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

"Matthew!"

Not long after, Minamoto no Raikou's tone suddenly became alert and nervous in the distance. "Protect the people and lead them a few hundred meters to the left. There is the Minamoto Building, which was renovated this year. It's sturdy and fire-resistant. It's the relocation site that I and the Snake Eight Families have chosen... You, Chaldea, also need a temporary base, right?"

"Yes, yes!" Mashu subconsciously agreed when she heard Minamoto no Raikou's unquestionable tone. She hurriedly ran to communicate with several priests of the Snake Eight Families, asking the people to hold on a little longer and move to the Genji Building.

Then, while covering the rear of the crowd, Mashu realized something was wrong. She turned and shouted from a distance, "Ms. Minamoto no Raikou, are you leaving the group...?"

"Be careful, the uninvited guests have arrived!"

Minamoto no Raikou drew out his blade, and the sharp edge of "Ame no Murakumo" gleamed with brilliance and was extremely sharp.

Da da da.

It sounded like some kind of boots stepping on the ground and blowing away the air.

Mashu's breathing stagnated, and she looked carefully in the direction where Minamoto no Raikou drew his sword. Distorted shadows gradually floated in the air, and a shadow... no, a human figure covered in a cloak appeared.

A slightly sharp sneer filled the air:

"I never thought we could meet again in this era, head of the Minamoto family! Haha, I once read a few fortunes for you, and you were assisted by a god, slaying the demon of Mount Oe, the Gyuto bird... and countless other demons that wreaked havoc on the region. You're truly a hero of our time!"

"What a shame! Now you're leading a bunch of common people around, wandering around everywhere... Hey, do you know that this Tokyo City should have been the base for your descendants of the Genji clan to plan and construct? You look like a bereaved family... Ahem, haha, this is a little too ironic."

Minamoto no Raikou just frowned as he listened. "You're playing tricks on me. It's incomprehensible. What on earth do you want to say?"

"Alright, alright...are you so distant? As a former ally, I, Abe Haruaki, have given Genji plenty of advice, right? Seeing as we meet today, why don't we join forces, discard those burdens, sit back and watch the fight unfold, and finally, easily share in the fruits of victory in the Holy Grail War!"

"...What a joke! I'm the Genji general, how could I make such a solitary decision?"

"Besides, you're not Lord Seimei at all! If Lord Seimei were here, he wouldn't be so sneaky and malicious in front of me."

Minamoto no Raikou immediately spotted the other party's suspicion. Unlike an immature Sub-Servant like Mashu, she had already noticed this guy wandering around the civilian group. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so worried about leading the team herself. After all, the Snake Eight Clan could have accomplished the task just as well.

Abbas of Chaldea, on the other hand, was able to detect the attacking intentions of this guy hiding in the shadows in advance. His perception was quite astonishing. Otherwise, this sneaky guy would not have appeared so easily.

"Besides, your words are so harsh. When did Lord Qingming change his temper?"

"Haha, hahahaha!" The cloaked man suddenly laughed loudly, and the laughter was so intense that it seemed to make his stomach hurt. "Oh my, Lord Minamoto no Raikou, you win! You win again in this era! I just can't imitate the tone of that guy Qingming! Wuwuhehehehe!"

The sorcerer, wearing a multi-colored monk's robe from the Heian period and holding the "Conflict of Tenkumo", finally made his official appearance.

"You are—Ashiya Doman!"

Minamoto no Raikou was a bit surprised at first, then suddenly realized, "...The Heroic Sword Master's transformation magic was performed by you, right?"

The truth is almost revealed.

Caster Ashiya Doman is indeed the culprit of everything. He is an Onmyoji whom Minamoto no Raikou knew during his lifetime. Although he is a monk, he regards the strongest Onmyoji at that time, Abe Haruaki, as his nemesis or opponent. He is an out-and-out evil person with a malicious heart. He is not the evil ghost that a demon slayer should kill, but he is more harmful than a demon.

