"......Eh?!"
It was at this time that Qihuang realized that Xiaochun had woken up. When she looked back in disbelief, she saw the girl who had just woken up on the hospital bed smiling at her encouragingly and giving her a thumbs up optimistically.
Then, the girl took a deep breath and straightened her back. Her cheeks were hot and she bit her lips and nodded vigorously.
Maybe it's because he knows that this matter can be easily seen through, and he feels deeply ashamed, or... excited?
"......Is that so?" Novia patted her shoulder and said solemnly, "If that's the case, then come on."
Then, looking at Qihuang being led away by Novia, Tsubaki Uchiha on the hospital bed smiled slightly.
She was thinking, I didn't expect that Qihuang, who had been so harsh in her words to comfort her in the dream, would have no power to attack her big brother.
186: Charlemagne's wish and the sphere that looks like a fly egg (4k5)
Police station, director's office.
"Mr. Director, can you tell me more about Francesca and Fadius?"
Charlemagne, who reached a cooperation agreement with Dumas, looked at the police chief, Orlando Revi, one of the masterminds behind the Snow Holy Grail War.
"I'm sorry. Although I discussed this Holy Grail War with them before, I only knew that Francesca was a magician who had lived for many years and that Fadius had the support of the government. I didn't know more about the situation."
Although the three of them are from the same camp behind the Holy Grail War, they do not trust each other. For the sheriff, it is enough to protect all the residents of Snowfield City during the Holy Grail War.
In other words, if Francesca, Fadius or anyone else were to take the Holy Grail to destroy the city and endanger the entire country, Orlando would never back down and would resist destruction at the cost of his life.
"I see. Then what do you think of Bazdilote Cortiglio, who brainwashed your subordinates and made them spies?"
"Bazzidilote Cottiglio, an Italian gangster who is loyal to his gang. Ever since the previous leader was eliminated by the state, he is determined to overthrow the entire country even if it means sacrificing his life. In short, he is a thug."
"Oh, so that's how it is. Just by hearing you say that, Sheriff, I can feel his determination and his willingness to destroy himself. If Richard were here, he would probably smile and say that there is actually a lion, or a lion heart, who has taken a completely different path from him, right?"
Charlemagne muttered to himself, then he propped his chin up and continued to ask the sheriff,
"Sheriff, you should have something else to say, please say it."
"...I am not someone who cannot accept the death of my subordinates."
Orlando's eyes were filled with quiet anger, the source of which was not directed at others, but at Bazdilot, who had twisted his subordinate, and who had made Hercules the Master of the Avengers.
The sheriff thought that as their leader, he had let them and their families down by letting them participate in magical and mysterious matters. Most importantly, he should have taken better care of them but he didn't notice that situation.
Orlando and Dumas vaguely remember the expression and words of the father of Western Europe when Charlemagne was taken back to the police station after appearing on TV:
"Bend your knees and shed tears of joy. I am the salvation, the end, and the embodiment of the will of the world."
Then, Charlemagne looked at the twenty-eight policemen constructed by Dumas's treasure, waved his hand, and suddenly the entire police station was filled with blue light.
"Look, look at this blue light. This is the universal light, the light of the Holy Spirit, which transmits love to every corner of the world. This is the ideal that the Roman Empire was supposed to embody but failed to embody, and the truth that should have made mankind prosper forever... You should not betray me."
Under the unparalleled majesty, one of the twenty-eight policemen who was twisted into a spy suddenly collapsed.
Seeing this, Orlando asked Dumas to revoke the ability of his police officers to become "heroes", and instead contacted the Father of Western Europe, and finally reached a peace agreement with him.
"It's all thanks to you, Charlemagne. After all, although I can filter dust, I didn't notice it at the time." Dumas shrugged, was silent for a moment, and then said viciously: "Brother, I'm sorry, I should have noticed it when I used the treasure to add pens to everyone."
"No, it's not your fault." Orlando continued, "If it was just Bazdilot's distortion, it would be fine... I'm afraid that the old dog used illusion to cover him up. In order to make it easier for his existence to be mistaken for mine, he used illusion to distort the magic of domination."
"Old dog?"
Charlemagne asked curiously.
"My brother is referring to Francesca," Dumas explained. "Francesca's thought was probably 'It looks interesting, so I'll just go and help'. Fadius may also know this, which is why Bazdilote Cotillio exchanged information with him."
"By the way, a mercenary who calls himself Sigma contacted me just now. He wants to deal with Fadius." Orlando said thoughtfully, then nodded affirmatively, "Later, I will also go in person to seek justice for my subordinates. I want to personally deal with Bazdilote Cottiglio, the Italian gangster."
