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

"Before, I could use layers of nested alchemical matrices to consolidate it. However, since I couldn't damage the Greater Holy Grail's function and had to ensure the White King's soul was always suppressed, the effect was very limited."

As Norton spoke, he raised a hand.

"Now, take another look—"

The Holy Grail Alchemical Matrix was in the midst of a magical storm. The liquid alchemical substance that was flowing everywhere, and the long grooves in the ground suddenly responded to Norton's operation from their original dormant state and flowed towards the center of the matrix.

All of these flowing substances are recycled metals that are endowed with extremely high energy conduction and absorption properties.

Each milligram placed outside would be enough to construct a large, self-circulating alchemical matrix—such as the alchemical matrix in the basement of Kassel College, which amplified the effects of Word Spirit and Discipline to cover the entire school. But here, they were merely inhibitors added around the Greater Holy Grail Matrix.

Buzz buzz—!

The recycled metals, like fluorescent fluids, connected in series to form a combined force, instantly constructing a multi-layer barrier around them. As soon as the film-like barrier appeared, it began to transform into a substance that absorbed the turbulent elemental flow.

However, soon, a sharp scream was heard from the Holy Grail, and the degree of magic power increased instantly. The overflowing frenzy poured out at a flow rate of dozens or hundreds of times. Multiple barriers were shattered, and the storm resounded throughout the entire cave. Fenrir, who was standing in the front and bearing the brunt of the wind, was almost blown off balance by the wind and almost fell backwards to the ground.

"See, that's it. The old methods we used before are no longer effective. They can't control the situation at all. They only irritate the opponent and exacerbate the outburst."

The noisy sound of the wind filled the ears, and Norton's voice sounded faintly beside her. Before Xia Mi could say anything, the strong wind covered her face with sand and dust.

"Bah!" She wiped her face, patted the dust off her clothes, and glanced at Norton to find that he was spotless. She thought that he had already equipped himself with defensive alchemical equipment.

Well, it’s convenient to master core technology.

Boom!

The concentration of magic power further increased, and the elements became more chaotic.

Dense and terrifying red lightning exploded in the void out of thin air. At the same time, the atmosphere became scorching hot, and the alchemical matrix of the Holy Grail was almost boiling. Fenrir let out a low roar of pain, and its dragon scales already had traces of being burned black by the rapidly erupting torrent of magic power!

"The old method doesn't work, so this is the only way."

Norton saw that Fenrir was no longer able to continue and decided to use new means.

He stretched out his hands, and several floating fluorescent white balls flew out of his hands. The light balls flowed everywhere like real liquids. Under the cover of Fenrir's huge dragon body, they were vaguely arranged in all directions, instantly forming a huge matrix node.

Under the astonished gaze of the Earth and Mountain King siblings, the surrounding scene changed rapidly, from a nearly collapsed underground cavity to a scorched earth covered in red flames.

"What are you looking at? This is my inherent barrier, but I carry it on my body in the form of an alchemical item. It can autonomously collect free elemental energy and automatically deploy, saving me from having to expend mana myself."

Norton looked at the Holy Grail trapped in his inherent barrier - the overflowing magic power seemed to have finally subsided.

Xia Mi also breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the situation was finally under control and did not develop to the worst point.

I told you, there’s no way I can lose, absolutely not!

"Speaking of which, Norton, why did the Holy Grail become like this?"

"I don't know. Thinking about it carefully, there seems to be no sign of this happening at all. The accident you caused today was at best just a contributing factor."

"A few days ago, the White King's soul became inexplicably more active. The seal on the Holy Grail probably began to lose its effectiveness around that time."

"How many days ago did it become active?"

Xia Mi thought about it and wondered, isn't this referring to the soul fragments of the White King who was causing trouble outside?

So... the fragments and the original body can be synchronized on some level?

Xia Mi suddenly remembered what Emiya had said. "Norton, those little tricks the White King has been doing lately—killing large numbers of humans, creating the legend of Izanami... do you think the White King is deliberately using some kind of ritual to restore his strength?"

"You mean just by eating some mortals? How is that possible?"

Norton wanted to deny it subconsciously, but then he closed his eyes and thought for a while. After his mind calculated at high speed, he immediately changed his words with a serious face:

"...You just said that the White King was 'creating the legend of Izanami', right?"

"Right, right."

Xia Mi heard that there was something wrong in Master Norton's tone, and her heart sank immediately.

Could it be that what Emiya said was right again?

"So that's how it is. I understand everything now."

Norton looked like a detached master who had seen through the truth, which made Xia Mi so anxious that she scratched her head and was puzzled.

What on earth did you understand!

