Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

Suddenly, a voice rang from Aoko's phone: "The final of the Shinjuku division of the Holy Grail Tournament individual competition that you have subscribed to is about to begin."

"I didn't expect you to watch this kind of stuff..."

Orange's lips curled up slightly. "Looks like you still can't forget about that place."

Like most cities, Misaki Town was destroyed during the Holy Grail War. However, thanks to Kuonji Yuju, the Kuonji Mansion was incorporated into the city of Shinjuku when it was built. However, it was not located within the city like the Colosseum, but outside the city, like the Nightfall Mountain.

It must be because the distance is just too far.

"I was just doing this on someone's behalf."

Aoko didn't offer much explanation; she simply took out her phone, placed it on the table, and casually glanced at the screen.

But the chestnut-haired girl's eyes sharpened the next second, because she spotted a familiar figure in the audience seats during the promotional event—

There are beads in Jiuyuan Temple.

She clearly remembered that Yuzhu's personality didn't seem like the type to watch this kind of event...

"Hey, isn't that Kuonji Temple?"

Beo put his hands behind his head. "Is her robin doing well? I miss the days when I played with it."

Hearing Beo say that, Orange, who was watching the two of them huddled together looking at their phones, was furious. Back then, she had found Beo to get rid of the magic on Aoko, but when she took him to Misaki Town and asked him to get rid of Kuonji Arisu, he refused.

"Although I am Orange's familiar, why should I be expected to obey her just because I am a familiar? I only listen to my master."

“That’s prey called ‘magic’! And you didn’t say that two years ago!”

"...Haha, I've already forgotten!"

Back to the present, as Qingzi and Beo were intently staring at the same phone, the live stream above was changing its feed.

Despite having gambled away his entire fortune in private, Circe, who remained outwardly cheerful, stood in the center, delivering the report in a lively manner.

"Oh my, today is truly unbelievable! The Shinjuku Holy Grail Tournament has actually made it into the top 50 of the world's most popular cities. This is incredible! Could it be that some powerful force is manipulating everything in the shadows? Heh, that damned Borgia... cough cough, oh dear, I seem to have said something unrelated. Please forgive my adorable self, okay? After all, I'll turn every single one of those who insult me ​​into little piglets."

At the same time, Blackbeard coughed sternly:

"The Servant and Master pairing that appeared in the individual finals today is Eri Utsumi and the Demon Lord, who appeared in the world as the Descendant class and is the embodiment of Goethe's epic poem. They are powerful new stars who have won all the way in their first participation, defeating Servants such as Jack the Ripper, Tristan, Hassan, and Lily the Conqueror."

As Blackbeard spoke, the image of Eri with silver hair appeared in the live stream.

"Utsumi's surname... Could this girl be Chizuru Masato's granddaughter? Or her daughter?"

Aoko said incredulously, "You know what, it really looks like it, especially the silver hair, it's like they were made from the same mold."

Immediately afterwards, Blackbeard in the live stream introduced another opponent:

"The other group is from the Leidenfors family. Everyone is familiar with the Leidenfors family; they are the magician family that established the Holy Grail Tournament and have dominated the Holy Grail Tournament championships in various regions for many years. This Shinjuku Holy Grail Tournament is no exception—"

"The Servant they are sending out this time is Karna, the Son of the Sun, one of the heroes of Mahabharata, and a Lancer-class Servant."

Chapter 476 Biological Parents? Mother is Erise, Father is the Demon King?

The final of the individual tournament of the Holy Grail War at the Shinjuku Colosseum.

Eri, with her black hair, stood in the center of the stage, looking at Karna slowly walking out from the passageway to the side with a hint of surprise.

Previously, Eri's first reaction upon seeing Karna participate in the Holy Grail War would have been anger. Because she admired Servants, she believed that the Holy Grail War was just an ugly farce, deliberately designed to give people a wrong impression of Heroic Spirits, and simply a show to toy with great heroes.

