Chapter 71: Unshakable 14
“Boom——”
The dark ribbon suddenly hit the jade halberd, making a sharp sound that made one's teeth ache.
After being stopped in mid-air, the "black shadow" still did not give up. It circled around the shield several times, trying to crush the jade halberd. However, no matter it stabbed or strangled, the jade halberd did not move at all, emitting a dazzling gem-like brilliance.
After a few seconds of stalemate, the "black shadow" suddenly retracted its ribbons and disappeared from everyone's sight.
Left? No!
Weber's heart tightened, and he suddenly shouted, "Mr. Zhongli!"
He only had time to remind him of this. As soon as he finished speaking, a "black shadow" flashed behind Zhongli. The soil it touched suddenly turned black. The black color spread along the veins of the earth, bypassing Yu Zhang and directly coming to Zhongli's feet!
The next second, black mud gushed out!
A large mass of black blocked everyone's view. The "black shadow" was only targeting Zhongli, but the black mud splashing over was deadly enough. Archer, who was at the back, quickly led his master and two others to retreat. Gray wanted to catch up, but as soon as she exerted force with her legs, a mass of black mud blocked her way.
"Master!"
"Gray, don't come over here!"
It was too late. Weber's heart almost stopped.
The black mud was only a millimeter away from him, and the unknown malicious intent was almost becoming a reality, pressing him to the point of suffocation. Weber closed his eyes subconsciously, but the expected pain did not come. At the critical moment, Yu Zhang appeared again and blocked the filth for him.
A hand penetrated the shield and pulled him out of the circle of black mud. The man's strength was quite strong and it hurt his arm, but Weber didn't care. He turned his head anxiously, and finally breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the familiar face.
...That's great, Zhong Li is fine.
However, the next moment, the heart that had let go was weighed down again.
He saw a mass of dirty black mud on Zhongli's calf, which was gradually seeping into the flesh and bones like a malignant tumor, and an unknown red light was emitted from the wound.
Weber was shocked: "Mr. Zhongli, are you injured? Are you okay?"
Zhong Li did not respond immediately, his eyes fell on the bright red area on his calf.
Unlike the gray and white silhouettes of objects and human bodies, the red color represents the scope of his injuries, and the depth represents the severity.
The calf is light red, indicating that the wound is not deep and does not affect movement.
Hoshino Mochi said "It's okay" a little slowly and continued to speculate on the next move of "Black Shadow".
Or rather, what else did Fyodor want it to do.
Should we catch them all now and then deal with Assassin and Gilgamesh? If that were the case, it would be too hasty to send only Black Shadow. According to Fyodor's cautious character, he should at least send Red King to assist and ensure that everything would go well.
After all, even if he didn't know how to completely subdue "Black Shadow", he could still ensure that he could escape unscathed.
But now there is no trace of them at all. Is it that Fyodor has other intentions and is hiding his strength, or is it that...
While he was thinking, the "black shadow" disappeared again.
This time, Xingye Wang was prepared. The moment the black mud surged, he grabbed Weber by the collar and threw him to Gray. He then jumped to the other side and turned on the shield to block the sharp streamers like knives.
After several rounds, the accident finally happened.
【Agile identification, failure.】
The system quickly prompted, speaking at a very fast speed: [Host, do you want to transport it? ]
Hoshino Nozomi didn't even think about it: [No.]
After the last fuel transport, his luck value was only 12 points, and he could not use it again unless it was a critical moment.
His take-off steps were abruptly stopped, and Hoshino Motoko fell freely. Fortunately, the branches were very high, and he had enough time and space to adjust his posture, balance in mid-air, and land steadily.
After standing firm, Hoshino Nozomi began to think about the possibility of retreat.
The failure of his skills and his extremely low luck value reminded him that if he couldn't quickly find a way to subdue "Sombre", delaying would only put him in a disadvantageous situation.
So... should we retreat with Gray and Webber?
As soon as this thought came to mind, a huge roar suddenly erupted in the distance, shaking the earth and causing leaves to fall from the trees.
Is anyone still fighting?
The demon's senses were extremely sharp. After the explosion, Xingye Wang heard a covered-up, extremely rhythmic sound - "swoosh, swoosh, swoosh".
...very familiar, very much like the sound of Gilgamesh throwing away the royal treasure.
Xing Yewang: “…”
Gilgamesh is truly elusive.
No wonder the Red King didn't show up... Turns out he was fighting Gilgamesh...
He did not have time to think about the reason why the King of Heroes appeared here. After the loud noise, the "black shadow" paused strangely for a few seconds, and the ribbons surrounding it turned around and pointed towards the source of the sound, as if it wanted to rush over.
Hoshino Nozomi seized the opportunity and swept his spear across, cutting off several streams of smoke.
The "black shadow" did not fight back, but silently retracted its broken "limbs" and disappeared in an instant. Ten seconds later, the sounds of fighting in the distance also stopped abruptly.
Xingye Wang waited for a while, but still did not see the "Black Shadow" or the Red King. He guessed that Fyodor must have asked them to retreat. The strange thing was that Gilgamesh did not come either.
But the King of Heroes’ thoughts are always... well, hard to guess. Hoshino Nozomi decided to think about this later.
He returned to the original empty space. Grey and Weber were huddled together and talking in low voices, apparently about the battle just now. Zhong Li walked up to the two of them and was about to speak when one of his hands was tightly grasped by Grey.
The girl's hands had slender bones but great strength. Zhong Li turned his wrist, but Gray still did not let go of his hand.
