That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

A clear and resolute voice descended from the sky: "This is the underworld, the resting place of the dead, and I am the master of this world, the goddess of the underworld, Ereshkigal. Before you unleash the crimson lightning of the underworld, answer me! Why do you dare to disturb the slumber of the dead and offend the majesty of the goddess?"

"Lancer?"

Assassin knew the other party's identity and replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "I am acting on my lord's orders to capture the escaped homunculus and have no intention of damaging your territory."

"You have indeed entered the underworld. If you don't want your soul to be thrown into the abyss, leave this place."

Assassin looked at Hall: "Until then, how about handing him over to me?"

Hall stared at the cage that imprisoned him, considering using Command Spells to restore his magical power before using his Noble Phantasm. He thought that this would allow him to break free from the shackles of his power and escape the Underworld.

"Reason? Hmph, I'm a reasonable goddess, just give me a suitable reason and I'll hand it over to you."

"As you can see, he is my spoils of war."

"on the contrary."

"What's the opposite?"

“You should have offered your soul to the goddess of the underworld if I hadn’t come here.”

Assassin paused for a moment, then understood what the Underworld Goddess meant. He nodded and said, "I see. If this is your judgment, I agree. The loser will now leave the stage. I will report to my lord in ten minutes."

Assassin bowed, and the long metal bar binding his body disappeared. Assassin glanced at Hall, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses, and disappeared into the shadows, leaving behind the words: "Looking forward to our next encounter, if there is still that opportunity."

······

"Then tell me, who are you? Are you really an android who escaped from that castle?" A clear and pleasant voice rang out beside Hall.

Hall shrugged. "Half, I guess."

“Then do the same as me.” Lancer emerged from the ground, his tone becoming lighter.

Seeing her appearance, Hall understood what she meant. Standing in front of him was a silver-haired girl whose appearance and temperament were seven parts similar to Rin Tohsaka. What Hall valued was the three parts that were different: ethereal and elegant, with a beauty that exhausted all human wisdom. And this characteristic was exactly what the Einzbern family homunculi, whom Hall was very familiar with, had.

"The goddess of the underworld, Ereshkigal, possessed a homunculus of the Einzbern family. This explains everything. The homunculus of the Einzbern family is indeed the most suitable material for a goddess to possess. Homunculi have pure souls and extremely high qualities." Hall suddenly realized that this situation was both expected and unexpected.

It's not surprising that the Einzbern family's homunculus appeared in this Holy Grail War. Although the Greater Grail system was taken away, the Einzbern family still held onto hope because they didn't participate in the Holy Grail War. The Einzbern family simply wanted to realize the Third Law and complete the Holy Grail system, even if it wasn't done by them.

During the Holy Grail War, the Einzbern family secretly provided assistance to Yggdrasil.

"Why are you looking at me with such a strange gaze?" Ereshkigal said with one hand on her hip, her jewel-like red eyes fixed on Hall, her voice carrying both the majesty of a goddess and the coquettishness of a young girl.

Inside the cage, Hall bowed and said, "My apologies, I never imagined that the goddess of the underworld would be so beautiful."

Ereshkigal's lips curled into a smile: "Even such a direct compliment wouldn't mean anything to me. What's your name?"

"Hall".

"You're lucky. I haven't received any orders from my Master yet. Given the chaos you caused in the Underworld and the destruction of many souls, how do you plan to atone for your sins? I am the goddess of the Underworld, and I will give fair treatment to every soul."

"Treasure?" Hall blurted out. Saber's face loves to eat, and Rin Tohsaka's face loves jewels; this is an ironclad rule in the Type-Moon world.

Ereshkigal's eyes lit up, but she pretended to be serious and coughed, covering her mouth: "I am the goddess of the underworld, and I am not interested in human gems."

"Wait, I didn't say it was a gemstone."

"In short, human treasures are meaningless to the goddess," Ereshkigal emphasized again.

Your sister doesn't think that way.

"How about these beautiful flowers? They suit your status and beauty perfectly." Hall recalled that Ereshkigal in FGO always wanted to plant flowers in the underworld, and the flowers that Merlin produced while walking along the road excited her greatly.

