A Villain's Journey Begins in the Type-Moon World

"Go ahead." After dismissing him, Wang Chong walked out of the Matou residence once more.

……

It was already late afternoon, and the sun had almost set. Normally, Wang Chong would be obediently staying at the Matou residence by this time. However, he had just received a request from Semiramis, who asked him to choose a suitable location in Fuyuki City to place a magical barrier so she could hide and create a hanging garden. Wang Chong considered that the most suitable place was Mount Enzo, where he could easily mobilize his destructive power, and where his strength would be at its peak.

In this way, even if the Empress's Hanging Gardens were discovered in advance, she would still be able to stop the invading Heroic Spirits.

"I'm a little hungry... I'll go to my usual ramen place first." Wang Chong headed towards his usual tonkotsu ramen shop for late-night snacks. But as soon as he got close to the sign, he heard a very flustered girl's voice.

"I'm so sorry, boss! I really did leave my wallet in the room. I didn't mean to cheat you out of it. I can leave my valuables here as collateral, and I'll come back to redeem them when I get the money, okay?"

The girl kept apologizing.

"Huh? Isn't this Leticia? What a coincidence!" Wang Chong frowned. He wanted to turn around and leave, but he was already too close. If he left rashly, he was afraid that Jeanne d'Arc inside Leticia would notice. So he could only sigh and step forward to say, "Boss, I'll pay for her. Also, boss, give me a big bowl of tonkotsu ramen as usual."

"Huh? It's you! What a coincidence, your name is... your name is..." Leticia frowned and racked her brains, but couldn't remember her name.

"Don't even think about it, I haven't told you my name yet," Wang Chong said.

“Oh! Right, right. I forgot to introduce myself.” Leticia said with a hint of apology, “My name is Leticia, sir, we meet again. I didn’t expect to have to trouble you to pay for me. May I ask your name?”

"I'm the fourth child in my family, so people usually call me Si Lang." Wang Chong didn't tell the other person his real name, but simply used the name Mou Tiancao. Since he already had someone else's script, he might as well use it.

“Okay, Mr. Shiro, could you please wait a moment? I’ll go back to my room now and get my wallet to return the money to you,” Leticia said.

"No, there's no need to go back," Wang Chong said, shaking his head.

“How can that be? How can we let you pay for nothing?” Leticia shook her head and said firmly.

“I don’t know how long you’ll be gone by going back and forth, and I’m very busy too. I can’t just wait for you here forever,” Wang Chong said.

"This..." Leticia seemed very embarrassed. Her upbringing taught her that she should repay kindness and that she could not accept help from others for nothing.

"How about this, do you believe in fate?"

"fate?"

“Look, we’ve met twice today, and each time you’ve come to me for help. Maybe we’ll have a chance to meet again in the future. When that happens, you can pay me back for what I paid for today, how about that?” Wang Chong said.

"Hehehe, what Mr. Shiro said is very interesting. Hmm, I understand now." Leticia was clearly convinced by Wang Chong's words and nodded.

For a moment, the two of them found themselves chatting again, mostly about their own lives, as well as different national cultures and beliefs. They got along very well.

Soon after, Wang Chong finished his ramen and prepared to head towards Yuanzang Mountain. Somewhat unexpectedly, Leticia also headed towards Yuanzang Mountain.

"Are you also heading towards Yuanzang Mountain?" Wang Chong asked, puzzled.

“Yes, I live at Ryudou-ji Temple on Mount Enzo. I just arrived today and was looking at rental options when I found Ryudou-ji Temple. The abbot there is really nice; the prices are very cheap, and they even offer daily pay. So I’m staying there for now,” Leticia said.

"You're a church believer, and a girl at that, going to live in a monastery. It's really strange, isn't it?" Wang Chong couldn't help but complain.

Testimonials

In just over half a month, it will be available for purchase. I don't know what to say. It's mainly thanks to the hard work and support of my readers that I've finally made it this far. First of all, I want to say thank you to all my readers who have supported me~(｀?ω?') Thank you for your support and contributions.

