In Britain, the Noble Phantasm: Divine Key

Why didn't I summon Lancer when we were both King Arthur? Kiritsugu Emiya sighed inwardly. If he had summoned Lancer, he could have basically secured victory in the Holy Grail War.

He had considered using Lancer and Saber's relationship to form an alliance with them, but when he thought about how he had attacked their Master before, he decisively rejected the idea.

Having spent so many years in the magic world, Kiritsugu Emiya has a clear understanding of the arrogance of these magicians. Moreover, the other party is a genius monarch from the Clock Tower. He probably won't even have time to say a word before he's already been bombarded with all sorts of magical bullets.

Fortunately, he had prepared a special "gift" for the monarch in advance.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Cooperation, After the Crusade Against 4K

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Chapter Twenty-Four: The Third Night, The End

The sea monster is dead, utterly and completely. Under the bombardment of the two anti-city Noble Phantasms, not even a trace remains.

Where the sea monster disappeared, two things lay there: a strange book made of odd material, with a pale yellow cover depicting the face of a masked child wailing in pain, surrounded by half-open, half-closed eyes, revealing an indescribable sinister and evil aura.

The other was a palm-sized marking insect, its body covered with strange black patterns, as if it were suffering some indescribable pain, its ugly body twisting wildly.

As Yanan and the others approached, the Mark Worm seemed to notice them, and a broken, aged voice came from it:

"Your Majesty... please save me..."

"Huh? This bug can talk?" Iskandar's face showed a hint of surprise.

A hint of surprise appeared in Yanan's eyes. He hadn't expected that the old bug would still retain a certain degree of clarity after being corrupted by the teachings of the Snail Annihilation City.

After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Tell me, how did you obtain the Luoyan City scripture?"

"Your Majesty... save me..." The old worm did not answer Yanan's question, but only kept repeating these five words. Most of his will was used to suppress the madness of his consciousness. Now he could only make simple responses to the outside world and was unable to think complexly at all.

Yanan frowned slightly, then flicked his wrist, sending a crimson feather falling from the void and merging into the old insect's consciousness.

After sensing the old bug's mental world for a while, Yanan shook his head; this guy was beyond saving.

The old insect's soul had already deteriorated to an irredeemable state, and with the added corrosive influence of the Snail Annihilation City's doctrine, the combined effect was like pouring aqua regia on a festering wound. In this situation, not even a Great Immortal could save him, let alone Anan.

Even Yanan couldn't find a way to explore his memories, because the old bug's mental world had completely collapsed into chaos, and there was nothing of value to be found. If they tried to search for it, they might even risk being corrupted themselves.

Having severed his connection with Yu Duchen, Yanan looked at the crazed and twisting Mark Insect and shook his head inwardly. His former comrade who had pursued justice had ended up like this. It just goes to show how unpredictable fate can be.

However, considering what the old insect has done over the past two hundred years, it can be said that it deserves its fate.

Just as Yanan was about to give the old worm a quick death, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind. After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly asked:

Do you remember Paracelsus von Hohenheim?

Upon hearing the name, the Mark Insect's body stiffened abruptly, followed by the old insect's voice filled with resentment and rage:

"Liar! Liar!"

After shouting "liar!" twice, the old bug's voice suddenly became low and muffled, as if he were talking in a dream: "It's him...it's not him...it's him...it's not him..."

"What is this thing talking about? What does 'he' and 'not him' mean? Who is it talking about?" Iskandar scratched his head in confusion.

Yanan frowned slightly and shook his head: "I don't know either. Maybe it's because it's been corrupted too deeply, so it's started talking nonsense."

Upon hearing the name Paracelsus von Hohenheim, the old bug became visibly excited, which caused his already fragile mental defenses to completely collapse, leading him down a path of madness from which there was no turning back.

The eerie black patterns grew wildly like vines, quickly covering nearly three-quarters of the old insect's body. Cracks appeared in the areas occupied by the black patterns, revealing eyeballs with bluish-black tentacles, which stared at the crowd greedily and evilly.

puff!

