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

"No! Don't come over here!"

The moment his mind and eyes suddenly sounded an alarm, Hercules threw Finger, who was wrapped in the fur of a mythical beast, towards Emiya. The next second, a vast white light descended upon him from the square.

That wasn't a flash of light at all, but a slashing blow, a flash of the extremely sharp divine sword! No mortal sword could defy the laws of physics so completely, creating such an extraordinary and silent long-range slash. Only a divine sword could do that!

At this moment of life and death, Aso Makoto had no idea what was happening. Only Emiya and the other two noticed this silent and terrifying sword.

The edge of the sword swept across Hercules' bronze skin - there was no clanging of metal colliding, no muffled sound of flesh being torn. His body had no power to resist and was cut in half smoothly, shocking everyone present.

The moment Emiya caught Fingel, he saw the surging mud tide, along with the land and road blocks in the distance, all cut apart along a straight line tens of kilometers long, revealing a terrifying abyss.

At this time, in the direction of the square, eight majestic giant beasts finally emerged from the ground.

Chapter 198: Leave now, no one will get hurt

Thirty minutes ago, Xia Mi, holding the Sword of the God of War, was confident and calm. She recklessly found the hidden alchemy array and the entrance to the White King's Palace by drilling through the ground in the square.

Then, under Norton's guidance, he walked down the stairs, avoiding various alchemical traps along the way. Finally, in the underground palace filled with humid air, near a pool of water, he encountered an eight-headed beast with a huge body and overflowing divinity.

That is where the White King's body is, the most notorious monster in Japanese mythology, the Yamata-no-Orochi, a ferocious god that even Susanoo had to use a trick to kill.

"Great, great! After searching high and low for something, I finally found it without any effort!" Xia Mi's brows were filled with joy. The Yamata-no-Orochi was right in front of her, and the scent of its kind hidden in its body could no longer be hidden.

Xia Mi thought she had finally cut off the White King's greatest hope of resurrection, so she decisively raised her sword and chopped him off.

"Haha, stupid White King! You stole my technology, snatched my achievements, and even pirated Heroic Spirits! Prepare to die!"

Xia Mi's God of War sword split the thick darkness, and the colorful whip was dazzling!

So thirty minutes later, Xia Mi was beaten and fled for her life with her head in her hands. Every time the blade of the God of War's Sword touched the snake's tail, sparks flew.

"Hey, hey, hey—what the hell is this! Norton, didn't you say that you couldn't complete the true god!?"

Xia Mi kept dodging the attacks of the Yamata no Orochi underground.

It's funny to say that Xia Mi, a martial arts master, is also at the top level in the world in swordsmanship. Not to mention swords, he can beat most of his peers with knives, guns, sticks and clubs. He can be called "proficient in all martial arts" and "all-rounder".

However, her God of War Sword was no match for the "Sword of Ame-no-Murakumo" at the tail of the Yamata no Orochi!

The sword was part of the Yamata no Orochi's body, and therefore overflowed with a highly concentrated divine energy. With the added power of divine nature, the magical properties of the Ame no Murakumo sword naturally rose along with the body.

The Snake Tail Sword, which was already extremely sharp and more than enough to split a mountain, now began to become outrageous and even a little mysterious.

Norton's voice spread beside Xia Mi, "I've already reminded you that this Nibelungen is the White King's territory. She even conducted obvious transformation experiments here."

"She attacked the Shadow Servants and experimented with creating various demons and divine dragons. So what makes you think she wouldn't do something to the remains of her body?"

"Is this the problem now?"

Xia Mi clutched the sword and twisted and crawled in the dark underground. Because of his ability advantage as the king of the earth and mountains, Xia Mi escaped quite fast underground, at least much faster than the Yamata no Orochi, and obviously more flexible.

In addition, the stupid snake did not seem to have the White King's soul parasitizing it at the moment, so it would only randomly swing its tail and strike out with its sword, slashing at the entire city's underground Xia Ji eight times, causing the surrounding ground to shake and the entire city's underground foundation to suffer heavy damage. However, Xia Mi was like a nimble fish, dodging all the slashes with a slight turn.

"I know what you want to ask... You want to know the reason for the intense divinity of the Yamata no Orochi, right? I tell you, it may have possessed properties and powers close to those of a god, but it is definitely not a god itself."

"What do you mean? Could it be that the body is still a false god?"

"Yes, you could say that," Norton watched Xia Mi fleeing in all directions, but his voice remained calm. "Think about it carefully. Without that person's help, the White King would never have been able to accomplish the creation of the 'Throne of God' quietly."

"Without the throne of God, there is no true myth or immortal throne. The White King can only use her spiritual recasting power to the greatest extent possible in this Nibelungen, her spiritual world, to create a false throne."

