Tokyo Singularity (15) Avenger...

"I refuse."

Without hesitation, Xia Youjie blurted out, "There are still things here that I cherish."

The words had barely left his mouth when Xia Youjie, who had been maintaining a facade of peace, let out a regretful sigh. The next second, a branding iron-like heat gripped Xia Youjie's neck, like a flame from which he could not escape.

When exactly did they get so close...?!

The warm, red-marked hand slowly tightened. The cult leader looked into those eyes, which were far clearer than his own, ignoring the surprise and uncertainty within them, and seemed genuinely regretful, saying:

"What a pity—then you should just die."

Since you've given up the opportunity to cooperate, and knowing so much, as a top-tier expert, you can only die now.

That's fair, isn't it?

Xia Youjie's vision gradually blurred. Heh, he even called himself a strongman, a savior, but he couldn't even save himself. How pathetic...

A white mist spread before his eyes, as if his consciousness was about to be carried to the Sanzu River by the drifting mist... Wait, white mist?!

"What's going on! Assassin, her?!" The young cult leader suddenly released his grip, his facial muscles twitching in disbelief. Xia Youjie took the opportunity to break free of his restraints and immediately moved away from him, coughing.

The white mist gradually dissipated, and the Zen temple, previously obscured by the mist, seemed to return to the human world. Xia Youjie, with his sharp eyes, saw a flash of red light pass through the cult leader's hand.

What followed was an unforgettable scene that unfolded before everyone's eyes.

First, an invisible force stirred the air into a vortex, then icy blue magical power shot straight into the sky, and finally, intense flames caused the clouds to ripple with red.

The three energies collided violently, intertwined, and then devoured each other. The pure violence was like the Big Bang, which stole away all other light and sound.

The walls of the Zen temple, which had been renovated countless times over the past thousand years, developed several cracks. With just a gentle breeze, they crumbled and shattered into pieces.

Xia Youjie had no choice but to cover his face with the back of his hand and quietly wait for the light to dissipate.

If he felt powerless when facing the young cult leader just now, Xia Youjie now felt utterly insignificant. Like an ant encountering a giant, he wouldn't even notice being crushed underfoot.

He suddenly realized something he should have known. To the weak, he was strong. But to the stronger, he was nothing more than a weakling.

He seemed somewhat arrogant in the past.

"Master Xia You." Before the light had completely faded, the ordinary-looking man spoke as if unaffected, "It's time to go."

"No. I must kill him first! Assassin can't..."

The man interrupted the young cult leader, his tone becoming more forceful: "Avenger, without the white mist obscuring your view, Gojo Satoru's six eyes will immediately notice you."

It seemed as if Gojo Satoru was some kind of monstrous flood. Despite his extremely unwilling expression, Master Xiayou quickly retreated before the light faded. Only Xiayou Jie was left standing outside the Zen temple, touching his neck.

The two who caused the massive light pollution, along with Fujimaru Ritsuka, were gathered around Jack the Ripper, who was gradually turning into specks of light and about to dissipate.

Fujimaru Ritsuka finally had time to ask the question that had been bothering her since meeting Jack the Ripper: "Choosing to assassinate during the day, it seems your mother doesn't love you this time."

The provocation worked well; Jack immediately became agitated, and before returning to the Throne of Heroes, he struggled to say, "Mom, that's not true! There are bad people causing trouble!"

Hmm... another bad guy. This is getting complicated.

Fujimaru Ritsuka touched her hair. This mission with Gojo Satoru and the others had been quite fruitful, but it had also raised many questions.

It is now known that this singularity originally did not have magicians or Servants, and the medium for summoning Servants was likely the Holy Grail from her world. Connecting this to Jack the Ripper's account, it can be further deduced that there was a mastermind behind that Master.

This leads to three questions.

What was Jack the Ripper's motive for killing the sorcerer? What was the relationship between her Master and Xia Youjie? And why did the mastermind behind it all make her carry out the assassination under unfavorable conditions?

The crux of all these problems points to one entity—Jack the Ripper's Master. And the key breakthrough is Jack the Ripper's cry of "Mom" to Xia Youjie.

Okay, let's make finding Jack's Master our next goal!

A few minutes later, the smoke and light dissipated simultaneously, leaving the entire area north of the front courtyard completely razed to the ground. Only four figures stood facing each other amidst the ruins.

"Hey, Jay!"

Xia Youjie snapped out of his reverie and turned to look in the direction of the sound. Gojo Satoru was smiling and waving at him, then quickly pulled Fujimaru Ritsuka to him.

“I’ve discovered a big secret about Ritsuka!” Gojo Satoru put his hands on Ritsuka’s shoulders and pushed her in front of Natsuyuki: “Did you see the white mist that suddenly disappeared just now? It was Ritsuka who did it.”

Xia Youjie asked in confusion, "Hmm?"

He felt that since Fujimaru Ritsuka was able to cure the poisonous fog back then, it wouldn't be impossible for her to eliminate the white fog if her ability were expanded a little more. Was there any need to be so surprised?

Gojo Satoru emphasized: "She, alone."

"……Um?!"

"To be precise, it's Medea's Noble Phantasm ability." Fujimaru Ritsuka was sandwiched between two tall DKs like a pie, struggling to breathe. Looking at Xia Youjie's surprised and wide eyes, she answered helplessly, her voice still tinged with exhaustion.

