Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

"Are you a fictional... the demon king who kidnaps children? Or the father who protects children? Or perhaps a child who is about to die?"

"That's just a narrative."

"But that's the foundation of your existence, isn't it?"

"Who knows? I just don't know."

"That's it..."

For some reason, Eri smiled. "You don't even know what you are? Anyway, you can only make fun of me. How pathetic. Come on, get on my body. I have something to tell you."

"……what?"

Listen up, I'm not called 'Eri' or 'Eri-ri', I'm Eri-se—Utsumi Eri-se.

Eri answered Novia with her true feelings.

That's right, it's a fictional existence, meaning it's always been the existence of one person.

That is to say... just like yourself.

Eriel remembered that Lucius had given her several guesses about the identity of this demon king. If he wasn't the creator himself, he was either the embodiment of one of the three characters in the epic poem—father, child, and demon king—or the manifestation of the demon king in the epic poem...

After all, this kind of operation is not unusual in Throne of Heroes.

An inner impulse made Erise close her eyes, bypassing Novia's control and tightly hugging her own now-silver-haired self.

The small hands crossed and hugged her slender shoulders, as if she were tightly embracing this evil spirit—

"And also, if you were a Servant... a Servant who belongs to me... how wonderful that would be..."

Chapter 467 The Never-Ending Holy Grail War.

"Erise-san."

After another day of school, Erina was walking home when several girls her age invited her to join them.

"Want to go to a restaurant for dinner together?"

This situation is now quite common for Eri, because of the Novia she possesses.

Perhaps due to her youth and a certain trust in Novia, the 'evil spirit king', Eri sometimes gave herself to him when she really didn't want to listen to the lessons at school, and maybe also to escape the nagging of the evil spirits.

But Erise, who just wanted to slack off, never expected that this evil spirit demon king would gain a foothold in the school so easily. It was her cheerful demeanor that led to her extremely high popularity, which was completely at the opposite extreme from her own aloofness due to not having any servants.

In fact, children are quite easy for Novia to deal with, and most of them are very curious about Eri. After all, people without Servants are really rare in this era. However, Novia also understands that it is normal for Eri to be like this, since strange looks can really drag a person's self-esteem down.

But this didn't put much pressure on him. Not to mention that he was actually quite old, he had been preaching on the way to Rome a long time ago, which required eloquence and a thick skin, so this was a basic skill.

"Well……"

The black-haired Eri shook her head hesitantly, too embarrassed to say no, so this was the only way she could express her resistance.

Seeing this, the girls who had originally invited her didn't insist too much, but just smiled and waved goodbye.

They had long been accustomed to Erise's taciturn nature, as well as her "dual personality"—sometimes lively with silver hair, sometimes gloomy with black hair.

This peculiar phenomenon even became a small "urban legend" at the school. Some people said that she was actually possessed by a Heroic Spirit, but their Servants did not sense any Servant aura from Eri.

"Why wouldn't I agree? This is a great opportunity to build a friendship."

Upon hearing the familiar eerie voice, Eri casually pulled a tablet out of her bag and swiped it with one hand.

"There's no need. Anyway, it was you who came looking for me, not me. I can't be bothered with them."

I'm starting to regret it.

This guy is just disrupting my life, but my classmates get along with him very well. He has indeed made my life a lot easier during this time, but it's pointless to compare how friendly you are with someone who might be an old man.

Although Eri kept telling herself this, she might also have felt a little jealous or annoyed at the same time.

After all, it's a girl's regret that something of her own has been seen by others, and the fear that she will gradually become dependent on this demon king and lose her independent self.

"Then just let me out when the time comes."

"...How about trying this?"

Seemingly ignoring Novia's words, Eri selected a shop on the tablet and explained, "This place happens to be very close to where I need to buy something, so eating here is convenient."

"I can do that, but aren't we going to get a beating from Lucius today?"

"...Don't worry about it."

Eri looked at the empty space beside her and said, "Recently, for some reason, the murmurs of evil spirits have decreased a lot, so I can relax a little."

"Okay... a mapo tofu that's ten times spicy? Erise, you'd better watch out for all the mucous membranes in your body!" She rolled on the ground in pain, because the spiciness of this kind of food would make her wish she were dead the next morning.

"Never mind, this is still more suitable for you to eat, since it's going into my stomach anyway."