"What's going on?" Xia Mi tried to get around the Yamata no Orochi and start a counterattack, but before she could actually do it, Norton's words had already confused her.

"Isn't the Nibelungen the alternate dimension we constructed? How does it involve the spiritual world? And shouldn't alchemy like spiritual reforging be something you're better at? Why does it feel like this Yamata no Orochi is even more powerful than your Hercules?"

"Why can't the Nibelungen be a spiritual world? The fact that it's a spiritual world doesn't contradict its real existence. You've already witnessed my 'Inherent Boundary'—the product of the mental landscape eroding reality. You should know that the Nibelungen appears to be both spiritual and real."

As Norton spoke, he unexpectedly began to expound on philosophical thought. "Although the Nibelungensis involves alchemy, it is ultimately a product of consciousness. For example, if you hold a blooming flower before your eyes, you firmly believe it is in full bloom because you see it open. However, when you close your eyes, you can no longer see it open, but you still believe it is in full bloom."

"This is how people use their inner minds to understand and complete the world they should have seen and heard. In other words, what you see and hear is ultimately encompassed by what you think. What you see and hear is only a small part of the real world, while what you think in your heart is a complete and flawless spiritual world. Your long-standing and solid understanding of reality is built on this world of thoughts."

"This is the most essential explanation of the Nibelungen. It is both a spiritual world and a complete and real world created by distilling your thoughts."

Many of the Nibelungs seem to be reproductions of reality. The Zero Viaduct, the Tokyo City of Night Food, etc. are all taken from reality, but this is not a reproduction after all, but a kind of seemingly plausible spiritual impression.

"Okay, okay, I understand. Isn't this just like dreaming? As the saying goes, 'What you think about during the day, you dream about at night.' The outside world is the waking world, and the world of the Nibelung is the dream. Isn't that much simpler?"

Xia Mi misinterpreted Norton's theory in an extremely simplified way, and then impatiently pressed, "So how did the White King manage to maximize the divinity of the Yamata no Orochi? Is it because she is the king of the spiritual realm?"

"Yes, what else?" Norton's tone sounded as if he was too lazy to talk anymore.

"Different alchemy sub-fields have different prerequisites. Advanced alchemy like Spirit Reforging requires an extremely high level of manipulation of spiritual elements. How do you think I quickly developed this series of Heroic Spirit technologies? By leveraging the White King's authority, of course!"

"Now that the White King herself is in charge, especially in her own Nibelungen—a world created by spiritual influence—need I say how many times the effect of spiritual reforging can be amplified?"

Xia Mi was filled with anger. She, the mighty King of Earth and Mountains, the future Goddess of Death, Hela, had been beaten to a pulp by a mindless fleshless body devoid of the White King's soul. And the true instigator, the fragment of the White King's soul, hadn't even been found? How could this be justified?

This is unreasonable! I can’t stand it!

Xia Mi felt the breath of the Yamata-no-Orochi coming from the front, and suddenly she became frightened. She decided not to dodge anymore, but to confront it head-on, tricking it into using its troublesome sword to dodge, and then she would dodge it the moment it was about to chop, and then she would make it eat the Sword of the God of War!

Boom!

This time, Xia Mi finally broke out of the ground without any concealment, returned to the underground palace again, and confronted the Yamata-no-Orochi that was swinging its tail and attacking everywhere.

Huhu——!

Xia Mi swung the soft colorful blade of the Sword of the God of War vigorously, slashing at the pillars of the magnificent palace and the high and cold bronze throne like a whip. The rainbow light plowed deep grooves and cracks on the surface of the throne. Then the sword was pulled back, and the throne suddenly turned into flying pieces.

In an instant, the Yamata-no-Orochi turned its eight ferocious heads around, its vertical pupils burning with golden rage. It opened its mouth and howled viciously, spewing out a foul-smelling airflow that erupted into a violent wind. It looked extremely furious.

Because the bronze throne on the high platform was really the place where the White King of ancient times received audiences with his subjects in the form of a divine skeleton. Xia Mi destroyed this place intentionally or unintentionally, which of course aroused the Yamata no Orochi's instinctive extreme anger.

Then, its tail finally appeared.

People are different, and so are Dragon Kings. So, in his extreme rage, Yamata no Orochi gathered incredible energy and unleashed a sword strike that shook the world!

This sword can split the earth, open the sea, and change everything!

"Whoa whoa-"

Xia Mi thought she had planned this for a long time and was well prepared, but she didn't expect that the other party would burst out with extreme force for some unknown reason. She dodged the sword in a very thrilling way and was shocked by the power of the divine sword for a moment. She was stunned for a moment before she reacted and swung the Sword of the God of War to hit the bloated heads of the Yamata no Orochi.

