Invincible Me Only Wants to Slack Off

Then came the message sent in the evening:

: Rin-chan? Are you there yet? Did you arrive? Don't forget to text me! (.o_o)

: PS: There's a super huge surprise waiting at your place! I handed it over to the Tohsaka family's butler, so go pick it up, okay? (★ ω ★)

Rin stared at the lively words and emojis on the screen, and a faint smile finally crept onto her exhausted face.

Sister Marin's boundless energy practically radiated through the screen, warm enough to feel.

Her fingers flew across the screen:

RinRin: Sorry, Marin-sis, just finished dealing with those old fossils at home... Made it back safely. Fuyuki's cold.

RinRin: A surprise? Did you waste money again?

After sending the message, she clutched her phone and stood up, the weariness in her eyes replaced by curiosity. She had to go see what the butler had received.

Rin walked out of the room, her steps lighter than before. She found the old butler in the mansion's corridor, organizing the storage room.

"Young miss." The gray-haired butler bowed respectfully.

"Uncle, did a package arrive for me today?" Rin asked.

"Yes." The butler turned at once, retrieved a flat, rigid envelope from a locked cabinet, and handed it over with both hands. "It arrived this afternoon, marked as from 'Miss Kitagawa Marin.' Security checked it—no issues."

"Thanks." Rin took the envelope. It was light in her hands.

Back in her room, Rin sat at her desk and sliced open the seal with a letter opener. Out slid a thick, sturdy card.

A concert ticket.

VIP section, front row.

The ticket design was strikingly simple: the back was plain white, clearly printed with the black seat area, date and time, alongside a barcode and QR code. No extra patterns.

Rin flipped it over.

The front was pure black, with only one line of eye-catching, flame-like crimson text:

?Devil May Cry

Rin pinched the uniquely textured black ticket, her brow furrowing slightly.

?A concert? Why give me this??

She knew about this "Devil May Cry Concert," of course.

On the way back from the station to the Tohsaka estate, every bus stop sign and building facade was plastered with its minimalist posters—pure black backgrounds, blazing crimson text, just like the ticket in her hand.

But her mind was entirely on the upcoming Holy Grail War.

Mana fluctuations, Kotomine Kirei's probing, the preparation of the workshop... Those were what she needed to focus on.

As for who was headlining the concert or what songs they'd sing, she had zero interest in finding out.

Her fingers tapped quickly on the screen:

RinRin: Marin-sis, I got the ticket. A concert? What's this about?

Soon, her phone buzzed.

Marin-sis: Ehehe~ Rin-chan got it! (★ω★)

Marin-sis: Don't ask too much! Just make sure you absolutely come that day, okay? You absolutely cannot miss it! Trust me! (｀?ω?')?

The message carried Marin's usual bouncy, insistent tone, but dodged the core question, adding another layer of mystery.

Rin stared at the lines on her phone screen, a flicker of helplessness passing through her icy blue eyes.

"So secretive..."

She set down her phone and looked back at the black ticket. The crimson "Devil May Cry" seemed to flicker like real fire under the light.

Two days later... exactly when the Holy Grail War would officially begin.

She rubbed her temples and casually tossed the ticket onto her desk.

"Whatever, I'll leave it for now."

Two days, for a Magician about to be swept into the Holy Grail War, passed with suffocating speed.

In hidden workshops across Fuyuki City, lights burned through the night without rest.

Command seal repairs, familiar contracts, Mystic Code adjustments, tactical simulations... Each task demanded immense mental energy and mana.

The invisible pressure in the air grew heavier, mana fluctuations like restless undercurrents, reminding them that the fateful night was fast approaching.

Everyone felt they still had crucial alchemical arrays unfinished, fatal tactical gaps unsealed, yet time rushed forward coldly, heedless of their anxiety.

Fuyuki's invisible "countdown" pounded heavily on the hearts of all who knew.

For Kitagawa Marin, those two days crawled by like a snail.

She practically lived at the massive concert venue, accompanying Chen Tian through rehearsals.

