They've already fought their way through the Holy Grail War, and you still call them dragons?

Emiya thought to himself, that they were probably a master-servant pair, but were they going to act alone? Unless they didn't want to escape from this mirror world.

"Oh, so they helped. So, they should be good people?"

"That might not be the case," Emiya's words made Aso's heart nearly jump into his throat. "After all, they're probably a master-servant pair over there. If they're not easy to reason with, they might become enemies."

"hiss……"

When Aso Shin was suddenly nervous, Emiya turned around and asked Chiyome, "Can you detect the aura of a Servant?"

"Yes, and I have already released the 'snakes' used for patrols. It's almost time for them to return."

Chiyome squatted down after saying this. Small red and black snakes began to emerge from the shadows beneath her feet. Suddenly, she looked surprised. "Hey, someone's coming over here. There are two of them! They're very fast, and they're running at a pure speed!"

"I saw it too!" After using magic to enhance his vision, Emiya looked into the distance and also witnessed a black spot that was rapidly approaching and rapidly enlarging.

The sound of breaking wind suddenly arose.

A bronze-toned, tall, muscular man, carrying the person behind him, moved like a cannonball, each step creating a spiderweb of cracks in the ground, a violent vortex of air swirling in all directions. The trajectory of his movement was so fast that only a blurry afterimage remained.

Emiya gripped the blade tightly in his hand. He had basically recognized Hercules' identity from his appearance. Judging from his previous superb skills in using the bow and arrow, he was most likely an Archer, the legendary "Bow Sea".

It is said that Hercules, as a top hero with full-class adaptability besides Caster, if summoned as one of the Three Knights (Saber, Archer, and Lancer), his epic and heroic side will be strongly reflected, forming a character similar to chivalry.

Logically speaking, they don't have to worry about this Servant's style of behavior appearing to be insidious and unscrupulous, but the Master's character is still an uncertain factor.

The giant finally stomped his feet on the ground, plowing out two charred grooves before steadying himself. He did not reveal any intention to attack.

"Archer." Hercules only reported his rank, having not yet received the Master's consent. "The Master is still unconscious. I apologize for taking the initiative to join the operation."

After a closer look, they discovered that the animal skin wrapped around Hercules - if the legend was correct, it should be the skin of the Nemean lion - tied an unconscious person behind his back.

"Your Master?"

When Emiya saw Hercules crouching down, Fingel was revealed behind him - his head hair was messy and wet, his face was covered with stubble and his eyes were closed in pain. His combat uniform made of unknown material had holes in it. Fingel was obviously sleeping soundly, even unconscious.

Emiya didn't know Fingel and thought that Hercules came here because his Master had a problem and asked for help. "What happened to him? Is he unconscious? Or is he sick and needs treatment?"

"It's a coma. Running for a long time has accumulated a lot of fatigue, which led to the coma."

The corner of Emiya's eye twitched. "You mean... your Master has been running all the time, and he's exhausted like this?"

"Yes."

Hercules answered truthfully, but Emiya didn't know about Fingel's situation. He was a little suspicious that this Servant was running too fast and the Master couldn't keep up... What kind of damn Spartan training method is this?

After a relatively harmonious negotiation, the two sides finally agreed on a common goal, which was to escape from this hellhole first, and to let go of their guard and hostility towards each other before escaping from danger.

Moreover, Hercules, who retained his rationality, was indeed easy to talk to. He was a decent character who could grow up to be a superhero, one of the "Top Ten People Who Touched xx", "Time Magazine's Person of the Year", etc. in modern times, instead of Uncle B who lost even his original ability to speak on the set of "Fate/Stay Night".

As they all planned to explore the city, Hercules, while carrying his Master Fingel on his back, offered his own opinion:

"In the ancient Age of the Gods, such magnificent structures also existed. Skilled architects could even use multiple traps, including visual and directional traps, to transform ordinary cities into mazes impossible for living people to escape. So, we must be careful not to get lost when we move around."

"Oh, speaking of mazes, I know there is a most famous myth!" Aso didn't know why he hit the mark by accident and coincidentally mentioned the Greek area where Hercules was born.

"The brilliant Greek architect Daedalus designed a labyrinth for King Minos to imprison the Minotaur, a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man. Later, the Athenian hero Theseus successfully broke through the maze and defeated the monster."

Hercules was silent for a moment, "Yes, Daedalus is a genius."

He did not know Theseus, but he knew Daedalus. Among the twelve trials given to him by the gods, the seventh trial was to tame the Cretan bull. Daedalus happened to be serving King Minos in Crete at the time.

