The Homunculus and Astolfo / Crown of Wisdom: Light of Wisdom

Wang Xiaoming gently wiped away the blood splattered on her face, completely unconcerned about the bloodstains on the girl's body. Only after hearing Chiron's voice did he glance at her out of the corner of his eye.

"What's wrong?"

"... Is this child Servant?"

"Yes, that's right."

Seeing Wang Xiaoming 'Chiron was shocked:

"No, she's just a Servant, calling you 'dad'?"

Is there a problem?

This isn't a question of whether there's a problem or not, okay?

"I don't remember ever having an older sister or a younger sister."

After taking a second to carefully consider Arche's question, I said to him:

"... So you have it now."

Wang Xiaoming affectionately rubbed his forehead against the girl's, making her giggle, while also teasing Archer—

"How old are you? Why are you still acting like a child, always getting jealous and bickering?"

"..."

Seeing Chiron expression, everyone around him wore expressions of "watching a good show." For the group, who had just escaped the battlefield and were on edge, seeing the usually composed Archer make a fool of himself was definitely a novel experience.

As for the Jack the Ripper in Wang Xiaoming's arms, even the Shishigou team, who had previously clashed with the Jack the Ripper, simply shrugged and offered no objection upon seeing the intimate interaction between Wang Xiaoming and her.

"Ultraman Jack, since you're here, where's Reika?"

Wang Xiaoming asked Jack the Ripper about Reika Rikudou's whereabouts.

"Mom is waiting for us to come back in town."

"In that case..."

Wang Xiaoming was just about to ask Ultraman Jack to pick up Reika. After all, given the current situation, if Ultraman Jack and Reika, who were acting alone, were discovered by Amakusa Shirou's side, their fate would be self-evident.

Then, however, they heard Jack the Ripper's voice—

"Oh, right, Dad, we just took down one of the [Black] Faction's Master!"

"..."

The moment Jack the Ripper spoke, Wang Xiaoming felt as if the space around him had frozen in some kind of state.

Wang Xiaoming subtly turned his body to the side to block the sharp gazes from the other Servant. Then, without changing his expression, he continued to ask Jack the Ripper, "So, which Master did Jack the Ripper take down?"

Although Wang Xiaoming was not very clear about the situation of the [Black] faction, the fact that several [Black] Servant had not encountered any problems at least proved that the Master that Jack the Ripper had eliminated was unrelated to them.

"It's the Master of Astolfo ~"

Jack the Ripper said to Wang Xiaoming in a boastful tone.

"Really? That's really impressive."

Wang Xiaoming gently ruffled Jack the Ripper's silvery hair and praised her. At the same time, he breathed a slight sigh of relief; at least after Jack the Ripper revealed the man's identity, the feeling of unease he had been feeling dissipated considerably.

It seems this Master isn't highly regarded in the [Black] faction. But speaking of which, Astolfo seems to be the Servant that Lily and I encountered before... It seems a bit of a shame for her to die like this.

"But before we could deal with the Astolfo, Daddy arrived..."

Jack the Ripper's adorable pout was absolutely heart-melting. Wang Xiaoming Jack the Ripper her a big kiss on the cheek. "My darling daughter, hurry up and take Daddy there!"

In the current situation, avoiding layoffs would be the best possible outcome.

Guided by Jack the Ripper, the group quickly arrived at the location of Astolfo and saw two figures embracing each other from afar.

--It refers to Astolfo and the android we encountered earlier.

Before everyone could even breathe a sigh of relief at finding Astolfo, the next second they saw Rider suddenly raise his spear and stab it viciously at the android next to him!

"Sorry, sorry!"

The weapon manifested by Chiron struck Astolfo's spear precisely at the last second, the spear veering off course and just barely grazing the android's cheek.

The wind pressure from the spear cut a wound on the android's face, but at least it saved his life.

Realizing what had happened, Astolfo clasped his hands together and apologized repeatedly, explaining why he had attacked the homunculus—before Astolfo's Master died, he had used Command Spell to order Rider to "kill the homunculus."

Commands issued with Command Spell will continue to be executed unless the Master cancels them or the Command Spell's magical energy is exhausted. However, the Command Spell are already in effect, and Rider's Master is now dead, so even cancellation is impossible.

In addition, Rider possesses the ability to Independent Action, meaning he can still move freely even if his mana supply from his Master is cut off for several hours to a day.

In other words, during this period of free movement, Rider was still bound by Command Spell. If Rider hadn't been trying so hard to restrain himself, this homunculus would probably have lost his life long ago.

Watching the Astolfo grit his teeth and resist the Command Spell commands, Wang Xiaoming turned his gaze to the android beside him—

"Hey kid, do you want to become Rider's Master?"

(I'll try to update more tomorrow)

Chapter 250. The Homunculus and Astolfo

"--I declare,"

You entrust your body to me, and my destiny to your sword.

Those who wish to follow the mandate of the Holy Grail and adhere to this will and principle, please respond.

Obey my will, respond to my call. Are you willing to entrust your destiny to me?

The homunculus's voice rang out, and looking at the Astolfo before him, he solemnly raised his right hand. On it were two Command Spell, from Rider's deceased master, Celenike.

Since Celenike was already dead, there was no need to take any forceful measures. Thus, under Lily's care, Celenike's remaining two Command Spell were smoothly transferred to the homunculus's right hand.

