Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

Eri pressed her hand gently to her chest, where a heart, unlike anyone else's, beat—a heart devoid of the Holy Grail.

"after all--"

The reason Novia wasn't possessing the body at this moment was entirely because she was thinking about Yukinobu Yoru's memories. In those fragments, she understood that the 'future scenario' of Yukinobu Yoru betraying Ōkuninushi was a gift from the Holy Grail. At the same time, she saw the Holy Grail War in the Tokyo area, where the Ise family, who also possessed divine bodies like the Yoru family and appeared in the work 'Fragments of Blue Silver' to summon Ramses II, were participating in the war.

The divine body of the Ise family is Ise-Omikami, a serpent god who shares the same aura as Amaterasu-Omikami.

Novia felt the girl pressing her hand to her chest. Since this was the gesture that Eri Se used to summon him at school whenever she didn't want to listen to the lesson, he immediately possessed Eri Se's body.

'Demon King, you say the rest. This kind of situation is perfect for someone as eccentric as you to speak.'

A gentle breeze carried Eri's whispers.

Her silver hair, which appeared in an instant, shimmered brightly in the sunlight, and Eri Se with her silver hair revealed a sly smile.

"I am the Demon King."

Chapter 472: There are beads in Jiuyuan Temple.

Three days later, Shinjuku-Chuo Station.

The top floor is where the registration area for the Holy Grail knockout stage is located.

As a special event that is most popular among the new generation in major cities in the new era, it is undoubtedly highly anticipated.

Therefore, every day, many Servants and Masters come here to register with the Ais located here.

Through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, you can overlook the entire Shinjuku area. People come and go in the hall, and the figures of Servants can be seen everywhere, some holding weapons and some wearing gorgeous spirit costumes... but the most accurate word to describe it is 'noisy'.

"Next! Oh dear, is this young man's first time participating?"

“Um, that… my servant is Mr. Shakespeare…”

Shakespeare, who was drawing a heart on the autograph board, opened his arms wide and smiled at everyone, shouting: "Ladies and gentlemen! Now is the time for a great drama to unfold! Master, please allow me to use my Noble Phantasm, 'The time for the performance has come, let us offer thunderous applause,' to open this grand feast—"

"It's troublesome no matter which Shakespeare it is~ By the way, if the Noble Phantasm causes mental pollution to the audience, there will be an extra cleaning fee~ In terms of Caster class magic, it would require working for a year, without a break all year round."

"Why?"

"Because His Excellency Shakespeare's Spirit Origin information shows that he publicly chanted 'Titus Andronicus' during other Holy Grail Wars, causing thirteen audience members who love Roman history to burst into tears on the spot—by the way, now you get a pair of headphones co-branded with Pope Novia and certified by the Church as a free gift when you purchase insurance! This is an extremely rare model, after all, the first Pope did not reveal any information about it!"

At the same time, Elizabeth, who was holding the microphone on the other side, slammed her hand on the table:

"Hurry! Hurry! Make way! Make way! Our idol needs to get to rehearsal! Could you ask the Rider over there to move the hawk away?!"

Astolfo, who was called upon, asked with a surprised look, "Eh? But the little conqueror's warhorse is also stopped... Oh no, Miss Medusa, don't drag it away with the chains!"

"Rule No. 87 of the knockout stage: Mount-type Noble Phantasms must be parked on B2 floor."

Medusa, acting as a security guard for the competition, held up a sign for the Pegasus parking lot in one hand and pulled several chains in the other. "Also, Article 114 stipulates that fantasy mounts are required to pay for cleaning and meals. Please remember to pay at the front desk."

Eri, sitting in the waiting area with her head down, almost had the urge to bury her head in the ground.

After all, as someone who admires Servants, none of the Servants present seemed to have any 'pride'. They all looked incredibly vulgar, and their taste was questionable. Before even starting to register, the girl was already worried that she might faint after seeing some shocking performance from the Servants.

"After all, everyone has different ideas."

Just then, Novia's voice rang in Eri's mind.

"Some Servants have adapted well to the peaceful new world environment, while some Heroic Spirits have spent their lives on the battlefield; whether everyone thinks they have had enough of war or still yearns for bloodshed, everyone's thoughts are different."

Upon hearing this, Eri cautiously glanced at Shakespeare, who was still making a scene, and Novia continued to speak.

"The Servants and Masters present all came by their own will. In other words, this can be considered the destiny revealed to them by the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail Tournament has become a battlefield that is temporarily open to those who want to fully demonstrate their strength, gain excitement and fame. I think this can also be considered a free way of life."

The initiator of the Holy Grail War in the new era was the Leidenfors family from the Exorcist faction of the Clock Tower.

