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

"I know perfectly well, don't rush me." In the middle of the room, Andersen adjusted his glasses, his gaze sweeping over the books in front of him.

"Although, as it is said, reading should be done at one's own pace." Even while frantically engrossed in his book, Andersen couldn't resist a sarcastic remark, "However, yes. Being alone like this, leisurely in a quiet room—"

"Hahahaha! Die! Die!" However, before he could finish speaking, he heard Hyde's maniacal laughter and the dull thud of the Chaos Machine Soldier hitting the ground.

The fight between the two monsters ended with Hyde's victory.

The noise from smashing the Chaos Mech's armor so hard that it made Andersen raise an eyebrow in the room.

"Well, it's not exactly quiet, though." Despite his relaxed demeanor, his hands were constantly turning the pages of the book in front of him. "The noise outside is clearly audible..."

"You clearly don't understand the situation at all!" Mordred, who was standing closest to the door, knew she couldn't disturb the other person right now. She just patted the door panel outside. "Anyway, hurry up!" Feeling that she still didn't have much magic power in her body, Mordred gritted her teeth and glanced at Mash beside her.

"...Damn it. Shield-wielding bastard, let's follow Jekyll!" Mordred, leaning on his sword, tried to stand up as another enemy appeared at the street corner.

"Alright, you two can rest here." Immediately afterward, a hand pressed down on both of their shoulders, forcing them to the ground with irresistible force. Nian Zhuo had appeared behind them without them noticing.

"Hey! You perverted knight!" Mordred, naturally, after discovering that Nian Zhuo was being pinned to the ground again, shouted indignantly, "Why won't you let us pass! Do you want to be a hero all by yourself!"

“Yes… Mr. Nianzhuo.” Mashu had used up the least amount of magic among them, but even so, she hadn’t recovered. “You’ve fought longer than Mordred and me, you definitely can’t hold on any longer…”

"Ah, no, no, no, you've misunderstood." Seeing that the two were about to try to stand up again, Nianzhuo quickly grabbed their shoulders to stop them. "Don't worry, I'm probably in the best condition among us. Leave Hyde to me. You'll only cause trouble if you go up there in your current state."

"Ritsuka, I'm leaving the two of them to you." Nodding to the orange-haired girl beside him, Nencho's dark figure transformed into a black streak of light and rushed towards the reappearing enemies.

"Wait! Mr. Nianzhuo!" Suddenly, Ritsuka's voice came from behind. Nianzhuo, who was about to sprint, stopped in his tracks and turned around in confusion.

"Work together, and don't overextend!" He raised his hand and waved it repeatedly, while pointing ahead of Nian Zhuo with the index finger of his other hand. "And by the way, remember to take good care of Mr. Hyde!"

Nodding, Nian Zhuo then charged straight at the enemy.

On the other side, Hyde was fighting with abandon, letting out a ferocious laugh.

Hyde seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the sound of his fists pounding into his enemy's body, listening to the cracking sounds emanating from within.

Suddenly, sensing something, his scarlet pupils widened as he looked behind him.

A dark figure appeared silently there, its red and blue eye armor also watching him.

...Hyde remained motionless.

"Damn it... what the hell is this thing?!" His eyes were swollen with surprise and uncertainty as he looked at Nian Zhuo, who had suddenly appeared behind him.

Danger...extreme danger.

That guy... no, that guy is definitely more dangerous than the Chaos Machine Soldier... more terrifying than anyone I've ever seen!

Hyde's body trembled uncontrollably at the mere sensation of the other's aura.

He enjoys violence and bloodshed, but he is not a completely irrational beast.

Instinct drove him away... while the bloodlust made him want to attack... so he stood still, waiting for Nianzhuo's move.

"..." Clearly, Nian Zhuo also glanced at Hyde, then made a fist with his right hand, and a golden sword with a drill bit was held in his hand.

"What—!" Sensing something was wrong, Hyde immediately tried to back away.

However, Nian Zhuo was faster than him; his dark figure, wielding a sword, instantly appeared in front of Hyde.

"...!" Hyde's eyes widened as he could only watch helplessly as the drill got closer and closer to him... and then it pierced through his side.

A thud—the sound of metal being pierced vibrated Hyde's eardrums, cold sweat dripped down his forehead, and he mechanically turned his head.

An automaton trembled, its chest armor pierced by Nian Zhuo, sparks flying.