The jet-black holy sword suddenly fell, its sharp tip instantly piercing the marking worm.

“I hate it when these things stare at me,” Saber said with a look of disgust.

Anan shook his head helplessly. Sure enough, the corrupted Saber was quite willful.

He turned his gaze to the Luoyan City Bible beside him, an A+ grade magic book that was the culprit behind all of this.

It is foreseeable that if the existence of this book were to be leaked, probably half of the magicians in the world would go crazy for it.

This is a self-aware grimoire; even without direct contact, it constantly emits seductive whispers, attempting to lure Anan and the others into corruption.

However, everyone present was a peerless hero who had endured countless hardships and whose will had been tempered to be as firm as a rock. To them, this level of temptation was just some unpleasant noise.

"I wonder what would happen if I poked it with Jizo's Soul," Yanan thought with a wicked sense of humor. "Fighting poison with poison," he thought, "but I don't know which of the two is more toxic."

However, he ultimately did not put it into practice. The Key of Corruption was too sensitive, and he would not easily show it to outsiders unless absolutely necessary.

"What should we do next? Does anyone know how to destroy this thing?" Saber frowned slightly. She didn't want to touch the book. Her intuition told her that doing so might lead to something she didn't want to see.

“Leave it to me,” Yanan said with a smile, extending his hand forward, and a golden spear with chains suddenly appeared in his hand.

Judah's oath has the effect of suppressing magic, which is similar to Dimurdo's Noble Phantasm [Red Rose of Exorcism]. It would be easy to use it to destroy the Church of the Annihilation City.

As if sensing the approaching danger, the Luoyan City Bible suddenly began to tremble violently. The expression of the blindfolded child on the cover instantly turned ferocious, and his long hair danced wildly like snakes, releasing a chaotic aura.

Unfortunately, its bluff did not affect Yanan, who held the golden spear steadily and thrust it straight into the center of the book.

"what--!!!"

A mournful wail, like that of a child yet also like that of a demon, echoed in everyone's ears. Rolling magic transformed into a storm and spread wildly. At the same time, one explosion after another came from all directions. Without the support of the magic power of the Luoyan City, the otherworldly monsters could only leave this world with unwilling roars.

......

......

Outside the black mist, the people waiting there suddenly felt a huge wave of magical energy sweep across them, and then the thick black mist in front of them dissipated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"This is..." Irisviel paused for a moment, then a look of joy immediately appeared on her pretty face, "Great! They succeeded!"

Webber let out a long breath and excitedly pumped his fist: "That was awesome!"

"Is something as obvious as this really worth getting so worked up about, Waver?" Kenneth said, his hands behind his back, glancing at Waver indifferently. "Or are you just that insecure about the Servant you summoned?"

“Teacher Kenneth…” Weber instinctively shrank back in fear of Kenneth, but upon hearing the latter’s last sentence, he immediately straightened his neck. “Of course not! Rider is very strong, of course I believe in him!”

Kenneth was slightly taken aback, a hint of surprise appearing in his eyes. If he remembered correctly, this seemed to be the first time Webber had contradicted him.

"Haha! Not bad, as expected of my Master, this is the kind of momentum you need to show!" Accompanied by his familiar, hearty laughter, Iskandar descended from the sky in his Divine Wheel, his menacing appearance causing Kenneth to instinctively take a step back.

“Rider!” Webber’s eyes lit up.

Kenneth's expression turned slightly serious. Caster's Noble Phantasm had been neutralized, the ceasefire agreement was null and void, and with Lancer not yet back, he alone was no match for Rider. If the enemy took this opportunity to pull him into their Reality Marble...

He silently berated himself for his stupidity. He knew perfectly well that Rider was the most mobile Servant, so why did he linger here?

He clenched his right hand tightly; if things went wrong, he would have no choice but to use a Command Spell to bring Lancer back.