Eri made another gesture, revealing a pancake that could be held in one hand and eaten in five seconds.

"It's your health, why don't you eat better?"

"Stop talking nonsense. Eat it or don't, I know my own body."

Eri said as she walked along the elevated road, heading towards the bustling area filled with commercial facilities along the gentle slope.

In the afternoon, the food street was bustling with people, and the mouthwatering aromas of spices wafted from the various shops. Street performers attracted a thick wall of people, and young Erise felt a little out of place in the crowd, but actually not many people were looking at her; it was just that she was sensitive.

"You're not the main character in that competitive fight, so relax. There aren't that many viewers watching you."

The thought that this damned demon king treated her like a child made Erise feel incredibly heavy-hearted.

After all, this guy is neither an experienced and respectable heroic spirit, nor a cold and shrewd heretic demon. He's just a guy who, apart from being a little cheerful, simply enjoys watching the drama unfold. How dare he talk about himself like that?

"By the way, extend your hand slightly to the left."

"what."

Although she was internally complaining, Eri still naturally reached out when she heard those words.

"I'm trying to hold your hand, just like the adults you admire holding the hands of children."

"...Are you stupid? There's no physical body to it. I can only feel the air flowing in my hands. You might as well just possess me."

Even so, Eri didn't pull her hand back; her fingers were slightly bent, as if she were actually holding something.

Perhaps, deep down, the girl also hoped that this nagging demon king could actually appear by her side, rather than just existing as a voice.

"Speaking of which, isn't this kind of life a bit boring?"

Novia suddenly asked, "Is all you do every day just slack off, sleep, eat, and then get beaten up by Lucius?"

"Then what else do you want?"

Eri said with a hint of helplessness, "I may be an oddball, but I'm also an ordinary person."

"I was thinking, why don't you go participate in that, Eri?"

There is a giant screen on the wall of the building facing the food street, which is playing images at a very loud volume.

Young Erise had initially dismissed it as just another advertisement and hadn't even glanced at it, but upon hearing Novia's voice, she couldn't help but look over—

On the screen, two Servants are locked in a fierce battle, with footage from multiple cameras edited together into a fast-paced sequence.

The scene of a Servant unleashing their Noble Phantasm is accompanied by dazzling and exaggerated subtitles.

Whenever the swirling aftershocks of a Noble Phantasm attack reached the audience, the screen would always activate at the last second, blocking the aftershocks and causing the audience who escaped unscathed to scream and cheer excitedly.

A drone camera flew in the sky, capturing a panoramic view of the battlefield where multiple Servants' figures intertwined.

It was a meticulously crafted stadium modeled after the Roman Colosseum, and its scale was far larger than the original Colosseum ruins.

This is the Holy Grail War, a unique event of the new era.

Simply put, it's a sport. Players compete against each other according to established rules. It's a safe and legal game. Under the approval and control of the Holy Grail by the program administrators, participants can use powerful weapons and even unleash Noble Phantasms.

However, for Eri, who could only struggle and dread in the darkness, this activity was the world furthest removed from the girl.

because.

"You're right, but I don't have any followers."

Eri's voice carried a hint of self-mockery.

"Don't worry, don't worry, you can fight Lucius to a standstill, ordinary Servants are no match for you."

"You mean that I, who was beaten black and blue and whose collarbone was broken from time to time, and the Holy Lance Longinus are actually rivals? Wow, you must be overestimating me."

Eri retorted coldly, "If I go up to participate, the Holy Grail will probably think I'm a delinquent trying to harm the city."

"Possession by an evil spirit is not out of the question."

"Why are you making such a fuss? If you love showing off so much, why don't you go find someone else? You really think you're a follower? You're just a fictional being! You have no other body to use without me!"

Eri Se couldn't help but get irritated because she really wanted to end the conversation quickly, but that was indeed what she truly felt inside.

"And this Holy Grail War? It's utterly absurd! It's just a game, child's play, isn't it? I really don't understand what those people who treat Heroic Spirits like rare animals for amusement are thinking. The contestants are being used as tools to attract customers. How can you distort the most precious inner world of Heroic Spirits, or expose their innermost thoughts so openly? And treat the combat techniques they've spent their entire lives learning as a performance? Is that right? Heroic Spirits aren't our slaves!"