Hall sensed it as soon as he entered the forest: the life force of all living beings in the underworld, including the trees, was weakening, so there was basically no vegetation to be seen except for the trees.

The goddess of the underworld's eyes lit up again, clearly showing interest: "Hmm~ This reward is not bad, but having received the goddess of the underworld's favor, I should offer half of my soul. How much do you think your soul is worth?"

The image is from FAKE, showing Ishtar possessing the Einzbern family's homunculus.

Both Ereshkigal and Ishtar have the same face as Rin Tohsaka; for their appearance and temperament, just refer to Ishtar.

Chapter 149 Cornwall

The personality of a Servant summoned through possession is usually influenced by the host. Generally speaking, if the Servant is possessed by an Einzbern homunculus, the personality of the goddess of the underworld will be reproduced to the greatest extent.

However, Hall felt that Ereshkigal, apart from the change in appearance, still retained the lively spirit of a young girl.

This is a good thing. Goddesses in myths and legends are usually cruel, fickle, and difficult to get along with. Once you get past Ereshkigal, you can leave the territory of the Yggdmirena magicians.

Hall was used to taking the initiative and did not want to clash with the magicians of the Yggdrasilia clan until he was qualified to negotiate with them.

In the heart of the Underworld Forest, Hall pressed his hands to the ground, and after the lit magic circle disappeared, he let out a breath, and tender shoots quickly sprouted from the mud.

"How about this? As long as you don't deliberately interfere, this area will be free from the influence of the underworld's rules and will continuously draw magic power from the earth's veins as nutrients. If you put flower seeds here, they will grow into beautiful flower fields even without careful care."

Hall's gift to Ereshkigal was the creation of an area in the underworld where vegetation could grow.

Ereshkigal stood to one side, playing with her long silver hair in one hand, and smiled charmingly: "My opinion of you has changed a little. Although you are a magician, you have the ability to create a small world in the underworld."

"I'm glad you're satisfied."

"Goodbye then. Be careful, I can't guarantee your safety after you leave the Underworld." Ereshkigal waved his hand, and a strong force repelled Hall's body.

The scene shifted, and in the blink of an eye, Hall found himself at the edge of the forest. Taking a step forward, he sensed a drastic change in the rules of the world.

"Finally out."

Hall breathed a slight sigh of relief, then turned to gaze thoughtfully at the deep primeval forest.

······

Near the edge of the forest close to the Yggdmillennia Castle, a female magician in a wheelchair closed her eyes to rest, and the figure of Ereshkigal, the goddess of the underworld, materialized before her.

"Why did you let that android go?" the wheelchair-bound female magician asked, puzzled.

"All life should be respected."

"That homunculus has very likely summoned a Servant, who is an important fighting force for our Yggdrasilnia clan."

"It has nothing to do with me."

The female magician sighed softly, "Are you still resentful of your uncle?"

The goddess of the underworld's face turned cold, her crimson eyes filled with murderous intent: "Resentment? Fiore, don't misunderstand. If that filthy magician appears before me again, even if you order him to stop with a Command Spell, I will use the Crimson Lightning of the Underworld to obliterate his twisted soul without leaving a trace. He feeds on the souls of others, not even sparing infants. Such a monster does not even have the right to step into the underworld."

"My uncle did this for the sake of our Yggdrasil tribe..."

"No need to say anything more. I am well aware of my position and mission. It's ironic that even if I am summoned as a Servant, I still cannot leave the Underworld."

Fiore watched Ereshkigal's figure disappear into the darkness of the forest, then lowered her head, looking somberly at the back of her hand. Two of the Command Seals that symbolized her Master status had already been used.

······

The Holy Grail War has not officially begun yet. Leaving aside the Red side for now, the Yggdrasil family, which initiated the Holy Grail War, has not even summoned all their Servants.

Hall rested for a night in a nearby city, where he set up a magic array in an abandoned factory to draw magic power from the earth's veins to replenish his losses.

"The Black Faction's Lancer class has been replaced by Ereshkigal... This is an extremely high caliber Servant. In a regular Holy Grail War, summoning a Servant of Ereshkigal's caliber is tantamount to declaring victory. Judging from past experience and the scale of the Holy Grail War, this Holy Grail War will likely also see a group of exceptionally powerful Servants."