"Well, let me explain it briefly," Norton always had a feeling that figuring this out himself was not the most difficult thing, the most difficult thing was how to explain it to outsiders.

"Do you remember the false god Yamata no Orochi you met when you entered the White King Nibelungen's 'Night Food Field' alone?"

"Yes, I have. Didn't you and Fenrir destroy the alchemical matrix and destroy the Nibelung? The Yamata no Orochi is gone too, right?"

"You're being too arbitrary. First, the Night Food Origin wasn't destroyed. We simply shut down the alchemical matrix that maintained it. Complete destruction would severely damage the ley lines we've arranged."

"Secondly, Yamata no Orochi won't die even if it stays inside... Are you expecting this monster to be killed by earthquakes and tsunamis? Come on. Besides, you all can find the exit of the Nibelungen, so finding it as the White King's body is even easier. It's about as difficult as leaving a room."

Norton shook his head. "What I want to say is, do you remember how the White King helped Yamata no Orochi gain the power of a pseudo-god?"

Xia Mi held her head in her hands, recalling with a bitter face, "I remember... The key lies in the alchemy of the spiritual realm, 'Spirit Recasting'. The White King, who controls the spiritual elements, specializes in this... And the Nibelungen itself is the product of subjective consciousness, equivalent to the White King's spiritual field!"

"-Wait! No way!" Xia Mi said this, and suddenly her eyes widened. She thought of an extremely terrible guess.

Norton continued coldly:

"By spreading the 'Izanami Legend', the White King is actively creating a 'Yoga-like' environment in the real world."

"Since you understand that she is the king of the spiritual realm, you should be able to understand that she is distorting public opinion by killing humans, combining her deceptive propaganda, spiritual words, and other means to create a grand spiritual reshaping of the real world!"

"This is a simulation of a massive mythology system!"

Xia Mi understood instantly.

Right, all right.

As long as the conditions for spiritual reshaping can be met, reality can also be utilized to enhance strength.

This is similar to when servants are summoned, some servants - such as Watanabe Tsuna and Ibaraki Douji - will receive a popularity bonus.

Even if the White King cannot become the true god "Supreme God Izanami" who possesses the throne of God, it is extremely terrifying that he only obtains divinity and keeps getting closer to being a "false god".

Therefore... the White King's soul within the Holy Grail was so active, becoming increasingly difficult to suppress. It turned out the White King had been accumulating strength during this period!

Norton added, "It can only be said that this is a blessing in disguise. Her true form is trapped in the Greater Holy Grail's alchemical matrix, and the power she gains is limited. If she has the opportunity to create a Nibelungen like Night Food, and recreate the power of a false god in her soul form, I'm afraid she will be truly unstoppable."

"Hey, Norton, wait a minute!" Xia Mi was originally relieved, but when she heard the words "alchemical matrix" and "night food source", she suddenly felt something was wrong.

"-Norton, according to my previous research, the construction method of the Night Food Source should have been built by the blood descendants in ancient times around the White King himself. This giant alchemical matrix is ​​called the Dragon Vein by humans."

"And now, the construction method of the Greater Holy Grail... connecting to the earth veins, surrounding the White King... is exactly the same..."

Xia Mi's voice gradually became lower.

Although he didn't finish his words, Norton's expression changed drastically in an instant - he understood.

The seal of the Holy Grail is now seriously insufficient... Is the White King really not building the Nibelungen?

The two Dragon Kings stared at the Holy Grail nervously, but Fenrir on the side had a silly expression on his face, probably thinking that he had come to this inherent barrier and that Uncle Norton was kind enough to invite him to his home to play.

Click!

At this moment, the most worrying bad thing still happened.

The ice-white coffin with gold carvings shattered and exploded, the Holy Grail finally disintegrated, and the White King who broke free from the seal opened his eyes.

The soaring magic power turned into a pillar of light that supported the sky and the earth. The surrounding scene of raging fire began to distort, and the thick smoke and flames turned into flying fragments in the vast and unstoppable white light.

"not good!"

Norton looked incredulous.

A newly born Nibelung expanded instantly and actually began to tear and eliminate his inherent barrier!

Xia Mi's face was also full of despair. Damn, Emiya was right after all.

The White King's inherent barrier, the realm of myth, is about to descend upon the real world!

----

The heavy rain hit the tiles and finally gathered from the eaves into a rushing silver thread flowing down.

Emiya lifted his nose slightly, sniffing the earthy, sea-breathing scent that drifted through the air. He felt the wind seemed to have died down, and the rain wasn't as dense as before.

Could it be that this unusually heavy rain was really going to stop? In other words, had Xia Mi resolved the situation?

