Honkai Impact: Dreams and the Holy Grail, but the Servant is Rei.

The image of [Xi Lian], which had transformed into a [memory] form in his mind, appeared next to the system in his mind—[The Performer's Entry Box]—just like the phantom that appeared every time he checked the effect of an entry, and waved to him.

Unlike some male protagonists in online novels who hoard their cheat abilities and don't even tell their closest and most trusted people, he didn't. On the contrary, he had explained the system in detail to [Xi Lian] during the memory transfer.

At this moment, Meng Weiyu was actually quite happy. He felt that no matter what awaited him ahead, it would be nice to have a girl like this by his side.

What awaits him ahead?

He didn't immediately go backstage, but Meng Weiyu spotted Rider [Scott] sitting on a low stool in a corner not far away, eating a bento box with gusto...

Meng Weiyu: ? ? ?

"What are you doing here? Is there anyone else around?" he asked, suppressing his surprise and curiosity.

Rider [Scott] was about to retort arrogantly when he suddenly stared at Meng Weiyu's face for a second, then became extremely respectful:

"Hello, sir! Everyone except Berserker, who is missing, has gone to the audience seats. The bento boxes here are delicious; I'll go over after I finish eating." He spoke while chewing his food, a fawning smile on his face.

Chapter 51 Stepping onto the Stage, the Performance Begins (Part 2)

What's going on? What does "going to the audience seats" mean? Are there really people allowed to go to the audience seats?

The strangest thing is this guy's attitude. Even when facing Ling Sha, the highest leader of the powerful department of the Immortal Ship, this villain, who is usually a clown in the game, has never shown such an expression!

"Hurry up and leave after you finish eating. This very important performance is about to begin." A deliberately hoarse voice rang out from beside Rider [Scott].

As soon as he finished speaking, a white figure suddenly appeared beside Scott. He was wearing a spotless white robe and a Fool's Mask that only covered the upper half of his face.

His build was very similar to Meng Weiyu's, but perhaps because of his clothing, he appeared even thinner.

“We’re not too late. It’s our turn to perform.” He stared intently into Meng Weiyu’s eyes, as if trying to uncover some secret.

Meng Weiyu felt his mind was in chaos. He vaguely felt that what the "Masked Fool" in front of him said was right: he came here to step onto a huge stage and participate in an extremely important performance.

His head was throbbing as if it were about to split open. Previous memories and various strange fragments of thought intertwined and filled his mind like an explosion.

He kept thinking of a "script," a bizarre "script" like the [Actor's Dictionary] system, on which the fates of him and other characters in the Holy Grail War were written.

Perhaps he read that "script" at some point or under some circumstances, he didn't know, but he vaguely remembered that the "script" had been changed and that caster [Xi Lian] should not be in this important performance!

The girl should have left the stage when Lancer [Silver Branch] attacked him. She would have allowed herself to inherit her power and become a Demi-Servant Caster, while she herself would have survived to the end of the Holy Grail War in a comical and pathetic way by using the purple attribute [Battle Continuation] after being attacked by Archer [Yanqing].

Just as the Masked Fool toyed with the Mourning Artist, what should have toyed with him in this Holy Grail War was the relentless twists and turns of fate!

However, after Liuguang Tianjun glanced at Caster [Xi Lian], the original trajectory of fate changed!

At this moment, Caster [Xi Lian] is still hidden in his mind, and [Battle Continuation] can still be used once more under the former's rewind!

"Partner, he knows I exist!" [Xi Lian] suddenly spoke in Meng Weiyu's mind, interrupting his thoughts.

As [Xi Lian] spoke, the white-clad [Masked Fool] surprisingly stopped staring at Meng Weiyu. He lowered his eyes, a slight smile appearing on his lips, and gestured for Meng Weiyu to open the tightly closed door not far away and proceed through the side corridor to the stage not far away.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Caster [Xi Lian] summoned a phantom transparent ritual sword next to the system in Meng Weiyu's mind.

The ceremonial sword emitted a dazzling light, instantly relieving Meng Weiyu's headache. Even the chaotic memories and newly infused fragments of memory were brought back to a clearer state!

“I can’t decipher those fragments of thought in a short time; they seem to have been sealed away by someone who also possesses the power of [memory],” Xi Lian said to him seriously.

"It's okay, just do your best. I will also do what I should do." Meng Weiyu comforted her in her mind.

At the same time, guided by the masked Fool behind him, Meng Weiyu pushed open the tightly closed door and entered the pitch-black corridor without a trace of light.

As his body passed completely through the doorway, the door behind him closed, and the white-clad "Masked Fool" did not seem to have followed.

But Meng Weiyu's eyes were filled with determination and resolve, without a trace of hesitation or retreat.

Yes, I was forced onto this stage by fate, but everything I did was to win these seven Holy Grail Wars!

Then leave here! Witness this world you've traveled through, and return to your hometown where your family is still alive!

He walked forward without hesitation in the darkness. If it weren't for the solid ground beneath his feet and the fact that he could touch the walls of the corridor, Meng Weiyu would have felt as if he were walking in an endless, starless void.

