That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and El-Melloi II cautiously asked, "What do you want?"

"High-quality gemstones, ancient relics, anything that meets the criteria will do."

······

Selling the Greater Grail to the Mage's Association is a way to make use of waste, since that thing is only useful in the Type-Moon world anyway. The treasure obtained will be given to Rin Tohsaka as a reward.

As for how to use the Holy Grail, that has been discussed in the last few days.

First, Saber and Astolfo will suffer physical harm, and second, Saber and Rin Tohsaka will return to their original world.

Hall had no particular desire for the Holy Grail, and the wishes that the Holy Grail could grant were limited to this world.

In the evening, a gentle breeze blew across the grasslands outside the city.

Howl and Rin Tohsaka were taking a walk one after the other when Rin asked Howl to come out alone.

"Hall, when shall we begin the ceremony?"

"The Magicians' Association will bring the exchanged gems tomorrow, probably tomorrow afternoon."

"Give me all of it?"

Hall nodded: "I don't need it either."

Rin Tohsaka exclaimed incredulously, "You're being way too optimistic! Do you know how enormous that is? Even the Tohsaka family couldn't possibly contribute even a tenth of it!"

"So, do you want it or not?"

"I won't stand on ceremony, of course I want them all!" Rin Tohsaka's attitude was anything but polite. As she walked, she suddenly turned around to face Hall. A breeze lifted her black hair, and the girl's face looked embarrassed. She said shyly, "Speaking of which, why are you so nice to me?"

“Your Sakura’s older sister.”

Rin Tohsaka asked incredulously, "Just because of that?"

"almost."

"Sigh~" Rin Tohsaka sighed, her right hand on her hip, looking helpless. After thinking for a moment, she instructed, "Close your eyes."

"what?"

"I said, close your eyes."

"Ok."

Hall did as instructed, somewhat guessing what was going to happen next. He felt something soft touch his lips, but when he opened his eyes, he found that Rin Tohsaka had just placed her finger on his lips.

The girl, with a mischievous grin, said, "You must have thought it was going to turn out like in the comics, that I'd give you a kiss! You looked so silly with that expectant look on your face."

Is it that obvious?

Rin Tohsaka retorted angrily, "You really think that way?"

"Ok."

Rin Tohsaka closed the distance between herself and Hall, revealing a mischievous smile: "My kisses come at a high price. If you're prepared to support me for the rest of your life, stay by my side, and offer me jewels, I might consider it."

"Aren't the Magicians' Association's resources enough?"

"Not enough! Not enough at all! I want it all!"

Seeing Hall looking thoughtful, Rin Tohsaka said irritably, "What are you seriously considering? I give up. Can't you even tell it's obviously a joke?"

"..."

"Keep your eyes wide open and watch carefully."

This time, Rin Tohsaka didn't hesitate at all. She stood on tiptoe, wrapped her arms around Howl's neck, and gave him a sweet kiss.

As their lips parted, the girl's pretty face flushed crimson, startling even herself.

"Anyway... thank you, don't misunderstand, this is only for this one time, and it's because you've been looking forward to it since just now, so I'm only doing this reluctantly."

The girl emphasized again, "Do you understand?"

"Also, when you get back, absolutely! absolutely! absolutely! absolutely! you must not tell Sakura about this, or else you'd better be prepared!"

Chapter 234 The Collapsed World

"Fate/Apocrypha received a good world completion rating, thus earning a score of 10."

"I have 30 points now, and I feel like I'm not too far from getting 100 points to pass the level."

"but···"

"This time it's hellish difficulty."

Hall sat cross-legged in the cave he had carved out, leaning against the wall, his gaze cautiously peering out at the narrow, blood-red sky, unable to distinguish between day and night.

This is a huge canyon. Judging from the environment, it was not formed by long-term weathering by nature. The neat walls look like they were cut by machinery, and there are traces of the cooled and solidified molten soil remaining on them. The ground and walls are covered with irregular square stones, like the remnants of some huge force.

It's impossible to tell when this canyon was formed just by looking at it; the rocks are covered with drifting black ash, like snow.

Although it's called Black Ash, the ashes aren't actually black; they're a mix of light green and grayish-white dust that emits a green glow.

Its true name is "Spirit Remains," the last light emitted by an elf before its death, which is a deadly poison that will kill most creatures upon contact.

The skin can be burned by mere touch, and if inhaled into the lungs, the internal organs can be burned through.