Mashu, the Little Encyclopedia, also immediately thought of who Ashiya Doman was:

"Ashiya Doman, also known as Doma Hoshi and Monk Doman, was a figure from the Heian period. Legend has it that as an 'opposition' monk-onmyoji, Doman was hostile to the official Onmyoji bureau and Haruaki, who was loyal to the regent Fujiwara no Michinaga. To this end, he joined Fujiwara no Akimitsu, Michinaga's political enemy. However, he was defeated by Haruaki in a subsequent curse ritual against Michinaga, and was eventually exiled to Harima by the imperial court."

"Yes! I failed!"

Ashiya Michiman nodded in acknowledgment, his face gloomy as if dripping with water. "I have always thought that I didn't hate anything, but after tasting failure that day, I began to hate Abe Haruaki more than ever!"

"Minamoto no Raikou, do you still remember? The Onmyoji Bureau under your court once studied a spell called 'Kimono Katsu'. Hehehe, you regarded it as the representative of the Onmyoji school!"

When Minamoto no Raikou heard this, he suddenly remembered something, "'Seize the soul and kill the general, prove the truth by death'?"

"Exactly! Exactly!" Ashiya Doman gritted his teeth. "Haruaki is obviously very proud of his development of this technique, isn't he? Haruaki and his gang of Onmyoji doctors used the 'Ki Sheng' contract on ferocious beasts and demons, creating 'Shikigami' that can be driven at will. They defeated me on the day I was preparing the curse ritual!"

(Word Spirit Serial Number 09: Ghost Victory, Bloodline Origin: White King. While Ghost Victory is in effect, the caster's own strength and flexibility will greatly increase, cell division will be accelerated, wound healing will be promoted, and the will to kill will be greatly enhanced, making them as ferocious as a demon. This is the origin of the name of this Word Spirit.)

(This word spirit has the potential to rise. After rising, all creatures within the domain will forget the pain due to the will of the releaser and instinctively obey the releaser and become his friends. Some ancient Onmyojis used the word spirit to strike contracts with creatures, thus driving them like "Shikigami".)

"Hateful Qingming! Hateful Onmyoji! If I had one more chance, I could turn this defeat around!"

Ashiya Michiman opened his arms wide, his expression bordering on madness. "Hahaha! Thanks to the Holy Grail War, thanks to me receiving Satan's blessing, I was able to develop the 'Heroic Swordsman' and completely surpass the Onmyoji who supported your Minamoto family!"

"Look at this perfect swordsman transformation technique. His power is surging, his bloodlust is rising. If the cause and effect hadn't been severed, he wouldn't have died even if his bones were crushed to dust! This is a shikigami born for battle!"

"No—even if the karma is severed, my transformation technique will still collect souls. Hehehe, hahahaha! O Gen family, my people, look upon the millions of souls I have collected in this Holy Grail War, as well as those four heroic swordsmen and my goalkeeper!"

Ashiya Michiman held up the Tenkumo of Strife, "——Unleashing the Noble Phantasm, 'Raging Waves: The Castle of Disgust'!"

The world has changed... A blood-red full moon, a demonic aura rolling in...

No, Tokyo was under a veritable infernal invasion. The air, already thick with the smell of burning, began to carry the stench of decaying corpses. The burning ruins of buildings twisted and distorted rapidly, as if entwined with long, disgusting tentacles of flesh and blood.

Then the surging flesh and blood pushed open the building, and hideous and distorted humanoid monsters were continuously pulled out from under the rubble. Shadows were everywhere, and those monsters that still had human appearances were undoubtedly... the people who had died in Tokyo!

"You bastard, you evil person, you have committed a heinous crime and are beyond redemption!"

Minamoto no Raikou shouted angrily.

However, the sorcerer Ashiya Doman's response was only to sneer, "Minamoto no Raikou, the obstacle I failed to eliminate has now become a defeated skeleton at the hands of the four great commanders!"