His magic and [Emiya Archer] status remained the same as when he entered. The latter did not disappear over time. Being in it felt like he had entered a dream world constructed by Saber's memories, similar to those of [Yun Li].

All that remained was pure darkness; not a single ray of light could be seen.

He wasn't afraid of the dark, but he felt it would be more convenient to use [Projection Magic] to summon a flashlight rather than feel his way along the corridor walls.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, a crimson flame, about half a person's height, flickered and danced on his left side before disappearing.

The firelight illuminated the number on the wall, which was also a half-person-high Arabic numeral—"0"!

During the brief few seconds that the flames were present, the numbers began to change and increase continuously, and when the flames disappeared, the number on the wall had become "5".

"Partner!" Caster [Xi Lian] exclaimed in her mind. She wasn't paying attention to the wall that Meng Weiyu was observing, but rather to the panel displayed by the [Literary Artist's Encyclopedia Box] system, which was located next to her!

The "???+1" in the last column of the panel has disappeared, and at this moment, the number on the wall has changed to "5", so it has become "5+1"!

And it's still constantly improving!!!

Meng Weiyu's pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints at that moment. He no longer walked calmly, but rushed towards the stage as if he had foreseen something!

The flames followed him like a shadow, flickering and dancing rhythmically around Meng Weiyu, while the numbers on the wall changed faster and faster.

5……30……200……2000……20000……500000……7000000……30000000！！！

Later, the change in numbers began to slow down, eventually settling on "33550336".

His enhancement level also became "33550337"!

Meng Weiyu felt that all of her physical functions had been enhanced more than a hundredfold. To use a metaphor from "Dragon Ball," it was like an ordinary person turning into a Super Saiyan!

When the numbers stopped ticking, Meng Weiyu had run to the end of the dark corridor.

He didn't even need to push open the door; the darkness around him receded like a tide, leaving behind a black earth streaked with blood and a fragmented sky shimmering with countless stars.

In the shattered sky directly ahead, Aha's figure appeared and disappeared. Apart from Him and himself, the only difference here was that there was no golden blood symbolizing destruction flowing in the sky!

"So... I was given Bai E's script!" Meng Weiyu stopped in his tracks, looking at the extremely familiar scene before him, a huge sense of oppression and despair welled up inside him.

"And I... have I also spent nearly eternity in this Holy Grail, just like him..." he murmured, recalling fragments of memory that had surfaced not long ago.

The obsession with returning to his hometown crumbled at this moment, as if it would shatter completely if anyone touched it even slightly.

At the same time, the fragments of thought remaining in his mind were also analyzed by [Xi Lian] using the power of [Memory], revealing the very beginning of the "performance":

Listen! Revelry on that divinely blessed mountaintop!

Chapter 52 Chasing the Fire

The revelry took place on that divinely blessed mountaintop...

Meng Weiyu gently closed her eyes, savoring the name that appeared in her mind, a name that was extremely familiar to all Honkai Impact 3rd players who had experienced the 3.4 storyline.

After a long silence, he laughed silently and painfully.

At this moment, he finally understood why his system was called "The Performer's Encyclopedia Box".

So, it was all part of a script arranged for him?

Even if he could go back to the place where his family and friends had passed away long ago, how could it be considered his hometown?

In his mind, the fragments of thought infused by the white-robed "Masked Fool" manifested as shards of glass.

They emitted overlapping echoes, like mockery, like questions, and like sarcasm:

"Do you enjoy this kind of script?"

Are you happy with this arrangement?

Are you happy with this ending?

Then, they all let out a piercing laugh:

"That's exactly right! The way you struggle in your inescapable fate is the most delightful thing for us!"

The next second, the shattered fragments of thought were crushed into powder by an invisible and powerful force!

The one who destroyed them was actually the caster [Xi Lian] in Meng Weiyu's mind!

"Don't listen to them, my friend!" She stopped trying to decipher the information they contained and instead used the illusory, transparent ritual sword to purify all the fragments of thought. "The flow of time is different inside and outside the memory. Even if a long time has passed here, only a short time may have passed outside."

Extremely rare, Meng Weiyu noticed a hint of anger on Xi Lian's face.

He never imagined that a character that was supposed to be fictional would actually get angry because he was being mocked.

At that moment, something inside him was touched, and a dead old deer came back to life and bumped into him, instantly reducing most of the negative emotions he had accumulated.

Meng Weiyu gathered her other thoughts and thought about it carefully. It was indeed possible. Although the [Scepter] and the [Holy Grail] were completely different in nature, there could indeed be a huge time difference here, just like between Onphalus and the outside world.

Despite its strong subjective bias, it is indeed a glimmer of hope!

Thinking of this, Meng Weiyu opened his eyes, and his eyes shone with light again, like bright flames.

"Give me a glimmer of hope, and then watch me struggle between hope and despair." A similarly ethereal, transparent one-handed sword materialized in Meng Weiyu's right hand. He pointed the tip of the sword at the faintly visible figure of the Star God of Joy in the shattered sky ahead, and shouted:

"Chang Letianjun, after using my body to go to my other world, it seems you've also mastered the essence of making empty promises!"

