Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

Guns and the claws of death clashed repeatedly.

Novia slashed with her magically powerful spear, while the black-clad vampire swung his sharp, long claws.

In an instant, the two entered a speed far beyond the capabilities of ordinary people. In just one second, they clashed at a distance of twenty meters. Their figures rushed across the carpet and the wall, and even the faint afterimages quickly disappeared.

The rapid, crisscrossing blades impacted the surrounding space, followed by a series of ear-piercing metallic clangs. Wolfgang's body then began to fall sideways from the waist down, as if slipping off.

"Indeed, you are a powerful hero."

Then, they regenerate and recover, which is why vampires are called immortal; even if their bodies are cut, they can recover in less than the time it takes to breathe.

"Unfortunately, you can't do anything about my ritual now, can you? Under this great magic circle created by the Mother of Babylon, no servant can escape or survive."

As he said this, Wolfgang grinned loudly, revealing a set of white teeth. Twenty spirit cores appeared around him, and he grabbed them all at lightning speed, inserting them directly into his heart—truly activating the Heroic Spirit Core.

"My Lord Lycaon, bless me, descendant of Arcadia, in the name of Wolfgang Faust..."

"Heroes of the Throne of Heroes, wreak havoc to your heart's content!"

As soon as the words were spoken, a roar and a shrill howl erupted from the bright red phantom, which was about three meters tall.

The illusion of an anti-hero, whose flesh is made of turbid blood, and whose spiritless, mindless followers regard Wolfgang Faust as their sole master, let out a hoarse roar.

This is the result of their experiment so far, enabling the Heroic Spirit to materialize in a state where it is not the user.

"Come on, Lord of the Great Labyrinth of Daedalus, Oni Musashi, Blood Axe King, King of Persia, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Knight of the Lake, wreak havoc! Hahahaha, Guardians, rejoice! This is the perfect opening ceremony for you!"

The humanoid fantasy creature laughed, a mocking laugh born of certainty of its ultimate victory.

"Hahaha, come and kill me! If you don't kill me here, my level of existence will be raised right here!"

The expression on Wolfgang Faust's pale face was one of pleasure, composure, pity, and above all, contempt.

Under Wolfgang's orders, a series of magical artifacts appeared, including the impenetrable labyrinth, rapid sword-like strikes, and countless war elephants transforming into hundreds of raging crimson storms that suddenly descended. All of these attacks converged upon him.

"A Noble Phantasm? I remember that the more ancient a mystery is, the more powerful it becomes."

He simply stretched out his hand holding the gun, and a deathly storm, an endless blue storm of violence, swirled around it.

Regular Servants are no match for this vampire. Is the reason I inexplicably absorbed the magical power of Si Gu, who should have summoned a Servant, because they want me to handle this kind of thing?

The idea popped into Novia's mind.

Even in this state, if I call her name, she will definitely respond, no matter where I am.

Upon realizing this, the silver-haired boy breathed a sigh of relief.

So she murmured softly:

"Come to me, Albion."

Words transformed into power, and the cross pendant hanging from his chest emitted a faint silver light, transforming into an insignificant thin line that broke through the magical blockade of the labyrinth and reached the horizon, the distant edge of the horizon.

A thread is something that connects and binds people together.

However, it is important to note that although it can make the connection between people visible, it does not mean that the connection will disappear when this connection is gone.

The unseen destiny, the destiny whose very existence is unknown, provides the path for its manifestation only—

Just like before, it is a horizon of light that is destined to lead to the destination and cannot be exchanged for anything.

Therefore, to Wolfgang's astonishment and bewilderment, three intricate circular magic circles suddenly lit up on the first, second, and third levels of the maze, displaying a sudden blue light that raced through the first three levels of the maze at unparalleled speed, finally arriving at this place.

"...What is this nostalgic beat...?"

The silver-haired man raised his gaze in a daze.

A blue-black dragon as tall as myself.

This was a figure that, though completely unfamiliar, was already etched into my memory.

"...Novia, is it Novia?"

The voice of a human girl came from the dragon's mouth.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, it's me, Albion."