"What? Does someone's death make you so great? It has to be something like the destruction of a country, the collapse of a family, or the changing of an era. If it doesn't have that kind of impact, it's just a joke to fool children. Are all other achievements insignificant except for so-called historical conquests? You really admire Heroic Spirits too much, Eri. Heroic Spirits also come from among humans."

Novia paused for a moment, then said, “I once heard a saying that the nearly three-hundred-year-old legacy and legal system of the Bourbon dynasty should not be more noble than a baguette on a commoner’s table.”

Eri wanted to argue, but a bitter feeling of regret overwhelmed her anger.

In her view, calling a fictional demon king a fictional being was like calling an orphan a unwanted bastard. Even though she was pretty much like that herself, she still said it in a fit of anger...

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

"Of course I know, that's just your personality. And what's there to apologize for? That's how we both talk."

Because she doesn't have a Heroic Spirit, Eri Sei's excessive longing for them is vastly different from that of the New Humans who have Heroic Spirits. This is why she is withdrawn within the academy and always interprets others' kindness as 'entertainment'.

To put it simply, Novia felt like she was raising a child who would explode at the slightest provocation.

Then, he possessed the silent Erise and touched her forehead with his small hand.

"This isn't the first time we've argued, but that doesn't mean we don't understand each other, right? You don't owe me anything, so don't show any subservient attitude."

After saying that, the silver-haired Eri clenched her fist and shouted to the sky.

"Okay, it's decided then."

I'm only seven years old, so I'm not eligible to register and will be eliminated.

Eri said this in a telepathic connection.

"I've explored Shinjuku pretty much with you, so any tricks I use will do."

Novia smiled and walked toward the shop with the 'Borgia' sign hanging on the building. Eri didn't argue anymore.

She knew in fact that this strange demon king always had a way of persuading her, and that she herself was the one being unreasonable.

Borgia is the surname of Pope Alexander VI, the infamous figure who debated with Luther during Novia's time in Central and South America.

……

"I'm telling you, it's been so long, aren't you going to do anything about that evil spirit king inside Eri Se?"

Lucius stood before Chitose Masuru, who was holding a book, his sharp gaze fixed on the unmoved woman.

"You and I both know who Eri's mother is, and moreover, who is the Servant capable of defeating or trapping her in the Holy Grail War—"

The ability to defeat Izanami, the goddess of the underworld, on Japan's home turf during the Holy Grail War, and to force Utsumi's father to make his young daughter drink the waters of the River of Oblivion, thus erasing her memories of Tokyo, is truly rare in this world.

"Are you already afraid, Lucius Longinus?"

"There aren't many things in this world that can frighten me, and this wretched place couldn't possibly have any. Don't forget how much hardship you and I went through to defeat Ouroboros, the dragon of this world..."

Lucius adjusted his white hat. “However, the concepts of death and the Demon King are too broad. Eri will leave your protection sooner or later, and that unknown death will come looking for her one day. I’m a little worried that the Demon King will become one of the reasons she submits.”

"Will not."

Wearing a black sailor uniform from the Meiji era, Chizuru Masato's voice remained indifferent, "The Demon King (ErlkoNig) really likes children, how could he tolerate her, who represents death, submitting to him?"

"You're talking like you're trying to kidnap a child. I feel like your attitude towards the Demon King is a bit strange. But you know what, the silver-haired Erise really does look a lot like you."

Chizuru did not answer. Her gaze remained fixed on the book in her hands, the cover of which featured a snake that seemed to be spinning in a circle. She appeared to be deep in thought, and at the same time, she unconsciously touched her chest, feeling the heart beating within—the primordial Holy Grail.

She and Lucius were the ultimate victors of the Holy Grail War, a duo that ushered in a new world and ended the old.

"The Holy Grail, as a wish-granting machine, continues to exist and distribute."

To ensure the Holy Grail's function as a wish-granting device is perpetual, and that everyone has an equal right to use it.

Even now, Chizuru Masatsuki still doesn't understand why the Holy Grail would make it impossible for airplanes to fly in the world. Although the war was too brutal, it was by no means her wish. Moreover, only a little over ten years have passed. The feats of 'landing on the moon' and 'interstellar exploration' in the memories of the old humans have gradually been degraded to fictional legends, and the new humans regard them as impossible fairy tales... Even with the resistance of the older generation, it was just too fast, just as the instinct of the new humans is to isolate themselves.