The Crusaders' Mystery: Part Three

"Are these Command Spells?"

Upon seeing the crimson markings on the Magus's hand, Li Ye sensed the strange magic power contained within them and furrowed his brow slightly.

Although Li Ye hadn't truly seen Command Spells before, he didn't think they should have this kind of aura.

'They can summon Heroic Spirits like this?'

Li Ye, considering himself a Moon dweller, showed a look of confusion and couldn't help but ask, "How many times have you succeeded in this Heroic Spirit summoning?"

Not to mention that the Magus successfully summoned Vlad the Third this time, let alone that nameless Servant. If the Crusaders had performed multiple Heroic Spirit summonings, how many Heroic Spirits could they have conjured?

"Five times, all failed. The usable resources are limited, and the resources I used for summoning were also granted by the King's decree—"

The Command Spells on the Magus's hand emitted an ominous glow.

'Five failed summonings? No, it must be more than five. That nameless Servant should have been summoned around this time too.

But where did the magic power for multiple summonings come from? Did the Lionheart King control the ley lines? But this is ancient Egypt, how could he control the ley lines here?'

Li Ye couldn't figure out how the Lionheart King bypassed Ozymandias to control the ley lines, unless the Lionheart King wasn't within Ozymandias's domain.

But if they weren't hiding here, where else could the Lionheart King and the remaining Crusaders go?

A magic workshop capable of creating Aleka and others wouldn't be small. Even if the Lionheart King could achieve concealment technology close to that of the Atlas Institute, their physical forms wouldn't disappear from this world.

Li Ye crossed his arms, his index finger tapping his arm incessantly. "How did you find me?"

It wasn't just their concealment technology; the Crusaders' ability to track the Holy Grail made Li Ye curious. By what method could they locate him so accurately?

The Crusaders shouldn't have the ability to tamper with the Holy Grail, so they must have a special way to track it.

Li Ye was very curious about the specific method. Was it a method he could understand?

"We don't know. The King gave the orders, and we just followed them."

The Magus's answer left Li Ye slightly disappointed. It seemed he wouldn't get to learn about this technique.

Li Ye then said, "So, what kind of magic are you using to suppress your presence to this level? It's at least extremely high-level Presence Concealment."

The concealment used by these Crusader Maguses was something Li Ye had only experienced with the Hassans.

The extreme Presence Concealment meant Li Ye could only detect his targets through intuition or direct observation.

"It's knowledge from the mother template, a concealment magic developed by imitating Hassan's Presence Concealment—"

As the Magus honestly revealed the truth, Li Ye's eyes widened.

'Hassan's Presence Concealment?!'

"How many sections is this magic?"

Li Ye, greatly curious about concealment magic, couldn't help but press further.

Li Ye had a basic understanding of the concept of magic.

It was the act of making something happen in an unconventional way that could normally be achieved through common sense.

Man-made miracles, the act of reproducing miracles.

Originally, it was magecraft, using powers already decided upon in the Root. Therefore, the more people who knew about it, the weaker its power became.

What was originally ten units of power used by one person was now divided into two units for two people. The more people who could use it, the less power they each received.

Concealment was the essence of magecraft; the more people knew and used it, the more dispersed and weakened its power became.

Aleka and over a dozen others came from the same mother template, so they should possess the same concealment magic. However, this would mean the effectiveness of the concealment magic should be dispersed, reducing the concealment effect.

Yet, Li Ye had encountered the Magus several times and found it difficult to track them. Clearly, this concealment magic was not affected by dispersion, or at least not yet.

There was also the nature of concealment magic. Different schools had different methods, but they generally involved a mechanism that "converts what is inside oneself into external magic power."

It was a stable interference with nature, activated by magic power, using rules already determined by the world.

Following the predetermined System of each school, the caster then sent commands. To execute a pre-made Program, a current, which was magic power, was needed to send the command.

For example, if a car was the "rule," then gasoline would be the "magic power." Only by injecting "magic power" could the "rule" be activated.

To activate magecraft, one needed: 1. The magic power required for activation; 2. A key (path, incantation: code) to run the engine; 3. Magic circuits to inject magic power into the engine.

The performance of the magic itself was already determined; it wouldn't change regardless of who used it. The only thing that could be done was to alter the power through incantation.

Li Ye wanted to know how many sections of incantation this concealment magic required and if he could learn it.

"It's a 3-section magic..."

This time, surprisingly, the Magus didn't wait for Li Ye to ask about the incantation and provided all the information about the concealment magic.

Li Ye tried to memorize it first and nodded in satisfaction.

"Is there a powerful curse mage? One of your sisters too?"

Li Ye remembered the curse-type mages he couldn't stop thinking about, with their similar concealment magic and endless curse spells.

It was a shame he had never met that curse mage. Otherwise, Li Ye felt he would have had a lot to say to them.

"You must have met the cursed Aleka. Is she dead?"

The Magus finally looked at Li Ye.

"No, she's hiding very well," Li Ye shook his head, then clapped his hands.

"Alright, back to the main topic. Besides the Lionheart King and your sister, who else is left among the Crusaders?"

He had already obtained a lot of valuable information from the Magus, including the surprising revelation about concealment magic. Li Ye's attention finally turned back to information about the Crusaders.

Based on the intelligence Li Ye currently possessed, someone calling himself Richard the Lionheart led the remaining remnants of the Crusaders. This individual had utilized Magie Friedman and the mother template Aleka to create a series of Homunculi, as well as numerous stitched-together beasts, Chimeras.

They could even perform multiple Heroic Spirit summons.

Most of the Crusaders' situation was now clear. What Li Ye was truly interested in was whether the person calling himself the Lionheart King could summon Heroic Spirits historically connected to him.

Since he was a king, his subordinates would naturally be endless.

He could even summon as many Servants as the Lion King, like the Knights of the Round Table, to achieve his grand ambition.

There was no answer.

The Magus fell into a long-awaited silence, and only then spoke again under Li Ye's gaze, "The King once said—"

Hearing the Magus's words, Li Ye became interested and asked curiously, "Oh? What else did the Lionheart King say?"

"The sins committed by the False King will not be tolerated by the divine. The True King will eventually return to the Holy Land and reclaim the Holy Grail—"

"Hold on, I don't understand what you guys are talking about at all. What Crusaders, what Lionheart King, and who are this False King and True King?"

Sanzang, standing nearby, wore a pained expression, completely unable to comprehend the conversation between Li Ye and the Magus.