To become a king and a magician

In an old, abandoned district of the capital city, ravaged by war and uninhabited.

"Snapped!"

With a slap, he sent the last standing soldier flying. Xia Chuanhu shook his hand and asked, "Which batch is this? Commander-in-Chief?"

Shaking the blood off the blade, Okita Souji sheathed his sword: "I'm sorry, Master, I haven't kept track of them since the fifth wave. These pursuers are just too... persistent."

After defeating Okada Izo in the afternoon, Natsukawa Torara and Okita Souji were soon attacked by the Japanese army.

But to the two of them, calling it an attack was nothing more than suicide. Among the enemies they encountered, there were no Servants, not even mages. They were all ordinary people with no special abilities, and their only weapons were guns.

"Is it a expendable pawn?" Okita Souji asked, looking at the pile of corpses he had hacked away around him.

"No, they're probably here to attack me."

Natsukawa Torara recalled his memories: "The mastermind was probably a magician within the army. He was the Master of Berserker, an extreme hawk, a terrorist who wanted to bring the Holy Grail and the world into Japan's hands—does that make sense?"

"So, in order to win the Holy Grail War, you want to kill your Master?" Okita Souji said. "Indeed, with that many people, even a single oversight on my part might not be enough to protect my Master..."

The total number of attackers involved has already exceeded one hundred, and may even be more. It seems that the attackers were thinking that no matter how many people were sacrificed, as long as one person could kill Natsukawa Tiger, it would be a victory.

Are you just waiting to draw cards?

"Well, if it were any other master or servant, they would probably be killed like this, or even if they survived, they would probably be injured. But the other side didn't expect that I'm not some weakling. No matter how many soldiers come, they can't hurt a hair on my head."

“If you didn’t mean it that way, Master, then no one should be able to hurt you, right?” Okita Souji smiled wryly. “More importantly, regarding the investigation of the Holy Grail bomb… well, it’s not here either. That makes it the twenty-eighth location.”

Twenty-eight locations.

These were the army outposts that Natsukawa Torara and Okita Souji had investigated in one afternoon, and none of them contained any information related to the Holy Grail bomb.

"So it has indeed been reassembled... Hmm, although it's a bit of a shame that all that work was for nothing, it's not a bad conclusion. And it also confirms that one strike will be enough to end everything."

If the Holy Grail were still broken down into eighty-one parts, Natsukawa Torato would find it somewhat troublesome. Repeating something eighty-one times is exhausting, and he would much rather resolve it all at once.

"That way, all we need to do is find out which base the Holy Grail War is located in..."

As he spoke, Xia Chuanhu walked towards one of the corpses. After examining it for a while, he took off his glasses. Then, a cloud of mist suddenly rose from the corpse and formed a distorted and twisted spirit in mid-air. After writhing erratically for a while, the spirit made what appeared to be a kneeling gesture towards Xia Chuanhu.

Okita Souji looked at this scene with some surprise: "Master, this is...."

“Spirit summoning is a magic technique that temporarily brings the soul of the dead back to the mortal world. Since these people were sent here under orders, they must have seen the mastermind behind it all. Asking them will probably tell us where they are.”

"Eh? But Master, isn't your Mystic Eyes a magic that erodes spirits?"

"Erosion, then domination. Isn't that no different from summoning and controlling spirits? At most, these Mystic Eyes are just a bit more unreasonable." Natsukawa Tora laughed. "Ah, Souji, be careful, don't enter my field of vision, or I'll break you too."

Upon hearing this, Okita Souji quickly stood behind Natsukawa Torato.

After a brief eye contact with the soldier's spirit, Natsukawa Torato waved his hand to dispel the spirit and put his glasses back on: "Yes, I found out, Souji. Although we didn't get the location of the Holy Grail bomb, we did find out the location of the mastermind behind it."

"Well then... let's go and pay them a visit as a return gift for the hospitality we received this afternoon."

