Chapter 446

In the thin mist, Holy Lance Lucius's attire began to change, donning the Crimson robes of a Rome soldier, and even the figure of the Spear of Longinus slowly appeared in his hand.

Boom! Lucius pushed off the ground again.

He used the air as his foothold and jumped even higher.

"Interesting! Then let us witness the glory of the Holy Lance! Let us behold the true Anchor of Light!"

As Lucius said, the 'victor' of the Holy Grail War will also have to go Full Power out.

"In DüRren BlaTtern SaUselt Der Wind" (This is the sound of wind blowing through withered leaves)

The rising fog took on shapes from Novia's words.

The fog transformed into a storm that ravaged the withered trees.

A massive tornado, over 100 meters high, rose up behind Novia.

The petite girl, possessed by an 'Wicked Spirit,' walks among the tornadoes and smoke she creates, like a manifestation of Deity, or Demon King eyeing its prey.

"Was ErlenkoNig Mir Leise Verspricht?

(Demon King in an instant?)

"Longinus-- "

"Stop, Lucius."

A woman dressed in a traditional Black Sailor Uniform, with long, flowing silver hair and an air of refined Nostalgia, slowly walked out from the side. This was Lucius's Master, Erice's Grandmother Chizuru Misasagi. With her cold words, Lucius's Noble Phantasm was immediately deactivated.

Of course, Novia did not use any 'fictional Noble Phantasm '. The reason she fought Lucius was simply because she hadn't seen him in a long time and wanted to play with him. Moreover, the girl's body could not withstand the strain. Therefore, her subsequent attack, which was not particularly sharp or fast and resembled a performance, easily struck Lucius's chest.

Then, Chitose's gaze fell on Erice.

To Novia, that gaze seemed to be looking at her own reflection inside the girl, like White Snake eyeing its prey.

"I can't tell what it is at all. I didn't know there was such a situation."

When Chizuru Misasagi seemed to be talking to herself, Novia could feel Erice, whom she was possessing, instinctively tremble all over.

Erice couldn't resist her almost cruel curiosity. She wondered how the Wicked Spirit that had taken over her body would react to such a gaze. Would it be fear, hostility, or indifference?

Perhaps Novia and Erice situation to Galahad and Mash, so he understands the girl's thoughts perfectly.

However, Novia didn't have much time to react, as her body was already exhausted and she soon passed out.

The next second, the five-year-old girl collapsed, and her hair quickly turned back to its original black. Just as Lucius was about to hug Erice, Manazuru Chitose caught the unconscious girl before he could.

"Um, you're acting a bit strange today..."

Lucius's sigh was not without reason. Although Chitose and Erice were Grandmother and granddaughter, their relationship was so bad that it would not be an exaggeration to say that they were familiar enemies or strangers. This was because every time Erice fought with Lucius in order to suppress the Wicked Spirit, Chitose would not care about her broken collarbone.

Therefore, upon seeing Chitose in this state, he was utterly astonished, as if to say, "Novia and Agrippina are really together."

Manazuru Chitose didn't answer Lucius. First, she raised her hand as if to slap him, then for some reason, she gently stroked Erice's cute face with its many dark bruises, and murmured a line from "The Demon King" in that soft voice that could freeze one's blood—

"Willst, Feier Knabe, Du Mit MirGehn? (My dear son, may you join me?)"

A few days later, inside the Academy Mosaic City of Shinjuku.

"Ms. Erice."

A Teacher gently admonished the somewhat careless Utsumi Erice.

"You seem a bit tired. Would you like to go to the lounge and take a nap? I'll organize the course content so you can refer to it later, since you haven't been feeling well these past few days."

"Hmm..."

How embarrassing! This is the second time I've embarrassed myself since I was late coming in.

Seeing Erice shake her head frantically, the Teacher nodded and then continued lecturing as if nothing had happened.

"I clearly reminded Eri that your Teacher was coming."

"Shut up, you hateful Evil Spirit."