This was a rather unusual move for the reserved and calm Grey.
Zhong Li asked in confusion: "What's wrong? Don't worry, we are safe now."
Gray's voice trembled a little: "Mr. Zhongli... the wound is obviously very serious, why do you say it's okay?"
Zhong Li: “?”
It's really okay, it will be back to normal after a while.
But Gray's tone was too serious and solemn, Zhong Li asked the system hesitantly: [Will there be any problem? ]
System: [No problem.]
After getting the system's assurance, Zhong Li smiled and said, "It's really not serious."
Gray's voice trembled even more: "You are still trying to be brave..."
"Mr. Zhongli, Grey saw it all," Weber couldn't help but sigh, his tone was very serious, "Grey saw you fall from the tree branch. If the wound hadn't hindered your movement, how could you..."
He didn't say the rest.
Weber was not sure of the exact time when Zhongli was injured. Perhaps it was when the "black shadow" attacked for the first time, or perhaps it was when it broke into the black mud and pulled him out of the encirclement.
It was not until the moment Gray discovered it that Weber realized why he took so long to say "I'm fine" when he asked Zhongli if he was okay.
Weber lowered his brows, not knowing what to say, so he could only try to comfort Grey.
Zhong Li: “…”
"Falling down" is because of the failure of agility assessment, but this cannot be said.
Unable to defend himself, Zhongli could only accept the reason, comforted Grey, and promised to treat her injuries after returning.
System: [Host, you said it too early. This injury may heal before dawn. ]
Xing Yewang: “…”
Speak earlier next time.
Gray misunderstood his unnatural silence as an attack of the wound, and the girl hurriedly said, "Mr. Zhongli, if you are in a lot of pain, I, I can carry you down the mountain!"
Zhong Li: “???”
Zhong Li: "That's not necessary. No, absolutely not!"
They were having so much fun here that the foursome not far away seemed a little too quiet.
Illyasviel, the Lord of Berserker, is a girl with a childish face, but her words and actions are not like those of a child. She did not immediately express her opinion to Zhongli and others, but instead focused on examining the wounds on Shirou Emiya's body.
Tosaka Rin observed the three people out of the corner of her eye with mixed feelings.
In her opinion, these three people are undoubtedly freaks.
He dared to join the battle without summoning any servants. He was clearly a human, but his combat performance was as good as that of a Heroic Spirit, or even better. And the magic dress in the girl's hand...
Tosaka Rin stared at Gray's face and whispered to Archer, "What do you think?"
She originally wanted to inquire about the relationship between Grey and King Arthur, but she waited a long time for Archer's answer.
Tosaka Rin couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Does the wound hurt?"
Archer shook his head and stared closely at Zhong Li's back.
As someone who has been contaminated, Archer knows the power of the black mud: no authentic heroic spirit can resist it, and once contaminated, it is like having one foot in the underworld.
But Archer happens to be a special case - he is not a hero who will go down in history, but an ordinary human being.
In order to save 500 humans, he signed a contract with the world consciousness and was promoted to a Heroic Spirit.
The future of Shirou Emiya, one of the participants in this Holy Grail War.
Now, at this time of time, I am full of worries and silent; Archer, who has already experienced this Holy Grail War, is also not in a very good mood.
In the original Fifth Holy Grail War, these three did not have any roles.
He looked at Zhong Li's back and fell into deep thought.
*
Deep in the forest.
Fyodor adjusted his hat to cover his ears to block the cold wind. After a moment, he heard the footsteps of another person nearby. Fyodor turned around and said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Amon."
Amon nodded slightly: "Sakura went back."
Fyodor: "Are you full?"
Amon: “Yeah.”
Matou Sakura ate Berserker and swallowed the King of Heroes' Noble Phantasm. For her now, the magic power she captured today is enough to last her for some time.
Fyodor did not respond. Amon observed his expression and suddenly said, "The shadow has not completely merged with her. Now she can only absorb magic power instinctively after falling asleep, so her reaction to instructions is inevitably slow."
"I understand, Mr. Amon, I don't mean to blame her," Fyodor said slowly, "The magic power released by the King of Heroes is considerable, and Sakura's actions with Morax are at a stalemate. No matter how delicious the meal is, if you can't eat it, you can only exchange it for another meal."
He seems to be in a good mood.
After confirming this, Amon added: "It seems that the Hero King came for Morax."
"Help?"
"...No, I was watching a play."
"He said that, but he was not happy with our actions against Morax," Amon was speechless. "He said that he suddenly attacked us because he hated my identity as a demon god. Then why didn't he take action before?"
Fyodor chuckled.
Gilgamesh's change of attitude was indeed unexpected, but even if Zhongli joined forces with him, there was nothing to worry about now.
Because the Black Holy Grail can indeed cause serious damage to the Demon.
Gray noticed Morax falling from the tree, and Fyodor naturally noticed it too.
He was reluctant to use the Red King for an experiment to verify a certain conjecture, so he adopted this method. Fortunately, his conjecture was correct.
——The Black Holy Grail can devour the devil.
After this guess was verified, the reason why Wendy disappeared suddenly became clear.
It was not because of Shibuzawa Ryuhiko and his peculiarities, but because of the Black Holy Grail that was attracted by the highly concentrated magic power.
This would also explain why the Holy Grail War started early.
The Black Holy Grail devoured the demon, and the enormous magic power was naturally able to make up for the loss from the last wish.
In the cool night breeze, Fyodor thought: Since the Black Holy Grail can devour Wendy, then why can't Morax...?