The name is black and gray because it symbolizes death.

This is the kind of world it is, a world ravaged by war, gradually dying away.

"Alchemy is completely unaffected."

"A small number of magic concepts cannot be manifested, but this has little impact on the magic I am good at."

"However, minor modifications are still needed in the form of the power."

Hall activated his magic eye, attempting to control what is known in this world as spirits, which is equivalent to the magic of this world.

It's not surprising at all that magic can be used in this world. The reason is that even real magic exists in this world, and it's very cheap.

The basic concept of magic is simply to speed up the time of a certain project, which is a kind of useless knowledge that no one would want to give away.

"It's not running smoothly yet; we need more diverse racial materials and experiments."

Hall took off his gloves and stretched his right hand out of the cave. A few specks of black ash landed on the back of his hand like a red-hot branding iron, leaving purplish-black marks.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle~

The pain intensified, as if the entire arm were being roasted in a raging fire. An ordinary person would have reflexively pulled their arm back after experiencing such intense pain.

Hall didn't even blink, his glowing demonic eyes fixed on his arm, which was gradually turning purplish-black, analyzing the process of the black ash corroding his body.

Click~

A faint sound rang out, and Hall's right arm cracked open as if carbonized. No more blood flowed out; the muscles, blood, and bones had all been transformed into another substance.

When his right hand completely lost sensation, Hall pulled it back, wrapped it in cloth, and squeezed it hard, crushing it into ashes.

Hall placed his ashes into the transmutation circle drawn beside him, treated his wounds, and then grabbed his severed arm to activate Body Transmutation.

"Well!"

Hall's body trembled violently. The process of regeneration was even more painful than being burned by the black ash. It wasn't so much pain as an unbearable itch that spread throughout his body, making him feel like he was dying.

Hall got used to it, and his tense body quickly relaxed.

A few minutes later, a snow-white arm grew back.

"There is no problem with your physiological functions."

"The sensory organs of the spirits created by simulating the creatures of this world are normal."

Hall's gaze shifted to the black ash that had turned into his right arm.

The process of performing alchemy is understanding, decomposing, and reshaping. Once this thing is analyzed, there will be no need to worry about the threat of black ash in the future.

"Black ash has no effect on inorganic substances, so..."

While fully focused on operating the transmutation array, Hall suddenly looked up, narrowed his eyes, and stretched out his right hand to unfold a magic array covered with pointers and compasses.

This is a makeshift universal compass that Hall has created over the past few days to observe the world.

It combines the functions of a clock, a compass, and most importantly, the ability to sense spirits, allowing it to detect the existence of spirits residing in its body in advance.

However, its most important ability, the Pokémon sensing ability, is still very imperfect. Not only is it affected by black and gray, but it also often senses huge Pokémon reactions for no reason.

That was probably caused by wars between different races in this world.

Currently, the feedback from the spirit sensing spell is very weak, and the movement speed is slow.

It can be basically confirmed that this is a species from this world.

"This level of elven reaction is probably from demons or some inexplicable monsters."

"They're perfect for serving as experimental materials."

Hall stood up, stepped out of the cave, and used alchemy to create a metal rapier by running his right hand across the wall.

The darkness could not affect the Demon Eye's vision; it passed through countless layers of black and gray and saw two enormous monsters hundreds of meters away.

Hall grinned: "As expected, it's a demonic species."

They are at least three times the height of humans, covered in animal skins, revealing strong, dark muscles, with one eye and one mouth, and crisscrossing fangs. In appearance, they are probably similar to the orcs in the movie next door, but even more hideous.

Demon species.

They are not gods, but a species created by the superior race, the Demon King.

Whether it's due to insufficient strength or some other reason, this race can basically be described as half-baked. They are useless as combatants on the battlefield, and they lack intelligence, only hunting by instinct.

It seems that the "Demon King" also believed that he had created a failed species, and after abandoning it, he basically ignored it.

Even so, demons are extremely terrifying monsters in the eyes of ordinary humans in this world.

They had not yet found Hall and were wandering around looking for prey.

Hall held the rapier horizontally in front of him and flicked it lightly with his finger.

Hey~

The crisp, melodious sound echoed throughout the canyon.

Naturally, the two demons were no pushovers. Upon hearing the commotion, they recklessly charged toward the sound, their speed comparable to that of a world champion sprinter.