The Sky of Strife's Kusanagi waved his sword, emitting a purple-red divine light, and then the four heroic swordsmen who had "disappeared in a flash" on Emiya's side were dragged out from underground - it was obvious that after they were destroyed by Emiya, their souls were taken away.

The special effect of Murakumo of Strife is to enhance an indefinite amount of objects and give them a "split" of Murakumo of Strife, which is a smaller size of Murakumo of Strife, equivalent to a top-level battlefield assistant.

To be honest, if Ashiya Doman had not run away on the spot during the Night Food Festival, Takeda Shingen and his men would not have lost so badly. Although they still couldn't win, at least they wouldn't be too desperate and powerless.

Unfortunately, after being transformed into Heroic Swordsmen, they had long lost their freedom, so Ashiya Doman sold out his teammates without any hesitation.

What's even more pitiful is that the four gatekeepers, Takeda Shingen, Hozoin Tsujun, Tomoe Gozen, and Hijikata Toshizo, are now being controlled by the sinister guy who betrayed his teammates. Surrounded by the thick evil aura of the Impure World Castle, they each hold a magic sword and begin to besiege Minamoto no Raikou.

"How dare a defeated general like you act so violently?"

Minamoto no Raikou held the Ten no Murakumo tightly in his hand, raised it above his head, and boom! As if in response from heaven, a huge group of thunders rained down!

"O great power of Indra, the god of thunder, take on the form of my memory!"

"——The Noble Phantasm 『Summoning the Buddha Emperor: Heaven's Net is Vast』!"

In an instant, violent thunder fell and transformed into four identical figures beside Minamoto no Raikou, each holding different weapons, but the one thing they had in common was the mighty lightning wrapped around the blade of the Ame no Murakumo sword!

Chapter 323 I ask you if you are loyal?

"Ohhhh! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!"

Ashiya Doman generously offered a gentle round of applause. "You were so quick to react and make a decisive move in an instant. You're truly worthy of being the great general of the Genji clan back then—you actually unleashed your Noble Phantasm, and with the help of the 'Thunder God', you split Ame no Murakumo's power into four!"

"In the final analysis, whether it's Ame-sakumo or Indra's divine power, they are all 'divine power of heaven,' summoning thunder from above and slaying demons below."

The "Ame no Murakumo" in Minamoto no Raikou's hand has the ability to summon wide-area sky thunder, which has almost the same effect as the Indra's Thunder she obtained in the sword stage. When the two are superimposed, the improvement is almost multiple times that of multiplying the two.

Minamoto no Raikou's treasured weapon, "Summoning the Buddha Emperor: The Vast Net of Heaven," can guide the thunder from heaven, and at the same time summon his own source, the Bull-Headed Heavenly King, and the Indra Great Divine Power who exists at the same time, forming four "martial soul clones" through the manifestation of divine sounds.

One held an axe, one held a knife, one drew a bow, and one held a gun.

These four clones, each armed with different weapons, are essentially imitations of her subordinates, the Four Heavenly Kings. Their weapons are modeled after the axe "Golden Devourer" commonly used by Sakata Kintoki, the katana "Oni-kiri" mastered by Watanabe Tsuna, the bow "Hyokusuba" mastered by Ubube Suketake, and the spear "Hyojuumaru Sadami" wielded by Usui Sadamitsu.

Rumble!

Mashu, who was fighting off the corpse demon to protect the people, couldn't help but open her eyes wide at this moment. Tomoe Gozen, one of the four gatekeepers over there, took the lead and fired flaming arrows one after another at a rapid speed, forming a large-scale fire meteor flying towards this side.

The first arrow, launched first, struck the ground like a ground-penetrating missile, shattering the earth and causing violent tremors. Then, like a massive incendiary bomb, it exploded into a fireball hundreds of meters across. The surging heat wave caused the surrounding temperature to rise dramatically.

