Chapter 459

Inside the Kuonji residence, Aoko Aozaki Erice in front of her.

"From now on, you can live here as long as the tasks assigned to you by the City AI are canceled."

"... is that so."

Erice looked up and glanced around the room.

Strangely enough, she felt that compared to the resort-style seaside City of Akihabara, the original design of this house should have been more suited to the Shinjuku area, since it was too old and... too strange.

The corridor had no electricity or windows, but the walls were decorated with luxurious patterns, and there were antique Sofa and obviously high-end carpets. If someone accidentally wandered in, they would probably think that this was a mansion designed according to the scale of an ancient family.

However, what was initially thought to be an old-fashioned room turned out to contain a rather modern large-screen TV.

"These were placed here by the guys who used to live here."

Perhaps sensing Erice's thoughts, Alice explained, "Although I don't accept this house being arbitrarily altered, and I even had a big fight with her about it, looking back now it was all pointless. If you have any ideas about the room, you can discuss them with me, and I'll try my best to be accommodating."

"Um, okay..."

"Oh, right."

Alice placed the book aside. "You need to change out of your Shinjuku -style clothes as soon as possible, or it will hinder your mission."

The people of Shinjuku and Akihabara dress completely differently. Shinjuku is in the Taisho and Showa era style, while Akihabara is in swimwear and casual wear. Therefore, in this New Era with a sense of 'distinction', Erice an old-fashioned style, came to Akihabara, it would cause some unnecessary 'disputes'.

"However, I've already prepared your clothes; they're in your room. I hope you're satisfied."

Erice nodded frantically at Alice's words.

Well, she thought Aoko Aozaki Yuzu was such a good person, a million times better than that Chitose!

In fact, Chitose would do this for her too, but the relationship between the grandmother and granddaughter was so bad that in Erice's heart Manazuru Chitose was probably the worst of the worst. Therefore, after escaping from her side, the girl felt that anyone could do it better than Chitose, which can be considered a double standard.

"Oh right, what about Kuonji...?"

Erice looked hesitant, then averted her gaze shyly.

At this moment, her expression was very gentle, just like that of a well-behaved child.

"I wonder if I'll ever see that kind of expression on your face in my Chitose."

Novia observed Erice's first expression, "Is this what they call encountering the light?"

"Shut up! You've already ruined my life!"

Erice's implication is that her public apology during the Shinjuku Holy Grail Elimination Tournament was probably already on file—such a huge black mark on her record...

She even felt like dying.

At the same time, Aoko Aozaki Erice looked at Erise, who was arguing with the Demon King but still looked like an obedient child on the surface, and covered her mouth with one hand.

Are you asking about my outfit?

"I'm not really curious, I just find it a little strange."

Aoko Aozaki's outfit is all black, consisting of a black long-sleeved top, black leggings, and a brown patterned skirt. This outfit clashes with Akihabara's theme of swimwear and casual wear, and is more in line with Shinjuku's atmosphere.

"This house was originally located in the now-destroyed Misaki City."

Alice took a sip of Black Tea and explained softly, "I didn't participate in the Holy Grail War at the time. When the Holy Grail War swept through Misaki City, I couldn't do much to protect it. I thought this place would be destroyed along with me."

At this point, Alice turned her face to the side.

"But thanks to your Grandmother, she and Lucius ended the Holy Grail War, and even helped me recreate this place in the Mosaic City in its original style at the birth of the New Era. Although it doesn't fit the atmosphere of Akihabara, I am still grateful to her."

"As for inappropriate attire."

The girl dressed in black paused. "I don't usually move around within the City; my main area of activity is the wasteland outside, so this hasn't caused any disputes between me and the citizens."

"That Chitose could actually have such a compassionate side? It's unbelievable, I never would have imagined it..."

Hearing the little girl's murmur, Aoko Aozaki turned her face and stared at her expressionlessly.

Do you have any conflicts with your Grandmother?

"It's alright, it's not like there's any conflict..."

Feeling pressured Erice shook her head cautiously.

Aoko Aozaki didn't say much, she just silently drank her Black Tea, and after a while she got up.

"I'm sorry, I have work to do now. I'll leave the rest to Utsumi."

After saying that, she turned and walked out of Kuonji without looking back, probably to go to the wasteland to have her Familiar observe the sky and analyze the data.

Why is Kuonji's temper so unpredictable, sometimes cold and sometimes warm? I didn't do anything to her.

Have you forgotten that we both used illegal Holy Relic in the Elimination Tournament right in front of her?

Shut up, it's all your fault!

Just as Erice and the Demon King were arguing internally, Alice had reached the door, turned around and said calmly, "... Manazuru said it's normal for young women to keep their distance from adult men."