As fate would have it, the bull tamed by Hercules was later given to King Minos by Poseidon, the god of the sea, and eventually gave birth to the Minotaur, a monster who was later imprisoned in the labyrinth of Daedalus.

Chapter 197 The Divine Sword Ame-no-Murasakumo!

The flipping notebook rustled in the breeze, and the pages trembled slightly in the air.

As the others discussed, Eri lowered her head and began to carefully record the story of Daedalus and the Great Labyrinth in her notebook. Then she paused, bit the pen and thought for a moment, then wrote and drew on the back page, casually creating an abstract minotaur image with crooked lines.

It was not until Emiya pulled her sodehaka twice that the girl raised her head and continued to follow the others to explore the huge city.

Emiya and Hercules led the way, the ancient city unfolding like a divine scroll. A massive tower, far taller than Tokyo Tower, rose in the city's center, its spire reaching into the sky as if to pierce the heavens.

The true appearance of the mountain-like buildings was also clearly revealed before his eyes. The metal roof bulged into a mountain shape and was covered with iron-black tiles engraved with cirrus clouds and dragon beasts. Hundreds of meters long metal sickles hung from the four corners of the houses, with black wind chimes interspersed in between, but it was incredibly silent.

Aso Makoto has hardly ever opened his mouth since he came in. Such an ancient and majestic architectural style may have only existed in fantasy movies in the past. No relics of civilization in reality may be so magnificent.

Whether it was the sharp and angular patterns carved out of rock, or the cold and severe decorations made of a combination of silver, black iron and bronze, they all challenged her inherent understanding of the ancient times and repeatedly verified the fragmentary words of Emiya and Hercules about the "Age of the Gods".

In ancient times, there really was a highly developed civilization that may have already disappeared!

Whoosh-!

"Master, watch your step." Mochizuki Chiyome suddenly swung out the sickle, and the flying chain was wrapped with metal wires and hooks, lightly hooking the belt around Aso Makoto's waist, barely catching the falling girl.

The bricks where the female student had just stood collapsed silently, and the bronze gear disc hidden inside the city rotated faintly, causing the area below to be filled with black and purple thorn traps in an instant.

"Ah!" Aso Makoto was hooked by the sickle and moved aside to the ground. She let out a soft cry of surprise after realizing it belatedly. She finally realized clearly that this city was not a dull and dead thing, but more like a cold guard that would actively attack invaders.

Emiya also pulled Eri away from the tiles that moved on their own, and said in a vigilant tone, "We just entered the city and encountered this kind of thing. So this city will take the initiative to defend against outsiders?"

Hearing this, Hercules looked into the distance, observing the entire city's layout, entrances and exits, as well as the battlements of the outer walls and the spires that resembled watchtowers.

"Not necessarily. I looked around. There are wide avenues and well-defined areas here. There's even a Colosseum-like plaza and a central spire in the center of the city... Although it's a bit large, it's still a city, not a fortress or a maze. It's impossible to completely block the flow of people."

"There are special circumstances, right?" Emiya also looked up. The spikes on the tall houses reflected cold light, and the copper bells hanging on the corners of the eaves suddenly began to jingle without wind.

It seems like it is sending some warning signal.

"Yes, like... during wartime."

Om-!

As soon as he finished speaking, a startling muffled roar seemed to erupt from the interior of the distant city, and the stone slabs and bricks under his feet began to vibrate slightly. At this time, even Aso Shin, who knew almost nothing about the strange divine city, felt that something was wrong.

"Watch your feet!"

Hercules, who was the first to react, tied Fingle tightly behind his back with the skin of a Nemean lion, and the shaking of the floor became more and more violent.

The great hero's rough toes exerted force instantly, and he jumped onto the roof with a few jumps. The tiles made a crisp sound of crackling under his feet, and Fingel behind him subconsciously made a mumbling sound like a dream in the bumpy ride.

"Hold on tight!" Emiya skillfully scooped Eri into his arms and leaped onto the roof. Chiyome raised her sickle while jumping, and the power immediately transferred along the chain, throwing Masahiro Makoto into the air.

The latter's expression was probably one of being caught off guard and feeling both amused and helpless. He loudly complained, "Don't toss the Master around like a punching bag or pillow, Assassin!"

"Sorry, it's an emergency, I just have to make the decision!"

"Something is coming! Everyone be careful, this place might not be safe either, be ready to move at any time!"

Seeing that everyone had landed safely on the tiled roof, Emiya once again looked at the floor that was shaking and undulating like waves. His eyes moved around. The wide Shinto road was shaking violently, and the whole city seemed to have come alive.

