I'm a magnetic field madman

"Our Lord suffered because He bore our sins! Therefore, we must repay the Son's dedication with suffering, and prove our purity to the great Lord!"

The voice was so fervent and pure, perfectly complementing Kirei Kotomine's fanatical expression...

It was as if he were truly a penitent monk who longed to gain God's mercy through self-inflicted suffering.

Whether it is true or not is not important. Kirei Kotomine is the closest believer to the Holy Son. It can be said that he is an absolute "saint", just like Saint Peter. His position in the hearts of believers is extremely high!

If the Holy Son is the supreme wise king worshipped and revered by all... then Kirei Kotomine, the one who conveys the Holy Son's will, is the pope of our time.

"Pain makes us pure! Pain makes us clear-headed! The Lord took our pain to suffer in our place, and we must use our pain to call back the Lord's mercy!"

Kirei Kotomine shouted loudly, uttering seductive words. As he continued to whip himself, all the believers who followed Kirei Kotomine in the square also began to destroy themselves!

Some cut their own bodies with knives, some walked naked carrying huge stones on their backs... and some even chose to use more extreme pain to demonstrate their piety!

It's hard to believe that there are so many ignorant believers in this day and age—but that's the nature of faith: ignorance, blind obedience, madness, and extremism!

What's wrong with following the actions of those who act as their idols?

They don't need to think, because the objects of their worship will think for them. All they have to do is be a group of ants, existing as executors within the ant colony.

Such a large-scale ascetic practice naturally caused a split within the religious community in Rome today—there were far more normal people than these fanatical believers.

Those believers who are unwilling to harm themselves simply pray for the return of their Lord through the simplest of prayers.

But as time went by, more and more people joined the ranks of ascetics.

Because in this terrifying world, in this era where the old order has completely collapsed, people who have already suffered the horrors and pain of war need an idol to alleviate their pain and sorrow.

They need security, and people live for security... so any of their actions can be understood.

“Father Kotomine, isn’t allowing these people to do this going against the teachings of the Holy Son?”

Having changed back into her nun's habit, Hiel looked at the self-mutilating ascetics, their behavior reminiscent of the Middle Ages, and whispered to Kotomine Risuke, who was also one of the Holy Sons and the first disciples of the Holy One.

Kotomine Ryougi watched all this with a complicated expression, then turned back to answer Hierle's question...

“Keeley said that his actions were to give these restless people a reassuring excuse, a channel and method to vent their violence… This is what asceticism is all about, and if he hadn’t done it, perhaps the number of crimes in Rome would have soared even higher.”

Isn't this the essence of asceticism? It's nothing more than a form of self-indulgent behavior. By torturing oneself, one tries to interpret the truth and move a god they've never seen.

Every religion has something like this, or rather, suffering is a major element of religion.

What Kotomine Riko is worried about is that the holy son he serves has clearly expressed his disgust for this behavior... and if he discovers his son's actions, even if he means well...

boom!

The next moment, with a deafening explosion that shook the sky, a black light plummeted from the heavens. Rome erupted into chaos; people screamed and fled in all directions, gripped by fear—perhaps a nuclear bomb had exploded overhead!

However, no. Emerging from that black light, from that pitch-black meteorite, was none other than their revered Holy Son.

Fear instantly transformed into a wave of cheers and joy. The whole of Rome resounded with jubilation. In this era when the extraordinary had taken the stage to oppress the world, Jesus Christ, whom they had once rejected, was now their greatest leader!

Jesus Christ did not speak; he simply descended silently before Kirei Kotomine, before those who had violated his teachings by tormenting themselves with asceticism and finding solace in suffering.

Kirei Kotomine smiled as he looked at his holy son, his heart filled with anticipation... Whether it meant death or something else, he longed to see his master's reaction to such a scene!

Lord, your believers are so foolish, ignorant, and despicable. How can you still love them?

Upon seeing this, Kotomine Ryomasa rushed over, wanting to plead with the Holy Son!

His son certainly didn't have any bad intentions in doing such a thing.

He tormented himself and motivated these self-mutilating ascetics to take action, all for the sake of the people's health and stability!

But before he could get close, Jesus Christ suddenly pierced Kirei Kotomine's heart with a thorn!

Kirei Kotomine fell to his knees in agony, making a loud thud... and just when everyone thought this was the Holy Son punishing Kirei Kotomine—something incredible happened.

A dazzling electric current burst forth from Kirei Kotomine's body, followed by thorns spreading from his veins!