They were the first to break the taboo, overturning the Mage's Association's highest principle of 'concealment and mystery,' and at the same time assigning various androids researched by their families to win the Holy Grail tournaments in various places, because the tournaments themselves absorbed magical energy from all the participating Masters and spectators.

It's important to understand that Fr's new era wasn't gradually built up, but was born the moment Chizuru made her wish—just like the Colosseum in Shinjuku, the venue for the Holy Grail War, already existed in the city when the entire world was reorganized, and was part of the city.

Communication between different regions is limited to city AI. Ordinary people and servants cannot cross the "separated worlds" without the ability to "explore" or "discover". Cities strictly prohibit "explore" and "discover" at will, so the underground route was born.

For example, the Mitsukoshi department store in Shinjuku has an exhibition of the British Museum's collection. Because the exhibits were borrowed in the past and had not been returned to their home countries, the Holy Grail War broke out. The war escalated and the world was divided, leaving the collections in a state of being unable to be returned.

"...I mean, how long do we have to wait in line?"

Eri, who had started a new topic, seemed a little hesitant, glancing repeatedly at the crowded hall.

"There are too many people, so let's take our time to line up. Oh, and remember that you need to make precise calculations to fool the city's AI. When you meet the AI, make sure your astrological chart aspects overlap, and also adjust your breathing frequency to synchronize with the city's magic."

The citizens of Mosaic are different from Masters in the true sense. Citizens do not have the hereditary inheritance of family bloodlines like magicians, nor do they have magic circuits activated through hard training, and of course, they do not have any magic crests passed down from generation to generation.

The energy they use to perform magic, that is, magical power, is provided by the Holy Grail through the spiritual veins in the city.

"...Speaking of which, why is no one going to that window?"

Following the girl's gaze, one can see a green-tinged seat engulfed by ivy, upon which stands a blue robin.

"Oh, I heard it's newly opened, so I don't know yet... But I heard from the AIs that the reviewer there is actually someone who came specifically for us, so he's not an AI, but a human."

"Why?"

"Because of Ye Jie Xuexin's death, just as he said, the Holy Grail and AI could not understand suicide. In the end, it was explained by the drone wreckage piled up behind Ye Jie's house as 'the old injury was accidentally aggravated by the restarted drone, resulting in death'."

Eri was speechless, unsure of what to say.

Novia then continued:

"That auditor, like Ye Jie Xuexin, seems to frequently stay outside the city, often having his familiar equipped with life detectors and wireless cameras to observe and explore the sky. As for his name, it is—"

"Kuonji (久远寺)"

……

A few minutes later, Eri walked to the empty registration table. Behind the table, the examiner was looking down at a document. She was wearing a black uniform from Reien Girls' Academy, with short black hair hanging over her shoulders. Her skin was so white it was almost transparent, and her black pupils were cold and deep, as if they could see through everything.

"name."

The examiner asked without looking up.

"Erise Utsumi".

Eri answered, her voice sounding perfectly justified.

"You do not have the Holy Grail."

The reviewer's voice remained calm, but his tone carried an undeniable coldness.

"Yes."

Eri nodded.

"Without the Holy Grail, it is impossible to summon a Servant."

The examiner closed the document in his hand and looked directly at Eri, "You are ineligible to participate in the Holy Grail Tournament."

This remark made Eri jump up and cheer loudly.

That's natural, since she came here simply to thwart the 'Demon King's' plans. In her opinion, if the Seleucus Star Chart could deceive AI, it couldn't possibly deceive normal people, right? It's something she can't help but do.

However, Novia wasn't going to let her just go through the motions, so the next instant he ignored Eri's protests and possessed her directly.

At the same time, Eri's hair turned from black to silver-white, and a deeper blue light flashed in her pupils. Her temperament changed instantly. Her original smugness and sense of entitlement disappeared, replaced by a calm and composed aura.

"Rules are rigid, but people are flexible."

Eri, with her silver hair, shrugged. "Besides, the city's system has also recognized my participation."

Novia traced the edge of the star chart with her delicate fingertips, and the astrological trajectory cast a pale blue halo on her retina. The next second, a form listing various information that needed to be filled out appeared on the table where the blue robin was standing.

'Contestant (Master) Utsumi Erise, age verified: eight years and three months; Servant status: none.'

Novia could clearly see the magic markings moving within each byte, but the astrolabe patterns were seeping into the system, altering 'nothing' into 'something' that qualified her for the competition.

The reviewer, Kuonji Arisu, paused slightly, tapping her fingers lightly on the table as if deep in thought.

This is indeed the list that the Holy Grail only reveals to those who approve and allow the competition... Of course, she understands that the horoscope was just a temporary misunderstanding.

"So that's how it is. Those intelligence brokers from Rome even have relics of this caliber?"

