You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

She is not a hero, nor does she want to be one!

Whether you call it self-degradation or innate evil, she only follows her instincts and indulges her desires, sparing no expense to find things that can please her!

So what if your spirit origin is distorted?

To this world, the very existence of Shuten-dōji is a mistake. Since that's the case, let this alluring poisonous plant bloom even more brilliantly!

"Ah woo~"

First, she took small bites, her fine, sharp teeth biting into her tough heart muscle, the hot blood staining her lips and teeth. The petite girl, whose face was mostly burned, chewed with relish, a satisfied smile on her lips.

"Ah woo~"

With each bite, the girl's shadow stretched long and long under the moonlight, swaying like a phantom as she continued to eat. Her body gradually grew larger, more majestic dragon horns sprouted from her head, her hands were covered with bluish-purple scales, and a thick, long tail extended from her waist...

hum!

When the change reached a certain critical value, the girl swallowed the remaining half of the heart like a snake. Instantly, she felt a ball of fire rise from her abdomen, quickly circulating throughout her body, and in the blink of an eye, the ugly burns were healed.

Then came the golden radiance, the most famous treasures of the two great pantheons of Greece and Norse mythology (the Root of Calamity), shining brightly at this moment. Curses and blessings intertwined, forming a strange vortex, and a continuous stream of magic gathered from all directions, like believers summoned by the gods, throwing themselves into this alluring radiance!

Those are the spirits lurking in this land, and the evil thoughts hidden in people's hearts. Although they cannot be seen with the naked eye, they exist in every corner.

In this world where the age of gods has long since passed, the "dragon" can no longer be seen.

This is wrong!

Besides the naturally born divine beasts, the top-tier fantasy species known as dragons, there also exist invisible dragons that are born from the ugly hearts of people, nourished by ambition and greed, and whose nests are built with gold and bones.

This is the "dragon phenomenon"!

"Hehehe... Ahahahaha... Grow, grow, grow, that dark will, that restless heart, that yearning yet suppressed gaze~"

With each molt, you get closer to your truest self; with each indulgence, you see your scales more clearly in the mirror, until sharp teeth grow, until your voice becomes shrill, until you transform into something inhuman, and then accept that fall—

"The calamity of Izumo descends, and Yamata Orochi is born!"

Crack, crack, crack...

huge!

Overwhelming quality!

The dense forest was crushed by the physical weight, and countless trees broke as fragile as toothpicks. The earth trembled in the ravages, and a fierce wind pressure rose in the atmosphere, but it could not disperse the dust stirred up by the aftershocks.

It is difficult to observe its full picture from a human perspective. Even when viewed from 10,000 meters above the ground, one can only see something that "definitely exists" slowly moving. Every slight movement can cause dust to rise from the ground nearly 100 meters high, as if a god is manipulating an eraser to wipe this forest off the map bit by bit!

Something that exists only in mythology, something far beyond the scale of the Holy Grail War, is about to... or rather, has already arrived!

It was quite difficult at first. The evil dragon phenomenon caused by "gold" was enough to summon divine beasts, but it was not enough to bring down all beings of higher rank.

But when its will touches the mortal world, this process is accelerated at an extreme speed, and a massive amount of essence is extracted from the underground dragon veins and filled into that illusory body.

The enormous body appeared translucent under the starry sky, with ripples spreading through the atmosphere, reflecting the bright stars and moon, as if draped in a veil of stars. The monster's body was gradually transforming into reality.

The highly toxic fog spread outwards, and the vegetation in the entire forest quickly turned yellow and withered, as if decades of time and life had been instantly stolen, and it soon became a dead land!

Shuten-dōji used his greed and desire as a trigger to awaken an even more majestic being from mythology!

No, Assassin is no longer Shuten-dōji.

A tall and voluptuous, athletic figure landed on one of the monster's snake heads. Her bluish-purple skin had a smooth, jade-like texture, with rhomboid scales overlapping at her joints. Her beautiful appearance still showed traces of a young girl, but the enormous dragon horns on her head and the tail behind her proved that she was an even more inhuman being than Shuten-dōji.

"Come, come, come... let's turn this place upside down! You venomous monster, the cancer of human history, my evil yet great 'father'—Yamata no Orochi!"

Chapter 131: The Confluence of Red and Black

In every battlefield, the heroes stopped moving, looking at the ravaged and destroyed forest with either shock or indifference. Most of them gritted their teeth in secret after sensing that powerful aura.

too exaggerated!

This is something that "Servants" simply cannot handle. Even in the Age of Gods, this would be a catastrophe that would displace countless people. In this era, there is no "mystery" that can fight against it.