“Yes.” Okita Souji nodded. “But why didn’t you do this when you encountered enemies before, Master?”

"..."

The sudden question left Xia Chuanhu speechless for a long time before he finally spoke: "Because I forgot about the Spirit Summoning Technique."

"..."

————————————————————————————————————

Meanwhile, in the capital city...

Army Ministry.

"Did you fail again?"

Looking at the submitted report, a man with black-rimmed glasses and slightly curly hair sighed with some distress.

The man's surname is Mawajin—the given name is irrelevant; what matters is the surname. For someone like him, who comes from a family of magicians, the surname is a more important symbol than his given name.

He was a magician hired by the Army two years ago as a consultant on supernatural powers, and now serves as a special advisor within the Army.

—That's how it appears on the surface.

As for what kind of person he actually is... [A madman who will stop at nothing to obtain the Holy Grail and the world] - that explanation is sufficient. The reason why Japan continues to resist even when the situation is clear is largely due to this person.

The assassination of the peace leader through magician methods, followed by incitement of soldiers through suggestive magic and rhetoric, and the distribution of a potion that makes people lose their senses... Although these are all common magic tricks for magicians, this is how they are used in war.

The soldiers who attacked Natsukawa Torato and Okita Souji were incited by him to do so, under the guise of "for the future of this country."

That's a truly disgusting thing to do.

Rubbing his temples, Mawajin looked at someone standing in the corner of the room: "Speaking of which, how's the intelligence on the Saber Group going?"

The girl dressed in naval attire trembled slightly upon hearing this: "Regarding Master's information... unfortunately, it is still unknown. All we know is that his name is [Natsukawa Torato], and he should be a magician."

Xia Chuan.

The surname was unfamiliar; at least in Mawazu's memory, there was no magic family with this surname in Japan.

"Furthermore, regarding Saber's real name, the magician named Natsukawa Torato calls her 'Souji,' so it's speculated that her real name is probably... Okita Souji."

“Okita Souji. The Shinsengumi, huh?” Mawazu pushed up his glasses with a cold laugh. “I thought Saber would be some formidable opponent, but she’s just an executioner. It seems the best class has really been assigned to a third-rate character.”

"Yes, continue the attacks on Saber's forces."

Upon hearing Magazu's words, the girl named Kaname immediately showed a look of horror: "Eh? Continue?"

Mawara nodded: "You understand what I mean, right? Although, in reality, no matter how many people we send to attack, we absolutely cannot kill a Master protected by Saber. But so what?"

"It's not about killing them, but about weakening them. Imagine, even a magician would feel mentally overwhelmed if they were constantly being chased by a group of ordinary humans from morning till night, right? Not to mention that this situation will continue as long as they are in this imperial capital. So, in order to ensure their own safety, they must maintain the presence of the Servant at all times, which consumes a lot of magical energy."

No matter how skilled a magician is, they can't keep their Servants in the world 24/7. Even if they could manage it once, what about two days in a row? Three days? Or even more extreme... a week?

"Aiming at the enemy's supply lines is common sense in warfare."

In the girl's eyes, Mawazu, who was speaking such inhuman words, was like a cold-blooded demon—such a battle plan was simply wasting soldiers' lives and treating human lives as expendable resources.

Her hands clenched slightly, and the girl spoke in a trembling voice, "But...like this..."

"Snapped!"

Before she could even finish speaking, a slap landed on the girl's face.

Mawajin shook his hand: "That won't do, you must. Are you trying to disobey your superior's orders? Even if you are that guy's Master, I have the right to punish you—a foreign illegitimate child, who gave you the right to stand here and serve your country?"

"I--"

"Bang------!"

Just then, a loud bang suddenly came from outside the room!

Mawajin pursed her lips, glared at the girl, and then quickly pushed open the door and went outside: "What happened!? Where did that noise come from!?"

"Major!"

