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

This fierce ghost is none other than Shuten-doji!

The true story about this person is also recorded among the fierce ghosts.

After all, "Shuten-doji" was the predecessor of the demonic group who led the Oeyama demons a thousand years ago. His true identity was Minamoto no Yoritsune, the biological brother of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, the famous general of the Minamoto family and the eldest brother of the clan.

And he, Kazama Ruri (Minamoto no Naga), is the second son of Genji, and also the ghost of Genji who was killed by his brother Minamoto no Nagao.

How ironic it is, the fate of slaying demons and ghosts, brothers and brothers, thousands of years ago has the chance to be repeated today.

"Okay, I know the message you want to convey. You can leave now."

He suddenly raised his sword, and before the king could utter a word, his head was cut off by the lightning-fast sword.

----

The dark night of Tokyo is like a huge net, covering this city that never sleeps.

After walking some distance out of the gate of Genji Heavy Industries, Emiya prepared to go to the bank to exchange the check and transfer the money to his account. The string of zeros seemed to have weight, and the heavy touch pressed on his heart.

At that moment, his phone suddenly lit up, revealing a message about Kazama Ruri. Emiya narrowed his eyes. The message was essentially asking him how the demons could summon the strongest demon king if the Minamoto clan had summoned the strongest demon slayer, Minamoto no Raikou, during the Holy Grail War.

...Goodness, you're all just jumping into the trap of the Holy Grail War, aren't you? But think about it, with the Masked King among the demons causing trouble, and Minamoto no Raikou also having to be summoned, Kazama Ruri is suddenly in a very vulnerable position. If she doesn't choose to summon the Heroic Spirit, she might be in danger.

but……

"How did you know that this place was planning to summon Minamoto no Raikou?"

"As the general said, the information he has is always accurate. He must have planted many spies... The only thing he refuses to admit is that he was responsible for the Holy Grail War, but I don't believe it."

Is this internal response so advanced?

Emiya subconsciously flashed through his mind the faces of the various family heads attending the meeting at Genji Heavy Industries today.

"Well, have you heard of 'Chain Summoning'? When one Heroic Spirit appears, other Heroic Spirits with a bond or connection to it will be summoned one after another."

There are many examples of chain summoning, such as Zhao Yun chain summoning Adou, Zhuge Kongming chain summoning Sima Yi, and at the sixth singularity, the Sun King Ramses II even chain summoned Pharaoh Nitocris plus the entire Egyptian territory and citizens.

Since Kazama Ruri is a member of the fierce demon clan—a descendant of the demon blood of Oeyama from a thousand years ago—he can summon a limited number of demons with his own bloodline. Furthermore, Minamoto no Raikou and Shuten-douji are enemies. If Minamoto no Raikou is successfully summoned, the only demon who can manifest is Shuten-douji, whom he killed.

So after Ruri Kazama heard the good news, Emiya's phone received another notification that a huge amount of money had been transferred to his account.

He felt his palms getting hot and put the phone back in his pocket.

...This money is really easy to make.

Chapter 168 Haha, looks familiar?

"So, our family is rich?"

Back home, Xia Mi was practically blinded by the long string of zeros on the bank deposit slip that Emiya had casually shown her. Her eyes had almost turned into currency symbols. She leaned in like a cat smelling fish, her nose almost touching the thin piece of paper.

"Pay attention to your wording. What do you mean by 'our family'?"

Emiya raised his hand and used the Undying Grip, moving the other person's head away, controlling the force just right—it prevented the girl from getting any closer, but didn't actually push her too far away. Xia Mi covered her forehead and took two steps back, her high ponytail drawing a graceful arc in the air.

"Learn to maintain a good sense of distance, Assistant Xia Mi. My home is not your home."

Xia Mi puffed out her cheeks and pouted cutely, "After all, I'm also an acquaintance tenant who has paid for board and lodging. We all live under the same roof, so if you round it up, we're all family, right?"

"Okay, let me think about it. What did you insist on saying before you moved into my house? ...Oh, you value dignity, don't accept charity, and never beg for food and drink for free, right? Why, Xia Mi, have you decided to change your words and contradict yourself now?"

Xia Mi's originally complacent expression froze for a moment. She stammered in defense, "Well...it's just a different time now! ...As the saying goes, a real man can bend and stretch!"