The deafening sound system, blinding lights, and complex stage lifts left her dizzy, but her mind was fixed on those few minutes—the song that was hers.

Ivory Tower had an ethereal female solo section, and now her head was filled with a single image: when she sang that song on the stage before thousands, what kind of shocked, delighted expression would Rin-chan, sitting in the VIP front row, have on her face!

To make sure that image appeared right away, she even shook Chen Tian's arm vigorously, her voice sweet as honey: "Boyfriend~ pretty please! Put Ivory Tower first, okay? Pretty please~?"

Chen Tian looked down at the golden-haired girl clinging to his arm, tilting her little face up with eyes full of anticipation and coaxing, and smiled gently.

A trace of indulgence flickered in those usually steady, deep eyes.

What else could he do? His little sun had made such a serious request.

"Mm." He gave a faint reply, essentially agreeing.

Kitagawa immediately cheered, hopping around him like a little sparrow who'd gotten a treat: "Yay! Boyfriend's the best! Rin-chan's gonna be so surprised! Hehehe..."

She was already picturing the cracks appearing on Rin's usually calm face, and just thinking about it made her bubble with joy.

Chen Tian ruffled her soft golden hair, saying nothing more, but the helplessness in his eyes had long since melted into silent affection.

His little dummy—if he wanted to spoil her, he would.

Anyway, as long as she was happy, that was enough.

Outside the venue, Fuyuki City's lead-gray sky grew heavier. Night was about to fall.

The dressing room lights were blindingly bright.

Chen Tian sat quietly before the makeup mirror, a stylist holding a few earrings near his earlobe, comparing them. The mirror reflected his expressionless face, his deep eyes calm and unruffled.

Kitagawa Marin, already in full makeup and wearing a glittering stage outfit, sat on the sofa nearby.

She hugged her phone, fingers idly swiping the screen, her little mouth pouted high, legs fidgeting restlessly.

"Why isn't Rin-chan replying yet..." she muttered, thick with anxiety. "Ugh, so annoying... If she doesn't come, what about my surprise!"

She tugged irritably at her golden hair, messing up a few strands of the carefully styled look.

Chen Tian's gaze stayed on the mirror, watching his little sun's restless antics—she was especially cute like this. "Don't worry."

His voice was steady. "I had Xiaozhong wait outside the hall. At the ticket checkpoint downstairs, as soon as Miss Rin's ticket QR code gets scanned, the system will alert him. He'll go pick her up right away."

"I know..." Kitagawa replied gloomily, still frowning. "I'm just worried... I wonder how Rin-chan's been these past two days back home. If those stuffy old men from her family have been bullying her..."

She jabbed at her phone screen hard, as if the screen itself were those "old fossils" from the Tohsaka Family.

Chen Tian said nothing more. The stylist selected a simple black earring with a sharp, understated edge and carefully put it on him.

A cool touch spread across his skin. Chen Tian closed his eyes briefly.

He could sense it—somewhere in this city, a surge of energy was boiling.

That energy was vast, twisted, carrying an ancient and filthy aura, like magma churning deep underground, ready to erupt.

He instantly recognized the familiar fluctuation. He had come into contact with this power before.

Is it about to begin?

Chen Tian thought. Fuyuki City's "cauldron" was about to boil over tonight.

The cold touch of the earring pulled him back to reality. He opened his eyes slightly, his deep pupils reflecting the icy gleam of the makeup mirror, calm and unruffled, as if what he'd just sensed was nothing more than an insignificant breeze.

"Kitagawa," he said, his voice still steady.

On the sofa, Kitagawa looked up, her golden hair swaying, a trace of lingering worry still on her face.

"Time to go on stage." Chen Tian stood up, and the stylist immediately stepped back.

The heavy soundproof door of the dressing room was pulled open a crack by a staff member from outside.

In an instant, a massive wave of hot air, carrying intense drumbeats and electronic sound, rushed in like a tidal surge crashing against rocks!

The deafening cheers and screams of tens of thousands of spectators in the stadium outside, mixed with the powerful electronic beats from the warm-up DJ, slammed into the relatively quiet dressing room like an invisible, boiling wall of sound.

