Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

"Hmm... um...?"

The girl blinked, regaining some of her senses.

"Finally awake. Honestly, that's why I always said the Tohsaka family is just a hindrance..."

Ignoring Luvia's complaints, Rin Tohsaka stood up, brushing the snow off her clothes, and asked, "Where is this?"

"It looks like we've gotten separated from Lord Shirou."

Yvette removed her blindfold and gazed into the distance with her glowing gem-like eyes.

"This place has become some kind of otherworld, and my Detective Magic Eyes are completely useless now."

""Principle Blood Ring"..."

Rin Tohsaka muttered softly.

The reason (principle) that the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles are the adversaries of human history.

To absorb what is known in magic theory as the "world egg" or the seed of the physical law (Texture Rule).

The principle is not simply a transcendent power; it is said that the principle changes depending on the characteristics of the life form that possesses it.

Unlike the "inherent barrier" that only erodes the world for a short period of time, it is a great mystery that can completely transform the world into another world.

"We need to get back to Shirou right away... Anfang!"

Rin Tohsaka suddenly raised her finger halfway through her sentence.

Accompanied by the chanting of incantations, the magic bullet formed by compressing an extremely high concentration of curses was released.

The flying magic bullet disappeared into the blizzard, followed by the sound of it being shot down.

Luvia stared at the spot and shouted, "Who's there!"

A few seconds later, a dozen or so figures emerged from the blizzard.

Rin, Luvia, and Yvette all held their breath.

The reason was the strong smell of blood—these guys were all Dead Apostles without exception.

Leading the group was a noble-looking man with a goatee, who stared at Rin Tohsaka with his scarlet eyes.

"That's quite a reaction. Are there human magicians with such combat instincts at such a young age? Or are you just special?"

"Oh my, you're surprised by this level... There are so many naive vampires out there."

Luvia's confident remarks drew the attention of the Dead Apostles.

"........."

The Dead Apostle was secretly taken aback.

The black-haired girl from before was already outstanding even though she was only a teenager, but the blonde girl here is in no way inferior to her.

"Huh? What did you just say?" Rin frowned, annoyed.

"That's all there is to it, Tohsaka."

Luvia covered her lips with the back of her hand: "For a barbarian from the East, I'd say I'm passable...hehehe~"

"Hey... isn't this the time to argue?"

Yvette was speechless: "This guy... might be even stronger than the Twenty-Seven Ancestors from before."

It's unbelievable—

But her magic eye determined that this Dead Apostle was stronger than Flöf Arhanger.

It doesn't possess the same overwhelming sense of oppression as Flöf that directly robs people of their will to fight, but as a vampire, its magical power is on a completely different level.

This guy... is a Dead Apostle of the Eighth Order.

"—Oh, you're quite remarkable too. Is it that amazing eye that allows you to accurately judge the strength of an enemy?"

The Dead Apostle smiled silently, stroking the beard on his chin.

"I originally thought I was just sent by White Wing to be Nero Chaos's assistant, doing some thankless and troublesome things, but I didn't expect..."

Hmph, I'm really lucky to have met three such outstanding talents at once.

Magicians as young and talented as you, after being transformed into vampires, will surely grow into extremely outstanding Dead Apostles—

"If I, who have a three-digit number of dependents, have said this, then it must be true."

"…………!"

Upon hearing his words, the girls immediately tensed up.

Behind the goatee-bearded assassin stood a dozen or so other assassins, undoubtedly his relatives and children.

This guy plans to make Rin Tohsaka and the others one of his own.

"Since you are the ladies who will become my daughters, let's start with a formal self-introduction."

The Dead Apostle placed his hand on his chest and unilaterally declared that he would turn the girls into his own servants.

“My name is Rubalé, and I’m from Norway.”

Luvia held her breath the moment she heard the name.

Rin Tohsaka noticed her change and asked her in a low voice.

Rubal, the Dead Apostle of the Lake, is a name that every magician from Northern Europe knows.

Hidden in the thick fog of a Norwegian lake are a powerful vampire noble family that has coveted the position of the Twenty-Seventh Ancestor for centuries.

Even among the Dead Apostles, he was an ancient figure with a history that could be traced back to his ancestors.

Because Rubare was originally a human created by the Fallen Ancestor for his amusement, he does not possess the "Principle".

Even so, Luvia had heard of the terrifying legends surrounding him.

They continuously extracted the blood of the sacrificial offerings, resulting in the deaths of nearly five thousand people.

If the infected victims are included, the number is several times higher.

Whether in terms of quality, quantity, or the strength of the interdependent evil and demonic paths, his relatives are worthy of the name "the transcendent among the transcendent," an immortal monster.

Centuries ago, the Dead Apostle Rubal was chased into the lake by the Church's agents and was killed, but he miraculously survived.

Since then, Rubal has become enthusiastic about creating familiars, something he hadn't cared about before.

