Chapter 451
"The job that brat entrusted to me... was to get you all safely back to the carriage... to stay here... is it to embarrass me?"
Did Shirou say that?
Rin Tohsaka and Luvia exchanged a glance.
Running away with their tails between their legs in this situation is really not in their style, but if this is Shirou's decision...
After a moment's thought, the girls lowered their arms, which were poised to fire the Magic Bullet.
"I understand. Please be careful, Old Man Lufeileius."
Rin Tohsaka and Luvia had just stepped down when Olga Marie stepped onto the front lines to confront the Dead Apostle.
"Listen up, Dead Apostle! My name is Olga Marie! Olga Marie Animsphere Animsphere!"
The girl, without a trace of fear, placed her hands on her chest, her small body emitting a loud sound.
Olga Marie fiercely announced her family name to the enemy and activated her Magic Circuits, preparing to engage in battle.
"..."
Seeing this, the old man sighed as if he had been caught off guard.
Marisbury's daughter is quite the problem child too...
When someone gets that fired up... there's nothing an old bone like me can do to stop them...
If that brat... Shirou Amamiya were here... what would he do...?
Just then--
"Crack!"
A sudden static crackled, and then Olga Marie fell forward—
Before she plunged into the snow, Leinys reached out and caught her.
Everyone was stunned: it was Leinys had just used some kind of Magecraft to knock Olga Marie unconscious from behind.
"Wait... wait! What are you doing?" Yvette, the girl with the eye patch, covered her mouth.
Leinys embraced Olga Marie, smiling gently, and said, "This is a technique that Shirou taught me before he left—"
If Lady Olga Marie loses control, use this trick to get her to sleep quietly for a while.
Yvette: "You dare attack the Lord's daughter? I don't care what happens after that!"
Leinys, Yvette, Rin Tohsaka, Luvia, and the unconscious Olga Marie began their retreat.
Leinys: "If we can't stay in the Clock Tower any longer, let's all go to Japan and seek refuge with Shirou."
Rin Tohsaka: "Seriously? We're going to have to add more people to that living room..."
Luvia: "Wait a minute! Miss Tohsaka! What do you mean by that? Do you frequent Shirou's house?"
The noise faded away, and the Snowfield returned to its Serenity.
The battle here is over.
The Skeleton Legion of the Lord the Spirit Evocation Department out, while the Dead Apostle of the Lake Dead Apostle and their retinue suffered almost no losses.
"Father, is it alright not to give chase?" a vampire asked.
Lubare looked in the direction the girl had fled and sneered.
"It's alright, we can catch them all later. That train is already ours."
More importantly... wasn't the mission to avenge Master Bartholomew?
Lubare looked at Lord Ulysses.
However, his focus was not on the old man himself, but on the twenty-odd jewels that adorned Rufleus's entire body.
That was a very famous rumor even in vampire society, about the King of the Dead of the Clock Tower, Lord Ulysses.
Each of the twenty gemstone rings worn on the ten fingers is sealed with a powerful spirit.
The spirit sealed in the ring on her right hand was a byproduct of her challenge to Ulysses's Grand Order —alphamega nogeuse.
That is the human spirit that each generation of Ulysses has sealed away, possessing the ability to measure the advantage of humanity.
Therefore, for the Lord Ulysses, this was equivalent to having a group of think tanks with expertise in various fields by his side.
However, what should be feared is the spirit sealed within the ring on the left hand.
The spirit sealed in the ring on the left hand is an artificial spirit created by the Spirit Evocation Department.
Although they are not directly related to Ulysses's Grand Order, they are evil spirits specializing in combat.
Lord Ulysses, who liberates and sometimes even merges with it, is tantamount to leading an army of evil spirits.
But these weren't what Lubare really cared about.
It is said that even more evil spirits lurked within the gemstone pendant on the old man's chest.
"The troublesome fellows are gone, it's about time to show some real skills, Magecraft."
Lubare stroked his goatee and said with a smile.
Rufleus, leaning on his cane, asked as if he were completely unconcerned about his current perilous situation.
"Vampire, how did you escape from Bartholomew's clutches?"
"Um?"
The Dead Apostle Rubareh hadn't expected the other party to ask the question at this moment.
Oh, is it because there were girls around that you couldn't ask this sensitive question?
The Clock Tower Queen, the second generation of the Marshal of Magic, Bartholomew Lorelei, is young, but she has already hunted down two of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors.
