Type-Moon, Does a Small Boost Count as a Boost?

The spear and claws of death collided again and again.

Novia slashed at the mana-filled spear, while the black-clad Vampire Species swept his long, razor-sharp hooked claws.

In an instant, the two entered a realm of speed far beyond normal human physical capabilities. In just one second, they clashed twenty meters apart. Figures raced across the carpet and along the walls, and even their faint afterimages quickly vanished.

The blades crossed at blistering speed, their impacts spreading through the surrounding space. Only afterward came the grating series of metallic clashes, but Wolfgang's body soon slipped sideways from the waist down and fell.

"Not bad. You truly are a powerful hero."

Then came regeneration and restoration. That was why Vampire Species were called immortal; even after their bodies were cut apart, they could recover in less than a breath.

"But unfortunately, as things stand, there's nothing you can do about my ritual, is there? Beneath this grand magic circle created by the Mother of Babylon, no Servant can escape, nor can any survive."

As he spoke, Wolfgang bared his white teeth and laughed mockingly. Twenty Spirit Cores appeared around him. He seized every one of them at tremendous speed and drove them straight into his heart—the true activation of the Heroic Spirit Core.

"My lord Lycaon, bless this descendant of Arcadia. In the name of Wolfgang Faust..."

"Heroes upon the Throne of Heroes, destroy everything to your hearts' content!"

As his words fell, roars and shrieks erupted. Scarlet phantoms nearly three meters tall howled madly.

The false forms of anti-heroes, their flesh made of muddy currents of blood, regarded Wolfgang Faust as their sole master. Several Servants without minds or consciousness let out hoarse roars.

This was the result of his experiments thus far: materializing Heroic Spirits without becoming their master.

"Come, Lord of Daedalus Labyrinth, Oni Musashi, Blood Axe King, King of Persia, Dr. Hyde, Knight of the Lake—destroy everything! Hahahahahaha! Guardians, go ahead and rejoice! This is the perfect opening ceremony for you!"

The humanoid Phantasmal Species laughed wildly, his mockery filled with absolute certainty in his eventual victory.

"Hahaha, come kill me! If you don't kill me here quickly, my level of existence will rise right here!"

The expression on Wolfgang Faust's pale face was one of pleasure, composure, pity, and above all, contempt.

At Wolfgang's command came one thing after another: the lockdown of an inescapable demonic labyrinth, swift greatsword-like slashes, countless war elephants, and hundreds upon thousands of violent crimson storms descending all at once. Noble Phantasms manifested here, all rushing toward him—

"Noble Phantasms? I recall that the older the Mystery, the stronger it is."

He merely extended the hand holding his spear. A deathly maelstrom, an endless blue storm of violence, coiled around the weapon.

Ordinary Servants could not possibly be a match for this Vampire Species. Had he inexplicably devoured the surrounding mana meant to summon Servants because this was something he was meant to solve?

That thought surfaced in Novia's mind.

Even in his current state, if he called her name, she would surely answer, no matter where she was.

At that thought, the silver-haired youth could not help but relax.

Then he murmured softly:

"Come to my side, Albion."

His words became power. The cross pendant hanging from his chest emitted a faint silver glow, transforming into an insignificant thread that broke through the labyrinth's magical blockade and stretched into the sky, reaching the edge of a distant horizon.

A thread was something that connected people and formed bonds.

But one thing had to be noted: while it could make the bonds between people visible, that did not mean those bonds would disappear without the thread.

The invisible bonds, the bonds whose very existence could not even be confirmed—the thread that provided them with a path to appear was merely—

Just as it had been in the past, it was a horizon of light that could never be exchanged for anything, destined to reach its destination.

That was why, beneath Wolfgang's astonished and bewildered gaze, three intricate circular magic formations abruptly lit up on the first, second, and third floors of the labyrinth. Blue light suddenly appeared, racing through the first three floors at incomparable speed before finally arriving here.

"...What is this nostalgic pulse...?"

The silver-haired man blankly raised his gaze.

A blue-black dragon, as tall as he was.

Though utterly unfamiliar, it was a figure that had in truth long since been etched into his memories.

"...Novia, is that Novia?"

A human girl's voice came from the dragon's mouth.

"I kept you waiting. It's me, Albion."

"Novia, I've been waiting for you all this time! There are so many things I want to tell you..."

