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

"Pay." Wang Chong didn't dwell on it anymore; he could afford the 2000 villain points now.

"Okay, loading. Your current villain points remaining: 3850. Host, you can continue now," the system said.

Wang Chong stretched out his hand, and a dimensional symbol appeared in his field of vision. Then, Wang Chong began to select the target he needed to choose. In the blink of an eye, the entire Sky Garden disappeared from Wang Chong's sight.

At the same time, his Servants also vanished, and even everyone who lived in the Hanging Gardens. Only Iskandar, his chariot crew, and Gilgamesh wielding the Ea remained in the entire area.

"The Dimensional House can hold even more than I imagined," Wang Chong remarked, looking at the floating garden in one of the scenes.

"That's a natural result. You have to understand that the original price of the Dimensional House is 10000 villain points. If even the size of the space is so small, not to mention the host, even the system would look down on this product."

After the system finished speaking, it paused and added, "Host, loading is complete."

No sooner had the system finished speaking than the entire space returned to normal in the next second. Not only did the Sky Garden reappear, but even the previously damaged areas were perfectly restored.

The Servants who had scattered and fled also reappeared, and at first glance, they looked no different from before.

Seeing this, Wang Chong couldn't help but say, "It looks quite decent; spending those 2000 points wasn't a bad deal."

"Hehe, this is nothing. The real test of your skills will come when things start moving. Host, you'd better leave quickly, this space is becoming unstable," the system warned.

"OK, let me create some distance, then I'll go invisible and see what happens next." I haven't really used the invisibility skill I just got, and the first time I used it was for spying.

Well, using stealth and spying is actually a fairly standard usage.

“Then, let time begin to flow.” Wang Chong not only created distance, but also positioned himself behind Gilgamesh to ensure he would not be attacked by the Ea sword.

The golden filter disappeared, and then a terrifying aura instantly appeared, with the surroundings filled with shattered realms and black and red gales.

Gilgamesh swung the sword Ea at everything in his path, the black and red gale slicing the Hanging Gardens into massive fragments. The scattered Servants were engulfed by the fierce gale, their bodies turning into tiny pieces, vanishing completely as if they had become spirit particles.

Gilgamesh only stopped his attack after witnessing everything before him be utterly destroyed by his sword, Ea. He stared expressionlessly at the scene of his destruction; perhaps this was the true source of his confidence in regarding others as mere ants. For beneath his Ea, all beings were equal, as fragile and insignificant as grass or ants.

Wang Chong, watching all this from behind Gilgamesh, couldn't help but think to himself how impressive it was. The special effects produced by the system were truly exceptional. Even he himself looked as if the Hanging Gardens had actually been destroyed, let alone Gilgamesh. Especially the process of the Servants' spirit particles becoming ethereal after being destroyed—it was absolutely identical to the real thing.

Wang Chong turned his gaze towards Iskandar. He had actually tampered with Iskandar's vehicle, infiltrating it with some black mist. If Gilgamesh wanted to eliminate Iskandar and the others, his black mist could temporarily withstand the destructive attack of the Ea sword, helping Iskandar escape Gilgamesh's attack range.

Fortunately, neither Gilgamesh nor Kiritsugu Emiya wanted anything to happen to Iskandar and the people in the cart, and both had a backup plan. Therefore, Iskandar successfully steered the oxcart away from Gilgamesh's Ea attack.

But at this moment, inside the carriage, Irisviel stared blankly at everything in the sky. Gone, all gone. The Servants, the Hanging Gardens—all were destroyed by that destructive gale.

“Saber’s connection… is completely severed… could it be that Saber has also… Mr. Wang Chong, Jeanne d’Arc. Could it be that they have all been…” Irisviel involuntarily covered her mouth, her heart filled with panic and sorrow.

"No...it can't be, right? Such a Noble Phantasm is completely beyond the Ex level. How could we win? Hey, Rider, were we all destroyed by Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm release?" Waver looked at everything in disbelief, then turned to Iskandar and asked.

"...Ha, that Hero King really did bring out something extraordinary." Iskandar seemed somewhat somber at this moment. After saying these words, he planned to continue pulling the oxcart downhill and rush away. He noticed that Gilgamesh didn't seem to intend to pursue him, seemingly genuinely planning to give him a chance to recover, and then have a true duel between kings tomorrow night.