He looked at his hands in confusion, not understanding why the Holy Son would bestow this extraordinary power upon him!

"This is an award."

Jesus Christ spoke softly, his tone as calm and peaceful as ever, but only Kirei Kotomine could hear the deep indifference hidden beneath his tone!

"I bear your suffering to atone for your sins."

Jesus Christ looked at everyone, at the stunned Kotomine Risei and Hier, and at all the Catholic believers, and said calmly...

"The Day of Judgment is coming, and only the innocent will be allowed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I have borne your pain, and your pain represents your sins... and you need more pain to atone for your sins."

He spoke these words, so sacred, so lofty... just like the messiah being proclaimed by those black-skinned pigs reciting scriptures!

"So go forth and display your suffering, and use your suffering... to create miracles!"

The preaching and return of the Son of God spread like a virus.

The next moment, a large group of believers who were frantically torturing themselves appeared in front of St. Peter's Square!

The Son of God returned to Rome and summoned a group of faithful believers to the Vatican. After seven days of working in secret, the Son of God announced that he would establish an earthly kingdom in Europe!

Every piece of land within sight is divine land, and all those who do not obey God's will are heretics who must be killed!

And all believers must offer up their wealth and status... because in the future Papacy, brothers and sisters are equal... We have no wealth, we have no status, we are all one!

An incredibly radical strategy! The Holy Son's sudden change of heart horrified countless believers who had fled here, as well as the wealthy and powerful...

As a result, public opinion erupted and condemned the Holy Son, with people forming groups and organizing marches, attempting to force him to retract his decree using their most effective methods.

However, all the condemnations disappeared completely within a very short time.

It wasn't because the Holy Son killed them all, but because those who condemned them truly no longer had any thoughts of condemnation—

The bizarre phenomenon made Europe a more terrifying place than the other two countries.

Soon, some news spread that the Holy Son was using strange methods to enslave all the people.

He demanded that all citizens of God's Kingdom undergo painful repentance and wear a crown of thorns for one day before joining God's Kingdom, and that after this day of "baptism," all dissenting voices would disappear.

Some say this is the Son of God enslaving the people, and those who are pricked by thorns are already slaves of the Son of God.

Some say this is a way for the Son of God to bestow power upon his people.

Those who join the Kingdom of God gain an incredible power: by inflicting immense suffering upon themselves, they can obtain the power of "miracles"!

This power completely replaced the baptismal chants of the church and was given the name "Miracle of Suffering".

Those who seek suffering attain a high status in the Kingdom of God...

The entire country exhibits a morbid pattern where status and position are determined by suffering.

Those who endured suffering and received miracles became the "thorns of suffering" of the Kingdom of God, conquering those places that had not joined the Empire and the Kingdom of Heaven.

Those places that were celebrating their withdrawal from the Kingdom of Heaven not long ago have fallen and perished under such attacks. How could the Kingdom of Heaven and the Empire sit idly by?

But they simply joined in the frenzy of dividing the spoils.

Nobody cares about ordinary people, nobody cares about the common folk. In this new era, the people are nothing more than numbers and assets.

But no matter what, Bai Chou, Bai Jingtian, and the Holy Son... the three powerful figures who survived the battlefield divided the world in their own way, and after simply establishing a new order, they were poised to make their move.

War is bound to break out between them, and perhaps all they need is a spark.

And the flame that ignites the fuse may not come from within the world, but rather... from outside the world.

54. Girls and Love

For Ayaka Sajou, her older sister Aika is a special person.

She was beautiful and talented, and her older sister was the person she admired most. She was cute, intelligent, and did everything with ease.

She was only six years older than me, yet she was as beautiful as a princess from a fairy tale, and possessed unbelievable perfection and even omnipotence.

Even something as simple as cooking is like that.

Little Ayaka looked at her older sister with some confusion. Her sister, busy in the kitchen, was humming a soft song and looked happier and more dazzling than ever before.

"Ayaka, could you get me a plate? And some toast too?"

"Yes, sister."

"Ah, not over there. It's the plate for the bacon and fried egg, so it's small. You see, it's the one you broke earlier. Also, the toast isn't thick enough, it's thinly sliced."

"Ah, um, um—" Ayaka nodded while observing her older sister's expression, which was as bright and lovely as ever...

But as her younger sister, Ayaka could tell that her older sister's smile was more genuine and radiant than ever before.

