As Dan Lei plunged the holy sword in his hand into the ground, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada was still retreating at full speed when he realized something was wrong.
But even then, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada was unable to stop Dan Lei.
Blue True Ether light instantly spread outward along the ground. As cracks formed in the earth, several ancient-looking runes appeared among them.
This was the Rune Array Dan Lei had learned from Aoko through sheer persistence before taking part in the Holy Grail War.
With Dan Lei's talent for Magecraft, even if he learned Rune Magic, using his own mana to cast one or two basic runes would leave him exhausted.
So Aoko had never intended for Dan Lei to study Rune Magic systematically.
The Rune Array Dan Lei was using now had been optimized by Aoko. According to her, as long as Dan Lei could draw the array and had enough mana to fuel it, he could cast it.
As for its effect, it had just one: it was a powerful Binding Array.
Runes were highly mysterious, and that was true even of modern reconstructed versions.
Moreover, Dan Lei was powering them with the True Ether in Holy Sword Balmung. He wasn't a Divine Era Mage who had come to the modern age and become easy prey for Magic Resistance because of the decline in Magecraft's mystery.
So even Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, who had A-rank Magic Resistance, couldn't break free instantly.
In this battle, that brief restraint was enough to decide the victor.
Dan Lei only had to pull out Holy Sword Balmung, use lightning to accelerate himself, and stab the completely immobilized Amakusa Shirou Tokisada.
But a Heroic Spirit was still a Heroic Spirit. When Amakusa Shirou Tokisada realized that even if he broke free of the Rune Array with his Magic Resistance, he wouldn't be able to dodge Dan Lei's follow-up attack, he did something insane.
His Noble Phantasm, Twin Arm - Zero Distillation, used an excess of mana to send the Magecraft Circuits in both arms out of control, refining Quasi-Dark Matter and mana. By making them collide, it formed a Quasi-Black Hole that absorbed all surrounding existence. It was a Noble Phantasm of annihilation.
It required an enormous amount of mana, so with Amakusa Shirou Tokisada's current abilities, he couldn't activate it.
But if there was one thing Amakusa Shirou Tokisada had plenty of, it was Command Spells. In this seven-on-seven Holy Grail War, he had all the Command Spells belonging to the Red Faction Masters he controlled.
Although using this Noble Phantasm at close range would hurt him too, he had no time to worry about that now.
A flash of Command Spell light passed over him. Two energy spheres, one black and one blue, appeared in his barely mobile hands, then shot forward, about to collide.
Dan Lei immediately understood what Amakusa Shirou Tokisada was trying to do. He forced his heart to pump out even more mana, poured it all into Holy Sword Balmung, roared, "Not a chance!" and hurled the sword forward.
With the extra acceleration from the mana, Holy Sword Balmung managed to wedge itself between the Quasi-Dark Matter Sphere and the Magic Sphere just before they collided.
The next instant, the three different forces collided, triggering a massive explosion.
The blast immediately hurled Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, who was just a short distance away, into the wall. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
But Amakusa Shirou Tokisada was smiling.
In his eyes, although his Noble Phantasm had failed to activate properly, it had achieved its purpose. Dan Lei's attack had been stopped, and he would soon break free of the Rune Array.
Yet before the flames from the explosion had even died down, Dan Lei burst out of them—the aftershock of an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm—and charged forward.
Even with Siegfried's power protecting him, Dan Lei's skin was already severely burned. Not a scrap of clothing remained on him, but he still charged through the explosion, wrapped in lightning, and reached Amakusa Shirou Tokisada.
The next second, a blade pierced Amakusa Shirou Tokisada's body and Spirit Core.
Amakusa Shirou Tokisada looked down at the Black Keys running through his body and said helplessly,
"So you killed me with the Black Keys you'd just swapped in. I suppose that makes this a kind of self-execution.
Cough, cough. Mr. Dan Lei, you win."
Spitting blood, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada finished his last words. Then his body dissolved into golden motes and disappeared.
After Amakusa Shirou Tokisada vanished, Dan Lei spat out a large mouthful of black blood and dropped to his knees.
Rochomsta, who had been watching the whole battle, walked over to Dan Lei and said coldly,
"Master, you don't have much time left.
"And I have to admit, I never thought you'd actually make it this far."
Hearing Rochomsta's words, Dan Lei forced himself to his feet. He casually swapped in a rag that might once have been a tablecloth or a curtain, wrapped it around his waist to cover himself, and replied just as coldly,
"Isn't that a good thing for you? You'll get to go back and see your emperor.
"But this time, remember to speak your true feelings. Don't insist on making me drink your Poison Mushroom Soup before you'll cooperate, like you did the first time we met."
Rochomsta heard him out, then replied in her same icy tone,
"That doesn't sound like something an emotionless mage would say—the one who deceived Atalanta with a lifelike child puppet, manipulated Karna into accidentally injuring an ally and starting a civil war among the Red Faction Servants, then deliberately encouraged them to widen the conflict until an entire town was destroyed, sacrificing tens of thousands of ordinary people to lure Ruler into intervening, and finally ambushing the homunculi she was protecting.
"Besides, you didn't drink the Poison Mushroom Soup. You merely signed a Self-Binding Contract promising that you would drink it just before obtaining the Holy Grail."
Dan Lei had no answer to Rochomsta's words. In his pursuit of victory, he had long since trampled his life, honor, and morals underfoot. No amount of excuses could change the fact that a town of tens of thousands had been destroyed because of him.
So Dan Lei simply headed for the room where the Holy Grail was. Nothing stood in his way now, and the Hanging Gardens had already begun to disintegrate.
When he opened the door beyond the hall, the Holy Grail he had dreamed of was right before him. He said,
"Rochomsta, give me the Poison Mushroom Soup you prepared. Make your wish while I drink it.
"If I finish drinking and you still haven't made your wish, I'm leaving you to it."
Rochomsta didn't hesitate for a moment. She handed Dan Lei a bowl of deep purple soup, filled with bizarre bubbles and visibly packed with mushrooms covered in beautiful patterns.
Under the control of the Self-Binding Contract, Dan Lei downed the entire bowl in one go.
Rochomsta had shown her Master no mercy. The Poison Mushroom Soup was genuinely produced by her Noble Phantasm, Mushrooms Are a Divine Feast.
If Dan Lei hadn't swapped in Siegfried's power to strengthen himself, one sip would have killed him, let alone a whole bowl.
But even so, the poison was still going to ravage his insides.
Rochomsta stood to one side, watching Dan Lei's reaction. She made no move to make a wish.
Seeing this, Dan Lei decided to leave her to it. He activated Siegfried's A-rank Reinforcement, used lightning to numb his nerves and dull the pain, and barely managed to regain the ability to move. Then, dragging his battered body, its skin already oozing black blood, he forced himself toward the Holy Grail.
Rochomsta didn't stop Dan Lei. She simply watched in silence.
Supported by Siegfried's power and his own formidable will, Dan Lei reached out and touched the Holy Grail. It absorbed him.
Amid a sea of flowers, Dan Lei saw the projection of Yustina von Einzbern.
Then Dan Lei didn't give her a chance to speak. He made his wish at once:
"I want to go home. Take my soul out of this world and send me back to where I came from. You're connected directly to the Root, so you know what I mean!
"Don't introduce yourself. Don't tell me whether you can do it. Just act. This is what I demand of you as the victor of the Holy Grail War!"
Yustina's projection fell silent after Dan Lei cut her off like that. Then she vanished.
A hole radiating a mysterious aura appeared before Dan Lei. In an instant, it sucked his soul inside.
Before you continue