To become a king and a magician

The heart can feel it, the body can feel it. On the other side of the aurora, inside that beast, the knight has not stopped his struggle.

Therefore, Natsukawa Torato cannot leave yet.

"Buzz~~~~~"

The crimson moon mark on the back of his hand glowed faintly, as if reaching out to touch something. Xia Chuanhu tremblingly raised his drooping right hand, then clenched it tightly—

"Crack—!"

A sudden cracking sound rang out, followed by countless cracks spreading across the entire floor. The hotel's first-floor floor shattered instantly! The three people on the first floor immediately plummeted downwards!

At the same time, due to the shattering of the floor beneath their feet, the black aurora that was colliding with the Flame Arrow suddenly shifted upwards, piercing through dozens of floors before disappearing into mid-air.

(By changing the support point, forcibly altering the trajectory of the Noble Phantasm? Or even terminating its release?)

Meili looked at Xia Chuanhu beside her in surprise. Even in this state, he could still come up with this method... No, what was more surprising and even puzzling than the means of intervention was that he could actually do this?

The Flame Arrow clearly drained all his power; it couldn't be the effect of summoning magic. Without summoning magic, Natsukawa Torato couldn't do anything.

(No, let's put that aside for now. What we need to consider now is the follow-up to this.)

Meryl looked up. Because of the collapse of the first floor, the stability of the entire hotel was compromised. Coupled with the bombardment from the demon sword, it was probably only a matter of time before the whole thing collapsed.

If we don't leave now, we'll definitely be buried alive!

"Merry..." Natsukawa Torama called out weakly, "Help me...stand still...I'll do it..."

"Don't try to be strong when you're like this. They'll take you out."

No... I mean...

Natsukawa Tora gritted his teeth and held his breath. Then, as if he had activated some kind of power, he let out a loud groan. At the same time as the groan subsided, Meryl immediately sensed that something had changed in the surrounding environment!

"This feeling..."

A faint light emanated from Natsukawa Tiger, and after being illuminated by that light, the falling rubble stopped in mid-air, and the collapsing ground also came to a standstill... Apart from Natsukawa Tiger, Meryl, and Arthur, the entire building, which was gradually covered by the light, was strangely frozen in place.

Time stopped?

"No...this is..."

Meryl could tell that this wasn't time stopping. If it were, she wouldn't be able to continue thinking. Besides, what kind of time stop only stops buildings? Her kind of creature could still move freely.

Therefore, this is not a stop in time, but rather—

"Shh..."

The light grew increasingly dazzling. What was originally a candle-like glow grew to the brightness of dozens of incandescent bulbs stacked together in just a few breaths. The intense light caused Mary to reflexively close her eyes.

A few seconds later, after her eyes could no longer perceive the intense light, Mary opened them to find the Fuyuki Grand Hotel completely intact and undamaged.

The collapsed ground, the broken pillars, the fallen ceiling... none of these remained!

"This is......."

"Ugh...!"

A painful groan startled Mary from her reverie, and as she turned her head, she saw Natsukawa Tora lying on her arm with blood on his lips and his head lolling to the side!

"Tiger!"

——————————————————————————————

On the rooftop, quite a distance from the Fuyuki Grand Hotel.

Arcueid gazed in the direction of the hotel, nodded as if confirming something, and then looked behind her: "Is this what you wanted to confirm, Souji?"

"Yes, Master."

Okita Souji—no, the one standing behind Arcueid wasn't the cherry-colored girl, but a girl with dark skin, white hair, a huge katana in her hand, and a cold, stern face.

Okita Souji Alter.

Or perhaps it is the guardian of order sent down by the force of restraint—the Demon King Souji.

"The existence of that gentleman is actually quite contradictory. While wielding the Holy Sword as a half-Servant, the similarities between him and you, Master, are also increasing day by day. Therefore, the Counter Force has always been debating which side he belongs to."

"But now, it seems that the matter is settled."

Does this mean that Alaya and Gaia have always been vying for his ownership?

Arcueid's gaze turned slightly colder, but just then, the sudden presence of two people behind her made her look back immediately.

At the entrance to the rooftop, Ryougi Shiki and Sajou Rei had appeared there at some point.

"Regarding what you just said, about the two Counter Forces targeting that child, could you elaborate, Miss Guardian?"

"Same as above. In addition, I feel it is also necessary for me to demand an explanation for my master."

The malevolent gazes from two sources sent a chill down the spine of Demon King Souji.

44. The Sword Dance of the Spirit Master

A full moon is slowly rising from below the horizon, surrounded by countless stars.

This is what Natsukawa Tora saw as he regained consciousness.

Besides that, in front of him, beneath the full moon and stars, two figures that appeared to be women stood there, watching Natsukawa Tora.

"Tick-"

As my feet touched what could be called the ground, ripples spread out from the soles of my feet.