"Novia, I've been waiting for you! I have so much to tell you..."

As the blue light flashed and the words fell, the dragon's blue-black armor gradually faded and dissolved, eventually coalescing back into its former human form.

"I've always wanted to apologize to you. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I've always wanted to thank you..."

Those fair, soft hands, like those of a human girl, gently caressed his face, just as they had a thousand years ago.

"Albion, Albion, I've always wanted to say this..."

"I am truly grateful to have met you."

086: Long wants to soak in a hot spring with someone else.

In the seemingly endless ocean, which appeared to be covered in blue light, a human and a dragon stared at each other.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long..."

Novia lowered her head and looked into Melusin's golden eyes.

"So, let's never be apart again, okay? Stay by my side forever and never leave me again, Novia."

The silver-haired girl cupped his face in her hands, and then did what she had wanted to do and had been looking forward to for thousands of years.

And so, under Shion's calm gaze, and under Aika's stunned stare—

Those lips that had torn Novia's flesh so many times in his memory now seemed to want to melt into his mouth like flowing water.

Then, the reason why the dragon's irresistible kiss was separated was because of the extremely panicked cry of Wolfgang Faust, the arrogant vampire who wanted to obtain abnormal power.

"How is this possible?! How could the seal of the Solar Magic Circle be broken? There haven't been any surprises in so many matches, how could this be..."

"These spirit cores all lost their power in an instant..."

"What exactly are you...?"

Wolfgang, his face turning deathly pale, clutched his throbbing chest, his initial arrogance completely gone, replaced by utter fear.

He was puzzled. There was nothing that could stop him anymore. His level of existence was about to be upgraded. In this modified solar magic circle that he had obtained by chance, he became the Star Touch and sublimated into a natural spirit with the ability to return to the Age of Gods and even manifest fantasy in this world.

It is for this purpose that he has persisted in holding the subspecies Holy Grail War for many years, attracting humans from the outside world to come in and perform the blood sacrifice ritual.

Many heroes were figures Wolfgang could only look up to while they were alive, but they were all hunted down by him. Whether it was the Minotaur, the master of the Great Labyrinth of Daedalus, or Darius III, the King of Persia, Wolfgang took their soul cores and controlled them to obey his commands.

It was perfectly safe. He had worked on this labyrinth for many years, and every place was engraved with magic arrays that gathered magic power. With the effect of the modified Sun Magic Array, no one but him had a higher authority to acquire magic power.

However, at this moment, the magic here was subconsciously obeying this person's commands, as if it were an instinct.

Moreover, now, despite being just one step away from success, not only has the Soul Core lost its power out of thin air, but the summoned and controlled Servants have also all turned into rapidly dissipating mana balls.

It was a complete defeat, how could the vampires, who considered themselves the kings of fantasy, not collapse?

The light, which had been like the sea, began to shimmer, and a vast magical power flowed from Melusin to Novia.

He raised his gun once more.

However, the next second, Melissa stretched out her fair wrist and gently pressed down on his arm.

"There's no need for you, Novia, to personally deal with someone like this."

Then Melusin turned her gaze away and looked straight ahead at the vampire who had interrupted her tender moment with Novia.

He turned around, put his mask back on, and looked at Wolfgang with an icy expression.

For something like that, we should simply eliminate its existence and its world.

In that instant, the strongest dragon of the Age of Gods revealed her power.

The sealed space here is devoid of any color, with only a gentle breeze brushing against one's cheek.

Within this labyrinth, which is essentially a sealed room, wind was born, which also indicates that the dragon's attack was instantaneous.

"Don't kill me...don't kill me...I can serve you, I can help you obtain a spirit core...please don't kill me...please..."

Using a speed that even the Mystic Eyes could hardly detect, Melsin's sword pierced Wolfgang's heart in less than a second, and from there split in all directions, fixing the demon's entire body in space, instantly shattering the frozen heart, and preventing his body from continuing to regenerate.

"Ahhhhh..."

For the first and last time, the vampires, who have existed since the Age of Gods, let out a mournful scream that seemed to be vomiting from their own flesh and blood.