At a certain moment, the tremors of the divine city suddenly reached a critical point, and further changes occurred. Streets arched like the back of a giant beast, and some houses even began to crack and deform, or shift strangely, gradually exposing the eerie underground foundation beneath the city. A pitch-black mixture of solids and liquids suddenly gushed out from the cracks in the ground.

The horrifying truth buried deep underground has finally been revealed! It's... a vast mass of bones and corpses! This is a city built on the foundations of a vast number of the dead!

The ancient giant city with a strong divine power turned into a nightmare-like den of death in the blink of an eye.

Emiya's eyes were fixed on the thousand-year-old corpses or skeletons. They were wearing armor, but their eye sockets and body surfaces were filled with a rich black color.

It was black mud. In the dim light, the shiny black mud flowed between the cold corpses, as if it had life. Endless black mud emerged from it, like the Styx flowing upstream.

It turns out that the source of the black mud... is all here!

"It's just like the hell in Tartarus." Seeing such a vast and shocking scene, even a knowledgeable hero like Hercules couldn't help but murmur softly.

As an Archer, he possessed unparalleled vision. His eyes moved again, quickly searching for an open area that had not yet been affected.

Hercules extended his hand and pointed in a direction. "Go around the black mud over there, then turn right and head towards the square in the city center. There's nothing happening there!"

"it is good!"

Emiya and the others did not dare to delay for a moment. Both the Shinto and the streets began to twist like giant pythons. Countless black muds and corpses collapsed the buildings, like a dark giant standing on the ground, rampaging and trampling on everything.

Emiya picked up Eri and leaped between the rooftops. As he nervously watched the movements of the black mud tide, he finally understood where those shadow servants and the One Hundred Demons Night Parade came from.

After the black mud from the ground gushes out from the cracks, it will not only form a huge fountain, but will also transform the remaining corpses into dark shadow servants or monsters!

These corpses with ghostly lights flickering in their eye sockets were wrapped and soaked in mud. Then, through some mysterious process, they were mixed and reorganized by invisible hands into a completely new form of existence. They were reborn from the black mud and rose into the sky in the posture of demons!

Whoosh!

Several swiftly flying sickle-weasels opened their skeleton-like sharp claws, cut through the air, and pounced forward with a ferocious look, but in the blink of an eye, Hercules drew his bow like lightning, and the arrow left the string, and then there was a crisp sound of explosion - no matter what kind of flying creature it was, it would only end up being killed in front of Hercules' bow and arrow!

Emiya was inwardly amazed by this miraculous archery skill, but unfortunately, he didn't have the time to observe and learn from it. He lifted Eri by the waist, spun her halfway in the air, and placed her on his back. A katana instantly appeared in her hand.

"Eri, is it okay to leave it to you?"

The girl smiled and nodded, the cold wind causing her hair to flutter on Emiya's shoulders, quietly and gently rubbing against his ears.

The bronze tiles on the corners of the eaves crackled in the surging black mud, making a crisp sound like bones breaking. Emiya instantly leaped into the air, and the girl on his back raised her blade.

call--!

The sword swung out in a silvery-white semicircle, and the realm of judgment formed a wind of death, expanding in a defined direction. The shiny black mud that crawled up from under the roof and gnawed at the tiles crumbled into fragments the moment it touched the realm.

A thunderous movement echoed from the ground. The legions of the dead, transformed from millennia-old ghouls, continued to transform and be born within the gushing black mud.

The few of them supported each other. Hercules used bows and arrows to kill the enemies in the air, while Eri's Death Judgment and Chiyome's Snake Curse cleared away the obstacles along the way.

"Master, be careful, the roof is about to collapse!"

Just when everyone had successfully taken a detour and were about to reach the city center square, Mochizuki Chiyome suddenly shouted to Aso Makoto who was running, reminding her that the tiles under her feet had already become brittle due to the black mud.

As an ordinary person, Aso Makoto's reaction ability could not keep up with her teammates with super physical fitness. So when she was dragged to the new roof, she staggered a few times almost by inertia. As a result, she accidentally stepped on empty air and was about to fall into the endless sea of ​​black mud.

Whoosh whoosh—

Chiyome was quick-eyed and quick-handed, and quickly threw out thirty-six shurikens, and the kunai were nailed into the beams under the broken tile roof. The interlaced silk threads were cleverly woven into a fine steel mesh, which stopped Aso Makoto's fall in time. Then she stretched out her hand and swung out the sickle to bind the girl's body, and pulled Aso Makoto up again.

However, at this moment, something strange happened suddenly!