Aha's figure remained silent and motionless, hovering quietly in the shattered sky, whether deliberately imitating Nanuk or not, it was unclear.

A golden Holy Grail appeared beside Him, radiating a dazzling light like a golden sun.

"I'm only giving you one chance. If you obtain this Holy Grail here, you won't have to participate in the subsequent six Holy Grail Wars. You can directly take the girl hidden in your mind and leave this place, returning to your homeland." The speaker wasn't the Star God of Joy, but rather the deliberately hoarse voice of the white-robed [Masked Fool].

But he was nowhere to be seen in the entire world!

At the same instant, the golden Holy Grail began to tilt, pouring a black, viscous liquid into its lower part.

Countless monsters emerged from the dark, viscous liquid; they were monsters living within the memory matter—[Otherworldly Memes]: [What Hides in the Mirror], [My Heart Shattered], [The Shell of Rage Shedding], [Insatiable Vanity], and like a centurion, [What Faces Death]!

They roared and charged at Meng Weiyu, preparing to launch all sorts of bizarre attacks, wanting to tear him to shreds.

Unlike last time when he and [Xi Lian] faced the army of [Otherworldly Memes], they didn't need to launch a saturation attack by joining forces and using [Projection Magic], [Pioneer Memory], and [Escape Sword] in succession.

At this moment, with my [Enhancement Level] reaching "33550337", I am the sharpest weapon!

He stomped his foot hard, and with a terrifying speed that was almost instantaneous, he rushed into countless [exotic memes].

The monsters' every move seemed to move in slow motion to him; before their roars and attacks could even arrive, the ethereal, transparent longsword in his hand had already ended their lives.

They fell in swathes, and the black mud beneath their feet was purified by the caster [Xi Lian], who existed in Meng Weiyu's mind in the form of [memory], using the power of the [Demigod of Time] and the ritual sword.

In this near-illusionary place, possibly created by the Star God, neither he nor Xi Lian's so-called "magic power" was depleted. Even the mental energy consumed by wielding the transparent longsword "Zhan Wang" showed no significant loss due to Meng Weiyu's increasingly excited spirit and his "enhancement level" of over 30 million.

If viewed from above, he would appear like an ant rushing into the dark purple tide.

If he were to combine [Projection Magic], [Pioneer Memory], and [Escape Sword] to launch an attack, he could certainly inflict greater damage, but that was not his intention.

But he recalled the advice that Rider Jingyuan had given to Xilian during one of the Holy Grail Wars, which was contained in the memory crystal that Berserker [Jingliu] had given to Xilian:

"Tell Meng Weiyu that he must upgrade the level of [Slay the Delusion] as soon as possible, and only use it to its full potential when facing the most dangerous enemy."

Now is the time to upgrade the [Delusion Slayer] level!

He used the "Delusion Slash" technique to fight amidst the endless army of "Otherworldly Memes." At first, it was a violent slashing, but as time went on, his power became more and more refined, and his movements became more and more natural and unrestrained, like a dancer performing a dance about death.

But somehow, Meng Weiyu found herself walking a similar path to Bai E, acting out a similar story...

"I hate this feeling," he thought to himself as he slayed the monsters around him.

Meng Weiyu would not give up this opportunity to improve his entry level. When facing the upcoming [Fenfeng] or even the so-called [Nanook] in the script, he must do his best to improve himself.

Is this really going to work? How could the being who gave him the system not guess his little scheme?

Thinking of this, Meng Weiyu noticed a change in the system panel of her [Entertainer's Dictionary Box]:

Apart from the three attributes [Outer Territory Pioneer], [Gluttonous Praise], and [Battle Continuation], [Projection Magic], [Pioneer Memory], [Delusion Slayer], [Escape Sword], and [Monstrous Strength] are all locked at level 100!

Sure enough, after watching so many mindless, mowing-down-like fights, it got boring. Meng Weiyu sneered inwardly.

However, this is also good, as it saves him a lot of time, and in the end he will have more mental energy to unleash the full power of [Slaying Illusion].

"I want to use the clearest memory to help project the Noble Phantasm I have in my mind now, and restore its strength as much as possible," Meng Weiyu said earnestly and solemnly to the Caster [Xi Lian] in her mind.

That was the ever-victorious king loudly proclaiming the true name of the miracle in his hand—the Sword of Excalibur!

Chapter 53 The Mad Sisyphus

Generally speaking, the more powerful a Noble Phantasm is, the harder it is to project. Even Emiya, the great swordsman who appeared in the story and gacha pool during the collaboration between Honkai Impact 3rd and Fate, was unable to project a Noble Phantasm of the same sword type, Enuma Elish, in his entire life.

However, due to the deep bond between Emiya and Saber Artoria, Excalibur is a rather special entity that can be projected relatively easily.

As a Noble Phantasm with extremely high destructive power, it has a huge advantage in this environment where it does not consume [mana]. In Meng Weiyu's eyes, who is locked in a state but still has the [Emiya Archer] trial card, [Excalibur] has become the highest priority high-damage projection target.