He thrived for five hundred years under the protection of the White Winged Clan, the largest faction of the Dead Apostles.

The Dead Apostle Rubare continued to attack the magician.

He did not believe he possessed the strength to match the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, and that it would take at least two hundred years before he could attempt to challenge the other Ancestors.

To pass the time over the past two hundred years, he frantically plundered the magician's magical costumes and conceptual weapons, turning outstanding magicians into his own relatives.

The fruits of its five hundred years of accumulation include a massive number of offspring exceeding three digits, as well as a vast magical legacy that even the demon envious Melanie Solomon would envy.

Compared to the wealthy and long-established Dead Apostles of the Lake, Flöf, who murdered his master and seized power, was nothing more than a young upstart who became the Twenty-Seventh Ancestor by sheer luck.

“Rubarez…wait? Could it be that Dead Apostle who failed to defeat Barthez in this generation?!” Yvette exclaimed in surprise.

Barthezmero?

Even Rin Tohsaka, who was far from the center of the magic world, had heard of the noble family name Bartholomew.

The oldest and most prestigious family in the Clock Tower, one of the three great noble families, and the leader of aristocracy.

One of the twelve monarchs in charge of law and politics, he effectively rules the prestigious Clock Tower.

Speaking of Barthezmello of this generation, she is a genius girl who took over the position of head of the family from her father at the age of 15.

Barthelo Lorelei.

The second and current "Magic Marshal" after the Second Magician, the Clock Tower Queen is hailed as the "highest peak of modern times".

Just like the literal meaning of the word "Queen," she reigns as the girl at the top of the clock tower, but she has an incorrigible bad habit.

No, it's not just her.

This should be considered a deep-seated prejudice of the entire Barthellello clan—they are all unequivocally hostile to vampires.

Barthesmero Loretta had previously defeated two of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles and extradited them to the Church's vampire hunters.

Rin Tohsaka was stunned: Even such a powerful magician couldn't defeat the vampire in front of her?

Dead Apostle Rubare smiled and said, "The little girl in Basemelo is indeed very strong, but she is too proud."

It's truly comical that a single rider could storm into my stronghold and ultimately fall into the abyss.

"I'll tell you about this after you become my children—"

As he said this, Rubare raised his hand, and the dozen or so Dead Apostles standing behind him launched an attack on Rin Tohsaka and her group.

……

……

One against three... huh?

It seems I've encountered a similar situation before.

That time when he was besieged by the descendants of the six sages of the Atlas Academy, the divine magician of the Wandering Sea, and the immortals of the Mountain Court.

If Wuzhiqi hadn't been a Yang spirit but his true form back then, and if Kiz had taken things seriously, I probably would have lost.

Compared to that time, this one seems even more dangerous.

Now, Shirou is still facing off against Nero and Flöf.

After declaring that she would make Shirou her familiar, Rita Rojan stepped back and gazed at Shirou with her bewitching red eyes.

Are they preparing for something?

Shirou could only think of things like the Mystic Eyes Reload.

Before they could think, countless dark creatures pounced on them amidst the blizzard.

Each one is larger than the African elephant, the largest living land animal, yet possesses speed exceeding that of a cannonball, flashing its shadow like a demon as it crashes into Shirou.

"------"

Shirou stood still, and the beasts merely flashed across the ground, leaving terrifying claw marks on the earth, as if it had been attacked by dragons.

A dozen or so wild beasts pounced on Shirou, who was fighting Flöf, and then the battle ended swiftly and decisively.

The emerald light shone brightly—

A longsword, matching the number of beasts, shot out from behind Shirou, piercing through the monsters in an instant.

"----What?"

Nero's voice wavered slightly.

Is it even possible to control the projection of a sword in such a blizzard?

The reason why newcomers like Floff are qualified to participate in the hunt for "The Crimson Moon's Mystic Eyes" is that his principle "Freeze" has a strong suppressive effect on Shirou's fighting style.

The otherworldly realm that creates a blizzard and roars can render Shirou's sword rain powerless and inaccurate, making it a natural nemesis.

How exactly did he overcome this environment?

Nero unleashed the beast once more.

The lion, the instant it leaped onto Shirou's head, was sliced ​​in two from head to tail by a giant sword that flew out of the void.

Just as the leopard's claws were about to touch Shirou's face, the longsword pierced its skull.

The tiger was cut in two, like a clay sculpture.

The beasts that attacked one after another all met the same fate.

Whether it's a bird of prey swooping down from the sky, a grizzly bear as big as a small mountain, a shark swimming on the ground, or an elephant that makes the earth tremble.

In the end, none of them could reach Shirou.

All the wild beasts turned back into black slime the moment they got close to him.

"----ah."

Nero finally realized what was happening.

Despite lacking combat skills despite being a scholar and magician, he figured it out through repeated experiments.