Chapter 78: Unshakable 21

Everyone present was not an ordinary person, not to mention the heroes. Several magicians had also used magic to enhance their senses, and thus could hear that strange sound - the sound of waves wrapped in the night breeze "unfolded" like ripples, never stopping. In the gaps when the surging sound of the waves briefly disappeared, the "gurgling" sounds were clearly heard by everyone, as if the sticky, slippery tentacles were already within reach, and would suck them into its belly in the next second.

——It's getting closer.

The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Even the usually flamboyant Gilgamesh remained abnormally silent, waiting quietly for Zhongli to come back to his senses from his deep thought.

Somehow, this mysterious outsider has become the center of their attention - even though some people haven't realized it yet and are unwilling to admit it, and even though Zhong Li has never thought about it this way, there is no doubt that his words will be the key to tonight's action.

"bite--"

The ringing of the phone disturbed the quiet air, and Zhongli came back to his senses. Weber looked at the phone and said, "It's Shirou Emiya."

Zhong Li nodded: "Take it, they must have something urgent to say."

"Are you all okay?!" Emiya Shirou asked hurriedly the moment the phone was connected.

Zhong Li: "No problem, how are you doing?"

Emiya Shirou breathed a sigh of relief, and then he confidently told them the current situation over there.

After discovering the sea monster, Tosaka Rin immediately went to the Fuyuki Church and asked the supervisor to help block the river bank to prevent Fuyuki residents from accidentally entering; Archer arrived at a nearby high point and stood by, ready to snipe the sea monster at any time; Shirou Emiya, who lost Saber, naturally served as the liaison officer and discussed countermeasures with Zhongli and others.

From an ordinary person's perspective, there was nothing wrong with their decision. Weber even praised it as a "quick response." But to Zhong Li, this plan had a fatal flaw - Archer was left alone.

…Except for Gilgamesh, none of them knew what they were about to face.

That is a demon that is beyond the realm of Heroic Spirits and can only be fought by top-level Servants.

Archer's strength obviously cannot reach the first echelon of Heroic Spirits, which means that the lone Archer is likely to become the primary target of the Red King. Once Archer is swallowed by the Black Holy Grail, Fyodor can make a wish.

The Holy Grail has long been contaminated, and any wish made will be realized in a twisted and malicious way. Coincidentally, the way the Holy Grail is now realized is very suitable for Fyodor's wish.

Zhongli sighed softly.

Initially, he thought there was no need to explain, and in order to prevent people from having too much exposure to knowledge of other worlds, he chose to keep everything related to Teyvat secret. Even the identity of the Red King was vague. Unexpectedly, these protective measures have now backfired.

There are some things that should be told to them.

Zhong Li suddenly said, "Now that things have come to this, I will no longer hide anything. I trust your character, and you have been with me for so long, so you should know the truth."

"...The truth?" Weber's heart skipped a beat. "Mr. Zhongli, what are you talking about?"

Zhong Li turned around and his eyes fell on him.

Those red-gold eyes were still as bright as the magnificent sunset in the sky. The timeless feeling he had felt outside the magic workshop in the nearby town once again flooded into his mind. It was just an ordinary gaze, but it was like a glance from a god across the distant sea of ​​stars. A conceptual "hugeness" weighed on his shoulders, causing him to temporarily stop thinking.

Soon, Zhong Li gave a reply.

Therefore, this glance is no longer just an "image", but a real gaze from God.

Zhongli said that he was a demon.

The Rock Demon, Morax.

The room suddenly became dead silent.

Illya seemed to be lost in thought. Gray looked at Weber in panic, questioning with her eyes whether her master was telling the truth.

Weber's first reaction was to question the authenticity of this matter.

After all, the existence of "God" is too far away from modern humans. Without substantial evidence, no matter how much he trusted Zhong Li, he dared not believe these words.

He subconsciously looked at Rider, hoping that the legendary son of Zeus could provide evidence. Unfortunately, Rider did not have the ability to identify "divinity", and shrugged, telling him to ask Gilgamesh for confirmation.

Given the King of Heroes' character, he would have pointed out the lie sarcastically, but Gilgamesh remained calm and not surprised at all.

Zhongli is truly a demon.

...Fortunately, he had always been respectful in his words and deeds before, and fortunately, when Rider invited Zhongli to be his subject, he promptly stopped it...If he had known Zhongli's identity at that time, he would have covered Rider's mouth the moment he opened his mouth!

That’s the devil! Devil…god…? Eh?

Weber suddenly realized something was wrong.

The most famous legend about "Demons" in this world is King Solomon and the 72 Demons, and Morax is the 21st Demon among them.

But long ago, the magic world recognized that the legendary "Demon God" had the name of God but not the real God. They did not have the authority that gods should have, and were more like simple powerful creatures. According to legend, magicians had also witnessed the appearance of the Demon God Pillar. They were just as their name suggested, a pillar... covered with eyes.