"Wait...that's!" Suddenly, Irisviel's eyes widened as she saw a tattered hat unexpectedly drifting towards her in the howling wind.

Upon hearing this, Iskandar thoughtfully drove the oxcart closer to the floating hat, then grabbed it and handed it to Irisviel, saying, "Saber's Master, are you familiar with this?"

"How could... how could this happen?" Irisviel held the tattered hat in trembling hands, the strong smell of blood still lingering on it. It was as if she had just experienced some tragedy.

“Illya…this is Illya’s hat.” Upon hearing this, Waver and Iskandar fell silent. They both smelled the strong stench of blood emanating from it, and they had previously heard that Illya, Irisviel’s daughter, was highly likely to be on that Hanging Gardens. Now, under Kiritsugu Emiya’s Command Spell, Gilgamesh had destroyed the entire Sky Island, and combined with the lingering blood on this tattered hat, Illya’s fate was obvious.

“Gilgamesh destroyed almost everything else, so why did he leave this one behind? Isn’t this just God deliberately provoking this lady?” Weber couldn’t help but worry about Irisviel, wondering if she could bear the truth.

"Ilya...Ilya!!" However, things didn't go as planned. It was clear that the truth carried by the flying hat became the last straw that broke Irisviel's will... Oh no, using "straw" to describe it was obviously inaccurate. It was like throwing a boulder, completely shattering Irisviel's heart.

"Why...why did this happen? Mr. Wang Chong is dead...Illya is dead too...I'm all alone now. Illya! Saber! Mr. Wang Chong! Please, don't leave me!"

Irisviel cried out, unable to bear the heavy truth. She had tried so hard to change everything, yet the outcome always seemed to worsen.

However, crying was useless; everything had already settled with the destruction of the "Hanging Gardens."

"Why... why is Kiritsugu Emiya so cruel! Is it because of me that he's taking his anger out on Illya?! But she's his own daughter too! Waaah... Illya." Irisviel's cries echoed through the sky, while Waver and Iskandar remained silent. They both knew that Irisviel needed to vent her emotions in this way.

"Moo-!"

At that moment, a sudden change occurred. The Flying Hoof Thunder Bull let out a mournful howl and then went out of control, beginning to fall downwards.

"Ah!! Rider! What's going on?!" Webber exclaimed.

"Oh no! I thought we had dodged those fierce winds, but it turned out it was hit by one." Iskandar's expression was grave as he roared, "Hold on, Ting!"

His superb riding skills came into play; Iskandar had to land safely before the Thunder Bull completely lost its energy. Otherwise, they would all be turned into mincemeat from the fall.

Chapter 285 Her Light, Her Darkness

"Oh la la la la la!"

"what!!!!!"

Roars and shouts of alarm rose from above the forest as Iskandar, driving his chariot, used every means to control the wheels of his divine might, preparing for a spectacular dive.

"Hold on tight, kid! Saber's Master! It's time for the final dive landing!" Iskandar shouted, looking ahead at the forest he was about to crash into, and using the last of his magical energy, he began to crash into the bushes ahead.

"boom!"

"Hiss - hiss -"

The sounds of impact and the friction and tumbling of the mud were deafening. Weber gritted his teeth and clung to the fence with all his might, refusing to let go even as the recoil hurt him, and binding himself firmly with magic chains.

"Ah—stop here!" Iskandar swerved the entire vehicle to the side, using the powerful lateral friction to slow down. Finally, the Kamui Wheels crashed into a massive log, bringing it to a complete stop.

"Ha... This is really bad. Kid, Saber's Master, neither of you..." Iskandar turned his head to look at the two people in the car, intending to say a few words of comfort, but the words he was about to say stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong? Rider, what's the problem... Hey? Where's Mrs. Irisviel?" Waver unlocked his chains and looked at Iskandar, wondering why the other had suddenly stopped talking. But when he realized that only he and Iskandar were on the chariot, he understood the seriousness of the situation.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you, kid? All my attention was focused on how to land safely,” Iskandar said.

"Oh no! I was focused on not being thrown off. But these chains on me were made by Mrs. Irisviel using metal manipulation magic. I thought she made a set herself in the moment of crisis... Could it be... that Mrs. Irisviel couldn't figure it out and simply didn't hold onto the railing, letting the chariot throw her off!?" Weber said anxiously.