But it was at this moment that the Yamata-no-Orochi, whose old strength had been exhausted and new strength had not yet been generated from using the divine sword, reacted in time.

The eight heads of the pseudo-god beast opened their mouths simultaneously, facing the flying sword of the God of War, and spewed out a torrent of crimson flames. In an instant, the eight torrents converged to form a raging sea of ​​crimson flames.

Xia Mi stared in amazement as she used her full strength to wield the God of War's sword through the sea of ​​fire and slash at the central snake head, but it could only leave a bloody mark several inches deep on the scales of the Yamata no Orochi that were filled with divine power.

A hit at this depth might be fatal to a human, but it would cause no pain at all to a thick-skinned monster like the Yamata no Orochi, not to mention that it can regenerate at a high speed!

"This damn divine defense is ridiculously high!"

Xia Mi complained, "High attack, high defense, and high health recovery. Such a monster, if it were brought into reality, it could sweep the world. But why didn't the White King let it out?"

"I suppose," floated Norton's voice.

"Perhaps this level of spiritual recasting is only effective in the Nibelungen. The White King should have already explored the realm of myth construction, but she cannot truly apply it in the real world. Once she intervenes in reality, she will be reduced to her original form."

"Because the Nibelungensis is her spiritual world, and mythology is also a narrative of the spiritual realm, and reality does not have mythology. At least, things that the World Tree does not record... In other words, things that are not in the 'world view' cannot appear out of thin air. They can only become fantasies that remain in the Nibelungensis."

Xia Mi was still furious. If that was the case, it would prove a clear fact: if they had retreated and left the area, no one would have been hurt. But she was the only one who would have been beaten to a pulp by her stubborn attack.

Chapter 199 Then let me ask you, are your twelve lives connected together?

"Archer…!?"

It was not until Emiya had a Finger in his hand that Aso Shin suddenly realized that Hercules, who was so brave just now, was dead the next moment?

"Crack, click, click..."

At this time, a crisp sound like ice breaking came from the abyss where the ground had cracked. Looking closely, the vast abyss cut by the magic sword was tens of kilometers long, and the cross-section was as smooth as a mirror. Some collapsed debris was falling from the edges of the cliffs on both sides, and the sound was repeated in the valley when it brushed against the cliff walls.

Aso Shin, who noticed this scene, held his breath and a biting coldness instantly permeated his whole body.

She was certain that until Hercules' death, no deep valleys had been visible in this area. What kind of power could so easily cause such a drastic change in the natural environment? Even the power of a god couldn't be more limited than this, right? Mr. Archer, who had just been a reliable teammate, was dead just like that...

"—Chiyome, hurry and bring Archer back! He's not dead!"

Emiya's voice reached his ears, and Aso was stunned for a moment. Are you kidding me? He was clearly split in half, but he's still alive? Are servants really such monsters?

On the other side, Chiyome Mochizuki dropped her sickle upon hearing this and rescued the "servant corpse" of Hercules that was about to fall into the abyss in time.

Aso couldn't bear to see the tragic state of the body of the strong man she had just traveled with, but a beam of magical light radiated from the corpse, attracting her attention -

The body parts that had been cut off by the divine sword's flashing slash actually began to recover automatically. This was somewhat similar to the regeneration process of the enemy's dragon species, but also slightly different...

Anyway, Aso really couldn't tell. She was just stunned to see Hercules slowly recovering from being split in half, with magic power interweaving into new flesh and blood at the wound, like a miracle of resurrection from the dead.

This is Hercules' Noble Phantasm, the "Twelve Trials," which he sublimated into by completing the trials given by the gods during his lifetime. In short, the effect is to grant the body immortality and powerful defense.

In particular, this "resurrection from the dead" effect can be used a total of eleven times. In other words, Hercules has a total of twelve lives.

Hercules, lying flat on the tile roof, opened his eyes and stood up quickly, "Thank you all for your rescue." He knew very well that if they had not rescued him, even if he could be resurrected by relying on the Twelve Trials, he would most likely encounter some kind of accident due to falling into the abyss.

Judging from the process by which the black mud transforms the undead into servants, if Hercules were to touch the black mud at the bottom of the abyss, he would probably not have a good ending.

Facing the surprised gazes of the crowd, Hercules actually took the initiative to explain, "Don't be surprised. My body itself is a Noble Phantasm. Each time it is summoned out of the world, this effect can theoretically be used eleven times."

"Eleven times? That means you have twelve lives. Speaking of which, Archer, you seemed very familiar with Greek mythology. Could it be that you are the legendary demigod Hercules who completed the twelve trials of the gods?"

Although Emiya said this, he had actually already guessed Yumi's true identity.

“…Exactly.”