While Hyde was observing Nian Zhuo, he failed to notice that a mechanical puppet had already approached him from behind, attempting to launch a sneak attack.

Hyde's eyes widened, his scarlet gaze fixed on Nian Zhuo, his expression wavering.

However, Nianzhuo didn't have so many concerns; on the contrary, he was a little disappointed.

“That’s about it—” Nian Zhuo shook his head, looking at Hyde through the mask. “Even if you raise your physical stats to the level of the Three Knights, your combat experience and combat intuition are still far from enough. You’re just fighting on instinct…”

Having hoped for some pleasant surprises, Nianzhuo shook his head, feeling somewhat disappointed.

"Ha—" A soft laugh came from under Nian Zhuo's armor.

Taking out the drill sword, Nian Zhuo kicked aside the destroyed automaton and charged towards the enemy on the other side.

"..." The meaning contained in that laughter... Hyde naturally noticed it too, and couldn't help but grit his teeth.

"Damn it, damn it!" Although he was very dissatisfied, the fact that the other party was stronger than him was already right in front of him. Hyde could only grit his teeth and rush in different directions with Nianzhuo. "Don't give me that—!"

He threw a punch at the enemy who suddenly appeared.

"—You're looking down on me! You bastard!"

Thump, thump, thump—like a demolition operation, the enemy couldn't stir up any trouble under the siege of the two, let alone Hyde, who was currently in a fit of rage.

Without any prompting or cover from Nian Zhuo, this guy just ran out and attacked every enemy he encountered, like a martial arts fanatic. Even the Chaos Machine Soldier, which initially required many attacks to defeat, had its head armor shattered in just a few blows under Hyde's furious attack.

However, this also greatly reduced Hyde's lifespan; at the very least, Jekyll's body couldn't withstand Hyde's furious attacks for too long.

Sure enough, after smashing another Chaos Mech, Hyde stumbled as soon as he landed.

He covered his head, the crimson in his eyes rapidly fading and gradually being replaced by a weak green.

"Huff...huff...is it over..." Looking at the mess all around and then at the corner where no enemies appeared, a gentle voice, tinged with weakness, came out.

It was Jekyll who, now that the elixir had lost its effectiveness, regained control of the situation.

Even so, the physical fatigue was far from gone, and his figure swayed slightly.

"I...I'm a little..." He turned around unsteadily, his eyes filled with exhaustion... "...I can't hold on any longer..."

Just before he collapsed, a hand wrapped around his shoulder—it was Nian Zhuo.

"Well done." Nian Zhuo sincerely praised Jekyll for fighting so hard to buy them time, and at the same time supported his body. "So, as a hero, you can't fall down now."

“…Yes, thank you.” Nodding weakly, Jekyll, with Nianzhuo’s help, walked back to Mash and the others step by step.

"Oh! It's back to normal!" Mordred stood up, slightly surprised, as she looked at the intellectual light in Jekyll's eyes.

"Actually... it's possible I might not be able to turn back." Jekyll adjusted his glasses, looking at his hands. "But thankfully I did. By the way, what about the interpretation of the Andersen materials—"

"Decoding complete." Finally, the long-absent blue-haired boy appeared at the door, adjusting his glasses with a confident smile. "I've basically deciphered all the information I wanted."

Embarking on the journey home

Upon hearing that Andersen had obtained the information he wanted, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Haha, and I also read a few very interesting books." He subtly rubbed his slightly sore eyes, and Andersen smiled with delight. "After all, it satisfied my personal curiosity. You guys did a pretty good job."

"Hmm? Personal curiosity...?" Mordred had recovered most of his strength, and his magic was also recovering at a somewhat slow pace. He stood up from the ground and looked at Andersen.

"...Fou...Fou..." Even Fou popped out, waving her arms and legs, looking quite happy. However, the way she looked at Andersen... seemed... somewhat malicious?

“…Andersen was truly a free-spirited and unrestrained hero.” Mary clapped her hands, her voice softening for the first time in a long time. “Of course, I still admire his open and honest attitude towards life, but…”

Raising an eyebrow, Mary grumbled irritably as she looked at the few tiny red dots that had reappeared on the screen.

"Our priority now is to escape as quickly as possible, because the enemy will probably swarm in again soon."

“Yes, we understand.” Nodding, Ritsuka dusted herself off and looked at Mashu beside her. “Prepare to escape, Mashu.” Then her expression softened, revealing an approving smile, her gaze lingering on Nencho and Mashu.

