Xyrin Empire
Chapter 475: School

Chapter 475: Chapter 475: School

"Forming an alliance?"

Emiya Shirou opened his mouth wide, a perplexed expression on his face as the twin-tailed Miss, who had rushed over early in the morning, proposed this shocking idea, "But why?"

"It’s a very logical choice, isn’t it?"

Tohsaka Rin said, her gaze sliding inadvertently in our direction.

"The Heroic Spirit summoned by the Einzbern family turned out to be much stronger than expected. Archer alone has no chance against it, and considering you can’t even supply your own Servant with enough Magic Power, wouldn’t it be the best option to team up temporarily to increase our chances of winning?"

"That ... what about the Holy Grail? Isn’t that something very important to Tohsaka? If we collaborate, doesn’t that mean making alliances with the enemy?"

"Yes ... well, that is something to consider later. Whether we settle it with a showdown or something else entirely, right now, I believe forming an alliance is the best choice."

"But for Tohsaka to choose me, a half-baked mage like myself, as an ally ..."

Emiya Shirou was quite self-aware, acknowledging his own inadequacy, while Tohsaka Rin simply shifted her gaze again to the four individuals from the Empire busy fighting over the TV, clearly suggesting: Did you really think I chose to form an alliance with you because you are a half-baked magician?

Well then, it seems the Madam has indeed drawn us into her hunting grounds.

Even if we tried to refuse citing reasons like "aliens do not participate in Earth’s disputes," this Miss wouldn’t give up the opportunity to use our strength. Especially after the astonishing acts of the two little girls last night, which had, in fact, impacted the ongoing Holy Grail War among the Earthlings, much like how in the midst of a fierce battle between Zaft and the Earth Army, a passing EVA accidentally crushes the mightily raging Kira Yamato, leaving the combatants unable to treat that EVA as a mere coincidence...

With this thought, I couldn’t help but deliver a thunk to each of the heads of the two little ones who were now wrestling over the TV remote.

"I don’t know much about your mystical stuff," I said to Tohsaka Rin, separating the two sisters who were yanking each other’s hair in a display of twisted affection, "but do you really think the Holy Grail can fulfill all human desires?"

The one who answered me wasn’t Tohsaka Rin, but the ever-stoic Saber: "Your power is indisputable, but do not underestimate the Holy Grail’s might, capable of bringing Heroic Spirits into reality—this is nearly a miracle that reverses life and death. Therefore, I firmly believe it can fulfill wishes."

"Hmph," I turned my head, "I just don’t believe it can actually help me reduce the expansion rate of the universe by three percentage points!"

Everyone: "..."

Tohsaka Rin: "Okay, at least I think it could fulfill the wishes that humans have within the confines of Earth... Why do I suddenly feel so unmotivated..."

In the middle of her sentence, Tohsaka Rin suddenly let out a long, resigned sigh, then threw a sharp look this way: "It’s settled, unless absolutely necessary, I should never take your word seriously again, otherwise my entire worldview would collapse!"

About the Holy Grail, this argument had already come up two or three times between us. I must say, my acting skills weren’t bad, detailing meticulously from an "alien’s" perspective my skepticism about the so-called "Universal Pot." Interesting points arose, particularly because the Holy Grail War within the world of Fate has always been centered on one steadfast belief: that the Earth is the world, the Blood of Jesus is the True God’s blood, and the Holy Grail is a miraculous object bestowed with the True God’s power, hence, those who obtain the Holy Grail would be fortunate enough to fulfill any wish, even to change the world. From start to finish, this theory never took into account anything beyond Earth, such as us.

Thus, when aliens with no ties whatsoever to Gaia or Alaya, the World Suppression Forces, completely negated the whole system of the Holy Grail, various subtle but fatal contradictions emerged in a wholly inexplicable state. A simple example being, can a Holy Grail that fulfills all desires solve the rampant piracy issues in the Centaurus Constellation?

Then, poor Miss Tohsaka grew more and more disinterested in our repeated discussions... But it seemed that her real goal wasn’t to fulfill that so-called wish to revitalize her family. She merely wanted to use the process of winning to prove her strength and validate her qualifications as the heir to the Tohsaka Family. As for the revival of the family, I think this strong girl surely intended to achieve that through her own efforts, which is why under our "True? World Destruction Strike," the girl named Tohsaka Rin was still holding on to her firm beliefs without giving up.

"Brother, do I really have to go to school?"

With time running short, Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin were already prepared to go to school, when Zuotian Tsuruya suddenly came over with a pitiful look and said with a face full of grievance.

"It’s just for a couple of days," I patted her little head, "I’ve handled all the procedures for you. If it weren’t for the lack of planning today, I would have considered tossing Pandora and her sister into an elementary school!"

As soon as I finished speaking, the noisy sisters next to us immediately quieted down and then disappeared from everyone’s sight in an instant—it seemed that their brief few months of student life had seriously traumatized Pandora, even influencing Visca.