He stared at the sky carefully. The dark clouds still showed no signs of dispersing and continued to extend to the distant horizon.

Black clouds are threatening to destroy the city.

Doesn't seem like a good sign.

"My Lord, you seem to be worried. Do you need me to crush the enemies who are hindering you?"

Suddenly, a tall warrior fully armored appeared out of thin air.

This is the "Avenger Ugly Gozen" that Emiya just summoned using his own projected "Dojikiri Yasutsuna" Noble Phantasm.

This tall samurai armor, the "Settsu-style Ogusoku", is more like a large humanoid mecha than a traditional battle armor, and the low voice of Uzumaki Gozen came from it.

"There are no enemies at this time. Remove your armor and reveal your true form, Avenger. I know this fully armored appearance is just a limitation for you."

Upon hearing this, Ugly Gozen let out a slightly hoarse laugh. "As expected, I sense my Lord's immense strength. This feeling is no illusion... Is such power a 'weapon' cultivated in this era?"

After saying that, the armor turned into particles of light and disappeared, revealing the appearance of a woman with an extremely slender figure, but full of strength.

Emiya frowned upon hearing this praise. This extra-class Avenger really did have distorted values.

"It's not the weapons, it's the people."

Chapter 229 Let her listen in the corner all night!

Ugly Gozen is essentially a side facet of the heroic spirit Minamoto no Raikou.

Specifically, it is a reflection of Minamoto no Yorimitsu's personality during her teenage years.

During that period, Minamoto no Raikou did not show a loving mother, but was a collection of "divine" and "monster" images with indifferent humanity, that is, Minamoto no Raikou's past, the Ugly Gozen who was born as the son of Gyuto Tenno.

Since Ushi Gozen was trained as a "human killing weapon" by his father Minamoto no Mitsunaka since he was young, he was summoned at this stage and naturally has a similar servant positioning.

If it were just that, it would be fine. But the problem is that Ugly Gozen has the additional class "Avenger".

The unique characteristic of Avengers lies in the unforgotten flame of vengeance inherent in their spirit base, also known as the "Forget Correction" skill. Their personalities are often fixed on the "evil" side, far beyond the realm of normal Servants. For example, Avenger Angra Mainyu, despite being extremely weak, was able to corrupt the normal Holy Grail into the devastating Black Grail.

So Emiya felt strange.

First of all, after carefully examining his own character, he did not think that it would be easier for him to summon Uzumaki Gozen by using Doujikiri Yasunaga as a catalyst.

In terms of compatibility, Minamoto no Raikou, known as the "family hero" and "Mother Raikou," should be a better match for him. After all, Minamoto no Raikou is a character who would go against the world for his son.

Secondly, Emiya is not Yui Masayuki in the original work, and has no desire to save others. Even if Ushi Gozen responds to the summons and comes to the world, he has no reason to help him correct (destroy) the world.

So the question is, why did Ugly Gozen appear in this world? Given her current state, what kind of deep-rooted hatred does she harbor?

"Avenger, can you tell me?" Emiya said slowly, facing the gradually thinning raindrops, "Why did you answer the summons?"

"Me?" A smile spread across Ugly Gozen's flawless face, the corners of his mouth slightly raised. "Of course, it's for my Lord, to crush all the enemies in this world."

As she spoke, the shoulder armor floating on both sides of her body flashed with crackling lightning. With a wave of her arm, a long-bladed dark purple sword appeared. The arc of electricity raised by the tip of the blade exploded, startling the sparse raindrops like swallows.

The rain fell on her body, but it seemed to be blocked by an invisible electromagnetic barrier, not wetting her at all.

Emiya didn't react at all when he heard that. This was a completely standard answer.

Because such an answer seems to be a standard response to deal with ordinary masters, rather than a true response from the servant's heart.

He suddenly remembered the setting of Ugly Gozen. She seemed to be very good at acting?

He is clearly an EX-level berserker, yet he can achieve this while remaining rational?

But putting all this aside, Ugly Gozen's answer itself seems reasonable. The master-servant relationship is not established overnight. They have just been summoned. Although Ugly Gozen is surprised at Emiya's strength, he may not be so surprised as to bow down in admiration and open his heart to him.

True feelings may be revealed over time.

“I hope we can live in harmony in the future.”

"Okay, I hope so." Ugly Gozen stared into Emiya's eyes while speaking, and it was unknown what he was thinking.

Emiya felt a little strange being stared at. He suddenly remembered that Nono was angry at the moment, and the possible consequences of him summoning a beautiful woman...

Hiss, he seemed to have caught a glimpse of the future of bloody family struggles.

"Avenger, when not in combat, please remain in armor and conceal your identity."