That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

After running for an unknown amount of time, Olga Marie reached her physical limit, and the magic power stored in her magic circuits was also depleted.

It can fire up to ten spell bullets.

Realizing she was at her wit's end, Olga Marie bit her lower lip, looked back at the relentless army of skeletons chasing after her, and a sense of despair welled up inside her, urging her to give up the fight.

With such a large number, it's impossible to win or escape.

So, he's going to die here like this?

They didn't even know what had happened.

Killed by a horde of undead!

No! Absolutely not! Who do you think I am?!

Olga Marie collapsed to the ground, panting. Her pride fueled her will to survive, and she dragged herself forward with difficulty. Just then, she saw several skeletons leap out from the collapsed building beside her, their empty eye sockets gleaming with a scarlet light, yearning for Olga Marie, who was alive.

"Is this ever going to end?!"

"You persistent bastards! Now! Die!"

boom!boom!

Two spell bullets struck the skeleton soldiers' heads, directly destroying the magical concepts contained within their bodies and causing them to turn into dust and dissipate.

These skeletons were naturally generated due to the excess magic in the atmosphere.

Generally speaking, with such a rich concentration of magic in the atmosphere, magicians don't need to worry about magic depletion. However, Olga Marie is a modern magician, and the knowledge and theories she has learned are only for a small source, namely the development of her own life force.

In modern times, due to the depletion of the Great Source, magic that invokes the power of the Great Source has long been abandoned as it is outdated.

As Olga Marie eliminated two skeleton soldiers, the skeleton army chasing her closed the distance by more than ten meters.

She got up, but before she could run a few steps, she felt dizzy. She looked at her legs, which were trembling slightly. Her red stockings had been torn in several places, and blood was seeping out. She could barely feel them.

"Stand up! Hurry up!" Olga Marie slapped her legs and shouted in a panic.

As the army of skeletons drew near, cawing and snickering, they advanced step by step, their shattered weapons gleaming coldly.

She no longer had the strength to break through, and in despair, she gave up resisting, lowering her head and muttering bitterly, "Is this my punishment?"

Hehehehehe!

The skeleton army let out mocking laughter, and the leader of the skeletons eagerly raised his rusty iron sword to strike Olga Marie's head.

Olga Marie closed her eyes and faced her fate of death.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

Olga Marie, still not feeling any intense pain, opened her eyes in a daze and saw the skeleton in front of her pause in the action of raising its iron sword. A gust of hot wind swept by, and the bodies of all the skeletons turned into dust and scattered.

Olga Marie was an excellent magician, yet she sensed no trace of magic. It was as if the magical concept that maintained the skull's form was erased in an instant, leaving her unable to comprehend what had happened.

She heard footsteps, turned her head and saw a silver-haired young man emerge from the shadows. He was tall and thin, much younger than her, and quite handsome with a rimless glasses. He exuded an air of mystery that was impossible to fathom.

A magician, and quite skilled at it.

The newcomer was none other than Hall. Ever since he sensed the tearing of spacetime in this world, he had been keeping an eye on Olga Marie's movements. He observed the girl's disheveled state; her elegant short skirt uniform was covered in black ash, and her red stockings were either torn or burned with holes by flames. Because of what had just happened, she looked bewildered and helpless.

Although the girl is in a very disheveled state, she still maintains her aristocratic pride; if anything, her temperament is very similar to that of Rin Tohsaka.

Hall smiled and gave his prepared reply: "I sensed a magical reaction, so I came to check. Luckily, I made it in time. Are you alright?"

Chief! What are you doing, Chief?!

Don't stop!

If Hall doesn't intervene, Olga Marie will truly die here.

However, this ending wasn't necessarily bad for her; it was better than never reaching true death.

Her original tragic end was being thrown into Chaldea, where her soul was broken down into molecules, forever in a Schrödinger-like state of death, endlessly reliving the taste of death.

Olga Marie, who had survived the ordeal, breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, brushed the dust off her skirt, and gracefully bowed, saying, "Thank you very much for your help. I am Olga Marie Asmirette Animusfia, the head of the Animusfia family."

Introducing one's family background is very important for magicians; a prestigious family background symbolizes a magician's status, skill, and respect.

Olga Marie sorted out her jumbled thoughts. She felt as if she had forgotten something very important, but figuring out what had happened was more important right now.

Although Hall looks very young, she dares not underestimate him at all; appearance and age are meaningless to most magicians, especially good ones.

All she could be certain of was the unfathomable strength of the magician before her.

"Hall, the magician, unaffiliated," Hall returned the greeting and introduced himself.

They are not affiliated with any organization, meaning they are not from a prestigious family or belong to the Magicians' Association.

Olga Marie looked around at the apocalyptic landscape and hesitated, "Mr. Hall, do you know what happened here? Why are there so many skeletons? Why has this city become like this?"

"It should be related to the Holy Grail War, but I'm not entirely sure about the specifics." Hall didn't even blink; this wasn't lying, but rather concealing part of the truth.

"As expected, you are a participant in the Holy Grail War."

"This isn't the place to talk. Let's find a safe place to discuss this."

“That’s right, Animusfia will not forget your kindness.”

Chapter 290 Fujimaru Ritsuka

On the top floor of the crumbling building, a magic circle was set up to isolate the aura of magic.