“It’s very likely that’s the case… A person who wants to die cannot seek a chance to live. My condolences, boy, it’s not your fault.” Iskandar sighed, then dismounted from the Divine Wheel and walked toward the Thunder Bull lying on the ground, howling in tears.

Upon reaching the Thunder Bull, Iskandar noticed that the gusts of wind from the Ea sword had unknowingly grazed the bull's belly, causing its internal organs to completely necrotize. However, this process seemed to have been hindered by something until its power was exhausted not long ago, at which point it finally erupted.

"Is this... black mist? Could it be that the Ruined King didn't die? Did he help me stop Gilgamesh's gale from further damaging the Thunder Bull?" Iskandar thought to himself as he looked at the small wisp of black mist about to disappear at the broken opening.

"Old friend, you've worked hard. Rest in peace now. I will continue your glorious journey." Iskandar stroked the bull's head and covered the Thunder Bull's eyes with his palm. Under Iskandar's comforting gaze, the Thunder Bull calmed down completely, eventually losing its life and dissipating into spirit particles before Iskandar.

“Rider…” Weber got off the wheel, looked at the scene, and fell silent.

“It’s alright. On a battlefield, there will always be life and death. But speaking of which, kid, we probably need to find a place with a higher concentration of ley line magic. After activating my Noble Phantasms one after another, plus the plane crash, I can barely even maintain my physical form right now,” Iskandar said.

"Eh!" Weber only then noticed that Iskandar's figure was becoming somewhat illusory, and it seemed that he was on the verge of collapse.

“Um… but what about Irisviel? I just remembered something. If the master of magic really dies, the magic she manipulates should theoretically cease to exist with her death. But as you can see, these chains still have magical energy, which proves that their master, Irisviel, should still be alive.” Weber said, holding the chains.

"Hmm, I do have a guess about that. When I was checking the condition of the Thunder Bull just now, I found traces of black mist left by the Destroyer King Wang Chong. If it weren't for his black mist protecting my Thunder Bull, it probably would have gone out of control when Gilgamesh unleashed his Noble Phantasm, and would have carried us headlong into that gale."

“And just a short while ago, that black mist didn’t dissipate. That proves that the Ruined King also survived this battle. Since Irisviel didn’t get hurt after falling off my chariot, she was probably saved by him,” Iskandar said.

"Is that so?" Waver was somewhat skeptical, but since Irisviel was still fine, he couldn't worry too much. After all, he and Rider desperately needed to replenish their magic power.

"Let's go, kid. Take care of yourself first. The changes in tonight's Holy Grail War have far exceeded everyone's expectations and imagination... It's too tragic. Most people didn't make it back." Iskandar turned around and slowly walked in a certain direction, saying this.

……

The perspective shifts to Irisviel's side a few minutes earlier. Just as Iskandar and Waver had guessed, when the car crash occurred, the sudden crisis brought Irisviel back to her senses. She used metal magic to create chains and tied the nearly flying Waver to the railing. She was about to tie herself up as well.

Lovely Lisfield gave up. The reason was simple: everyone who had been there to support her had left her. What was the point of living? Without a second thought, she let the jolting chariot throw her off.

The feeling of falling was strange. In the instant she was thrown out, Irisviel thought of many things. From the moment she was created and designed in the workshop, she had always stayed in that dark, sunless underground, spending her days adjusting the Holy Grail vessel for her family's mission. From the moment she was born, she had been preparing for this Holy Grail War.

As a result, she encountered Kiritsugu Emiya. She understood Kiritsugu's wishes; in that dark underground, Kiritsugu was like a ray of light shining on Irisviel. She had always believed this, and even gave birth to Illya because of it, her heart filled with the joy of family.

But when the mission finally arrived, when she brought her Servant Artoria to this land of Fuyuki, everything quietly changed. It was as if she were once again on that deserted island, no... it should be said, like duckweed, drifting on the turbulent lake of the Holy Grail War.

Her former light began to dim, becoming increasingly incomprehensible and unfathomable. The blood of the innocent began to taint this light, and everything began to race toward a vile and sinful state.

She thought all of this was just a thorn on the road to ultimate success. If she could just endure it, if she could just keep enduring it…

But soon, Irisviel realized she was wrong, terribly wrong. When her family was destroyed, her daughter disappeared, and the future appeared in her dreams, she finally saw the man full of sin, his obsession, his contradictions, and his arrogance.