After saying this simply, she immediately walked out of the living room, leaving Erice dumbfounded.

"... You, you traitor!"

Erice scratched a few silver strands from her hair. "You bastard, did you sign some weird agreement with Chitose behind my back?! Tell me! Did you tell her I was leaving behind my back?!"

"No, that's the truth. Aside from sending you a message on your phone saying you're coming to Akihabara to live independently today, we haven't had any other communication."

"Message? I didn't see it on my phone?"

"Because I deleted it."

This sentence left Erice speechless.

For a moment, she had the illusion that the Demon King was treating her like a child who could be easily fooled with a few casual words.

No, that's true if you think about it normally, since she's only almost nine years old.

However, Erice was genuinely troubled. She wasn't particularly annoyed by the Demon King; she just felt that these things could be discussed, and if he insisted, she would probably have to give in... But doing things directly without her consent was really making her unhappy.

Just say a few more words to me; it's not like I'm not really ignoring you.

While muttering to herself, Erice suddenly remembered something, so she suppressed her shyness and said in a cold tone.

"So you really did possess me and do things I didn't know about, right?"

Novia nodded upon hearing Erice's words.

"More or less --"

"Demon King!"

Before Novia could finish speaking, Erice shouted, and an Alder Tree appeared beside her—the same tree as the Demon King from "The Demon King," which was the ability she had acquired during the Holy Grail Elimination Tournament.

"Keep a close eye on this Demon King and don't let him leave this place!"

After giving orders to the Demon King she had summoned using her Evil Spirit abilities, Erice quickly left the area.

However, the scene in the living room was not as Erice had imagined. The Alder Tree not only did not listen to her and use its branches to trap Novia, but instead bent down for him in a rather humane way, literally bending down.

"I understand, I understand, it's okay, it's okay."

Novia waved her hand. "I am Fictional Demon King, and you are the Demon King among Demon King. We are both Demon King, so there's no problem."

After all, if things had gone according to plan, Erice would have had 'Magic Bullet Shooter' in addition to the Demon King, which is the Phantasmal Spirit that fused with Moriarty in FGO.

Novia understood perfectly well why Erice was doing this; she was simply afraid he would see her changing clothes...

While making sarcastic remarks, Novia also reminisced about her experiences in the Fr World so far. She was the Demon King who was 'born', Erice was the one who welcomed 'death'. In other words, there should be another being connecting the two, but it has not yet appeared.

In addition, Novia also noticed that the New Era was very strange. It did not allow human suicide, severed the connection between the continents by claiming that the sky and the sea were dangerous, and the New Humanity were rapidly becoming isolated. If Novia had not witnessed the Moon Cancer, he would have thought that this was very similar to the methods of the Moon Cancer.

However, that's not the case. Based on Yagai Yukinobu's experience, it's likely the Holy Grail that did such a thing.

Because the Holy Grail revealed Yagai Yukinobu's experiences in the Parallel World, he betrayed Ōkuninushi and massacred his entire clan... But what was the reason? What was the significance of Ōkuninushi's death? Furthermore, Novia is convinced that Manazuru Chitose's wish upon the Holy Grail was the reason for creating New Era.

'The Holy Grail, as Wish-Granting Machine, continues to exist and be distributed.' However, Manazuru Chitose, as Lucius's Master, undoubtedly wants to save the world from the ravages of death and has no other selfish motives. Perhaps the final Holy Grail is indeed the Holy Grail that grants wishes, but there is a problem with the Holy Grail in the Izumo region.

Of course, Novia also remembered that in the original Fr story, five years later, when Erice was 14 years old, the Mother of Death of Congo Death Mother Nsambi, would invade Erice Akihabara and control the Servant to carry out massacres. During this time, the black dog, who was suspected to be Anubis, said the following to Manazuru Chitose, who was resolving everything. "Death has come to greet you."

From God's perspective, it's understandable that humanity's awe of death has diminished in the new era due to the widespread adoption of immortality, leading to Wrath and a desire to correct this. However, this is no longer the Age of Gods, and with many Death God participating in the 2011 Global Holy Grail War, it makes no sense no matter what.

During Novia's research over the years, she discovered that the Servant participated in the Holy Grail War in various regions at that time were recorded to some extent. However, there was no record of who attacked Cape Canaveral, the Aviation Holy Land. At that time, the Death God appeared in the Americas included Mictecacihuatl and several Death Saints from the Church.

However, precisely because almost all the Death God appeared in the 2011 Global Holy Grail War, Novia actually found it easier to lock onto her target.

The only Canaan Death God Mot, who has no existing records.

He was a formidable rival of Baal, the king of the gods in Canaan mythology.

