Or, you guys find another savior

From a certain perspective, the Great Source is Xi Jianxi's Mana Reactor.

Soon, Morgan saw Xi Jianxi standing in the hall on this floor. He was standing there, the Red Spear in his hand slowly disappearing.

As if his vision was burned by the spear's presence, Morgan frowned unhappily.

"If you needed a weapon, you could have just told me?"

"Don't you need a weapon too?" Xi Jianxi pursed his lips helplessly. "Besides, I have my own weapon. Last time, I was just afraid of offending your kindness."

As they spoke, Morgan had already approached. "Since you are my husband, listen to my advice. Someone like you shouldn't rely too much on that gun."

"Rely..."

Xi Jianxi felt Morgan was exaggerating a bit.

He just thought the gun was very suitable for killing familiars.

"In short, I can handle it from here. You just watch the show from the side."

"That was my plan anyway."

After speaking, Morgan changed back into her casual clothes and pushed her glasses up.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Color Seat vs. Pride

Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald finally realized one thing.

The Holy Grail War was not a simple competition between Magus for honor and life.

It was, as the name suggested, a complete "war."

If you won, you could live. If you lost, your life and death would be in the hands of others.

Just like now.

His proud twenty-four layers of barriers were mercilessly shattered by Xi Jianxi like glass crafts.

His Malevolent Spirits and Ghouls familiars, which he was confident no one could break through, were all killed by Xi Jianxi without a single one left.

In the past, Kayneth always looked down on these practical Magus.

They didn't clearly belong to any faction, and were just low-level servants for the Mage's Association to do dirty work.

As a noble of the Mage's Association and a Lord, Kayneth had always instinctively looked down on other Masters participating in the Holy Grail War.

And now, Kayneth finally understood the problem.

Wild, unconventional Magus or self-taught individuals often couldn't even attain the rank of Frame. Families that entered the Mage's Association after the Industrial Revolution, even after generations of effort, would cap out at Cause.

But Xi Jianxi was a Pride, and must have exceptional abilities and special achievements to have attained such a rank.

If it weren't for his lack of faction affiliation, Xi Jianxi might have even advanced further.

Kayneth stood with his hands behind his back in the room, his Noble Phantasm Moon Cell Essence already deployed.

Automatic defense, automatic tracking, targeted attack.

His fiancée, Sola-Ui, had already been persuaded to stay in the room. Kayneth himself was the last line of defense.

Should he call Lancer back for defense?

Kayneth looked at the three Command Spells on the back of his hand, still agonizing over this matter.

He no longer had time to watch the battle between Lancer and Berserker. Moon Cell Essence had already detected Xi Jianxi's trace and launched an attack.

As the heaviest substance at room temperature, mercury, when driven at high pressure and high speed, generated immense kinetic energy. Furthermore, its shape could be instantly changed into a whip, blade, or spear. Its sharpness far surpassed lasers, equivalent to ultra-high-pressure water jets.

The walls of the hall corridor let out a mournful cry, shrouded in dust and smoke.

Kayneth clearly felt Moon Cell Essence transform into a sharp blade and hit the target.

He didn't believe a single blow like this could defeat Xi Jianxi. He only hoped to give the enemy some impact, thereby establishing an advantage in his home field.

Having lost his barriers and familiars too quickly, the only thing Kayneth could rely on was the three Mana Reactors he brought, preventing him from falling into a dangerous situation due to mana depletion in this confrontation.

"For fluid control, I recall your attributes should be 'Wind' and 'Water,' right?"

Xi Jianxi emerged from the dust and smoke. Kayneth was stunned when he saw Xi Jianxi's figure clearly.

Moon Cell Essence, transformed into blades, continuously slashed at him at extremely high speeds, but all these attacks stopped just before touching him, as if performing a play, unable to advance further.

"Scalp!" Kayneth shouted.

The mercury transformed into countless blades, attacking Xi Jianxi simultaneously.

Even with Kayneth directly controlling them, these blades still couldn't touch Xi Jianxi.

"It's useless," Xi Jianxi said calmly.

The first of the original Runes, the Rune against the enemy.

Under the effect of this Rune, the edges of weapons would all become dull and heavy, eventually becoming unusable.

No matter how Kayneth commanded or controlled it, Moon Cell Essence could not hit Xi Jianxi as he expected, nor inflict the intended damage.

Fortunately, Kayneth had already entered combat mode. The wild attacks of Moon Cell Essence at this moment were merely a means to obscure his vision. His mana circuits operated at full capacity, drawing mana from the Mana Reactor, and then—

The mist condensed in mid-air, mixing with the dust and smoke, obscuring the vision of both parties.

The temperature dropped rapidly, far colder than it should be for winter.

Compared to the Mercury Dress, Xi Jianxi's body heat seemed more like a target.

A fierce gale began to swirl within the enclosed space.

Wind and water, Kayneth's innate magical affinities.

Manipulating both simultaneously, casting ice magic was effortless.

This wasn't the time to showcase his extensive knowledge of magic, so Kayneth decisively chose his most familiar affinity. By minimizing incantation time and relying on the support of his magic crest and Mana Reactor, he could quickly unleash a large-scale magic.

He had witnessed Xi Jianxi's ice magic the previous night in the port warehouse. Kayneth considered its scale impressive, but not as formidable as his own when going all out.

"Solid ice, freeze my enemies!"

A gale erupted, and countless hexagonal snowflakes swept across the entire thirty-second floor of the hotel. He intended to leave Xi Jianxi with no room to advance or retreat.

Xi Jianxi raised his hand and saw his fingers beginning to freeze, ice shards visibly encasing his entire body at an alarming rate.