Especially now... when the vision of the future has completely fallen into reality, and reality has even presented itself to her in a more desperate way, Irisviel has realized how wrong and pathetic she was.

It turns out I never possessed any light; I was merely deceived by the dazzling scenery. From beginning to end, I had always remained in that dark basement.

"puff!"

Just then, Irisviel felt a reassuring touch on her back. It was as if someone was embracing her. In a daze, Irisviel saw a familiar face, and the black mist surrounding her was about to pull her back into the darkness.

"Is that you?" Irisviel suddenly smiled.

Indeed, what suits her best is the endless darkness that always envelops her.

Chapter 286 The Fourth Night Ends

Wang Chong finally appeared just in time below Irisviel, successfully catching her before transforming into a wisp of black mist and speeding away into the distance.

He couldn't let Gilgamesh discover he was still alive; he had to distance himself immediately. The show was over for tonight; it was time to tally up today's gains.

So Wang Chong flew non-stop towards his mansion. After settling Irisviel in, he could begin the process of recruiting Jeanne d'Arc and Artoria.

"Ding—Congratulations, host, on completing the Fourth Night of the Holy Grail War. In tonight's Holy Grail War, you successfully used the tactic of using others to do your dirty work, eliminating your Masters: Tokiomi Tohsaka and Kenneth. Your Servants: Diarmuid and Lancelot. Furthermore, because you skillfully manipulated the labyrinth throughout the process, successfully capturing both Jeanne d'Arc and Artoria, you are rewarded with 2000 base villain points, 200 points for each character eliminated or captured, and an additional 1000 points for the excellence of your villainous actions. Therefore, your total villain points are 4200."

"Ding—At the last moment, you successfully deceived Gilgamesh and the others with dreamlike special effects, making everyone believe that you and your followers were all dead. You once again lie in the shadows, becoming the master who secretly controls everything. Those clowns who think they have won will eventually perish because of their carelessness! Because the host's deception was outstanding, the host is rewarded with 2350 villain points and one epic lottery draw."

"Your current villain points are: 10400 villain points."

After hearing the various system notifications, Wang Chong finally relaxed. Tonight's villain points earned far exceeded those of any previous night, not to mention the individual rewards from the special events he completed.

"Also, I've accumulated 10 epic lottery draws again. When I get back to the red carpet, I'll open all the rewards I got today," Wang Chong thought to himself.

“……ch……ong”

Just then, a soft voice reached his ears, and Wang Chong felt his collar being tugged. He snapped back to reality and looked down; sure enough, it was Irisviel, eyes half-closed, tugging at his clothes.

“Mrs. Alice,” Wang Chong said in a low voice.

“That’s great… It wasn’t an illusion after all. I thought, Mr. Wang Chong, that you had already…” Irisviel’s voice sounded weak, and she looked exhausted.

“Mrs. Alice, how are you feeling right now? So many Servants have died, and you’re so weak now, could it be…” Wang Chong said.

“No…it’s alright. None of that matters anymore. Saber, Jeanne d’Arc…I’m tired of all of that.” Irisviel shook her head, a bitter smile on her face, and continued, “My body…it really hurts. It feels like some kind of superfluous magical energy is drilling into my body. I’m afraid my body is really starting to turn towards the Holy Grail after so many Servants died.”

"Alice, stop talking. Save your energy. Let's go home first," Wang Chong said, looking down. "I'll go find that puppeteer and help you transform your body. That way, you won't have to worry about turning into the Holy Grail."

“No need… Mr. Wang Chong, there’s no need for that. I’m tired… I don’t want to continue anymore. In these last moments, could you please stay with me?” Irisviel shook her head. She had no desire to continue living; she only wanted to quietly transform into the Lesser Grail and go to the underworld to find her daughter.

"I will... but I will also keep my promise to you." Although Wang Chong felt a little reluctant, destroying Ilya's pillar of support was necessary for Irisviel to complete that final stage. Therefore, the bloodstained, tattered hat was something he deliberately manipulated and threw at Irisviel.

Of course, the real Ilya was peacefully staying in her dimensional home at the moment. As for the hat, she had just bought the same style at random, smeared some monster blood on it to make it smell bloody, destroyed half of it, and gave it to Irisviel as a key item.

The purpose of doing this is now self-evident. Wang Chong understands very well that both the mission and Irisviel will belong to him alone after tonight.