The black mud rose up at high speed like a giant beast, and everyone heard the sound of heartbeats at the same time, which seemed to be able to spread throughout the city, like an engine with amazing horsepower.

"What is that... another dragon?"

Makoto Aso watched with horror the transformation unfolding so close to him. A hideous, massive, corpse-like dragon head emerged from the black tide, the creaking sound of its thousand-meter-long keel rubbing against each other interwoven into a hellish symphony. It was clearly not yet complete, its transformation still flickering with faint will-o'-the-wisp fire within its hollow, bony eye sockets.

Death rushed towards him, and the decayed and icy breath right before his eyes made him tremble.

"boom!"

Hercules took the opportunity to shoot another thunderous arrow, tearing through the thick night and piercing the head of the corpse dragon. There was a loud bang, and the dragon of death and decay lost its head, and tens of thousands of broken bones poured down like a rainstorm.

Chiyo held Aso Shin in front of her, drew her ninja sword and sickle, and swung them, clanging and knocking away all the bone fragments stained with black mud. At the same time, she advanced safely.

But before one problem is solved, another one arises.

The Chiyo-chan team at the rear had made it safely down, but Hercules, at the front, was suddenly attacked by a new wave of dragon beasts. Another wave of massive corpse dragons seemed to have been lying in wait on the road to the square, awaiting the incoming invaders.

Yet Hercules showed no fear.

His performance was so fierce that he seemed like a god descending from heaven. Even with the fur coat of his own mythical beast tied to his back, carrying his master Fingel on one side, and facing numerous enemies attacking from the front on the other side, he was still invincible in the world!

boom! boom! boom!

Arrows were fired in rapid succession, as powerful as thunder, sweeping forth a terrifying gust of wind. Under the twilight sky, they pierced through more than a dozen giant dragon corpses, shattering their skulls one by one.

"Be careful!" Emiya suddenly remembered the unusual incident from his first encounter with the dragon and hurriedly warned, "Some dragons may be extremely immortal. You must find their 'core' to defeat them—!"

Before he finished speaking, Hercules had already seen three of them emerge from the dark mud again. Their bones regenerated rapidly, and then fresh flesh and blood appeared in the form of silk threads and continued to fill in the huge skeletons at a rapid speed. In the blink of an eye, they recovered into their complete form, wrapped in divinity!

One can draw the conclusion at a glance: the concentration of the spirit energy on these three heads is higher than that of the giant dragon at the city gate. They are obviously more powerful creatures, but they have been hiding and not showing any power just now. Now they are trying to trick and attack us. It is simply despicable and shameless, and they have no martial ethics!

However, Hercules clearly had no time to complain about such things. His gaze was focused, and his mind's eye technique (Mind's Eye: False + Mind's Eye: True), far more powerful than Emiya's, was now utilized. Whether it was his physical reaction or his sixth sense, both allowed Hercules to choose the most correct action in the rapidly changing and complex environment.

Boom!

The huge dragon head spewed out a thick stream of hot lava. Hercules stepped on the roof to avoid the attack and shot three arrows at the neck of each dragon at the same time.

This time, due to the increase in divinity, the enemy obviously could not be killed in the head with one blow. This time his arrow only blasted a huge blood hole at the position of the dragon's neck, and a column of blood immediately gushed out.

The next moment, Hercules turned sideways and jumped to the left, because he heard Emiya's shout from behind: "Archer, get out of the way... Release the Noble Phantasm, slay the evil, and destroy the evil! Dragon Severing Platform—!"

The azure torrent of ice and fire barely missed him, ultimately landing on the sea-like black mud tide and the calamity dragon, instantly igniting the mud and scales, then freezing them simultaneously! In an instant, azure cold and scorching flames swept across the battlefield!

Surprise flashed in Hercules' eyes—the giant dragon, possessing the godhood of disaster, was burned black and roared in pain. Then, the mud all over its body was frozen by the extreme cold, and this coldness continued to spread inside and outside the mud tide... In other words, the Dragon-Breaking Platform actually took advantage of this humid water environment, significantly amplifying the effect and restraining the opponent's offensive!

What a clever response!

Hercules was astonished by Emiya's move. He had originally thought that since the situation had deteriorated so rapidly, he would simply hand over his Master Finger to the other side, let them take the Master away, and stay behind to deal with the enemy alone, but he didn't expect that his teammates were also extremely talented people.

White light?

At this moment, Hercules, who had jumped into the air, noticed a strange light flashing in the square in the distance.

Is it the reflection of the metal surface of the central tower? No, how could such a bright natural reflected white light be possible in such a dark sky?