Hall looked down at Fuyuki City, which had been engulfed in flames. The fire had been burning for nearly a week and showed no signs of dying down, as if it had become part of the world's rules, transforming from an anomaly into the world's norm.

"Then why would a prestigious family from the Clock Tower appear here? Although you are a first-rate magician, you don't seem to have the qualifications to be a Master."

"I am indeed not a participant in the Holy Grail War, but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in it. I came to investigate because I obtained some intriguing information, and I never expected Fuyuki City to become like this." Olga Marie sat on the ground, carefully considering her words before answering.

As the director of Chaldea, she was very familiar with the magicians' ways. Although Howl had saved her life, she had to keep the information that needed to be concealed. Besides, she didn't think Howl would believe in spirit transfer.

“We’re both really unlucky.” Hall smiled, fully aware of the situation, and knelt down beside Olga Marie to examine the scrapes on her legs. “The injuries aren’t serious, do they need treatment?”

"Thank you for your help."

Hall clasped his hands together, and a transmutation array unfolded beneath Olga Marie's feet, healing the abrasions on her body and repairing her tattered clothes.

"Is this alchemy?"

Olga Marie was surprised to feel the changes in her body and recognized that the magic Hall was performing belonged to the field of alchemy.

Moreover, this level of magic can be performed in an instant without chanting incantations.

Olga Marie held Hall in even higher regard, and curiously asked, noticing the back of Hall's hand, "Mr. Hall, you don't seem to have any Command Seals."

"My servant has left the stage."

"If you could, could you tell me what happened here?"

"Aside from the Holy Grail War, I probably don't know as much as you do."

"Any bit of information could help resolve the current predicament."

"At the very beginning of the Holy Grail War, Fuyuki City became what it is now for unknown reasons, and then the Servants underwent a change, starting with Saber."

"An anomaly?"

"I can't explain it well either. It's like being cursed and corrupted. The Servant's data is reversed, which will manifest in their personality and strength. Black Saber changed the most. Despite losing her Master, she gained endless magical power and successively killed Rider, Assassin, Lancer, and Berserker. Servants who were killed by Black Saber will transform into a state similar to hers."

Olga Marie nodded: "That means Saber is very likely related to the changes in this city."

"I advise you to give up this idea. You can't even handle that group of skeleton soldiers. Even if you encounter the weakest class in the Holy Grail War, the Assassin, you have no chance of winning."

Hearing what sounded like a scolding, Olga Marie blushed slightly and had no way to refute: "It is true that a magician's strength cannot compete with that of a Servant, but I should not have come here alone."

"should?"

Under Hall's gaze, Olga Marie wished she could disappear into a hole in the ground. She said awkwardly, "For some inexplicable and special reason, I got separated from my companions. If you can help me find them, you will definitely have a way to resolve the strange changes in this city."

Do you have a way to contact them?

“This…” Olga Marie showed off the silver bracelet on her wrist, shook her head with a wry smile: “We communicate through this Mystic Code, but the Mystic Code on my wrist seems to be broken.”

Hall nodded subtly. Broken? No, it wasn't broken. The magical artifact Olga Marie was using for communication didn't exist at all; it was just an empty shell, a mimicry.

Olga Marie is dead. Standing before Hall is a soul that has undergone spiritual transfer. It appears to be no different from a living person, but in reality, it is more unstable than a typical transferred individual and may disappear at any time. Furthermore, once it returns to Chaldea, the soul will naturally dissipate due to the loss of physical connection.

Olga Marie suggested, "Mr. Hall, could we use magic to create a signal flare and launch it?"

“A simple signal flare is meaningless. I think it will attract those corrupted Servants first, rather than your companions. Do you and your companions have any special coded signals?”

"Yes!" Olga Marie's eyes lit up.

"That's good. You'll be fine on your own from now on, right?"

"Mr. Hall, are you leaving?"

Hall shrugged. "I don't want to get involved in trouble."

"I see, I understand what you mean." Olga Marie forced a smile in disappointment. She could understand Hall's thoughts. From a magician's perspective, Hall was already a great philanthropist among magicians just for being willing to save her.

······

A magnificent firework bursts across the night sky of Fuyuki City, releasing a small amount of magical energy that spreads at a specific frequency. This magical energy frequency contains encrypted coordinate information of Chaldea, which can only be deciphered by Chaldea's Masters.

Having done all this, Olga Marie dared not be careless in the slightest. She used magic to sense the surrounding atmosphere, and immediately hid if she sensed anything amiss.

A moment later, she turned around abruptly, raised her right hand as if it were a pistol, and aimed at the red figure that appeared in front of her. She could feel a chilling aura emanating from him.

"Followers..."

Olga Marie's mind went blank. Why did the Servant find her?

If she were found through a search, that would be understandable, but the Servant right in front of her appeared directly, as if she had known her location from the very beginning.

“You must be Miss Olga Marie Asmirette Animusfia,” Archer in red said calmly.

There seems to be no malice.

Olga Marie wisely lowered her tense right hand, frowned, and asked, "Why do you know my name?"

"Fujimaru and Mashu told me. They interpreted the information from the signal just now and used your name as an identifier to avoid misunderstandings."

Olga Marie didn't know who Fujimaru was, but the name Mash relieved her. She asked, "Are you a Servant summoned in this Holy Grail War?"