Erice muttered softly, afraid her classmates or Teacher would hear, "Could you please talk less? It's too noisy. I don't want the Teacher to hear me."

In the various Mosaic City, the Teacher responsible for instructing students are not human, nor does it mean that they are New Humanity born after the war, but rather Artificial Intelligence, or 'AI'. Because the Holy Grail cannot communicate directly with citizens, humanoid terminals came into being.

It is a hybrid intelligent entity that combines a summoning technique similar to the descent of Heroic Spirit with cutting-edge information engineering technology.

"I only spoke twice today; the rest was all other guys talking."

"How can I tell the difference! Aren't you all Wicked Spirit?"

"You really can't tell the difference, Eriri?"

Novia's tone carried a hint of pleasure, "But that's your business, it has nothing to do with the Demon King."

"... Damn Demon King, sooner or later I'll go to the Church and get you holy water to thoroughly wash away this imposter."

The day after that, Erice learned from Lucius that the Wicked Spirit was a 'Demon King,' a fictional being that had fallen into the form of Wicked Spirit because of its weak foundation in the Present World. In general, it was no different from the Wicked Spirit that were eyeing her body, except that it possessed a little more rationality.

"Oh, you know that so well."

Novia said this, seemingly with admiration.

"Of course, after all, I am the master of this body."

"But there probably aren't any Church in Shinjuku, right? Or rather, there aren't any Church in any of the Mosaic City of Japan."

Hearing the voice of the 'Evil Spirit' beside her, the little girl wanted to swing her right arm and hit it hard, but she tried her best to control herself and stay calm. After all, there was no one beside her, and she didn't want to be looked at strangely.

Although Erice was already used to it, after all, she was the only one without Servant, so calling her a freak wouldn't be an exaggeration.

"Online shopping is fine, it's so convenient now. If I pay extra, I can even have a Servant the Mythical Era deliver it for me. It could arrive from Rome, the Mosaic City, as early as tomorrow."

In this world rewritten by the Holy Grail, there are no airplanes flying in the sky because the previous war was too brutal.

"Money makes the world go round."

Novia paused, "But do you have any money? These past few days, all you've done besides go to school, eat, sleep, and get beaten up by Lucius. And Manazuru hasn't cared about you either. It doesn't seem like she's going to give you any money."

"Don't mention that guy's name to me..."

Erice, contrary to her usual self, shouted loudly, "She took everything from me!"

"Wow, they've been stripped of everything!"

"Ms. Erice."

The Teacher reminded them again in a gentle tone.

"Terribly sorry."

After that, Erice fell silent.

This course on the Human History is still ongoing; it's a course that talks about historical figures.

For Erice, the class was actually quite fulfilling, although she didn't pay attention throughout the entire lesson.

"Finally, I'd like to briefly introduce a person who exists in both reality and mythology; his achievements can be said to have influenced the world for thousands of years, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he still does today."

The classroom screen changed its display to match the Teacher's explanation.

It was a place of great cultural difference for them living in Japan. The white church and many Gáe Dearg were a 3D representation of 1st-century Rome created by AI using data. A Humanoid sculpture stood in front of the Pantheon Rome.

"This is the First Pope of the Holy Church. He can be considered one of the most representative Faith and propagators in human history."

"What..."

Erice was listening attentively, heard the Wicked Spirit next to her let out a cry of surprise, but not one of admiration.

"This is Novia? I don't know her. Isn't there a big discrepancy in the big data from Artificial Intelligence? And Lucius isn't here? Shouldn't he see an eye doctor? Is he that old?"

That ancient Greece- style Humanoid sculpture does indeed evoke the image of a Pope that people have of him—kind, benevolent, and compassionate... But Novia says that even when he died, he was only in his early twenties, so why did they give him a beard that drags on the ground? This must be some kind of aging special effect.

"Pfft... Hehe..."

From his words, Erice could even picture him staring blankly at the screen, seemingly in a daze, which made Erice burst out laughing. But she quickly stopped laughing.

Because her hair was turning silver, in other words, Novia had possessed her, and she was also showing a resentful expression.