In the few minutes after Jack the Ripper disappeared, Gojo Satoru kept pestering her to fight him—without a Servant, only a simple summon.

Having undergone hellish and rigorous training from Servants like Chiron, Fujimaru Ritsuka, coupled with her simple summoning ability, certainly has the potential to fight.

But there's no need. Wouldn't it be better to conserve magic? Even if she's already used to it, she doesn't like the feeling of exhaustion from running out of magic every day.

However, Gojou Satoru, who started at max level, never expected Fujimaru Ritsuka to have such a problem, and continued to talk to himself: "Little Ritsuka is a Pokémon Summoner just like you!"

"He was able to severely injure Jack the Ripper all by himself, yet he claims to be just an ordinary person. He's clearly trying to hide his true abilities!"

"Wu, Pokémon would cry if they heard your comparison. Cursed Spirits are much uglier than Pokémon."

Xia Youjie raised an eyebrow in rebuttal, while looking at Fujimaru Ritsuka in surprise, not expecting her strength to be able to contend with Jack the Ripper. Meeting Ritsuka's golden eyes, he noticed that there was no embarrassment of being exposed in her eyes, but rather a trace of inexplicable...regret.

What is she regretting?

Was it regret that he hadn't kept his abilities hidden, or regret that he wasn't an ordinary person? Xia Youjie rejected all these guesses. No one wants to be weak. Perhaps Ritsuka had her own unspeakable difficulties. Wu's words were still too offensive.

“Got it.” Xia Youjie interrupted, changing the subject: “Didn’t you say you were going to the dessert shop? I happen to have something to tell you guys, especially Ritsuka.”

“That’s right!” Gojo Satoru clapped his hands, but did not act immediately. Instead, he approached Natsuyu Jie, put his arm around his shoulder, and slowly asked, “But Jie, it’s rare to see you take the initiative to talk about something, especially since it’s related to Ritsuka.”

He hooked his small round glasses with a single finger, revealing his azure left eye, which was devoid of joy or sorrow, like a deity. In that instant, Xia Youjie suddenly felt that his colleague in front of him was a stranger.

Gojo Satoru paused, his tone turning somber: "What happened to you outside?"

"...Why are you so certain?"

But the next second, Gojo Satoru quickly reverted to his carefree self, dragging out his words: "Heh heh, look. There are still traces of your cursed spirit here, even if it's only yours."

Xia Youjie interrupted him: "Am I the only one?"

“Oh yeah, only one person’s cursed spirit trace.” Gojo Satoru glanced at it lazily, chin in hand. Seeing Natsumi Yuuki’s thoughtful expression and lack of response, he quickly lost interest.

"But it's okay if you don't want to talk about it, Jay can handle it anyway."

“Ha,” Xia Youjie chuckled self-deprecatingly, “I don’t believe in myself.”

That future version of himself was practically a walking killing machine. If he wasn't controlled soon, who knew what would happen! Xia Youjie's face turned pale when he thought of that person. He kept asking himself in his heart, would his future self really go that crazy?

"And are you sure you want me to stand here in the blazing sun and say this? You have no bottom line, but Ritsuka and I don't."

"You're right. Let's go, go call the assistant coach, we're going to the dessert shop! Ritsuka... Ritsuka!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka snapped back to reality and heard Gojo Satoru complaining about her daydreaming. She said apologetically, "I just felt like someone was watching me."

Gojo Satoru made a pretentious joke: "Hey, could it be some kind of perverted guy who admires Ritsuka?"

"To be more precise, it's just like when I wake up and find that there's suddenly an upper bunk on my bed in the room, and there's a naked person lying on it, and that person is staring at me."

The two DKs, who were usually shameless but never expected such a brazen act, were left bewildered: "???"

And at a corner not far away.

A man's shadow suddenly appeared on the empty ground.

Staring at Fujimaru Ritsuka's back, the unremarkable man was silent for a second, then his shoulders began to tremble slightly, as if he was enduring pain or suppressing a smile.

"Mmm...slurp...mmm!"

A low laugh seeped from deep within his throat. A cracking sound of bones dislocating came from his legs as his slender figure slowly rose. A thin yet familiar face appeared in the alley.

"My Master is quite perceptive; we were almost seen."

The man pressed his forehead against his hand, the barely suppressed smile revealing his extreme excitement. "Although this humble monk cannot suppress his desire to see your figure, but... this will not do, this will not do!"

The real show hasn't even started yet, so the actors can't be arrested! The white mist has already fooled Chaldea and the Master; some secrets will be revealed at the very end for the best effect!

—

Half an hour later.

As soon as the unlicensed car carrying the assistant supervisor stopped, Gojo Satoru jumped out impatiently and headed straight for the dessert shop without waiting for the other two. Meanwhile, Fujimaru Ritsuka caught a glimpse of a fairly large convenience store across the street from the dessert shop.

Suddenly, her foot spun around on the ground, changing direction. She told Xia Youjie to go first and then walked towards the convenience store.

When Fujimaru Ritsuka reappeared, she was carrying an extra bag. After looking around to make sure no innocent passersby had noticed, she called out Jeanne Alter.

"Alter, here you go!" Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled as she took the ice cream from the bag and held it up in front of Jeanne Alter.

"Try it! I highly recommend this flavor!"

A note from the author:

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