But things are different now. Although Eri was very unhappy with the Demon King's behavior of forcing her to participate in the competition and apologize to people in public when she won the championship, she felt that she could be a little nicer to it after all these years of hard work.

Well, it's like giving a cat a small reward after feeding it for many years, no problem at all.

That's what the black-haired girl was thinking.

Therefore, the moment Eri saw Karna, her first thought was how she and the Demon King could defeat him.

After all, this is Karna, one of the great heroes of Mahabharata. Even Arjuna might not be his match. Although he doesn't appear often, he is one of the most powerful Servants among all the Servants.

"Before you went on stage, my boss and I watched your match."

Karna spoke softly, “In my opinion, at least everyone in the knockout stage fought with the intention of defeating you, but you, with your black hair, were resisting the battle, or rather, resisting defeating a Servant.”

This is the truth, because Eri felt that it was really not good for someone like her without a Servant to defeat the great heroes who would go down in history, along with the evil spirit Demon King.

This isn't how the normal plot goes...

"But now you are just like your silver-haired self. At the very least, you have the will to fight. However, it would be more accurate to say that you feel joy in defeating Servants."

After uttering words that were neither quite a compliment nor entirely accurate, Karna suddenly burst into flames.

“Then, I will fulfill my promise to my Master in my own way, and you will keep your promise in your own way. I will not regret the outcome. Of course, inevitable defeat is regrettable—please show yourself, God of the Yamuna River whom I have been waiting for, and Enmi, who is also a descendant of the Sun God.”

Karna's Master is a homunculus from the Leidenfoss family. Since his mission is to win the Holy Grail Tournament, the Servants matched with him by the Holy Grail are all extremely powerful.

For Karna, after witnessing so many of Eri's battles, as the son of the sun god, he could naturally perceive a hidden divine nature of death within her. In a sense, Karna, who was unaware that he was the son of the sun god, and Eri, who forgot her memories of Tokyo after drinking the water of the River of Oblivion, were similar in that neither of them knew they were children of the gods when they were young.

Therefore, after Karna said that Erise possessed divinity, Master Leidenfoss, who thought he was referring to the silver-haired Erise, mistakenly believed that the 'Demon Lord' was not merely a manifestation of the epic poem, but rather an existence mixed with other spirit origins. Theoretically, it could be Goethe, Schubert, or both.

However, since it is the divinity of death, these two are impossible, and it can only be found in the Nordic countries.

Goethe was inspired by the Danish folk song "Daughter of the King of El" collected by Herder, which inspired him to create "The Erlking".

So the spirit origin mixed in is Hela, the Norse goddess of death? According to the Leidenfoss family's records, Hela did indeed appear in Denmark during the 2011 Holy Grail War... However, this deduction was ultimately rejected by Karna.

"Despite the unfamiliar divine nature of death, the martial arts and skills are unique to the Indian school."

This is to be expected, since Novia has been using the ability of the 'Fictional Servant Demon King' to avoid being recognized by Lucius. Since there is no such data on the Throne of Heroes, Novia had to come up with and design a series of abilities, so he used some of the abilities he obtained in India.

In fact, as things stand, Novia can integrate the divinity, authority, and abilities of regions such as Greece, Northern Europe, Egypt, the Americas, and India as much as possible, since the Demon King is essentially just a figment of imagination; it just takes a little longer.

"So, Karna, who do you think it is?"

When his Master asked him this question, Karna immediately thought of Yama, the Hindu god of death.

In the 2011 Holy Grail War in India, this deity appeared in the land of worship of each region, just like the Grim Reaper in various parts of the world.

Yama of India, Hela of Northern Europe, Sanatos of Greece, Anubis of Egypt, Astuvidat of Persia, Gilidines of Lithuania, and in the Americas, besides Mikt Cassivatl of the Aztecs, there are also saints whose faith spread to the Americas, such as Saint Lamourt, the Saint of Death, and Saint Pasqualito, the King of the Cemetery, etc.

Perhaps it was due to the unimaginable death toll brought about by the Holy Grail War that swept the globe at the time.