Its hideous, resentful pupils sank in like a deflated balloon amidst its withered body. The crimson magic that emanated from its entire being also withered and decayed instantly, turning into pitch-black ash.

The vampire who aspired to become the king of fantasy was utterly crushed using only physical attacks.

This made Shion, who was also a vampire, raise an eyebrow.

Because in this world, the vampire species, known for its tenacious and vigorous vitality, was completely annihilated by a single blow.

This must be a sword strike that directly severs the soul.

"Oh, there's another one similar. Shall we kill him, Novia?"

After killing Wolfgang without hesitation, Melusin sensed a similar aura at the doorway leading out of this floor and asked the silver-haired boy behind her.

“Your Excellency need not do this. Although I am a Dead Apostle, I only came to witness whether Wolfgang Faust’s plan would succeed. I am not one of the conspirators. I also legally purchased the blood offerings from the hospital. So although my life is in your hands, please… Your Excellency have mercy.”

Seeing this, Brad knew he couldn't escape, so he could only dispel the magic that shielded him, bend over, and sincerely present himself to the group.

However, when he finally saw the face of the silver-haired man not far away, he was slightly taken aback, but quickly recovered.

Although Novia did not recognize the blond Dead Apostle in front of her, she did not sense the aura of the dissipating spirit core from behind, and his aura was extremely weak, indicating that he was not lying.

Therefore, he nodded slightly.

"I am extremely grateful."

Brad first walked out of this level respectfully, and then left the unsealed maze as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, after everything was resolved, Novia was about to check on how Shion and Aika were doing.

In that instant, Melusin slipped her hand inside his shirt, transferring the warmth of her hand to his body, causing Novia to instinctively lower his head...

"Being together like this... I'm very happy... Also, Novia, you know I'm a dragon... so I still crave body heat at night... Oh, right, I saw a hot spring on one of the floors when I came here, Novia, why don't we go soak in it... and warm up our bodies while we're at it..."

087: Nero: Oh

Although Novia had no objection to soaking in the hot springs, Shion and Aika also agreed.

However, after Melusin dragged Novia to the hot spring first, she immediately used her power to separate the two people who had not yet entered the hot spring.

And that's how it turned out—

"Damn it, damn it, that dragon..."

Because the hot spring was completely covered by some unknown magic, Miss Aika couldn't even look at it and could only squat to the side and keep muttering to herself.

When she thought of the silver-haired girl who had transformed from a dragon, an extremely complex expression appeared on her face.

This guy is actually shorter than me, but his... area is more voluptuous than mine...

Upon realizing this, Aika, who was squatting in the corner, immediately showed a look of utter disappointment.

Meanwhile, Shion didn't seem disappointed at all. After learning that she couldn't enter the hot spring, she calmly explored the nearly destroyed Sun Magic Circle in the maze.

She understood why Melsin planned to soak in the hot springs alone with Novia, since dragons are generally like that. But for Shion... well, she wasn't in a rush.

As Shion, whose origin is 'Cialie', she has some understanding of Melsin. After all, it was she who sent Melsin's body back a thousand years ago according to the contract. It wasn't just her achievement, because the Roman Emperor Nero at the time also helped.

For Shion, Shiori is like Amaterasu to Tamamo-no-Mae—a being from the source, not someone who has been possessed, but someone from her distant past.

During her investigation, she discovered that the maze's solar magic circle seemed to have been modified in some places, but with the autonomous destruction of the subspecies Holy Grail, the magic circle also destroyed itself, and the specific details are currently unknown.

But the more Shion looked at it, the more she felt something was wrong, because the method of renovation had a similar feel to the Atlas Institute and also to the Church of the Holy Church.

Could it be that the experiment on Wolfgang Faust, the vampire, was orchestrated by both of them? What were they trying to do?

The purple-haired girl is really... the more I think about it, the more something seems off.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

When Shion came to her senses, she suddenly realized that Aika was no longer squatting in the corner, but was lying on the ground not far from the hot spring, with her hands on her stomach, just like the so-called Sleeping Beauty.

When Shion got closer, she saw that Ai-ge's three Command Seals were being used up one after another, and her face turned as red as an apple.