This book is also a rare attempt by the author to write a Type-Moon work. It's the first time writing about Type-Moon content, and I was actually quite worried about conflicts and problems in the settings. After all, I'm not a pure Type-Moon person, and I've forgotten some things and settings a long time ago, not to mention that damn Mushroom keeps retconning! (▼ヘ▼#)

So please forgive me if the setting doesn't match the original official setting or there are discrepancies. As long as it's logically sound, it's fine. If it really doesn't work, just treat it as a parallel world, haha...

Also, the transitions in the recent chapters might have been a bit slow, perhaps due to the large number of characters. This is a bad habit of the author; the pacing slows down with more characters. In this fast-paced era of novels, I know readers don't really enjoy excessive dialogue. The author will pay attention to this in future chapters and try to speed things up, getting into the Holy Grail War and the path to victory.

After finishing the Fourth World War, I might write about other worlds, since it's tagged as a crossover anime. I'll still write about Type-Moon, since there are still many Type-Moon worlds to explore. Putting everything else aside, I'll definitely write about the FGO world line. After all, the author really likes the FGO 1.0 storyline.

That concludes my author's remarks for the book's release. If you have any further messages for the author, please leave them in the comments and private messages. The author will see them. See you all tomorrow when the book is released! I hope you'll give the author plenty of coins, monthly tickets, and rewards! Remember to support me! (^▽^)~

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Sudden Assassination

Hearing Wang Chong's complaint, Leticia seemed to realize this as well, her face turning slightly red as she said, "Because I didn't have enough money on me... so... I didn't think about it that much. I was planning to see if I could find a temporary job here later."

"Miss Leticia, are you here for tourism or what? Why are you working abroad? Could it be..." Wang Chong asked knowingly.

"I...I didn't enter the country illegally. I have proper entry documents. It's just that I didn't bring enough money..." Leticia explained somewhat flusteredly.

“Alright, I didn’t mean to doubt you. I’m just worried about you, a young woman, traveling alone. It’s easy for you to encounter danger, especially in unfamiliar surroundings. Don’t try to save money on food, clothing, and lodging. Although the world is better than during the war, there are still some evil spirits lurking in the shadows. If you try to save money, you’ll often suffer losses elsewhere. Take my advice, stay in a proper hotel tonight. If you don’t have enough money, I can cover it for you,” Wang Chong said.

"This...this is too much trouble. I've already asked Mr. Shiro to pay for the meal. And that host didn't seem like a bad person, so I guess we shouldn't bother him." Leticia quickly declined.

“It’s alright. You said it yourself, you already owe one debt, so one more won’t make a difference. Even if the abbot of Liudong Temple is fine, I remember Liudong Temple is quite far from the city center, and it’s basically deserted. It’s easy to get into trouble walking at night. It’s also very inconvenient for you to travel back and forth for work,” Wang Chong said.

"This..." Leticia hesitated.

"Well then, since we're both going the same way, I'll take you to Ryudo-ji Temple first. With a local guiding you, I'm sure no one will try to take advantage of you," Wang Chong said, seeing that Leticia was somewhat resistant, so he didn't insist and went along with it.

"Well then, thank you for your trouble, Mr. Shiro," Leticia said gratefully.

Wang Chong nodded and continued leading Leticia towards Mount Enzo. The reason Wang Chong had wanted Leticia to move away from Ryudouji Temple was because he wanted to establish a magical barrier near Mount Enzo so that Semiramis could build a hanging garden within it. However, if Leticia, now under Jeanne's protection, lived nearby, she would likely soon become aware of the commotion Semiramis was causing.

Moreover, Semiramis isn't the only one with problems. Joan of Arc might also discover what's brewing within the Greater Grail, which would completely disrupt her plans.

It seems that Leticia has her own ideas, and it's unclear whether she's wary of him or has some other reason, so she doesn't plan to move out.

"Forget it, if she still doesn't change her mind when we get to Yuanzang Mountain, then it seems we'll have to take action this time." Wang Chong planned to use the power of ruin from the ley lines and the Holy Grail to forcefully corrupt Leticia after we arrived at Yuanzang Mountain, in order to prevent future troubles.

However, what Wang Chong was unaware of was that he and Leticia were being secretly watched by a mysterious person. This person was concealing himself and his presence, secretly following the two of them.