After being defeated by Mot, Baal shouted: Divinity Mot, I will always be your slave, forever loyal to you.

However, Mot still managed to devour him, plunging the sky into darkness.

As the Death God of death in Canaan mythology, he is described in Ugarit texts as having Seven Gates of the Underworld similar to those in Mesopotamia, and also similar to the concept of the Underworld in Egypt mythology. From the perspective of Human History, this reflects the commonalities of ancient Near East cultures.

In addition, after Baal's death, God El decided to let Athtar, the god of Venus, inherit Baal's Throne. However, when Athtar Mount Saphon Baal's Throne on Mount Zafen, he found that he could not reach the heavens and tread the earth like Baal. So he gave up the throne and became the ruler of the earth.

The fact that Athtar once seized the throne of Baal is considered the Root of the famous myth of the Venus god falling from the sky.

Because Baal's father, El, is the 'Ancient One' in Canaanite mythology, which is also the title of Yahweh in the Old Testament...

Therefore, given Mot's strength, he could indeed completely suppress Erice's mother Izanami, in Japan.

However, this was merely Novia's conjecture based on Anubis's statement, "Death has come to greet us."

At the same time, in Erice Kuonji.

Erice walked in fuming and stood in front of the full-length mirror. She took a deep breath, patted her face twice, and then quickly changed into the Akihabara outfit prepared by Aoko Aozaki: a black vest, a tight-fitting bodysuit with white and dark blue polka dots that revealed her belly, and a pair of super short tight pants with the same white and dark blue polka dots.

After changing, Erice stood Divine Aura in front of the mirror with her hands on her hips.

"Heh, I knew the Demon King couldn't stop you, after all, you're His senior. But don't think I don't know you're here! Someone like you, who came here when I was six, probably won't let this opportunity pass by! I know that perfectly well, it's truly despicable!"

The girl looked angry, though it was unclear how much of it was genuine.

"Still not saying anything? Have you been rendered speechless? After all, peeping at someone changing clothes is a really lewd thing, ugh, how shameful."

Erice sighed smugly, "Well, I can understand you after all. Where else can someone like you, who's practically Wicked Spirit, go besides me? You're completely useless without me, aren't you? Oh dear, how pathetic. Without my pity, you'd probably be wandering the streets, disappearing while wailing my name. How pitiful, how truly pitiful."

Erice is now acting as if she's seeking revenge for her earlier belief that she was fooled by the Demon King like a child.

"But an old man like you, Demon King, even if you had the chance and the body, no one would want you, right? Who would want an old burden like you? Especially Nameless villain like you, it's completely impossible. Only I, Erice, could reluctantly take you, since you are indeed somewhat useful to me..."

Something's not right. Why is the Demon King being so patient today?

As Erice, a strange light flickered in her eyes. Normally, the Demon King should have already launched into a verbal attack the moment she uttered her first sentence...

Erice quickly placed her hand on her chest, but nothing changed. Still in disbelief, she held on tightly, and after a few seconds, she even tapped it.

Finally, Erice flushed with anger, ran straight to the living room. When she arrived, she saw the Alder Tree still there and heard a familiar voice—"Why are you changing it so slowly?"

"What's it to you!"

After shouting Wrath, Erice crossed her arms and looked at the Demon King with disdain, "And you're really a disgrace! You can't even beat a junior Demon King who claims his name! You're a useless guy. I think Karna probably admitted defeat on purpose!"

"..."

Novia hesitated, unsure whether to mention that Alder Tree had just told him about Erice's inner turmoil...

Just now Erice was mentally yelling at Alder Tree: Who told you to actually stop him? If this guy is really that useless, couldn't you have given way a little? Don't you know any manners? Don't come out next time, you rude jerk! Go back to being with that bunch of Evil Spirit!

Logically, Novia should be mocking Erice with a sorrowful tone right now.

After all, this is more in line with how the two of them used to get along.

But judging from Erice's words just now, he felt a familiar emotion.

"I think this outfit suits you quite well."

"... Oh."

At first Erice seemed not to have reacted, but when she did, she snorted coldly, "I didn't expect an old relic like you to have any taste. It's really just so-so, but it's a treasure to an old thing like you."

"... Erice, when did you become so confident?"

Novia laughed and said, "Or is this your true nature after you left the management of the Chitose?"

Of course, Erice couldn't possibly say that she thought the Demon King was an even more amiable old man because of his charm. She simply crossed her arms and replied nonchalantly, "Heh, you call me 'Chitose' and say you don't secretly communicate with me behind my back? I don't care. After all, where else can you go besides my body?"

"You're right."

After saying that, Novia possessed Erice's body.