"Hahaha, my brother is a true hero, although I will just watch him die with a smile on my face."
Dumas opened his arms to Orlando in an exaggerated tone, singing as if he were an actor on the stage, then he sat up straight and bowed respectfully to Charlemagne in an aristocratic and elegant tone.
"But right now our main concern is to deal with Novia. I don't have much expectation for the Holy Grail. As a playwright, I am quite satisfied to see such a wonderful story. What do you think, Charlemagne?"
".....Let me think about it."
Charlemagne replied with a wry smile.
Originally, Charlemagne was different from Alexandre Dumas in that he wanted the Holy Grail and thought he had a good chance of success... until Novia came.
"If I say I came here so that my sister can get out, can my brother-in-law give me the Holy Grail?"
Charlemagne touched his chin and muttered to himself uncertainly. At the same time, he looked at his current appearance in the mirror in the room and sighed again.
".....Oh, this is really troublesome."
After all, he should normally appear as an old man like Charlemagne who reigns over all of Europe, rather than as a young boy named Charlemagne on his journey.
The relationship between Charlemagne and Charlemagne was completely different from the conventional, normal, so-called old age and youth of a servant.
To Emperor Charlemagne, the Twelve Knights were his elite. Holy swords, magical beasts, and witches did not exist in his reign.
To put it simply, what Charlemagne experienced was a "daydream" in which fantasy and reality were intertwined, while Charlemagne used all his means and wisdom to establish the "reality" of the European prototype.
This means that it is impossible to summon Charlemagne in the Holy Grail War, because Charlemagne's overwhelming 'reality' overwhelms Charlemagne's fragile 'daydream' in human history.
And now, being able to make Charlemagne appear in his youth with the appearance of Charlemagne was a miracle that even he could not imagine.
At first, he just felt the aura that El-Melloi was so afraid of. He thought that his brother-in-law was also the monarch of El-Melloi, so he was born before Richard the Lionheart. He thought of it as a favor...
However, I didn’t expect that it was not El-Melloi’s people, but the incarnation of El-Melloi’s magic furnace.
"Ah, no matter how hard I try, I can't defeat him!"
Charlemagne held his head and shouted in front of Dumas and Orlando without any manner.
Perhaps it was because he appeared in the world with a young appearance that Charlemagne's mentality returned to the cheerfulness of his youth, rather than the hard-heartedness that had been difficult to waver after going through all kinds of experiences. Presumably, this was also the reason why he called himself Charlemagne instead of Charlemagne the Great.
Being young means having the youthful vigor.
"Even the alien key has no response, how can I play this... No, I simply can't play..."
In fact, for Charlemagne, in addition to the wish to save mankind, he had another wish, and the reason why he wanted to obtain the Holy Grail was just for this reason - he wanted his brother-in-law and sister to be reunited.
In the distant past, Charlemagne, who was traveling in the extremely cold Himalayas, entered the ruins of the Titans with his knight Astolfo. When he touched the stone slab, he saw a very lonely brown girl, Attila.
The girl looked very lonely, as if she was shivering alone, waiting for someone.
Then, through the alien key, the words that Avia had engraved here in the past also entered Charlemagne's mind.
Those were the words of the silver-haired man who wanted Attila not to be alone.
Even though the passing of time will turn the vast ocean into mulberry fields, the great deeds of countless heroes will be buried deep under the dust by time.
The civilization that was once as colorful as flowers will one day disappear without a trace.
However, as long as the Alien Key is not damaged, this affirmation and reliance on him will surely remain forever under the Alps, silently waiting for Charlemagne's arrival.
"You will succeed, I have no doubt about it, but it's not because of the so-called destiny, but because of you and your friends who work tirelessly to bring peace. Yes, yes, I also think that people who work hard are handsome."
In fact, at that time, Charlemagne had already killed people in order to inherit his father's career. This was natural. On the battlefield, the so-called knights were like that.
He felt that he would be satisfied just by being able to play and fight with Astolfo and the others and help those in need.
However, since he was a prince, he couldn't do that.
The only thing they could do was kill, kill, and kill non-stop, burn and rob, and defeat the enemy.
On the battlefields of that era, the so-called knights had no chivalry at all.
Charlemagne felt very reluctant and did not want to continue killing. He just wanted to fight the enemy openly, spare his life if the enemy surrendered, and fight only to defend peace. He originally hoped to be such a person, able to drink and chat with anyone regardless of their status, and make friends with people of different beliefs.