The soldiers gathered in the corridor quickly turned around to report.

"This place has been attacked!"

"What? Who launched the attack? Did enemy troops infiltrate the country?!"

"No!"

At the top of the stairs not far away, a soldier with a missing arm staggered up: "Enemy...enemy...only two people—splat!"

Before the words were even finished, half of the soldier's head was sliced ​​off. Immediately afterward, a pink-clad, cherry-haired girl with a sword appeared at the top of the stairs, glancing around the corridor—

"The first floor is cleaned up, now we'll start cleaning the second floor."

86. Super Minotaur Warrior Magic Eye

The suppression by the Army Ministry was not a difficult task.

Although it is a major military stronghold in Japan today, heavily guarded, that only applies to ordinary people. In front of Servants, it is no different from being completely undefended.

Not to mention, this time the invaders were Natsukawa Torama and Okita Souji. If he weren't afraid that his intervention might destroy the entire place, Natsukawa Torama would have already blasted it to smithereens with a magic cannon.

And now-

"Master, everything has been resolved."

Okita Souji, covered in blood, walked into the command room and spoke to Natsukawa Torato, who was sitting at the command seat.

"All the troops stationed in the entire Army Province have been wiped out."

"Well, thank you for your hard work."

As he spoke, Natsukawa Tiger snapped his fingers, and the blood clinging to Okita Souji immediately seemed to come alive, detaching from her body and even her clothes, and gathering into a blood-red water sphere in Natsukawa Tiger's hand.

With a snap, Natsukawa Tiger wiped away the blood sphere in his hand and laughed, "That's much better. Although the blood-stained Souji has a majestic feel to him, it's still best to be clean like this. You've worked hard to wipe him out, take a rest, I'll handle the rest."

"Yes, Master."

Nodding, Okita Souji took his sword, walked to the sofa, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest.

Turning his gaze away from her, Natsukawa Torama turned to the two people he had bound on the other side: "Well... I'm sorry for using such an impolite method on our first meeting, but you were the ones who were rude first, so you have no right to complain about my behavior."

“My name is Natsukawa Torato, as you two probably already know, right? I am Major Mawazu of the Army, and—”

His gaze fell on the girl in the sailor uniform, and after glancing at the Command Seals on the back of her hand, Natsukawa Torama continued, "Archer's Master, Asama Kaname."

"I was warmly welcomed by both of you this afternoon, so now I'm here to return the favor."

Return gift.

Recalling the horrific scene outside where no one survived and blood flowed like a river, Mawajin gave a bitter laugh, perhaps mocking himself: "Then your return gift is truly too heavy. I am truly humbled and trembling with fear."

“Because I have some personal grudges involved. Who can blame me for not liking this country and this era no matter what?” Natsukawa Tiger smiled, “—especially for terrorists like you who advocate war.”

In an instant, both Mawazu and Asama Kaname felt an incredibly realistic sense of hatred in Natsukawa Torato's words.

But soon, Natsukawa Torama put on a friendly expression: "However, Miss Asama, you don't need to be so nervous. I know a little about your situation, and I will not take action against you, so please rest assured."

Although it was only a portion of the information that he automatically learned upon seeing her, Natsukawa Torama was aware of the girl's situation.

His father was a soldier and his mother was a foreigner. Both his parents had passed away long ago due to the war. He had been living a hard life ever since until two or three years ago when he was chosen by Mawajin and brought back to the army to be his messenger.

However, to a magician, an ordinary person like Asama Kaname is no different from a prop. Even now that she has become Oda Nobunaga's master, Asama Kaname is still just a prop of Mawazu. If she has any opinions of her own, she will be beaten and punished—the slap on her face has not yet faded.

In reality, she wasn't a bad person.

Thinking of this, Natsukawa Torama stood up and went to Mawajin. He inserted his fingers directly into Mawajin's eyes and, with a little force, gouged out one of his eyeballs.