Natsukawa Tora gazed at the full moon and the stars, then looked at the two people. He walked towards them and stopped a short distance away. After a moment of silence, he sighed softly, "I don't know why, but I remembered when I first came to this world. It was also a full moon night then."

"Raising my head to gaze at the bright moon, I lower my head to think of my hometown. Looking at the full moon so closely really does bring back memories of the past."

"If it can help you relax, that would be great."

One of the figures spoke these words, and the cloud-like light covering her gradually dissipated, revealing the figure of Arcueid to Natsukawa Tora.

"Nice to meet you, visitor from another world. I am Gaia, the planet's suppressor."

“Gaia… I’m truly flattered that the Counter Force would come to see me directly.” Natsukawa Torara looked at the other person, “Then this one over here must be Alaya, right?”

"Exactly."

As the light curtain dissipated, Natsukawa Torato saw Gray with an expressionless face.

“I am Alaya, the inhibitory force of primates.”

"Can't you two use something else? Arcueid and Grey... I don't really want you to impersonate them."

Gaia and Alaya exchanged a glance, then responded in unison.

"Our current image is based on the image that each of us can represent that will make you feel most at ease."

"If there is anything that makes you uncomfortable or offended, please forgive us as much as possible. But in essence, our image depends on your personal impression."

In other words, are Grey and Arcueid the ones who can put your mind at ease the most?

Natsukawa Tora couldn't help but smile wryly: "So, the reason you came to see me is... By the way, this place... should be my spiritual realm, right?"

Gaia: "Exactly. And the reason we sought you out is none other than—"

Alaya: "Are you part of the primate class or part of the planet? We have come here to tell you the answer to this question."

Alaya's words made Natsukawa Tora frown: "You mean... my human registration with you is gone?"

"You could say that."

The affirmative answer left Natsukawa Torato speechless for a moment. Was he really going to become so inhuman?

Gaia continued, “Actually, your existence is quite special. You are indeed human, and therefore you have always been regarded as part of the primate class. But as you gradually used that magic, a part of your body has irreversibly transformed into the elven part.”

"When the power of a half-servant is still present, those traits will be hidden and suppressed. But now that you have lost that part of your power, half of your body has become an elf, and you can no longer be called a complete human. The remaining part will also be transformed into an elf within five years."

"Therefore, you are no longer under the jurisdiction of Alaya, and that is what we want to tell you."

Fifty percent are spirits—what a result of nearly ten years of using summoning magic!

(No, simply using summoning magic wouldn't cause this, it's because I've had spirits and fairies inside me for a long time... I brought this on myself.)

"So, I'm basically working for a different company now? What specific changes will there be?"

"Nothing has changed. We will not interfere with you in any way, and you do not need to consider us. In other words, you are a nominal member of the Gaia organization."

"..."

It's surprisingly simple and easy to understand.

What Xia Chuanhu didn't know was that he had three sources watching him from behind. Even if the restraint force wanted to do something, it wouldn't dare to. Even though two of them were limited in power and the third usually didn't care about anything, if they wanted to touch him, the three of them would definitely not let it go.

Both of the Counter Forces have received distress signals from Majin Souji. I'll have to go explain things to those two later, otherwise, if I keep playing dead...

"I think I'm sensing some fear? Is it coming from you, Gaia?"

“Perhaps it’s your imagination,” Gaia said calmly. “Also, there are two other things I need to explain to you. First, after you became a half-elf, you gained the authority to directly interfere with the world itself with your own will, [Imaginary Manifestation]. Do you understand now? In fact, you’ve already used it twice just now.”

One time was to shatter the ground, and the other was to restore the Fuyuki Grand Hotel.

At that time, Natsukawa Torato just instinctively felt that he could do it, so he tried to do it. He thought it was Arcueid's power. How could it be his own?

"The second is this."

As soon as Gaia finished speaking, a golden light rose in front of Xia Chuanhu, and from beneath his feet, on a plane resembling the surface of a lake, a radiant golden holy sword gradually floated to his feet.

"The Star Sword, used to repel all external enemies and save the world."

“Unlike before, when the power could only be borrowed temporarily, now you can choose whether or not to truly possess it and become the third Star Holy Sword Wielder.”

Does one truly possess the Holy Sword?

Xia Chuanhu looked at the holy sword in disbelief.

"This decision was made after we had fully considered your relationship with the second Holy Sword Wielder. If you are unwilling, that's fine with us; we will not force you."

“Arthur…”

After a moment of silence, Natsukawa Torama looked up and asked, "If I accept, Arthur will no longer possess the Holy Sword, right?"

"Definitely. He will officially leave the Throne of Heroes and enter Avalon into an eternal slumber. If you accept, he will receive the end that is a thousand years overdue."

"..."

After thinking for a while with his eyes closed, Xia Chuanhu made up his mind, took a deep breath, raised his hand to grasp the hilt of the sword, and pulled it completely out of the water.