……

Arriving at Mount Enzo and heading towards Ryudou Temple, Wang Chong gazed at the long flight of steps, and couldn't help but think of a certain gatekeeper named Kojiro. Come to think of it, how did those Heroic Spirits manage to fight so fiercely at the entrance of Ryudou Temple at night without waking the ordinary people inside? If he remembered correctly, during the Fifth Holy Grail War, the black sludge from the Holy Grail all emerged from behind Ryudou Temple; how did those monks escape that calamity?

Don't ask, the answer is a gas explosion.

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Shiro." Since nothing out of the ordinary happened along the way, and he did indeed deliver her safely to the entrance of Ryudou Temple, Leticia successfully lowered her guard. It seemed that the other party was indeed a very kind-hearted person.

"Then you should go in and get some rest. I still need to go to the back mountain," Wang Chong said.

"Huh? What are you doing in the back mountain so late, Mr. Shiro?" Leticia asked curiously.

"At night, the back of Yuanzang Mountain offers a truly rare and beautiful view. Far from the city lights, you can see a sky full of stars, a sight you can't see in the city," Wang Chong said, pointing towards the back of the mountain.

"Huh? Really? Can I come along and take a look?" Leticia asked excitedly.

"You can go see it anytime you want. But if you come with me, aren't you afraid I'll kidnap you from the back mountain?" Wang Chong deliberately threatened.

"Haha, Mr. Shiro, you don't need to scare me anymore. If you have this idea, there will be plenty of opportunities along the way."

"Perhaps the back mountain is very close to my secret base?"

"Then I'm even more eager to see what your secret base looks like, Mr. Shiro~" Leticia said with a smile.

Wang Chong nodded and led Leticia towards the back mountain. He used his [Eye of Corruption], and sure enough, he gained Leticia's trust; her favorability rating was now over 40, and their relationship had changed from strangers to friends. This was why Leticia was willing to follow him to the back mountain.

Unfortunately, he was afraid he would have to disappoint those who had shown him such goodwill. After all, Wang Chong was telling the absolute truth: the back mountain was indeed his secret base, and he did intend to use it, with sufficient destructive power, to attack Leticia and the Jeanne d'Arc within her.

"Hopefully, the commotion won't reach the other Masters here," Wang Chong thought to himself. "System, spend some points to buy experience points and upgrade all my skills."

"Ding—You have spent 1500 Villain Points to purchase 1500 Experience Points and unlock the following skills: Ruined King's Sword (Sword Skill) Level 1, Pain Piercing the Soul Level 1, and Decisive Command Level 1."

"Congratulations, host, for unlocking the complete set of skills of the Ruined King Fryegor and obtaining the title aura: 【Pain! It hurts so much!】. Aura effect: Whenever you shout Fryegor's classic quote, the pain of your attacks will be doubled."

"Increased pain, huh? Good stuff. But the quotes and stuff, isn't that a bit too embarrassing?" Wang Chong complained.

"Oh!" A gasp brought Wang Chong back to reality. Looking closely, they found themselves at the edge of a cliff on the back mountain. A sky full of stars seemed to hang directly overhead. Leticia looked up at the vast starry sky, like a boundless, dark blue ocean. The stars, like twinkling pearls, were quietly scattered across the sky, silently illuminating the stillness of the night.

Leticia twirled around, seemingly lost in the moment, her golden hair and braids dancing with each turn. Starlight streamed down, casting a silvery glow upon her, making her both radiant and divine. Her sweet laughter captivated even Wang Chong.

“Mr. Shiro, this place is indeed beautiful. Now I don’t want to move out of Ryudouji Temple anymore. I can see such a beautiful view every night. Hehe, I won’t miss such a good thing.” Leticia stood on the edge of the cliff with her back to Wang Chong, raising her hands as if to touch the starlight in the sky.

"Be careful, don't fall." Wang Chong gently reminded him as he quietly approached. Leticia's joke snapped Wang Chong out of his reverie and solidified his plan.

"I'm sorry." Wang Chong gradually approached the other party, preparing to raise his hand and draw upon the destructive power beneath the earth's veins to take down Leticia.

"boom!!"

"puff!!"