Something must have happened that she didn't know about, Ayaka thought to herself... because she had never seen her sister so happy or even excited before.

Bacon, fried eggs, toast, salad, milk, kidney pie, cheese and ham, porridge and scones, black tea and fruit for dessert—there was so much food that it was impossible for me, my father, and my sister to finish it all.

Right now, her older sister is cooking a strange-looking big fish, which looks like a deep-sea fish... but Ayaka can't quite put her finger on where she's seen that kind of strange fish before.

"Hey, could you try it for me, Ayaka?" Aika smiled and cut a piece of fried fish, handing it to her sister as she spoke...

"Hmm? Hmm. Is that okay?"

"Okay. Come on, open your mouth."

Following her sister's instructions, Ayaka opened her mouth, her slender, fair fingers holding a piece of delicate white fish meat, and took a bite.

Although I don't particularly like sashimi, it was refreshing and melted in my mouth, with no strange feeling of raw food at all, making it very delicious.

Ayaka nodded seriously, and Aika gave a very sweet smile, whispering...

"Since Ayaka was fine after eating it, it seems like it was a success! Although it was materialized from imagination, it's the same thing he mentioned..."

The father, who was drinking coffee at the table, choked and coughed. He looked at his daughter in disbelief. Although it sounded like a joke, anything that came out of his daughter's mouth was definitely not a joke.

Realizing a fantasy? This kid actually uses the realization of a fantasy to make breakfast?

Although Hiroki Sajo, as her father, must have believed that his daughter possessed such abilities—he had never seen Aika abuse these abilities so much.

"There's even more powerful magic!" Aika stroked the head of the somewhat bewildered Ayaka, but looked behind her as if she were looking at something, smiling sweetly...

"The magic called love is something more powerful than any magician's mystery."

……

"You don't actually need to do these things."

Bai Wunan looked at the food laid out on the table, including the delicious magnetic warship fish that he had only mentioned casually... back when he was in the Wind Clan and on Wuliang Island, and said softly...

"Don't you like it? I made a lot at once. If it's not to your liking, I'll make something else next time..."

By the east-facing window, a voice even more endearing than the chirping birds outside spoke, pointing to the dining table laden with dishes. The voice carried an expression that suggested some concern.

She was a lovely young girl with soft, flowing hair that seemed to let the sunlight seep through it. Her eyes were pale, almost translucent. A jade-green dress perfectly complemented her features.

Like a brightly blooming flower—that's how Bai Wunan described the girl in his heart. She was incredibly beautiful, and possessed an indescribable purity that made Bai Wunan admire and like her from the bottom of his heart.

Just like the first time I met Hai Tong—no, the first time I met Hai Tong and Lina, it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience.

Bai Wunan sighed softly to himself.

It was more like Qingqing, Bai Wunan thought to himself, an association that he would never feel happy about.

Ai Ge's gaze lingered on the moment his figure moved toward the dining table.

"If you're willing to eat it..."

She is cheerful, like a kind fairy dancing in the sunlight.

Blooming magnificently, large flowers bathed in the morning dew. Suddenly, their radiance is tinged with shadow. Like fairies concealing their forms, the blossoms seem to close as time rewinds.

Seeing that Wu Nan remained unmoved, his gaze shifting, Ai Ge's expression darkened. This left Bai Wu Nan somewhat bewildered, so he sat down—

As always, he was very bad at dealing with women.

Especially a girl so young, at least too young compared to himself... Bai Wunan's morality would prevent him from having any inappropriate thoughts at that age.

He silently began to eat, and the amount that would be impossible for an ordinary person to finish was of course no problem for Bai Wunan.

He didn't actually need to eat. The power of 480,000 horsepower had long since made him accustomed to the process of receiving nourishment from matter. Eating was merely a pastime for him.

Quickly, with an almost effortless, swallowing speed, she devoured half of the food in front of her. Aika's smile returned to its cheerful state as she tilted her head, looked at Takeo, and chuckled softly…

"Actually, Takeo, I've always been curious about what class of Servant you are? Or maybe you're not even a Heroic Spirit at all."

"Who knows? At least he won't be a hero of this world." Bai Wunan put down his cutlery, sighed, and said quietly...

“I shouldn’t be your Servant, nor should I participate in this so-called Holy Grail War. I shouldn’t even be alive.”

"You're a hero... without a doubt. Although you're not from this world, Takeo, you're a great person." Aika's slender white fingers gently rested on Takeo's nose as she whispered...