"The battle is over. Thank you both for your hard work."

"Yes, I understand, senior." Nodding, Mashu didn't relax, but instead kept her brows furrowed, constantly watching for any potential enemies. "Let's go back to the surface now."

"Phew... It's really over this time." Finally completely relieved, Nianzhuo removed the Decade and Build watch faces from the driver and put them back in his pocket.

"Thank you all for your hard work." For the first time, Hans Christian Andersen bowed his head to everyone and said earnestly, "I will announce the results after we get back to the apartment."

"--Good! I've had a full rest!" Finally, Shakespeare, who had been offline for a long time, returned. He should have been the one who consumed the least amount of energy since he hadn't participated in the battle... However, he had completely exhausted his own energy to maintain the state of magic volatilization for Mordred and Nianzhuo, so in the end, he was the one in danger.

However, he didn't seem to care too much about it at the moment, and simply reopened the book in his hands.

"Come, let us once again join the battle of you heroes!"

He had assumed everyone would welcome him with joy, but when Shakespeare saw the way everyone was acting, he paused noticeably.

"Oh dear?" Shakespeare saw everyone tidying up or packing their things, and scratched his head in confusion. "Gentlemen, are you all ready to go back?"

"Yeah!" Mordred stretched, slung his sword over his shoulder, and headed back the way he came. "Anyway, let's hurry up and get going!"

Everyone was exhausted, so they were constantly worried that some monster might suddenly appear out of nowhere.

—But it didn't happen.

The return journey was quiet. It seemed that the mastermind had guessed that Nian Zhuo and his group had obtained the intelligence, and had simply given up on their request to continue the siege.

Even so, just recalling that grand scene, the monster rushing towards them... Nianzhuo and the others couldn't help but shudder.

However, all the strange feelings vanished when he saw the familiar mansion.

Mordred kicked the door open, spreading her arms wide, completely unaware of Jekyll's increasingly sorrowful expression behind her, before shouting loudly.

"I'm back!" With that, she stormed inside, collapsed onto Jekyll's favorite sofa, and refused to come out again.

Seeing this, Nianzhuo and the others exchanged glances and couldn't help but chuckle: This guy is really just a child at heart.

"Oh, Nianzhuo, you're back." Unexpectedly, Ryotaro, who was resting when Nianzhuo and the others left, had already woken up. He pushed up his glasses and looked at the group in front of him, who were panting heavily and dressed in disheveled clothes. "Looks like you had some unpleasant experience. Sit down and let's talk slowly."

"Well, I'll go first," Andersen said, taking the lead. After all, she had the best memory and magic, and could stretch and yawn when Nianzhuo and the others interrogated her.

However... most people still chose to tell me that Nianzhuo could mostly tell what his stepfather looked like by looking through the gaps in the bookshelf.

What was Noire saying? She said things like, "As long as I work hard, I can definitely catch up with them." But the truth is often that even if you try, you can't catch up; you can only win the battle of defeat.

"Well, that's roughly the situation." Adjusting his glasses, Andersen finished his explanation. Whether Chu Qing understood it or not was up to fate.

"With your help, my questions have been answered very well." Patting his knees, Andersen stood up again and bowed to Nianzhuo and the others. "Please allow me to thank you again. Thank you. Fujimaru Ritsuka, Nianzhuo, Mashu, Saber."

"Oh... um." With a slight blush, Mordred couldn't quite accept Andersen's earnest gratitude and turned her head away.

"However, as you know, I'm short of money." Patting the book in his hand, Andersen said with an air of "this is all I have." "I can't even afford a penny as a thank you, so I hope to offset it with the results of this research."

"Hmm. Mr. Andersen." Lying on the sofa, Jekyll struggled to sit up, looked at Andersen, and nodded to him. "I'm already looking forward to not feeling the muscle soreness all over my body anymore."

“Fou.” Standing next to Jekyll, Fou jumped up and shook its long ears.

"Ahem, well then—considering Jekyll's health, which should be resting as soon as possible, let's get straight to the point." With that, he stood up and went to the huge blackboard behind him, picking up a pen. "Actually, from the very beginning, I've been very concerned about the relationship between 'Heroic Spirits' and 'Servants.' So-called Heroic Spirits are records and achievements of human history. Whether they exist or not, as long as humanity hasn't gone extinct, they will continue to exist."

After speaking at length, Andersen was slightly out of breath, but his pen continued to move to the other side, writing something on the blackboard.