"I'm going to snatch the Holy Grail. Stay here and don't move."
Opening the passage between herself and the Millennium Castle, Akatsuki placed Fujimaru Ritsuka inside the vast and silent Millennium Castle. After giving her instructions, she strode toward the Great Underground Cavern of Mount Enzou.
Compared to the ruins previously collapsed by Saber's Excalibur, the Great Underground Cavern had now been cleared into a fairly spacious area.
At its center were Hatress, Roa, and the greater grail.
"Hatress, why aren't you using the Holy Grail?"
Akatsuki emerged from the darkness. The greater grail had already descended, yet Hatress, being the closest to it, had surprisingly not used its power to fulfill his wish.
"..."
Hatress did not answer Akatsuki's question. Instead, Roa stared intently at her. With his shirt buttons undone, Roa gazed at Akatsuki with eyes flashing with fanaticism.
"True Ancestor, brunestud?"
"Roa, serpent of akasha."
Having researched the method of reincarnation in pursuit of immortality, the once-genius Magician's physical bodies obtained through successive reincarnations were all inferior to the original, causing his strength to continuously diminish.
Only the body of the seventeenth generation in the tsukihime world (Shiki Tohno) was exceptionally outstanding, almost reaching the level of the original.
In the Fate world, Roa was not as powerful as his counterpart in the tsukihime world because he was not a direct Dead Apostle of Arcueid. Furthermore, as a Dead Apostle, he was also suppressed by the alaya of the Fate world.
However, no matter how strong he was, killing him was like crushing a bug to Akatsuki.
Akatsuki looked at Roa with cold eyes. Even without intentionally controlling it, a terrifying aura radiated from her body. Yet Roa showed no fear, instead revealing an obsessed smile.
"Hahaha, I've finally found you... If you had been the one to transform me into a Dead Apostle back then, I would definitely be much stronger now," Roa muttered to himself.
Akatsuki remained expressionless; she didn't want to waste time with this madman.
Akatsuki's palm suddenly clenched behind her as she pulled forcefully toward herself. Her other hand grabbed Faker by the neck. Her immense power and swift speed left Faker with no chance to resist.
"What?!"
"Who gave you the courage to launch a sneak attack? Did watching me deal with Servants from the sidelines make you think you were hallucinating and wanted to try it for yourself?"
While Akatsuki was speaking, Roa made a move, charging at her like a wild beast.
"Magician, I can't hold back! I have a feeling that after I consume her, I will definitely become stronger!"
"You want to arm-wrestle with me when you don't even have a 'Crown (Principle Blood Locket)'? Do you think I'm that easily fooled, foolish True Ancestor?"
Meeting Roa's lightning magecraft, Akatsuki sent him flying with a single punch. The launched Roa was embedded into the rock wall of the Great Underground Cavern. Akatsuki controlled her strength to prevent accidentally killing Roa, as she didn't want to have to search the whole world for his reincarnated body later.
Clap, clap, clap.
"As expected of a True Ancestor... Perhaps coming to Fuyuki City was a mistake."
Hatress clapped as he looked at Akatsuki. "Put Faker down, and I will hand over the greater grail to you."
"What are you planning? To obtain the greater grail, you didn't hesitate to tamper with the rules of the Holy Grail War to create the Night Holy Grail War that only exists at night. You even specifically converted seven new Servants for Shinji Matou to command. And now you're going to give up the greater grail so easily?"
Akatsuki applied a bit of pressure, and a chilling sound came from Faker's throat—a sound that would make any ordinary person's heart jump in fear.
"You are too cautious."
Hatress shook his head. "With your strength, winning the Holy Grail War shouldn't have been difficult. Yet, the war has dragged on until now. This means that in the early stages, you were wary of something unknown. But now that you are being so high-profile and unscrupulous, there can only be one reason: your strength has undergone a qualitative leap, and the thing you once feared no longer poses a threat to you."
Akatsuki raised an eyebrow and released Faker. She didn't know much about Hatress, but she knew the man before her was calculating, calm, and possessed great talent in the field of magecraft.
"It's not over yet!"
As if a thunder god had descended, endless lightning struck Akatsuki directly. Roa, who had just been embedded in the rock wall, burst out and threw a punch at Akatsuki's face.
"That didn't hurt at all. Roa, have you degraded to such an extent?"
Unharmed, Akatsuki looked at Roa, who was enveloped in lightning, and sighed. "Lightning... isn't meant to be used like that!"
"Lightning Art: Palm Thunder."
Black lightning raged out from Akatsuki's hand. The ultimate yang power spread along Roa's lightning to his body. In an instant, Roa felt the power within him melt rapidly like snowflakes encountering a forest fire upon meeting that black lightning.
The overbearing power directly shattered Roa's brain, destroyed his soul, and crushed his spirit. He didn't even have time to scream before turning into ash.
The serpent of akasha, the infinite reincarnator—Roa was completely dead!
Ciel, who was eating curry in the Red Continent Banquet Hall - Taishan, paused with her spoon in hand. She looked around in surprise and then at her own hands.
"That guy Roa is dead? Was it really Akatsuki who killed him...?"
"Boss! Three more servings of curry!"
Her appetite rose along with her mood. While eating her curry, Ciel thought about what gift she should give Akatsuki to thank her the next time they met.
Akatsuki's gaze was calm. Naturally, she didn't know cultivation or anything like that, but with her current power, she could perfectly imitate techniques from cultivation novels. For no other reason than one word: "cool."
"So, tell me. Why would you give up the Holy Grail so easily?"
Hatress looked at the ashes of Roa on the ground and spoke slowly, "Let's start with my goal."
"No need. I already know. It's nothing more than your hatred for the current system of the magecraft world, leading you to resign from your position as department head in an attempt to bring back the Age of Gods and plot the subversion of the magecraft world."
"To that end, you even joined forces with the Lord of the Celestial Body Department, Marisbury Animusphere, secretly triggering the serial killings of mystic eye holders seven years ago. You also stole the catalyst Lord El-Melloi II used to summon a Servant, leading to the subsequent Rail Zeppelin incident. I know all of this. Tell me something I don't know."
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