The reason I gave outsiders for arranging for Tsuruya to go to school was partly to match the reason I casually mentioned to Fujimura "Tiger" about temporarily staying here, and partly because my little sister was genuinely interested in Earthling schools. This explanation was quite coherent and reasonable; even Tohsaka Rin couldn’t find any flaws. No matter how smart Miss Rin is, she couldn’t guess that we came with a gameplay strategy, right?

Although that strategy sometimes seemed quite unreliable...

Sending Tsuruya to school wasn’t a difficult task. Sicaro and his professional team had already managed everything behind the scenes for us, from fake ID cards to fake transfer certificates, all was available. The only bit of trouble was that Tsuruya was clearly only of middle school age, and sending her to the high school Tohsaka Rin attended might draw attention. But remembering how Pandora, who entered university at the age of a primary school student and was known as the "Professor Terminator," I decisively ignored this issue. So, a little later this morning, a genius girl named Zuotian Tsuruya from Tokyo, Japan, who transferred to Fuyuki City to live with her relatives, officially became classmates with Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin. Tsuruya, who I thought could finally enjoy a few days away from school life, was tossed back into school by me...

Well, having arranged for the girl, I suppose I should also take a stroll.

While leisurely walking on the not so wide streets of Fuyuki City, I began to slowly analyze the simple yet strikingly intriguing energy composition of this world.

Low magic, low energy, the FATE world was undoubtedly a low-energy-level world. Here, even the strongest human magicians couldn’t cast things like Forbidden Curses—of course, such things didn’t exist in the setup of this world. But according to my perception, the energy pathways of this world were indeed extremely rudimentary and primitive, with the primary energy structures being only five.

Simpler than even Silver Moon City’s lighting magic net.

However, this rudimentary mystic system structure directly represented the fundamental power of the entire world. If I were to follow them deeper, perhaps I could reach the two ultimate powers of this world, or rather this Earth?

But for now, I had no plans to disturb those two suppression forces with the same name as my little sister. The energy configuration of this world was too interesting. Such a low energy level allowed humans the possibility of connecting with the origin through clever methods like directing all of the mystique into five magic net main channels (a term commonly used by Blood Elves), which is incredibly difficult to achieve in many high-energy worlds. If I could analyze the principle of this "origin compression", perhaps weapons of law, such as Avalon, could be mass-produced. However, if I rashly stirred the world suppression forces, any plans of analysis would instantly evaporate. Those two extreme suppression forces would definitely clash with me, an invader, to the bitter end.

The Avalon, drifting through the Void, gradually approached this world and used Leaving World Garden’s espionage... ahem, targeting system to analyze the energy network of this planet and even the entire Solar System. This was the safest choice I made after deep consideration.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, a magic fluctuation, not very clear, transmitted from afar caught my attention, prompting me to temporarily stop contacting AvalonControl mechanisms, and then, my gaze was directed towards a certain direction where my spiritual power sensed an ominous force field gradually spreading.

Is it... the direction of the school?

No way! An anomaly happening so soon, should I say that Tsuruya has already inherited my knack for attracting trouble?

"Tsuruya! How’s it over there?"

"It’s fine," Tsuruya’s carefree and energetic voice rang out, "It’s just that something suddenly appeared and it’s quite uncomfortable. I am trying to scan the situation inside the school, and I am currently reading the manual for the intelligent probes, but these little gadgets just refuse to move."

"Don’t worry about the probe; prioritize protecting the regular students at the school. I’m on my way."

I hastily terminated the spiritual connection and dashed into a nearby deserted alley, then activated space transmission.

Damn, how did they activate the Magic Array so quickly?

As soon as I entered the campus, that thick and nauseating sensation surged from every direction, undetectable by ordinary human five senses. However, because of my mutated spiritual power, it was amplified countless times. What a tragedy.

But, nauseating or not, the Magic Power permeating the campus couldn’t possibly affect me. Not to mention that my inherent ability could resist any form of energy attack. Even if I did nothing, the Magic Array in the school that absorbed Life Force couldn’t affect me—after all, spending days with Dingdang had somehow altered me with the Life Goddess’s power, rendering all weakening negative attacks ineffective against me.

Quickly stepping out from behind the teaching building where I was hiding, I grabbed a passing student by the arm, "Do you know which class Tohsaka Rin is in?"

Zuotian Tsuruya was a new transfer student, not widely known here, but Tohsaka Rin was a famously outstanding student in the school. Surely everyone knew her, right?

However, the student I grabbed reacted indifferently, giving me a dull look before lowering his head tiredly and walking away shakily.

Even without formally starting, had these students already become like walking dead?

"Brother! We’re over here!"

Just then, Tsuruya’s voice rang out from behind me. I turned around and saw Tsuruya, Emiya, and Tohsaka Rin all standing under a corner wall nearby, waving over from a distance.

