Do Something Useful, Barbatos / Is Solomon Really That Strong?

"I'm not a Servant skilled in combat; rushing in would only cause trouble. Besides, it's not a matter of strength or skill; it's that Saber's power is countered by that guy."

Jason was, after all, Chiron's disciple. Although his combat strength was rather pathetic, he was quite perceptive. He immediately saw that Artoria's disadvantage was not due to anything else, but simply because she was being suppressed by the special attack.

"Thump~"

As if to prove this statement, with a loud bang, Artoria was sent flying and landed next to Emiya Shirou.

The combination of the Britain faction's special attack and the Dragon Kind's special attack put Artoria, who was originally stronger than Fujimaru Kyoya, at a disadvantage.

"Saber, are you alright?"

Emiya Shirou was trying his best to use the recovery Magecraft that Shinji Matou had taught him, but unfortunately, as a beginner, the effect was only so-so.

"Don't worry, this injury is nothing to fear."

Artoria sensed something familiar within the boy before her—the talisman she had specially left for Mordred when she "defeated" Lancelot: Avalon.

This was originally a treasure meant to protect the child, but she refused to use it, and in the end, she used her own death to enhance King Arthur's reputation.

That child deserved a brighter future, and for that, Artoria must continue fighting.

"Master, I want to reclaim something that belongs to me. Please bear with me for a moment."

"Endure?"

Just as Emiya Shirou was wondering what was going on, Artoria pierced his chest, but no blood flowed out; instead, he felt a strange sensation.

"During the last Holy Grail War, Avalon was mainly used to sustain Irisviel's life, so even though I discovered its existence, I didn't retrieve it. Now is the time to use it."

Artoria slowly pulled a blue-and-gold scabbard from Emiya Shirou's body.

Artoria knew perfectly well that against Fujimaru Kyoya's special attack, she had absolutely no chance of winning in close combat unless she could create distance and finish him off with a single Noble Phantasm.

While this tactic is effective, its intention is too obvious. As long as Fujimaru Kyoya isn't stupid, he can keep entangled with her and prevent Artoria from having time to unleash her Noble Phantasm.

Now that Avalon has returned, Fujimaru Kyoya is unable to inflict effective damage on its absolute defense, a fact that was already proven in that battle.

So when faced with this scabbard, Fujimaru Kyoya made his choice—Jun.

With the Servant's formidable physique, the Matou Family's Barrier was utterly ineffective in stopping him, and he left the Matou Family in no time.

They've finally left.

Artoria watched Fujimaru Kyoya away and breathed a sigh of relief. Don't be fooled by Avalon's almost invincible defense; it still requires the consumption of Mana power.

Emiya Shirou is far too mediocre as a Magecraft, resulting in an intermittent supply of Mana, forcing him to conserve his Mana as much as possible.

If it had truly been Immortality fight to the death, then the outcome would have been very difficult to predict.

Chapter 163 Let's Get Down to Business, Barbatos 26/102

Are you really going to choose this location?

Marisbury looked around at the ruins; the former Fuyuki Church had become like this.

Its original owner has long since disappeared, but this place is still nominally Church territory. Therefore, if he uses it, he will inevitably have to have "friendly exchanges" with the Church for a period of time.

"The church where the Lord resides should be my place. Jack, you go and gather intelligence first. The information seen by the Clairvoyance needs your intelligence to verify it."

"Okay, Mom."

Jack, who had been bored to the extreme, was finally able to go out and have some fun. He disappeared from everyone's sight in no time, while Solomon began to prepare for the reconstruction of the church.

The earth began to rumble, and a gigantic pillar burst forth from the ground—but was it truly a pillar or something like tentacles?

"Let's get down to business, Barbatos."

The task of building a stronghold could actually be left to any of the Demon God Pillar, but Solomon, considering that the Matou Family inherited the Demon God lineage of Barbatos, decided to let them come out for a breath of fresh air.

Unfortunately, this Demon God Pillar named Barbatos remained silent, merely rebuilding its position in quiet desperation.

The King of Magecraft and his demons did not get along well.

Solomon understood how much the demons loved humans, yet they were unable to help them under his control. This magic, born of love, gradually harbored resentment towards Solomon.

He knew all this perfectly well, but God did not grant him wisdom to make him an eternal ruler, a king who would bring absolute goodness to the world.