As blue light flashed and her words fell, the dragon's blue-black armored exterior continuously faded and dissolved, gradually gathering into her former human shape.

"I've always wanted to apologize to you. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. And I've always wanted to thank you..."

Those pale, soft hands like those of a human girl gently touched his face, just as they had a thousand years ago.

"Albion, Albion, I've always wanted to say..."

"I'm truly so grateful that I was able to meet you."

The Dragon Wants the Two of Them to Soak in a Hot Spring Together

Within an endless ocean seemingly covered in blue light, one person and one dragon gazed at each other.

"I'm sorry for making you wait so long..."

Novia lowered his head and met Melusine's golden eyes.

"So we'll never be apart again, okay? Always, always stay by my side. Don't leave me again, Novia."

The silver-haired girl held his face, then did what she had always wanted to do, what she had been longing to do in her heart for thousands of years.

And so, beneath Shiyali's calm gaze and Miss Aika's dumbfounded stare—

The lips that had repeatedly bitten into Novia's flesh in his memories now sought to melt into his lips like flowing water.

The reason that kiss from the impossible-to-abandon dragon finally broke apart was the utterly panicked cry Wolfgang Faust let out afterward, the arrogant Vampire Species who sought distorted power.

"How is this possible?! How could the Solar Magic Circle's blockade be opened?! There were no accidents in so many previous rounds—how could this..."

"All these Spirit Cores lost their power in an instant..."

"Just what are you...?"

Wolfgang's face turned deathly pale. Clutching his spasming, aching chest, he no longer had any of his original arrogance and had become utterly terrified.

He could not understand it. There had clearly been almost nothing left that could stop him. His level of existence was about to rise. Within this revised Solar Magic Circle he had acquired by chance, he would become Star Touch and ascend into a spirit of nature capable of restoring the Age of Gods and even manifesting fantasies in this world.

It was for this purpose that he had persistently held the Sub-species Holy Grail War for many years, drawing humans from outside into the labyrinth and using their blood to sacrifice in the ritual.

Many heroes had been existences Wolfgang could only look up to while they were alive, yet every one of them had been hunted by him. Whether it was the Lord of Daedalus Labyrinth, Minotaur, or Darius III, King of Persia, he had obtained their Spirit Cores and controlled them into obeying his commands.

Everything had clearly been foolproof. He had operated this labyrinth for years, engraving mana-gathering magic formations into every corner. And after obtaining the revised Solar Magic Circle, no one besides him could possibly have higher authority when it came to acquiring mana.

Yet at this moment, all the mana here was instinctively obeying this person's commands.

And now, when success was only one step away, not only had the Spirit Cores lost their power out of nowhere, but the summoned and controlled Servants had all turned into rapidly dissipating masses of mana.

He had lost everything. How could the Vampire Species who considered himself the King of Fantasy not collapse?

The light that had originally resembled seawater flickered, and vast mana flowed from Melusine into Novia.

He raised the spear in his hand once more.

However, the next second, Melusine extended her pale wrist and gently pressed down on his arm.

"There's no need for you to personally deal with trash like this, Novia."

Then Melusine shifted her gaze toward the Vampire Species standing directly ahead, the one who had interrupted her tender moment with Novia.

She turned around, put on her mask once more, and looked at Wolfgang with an icy expression.

For something like this, she only needed to erase his existence and his world entirely.

At that moment, the Strongest Dragon of the Age of Gods revealed her power.

No color was born within this sealed space. There was only a breeze brushing across their cheeks.

Wind had appeared within this labyrinth, a place entirely equivalent to a sealed room. That alone meant the dragon's strike had ended everything in an instant.

"Don't kill me... Don't kill me... I can serve you. I can obtain Spirit Cores for you... Don't kill me... Please..."

Moving at a speed that even Mystic Eyes could barely perceive, the sword Melusine wielded suddenly pierced Wolfgang's heart in less than a second. Beginning from there, it split apart in every direction, fixing the demon man's entire body in space, instantly shattering and freezing his heart to prevent his flesh from regenerating further.

"Ahhhhhh..."

The Vampire Species that had endured since the Age of Gods let out its first and final miserable scream, as though it had been vomited from flesh and blood itself.