"This is outrageous! This is utterly absurd!"

"Hmm? Erice, weren't you a big fan of the First Pope? You said Lucius would introduce you to him, I thought you'd be in a good mood today."

Teacher Ai looked thoughtfully at Erice, whose expression had changed. "And what do you mean by 'reckless'?"

"His appearance is a bit strange. Besides, he was only in his early twenties when the first generation disappeared. How come he looks like an old man? I need to request a revision."

"Yes, that's true."

The Teacher, looking at Erice changed demeanor from her usual somewhat aloof self, smiled and said, "But Lucius said he saw an elderly Novia, and that's pretty much it. This is based on his description."

After saying that, the Teacher deliberately drew another line down, creating a short video of the Humanoid sculpture walking around while humming a very modern and upbeat tune.

"..."

Erice's shoulders twitched, and she muttered the video's producer's name, "Lucius Longinus..."

After the class, Erice now black again, went straight home.

After all, she didn't have many friends.

"I'm back."

After calling out once in her empty house, Erice turned on the light, put her empty backpack on the Sofa, walked to the window and watched the people coming and going outside, while drinking the freshly squeezed orange juice she bought on the way, which made her whole face scrunch up from the sourness.

The girl stretched her legs out on the ground, turned around, and gripped the railing with her wrists. She had been watching the Servant and humans below, talking to each other, for a full hour. She watched them converse before finally disappearing into the City's outskirts.

In the distance, the sounds of trams crossing the sea bridge and their whistles could be heard as they entered the city. The railway stretched out and disappeared above the sea, leading to Akihabara and Shibuya on the other side.

Half an hour later, Erice got up, took out a packet of instant noodles from the kitchen, and started cooking.

Why are you the Demon King?

Suddenly, Erice asked.

"Instead of this, how about adding an egg and some vegetables to the instant noodles?"

"Oh."

Erice was taken aback. "Normally, in this situation, shouldn't you say something like 'cook me a big meal'?"

"How could that be? I'm someone who can survive on food. I only reminded you because you're so small; after all, I'm the Demon King."

After she finished speaking, Erice felt her body slip out of her control; she transformed into her silver-haired self and went to the kitchen to fry an egg and boil some vegetables... Then she found herself eating instant noodles. The Wicked Spirit hadn't returned control of her body?

So, a little over ten minutes later, Erice back to black, stared blankly at the clean bowl and reached out to touch the feeling of fullness in her stomach.

To be honest, she had a strong urge to kill someone.

"You really are a Demon."

"It's the Demon King."

"Then let me ask you..."

Erice's lips curled up. "How come you don't have Spirit Origin or a body? As Demon King, you're far too weak. You're so pathetic, unable to even overcome the limitations of the Throne of Heroes, reduced to a muttering Evil Spirit that can only mutter all day, and now you're even trying to steal a child's body."

Well...

Novia wasn't angry at the little girl's teasing. "If someone told you you were nearsighted and had poor eyesight, but you weren't allowed to wear glasses, how would you feel? If everyone took the tram or bus, but someone told you to walk, how would you feel? If you came to an unfamiliar place, and your phone's navigation app was faulty and useless, how would you feel?"

"... Shut up!"

Erice retorted, her face flushed with embarrassment.

The reason for this was entirely because it was actually one of the many responses she received when asked 'What does it feel like to not have the Holy Grail?' How to describe this feeling? In short, even though she wanted to laugh it off, Erice felt it was too Shame to hear it from someone else, especially from this Wicked Spirit.

"I am merely a form of entertainment, satisfying their philanthropic feelings or providing temporary relief from boredom."

That's enough!!!

The young girl buried her head in the pillow, practically grinding her teeth to powder.

"Heh, even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."

Honestly, I don't know what the point is of repeating what I said.

Although she was so agitated that she wanted to kill someone, Erice also felt that it was nice to have someone to talk to.

After taking a deep breath, Erice peeked out from under the pillow and tilted her head slightly.