"Are you a real man?" Emiya interrupted her mercilessly.

"The same goes for the other way around. I can bend and stretch!" Xia Mi retorted with her neck stiff.

"Is that how you use proverbs?"

Emiya knocked on Xia Mi's head again, and the latter immediately bared her teeth and made a fierce face in protest. Her high ponytail swayed left and right with her movements, like reeds swaying on the river bank and stirring the moonlight on the water.

"Stop talking nonsense, it's time to prepare dinner. Come and help!"

"Come on, come on, Mr. Rich Emiya, would you like to give me some money for doing odd jobs?"

Emiya waved his hand, "Reward!"

----

Chef Emiya cut the Kobe Wagyu beef that had been rested for half an hour into thin slices. With a slight shake of his wrist, the beef drew a graceful arc in the air and landed precisely on the Binchotan charcoal fire.

He then took the small bowl of tempura ingredients from Xia Mi, added ice water and stirred gently. The shrimp tails were slightly raised in the batter, like a crescent moon.

Xia Mi opened her fair and clean little hands, and took the mackerel fried by Emiya, the radish stewed with mirin and soy sauce, and the vinegared rice and wrapped them with seaweed to make sushi. The smell of the mackerel's fat emitted an enticing aroma in the hot air in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Emiya brought over a clay teapot and, while keeping an eye on the charcoal-grilled wagyu, began preparing the diced chicken and enoki mushrooms needed for the matsutake dobinmushi.

When men and women work together to cook, they can cook a table full of dishes in just a few moments.

"It's time to eat!"

Xia Mi and Emiya used both hands to shuttle back and forth between the kitchen and the dining table. Porcelain plates made crisp sounds against the wooden table, and the steaming heat formed a hazy mist under the warm yellow light.

Eiry sat quietly and obediently at the dining table, her deep rose-red eyes following the busy figures of the two people, as if she was looking at the distant and unreachable world of fireworks.

"Eri, are you feeling unwell?"

Emiya noticed the girl's fingers curled slightly, a gesture she made when she felt uneasy. Eri shook her head and flipped open the notebook she carried with her. Beautiful handwriting flowed across the pages:

"It feels very warm, like home, not a family home, but a home outside of the family."

Eri held up her notebook. Although the words were simple, they were surprisingly easy to understand. She then turned another page. "I want to help, but I don't understand."

Isn't that inevitable? Eri's treatment within the family is so precious, it's like she's a princess imprisoned in a golden cage.

It seems that if this young lady walked into the kitchen and her face was covered with smoke or oil droplets in the second, the entire chef team would kneel down and commit seppuku to apologize in the third second.

Of course, what Emiya thought was right.

But in fact, even if there were no such accidents, the people from the Eight Snake Families would never dare to let Eri come into contact with these things. It was not because the kitchen was dangerous, but because Eri herself was more dangerous. Once any factor caused her abilities to get out of control, it would lead to an even more unmanageable situation.

Eri is also self-aware. Ever since the shadow appeared that day and their brief conversation, she has become increasingly aware of the fact that she is a "monster."

Although the shadow disappeared without a trace since that day and never came to see her again, the wonderful days of running away from home passed peacefully day by day.

But a seed of uneasiness seemed to be growing in her heart.

It seemed as if there was always a dark, snake-like voice beside her ear, which seemed real and illusory, following her everywhere, reminding her that she was not a harmless girl, but that sooner or later she would lose control and turn into an irredeemable monster hated by the whole world... That day would come sooner or later.

And how long can she enjoy this warmth in peace?

"We'll talk about whether I can help you later. Your kindness is enough. Don't just stand there. Eat it while it's hot."

He picked up a piece of fried shrimp tempura just in time. The golden crust shone enticingly under the light. Eri felt the heat rising from the bowl, and vaguely felt that the warmth dispelled some of her dark thoughts.

At least at this moment, she could still pretend to be an ordinary girl and enjoy the ordinary but precious dinner time.

----

Late at night, Emiya spread out sheets of paper, writing detailed words in his own notebook.

This is the information exchanged with Nono.

Although she was subject to personal restrictions when she used her appearance to impersonate Eri, she also obtained a lot of information, including that Eri herself would lose control from time to time and needed a large number of medical personnel to monitor her health and mental state.

