He was imprisoned in Nibelungen for a thousand years, only to find out upon his release that he was

Volume 1: Chapter 59 The Gemstone Elder: Holy crap, what kind of worldline is this?

What exactly is Kassel College?

Jack the Ripper asked the question that had been lingering in his mind.

"You don't even know this?"

Lu Ming didn't want to recall these things during the battle; he needed to use high-speed thinking to assess the surrounding situation and formulate a battle strategy.

"Well... based on personal bias, Kassel College... is a gathering place for lunatics and mysterious people. For example, there is a mysterious school board member who generously sponsors the college but never shows his face."

"For example, there was a golden-haired aristocratic young master who was famous and had the qualities of a leader. In fact, he was very easy to get along with, but he had a very strained relationship with his elders in the family."

"And another example is... I can't believe they actually launched a sneak attack!"

Suddenly, Lu Ming casually swung his sword, cleaving through a large pack of giant wolves that suddenly pounced rapidly from the thick black fog.

The boundless fog instantly churned and rolled back in the opposite direction, swept up by the force of the blade, like a vast ocean receding into the tide.

Immediately afterwards, he tensed his other hand and threw a punch, runes moving and force stacking up layer by layer, with a burst of momentum like a cannonball being fired!

The force of the punch struck at close range, rapidly creating a sonic boom that instantly shattered the decaying dragon claws of the skeletal dragon, which was tens or even hundreds of meters tall.

The force swept through the gale, spreading further and shaking the atmosphere, causing half of the dragon's body structure to collapse, and the "corpse guardians" who had surrounded it were all blown away by the aftershocks.

"They've all left. Aren't you going with them? It's very dangerous to come with me."

Lu Ming took a breath and shook off the blood that had once again seeped from his elbow.

"It doesn't matter, I am just a... worthless murderer."

Jack the Ripper said, "If I could offer even the slightest assistance to my savior, I would gladly die nine times over."

Of course, the real reason is not like that.

Jack the Ripper also understood that with his current combat strength, which had even had his Noble Phantasm stolen, he couldn't help Lu Ming at all by simply imitating Flat's magical talent.

At most, he relied on his 'Thousand Faces' skills to maneuver among the armies of the underworld and struggle to survive.

He came because Master Flat had made a strong statement after hearing about the situation, and also added a request.

Moreover, his Master's additional requirements were somewhat absurd.

Please help him, Mr. Jack! And please, don't forget to bring me a signed autograph from the hero!

—That's what Flat said.

That's exactly what he thought. This young man's purpose in participating in the Holy Grail War was simple: he wanted to "make friends with heroes from all walks of life!"

According to the magicians' assessment, Lu Ming is likely to die soon, and will have no chance of survival after this battle.

Jack the Ripper planned to find an opening to bring it up, and then, seeing that Lu Ming's condition had dropped to a certain point and he made a mistake, he would rush over and sacrifice himself to block the attack for him.

This way, you won't owe the other party too much.

...So when Jack saw Lu Ming stop breathing again, and blood seeping from various parts of his body, he became increasingly worried that Lu Ming was "approaching death," and finally couldn't help but speak:

"Hero, my companions greatly admire and respect your heroic deeds, but none of them have ever heard of your name. Would you be so kind as to sign your name?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Ming's expression froze for a moment, then suddenly turned ugly.

You want an autograph? You mean you want him to write it on the spot? His handwriting... how could it be presentable?

This change in expression did not escape the notice of Jack the Ripper.

'Master, oh no, I think I said something wrong.'

……

In a spherical space composed of darkness and countless spheres of light, resembling a miniature universe, a wooden chair floats in the center.

The elderly man, looking dashing, sat on a luxurious wooden chair, his forehead deeply wrinkled, almost forming the shape of the Chinese character "川" (river).

After the old man's hand slid in mid-air, the celestial bodies of light and color reflected in the surrounding space began to rotate.

At the same time, a thick book appeared in his hand. Whenever the old man swiped his finger, thousands of pages would be created, or old pages would disappear.

Each page of the book corresponds to an observation record of a world line.

This old man is none other than the current Grand Marshal of the Clock Tower, the "Gemstone Elder," the Second Magician, Kishua Zelrich Schbeinorg.

He also ranks third among the "Twenty-Seven Ancestors of the Dead Disciples".

"Strange!... The universe where that intruder (the fake Ayaka Sajō) is located is developing in a rather strange way. Snowfield City, the counterfeit Holy Grail War..."

The Gemstone Elder had previously observed this world, and although there was a risk of the "giant spider waking up prematurely," he decided not to interfere.

However, due to some unknown change, the timeline has been distorted in ways that are difficult to understand.

What happened? Wasn't it that intruder who caused the change?

In a space as vast as the universe, an old-fashioned telephone suddenly started to ring.

"Kobak, this job is more troublesome than I expected, the difference is too great."

[Hehe, if you don't go and see for yourself, how can you clearly define whether it's 'troublesome' or 'interesting'?]

One of the twenty-seven ancestors, "Millennium Lock" Kaobaike, skillfully mocked:

[Did you know? There's another rumor circulating in the Ancestors' circle: the junior that Fem favored has declared his defection from the Dead Apostles' camp, intending to win the Holy Grail and challenge all twenty-seven Ancestors!]

“Oh, Jesta? He fought the progenitor of all the Dead Apostles? That’s certainly interesting news.”

Even after observing so many parallel worlds, Gemstone Elder almost lost his composure.

Since it's so funny, maybe it's some kind of interesting deviation.