A gunshot rang out, the bullet piercing flesh. Hearing the unusual sound, Leticia turned around in alarm, only to see a bloody hole in Wang Chong's body. Wang Chong, his face contorted in pain, cried out to Leticia, "Run!"

"Bang Bang Bang!!!"

Several more gunshots rang out, as if the enemy had no intention of letting him go. Wang Chong's body was riddled with holes. Since Wang Chong was also standing on the edge of the cliff, after being shot several times, he could no longer maintain his balance and fell off the cliff.

"Mr. Shiro!!!" Everything happened so fast that Leticia didn't even have time to grab Wang Chong's hand as he fell.

A series of hurried footsteps sounded, and Leticia looked up to see a figure with a red hood that obscured the face rushing towards her. A sense of life-or-death crisis crept into Leticia's heart.

"Letishia! Give me your body!" At that moment, the saintess's voice echoed in his mind.

"Please! Saintess! Save Mr. Shiro!" Leticia immediately relinquished control of her body, handing it over to the saintess residing within her.

A golden light emanated from Leticia, causing the figure rushing towards them to stop and warily watch the girl radiating golden light.

Chapter Forty: Disguise

The golden light quickly dissipated, and Leticia, who had been dressed in ordinary clothes, was now clad in light silver armor, a sword at her waist, and a holy banner in her hand. She then pointed the spearhead of the banner at the mysterious figure whose face was unknown and shouted, "Servant Ruler. You possess the aura of a Heroic Spirit. Who are you?! Why are you so ruthless towards ordinary people!"

This was Jeanne d'Arc of the Ruler class. After discovering that Leticia was in danger, she immediately took control of this body to deal with the crisis that had arisen.

However, the other party did not speak in response to Joan of Arc's words. Instead, the other party drew a dagger and then disappeared from Joan of Arc's sight.

"Aura concealment... Assassin, huh? You're sorely mistaken if you think you can launch a sneak attack like that!" Joan of Arc then brandished the flagpole in her hand, thrusting the spear tip in a certain direction.

"Ding--!"

The sound of metal clashing immediately rang out. And in the place that had been empty, a figure appeared in a twisted manner. The Servant who had disappeared earlier was now locked in a stalemate, holding the dagger he had just pulled out and clashing with the tip of Jeanne d'Arc's spear.

"You won't answer my question? Fine! Then I'll see for myself! True Name Recognition—!!!" Jeanne was about to use her class skill to see through the other party's true identity when the other party immediately took a step back and fired a series of shots at her. A burst of bullets came down, forcing Jeanne to first spin the flagpole to knock down all the bullets.

However, the unknown Servant used the cover to retreat rapidly, disappearing from Jeanne's sight in the blink of an eye. Jeanne wanted to give chase and forcibly control the Servant using the class skill [Divine Judgment], but thinking of Wang Chong who had fallen off the cliff, she had no choice but to abandon the pursuit and instead jump off the cliff to find Wang Chong.

Although hope was extremely slim, Joan of Arc thought, "We must not give up."

……

Somewhere in the ravine, Wang Chong used his own blood to draw the shape of a summoning circle for heroic spirits. He then lay down and began releasing the divine aura associated with his [Goddess's Favor B], waiting for someone to take the bait. As for the bullet he had just been hit by, although it hurt quite a bit, it was nothing serious; it was quickly repaired by his own destructive power.

"Host, what are you doing now? With your spider-sense and physical abilities, those bullets shouldn't be able to penetrate your defenses at all. So why are you drawing a spirit summoning circle?" the system asked curiously.

“Originally, I planned to use the power of ruin to forcibly control Joan of Arc, but now I’ve changed my mind,” Wang Chong said.

"Changed your mind?" the system asked, puzzled.

"Well, I have to thank Kiritsugu for shooting me, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to suddenly come up with such an idea," Wang Chong said.

"Was it Kiritsugu who just attacked? That can't be right. Didn't the news say he was still at Eindzbern Castle in Germany?"