"What exactly is that... a magical beast?"

"No, although it is not yet complete, it transcends the concept of magical beasts and is more in line with the concept of evil gods."

Achilles and Chiron, who were originally engaged in a duel between master and disciple, were now completely drawn to the appearance of the Yamata no Orochi.

Achilles' expression was solemn, and Chiron's eyes showed even more worry.

The great sages of Greece naturally knew who the assassins in their camp were. If there was anyone in this Holy Grail War most likely to be associated with such a monster, it would only be Shuten-dōji.

But this is by no means an Assassin's Noble Phantasm, or rather, the Servant's Spirit Origin simply cannot support such a massive scale.

Something went wrong!

Chiron had a rather bad feeling.

Later, when he learned from his Master through telepathy that Saber had been killed by Shuten-dōji, his mood worsened!

"It seems this isn't the time for 'reminiscing.' That big guy doesn't look like a friendly freak at all. Let's call a truce for now and go check out the situation."

Achilles took a deep breath. This warrior among warriors remained fearless and quickly adjusted his mindset, a carefree smile returning to his face.

"I never imagined that returning to this world would give me the chance to challenge monsters I'd never encountered in my previous life, and even fight alongside you, Master Chiron. Fate is truly a wondrous thing!"

The centaur sage smiled affectionately: "You really haven't changed at all, Achilles."

Both of them were top-notch in terms of speed as Servants. Achilles was known as the "fastest hero," which goes without saying. Although Chiron was an Archer, he was also quite fast and was able to keep up with Achilles. The two of them arrived at the scene quickly, one after the other.

They could see the hazy, mountain-like silhouette and the forest dominated by some kind of aura from hundreds of meters away. In fact, from their perspective and position, they could see a huge outline as soon as they looked up, making them mistakenly believe that they were actually at the "foot of the mountain".

Upon seeing this, the centaur sage frowned deeply.

"We can't go any further!" Chiron sensed something was wrong and slowed his pace to warn Achilles.

For the being in the forest, a distance of several hundred meters is practically right next to it, within reach. If the being harbors ill intentions, it could begin its attack now.

But the spirited hero was full of confidence in himself. He was going to investigate the situation inside, and even if the enemy launched an attack, he was capable of dealing with it!

However, before he could even enter the forest, a barrage of arrows came, forcing him to dodge and slowing him down abruptly.

"Big Sister?" Achilles was taken aback when he saw the emerald green arrow stuck in the ground.

We were indeed attacked, but not by monsters from the forest, but by archers from our own faction.

"why?"

"You're too reckless, Rider."

A moment later, the agile Atalanta landed on the ground and said to Achilles without any politeness, "You died because of this in life, and you still can't change it now?"

“Atalanta is right.”

Chiron then spoke up to explain, "Rider, you need to observe carefully. That forest is now 'dead,' and it contains a deadly poison that can even corrupt us Servants!"

"poison?"

Achilles felt a chill and quickly looked over, only to find that, just as the centaur sage had said, the area had become a dead zone, and an extremely strong ominous aura could be felt even from afar.

Actually, his perception wasn't weak, but he had been so focused on that enormous creature that he had been preoccupied with how to challenge it that he had overlooked the danger right in front of him.

"This kind of poison cannot be cured by magic or medicine. It is probably something like a curse. Although your Noble Phantasm can resist non-divine attacks, this kind of poison with special properties is another matter."

Chiron explained it clearly, and Achilles listened with a deep resonance:

He possesses an invulnerable body, so whether in life or now, he has always been fearless and reckless on the battlefield, crushing his enemies with absolute power!

But he also understood that there is no true "immortality" in this world. Even heroes like Hercules and sages like Chiron succumbed to "poison." If it were a curse of equal strength, then even Achilles's Noble Phantasm would probably be useless.

"It hasn't even fully arrived yet, but the mere leaked aura has 'killed' a piece of land. Its toxicity is so strong that even Servants are affected... I think I already know its name."

"What is it?" Achilles asked hastily. "Who summoned it?"

"Its name is 'Yamata no Orochi'. In Far Eastern mythology, it is a giant beast that came from the sea, causing storms and waves that no one could control, until a wandering war god passed by and used his wisdom to successfully weaken it and then kill it."

—It was Iori who spoke.

He arrived shortly after Atalanta's appearance, along with Vlad III, the leader of the Yggdrasil faction.

It was highly unusual for a Berserker from the Red side to walk alongside Vlad III, but none of the Servants on either side seemed surprised at the moment:

It's as if no one asked what happened between Achilles and Chiron.

To put it bluntly, everyone was just in a competitive relationship, not mortal enemies who had a grudge against each other in life. Now that an unexpected situation has occurred, it is normal to put the conflict aside for the time being.