A king can only guide the people, not substitute his own will for the people's will; this is the way of Solomon's kingship.

However, Solomon was more concerned about something else: what exactly was inside the Holy Grail, which gave him a sense of unease.

"Marisbury, you said that the Holy Grail grants wishes through the infinite Mana provided by the Third Magic, right?"

"Yes, that is one of the Five Great Magics that exist in the world today, based on the infinite energy of the perpetual motion of the soul."

Marisbury answered respectfully.

If Magecraft is something humans can do, then Magic is something humans cannot currently do.

The Second Magic mastered by the Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, when translated into a more scientifically understandable form, is the time machine, a realm that humanity currently has absolutely no access to.

Similarly, if we convert the Third Magic in the same way, then the Soul Materialization would be a perpetual motion machine, something that humans cannot control.

"How pathetic are humans, doing such a thing for their so-called long-cherished wish."

Solomon was unaware of the situation with the Greater Grail while he was far away in London, but now that he has set foot on Fuyuki, how could he not perceive the problems within the Greater Grail?

The churning Black Mud, the pure malice, seemed to be right before his eyes; that thing called Angra Mainyu was the "blasphemy" of everything in the world.

"Marisbury's plans have changed. We must now take the initiative and seize control of the Lesser Grail."

Although Solomon favored the kingly way of non-action, the premise of "non-action" is "doing everything." Only by being able to do everything can one refrain from doing anything.

What he needs to do now is stabilize the situation and allow the Holy Grail to descend at the right time. He absolutely cannot allow the Holy Grail War to be completed before the Black Mud is completely purified by him.

Therefore, the Lesser Grail, which serves as the vessel for the Greater Grail, must be kept under constant control.

Did you just attend a cosplay convention?

Tohsaka Rin looked at the Knight in front of her. If it weren't for the fact that it was a familiar face, she probably would have smeared the gems on his face right now.

"You should ask Gil that question."

Fujimaru Kyoya unable to return to his original form at this point. As far as the Transformation Belt is concerned, this kind of thing that cannot be undoed after transformation is completely a counterfeit product.

"How does it feel to Kamen Rider?"

Gil circled around Fujimaru Kyoya, much like a child watching a tokusatsu hero. Regarding this childlike, innocent wish, Fujimaru Kyoya responded...

"Gilgamesh, you bastard!"

"This bad breath... it smells kind of right, too bad it's not from Kamen Rider."

Gil clearly picked up on the joke.

"Get out of the Tohsaka Family, Riddler!"

For Tohsaka, Tohsaka lady who is deeply immersed in the field of Magecraft and doesn't even know how to use a television, tokusatsu dramas are completely incomprehensible.

It's like the incantations a teacher spouts in advanced mathematics class—utterly incomprehensible.

"In short, the belt I'm giving you embodies the concept of 'transformation,' a crystallization of the heroes countless children believe in, something my future self would disdain."

A child's dream is a fantasy that remains hidden deep within the heart, even as an adult.

The adult Gilgamesh this idea with disdain, believing that no one deserved the title of hero more than himself. However, he was willing to hold onto this fantasy when he was Gil child.

"Of course, dreams can't put food on the table. Without extremely high Servant compatibility, this Noble Phantasm is nothing more than a pointless toy."

Even Gil had to admit that this thing was more of Noble Phantasm than a Noble Phantasm.

"With the rules completely broken, the Holy Grail's rejection reaction, the birth of the Player Class, Three Command Seals, Three Lives, and High Servant Compatibility, each of these is something that can only be encountered by chance."

So, is it really just a coincidence?

Gil looked at Fujimaru Kyoya. This boy's connection to his Servant was clearly profound; where did this bond originate?

Forget it, it's not something a dead man should care about.

"But can I still keep this a secret from Lancer and the others in my current state?"

Fujimaru Kyoya thought of Bazett, who was still nominally an ally, since he was supposed to be Archer's "Master," but now he had become Pseudo-Servant.

"That's alright, you can just blame it all on my Noble Phantasm. The only problem is that Pseudo-Servant usually have the Servant's consciousness overriding the human consciousness, but this isn't shown in Brother Fujimaru."

Gil subtly pointed out the problem with Fujimaru Kyoya, which was actually a hint to his true Master.

If Fujimaru Kyoya were merely an assistant, Gil wouldn't discuss such matters; however, Fujimaru Kyoya a Master.