Mashu breathed in the hot air, beads of sweat oozing from her forehead, because she quickly realized that the first blow landed just in the right place without hurting her side, as if it was a deliberate intimidation and threat.

Her eyes were fixed on the second, third, and nearly dozens of arrows that followed. They whizzed through the air, their speed increasing, and the amount of magic power they carried was even greater, surpassing the bombing missile groups of modern weapons.

"Mr. Heroic Spirit, please grant me strength."

Mashu knew she was a sub-Servant forced into a position of power, but she was kindhearted and didn't want the people in front of her to perish in the flames. If she also possessed a Noble Phantasm with such incredible effects like the other Servants...

Suddenly, there was a flash of white light.

Lightning coming from another direction interrupted her thoughts.

Minamoto no Raikou's clone drew his bow and shot out a series of extremely swift arrows - no, those arrows were as fast as lightning. Unlike ordinary archery, it was as if a strong wind was blowing the arrow feathers, making the shot arrows look like blurry white shadows passing through the field of vision.

Boom——!

Flashes of lightning collided with the fiery red meteors at a rapid speed. After the two collided in the air, they emitted a dazzling light and a deafening explosion. The light and sound were endless, depicting a fleeting but extremely high-profile scene in the sky, because the sound was louder than thunder and more shocking than the sound of a bomb detonating.

"Ashiya Doman, sorcerer of the demonic ways, surrender!"

Minamoto no Raikou shouted from a distance, and she stopped the opponent's first wave of attack. At the same time, she became more alert to the next possible sneak attack by Ashiya Doman.

After all, judging from Ashiya Doman's actions throughout the Holy Grail War, his goal was to collect the souls of all dead, both Servants and humans. Minamoto no Raikou's people might be his final target.

Although I don’t know what the purpose of such behavior is, no matter what the enemy wants to do, it is right to prevent him from succeeding.

Minamoto no Raikou calmly gripped the Murasaki sword, and the unparalleled power of Indra summoned through the treasure was brewing.

"Ugh, huh, huh, huh—ridiculous, ridiculous!" Seeing how Minamoto no Raikou was so vigilant against his attacks on the common people, Ashiya Doman let out a mocking smile. "Minamoto no Raikou, do you think I'd still covet the souls of the common people you're protecting?"

"Isn't it? You know exactly what you planned in this Holy Grail War from beginning to end."

"Oh, General Genji, you're talking about the preparations I've made to gather the souls of the dead and complete this 'Dirty World Castle,' right?"

Ashiya Doman raised his arm, pointing at the tangle of flesh, thorns, and various corpses that were gradually twisting and engulfing the ruins. Those monsters seemed completely devoid of consciousness, stumbling unsteadily from the debris of bricks, tiles, wood, and stone, moving silently and eerily into the distance.

The entire Burning Tokyo had vanished, replaced by the ominous sight of a demonic city. Compared to the burning smell, the bloody and demonic aura before him gave Minamoto no Raikou an even worse premonition.

"See? This is the magnificent, splendid City of Yanli, forged amidst mountains of corpses and rivers of blood! Let darkness cover the entire city, turning the world upside down, transforming it from a habitat for the living into an ominous realm of the dead and demons."

"Haha, the pervasive negative environment will also distort people's bodies and minds. The more ordinary people are, the faster they will degenerate, turning into monsters no different from those demons, or even beasts that are worse than monsters!"

Ashiya Doman's tone was full of excitement. "See, this is the powerful technique that Lord Satan bestowed upon me! It completely surpasses Harumi's Shikigami! Those common people, those servants who look down on me, and you, General Genji, will all become demons under my control!"

"...Well, these are just extras, insignificant extras. Now there's still one thing I need to present to Lord Satan. Hmm, I've been searching for it for ages and couldn't find it. So it's in your team... Well, there's still one thing missing, just this one thing, and Lord Satan's 'Root of Illusion' can finally take root here!"