"'Out of control'... is it really because she was used as a vessel for a 'god'?"

Emiya then copied down the contents, which roughly meant that Nono had Melyuchina searching non-stop recently and had finally obtained some results.

It is said that several screen paintings hidden by Genji Heavy Industries have been found. It seems that they were moved there recently. The images on them are obscure and difficult to understand. The pictures are incredible and the symbolic meaning is very rich.

Since this information still needs to be conveyed indirectly by Melyuchina, it is difficult for the little female dragon to understand human art with her knowledge alone... It is estimated that in Melyuchina's eyes, those lines are completely meaningless patterns.

Nuonuo confidently promised on the note that this thing was definitely an important part of this family's inheritance. If she could find the right time to act freely, she would be able to use profiling to read out all the hidden information in it.

Emiya was speechless for a while, then he flipped through the note again, his eyes automatically skipping over Nono's obviously self-boasting exaggerations, and only selectively copied down the valuable information.

Finally, Emiya thought about what he had seen and heard today, and wrote down the names of the "Eight Family Heads" including Minamoto no Chisei, and wrote in small letters next to them "It is suspected that someone has defected to the Mengki Clan."

----

The next morning, the light streamed into the Emiya residence through the paper windows, casting a soft golden hue over the empty courtyard. Xia Mi was still buried in the mountain of ancient books, poring over her historical research, and occasionally asking Emiya for advice on some historical knowledge.

The yellowed pages of the book turned between her fingers, raising tiny particles of dust that danced in the beam of light.

After yesterday's family dinner, Eri seemed to have a change of heart. She went from being a quiet stay-at-home girl to being active. She approached quietly, her red hair shining warmly in the morning light.

Xia Mi looked up and saw this scene, with a strange look in her eyes.

This girl has similar red hair and face, and the same friendly attitude towards Emiya beside her...

Does this scene look familiar?

"This time, the subject of our research is Minamoto no Raikou, the most famous demon-slayer general of the Heian period."

Xia Mi displayed all the results of her research in the library on the table and pushed a pile of ancient books to the center of the table. The shadow cast by the pile of books almost drowned her. She felt a sense of despair as if she was facing a huge amount of true and false historical materials when writing an academic paper in the history department.

"Minamoto no Yorimitsu's worldly achievements were not particularly remarkable; at most, he and his brother Minamoto no Yorinobu laid the foundation for the future prosperity of the Seiwa Minamoto clan. However, in legends, Minamoto no Yorimitsu's level of activity far surpassed that of other Minamoto clan members."

She casually opened a copy of "Otogi Soushi". The yellowed pages were stained with ink, and she seemed to still smell the smoke of gunpowder from a thousand years ago.

"Legend has it that Minamoto no Yorimitsu was famous for three demon-slaying feats during his lifetime: beheading Shuten-doji and preventing the demon from wreaking havoc, beheading the invading Tsuchigumo on Katsuragi Mountain, and defeating the gyu-ogi at Senso-ji Temple."

"There is basically no controversy about the first two things, but there are many different opinions about the third thing." Xia Mi opened another ancient book.

"It is said that Minamoto no Raikou's father, Minamoto no Mitsunaka, had another child before he and his wife had Minamoto no Raikou. However, this child was possessed by the Kitano Tenjin and was eventually born in the year, month, and hour of the Ox. His mother had been pregnant for three years and three months when he was born. He was born with a horned demon face, and this caused a series of strange phenomena."

Eri's pupils dilated slightly, as if she was attracted by this strange story.

"Minamoto no Mitsunaka considered this an ominous curse and had the child abandoned. There are various accounts of how the child grew up, some claiming it was secretly raised by a court lady, others that it was adopted by a monk at Senso-ji Temple. In any case, this abandoned child grew up to become the feared Ushi-oki, known as 'Ugly Gozen.'"

"Ushi Gozen engaged in a fierce battle with Minamoto no Raikou and his Four Heavenly Kings, who were sent to suppress him by Minamoto no Mitsunaka. Ushi Gozen eventually fell into the Sumida River and transformed into a giant bull over ten feet long, causing countless casualties among the suppressing army. His whereabouts are unknown."