His savage, unwilling eyes sank inward like deflated balloons as his body dried up. The blood-red mana spilling from his body also withered and decayed in an instant, turning into black ash.

With nothing more than a physical attack, she had completely shattered the Vampire Species on the verge of becoming the King of Fantasy.

Even Shiyali, who was also a Vampire Species, could not help raising her eyebrows at the sight.

After all, the Vampire Species, praised as possessing the strongest and most vigorous life force in the world, had been utterly annihilated by a single strike...

It had surely been a sword strike that directly severed the soul.

"Oh, there's another similar one. Should I kill him too, Novia?"

After killing Wolfgang without the slightest hesitation, Melusine sensed a similar presence at the exit of this floor and asked the silver-haired youth behind her.

"Your Excellency, there is no need for that. Though I am a Dead Apostle, I came only to witness whether Wolfgang Faust's scheme would succeed. I was not one of the conspirators. As for blood, I legally purchased it from hospitals. So although my life is already in your hands, I ask that you... please show mercy, Your Excellency."

Seeing this, Brad knew he could not escape. He could only dispel the magecraft concealing him, bend at the waist, and present himself sincerely before them.

However, when he truly saw the silver-haired man's face in the distance, he froze slightly, though he quickly returned to normal.

Although Novia did not know who the blond Dead Apostle before him was, he had indeed not sensed the dissipation of a Spirit Core from behind him. The man's aura was also extremely weak, proving that he was not lying.

Therefore, he nodded slightly.

"I am profoundly grateful."

Brad first left this floor respectfully, then departed the now-unsealed labyrinth at top speed.

Once everything had been resolved, Novia was about to check on how Shiyali and Aika were doing when—

At that instant, Melusine slipped her hand into his clothing and passed the warmth of her palm onto his body. Novia instinctively lowered his head.

"I'm happy... being together like this... Also, Novia, you know I'm a dragon... So I'm very attached to warmth at night... Oh, right. When I came here, I saw that one floor had a hot spring. Novia, how about the two of us go soak in it together... and warm ourselves up a little..."

Nero: Oh

Novia had no objections to soaking in a hot spring, and Shiyali and Aika also agreed.

However, after Melusine dragged Novia toward the hot spring first, she immediately used her power to isolate the two who had yet to enter.

And so it turned into this—

"Damn it, damn it, that dragon..."

Because the hot spring was covered from every direction by some unknown magecraft, Miss Aika could not even sneak a look. She could only squat nearby and mutter endlessly to herself.

Whenever she thought of that silver-haired girl transformed from a dragon, an extremely complicated expression appeared on her face.

That girl was clearly shorter than her, but there was... more there than she had...

After thinking of that, Aika, crouched in the corner, immediately wore an utterly dejected expression.

Shiyali, meanwhile, did not seem particularly disappointed. Once she learned she could not enter the hot spring, she merely calmly examined the Solar Magic Circle in the labyrinth, which was already nearing destruction.

She understood why Melusine intended to soak alone with Novia. Dragons were generally like that. But for Shiyali... well, it was not as though she was in any hurry.

As Shiyali, whose origin was "Shiyali," she knew a little about Melusine. After all, a thousand years ago, she had been the one who sent Melusine's body back according to their contract. It had not been solely her work, either, because the Roman Emperor Nero had also helped somewhat at the time.

To Shiyali, Shiyali was like Amaterasu to Tamamo-no-Mae: an existence that served as her origin. It was not possession, but rather the existence she had been in the distant past.

During her inspection, it seemed that the labyrinth's Solar Magic Circle had been modified in certain places. However, with the Sub-species Holy Grail destroying itself, the magic circle had also self-destructed, making it impossible to determine the specifics now.

But the longer Shiyali looked, the more something felt wrong. The method of modification resembled the Atlas Institute in some ways, yet it also resembled the Holy Church.

Could the Heroic Spirit experiments of the Vampire Species Wolfgang Faust have been directed by both sides? Were they trying to accomplish something?

The more the purple-haired girl thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Coming back to her senses, Shiyali suddenly discovered that Aika was no longer crouching in the corner. Instead, she was lying directly on the ground not far from the hot spring, her hands resting on her stomach like some Sleeping Beauty.

When Shiyali stepped closer for a look, she discovered that the three Command Spells on Aika's hand were being consumed one after another, while an apple-red blush spread across her face.