Kuonji Yuzu narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at the girl with silver hair cascading down her back. "Name and job title."

"Foreigner class, as for my real name, let's just call me the Demon King."

Generally speaking, the Descendant class is associated with Outer Gods, making it an extremely special class.

However, while Descendants are rare in the Fr world, they do exist. For example, the Library of Alexandria in the Tama region houses 'Euclid the Descendant,' a famous mathematician and astronomer in the pre-Christian Greek cultural sphere. The English pronunciation of 'Euclid' has practically become synonymous with geometry, and that is the Servant.

By the way, Fr's Euclid, just like the characteristics of the moon, is a girl with a hood, pale skin like porcelain, and long, fluffy, wavy hair.

For this reason, Kuonji was not particularly confused. He simply traced the void with his pale fingertips and wrote down the terms with a quill pen dipped in rainbow ink.

"Anonymity is allowed according to the rules, but information about the Noble Phantasm must be disclosed."

Suddenly, the mist boiled before Kuonji Yuzu's eyes, and Eri heard Goethe's verses spill from her mouth again, the German words turning into fireflies and dancing in her palm.

Yuzhu's eyelashes trembled slightly: "The materialization of narrative poems... I see, is it related to Goethe's spiritual origin?"

"So, what other tests need to be conducted?"

"Magic detection requires contact with the spirit core."

Kuonji Yuzu pushed a teacup on the table toward the silver-haired Erise, "Please place the hand with the Command Seal on the application form."

Following the black-haired girl's instructions, Novia controlled Eri's hand, which touched the star chart and made contact with the application form. In that instant, the evil spirits surrounding Eri collectively let out groans that only the two of them could hear. The class 'Descendant' automatically appeared on that hand, while the blank portrait began to dissolve and reform—

Ultimately, based on the altered horoscope parameters, a close-up of Eri Sei's silver hair shrouded in mist was included.

Generally speaking, this type of photo shows the reason why the Master uses the Servant's power to fight in the mosaic city.

"Summoning time, just now?"

Yuzhu stared at the completed application form, "But the spirit origin resonance curve shows..."

It's been at least two years.

"Yes."

Eri, with her silver hair, picked up her teacup, took a small sip, and smiled slightly, her tone tinged with a hint of teasing, "Is there a problem?"

Kuonji Yuju remained silent for a moment, then finally shook her head:

"No, your registration has been approved. The Holy Grail Tournament will begin in three days. Please be there on time."

As Eri, with her black hair, stepped out of Central Station, the competition badge in her arms suddenly heated up, and a countdown to three days later appeared on the obsidian surface.

"Speaking of which, is Miss Kuonji's Servant that blue robin?"

Eri asked curiously.

"That's her familiar; her servants are probably possession-type..."

Novia paused. "Could it be her?"

"You mean she summoned her future self? How could that be..."

Eri said in a low voice, the image of Kuonji Yuzu's cold face flashing in her mind, "It doesn't seem impossible, but thinking about it, it's still too fantastical. Could it be that she will use the life detector and wireless camera you mentioned to do something amazing and make a name for herself in the world?"

The girl subconsciously turned around and saw that Kuonji Yuzu was standing in front of the glass on the top floor, her fingertips stroking the wings of the robin familiar, as if gazing at her as she left.

"Instead of thinking so much, you should think about how to become the champion in the Holy Grail Tournament."

For Novia, the appearance of Kuonji Aratsu was not very surprising, because there were already characters in the world of Fr who resembled her.

"You're so annoying. Since you forced me to participate, you're the one who should take responsibility for me."

Eri waved her hand casually, "Anyway, Lucius has been beating us for so long, a few more days won't make a difference."

Meanwhile, Kuonji Yuzu, who had returned to the registration table, quietly sipped her black tea.

After an unknown amount of time, amidst the clamor, the teaspoon in her hand made a crisp sound and suddenly became covered with cracks.

"Even Yumina's power can't be fully analyzed? What exactly is this 'narrative materialization'...?"

Chapter 473 The End in Every Meaning.

And so, the opening day of the Holy Grail knockout stage arrived.

As a result, the number of armed guards stationed throughout the Roman Colosseum in Shinjuku was quite noticeable. Upon entry, they intensified checks on carry-on luggage and body searches. For spectators targeted by the staff, they would even check their command seals.

The colossal stadium exudes a powerful presence, making the surrounding buildings appear much smaller in comparison. Arches, some three or four stories high, are stacked together to form thick, oval walls that enclose the vast arena inside.

This space was created simply for humans to compete with each other. In ancient Rome, this form of entertainment was a legitimate right granted to citizens. Ancient Roman poets even described it as "bread and circus," and the Roman Colosseum is its most representative symbol.