In Rufleus's view, it was incomprehensible that she would fail in that way.
Lubare was in a good mood, so he answered with a proud expression:
"The little girl from Bartholomew led a force of fifty men through my barrier; I had expected her to encircle me—"
Unexpectedly, she arrogantly entered the city alone; this pride was precisely the reason for her downfall.
"I see..."
The old man revealed his crooked, uneven teeth and muttered softly.
"This generation of Bartholomew is born... a perfect Magecraft."
That being said... there was clearly no need for her to relinquish the Lord before she even grew up... yet that guy did so long ago...
This kind of thing happening... is probably due to immaturity... or perhaps there are other reasons...?
Lubare said with a smile, "My castle houses treasures that even the Twenty-Seven Ancestors have never seen."
I thought I could definitely kill her with that weapon, but it backfired... She really is a dangerous woman."
"Hmph... Just as I thought..."
Rufleus scoffed, "Otherwise... how could a weak Dead Apostle like you possibly escape from her clutches..."
"... Weak? Are you talking about me?"
Lubare frowned, then looked at his kin.
The Dead Apostle were also taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter.
Compared to the true Twenty-Seven Ancestors, Lubare is indeed still very weak.
But if the comparison is with humans--
"Enough with the stubbornness, Magecraft."
Lubare's face darkened with displeasure, and he said fiercely, "I am a Dead Apostle has lived for a thousand years, not someone a human less than a hundred years old like you—"
"Lived for a thousand years... so what?"
"Varied--"
The Lake Dead Apostle wore expressions of disbelief.
He quickly retreated upon sensing danger.
As one of the high-ranking Dead Apostle closest to the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, he possessed the talent to not disgrace his noble name.
However, when he tried to create some distance, his legs began to melt like jelly.
Not only Lubare, but his kin also began to dissolve and scream.
"This is...!"
Lubare finally learned the truth behind that strange feeling.
While the skeletal soldiers fought against their own kin, Rufleus established the surrounding area as his own domain.
That was a large barrier specifically designed to absorb some kind of invisible energy.
In other words, the magic of the dead.
The barrier set up by the Lord the Spirit Evocation Department is a natural Natural Enemy of vampires.
If the Dead Apostle are beings that feed on humans, then Rufleus is Magecraft who feeds on the "dead," including the Dead Apostle!
"Having lived for a thousand years... so what?"
To the vampire, the old man's figure standing on the snow was like the embodiment of death.
"Ulysses has been pursuing mysteries for nearly two thousand years since the beginning of the Western calendar... and has inherited Magecraft for over fifteen hundred years..."
Looking back now... I realize... he was just an innocent, naive child...
They've only lived for a mere thousand years... yet they call themselves the superior species of this planet... how arrogant and foolish...
For Magecraft, mystery is something passed down through generations.
They dedicate their short lives to continuous research and pass on their achievements to the next generation, and one day they too will reach that unattainable end.
Such principles and convictions are something the Dead Apostle can never understand, which is why they were defeated.
Rufleus slowly released all his spirit.
In the blink of an eye, Lubare and his relatives' Dead Apostle were completely devoured.
"... Tsk!"
Although he was having second thoughts, Nero Chaos had no way back now.
"Crimson Moon's Mage Eye" must be retrieved as soon as possible, before he becomes even more troublesome.
Dozens of enormous, pitch-black monsters appeared on the Snowfield.
They do not possess the perfect appearance of creatures in nature, but rather a mixture of different wild animal characteristics, which are known as the Chimera.
These are Nero Chaos's most elite warriors.
The Black Robe Dead Apostle raised his arm, and the hybrid monster pounced on Shirou.
However--
"Projection, begin (trace on)."
Shirou murmured to himself.
Incredibly, however, the Magic Circuits within his body did not activate.
The usual scene of Projection weapons did not occur; instead—
The boy's Kohaku eyes transformed into a kaleidoscope of dazzling rainbow colors.
Shirou slowly raised one arm, and the beautiful spiral of red and green was projected onto the world itself as he looked at it.
"Distort it!!"
A beast leaping into the air, a beast running wildly, a beast flapping its wings—
Nero Chaos's army of beasts, along with the earth, sky, and forest, were rolled into a twisted ball without any resistance, like an A4 sheet of paper.
The laws of the world have crumbled.