Although Gil didn't have much interest in the Holy Grail, he also disliked losing.

Since we've entered the Holy Grail War, we must win without any controversy.

"It's alright. Fujimaru is always like this. Even Servant would find it hard to imagine someone being able to override his consciousness."

Tohsaka Rin didn't care about any of that. Before the Holy Grail War even began, Fujimaru Kyoya proven his sincerity. Since she had agreed to help him, there was no reason for her to doubt him.

Chapter 164 Solomon very strong?

Tohsaka Rin accepted that Fujimaru Kyoya would become Pseudo-Servant, and Bazett also accepted it.

In truth, she had no choice but to accept or refuse this matter. She was currently recovering from her injuries and needed the Tohsaka Family as a place to recuperate, no matter what.

Truth and falsehood, right and wrong, are not that important to her now that she is an adult.

The important thing was that powerful Mana, which they also sensed.

"King of Magecraft Solomon? If this information is true, then we're in trouble."

As the designated Executor of the Sealing Designation, Bazett should have been fearless in the face of hardship, but when he heard the name Solomon, he couldn't help but feel a sense of retreat.

Was Solomon very strong?

Fujimaru Kyoya certainly knew that Solomon was very strong, after all, he was the culprit who could cause the Humanity Incineration, but his understanding of Solomon's "strength" was limited to the Humanity Incineration Formula.

The Servant version of Solomon is definitely inferior to his future self, and he has absolutely no understanding of Solomon's attack methods.

"This isn't a question of strength. He is the Originator of Magecraft, endowed with divine wisdom and the Ten Rings. After establishing the Magecraft theories of later generations, no Magecraft can harm him, and they will even be used unconditionally by him. This is not Noble Phantasm, but simply a unique characteristic."

Bazett was talking about things that everyone already knew, but this bug-level thing was just a "passive effect" or something like that. This kind of overpowered ability really opened Fujimaru Kyoya's eyes.

"According to the Familiar's information, Solomon left a strange Pillar Workshop on the ruins of the Fuyuki Church, while he himself went to the outskirts."

Tohsaka Rin recounted the information her Familiar had seen. Logically, there should be no way her Familiar could monitor Solomon; in fact, her Familiar was discovered from the very beginning.

More than once, Tohsaka Rin met the other person's gaze through the eyes of her Familiar.

Whether it was the composure of a powerful figure or simply an indifference to being spied on, Solomon did not destroy Tohsaka Rin's Familiar, allowing Tohsaka Rin to learn of his destination.

Solomon believed there was nothing he couldn't do. Whether this was confidence or wisdom, Tohsaka Rin saw it as utter contempt.

"The outskirts? If my information is correct..."

"That's right, Einzbern's castle is in that desolate outskirts, and that girl named Illya should be the Lesser Grail this time."

This is what's Tohsaka Rin a headache.

The Holy Grail War was originally supposed to reveal itself only when only two Servant remained in the final battle. But if it were the King of Magecraft, would obtaining the Lesser Grail cause it to appear earlier?

"The only thing we can be at ease about now is that the Holy Grail requires sufficient Mana to appear. In previous Holy Grail War, Mana was obtained by Servant dying and returning to the Holy Grail. Even if Solomon has other methods, this Mana still needs to be replenished."

As the only Three Founding Families currently present, Tohsaka Rin isn't worried about Solomon summoning the Greater Grail after obtaining the Lesser Grail; she can make good use of this gap in time.

"Let's go, let's settle the score with Kirei Kotomine."

Tohsaka Rin understands the enemy's strength, and therefore Gil's Gate of Babylon must be replenished immediately; it's time to reclaim everything.

The Gate of Babylon and the Tohsaka Family's grudge.

"Shinji, where are we going?"

On the outskirts of Fuyuki, Shinji Matou led Emiya Shirou through the area. Although they were both native locals, they found it difficult to find their way in this remote and sparsely populated area.

"An alliance, with the Einzbern Family."

Shinji Matou certainly sensed that undisguised and powerful Mana, and to avoid being tracked back, he didn't even dare to use his Familiar to follow the other party.

Such an enemy is far beyond the capabilities of two mediocre Magecraft; one side must provide stronger assistance.

"I rejected Tohsaka Rin simply because I couldn't stand him using Kyo. As for the alliance with the Einzbern Family, it was purely a matter of self-interest."