"Phew, looks like I made it in time."

I jogged over to the trio and let out a sigh of relief.

"Did you guys know the events that were going to happen today?"

Once we reached a secluded corner, Tohsaka Rin asked bluntly, clearly having realized something.

"You allowed your sister to enter the school, presumably for today’s incident?"

"Sort of," I scratched my head, "though my original intention was just to have Tsuruya monitor the peculiar energy appearing in this school. We were quite interested in it, but didn’t expect it to erupt today."

"Is that so?" Tohsaka Rin looked at me skeptically, "I suppose I’ll believe you for now, but be careful. There’s a forbidden magic here that absorbs Life Force. Being careless can be costly. This halfwit and I have been looking for the Caster since a few days ago, but we still haven’t found him."

Just as Tohsaka Rin finished speaking, I felt the repulsive energy field around us tremble briefly, then start pulsating rhythmically.

The sensation is indescribable, but if I have to describe it using my spiritual perception, it felt as if... I was soaked in a heart, undulating disgustingly with the flow of polluted blood.

"Damn! It activated so soon, when it’s supposed to be a few hours away!"

The cry from Miss Tohsaka also caused Emiya Shirou to pale in shock. Even as a novices, he knew the consequences this Array would bring, but it was too late to stop it now, after days of investigation and attempting to disrupt the Array—none of it had prevented the opponent’s action.

"Tsuruya, protect the civilians."

I quickly reminded the somewhat dazed girl, who immediately understood and then instantly changed her outfit, "whoosh" pulling out the Commander’s Sword and thrusting it forcefully into the ground: "Armed Order!!"

A pale blue halo almost simultaneously spread with the blood-red corrupt magic power, then engulfed the entire school. Perhaps to ordinary people nothing seemed different, but to us, the world had already dramatically mutated.

The Blood Temple encompassed the school, and the Taotie’s caster was about to feast upon this bounty of Life Force, and then—ate a mouthful of sand.

Leading a bewildered Tohsaka and Emiya, we emerged from behind the hidden teaching building, the external situation shocking both of them.

Every teacher and student in the school still maintained that bewildered demeanor, wandering aimlessly. The scarlet magic power continuously launched attacks on these sources of Life Force, but could only stir up nearly imperceptible tiny ripples on the Ghost Energy Shield.

That’s right! The Ghost Energy Shield, each teacher and student had a layer of it, and even Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin were no exceptions.

Armed Order, well, this Skill also has another name called "Militia Tide"...

As the name suggests, it arms the civilians, turning them into temporary combat power. Tsuruya’s Armed Order enveloped the entire school, temporarily transforming the teachers and students into basic Xyrin Combat Puppets. Of course, under Tsuruya’s deliberate control, this armament was incomplete; they only had the defensive capabilities of the Xyrin Combat Puppets and the basic Ghost Energy Shields. Since humans cannot produce Ghost Energy, this transformation lasted only about thirty minutes, but within those thirty minutes, the layer of Ghost Energy Shield was absolutely sufficient to resist the erosion of magic power.

And when everythingl was over, they wouldn’t feel anything unusual. If no one reminded them, they wouldn’t even realize that they mysteriously lost half an hour of their time today.

This Skill may seem somewhat superfluous because, in most cases, a group of combat puppets only used as cannon fodder could not compare to a few heavy Photon Cannons. However, this Skill was once dubbed the Storm Commander’s most annoying ability, as Armed Order not only affects humanoid beings; basically, anything that can move can be influenced by this Skill, including rats and cockroaches, rolling glass marbles, and passing alpacas...

Swarming Ghost Energy units rushing our positions, from primates to microorganisms, each one with a shield, aiming to overwhelm every soldier under your command, even the cockroaches with Ghost Energy Shields might knock out your front teeth in the next second. This has moved beyond military assault; this damn thing is an outright psychological assault!

Overall, it still seemed to be a ridiculous skill used only to annoy others... God knows which genius Commander came up with it.

"What is this thing?"

Miss Tohsaka curiously poked the Ghost Energy Shield in front of her, and her finger went right through without any resistance, startling her immediately—the outside of the Ghost Energy Shield was that disgusting blood-red magic power.

"Just a bit of a laxative," I chuckled and then turned to Tsuruya, "Girl, let this Ghost Energy enter the diffusion state."

Countless Ghost Energy Shields in the school flickered simultaneously, then their surfaces began to emit a pale blue mist. As soon as this mist left the shield, it was affected by the magic power in the air, gathering into a massive vortex drifting toward the top of the tallest academic building.

In the next second, the blood-red Array flickered violently and then crumbled instantaneously.

"They shouldn’t be able to escape now," I stated confidently, then led the way forward, "If we hurry, we might still be able to capture some alive. The physique of a Heroic Spirit can’t hold out long under the erosion of Ghost Energy!" (To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)