But Karna immediately dismissed the idea upon thinking of Yama, for he knew Yama's son, Yugandhi, the eldest of the five Pandavas. Therefore, after discussion and careful consideration, Karna presented his Master of Leidenfoss with what he considered a highly probable possibility—

"Yami, the daughter of the sun god, the goddess of the Yamuna River, and the sister of the god of righteousness, perhaps the aspect of that child is her 'demand to be with Yama,' which is why she possesses a relatively unfamiliar divine nature of death."

How should I put it? This reasoning seems abnormal, but it's perfectly normal for the new era. Servants are all kinds of characters: young, at their peak, old, a collection of concepts. The author appears as a character in the work, thinking it's male but it's actually female. You can imagine your own timeline of victory, etc. So it's perfectly normal for divine Servants to be able to divide their experiences into a certain aspect.

"...Huh? Yan Mi?"

At that moment, Arjuna, sitting in the audience, was at a loss for words when he heard Karna's speech. Although he and Karna had fought to a draw, he hadn't been able to recognize Karna, who was also a god of India, which made the great hero feel somewhat disappointed.

"wrong."

Before Novia herself could offer her explanation, Eri, while pressing down hard on her heart—which beat differently from everyone else's and contained no Holy Grail—firmly refuted Karna.

That guy isn't even a Servant; he's an evil spirit trying to take over my body. I don't know when his true desires will be revealed. If that's the case, I'll probably kill him...

Moreover, over the years I've spent with this demon king, I've increasingly felt that his personality is quite appealing. If left unchecked, who knows if he might bewitch others?

“If it says it’s the Demon King, then it is the Demon King, not some random Yanmi. As long as it doesn’t tell me, I will never admit it. I will stay with it until it tells me who it really is.”

Eri Se never imagined she would say such a thing. Even she herself thought it was a worthless lie, but the beating of her heart made her thoughts chaotic... Perhaps it was also due to the magic released by Karna.

"Damn it, I haven't called you out yet..."

Eri instinctively covered her mouth, but the next moment her hair color changed to silver.

"...That's it."

Behind Novia, a massive storm, reminiscent of the Holy Grail Wars when Novia displayed her power, reappeared. "Things have come to this. Come, walk with me—at the end of this mist, an eternal feast awaits you."

"I see. It seems I misjudged the situation. I'm sorry."

Before Karna's eyes, an immense desire was revealed.

In Goethe's epic poem "The Erlking," the child gradually falls into desire, and is eventually captured by the Erlking, who is the embodiment of desire.

However, what is expected of Karna, who is summoned as a Servant, is only power.

The only wish that he cares about in his heart is the same heartfelt wish that comes from the Master himself.

war.

The struggle for supremacy is purely a contest of strength and the pursuit of victory. It is such a simple and therefore incredibly beautiful form of combat. In the Holy Grail Tournament of this new world, this simple mutual slaughter is unexpectedly refreshing.

The wielded spear possessed a precision capable of threading a needle, and its dazzling flames burned endlessly around it.

However, Eri, the silver-haired woman facing him, with her flowing long hair, leaped and dodged his thrusting spear, clinging to the side of several large stone pillars standing in the arena. Karna's spear followed closely, and the stone pillars that shattered at the base flew into the sky, but Eri, the silver-haired woman clinging to the stone pillar, was unharmed.

The next second, Eri seized the opportunity and pressed forward in one go.

With no weapons, her hands radiated magical light, striking directly at the golden armor that emitted the brilliance of the sun.

This is an existence composed of light itself, capable of reducing all hostile interference, nullifying 90% of its effects, reducing the damage Karna suffers to only one-tenth, and even preventing Mooncell's interference. Even if it takes a direct hit from an A+ rank anti-military Noble Phantasm, it will not affect its actions in the slightest.

Karna had been thinking that now was the perfect time to unleash his Noble Phantasm without hesitation—but this time he was truly terrified.

Because when the silver-haired girl's magic struck the golden armor, he actually heard the golden armor tremble instinctively.