Sure enough, as time went by, Karna, King Arthur, and Mordred arrived one after another, while Joan of Arc was the last to arrive—she had excellent stamina, but lacked the relevant skills and means of transportation, so she could only rely on running.

The most surprising thing is that Mordred was sitting behind King Arthur, and the two rode together on warhorses!

Red Saber, despite her sour face (you could tell she'd been beaten up quite a bit), showed no embarrassment whatsoever when hitchhiking, while King Arthur, despite his coldness and never showing any courtesy to others, surprisingly allowed someone to get so close to him...

However, these two will still fight each other afterward, and they will absolutely not show any mercy—this "father-son" relationship is truly quite peculiar.

'Sera...be prepared. If you feel strained, use a Command Spell!'

Iori silently gave her Master careful instructions while gazing at the source of the poisonous field, at that towering, mountain-like, translucent body...

Can you win?

can!

If you don't have this level of confidence, then don't participate in the Holy Grail War. You might as well go to the Emiya mansion in the next timeline and freeload off him!

Of course, I'm confident, but giving away so easily isn't Iori's style. This enemy, who is beyond my capabilities, must be treated with caution—this is how Susanoo in the original story was able to successfully slay the dragon and serpent.

"My true name is Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc). As the Ruler of this Holy Grail War, in the name of the Lord, I will ensure the fairness of this war!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the Holy Maiden pointed her battle flag at the Yamata no Orochi: "That is a scourge that has broken free from the Holy Grail's control. When it is fully summoned to this world, everything we see will turn into a toxic swamp, and all the 'soil' and 'water' that it touches will die."

Not only will the balance of nature be disrupted, but the city next door will also be unable to survive, and if left unchecked, it could even destroy a country!

Therefore, we must annihilate them here!

Jeanne d'Arc naturally gave orders to everyone, and none of the Servants, including Iori, objected.

Orochi is not an opponent that can be defeated by an individual. Even the proud Achilles and Karna would not believe that a Servant's body can be compared to a god—even if it is incomplete.

Only by gathering all the Servants together can we have even a sliver of hope of defeating him!

To do this, someone had to stand up and call for action, and only Joan of Arc could do it!

"Listen! My valiant spirits, each one a hero invincible, even if we are on opposing sides, let us now turn our backs to one another!"

Chapter 132: He's a professional when it comes to being outrageous (4K)

Red: Iori, Karna, Mordred, Achilles, Atalanta;

Black: Vlad III, Chiron, Artoria;

Ruler: Joan of Arc.

Excluding those who have already left the battlefield and those who remain at the main camp, a total of nine Servants from the three factions have gathered here, and under Jeanne d'Arc's call, they will join forces to defeat Yamata no Orochi and "Shuten-dōji".

It must be said that this is a scale that surpasses ordinary Holy Grail Wars and can only be seen in this great war. Even in the distant Age of Gods, it is rare to see so many heroes participating in the same battle. Only the Trojan War and the Kurukshetra War, a great war that could affect the entire pantheon, could have such a grand spectacle.

—That's part of the charm of the Holy Grail War.

Iori and the others had no time to dwell on this; after deciding to join forces against the enemy, they quickly encountered their first problem to solve:

Poisonous!

Legend has it that the Yamata no Orochi is not only enormous, resembling a mountain range, but also accompanied by heavy black clouds above its head. It is also said that its abdomen is rotten and bleeding, and no one, human or animal, can escape its fate wherever it goes.

Although the calamity summoned by Shuten-dōji has not yet fully descended, its powerful force is already enough to change the surrounding environment. Its breath causes the entire forest to wither, and a continuous flow of pus and blood flows out, gradually spreading along the terrain to the surrounding wilderness, soaking the land in deadly poison.

Chiron is the most learned of all the Servants. In addition to being proficient in all combat-related skills, he also has some knowledge of medicine. Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, was his prized disciple.

Chiron may not have been as "specialized" as Asclepius, but his knowledge and insight were no less, and he immediately sensed the danger of the Yamata no Poison.

"That's not just a simple poison; it's mixed with the concept of 'corruption,' a curse crafted from desire and resentment!"

"Fallen?"

Achilles scratched his head: "Could you put it more simply?"

Chiron gave the student a reproachful look and explained, "Human-made poisons only work on living organisms, but the aura emitted by Orochi can even corrode spirits, and even affect the spirit origin of Servants."

Moreover, this effect isn't simply destructive; it reverses the Servant's Spirit Origin attribute, causing them to lose their honor... Orthodox heroes, once deeply entangled in it, may succumb to their own dark side.