No, he really wanted to be such a person, and this might be the point of disagreement between Charlemagne and Karl the Great.
Charlemagne pursued such a world in his fantasy, while Charlemagne used countless means and spared no effort to become the father of Western Europe in reality.
But even so, both have a common wish——
So that Avia and Attila can be reunited.
I want these two people to be together forever and live happily.
Both felt that way.
"...If it really doesn't work, just let my brother-in-law make a wish. Anyway, no matter what the wish is, I will support it."
Charlemagne said this after thinking for a long time and couldn't come up with any good ideas.
......
At the same time, underground of the snowfield history.
When Sigma got there, there was absolutely no sign of anyone around.
However, even though there was no one there, the scattered atmosphere allowed visitors to fully feel the resentment held by the people.
"Don't be careless, man. The magic here is distorted, and the observer's eyes are unreliable."
At the words of the old Captain Shadow Mage, Sigma looked at 'that' while panting.
It was like red and black magma, on the outer wall of the hollow, surrounded by a modern steel frame handrail, and the vessel of the Holy Grail could be seen from all directions.
A large natural underground cavity existed before the streets of Xueyuan City were built.
This place is considered a forbidden holy place by the Hero King's master, the Tini Circe clan. It is a great spiritual place where a huge dragon vein passes through, and it is also a place prepared for the advent of the Holy Grail.
Earlier, Sigma was thinking that before dealing with Francesca, he had to deal with Fadius, who had a close relationship with her. However, when he arrived at the monitoring room of Fadius's private prison, he found that it was full of corpses, and Fadius himself was dead, apparently killed by a servant.
Then he came to the place that Francesca had mentioned to him, hoping to meet and kill her.
but--
"...Is that really what can be called the Holy Grail?"
Sigma swallowed hard at the red and black magic that swirled around him, because it was like the magic of entangled earth, giving off a creepy aura.
A large natural cavity - perhaps the deepest part of the dragon vein - the soil formed a huge vortex, which was more like a hell hole that could suck in everything than a cup.
"It doesn't look like it will work as a proper wish-granting device."
Staring at the Holy Grail with disgust, Sigma's servant observers, one of them, a shadowy boy holding a cane, narrowed his eyes sadly and continued.
"This is the same substance as the mud that contaminated Alcides... Could it be that the Francesca you mentioned wants to do something like that?"
"What do you mean?"
"Cheating the Holy Grail."
"That's impossible. Even if it's her illusion, it's impossible to deceive people with such evil as if it doesn't exist. There are only a few Servants who have died so far. The energy is totally insufficient."
"The energy has been sufficient since the moment Novia appeared." The shadow of the boy with the cane raised his head, "I... have sensed the possibility that 'I', the people on the ship, and the one in the sky will arrive soon."
"Anyway, I'm going to try to destroy this Greater Holy Grail...but if I go about it wrong, will the mud spill onto the ground?"
"If it's the stage where the Lesser Holy Grail is completed, it's hard to say, but right now, there's absolutely no problem."
"Okay, then I—"
However, just when Sigma was about to touch the Holy Grail wrapped in red and black mud, he suddenly realized that there was actually nothing there. In other words, the Holy Grail here was just an illusion cast by Francesca.
Seeing this, the shadow of a young man with a cane following Sigma said expressionlessly:
"This is really... an incomparable horrifying illusion. Arte's humanoid form, what on earth do you want Alcides to swallow?"
This one’s real name was Asclepius, and he was known as the Greek god of medicine, and he was also a member of the Argonauts.
As the God of Medicine murmured, at this moment, a huge circle appeared in the sky above Xueyuan City, as if a compass had cut the sky into beautiful circles, where pitch-black darkness could be seen.
What was even stranger was that in the center of the pitch-black circle, there was a circle, or sphere, of a completely different color.
A huge sphere with a diameter of more than several kilometers floats at an altitude of 150 meters above the ground. The sphere slowly rotates in place, but its position does not move at all, as if a small moon suddenly appears and moves in an orbit that is completely consistent with the earth's rotation and revolution.
At first glance, the sphere gives the impression of being a man-made object, with a base color that looks like sun-dried bricks, and is covered with beautiful blue and gold alternations that are geometrically reminiscent of glazed stone.
It is like a giant egg that gave birth to a god or a demon, or an unknown celestial body that suddenly appeared.
And after the gorgeous decorations are removed, it looks like a fly egg about to be born.
187: Oh, is this true? I am already the Lord of the Flies! (5k)
"...That's Beelzebub."