Weber fell into a suspicious silence.

...Could it be, could it be that Mr. Zhongli is actually... No, no, no, he is thinking about something! Let alone the difference in appearance, the difference in size between the two is too big!!! Compared with Zhongli, the sea monster outside looks more like a demon pillar...

However, considering that many non-human creatures have the ability of "mimicry", Weber asked cautiously: "Are you the demon god who signed a contract with King Solomon?"

Hoshino Nozomi didn't know much about the relevant legends, and thought that the demons in this world were all legitimate gods like those in Teyvat. He was about to acknowledge them so that they wouldn't ask any more questions, but the system issued a sharp alarm, interrupting him.

System: [Host! The 72 Demon Gods are extremely ugly pillars! ! ]

System: [Don’t forget the borrowing conditions! ! ! ]

One of the borrowing conditions: it must not damage the image of the demon.

Hoshino Nozomi didn't know whether Morax himself cared about his appearance, but the system obviously cared about it very much.

Xingye Wang immediately changed his words: "No, I am a demon god from the outside world. I am not the same as the 'Morax' you mentioned."

Weber heaved a sigh of relief.

The next second, his heart was in suspense again: "Outside the world? Parallel world? Or other planets?"

Xing Yewang: “…”

He just knew it.

Once the gate is opened, even if only a tiny crack is revealed, doubts and curiosity will pour out like a flood. Ordinary people would just ask a few questions and stop, but smart people would dig deep and probe endlessly... This is why he has always chosen to remain secret.

Hoshino Mochi was vague again: "There are more important issues at the moment."

After the question was pushed back, Weber's feverish mind calmed down a little.

He wondered why Zhongli chose to reveal his identity at this time? Why did the gods from other worlds come here? And most importantly - if Zhongli was a demon god, then what was the enemy who had been against Zhongli all along?

Weber really didn't want to hear that word from Zhongli's mouth.

On the surface, the enemy and our side each have a god, and they seem to be evenly matched. However, in reality, there are far more considerations than these. The authority of the gods largely determines their combat effectiveness.

Although Zhongli did not say it explicitly, judging from his performance during this period, he was more inclined to "defense" rather than "offense". Although a strong defense can adopt the tactic of "stretching the front line and consuming the enemy", the small city of Fuyuki cannot afford this kind of "consumption".

Moreover, the foul contents of the Holy Grail seemed to be able to hurt Zhong Li.

"This journey is extremely dangerous," Zhongli seemed to see his worries, "so I told you this."

"You mean..."

"Idiot, he is asking you to make a choice." Gilgamesh replied impatiently.

Go forward and fight alongside him, but you may die at any time; retreat and hide under his protection, push all the dangers to him, and spend the night safely.

Weber was stunned.

Reason told him that a mere human should not participate in the battle of God. The most he could do was to send Rider to assist, and then take Gray and Illya to retreat to the rear... No, maybe even Rider should not go.

Not to mention that they needed the protection of the Heroic Spirits, if he were separated from Rider, the Three-Strike Command Seals in his hand would lose their scope of operation.

If used properly, the Command Spell could even reverse the situation of a battle, so there were only two options before him—to go to the battlefield with Rider, or to hide behind together.

He should have asked for public opinion.

However, before he could open his mouth, Gray took the lead and said, "Mr. Zhongli, I, I want to go with you!"

The girl who had been hiding behind Weber stood in front of Zhong Li at some point and looked up at him. Although her voice was trembling, her eyes were unusually firm.

"Well... actually I should have listened to Master's advice... I don't know what Master is going to do, but this time even if you decide to stay behind, I will... will also follow Mr. Zhongli." Gray lowered her head guiltily, not daring to look Weber in the eye.

“That’s what the little girl said, huh? Military advisor, what do you think?” Rider laughed. “Let me make it clear in advance that I can’t possibly stay behind. Whether it’s an alien demon or Saber transformed into an Alter, they are both rare opponents that we can’t miss!”

After hearing that the Holy Grail was contaminated during the day, he gave up the idea of ​​using it to rebuild his body and changed his goal to "have a good time in the Holy Grail War."

Rider reached out and ruffled Weber's long hair into a mess: "Don't look so sad! Make a decision quickly!"

"What do you mean by decision..." Weber covered his head, "You actually knew what I would choose, right?!"

On the night of the summoning, he had said that he had come to Fuyuki in pursuit of the King of Conquerors, and would continue to do so in the future.

The decision of the King of Conquerors was the reason for him to join the war.

But this is just one of them.

Gray's thoughts and Zhong Li's existence itself are also the reasons why he joins the war.

"We've been together for such a long time," Weber took a deep breath and mustered up his courage, "Even if it's God, I can still call him my friend!"

