. "You're quite the caring person too~"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Mordred blushed instantly and bared her teeth at Ritsuka as if in threat. "I'm just annoyed by how you guys have no sense of crisis! Guiding others is not my style at all!" Then she turned her head to one side and continued in a very low voice, "In fact, this is my first time trying this, you bastard."

"Huh?" Ritsuka tilted her head behind Mordred. "What did you say?"

"No!" Mordred answered loudly immediately, turning around and pointing her index finger at Ritsuka. "Listen carefully, absolutely do not tell Jekyll about this, otherwise that guy will definitely start digging into it again." Then, she scratched her stray hairs in frustration, looking at Ritsuka in front of her.

"Also, I'm sorry, Ritsuka." She said somewhat awkwardly, but still patted the girl's shoulder. "I apologize for my rudeness. Although you are indeed weak, your weakness is down-to-earth. You're not a coward, nor a despicable person. You're a fool who's quite worthy of admiration, aren't you?"

"Alright, alright, thank you for the treat." Mordred glared at Nianzhuo at the back, then stretched contentedly. "Then let's hurry up and move on, Ritsuka, Mashu... and Ryotaro and Nianzhuo over there. Hold your shields up high, let's go." With that, she took the initiative to walk forward.

“Okay!” Mash replied happily, bowing her head. “Thank you, kind Lord Mordred!”

*Thud*—Mordred stumbled and nearly fell to the ground.

"No... don't suddenly call me Lord Mordred, you idiot!" Turning around, Mordred awkwardly called out to Mashu, "You almost made me trip!"

So, after this minor hiccup, the group continued walking the streets, searching for the so-called magic book or any information about it.

Along the way, some artificial life forms and automatons tried to cause trouble, but they were all defeated by Mash, who had grown up, leaving Ryotaro, Mordred, and Nencho watching idly behind.

"All enemies have been defeated... Confirmed that the enemy is completely silent." Mash wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at Ritsuka not far away. "Thank you for your hard work, Senpai."

"Thanks for your hard work." Mary's voice came through the communicator on Mashu's wrist. "We received a call from Jekyll. I answered it."

After a hissing sound of electricity, a familiar, warm male voice came from the communication device.

"Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?" Jekyll breathed a sigh of relief after receiving a positive reply. "It's me, Jekyll. I received additional information and wanted to let you know."

"Ah—" Mash was clearly taken aback, then nodded as if she had figured it out. "I see. So you transferred Mr. Jekyll's radio to Chaldea's line."

“That’s right, Chaldea’s technology is really amazing.” Listening to the clear voice, Jekyll couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, then quickly returned to normal. “Then let me tell you the contents first. It’s about the grimoire that’s wreaking havoc in the Soho region.”

“The Demon Book is different from those that kill artificial lifeforms or automatons. It can invade rooms with doors and windows tightly closed, you all know that, right?” Jekyll frowned with some trouble as he flipped through the report that had just been sent to him. “The specific details of the damage have now been reported. It is said that it can put people into a long sleep from which they will never wake up.”

"Is it through magic? Or through drugs?" Mordred stroked his chin.

"I'm not sure about that yet..." Jekyll scratched his cheek somewhat awkwardly, but still voiced his guess, "If it's just the effect of the drug, I don't think you should be affected..."

"Yes, we should be fine." Mashu nodded, looking around at everyone. "Ryotaro, Nencho, and Mordred are all Servants, and Senpai also has poison resistance (tentative)." She emphasized the word "tentative" for some reason…

"Eh? Is that so? That's great." Mordred breathed a sigh of relief. "However, it's never wrong to stay vigilant. If it's magic, with my magic resistance skills, I can probably nullify it, but—" Mordred touched her breastplate, still a little worried.

"If it's a Servant skill, or a drug created by a Noble Phantasm, or a powerful magic spell, then it's impossible to defend against a direct hit."

"As long as we don't get hit, it'll be fine, right?" Ritsuka said casually, but still looked at her companions with concern. "So, everyone, please be extra careful."

"That's true." Mordred lowered his sword from his shoulder, not too worried. "Just try to maneuver around them."

“Oh, right—” Just then, Jekyll’s voice rang out again, “After you arrive in SoHo, go to the antique bookstore I’ve specified. The informant should be there. Of course, that is, assuming it hasn’t been attacked by the magic book yet.”

"Understood." Since the situation was serious, Mashu also gripped the shield tightly in her hand.

“Alright, let’s set off then!” Mordred stepped to the front as the fog thickened ahead. “After all, SoHo is almost here.”

Following Mordred's footsteps, the group entered the Soho district, where the magical fog had noticeably thickened.

The doors and windows of the surrounding buildings were even sealed with iron bars, leaving only the towering chimneys and the dim indoor lights.