"Is that a Command Spell?"
When Li Ye saw the Magus reveal the crimson markings on the back of his hand, he sensed the strange magical power contained within them and frowned slightly.
Although Li Ye had never truly seen a Command Spell before, it should not have carried this sort of aura, at least not according to his understanding.
Can this summon Heroic Spirits too?
Even Li Ye, who prided himself on being a Moon dweller, looked bewildered. He could not help asking, "How many times have you successfully performed this Heroic Spirit summoning?"
Not to mention that the Magus had successfully summoned Vlad the Third this time, or the nameless Servant—if the Crusaders had carried out multiple Heroic Spirit summonings, how many Heroic Spirits could they have brought forth?
"Five times. They all failed. The resources available to us were limited, and the resources I used for the summoning were only obtained through the King's special authorization—"
The Command Spell on the Magus's hand gave off an ominous glow.
Five failed summonings? No, it must have been more than five. That nameless Servant should have been summoned around this time too.
But where did the magical resources for multiple summonings come from? Did Richard the Lionheart control the Ley Line's magical energy? But this is Egypt of the Age of Gods. How could he control the Ley Lines here?
Li Ye could not figure out how Richard the Lionheart had bypassed Ozymandias to control the Ley Lines, unless Richard the Lionheart was not within Ozymandias's domain.
But if they were not hiding here, where could Richard the Lionheart and the remaining Crusaders have gone?
The Magecraft Workshop capable of creating Aleka and the others could not possibly be small. Even if Richard the Lionheart had achieved concealment technology comparable to the Atlas Institute's, a physical structure would not simply vanish from this world.
Li Ye folded his arms, his index finger tapping constantly against his sleeve. "How did you find me?"
It was not merely their concealment technology. The remaining Crusaders' ability to trace the Holy Grail also intrigued Li Ye. Just what method had allowed them to pinpoint his location so accurately?
The Crusaders should not have been capable of tampering with the Holy Grail, so they must have possessed some special means of tracing it.
Li Ye was very curious about the exact method. Was it something he could understand?
"I don't know. The King gave the orders. We merely followed them."
The Magus's answer left Li Ye somewhat disappointed. It seemed he would not be able to obtain that technique.
Li Ye then said, "Then what magecraft did you use to erase your presence to this extent? It must be Presence Concealment of an extremely high level, at the very least."
Li Ye had only experienced the concealment used by these Crusader Magi on the Hassans.
Their extraordinary Presence Concealment meant that Li Ye could only discover them through intuition or direct visual observation.
"It was knowledge inherent in the original template—a concealment magecraft developed by imitating the Hassans' Presence Concealment—"
The instant the Magus honestly revealed the truth, Li Ye's eyes widened.
The Hassans' Presence Concealment?!
"How many verses is this magecraft?"
His curiosity about the concealment magecraft surging, Li Ye could not help pressing further.
Li Ye knew a little about the concept of magecraft as well.
It was the act of making something that could be accomplished through common sense occur through another, unconventional method.
Artificial miracles—the collective term for acts that reproduced miracles.
It had originally been magic, power already determined within the Root. Thus, the more people who knew of it, the weaker its power became.
What had once been power for one person to wield was now divided in two for two people to use. The more people who could use it, the less power each received.
Secrecy was the essence of magecraft. The more people knew and used it, the more its power would be dispersed and weakened.
There were more than a dozen Alekas from the same original template. Logically, they should possess the same concealment magecraft, yet that should have dispersed its effectiveness and weakened the concealment.
But Li Ye had encountered the Magi several times and still found it difficult to detect them. Clearly, this concealment magecraft had not been affected by such dispersion—or perhaps it had not yet been affected.
Then there was the nature of concealment magecraft itself. It varied among different schools, but it was generally a mechanism that "converted what existed within oneself into magical energy that filled the outside world."
It used magical energy to activate "rules already determined by the world," steadily triggering formulas that interfered with nature.
It followed the foundations, or Systems, already established by each school, after which the caster issued Commands. To execute functions, or Programs, prepared in advance, one needed the current that sent those commands: magical energy.
To put it simply, if a car was the "rule," then gasoline was "magical energy." Only by injecting "magical energy" could the "rule" be activated.
To activate magecraft, one needed: first, the amount of magical energy required for activation; second, the key that made the engine run—a path, an incantation, code; third, Mage Circuits that injected magical energy into the engine.
The performance of magecraft itself was already fixed. It did not change depending on who used it; the only thing one could alter through chanting was its power.
Li Ye wanted to know how many verses this concealment magecraft required, and whether he could learn it.
"It's a three-verse magecraft..."
This time, unexpectedly, the Magus did not wait for Li Ye to ask about the chant. He voluntarily explained all the information concerning the concealment magecraft.
Li Ye first tried to memorize it, then nodded in satisfaction.
"Is there one who's especially skilled in curse magecraft? She's your sister too, right?"
Li Ye recalled the curse Magus he had not been able to forget: the identical concealment magecraft, along with the endless stream of curse magecraft.
Unfortunately, he had never met that curse Magus face-to-face. Otherwise, Li Ye felt he would certainly have had much to say to her.
"The one you encountered should have been Aleka of Curses. Is she dead?"
For the first time in a while, the Magus looked at Li Ye.
"No. She hid very well." Li Ye shook his head, then clapped his hands.
"Alright, back to the point. Aside from Richard the Lionheart and your sisters, who else remains among the Crusaders?"
Li Ye had already obtained much valuable intelligence from the Magus, including the great surprise of the concealment magecraft. At last, he turned his attention back to information about the Crusaders.
Based on what Li Ye currently knew, someone calling himself Richard the Lionheart commanded the remaining Crusaders. He had used Maggie Friedman and the original Aleka to create a series of artificial humans, as well as numerous Chimeric Beasts.
He could even perform Heroic Spirit summonings multiple times.
Most of the Crusaders' situation had become clear. What Li Ye truly cared about was whether the man calling himself Richard the Lionheart could summon Heroic Spirits connected to him in history.
As a king, he would naturally have countless warriors under his command.
He might even be able to summon as many Servants as the Lion King had summoned Knights of the Round Table, using them to accomplish a great undertaking.
There was no answer.
The Magus fell silent again after a long while. Only under Li Ye's gaze did he speak once more. "The King once said—"
Li Ye became interested upon hearing that. "Oh? What else did Richard the Lionheart say?"
"The sins committed by the False King cannot be tolerated by the divine. The True King will eventually return to the Holy Land and reclaim the sacred cup—"
"Hold on, I can't understand anything you're talking about. What Crusaders, what Richard the Lionheart, and who are this False King and True King?"
Off to the side, Sanzang wore a pained expression. She completely failed to understand the conversation between Li Ye and the Magus.