"Looking at the whole situation, Uzumaki's identity is very strange. Some people think he is the eldest son of the Minamoto family, but others point out that 'Gozen' was originally a title for noble women in the Heian period, so Uzumaki is the eldest daughter of the Minamoto family. There are also opinions that Uzumaki, the child of Minamoto no Mitsuru, is completely fictional..."

Xia Mi sighed and slammed the ancient book in her hand. What made her most desperate now was not the lack of information and the inability to find it, but the various textual research on the legends, which conflicted with each other and were not complete enough, making her suffer from decision-making difficulties.

Emiya suggested, "Then why don't you choose to integrate them all?"

"what?"

"For example, Minamoto no Yorimitsu himself is a woman, and he is one and the same as 'Ugly Gozen'."

Chapter 169 Eri: Oh my god, this is exactly me!

When Emiya said this, Xia Mi couldn't help but gasp.

Who told you to mix things up like that? Treating historical legends like a jigsaw puzzle is just... beetroot!

"At first, she was born as the child of Minamoto no Mitsunaka, the son of the Gyuto Ten-no-King. Due to the abnormal phenomena caused by her demon seed, she was regarded as an unlucky child and was secretly raised in Senso-ji Temple. At the age of fifteen, the unlucky child called herself 'Ugly Gozen' and established her own demon kingdom in the Suzu Forest of Shinagawa. She was eventually defeated by Minamoto no Raikou."

Emiya's voice echoed in the quiet room.

"But now, Minamoto no Yorimitsu and Uzumaki are two sides of the same coin. So the truth is that although Uzumaki was originally raised in a temple, Minamoto no Mitsunaka couldn't bear to see her talent go to waste, so he recalled her and educated her."

"But Ugly Gozen was a monster after all, so Minamoto no Mitsuinaka didn't treat her as a human, nor did he ever call her his own child. Instead, he treated her as an alien with inhuman powers, a living sword."

"In other words, Uzumaki, or Raikou as a young girl, was simply required to be an emotionless 'weapon.' The 'Extermination of Uzumaki' was actually a clash of two personalities within her. Minamoto no Raikou represents the upright, heroic general, while Uzumaki represents her terrifying, ogre-like alter ego."

Xia Mi rubbed her chin thoughtfully, finding this idea quite interesting. To prepare for the Holy Grail War and guard against Odin's plans, she had recently been secretly investigating the mixed-blood forces in Tokyo. Among them was the Minamoto family, which indeed reminded her of the Minamoto clan from a thousand years ago.

What is more worrying is that the bloodlines of these White King descendants are not as stable as those of other Black King mixed-bloods. The Deadpools who have degenerated into these unstable bloodlines are just called "ghosts".

From this perspective, it's not enough to simply create a positive, heroic image for a Heroic Spirit; we also need to design their corrupted, negative side. Just like Minamoto no Yorimitsu, we need to not only design the heroic side that will be remembered through the ages, but also incorporate the Ushio-ki, the image of a corrupted and dark past... But is this still considered a hero? Or should we simply call it an "anti-hero"?

Eri, who was standing by, was also listening with great interest. Her pen rustled across the paper as she wrote in beautiful handwriting, her eyes fixed on Emiya:

"So, Minamoto no Yorimitsu finally defeated the monster within himself, right?"

Emiya noticed the girl's unusual persistence in asking this question, wanting to repeat it over and over again to confirm a single answer. Her fingers gripping the pen trembled slightly, as if she were both expecting and fearing something.

"Yes, Minamoto no Raikou finally defeated his monster self."

"Although she has been living as the demon monster 'Ugly Gozen' for the past decade, she finally met someone who changed her life. For this, she is determined to fight against herself and reinvent herself."

"In the end, Uzumaki's personality chose to retreat and seal itself, and Minamoto no Raikou eventually grew into a world-famous heroic general."

Eri's handwriting became crooked, as if touched. "So... even if you're born a monster, you can still become a hero?"

She chewed over the story over and over again. The same monster origin, the same secret weapon hidden and secretly cultivated as a family... She seemed to see her own shadow in Minamoto no Raikou's experience.

Eri is struggling fiercely in her heart, because she has always believed that she is the most terrifying monster, and the fate of monsters is to be destroyed.

But Emiya told her that monsters can also say goodbye to the past, and monsters can also grow into great heroes admired by thousands of people!