To become a king and a magician

plan?

Sajō Aika sneered, "A plan that allows you to participate can't possibly be a good one, and to add insult to injury by cursing the vixen... So you're finally giving up on pretending and planning to abandon the vixen like the prince did last time?"

"That's a really malicious way of putting it, just like the villainous female supporting character that always appears in a drama. It's really going too far to accuse someone of doing bad things right off the bat. Back when Arthur was fighting the white dragon Vortigern, she also helped out."

When Mary said this, her face was full of innocent and pitiful expression.

But Ayaka Sajou wasn't buying it at all. Once she realized that Merry's magic was a curse, she completely distrusted what Ayaka said this time.

(Can you sense that the curse itself is interconnected, a curse that links the fox spirit to another person through some kind of connection...? The question is, through what connection?)

"I'm thinking about the effects of the curse, so I can tell Tiger later?"

Meili smiled, then twirled the staff in her hand and tapped it on the ground. Several ripples immediately spread out from her, surrounding Sajō Aika. Then, dozens of beams of light rose from the trajectory of the ripples, imprisoning Sajō Aika inside.

Sajo Aika did not resist.

What are you doing?

"Although you are unlikely to have any impact due to the double seal of the Tiger and the Magic King, it is still best to temporarily sever your connection with the Tiger just in case. If you reveal the mystery before His Majesty the King sees the answer himself, the surprise will be completely lost. But it is quite unexpected that you do not resist. He was prepared to compete with you in mental strength."

"The fact that you're here means you're confident you can achieve your goal no matter what I do, so what's the point of me resisting? With my current abilities?"

At times like this, Ayaka Sajou would want to jump out and give King Solomon a good whack on the head. Why did you need to add another seal? She's been behaving herself for years, why is she still so nervous?

"Answer me one last question, Nightmare—your plan definitely won't let the fox spirit get hurt, right?"

"Hehe~~~ What if someone said yes?" Meryl started flirting with the limits without any restraint. "But, you actually care about His Majesty the King... It seems it's time to make a collar-type Mystic Code as a gift for His Majesty the King."

"A collar? What would we give it to him for?"

"Put it around your neck."

Sajō Aika has made up her mind: if she gets out of here, the first person she'll kill is this scumbag!

Under the murderous gaze of Ayaka Sajou, Merry waved her hand: "Well, that's my part. See you later, little Ayaka-chan—by the way, I was just kidding."

"They haven't had enough fun yet, how could they let His Majesty the King get into trouble?"

——————————————————————————————————

Real-world applications.

Seeing Natsukawa Torama emerge from the men's restroom, Artoria, who had been waiting outside, immediately went to greet him: "Master, are you alright? Did they find anything else?"

“I roughly understand the characteristics of this magic.” Natsukawa Tora pointed to his heart. “When I was in a parallel world, I saw a curse-type magic used as punishment. The caster used his own blood to draw runes on the recipient, allowing the two to share their senses. To put it bluntly, they could share pain, but only one-sidedly.”

"The effect of this magic trick is similar to that one."

Is it the curse of shared pain?

Artoria frowned: "Can it be deactivated?"

"I can't do it. To be honest, my magic skills are only third-rate. I can only be decent at summoning magic, and I'm barely passable at puppet magic. The rest are just miscellaneous things I've learned."

"Besides, this is a curse Merlin placed on me. Lia, do you think you can break the curse Merlin placed on you?"

"Hmm...that won't work."

“Me too.” Xia Chuanhu smiled wryly. “Fortunately, this curse is only similar in nature to the shared pain, but it is not actually a curse of shared pain. So far, I haven’t felt any effects on me.”

However, even though nothing was wrong, Natsukawa Tiger still had two things he didn't understand.

One question is why Meryl would curse herself. He had already called Meryl from the bathroom, but she didn't answer. Considering Morgan was currently at the Fuyuki Grand Hotel, the only plausible reason was that the two of them were having an affair.

As for the idea that Merry was being controlled, that's impossible even with a brain.

Another point is how Meryl cursed herself. Natsukawa Torato was not surprised that Meryl could curse herself from a distance, but for this kind of empathic curse, the caster's own catalyst is necessary. Although anything can be used, to achieve the best effect, the catalyst can only be blood.

Mary hasn't been smearing her blood on him lately.

(Morgan, Meryl, what exactly are you two trying to do?)

"call----!"

Just as Natsukawa Tiger was pondering this, a gust of wind suddenly blew by.

This should have been a perfectly normal situation, but in the midst of this gust of wind, both Artoria and Natsukawa Tora sensed something was amiss.

There was something off about the smell in the air.

It smells like the kind you'd find on a battlefield after a war.

"Master, please be careful."

With Natsukawa Tora behind her, Artoria gripped the holy sword enveloped by the Wind King's barrier, warily scanning her surroundings, watching for any slight movement.

The next moment, a black mist, like the steam from a hot spring, suddenly erupted from the ground in front of the two of them and quickly gathered into several human figures.

As the humanoid figure gradually became clearer, Natsukawa Tora's eyes trembled violently!

"This is......"

The Holy Grail... the Holy Grail... the Holy Grail...

Clad in black armor, the Phantom Knight, whose body appeared and disappeared intermittently, emerged from the black mist while repeating his words like a robot, and then raised his weapon towards the two.

Although shrouded in black mist, Natsukawa Torato could recognize him.