"Whoa!" The makeup artist and assistants instinctively shrank back, squinting against the wild, hot blast, their blood seeming to ignite for a moment.

This roaring sound wasn't just the prelude to a concert—it was like the growl of a sleeping giant waking up!

Kitagawa Marin was jolted by the sudden noise, nearly bouncing off the sofa. She instinctively gripped her phone tighter, but the screen still showed no new message from Rin.

That nagging anxiety that had kept her restless was briefly suppressed and diluted by the overwhelming wave of sound, like a small ice cube thrown into boiling water.

She snapped her head toward the door, her eyes instantly lit up by the dazzling spectacle outside the venue, the light of the stage dancing in her gaze.

At the same time, Chen Tian stepped forward into the violent sound and energy current.

The moment he crossed the threshold of the dressing room—

A dull, indescribably vast "sound," as if from the very core of the earth, didn't travel through the air but exploded directly in his perception!

This sound was inaudible to ordinary people, existing only in his unique sensory dimension.

It felt like... the massive, filthy vortex of magical energy he had sensed deep in Fuyuki City's ley lines, churning like polluted magma, had finally reached its limit and been ignited by some invisible fuse!

An intangible shockwave, centered on some hidden point in the city, swept silently yet violently across all of Fuyuki City!

Chen Tian's steps didn't falter. His expression remained as calm as a deep pool.

The summoning ritual of the Holy Grail War had officially begun.

Fuyuki's gates of hell had been forced open at this moment by the desires and obsessions of countless Magicians.

Outside, the music was deafening, the crowd's cheers overwhelming, the venue's lights blinding—this grand, worldly stage of celebration had already lifted its curtain.

Under the same sky, another battlefield—far more brutal and merciless, woven from blood, lies, desire, and heroic spirits—silently enveloped all of Fuyuki City, masked by the earth-shaking music and cheers.

Chen Tian clearly sensed the faint ripples within him, stirred by the immense surge of magical energy, slowly settling. He also felt the pulse of the city beneath his feet racing wildly in two completely different rhythms—one of stirring notes, the other of death's prelude.

He adjusted his breathing slightly, faced the surging fervor and blinding radiance, and strode with steady steps toward the dazzling main stage passage, the focus of all eyes.

Chapter 35: Brother-in-Law? Brother-in-Law!

?Somewhere in Fuyuki City, Far from the Noisy Battlefield?

In stark contrast to the brilliantly lit, roaring Civic Gymnasium, this place was shrouded in a chilling silence.

The air was thick as coagulated blood; chaotic and violent magical eddies tore through the night, screaming silently. Lead-gray clouds pressed low, as if ready to devour this chosen Love Triangle at any moment.

Midair, a figure hovered arrogantly, like a god looking down upon ants.

Golden heavy armor gleamed harshly in the darkness, every inch exuding the cold luxury of divine-era metal. His normally smooth golden hair now bristled, stirred by magical energy, standing on end like a burning golden hedgehog, radiating boundless wildness.

His crimson serpent eyes gazed downward, the depths filled with the pleasure of destruction.

Behind him, several enormous, golden-forged circular portals—the manifestation of the Gate of Babylon—rotated slowly, like gates to an endless treasury from another world, exuding a suffocating pressure. Golden ripples shimmered across their surfaces, each fluctuation heralding the imminent descent of a deadly weapon.

He was Gilgamesh, the oldest King of Heroes. Now, clad in battle armor, he radiated a crushing, despairing pressure.

"Hahaha! Mongrels!" His wild laughter tore through the stagnant air, brimming with contempt and the thrill of impending violence. "Let your heads and your wails add a bit of amusement to This King's tedious journey!"

Before the words faded, the golden rings behind him erupted with blinding light! Several golden streaks, like thunderbolts tearing through the night, shrieked toward the ground with enough terrifying power to pierce mountains!

Their target: the two people below, bracing for battle!

Emiya Shirou clenched his teeth, every magic circuit in his body screaming in agony. The terrifying density of magical energy in the air nearly suffocated him, every pore shrieking danger.