"The basic practice of the Holy Grail War is to hide the true names and Noble Phantasms between different masters and servants, right? You may put yourself and your Master in an even more disadvantageous position by doing this."

Hercules smiled calmly, "Perhaps this is the right thing to do under normal circumstances, but that also requires the Holy Grail War to proceed normally."

"If we can't escape this world, then all our efforts to hide this information are meaningless, and all our efforts so far have been in vain."

He took Fingel from Emiya's hands and tied the divine beast fur around himself again. "Besides, my role in this Holy Grail War is limited. The Twelve Trials don't have twelve lives. The power of that divine slash just now was too astonishing. After being hit, the Twelve Trials' resurrection times were reduced by four."

Moreover, Hercules didn't say one thing, which was that his master Fingel's magic level could not support him in long-term combat.

He had been trying to save as much as possible before, but after the battle just now, he had consumed a lot of magic power. Fingel's body was probably under a heavy burden at this time.

If necessary, Hercules even planned to burn his own spiritual base in exchange for time to continue fighting, as long as it could allow his Master and these people to leave this place safely.

Hercules was silently thinking about the plan of self-sacrifice.

"..."

Emiya had no idea of ​​the heaviness in Hercules' heart. When he learned that he had lost four lives in the Twelve Trials in an instant, he sighed and said, this is too typical. He really wanted to ask, Hercules, are your twelve lives connected?

In fact, in the original work, Hercules rarely lost twelve lives and was eliminated. The worst time should be the plot of FGO Atlantic Lostbelt. In order to cover the retreat of his companions in the God-Breaking Alliance, he was hit by two Luna Cannons from the Mecha Goddess Artemis. The twelve lives in the trial were instantly emptied and he died.

"Our current situation could be quite dire. If that serpent monster is the culprit of this world, we will have to confront it."

Hercules raised his arm and pointed at the ferocious snake heads that were gradually rising in the distant square. When those heads and necks were raised together, they crushed the fragile ground like giant peaks.

Emiya also followed the direction pointed by Hercules and saw many giant beasts with snake-like heads. The only one that matched this appearance and had an extremely terrifying slashing attack was probably the Yamata no Orochi from Japanese mythology.

In other words, what Hercules was facing was most likely the divine weapon "Sword of Ame-no-Kurosakumo", so it seemed reasonable that several lives were lost with one sword.

The eight snake heads simultaneously let out terrifying roars that shook the clouds. A fishy wind blew up dust all over the sky. The snake heads opened their mouths and spewed out deadly poisonous flames that spread to the ground, forming a spectacular sea of ​​fire that burned the world.

"There seems to be someone over there?" Emiya narrowed his eyes. A familiar white shadow flashed around the Yamata no Orochi, and the rainbow sword light clashed fiercely with the bone blade of the Ame Murakumo sword.

Wait a minute, that colorful whip that can be swung and extended, could it be... Attila!?

"What's the matter, Lord Emiya? Do you know that Servant?" Hercules had better eyesight, so it was impossible for him not to notice it.

"We've fought before, I suppose... I originally thought she was the Servant of the mastermind behind this Holy Grail War, a definite enemy. But now she's helping us fight that giant snake. Perhaps there's something else going on?"

Hercules nodded and decisively began to draw his bow and arrow. "The enemy of my enemy is now my ally! With our current level of combat power, if we don't unite to fight against that snake-headed beast, we will most likely be annihilated."

"That's the truth, that's right..."

but……

Emiya always felt that this development was a bit strange. All the masters and servants he had encountered so far had never competed or fought with each other. Instead, there was a trend of increasing unity... Was this still the Holy Grail War?

----

"It's never going to end, is it?! When will this fight end?"

Before she finished her words, Xia Mi suddenly turned sideways to avoid the slash. The bone blade of the divine sword "Ame-no-Kuroshin" brushed past her ear, and a few strands of hair were cut off and scattered in the air.

At the same time, the divine sword plowed deep and terrifying gullies on the ground. The crisscrossing tracks almost cleared out all the intact areas near the square. The only land was like a single-plank bridge between the abyss and cliffs, and Xia Mi was dancing a long dance on tiptoe on this fragile and slender wooden board.

The sword of the god of war that she swung was like a gorgeous rainbow, enough to bloom dense blood flowers on the scales of Yamata no Orochi. The blood flowers were gorgeous when they were in full bloom, but they were eliminated in the blink of an eye, because Yamata no Orochi's high-speed recovery ability was enough to heal all kinds of wounds as well as new ones, and some of them were even significantly faster than those experimental dragon species.

Xia Mi wasn't panicking as they continued fighting like this. She had already mastered the Yamata no Orochi's skills and even figured out the pattern. This clumsy creature would either spit or use its tail sword. She could easily dodge the former, but as for the latter...