"What a hassle. I even missed tonight's military news while dealing with that big guy. That was a great opportunity to learn about the world's warfare methods," Rider complained, then suddenly burst into laughter. "But tonight's fighting was exhilarating. It's true that fighting side by side with your comrades on the battlefield is the most romantic thing in the world. This trip was worth it, haha!"

He stretched out his large, rough hand and patted Webber's back twice: "Alright, you've had enough fun, Master, it's time for us to go back."

Webber nearly passed out from Rider's two slaps, and angrily shouted, "Rider! Couldn't you have gone a little easier?! You almost killed me!"

A Master who is killed by his own Servant—this is probably unique in the Holy Grail War.

"Haha, Master, you need to train more. If it were my time, any woman could easily beat you up."

"Rdier—!!"

Watching the Kamui Wheel gradually disappear into the distance, Kenneth stroked his chin thoughtfully: "I see, it's because of that Servant?"

“All it takes to grow from a naive child to a mature adult is a chance.” Yanan appeared silently beside Kenneth. “Weber is a man with great potential. One day, he will shine with his own brilliance.”

"Hmph, even so, he's still a long way from becoming a true magician," Kenneth sneered.

“No, he will never become a true magician.” Yanan smiled and shook his head, looking at his Master, “just like his teacher.”

Kenneth glanced at him: "Is this the future you see?"

"This is the future he decided for himself."

Kenneth was silent for a moment, then turned his head away: "How stupid. I should never have taken such an idiot as a student."

“Saber”.

Seeing the girl emerge from the ruins, Irisviel rushed forward, her face showing obvious concern: "How are you? Are you injured? Do you need any treatment?"

“It’s alright, Irisviel, I’m fine.” Saber shook her head.

"Really? That's wonderful..." Before the smile on her face could fade, Irisviel suddenly plummeted forward.

“Irisviel!” Saber’s eyes widened slightly as she instinctively caught Irisviel, but then she suddenly realized that something was wrong.

Why is it so cold?

Touching Irisviel's cold skin, Saber even felt as if she were hugging a lifeless doll.

"Oh, you're here so soon?"

Saber frowned slightly as she watched Anan approaching: "Lancer, what do you know?"

"Do you want to hear my explanation first, or do you want me to save the person first?" Yanan raised an eyebrow slightly.

Saber paused for a moment, then lowered her head slightly: "Please."

A barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips as Anan summoned the Black Abyss White Flower, which pierced Irisviel's shoulder.

The pure white lily pattern lit up, and two or three minutes later, Irisviel's thick, brush-like eyelashes trembled slightly, and her crimson eyes reopened.

"Um—sorry, Saber, I was so tired that I accidentally fell asleep." A tired smile appeared on the snow-white beauty's face, beautiful yet sorrowful.

"Do you take me for a fool, Irisviel?" Saber's pale golden eyes radiated a dragon-like pressure, displaying the full force of a tyrant. "Tell me, what exactly happened!"

Irisviel gently bit her lower lip and lowered her head.

"You don't want to say, do you?" Saber stared coldly at Irisviel, put one arm around Irisviel's waist and the other around her knees, and lifted Irisviel up in a princess carry.

"Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh??"

"Since you're unwilling to tell me, then I'll go ask Kiritsugu Emiya." Saber's exquisite face remained expressionless as she carried Irisviel away into the distance. "If that man can't give me a satisfactory answer, then I'll cut him down with my sword."

“That woman…” Kenneth raised an eyebrow slightly as he watched Irisviel’s retreating figure.

"How is it?" Yanan asked with a smile.

"The Holy Grail War, what a disgusting thing." Kenneth's face showed undisguised disgust. "I need to seriously consider whether I should put this kind of thing on my resume."

"Hmm—" Sakura, lying in Kenneth's arms, slowly opened her eyes and looked at Anaen in confusion: "Brother, am I asleep?"

“That’s right, Sakura.” Yanan smiled and patted Sakura’s head.