On the other end of the phone, Emiya Shirou, who had been left on hold for a long time, also said that he would help.

Illya: "Well, Shirou must come. There is a secret weapon against the Black Holy Grail that requires your magic."

The secret weapon, the Gem Sword, is a top-level magic outfit that uses the Second Law to gather the magic power of many parallel worlds together.

Naturally, a magic costume of this level could not appear here. Fortunately, the ancestors of the Tosaka family had obtained the design drawings. Although they failed to make it successfully, by using Shirou Emiya's magic (which can "project" weapons that have been seen and whose structure is understood), they may be able to copy a low-quality gemstone sword.

Although not as powerful as the original, it's better than nothing.

"I'll stay here and wait for Shirou to come," Illya said.

She jumped off the sofa and grabbed Zhong Li's sleeve: "Big brother, I'll wait for you to come back."

At this point, everyone has made a decision.

Gilgamesh drawled, "It seems that even stupid people can occasionally do something that will amaze people."

His tone was still arrogant and nonchalant, but it was full of praise.

"...I understand," Zhong Li said, "Then, let's merge with Archer first."

He looked around, his eyes fixed on each person, as if he wanted to imprint their outlines in his mind.

Before leaving, Zhongli called Dazai Osamu as prompted by the system, but hung up before the call was connected.

He didn't have time to tell Dazai everything from beginning to end, nor did he have time to discuss countermeasures with Dazai, but he was sure that Dazai would understand what he meant from this phone call and take action against Fyodor.

"Everyone, let's go."

*

A strange fishy smell drifted into Archer's nose with the wind.

The wind is so strong tonight that it is almost impossible to breathe, but no matter how hard the wind tries, it cannot blow away the mist on the river bank.

The heroic spirit lowered his head, staring closely at the figure in the mist while distractedly thinking about "change".

This Holy Grail War was so different from the five wars he had experienced that he was unable to predict the future trend and make the correct response.

At the beginning of the Fifth War, he was the one hiding in the dark, controlling the situation. Now, Zhong Li has become the key figure who turns the tide of the war.

…Forget it. There’s no point thinking about it now.

Archer collected his scattered thoughts and focused on his surroundings.

The order given to him by the Lord was to look for an opportunity to use a treasure to destroy the core of the sea monster. If that was not possible, he should find a way to prevent it from coming ashore until he reunited with Zhongli and others.

During this time, the sea monster has been approaching the river bank, but its speed is surprisingly slow. At its speed, it may take more than ten minutes to reach the shore.

This should have been good news, but Archer frowned.

...Too slow...Is this its original speed, or...someone did it on purpose? Upon closer inspection, the Black Holy Grail, Saber Alter, and the mysterious Heroic Spirit all seemed to be missing. Could it be that...

Is it bait?!

Archer's breath hitched.

Before he could pull out the cocoon, a few familiar figures appeared in the peripheral vision. Archer was about to remind them not to contact the sea monster, but he saw them rushing straight towards him, not taking the sea monster seriously at all.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

First aggregate, then analyze…

"Archer, get out of the way!" Weber's shout exploded in his ears like thunder.

At the same time, there was also a loud roar like an explosion!

The dark red light cannon stretched for dozens of meters, coming straight from a distance. The range was so large that Archer gave up dodging instantly and deployed the Seven-Layer Sky-Covering Ring.

Seven layers of petal-shaped shields blocked him, but were shattered layer by layer by King Arthur's Holy Sword.

“Crack—”

The last layer of petals shattered, and the next second, a topaz-like barrier replaced the petals, blocking the aftermath of the treasure. Archer immediately jumped back and evacuated, but Zhongli leaned forward and advanced instead of retreating.

With a "clang" sound, the spear collided with the pitch-black holy sword, causing a huge wave of air to burst out!

——Using the light of her Noble Phantasm as a cover, Saber had arrived in front of them.

Then, she curled her lips slightly and revealed an almost imperceptible smile.

Without any pause, tremendous magical power gathered on the sword, and the second treasure was launched closely at Zhongli!

...You can't dodge it, and there's no need to take it head-on.

Zhongli turned his wrist, changed the direction of the spear, and slammed into the holy sword.

【Power confrontation, success.】

"Bang!"

King Arthur was knocked flying, but his treasure did not stop. The moment the light cannon attacked, Zhong Li dodged to the side, and a cold light flashed in the jumping light.

However, the treasure concealed the cold light and the sound of the spear cutting through the air.

Therefore, Zhongli was unable to avoid the attack from the Red King.

The wind howled, and he fell straight into the black mud that had been waiting for him for a long time, surrounded by endless evil thoughts.

far away.

Fyodor looked at the surging black mud quietly and said softly: "The real bait is you, Archer."

"Moracus, can you resist 'all the evil in this world'?"