"The Holy Sword...Arthur?"

34. If they attack our own people, I'll strike back hard!

"They should have received the gifts we sent over there by now."

Inside his room at the Fuyuki Grand Hotel, Morgan stood by the window, looking down at the city of Fuyuki.

"The Shadow of a Servant. Although this is probably not the first time he has encountered it, I hope he will like this gift."

“You really have a wicked sense of humor, Morgan,” Meryl said with a smile, leaning back on the sofa. “Using Arthur’s magic fragments as a core to create individuals like Shadow Servants, the principle is the same as that of Dragon Fang Soldiers, but this one is on a much higher level. Plus, it uses my magic to achieve long-distance teleportation... His Majesty the King should be quite surprised.”

Your Majesty.

Hearing the title from Meryl's lips, Morgan frowned. "Come to think of it, I've found it strange for a long time. Even though that child has become Arthur's half-servant, you still treat him like your new king..."

"Are you trying to say that I'm not loyal?" Meryl smiled slightly. "Actually, I'm not that loyal either, just like you. Even if I had to change the monarch I serve, I wouldn't hesitate for long, provided that he can make me feel interesting enough."

"So, you mean that child can give you more fun than Arthur, is that right?"

“No, they’re about the same in those two ways, but there’s one thing Tiger has never done to me.” As she said this, Mary looked at Arthur, who was leaning against the corner of the wall, trying hard to suppress his berserk state. “I wonder if you know, Arthur, that Tiger is very serious about marrying me.”

Arthur's expression twitched for a moment, then he blinked in disbelief: "Really?"

"Yes, that's true. In fact, the reason he participated in this Holy Grail War was because I told him that if he could win in the end, I would accept his marriage proposal."

As she spoke, Mary swung her legs.

"I've been proposed to before, but this is the first time I've ever been proposed to like this. It's quite interesting to go from being an observer to a participant."

"You really did something that even I am ashamed of, Natsukawa."

Arthur couldn't help but smile wryly: "But then again, since you, Merlin, are already thinking about getting married, why are you now teaming up with Morgan to deal with Xia Chuan?"

"Because it's very interesting."

"After ten years apart, I unexpectedly reunited with my best friend. But when we met again, my best friend was already caught in a conspiracy, and I had no choice but to turn my sword against him... Oh dear, I've been wanting to see this kind of love-hate relationship between best friends for a long time."

Meryl's answer left Arthur momentarily speechless, as it was such a typical Meryl explanation. He had experienced similar situations countless times in the past, to the point that he had become so accustomed to and naturally accepted Meryl's explanations.

"Once everything settles down, Natsukawa will definitely not let you off the hook, Merlin."

“They’ll obediently confess and accept their punishment then,” Mary jumped off the sofa. “So, when will they come? Your Majesty—you don’t have much time left, so if you don’t hurry…”

"You really are going to die."

----------------------

In a small alley in Xindu.

"Pfft!"

After wielding her sword and eliminating several Shadow Servants in front of her, Artoria turned around and looked behind her: "I've dealt with all the pursuers. Master, are you feeling alright?"

"Fortunately, we're not at the point where we can't move yet."

Standing by the wall, Xia Chuanhu clutched his chest, his voice sounding weaker than usual.

This wasn't because he was injured; a mere Servant's Shadow couldn't possibly hurt him. The reason he appeared somewhat weak was because he constantly felt his power draining away.

It's like a bucket with a hole punctured in the bottom. Although water is being poured in (to restore magic power), for some reason, the rate of water pouring in is getting slower and slower. At first, it was barely keeping up, but now it can't keep up with the rate of loss at all.

This feeling had been there ever since Meryl's magic mark appeared on his chest.

(At this rate, it won't be long before I have less than half my magic power left.)

For Natsukawa Torato, magical power is directly linked to his combat strength. If he were to allow his magical power to leak away, his strength would undoubtedly plummet to a very low level.

Artoria walked over and helped Natsukawa Tora up, then asked, "Let's go and meet up with Gray and the others first, Master. Since your condition may have been caused by Merry and Morgan working together, we can't go back to Merry now."

"No, let's just go back to the hotel."

Natsukawa Torara shook his head: "There's something I still want to confirm, something I absolutely must confirm. The weapons and appearances of those Servant Shadows... If it's really as I think, I must go back now, while I still have the power... Hmm!"

The sharp pain in his chest made Natsukawa Tora frown and groan – the loss of magic power was intensifying.

This is definitely not a situation where we can go back to see Meryl; there's likely a deadly trap at the hotel. Although Artoria doesn't believe Meryl would harm Natsukawa Torato, judging from the current situation, Meryl is undoubtedly on the opposite side of the two.

Going back would be extremely unwise.

“I’m sorry, Master, I can’t follow your orders this time. I need to prioritize your safety.” Artoria carried Natsukawa Torata on her back. “I’ll take you to meet up with Gray and the others right away.”

"Lia, no, let's go to the hotel."

"I refuse."

Artoria flatly refused Natsukawa Torama's insistence, and just as she was about to carry him away—

"With a command spell—"

"Master?!"

Natsukawa Torato's sudden action caused Artoria to gasp in surprise. He was actually going to use his incredibly precious Command Seals here? Just to get back to the hotel...

"Please don't do anything reckless, Master. Command Seals shouldn't be used in this kind of situation."

"Then take me to the hotel. I have a reason to go there."