Where there was water, ice formed; a breath turned to frost.

He was, after all, a genius from the Clock Tower, a Lord of the Mineralology Department of the Mage's Association.

Xi Jianxi slowly closed his eyes. In the blink of an eye, his entire body was sealed beneath solid ice, as if an ancient human from millennia ago were trapped in a snow mountain.

Through the clear, colorless ice, Kayneth saw Xi Jianxi open his eyes again and look at him.

"Scalp!"

Kayneth commanded again, this time intending to shatter Xi Jianxi along with the solid ice.

At this point in the Holy Grail War, duels between Magus and Magus inherently meant a fight for survival. Even if someone from the Mage's Association wanted to cause trouble for Kayneth over this, they wouldn't have any grounds to do so.

Then, Kayneth saw Xi Jianxi's lips move slightly, as if he were saying something.

"What? Begging for mercy? Not running away even when facing my Grand Magic, now you're scared?" Kayneth smirked triumphantly. "Unfortunately, your threat was too great, and you've caused me such significant losses."

Before his words even finished, within the blizzard barrier capable of destroying everything, a faint red light began to glow.

The fist-sized red light pulsed like a heartbeat, then suddenly surged. The flames broke through the barrier, consuming the blizzard so thick it made it impossible to open one's eyes, and swept towards Kayneth.

Realizing something was wrong, Kayneth hurriedly recalled the Mercury Dress to defend himself, wrapping himself within it. Only then did he manage to block the intense flames, preventing himself from being burned to a crisp.

Xi Jianxi hadn't been begging for mercy; he had been casting magic.

A single, concise word was enough to activate his fire-elemental Grand Magic—Titanomachia.

Ice turned to water, water evaporated into steam.

The thirty-second floor, still shrouded in mist, was now as hot as the most humid season in a rainforest. Xi Jianxi also had to use magic to shield himself from the heat.

Chapter 38: Life and Death

He looked at Kayneth, who was completely encased in mercury. The flames couldn't burn, and the tongues of fire licked powerlessly around the mercury, unable to penetrate the Moon Cell Essence even slightly.

However…

Xi Jianxi stood in the midst of the flames, arms crossed, watching the mercury sphere.

Mercury was highly toxic. Kayneth's magic artifact, made from mercury, would undoubtedly suppress the inherent toxicity through magic, or perhaps his own crest could help the host mitigate this harm.

In short, under normal circumstances, the danger of Moon Cell Essence was essentially negligible.

But what if it were scorched by such a powerful fire-elemental Grand Magic?

Xi Jianxi didn't know. He cautiously guarded against any mercury vapor that might have dispersed into the air, waiting for Kayneth's reaction.

Using fire to counter ice was actually a risky maneuver for a Magus. If one lacked sufficient power, it would only lead to self-destruction.

The hotel's fire alarm suddenly blared, startling Xi Jianxi. He sighed silently.

If this continued, he feared the fire department and police would be attracted.

He drew a line in the air with his index finger.

The seventh of the original runes, the rune of suppression, Ansuz.

The incantation reduced and suppressed the flames; extinguishing fires was merely its simplest application.

Simultaneously, the Moon Cell Essence, which had been protecting Kayneth from the flames, began to crack.

"Wind..."

Kayneth was about to cast wind magic when his breath suddenly hitched, followed by violent retching.

He covered his mouth and gagged several times. When he removed his hand, his white glove was stained with red blood. His body suddenly felt sore, his head and abdomen ached as if he had been injured without any visible wounds.

"Mercury... poisoning..." Kayneth immediately realized the problem.

The Moon Cell Essence was indeed an excellent artifact for both offense and defense. Kayneth had always been extremely satisfied with and confident in his own creation.

Only today had he miscalculated one step.

He hadn't expected Xi Jianxi to counterattack with fire magic, disregarding the elemental disadvantage. In his haste to deploy defenses, even the Moon Cell Essence, unable to withstand the fire magic, began to evaporate.

Just now... Kayneth had placed himself entirely within highly concentrated mercury vapor without any protection.

"I thought you'd be aware of such issues," Xi Jianxi couldn't help but want to retort.

As expected, the academic type is just the academic type. Away from their studies and lecture halls, they lack thorough consideration for the ever-changing situations on the battlefield.

After this internal grumble, he slowly raised his right hand.

"Panta Rhei."

The gale transformed into sharp blades, sweeping towards Kayneth from all directions.

"...Verteidigung!" Kayneth rasped, his breathing strained.

The Moon Cell Essence spun at high speed, blocking all the wind blades. However, Kayneth couldn't quickly mobilize his magic, and the Moon Cell Essence also showed cracks under the assault before slowly closing.

But it was only a matter of time. Kayneth would soon be unable to sustain the magic needed to maintain the Moon Cell Essence's form, and his defense gradually crumbled under the fierce winds.

Mercury slowly wriggled on the floor, gathering together like a slime, awaiting its next command.

Dark circles began to appear around Kayneth's eyes. He felt his concentration waning and his body's judgment deteriorating.

Someone... someone, please help me...

Kayneth's will to survive drove him to instinctively beg for assistance.

As if a god had heard his plea, a hand rested on his back.

"What a useless man, to fall into such a predicament because of his Mystic Code," Sola-Ui mocked Kayneth coldly, yet she was performing healing magic.

Xi Jianxi stood there, silently observing the man and woman. He knew they were engaged.

However, he couldn't sense the expected affection between an engaged couple; instead, it felt like a cold, professional collaboration between magi.

With this thought, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at Morgan, who was in the shadows.

Morgan, however, averted her gaze with an expression that seemed to say, "Don't look at me, I'm not that kind of person."