……

On the other side, Kiritsugu Emiya also witnessed the destruction of the Hanging Gardens and saw the Servants disappear one by one in spirit form, and he breathed a sigh of relief. The greatest enemy, as well as most of the Masters and Servants of the Holy Grail War, were already dead. Now, theoretically, only the Rider group remained in the Holy Grail War. If he could eliminate them, the Holy Grail War would be completely over, and he could then attempt to obtain the Holy Grail's "Fleeting Vault" and complete his mission.

The Riders successfully saved Irisviel's life, completing their mission. Now, Kiritsugu Emiya wanted to press his advantage and wipe out the Riders in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, he lost track of Iskandar's chariot.

"The Riders' riding skills? They're really fast; they actually managed to escape." Since he hadn't succeeded in catching up, Kiritsugu Emiya temporarily abandoned the idea of ​​eliminating the Riders right now. Besides, the King of Heroes was currently quite opposed to his attack on Iskandar. He figured calling on the King would probably require several Command Seals.

“It’s best not to rush into an attack before we’ve assessed the situation… Besides, there’s a troublesome fellow by our side.” Emiya Kiritsugu didn’t look at the Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu, lest the other notice anything amiss. He knew very well that the other understood him, and once they reached a consensus and their cooperative goals were achieved, they would become the most troublesome enemies they could ever be.

Especially with the opponent's Heroic Spirit enhancement, he'd probably be no match for him in a one-on-one fight. Executing him wouldn't be easy either; at least, his only trump card was Gilgamesh.

“Something’s not right…” Just then, Kiritsugu, the Heroic Spirit piloting the helicopter in front of him, suddenly said.

"What's wrong? Is something amiss?" Kiritsugu Emiya asked.

"First, it went too smoothly... Second, my employer didn't indicate that my mission was complete. If my mission were complete, I would... In short, I'm afraid Wang Chong isn't really dead yet," the Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu said in a deep voice.

"You mean, even though the King of Heroes unleashed his full power with his Noble Phantasm, that guy named Wang Chong is still clinging to life and hasn't died?" Emiya Kiritsugu raised an eyebrow. It wasn't that Emiya Kiritsugu was specifically doubting the Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu; he had just clearly seen how the entire island and all those Servants died under the gale of Gilgamesh's Ea.

Moreover, throughout the entire space, he hadn't seen any black mist or Wang Chong's shadow. Unless the other party had slipped away first, there was no way to explain all of this. But not long ago, he clearly saw Wang Chong and the other Servants and Masters enter that building in the core area together.

Now, the other party is actually saying that Wang Chong is not dead, and the reasons they gave are rather vague. What employer? What will happen if the mission is completed...? Please be clear! Why are they starting to use riddles at this crucial moment?

Therefore, Kiritsugu Emiya couldn't help but doubt Kiritsugu's words, but he couldn't reveal it hastily; he could only show a hint of confusion and skepticism. He knew very well that if he didn't doubt at all, Kiritsugu would become wary. Therefore, he could only adopt this unwavering attitude of suspicion to lower the other party's guard.

"Yes, there's no doubt that the King of Heroes' Noble Phantasm is genuine. But my own situation is also there. I know you won't completely believe me, but please remember to be prepared for the worst and don't take any chances. If that man could be killed so easily, he wouldn't have been the mastermind behind this Holy Grail War for so long, earning the trust of so many Masters and Servants." The Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu glanced back at Emiya Kiritsugu and said.

"After we go down, I'll summon the King of Heroes and ask him if he noticed anything amiss. There won't be any more gains tonight... The only place we might need to go is the old man's house where the Rider group is staying. After this battle, they'll most likely go back. Who knows, we might be able to take them out when they're most careless in the latter half of the night," Kiritsugu Emiya said coldly.

Kiritsugu nodded, then looked at the fuel gauge. What he saw caused a sharp pang of pain in his heart. They had recently borrowed a case of ancient kerosene from the King of Heroes' treasury—enough to get the helicopter running again. Kiritsugu had even used some of his privileges to repair the fuel tank and prevent further leaks.

But whether the helicopter accidentally bumped into the wind from the Ea sword or something else, the fuel tank started leaking again. Kiritsugu, the Heroic Spirit inwardly cursing his bad luck, could only quickly use his abilities to make the helicopter make an emergency landing on land as soon as possible.

Chapter 287 The Dimensional Home