"Is this also working for the Counter Force? But this time the Holy Grail wasn't contaminated, so I can make a wish..." Hall rubbed his temples hard. Many of the Servants who appeared in the original world were of exceptionally high level.

Karna, one of the three golden targets, is a Servant of the same rank as Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes.

Mordred, the rebellious knight, is slightly weaker than the King of Knights and is one of the top tier Servants in the Saber class.

The great Greek hero Achilles was no less powerful than Heracles.

There was also the Assyrian queen Semiramis, who "had a little knowledge of magic."

Hall believed he had no chance of winning against any of them. Strength was one thing, but these top Servants wouldn't make the same foolish mistakes as Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes.

"I don't have a suitable helper yet, this is troublesome." Hall sat cross-legged, resting his chin on his left hand to organize his thoughts.

After a sleepless night, during the day, Hall took a plane to Cornwall, England. Hall was both a Master and a Servant, and a Caster-class Servant. With his knowledge of the Holy Grail system, he could easily find a loophole to summon another Servant.

The Holy Grail War inherits the timeline of the Fate series. The patriarch of the Yggdrasilia clan seized the Greater Grail system in the Third Holy Grail War, and the timeline changed from the Fourth Holy Grail War in Faster/Zero to the Holy Grail War.

In that case, the information Hall gathered in the world of Faster/Zero wasn't entirely useless.

Hall had inquired with the Einzbern family about the exact location of the scabbard of the holy sword, Avalon.

Cornwall, located in the southwest of England near the sea, is one of the oldest cities in the UK. Around 1000 BC, a group of Celts came here and became the ancestors of the modern Cornish people.

According to legend, Cornwall is the birthplace of King Arthur.

Hall drove to a small fishing village in Cornwall, which is adjacent to the sea. The houses are arranged in an orderly manner, and the highest cliff overlooks the sea and the entire fishing village.

The tide rises and falls, whipping up white waves that crash against the rocks, creating a constant sound that is never noisy.

At the edge of the cliff, the sea breeze caressed my face, and the air was filled with the salty smell of the ocean.

Hall admired the boundless sea, stretched, and his mood calmed down: "The contract between Saber and the Counter Force should still be valid. Her wish has not been fulfilled. Every time she loses in the Holy Grail War, she will return to the end of the Battle of Camlann."

Hall crouched down, pressed his palms together on the muddy ground, and the alchemical array unfolded, penetrating deep into the ground to find the sword sheath buried there.

The soil parted automatically, and a magnificent scabbard inlaid with enamel stripes emerged from the mud, bathed in a hazy glow. Even after being buried for thousands of years, the scabbard's brilliance remained undiminished.

Hall gently stroked the scabbard, channeling magic into it and feeling a warm current flow back into his body. The familiar sensation awakened Hall's memories, and he murmured to himself, "I wonder how they are doing in the other timeline."

The scabbard of the holy sword transformed into golden light and merged into Hall's body.

Chapter 150 A Second Encounter in Another World

With the relic ready, in order to prevent the Black faction from summoning the Saber class first, Hall rushed back to Romania without stopping. At night, he used mercury to draw a magic circle to summon the Servant in a suburban forest.

The scabbard was placed at the center of the ritual circle as a sacred relic.

Hall stood before the ritual circle, releasing his magic and merging it into the circle without needing to chant.

呲味味~

The ritual circle lit up with a blinding white light, which subsided with the fluctuating flow of magic, and Hall's familiar figure appeared on the ritual circle.

Knight King Artoria Pendragon.

The petite female knight wore a blue dress with white trim, and silver armor on her shoulders and chest, with blue patterns engraved on the armor to prevent it from looking too plain.

The girl's skin was like jade, and her golden hair was tied up with a blue ribbon, like a medieval court lady. She was dignified and beautiful, and her clear blue eyes stared at Hall with a hint of doubt. She asked, "Tell me, are you my Master?"

A clear and dignified voice pulled Hall back to reality, and he smiled and said, "That's right, but it's been a long time since I've seen you dressed as a knight, Lia."

Huh?

Saber's expression changed drastically: "Are you Shinji?"