Rider gritted his teeth and gripped the homunculus's hand. The Command Spell's order to kill was still in effect; the resistance to the Command Spell and the immense drain on his magical energy were relentlessly tormenting Rider.

"In the name of Rider, I hereby declare that I accept this oath!"

You are my master, and I am your servant!

The instant the sound faded, a flash of light streaked across their clasped hands. The circuit was forcibly opened, creating a causal link between them.

And so, the homunculus became the new Master of Astolfo.

The moment he became Master, the homunculus immediately raised his right hand—

"In the name of the Command Spell, Rider, cease your attack on me."

A red light flashed from the Command Spell engraved on his right hand. As the Command Spell each other out, Astolfo sat down on the ground, panting, with a relieved expression on his face.

"That was close. I almost couldn't suppress the Command Spell's commands and ended up killing my Master right after the contract was formed. I almost became the worst Servant ever."

"It will probably make it very famous."

The android approached Rider to help him up, and joked after hearing Rider's words.

"What? I don't want that kind of reputation."

With the help of the homunculus, Rider straightened up again, complaining loudly. However, likely due to the magical connection with her Master, Rider quickly recovered from her exhaustion. After hopping around to make sure she was alright, she gave the homunculus an apologetic look. "It's a pity you had to use an extra Command Spell."

"It's just Command Spell; if you're safe, that's enough."

Looking at the serious-looking android, Astolfo, who was always carefree, suddenly felt a pang in his heart and scratched his cheeks, which were burning with embarrassment.

"If you're looking for a romantic date, this isn't the best place."

Just then, a teasing voice from the side interrupted the faintly pink atmosphere between the two, making the android and Rider realize that they were still on the battlefield.

"Thank you, Mr. Ming. You are a good person."

The homunculus and Rider came to Wang Xiaoming to thank him. The homunculus understood that if it weren't for his suggestion, even if Rider hadn't disappeared, he probably wouldn't have become his Master.

Wang Xiaoming, having received the "good guy" card, waved his hand. "It's nothing. We need the power of Servant right now. For us, as long as they're on our side, it doesn't matter who Rider's Master is."

The name had already been announced, and because of Archer, there was no need to continue using the alias used to conceal their identity. For this, Shishigou loudly complained that he had been deceived by Wang Xiaoming, and as compensation, Wang Xiaoming was still holding Jack the Ripper in his arms, affectionately gave him the middle finger from a blind spot where the child couldn't see.

Shishigou returned the same gesture in return, as a sign of goodwill.

"Dad..."

At this moment, the Chiron walked over from the side with a serious expression. He had been asked to use telepathy to inform the remaining Master in the Millennia Fortress of their current situation. Now it seemed...

The feedback coming from the fortress is unlikely to be good news.

"Master... can you hear me?"

Archer's voice reached her ears, startling Fiore, who was busy giving orders.

The moment they stormed into the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, perhaps because it was the domain of the Semiramis, her connection with Archer was abruptly severed, and she could only determine his condition by continuing to supply him with magic from her side.

Now, upon receiving Archer's telepathic message, Fiore seemed to have the illusion that she hadn't heard his voice in a long time, and while feeling reassured, she responded to him:

"Yes, there's nothing wrong here. How about over there?"

"We have just broken away from the enemy's stronghold."

Are you injured?

"Please rest assured, we have no problems on our end for now, but we have two pieces of bad news to inform you..."

Archer's voice made Fiore's heart skip a beat, but Archer had no time to pay attention and just continued talking to himself—

"First, Darnic and Lancer perished together in the enemy's castle, and the other was Caster, who betrayed us."

"What?!"

Fiore's startled voice drew the attention of the other Master still in the command room. Her younger brother, Caules, the former Master of [Black] Berserker, came over and asked with concern:

"Sister, what's wrong?"

"Nothing..."

Upon hearing Caules' voice, Fiore snapped out of her daze and realized her hands were covered in sweat, probably from the nervousness of being so surprised...

Lancer's death had already been confirmed in the Spirit Origin Disc, but she hadn't expected Darnic to lose his life as well. Although she was heartbroken by their deaths, she was prepared to accept it. However, Archer's second report was far beyond her expectations.

"Excuse me, Archer, could you please give me a detailed explanation of what exactly happened there?"

Forcing herself to calm down, Fiore first apologized for her previous rudeness, and then began to ask Archer what had happened.

"I'll report the details when we get back. The purpose of this call was simply to inform you of these two things. Also, don't be fooled by Caster; stay put at the base."

"Yes, I understand..."

Fiore answered earnestly, but before she could finish her sentence, as if she had remembered something, Fiore suddenly raised her head and scanned the entire command room.

After scanning the entire area, Fiore couldn't find the person she was looking for. Her face suddenly turned deathly pale, and she leaned weakly against the back of her wheelchair.

"Roche, he..."

"Did they come out with Rider's Master?"

Upon hearing the news from Fiore, Wang Xiaoming glanced in the direction of the corpse of the former Rider Master, who had already collapsed.

"That means it's cold..."

As if sensing some kind of hint, Wang Xiaoming muttered to himself.

At this moment, a rumbling sound like muffled thunder from another direction drew everyone's attention. Turning their heads, they saw an unimaginably enormous golem moving towards the Millennia Fortress at a speed that seemed completely out of place for a golem of that size!

And perched on the golem's shoulder was Avicebron, who had just betrayed the enemy and joined their side.

Chapter 251. The Crown - The Light of Wisdom

That is--