"——Satan? That can't be his real name... Who is he?"

Minamoto no Raikou was a little confused. According to her memory, Ashiya Doman should not have believed in Western religions.

At the same time, she glanced at Mashu, who was already quite far away.

By the way, Ashiya Michiman said he was looking for something, and was it in her team? The Snake Eight Clan... No, if the Snake Eight Clan had it, Ashiya Michiman should have come looking for it during the Holy Grail War. Now that there's something new in her team... is it Chaldea?

"...Hehehe, how can we let those vulgar people know the name of our God? All you need to know is that He is not a god of this world, but a great visitor from a distant alien planet..."

"Humph!"

When Ashiya Doman stopped revealing information and began to speak meaningless words in a provocative tone, Minamoto no Raikou suddenly raised the tip of the knife and released a tremendous electric current in a very violent posture. The shining thunder plasma was magnificent and brilliant, instantly sweeping over the four servants and Ashiya Doman!

"——Mmm!" Facing the lightning, the opponent's expression twisted slightly. You are so good, Minamoto no Raikou, why do you have no martial ethics and launch a sneak attack? "Four gatekeepers, go!"

----

After a brief pause, the battle between the two sides suddenly broke out, and Mashu was already escorting the people to the base of the Genji Building.

She slew demons and monsters along the way, and her powerful and powerful shield-wielding skills made her a master. So any strange-looking demons and monsters that approached rashly were either smashed to pieces by her shield or sent flying through the air in a huge parabola.

When her heroic presence was witnessed by the public, many grateful people spoke highly of her, praising her, loudly or quietly, for being truly unrivaled as a bodyguard. Apart from anything else, her ability to smash the enemy with a dining table was truly intimidating. Eating and killing at the same time was a true breath of fresh air on the battlefield, giving people a great sense of security. She was already one step ahead of Lord Raikou...

Mashu felt a little embarrassed listening to the various flattering comments from the aunts, uncles, and uncles. Her five senses had been significantly enhanced since she became a sub-servant, so even though they lowered their voices, she could still hear them.

"Matthew?"

Suddenly there was a call.

"Ms. Minamoto no Raikou?"

Mashu looked around, unable to see anyone. She looked up, only to find the man on the rooftop, a bow firmly in hand, a dead demon at his feet. Clearly, this wasn't Minamoto no Raikou's true form, but one of his clones.

"Hush, don't alarm the others," said Minamoto no Raikou's clone. "The enemy hasn't been eliminated yet, so don't be distracted. I'm here only to ask a question and offer a suggestion."

"First of all, Mashu, is there anything special about your companion Abbas?"

"Mr. Abbas..." Mashu pursed her lips, her mind quickly recalling, "He's a very nice and kind person... No, this isn't special. Uh... His past seems rather mysterious. He's a talent brought in by our director... the former director. Also, he rarely displays his bloodline abilities?"

"Yes," Minamoto no Raikou nodded:

"The following is a suggestion - you should pay more attention to Abbas. The target of Ashiya Doman's attack on us is someone or something you Chaldea are carrying. It is very likely related to the 'Alien God' behind him."

"As for the others, take good care of the people and get them to hide in the stronghold as soon as possible. They should be isolated from the outside environment. Those demons and evil spirits will affect the people. If you have any urgent matters, you can ask the Sheqi Eight Clan to contact me."

After saying this, she turned into a flash of lightning and disappeared.

"Okay...wait, what exactly is the Alien God...?"

Mashu subconsciously wanted to ask, but when she saw the empty roof, she could only sigh.

"Mr. Abbas... is there something wrong with you..."

She turned and rejoined the group, the Genji Building now within sight. Mashu pulled a communicator from her shield and clicked it on. A cherry blossom-pink animation opened, culminating in a pink-purple studio background.

"Is this Miss BB? I have some information I want to share with you and Emiya-senpai..."

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