“No, this Kiritsugu is not that Kiritsugu. He is a servant without a master sent by the Counter Force, who appeared specifically to kill me.” Wang Chong shook his head and said, “Hmph, I knew the Counter Force would not only leave Jeanne d'Arc as a pawn. In order to completely eliminate me as the source, they even sent their own professional henchmen. But that’s fine too, let me figure out the Counter Force’s move.”

"Screw rustle..."

The sound of rustling grass and trees arose, and at the same time, a woman's voice could be heard: "Strange, why is there an aura similar to that of a divine servant here? And why are there bloodstains here as well? Could it be that Fourth Prince has encountered a new servant?"

“They’ve taken the bait, time to reel them in.” At that moment, Wang Chong released his black mist, but not too much. He only let it adhere to his body, especially the wounds he had. Then he manipulated one of the ghosts to do something to him.

"What are these black mists...!! Fourth Prince! Who are you, and what do you want to do to him!?" A delicate shout rang out, followed by a flagpole piercing towards the ghost that was stepping on him.

"Come in!" Wang Chong murmured, and the ghostly spirit merged into his body. The flagpole, naturally, struck empty air.

"Fourth Master, how are you?" A somewhat anxious voice rang out. Wang Chong squinted his eyes, and what appeared in his line of sight was that familiar Takeuchi face... cough cough, the familiar face of Jeanne d'Arc. He saw Jeanne d'Arc help Wang Chong up, begin to check on his physical condition, and prepare to inject magic power to try to repair Wang Chong's body.

"Huh? Those fatal wounds have all healed. What's going on... And why does Fourth Prince have the aura of a divine servant on him?" Jeanne noticed something amiss and examined him closely, noticing that the strange black mist had been emanating from Wang Chong's body. Furthermore, the wounds on Wang Chong's body were also covered by this black mist. It seemed that it was because of this black mist that Wang Chong was able to survive.

"This is... a Command Seal? Shirou is actually the Master of this Holy Grail War. I didn't notice before because he was wearing gloves... But the Holy Grail War hasn't even officially started, so why would a Servant attack another Master? And that Servant clearly tried to attack even after I announced my Ruler class... Could this be the reason I manifested?" Jeanne then noticed Wang Chong's bare hand, which had a prominent red Command Seal on the back, confirming his Master status. Recalling what had just happened, Jeanne began to assess the situation.

Wang Chong felt that it was about time, so he began to twitch his eyelids, pretending to wake up.

"Fourth Prince, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Seeing Wang Chong wake up, Joan of Arc seemed relieved and quickly asked.

"It hurts... What happened to me? Leticia, what's wrong with you?" Wang Chong pretended to be dizzy and asked.

"Never mind me, Mr. Shiro. Are you feeling any better now? Is there anything unusual about your body?" Jeanne asked hurriedly.

"It hurts a lot, but I feel like it's nothing too serious, at least I won't die," Wang Chong said, panting. Then, as if remembering something, he asked, "What about the guy who fired the shot earlier? Is he still nearby?"

"It has temporarily fled. Don't worry, Mr. Shiro, with me here, there's no need to worry about it attacking." Jeanne exhaled, then said, "Since you're alright, allow me to introduce myself. As you can see, I'm somewhat different from Leticia. My name is Jeanne, summoned by the Greater Grail as a Ruler. Since Mr. Wang Chong possesses Command Seals, he should know about the Holy Grail War, right?"

"The Holy Grail War... Jeanne d'Arc... are you a Servant?" At this moment, Wang Chong pretended to have thought of something and immediately said.

“That’s right, I am a Servant, but I’m a little different. I was born from Leticia’s body. However, before that, my will was temporarily in Leticia’s hands, and I would appear in Leticia’s place in times of danger. After that, this body will be in my hands.” Jeanne d’Arc nodded and said.

"So, what happened to you, Shiro-kun? Why were you assassinated by that other Servant? And how did your wounds heal? Why is there a Servant's aura in your body? What is the power of this black mist?"

After Joan of Arc finished speaking, she seemed to realize that she had asked a lot of questions, so she added, "Don't rush, just answer me one by one. As the arbiter of the Holy Grail War, it is my duty to ensure that the Holy Grail War runs smoothly. Because what happened to you, Shirou-kun, and the situation that has occurred to you are too strange, I want to investigate these matters thoroughly."