This is certainly an amazing fact.

more importantly--

It's not that this power directly surpasses the power of an A+ anti-army Noble Phantasm, or perhaps it does, but the most important thing is that 'light' fears it.

It was as if all the nights, storms, and fog in the world had converged into a tiny point in the Shinjuku Holy Grail Tournament, swallowing the sun together.

What kind of Servant does this little girl possess...?

"It seems you are indeed incredibly powerful. Even though you are possessing a young child, you have power far exceeding mine. I suppose even if I use my Noble Phantasm, I can only contend with you, who has never used your Noble Phantasm. I will probably be defeated by your Noble Phantasm."

But so what? What if we know we're no match for them?

In a battle that is purely about strength and the pursuit of victory, there is no reason to admit defeat. All you need to do is try your best.

Victory is victory, defeat is defeat.

"However, if my Noble Phantasm forces you to use a Noble Phantasm you've never used before, then it can be considered a glorious defeat."

The moment the words were spoken, a portion of Karna's armor peeled off his body, and flames writhed around him like countless snakes.

However, no blood fell from Karna's body, nor did he show any signs of pain. This was because his Master used a Command Spell to prevent Karna from suffering the pain caused by using his strongest Noble Phantasm.

At this moment, Karna's Noble Phantasm has been marked in red in the live stream: "Sun Wheel, submit to death."

This is not an isolated case. Whenever a Servant uses their Noble Phantasm in the Holy Grail War, a corresponding text appears. This is one of the reasons why Eri Se denounced the Holy Grail War as a boring event where humans use Servants for amusement.

"What should we do? Karna has used his Noble Phantasm? Demon Lord, shouldn't you use your Noble Phantasm too?"

Eri looked at Karna, whose hair was being blown about by the violent magic, and asked the demon lord who had taken over his body with some anxiety.

In all previous matches, it's not that we haven't seen examples of the opponent unleashing their Noble Phantasm, but the Demon King was easily defeated during the release. However, Karna is different now. Just by looking at Eri, it's clear that he is indeed the strongest enemy encountered in the match.

"Erise, what would you do if I told you I don't have a Noble Phantasm?"

"No Noble Phantasm? Are you kidding me? What did you use when you fought Lucius back then?"

"Hmm, that should be considered one of the Demon King's abilities."

"Alright, alright, stop teasing me now—"

Before Eri could finish speaking, the silver-haired Eri gently shook her head, ignoring the surging light before her, and instead looked up at the sky.

“Erise just said, ‘I will stay with it until it tells me who it really is,’ which means we will go a long way.”

“I was just lying—to be honest, it was just a polite way of putting it.”

Even though Eri answered in that way, the Demon King's gentle smile remained unchanged, a smile that seemed to carry both helplessness and affection, like looking at his own good-for-nothing child.

“Erice, the sound of your name evokes the land where heroes reside after death. The formal name would be Elysium, but in French, éLyséEs means the same thing as Elysium.”

"What are you talking about? I don't understand at all. What are you talking about with death..."

Eri was completely deaf to the Demon King's words, only feeling annoyed. "Ugh... Oh no... No way..."

Eri realized that she shouldn't be doing this now, because once her heart was filled with negative emotions, the evil spirits hovering around her body would slowly seep out from inside her, literally causing rivers of blood to flow, albeit black, and this would undoubtedly only add to the trouble of the Demon King who was still fighting.

"Erise, you've seen it too, haven't you? The Holy Grail Tournament isn't just about entertaining humans; it's also about allowing former heroes to engage in pure battles, regardless of anything external, relying solely on their own abilities for exhilarating combat. They're not the animals you're thinking of performing; their pride still exists here."

Novia's smile vanished, replaced by a calm expression.

"Will the sky stop having winter just because humans are afraid of the cold? Will the earth shorten its distance just because humans feel it's far away? The evil spirits around you will always be around you; no one can change that. You just need to forgive them and accept it, because—"

"That's why you, born in the new era, can feel the pain of others."