The Slowly Burning City

The Slowly Burning City

Time rewound to one second before the city was devoured by the flames.

Clutching the hand of the severely wounded Mashu in his arms, Luo Zhen's heart filled with resolve.

(At this point, this is the only way...)

Luo Zhen unconsciously tightened the hand wearing the "Miracle."

Luo Zhen actually had one way to escape his current crisis.

That was to use the power of the "Miracle" to open a gate to another world and leave the current space-time, thereby avoiding the crisis before him.

However...

(This power isn't something that can be used casually...)

As mentioned before, opening a gate to another world besides the "world of souls" required paying a certain price.

Moreover, the "gate" he opened could not allow anyone other than Luo Zhen to pass through.

In other words, even if this method could save him, it would only save Luo Zhen alone. Mashu could not pass through the "gate" by herself.

Even if they could travel to another world through the "gate," how to save the severely wounded Mashu would still be a problem.

After all, Mashu's injuries could no longer wait.

And there was no way Luo Zhen could optimistically assume that something capable of healing Mashu's wounds happened to exist on the other side of the "gate."

(But this is the only way left!)

If he didn't use this method, death was the only outcome.

If he did use it, there was still a glimmer of hope.

Then, besides using it, did Luo Zhen really have a second choice?

As for how to get Mashu through the "gate" to another world that theoretically opened only for him, Luo Zhen wasn't entirely without a solution.

(Although I really don't want to use this method...)

But he had no choice now.

At the very instant Luo Zhen made up his mind...

"Spiritron Transfer, commencing."

As Chaldea's system voice faded, Luo Zhen felt his entire existence transform into a stream of particles. Amid dazzling, swirling radiance, he entered a passage.

It was a passage leading to another space-time.

"Spiritron Transfer...!?"

Luo Zhen had only just managed to draw a breath when a wave of dizziness robbed him of consciousness.

By the time his consciousness returned and the dizziness had completely vanished, he had no idea how much time had passed.

When his vision fully recovered and the scene before him entered his eyes, Luo Zhen froze.

Before him lay ruins that looked no different from Chaldea's Control Room.

Flame-like red light enveloped one collapsed building after another.

Roads like abandoned streets stood in every direction.

Before his eyes was a town reduced to ruins, still burning.

"Where is this...?"

Luo Zhen tried to grasp the situation.

At that moment, a sudden stabbing pain came from the back of Luo Zhen's right hand, drawing his attention.

When Luo Zhen saw what was on the back of his right hand, an astonished expression appeared on his face.

An eye-catching red pattern was branded on the back of Luo Zhen's right hand.

The pattern consisted of three strokes. They resembled three rings clasped together, forming a single design.

Luo Zhen could sense immense magical power surging within the design.

That allowed him to determine exactly what the pattern on the back of his hand was.

"Command Seal..."

----The "Command Seal."

It was an extremely precious symbol of command authority, belonging exclusively to a Master.

It connected with a Magus's Magic Circuits. As long as one issued an order through it, it could be used as a source of magical power to give a contracted Servant commands to a certain extent and make them reality.

For this reason, a Command Seal could be used to strengthen one's contracted Servant or heal injuries a Servant had suffered. If the Magus was sufficiently skilled, they could even use the magical power transformed by a Command Seal to place a binding similar to a "curse" on their Servant.

And its appearance naturally meant...

"There's a Servant... who formed a contract with me...?"

That was the only explanation for the Command Seal's appearance.

"No way...?"

At that moment, Luo Zhen was truly bewildered.

If this had happened in the past, Luo Zhen would certainly have been ecstatic.

After all, forming a contract with a genuine Servant and using the Heroic Spirit Summoning System as a Master had always been one of Luo Zhen's aspirations.

That aspiration had actually been fulfilled in such a manner, leaving Luo Zhen too bewildered to feel any excitement.

Fortunately, Luo Zhen was a Master skilled in summoning magecraft to begin with, and he quickly recovered from the sudden situation.

"Now isn't the time to think about that...!"

Luo Zhen shifted his attention away from the Command Seal on the back of his hand and anxiously looked around.

"Where's Mashu? Where did Mashu go?"

That was what he should be thinking about right now.

Recalling the sensation of the girl in his arms gradually losing her warmth only a moment ago, Luo Zhen immediately prepared to run forward.

Unfortunately, that action was stopped in the very next instant.

"----!"

Luo Zhen's body, which had been about to charge forward, abruptly froze in place.

Beyond his eyes, at the horizon on the edge of the ruined town, a meteor appeared.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...!"

The sound of something tearing through the air rang out across the horizon like a torrential rain.

That was...

"----Arrows...!"

That was as far as Luo Zhen could understand.

As for escaping, it was already too late.

The meteor-like rain of arrows attacking from the horizon moved far faster than the Shadow Servant Luo Zhen had controlled during the Simulated Battle.

In other words, it was an attack that surpassed the level of a High-Level Familiar.

Its power, speed, and quantity all exceeded those of the Shadow Servant Luo Zhen had controlled back then.

Facing such an attack, Luo Zhen could only shrink his pupils to pinpoints, as though watching the lantern slides of his life flash before his death.

In another second, the rain of arrows would pierce Luo Zhen's body and tear it into countless pieces.

A death crisis even more immediate than the one in the Control Room shot straight toward him.

Faced with such direct death, did Luo Zhen have any way to resolve it?

Magecraft?

There was no time to cast it.

Evade?

With Luo Zhen's pitiful physical abilities, that was completely unrealistic.

Before the Spiritron Transfer, Luo Zhen definitely would have had no means of dealing with this crisis.

But now, Luo Zhen had one trump card.

"Clang!"

Blinding light burst from the back of Luo Zhen's hand.

Within the Command Seal, formed from three interlocking rings, one of the rings suddenly faded and transformed into a surging torrent of magical power.

Using that magical power, Luo Zhen issued an order.

"Come to my side! My Servant!"

Supported by the enormous magical power, that order became reality.

Thus...

"Hah!"

Amid a clear, feminine shout and a raging torrent of magical power, a black shadow shot out like lightning and blocked Luo Zhen's path.

Looking at that figure, Luo Zhen's eyes widened.

"Mashu...!?"