The old man with the jewels couldn't resist. He flipped through the pages, found the fake Holy Grail War timeline, and decided to take a look:

"Hmm, a counterfeit Holy Grail War, the Night of Summoning is normal... Hmm? Odin? The King of the Wild Hunt? Fate??"

I sensed something was wrong, and I started to panic.

Take one more look.

"Ishtar has fallen into a divine prison? Shouldn't such a demonic realm be on the inner side of the planet?"

"Ereshkigal appeared so early? And the fragment of Ate fell in too? And..."

Not right.

What is all this? Something's getting weirder and weirder.

The corner of the gem-bearer's mouth twitched violently.

He continued flipping through the pages, and soon his eyes widened in surprise.

"There's no Chaldea in Antarctica, that's good... wait, what's America's Kassel College?"

"Did all the original Chaldea members of the Hidden Ones go there?"

I laughed in exasperation. Isn't this just a rebranded Chaldea? What brilliant mind came up with this idea?

...Forget it, no need to even think about it, it must be that kid Maris Billy.

But that's strange.

Based on the various variables, shouldn't he have abandoned the operation? How could there be such a half-baked development where he first gave up and then suddenly accelerated and restarted the plan midway through?

The gem-obsessed man observed repeatedly, but always felt that something was missing. Could it be something that could not be observed by the second method?

He continued to observe, following the flow of time.

Let's look at Yiyan again.

"Huh?... Lostbelt? The Dragon Lostworld!?"

"What the hell is this thing? The End Device, the Grand Dragon, the King of the Lostbelts, one of the Primal Ones—"

Gemstone Elder held the book up close to examine it intently. His center of gravity shifted backward, and he accidentally caused the wooden chair in the center of the room to tip over, causing him to fall backward.

Volume 1: Chapter 60 Hello, I'll have a bite (3k)

"Finally, finally! This area is cleared!"

Lu Ming was panting heavily, covered in wounds. He wiped his face, hastily brushing away the blood and sweat mixed with dust from his cheeks. His battle-hardened sword, equally battle-hardened, was stuck in the ground.

Then, as if his lamp had run out of oil, he plopped down on a large rock by the roadside, closed his eyes, and lowered his gaze.

Not far away, the thick black smog was slowly dissipating.

The road was littered with mountains of corpses and bones, along with gray-black dust.

The air was clear, and the howls of the dead were swept away.

But Lu Ming was not at peace.

This was the toughest battle he had ever fought.

The difficulty lies not in the strength of the opponent, but in the boundless number of enemies and the low tolerance for error that comes with facing a group attack.

He must remain highly alert at all times, using his brain to think, analyze, and judge the current situation at high speed, while also being vigilant against possible sneak attacks or ambushes from unknown directions.

This is the first time that the circuits inside the muscle fibers have been activated simultaneously with the alchemical circuits of blood vessels and nerves during a battle, causing them to be overloaded.

In Bloodlust Mode, the triple load caused severe internal injuries, with blood constantly flowing from his body. This made him extremely cautious about making any mistakes in combat, as his body's recovery speed might not be able to keep up if he were injured.

Moreover, Odin never appeared, which must have meant he was plotting something even darker and more sinister. This placed immense mental pressure on him.

This battle was truly difficult; he endured both physical and mental torment—it was terrifying!

Fortunately, he killed all the enemies.

After thinking and summarizing for a while, Lu Ming's breathing gradually calmed down, and the surging momentum he had generated during the battle gradually subsided, as if he were about to fall asleep peacefully.

"hero......"

Seeing that Lu Ming was no longer moving, his blood had dried up, and his momentum had subsided, Jack the Ripper assumed that Lu Ming had finally reached his limit, and his tone became complicated—

He was originally thinking about how to complete his Master's mission, but at this moment, Jack the Ripper suddenly felt that none of it mattered anymore.

Heroes who fight on the battlefield and shed their last drop of blood should not be disturbed by trivial matters.

In their final moments, heroes need nothing more than a peaceful rest.

Just as Jack the Ripper was considering how to prepare a coffin and burial for Lu Ming.

Lu Ming suddenly opened his eyes, stood up with a bright and energetic expression, and scanned his surroundings with sharp eyes.

Jack the Ripper gaped in astonishment: "?!"

Isn't it said that the state of rampage after activating the circuit is irreversible and will exhaust one's life force?

Master, your knowledge of magic is unreliable.

"No, I overlooked something."

Lu Ming ignored the reactions of others. He suddenly stood up and paced back and forth anxiously.

"This was an unprecedentedly difficult battle, although my muscle cultivation in the secret realm had made great progress in the battle."

"But this time is different from the past, because there are no gains like the Odin Armory treasure trove."

"In addition, there was the immense mental and physical torment I endured throughout the entire process. Odin, on the other hand, only lost a group of corpse guards, yet the odds of winning were vastly different. Considering all this, wasn't I at a huge disadvantage?"

Damn it, Odin is so wicked!

"This won't do! We have to make up for it from other sources!"

After saying that, Lu Ming's gaze fell on the bones and dust that had fallen after the "corpse guardians" died.

As a creation of alchemy, it's reasonable for the Corpse Guardian to drop alchemy materials when it's killed, right? Let's pack them all up as loot and take them with us!

"Jack, come here for a second. Do you see what's on the ground over there? Could you please find some transportation?"

Lu Ming said.

He was actually a little sleepy after finishing a tough battle, but after thinking it over carefully, he realized that the battle couldn't have been fought in vain.

There's no other way but to muster my strength and keep going.

......

The night ends and the day dawns.

"Hero, may you rest in peace!"

"Let's go!"