You... Just Who Are You- / [Rider Kick]

[Bite!]

The crisp tapping sound slowly parted the darkness that enveloped consciousness, allowing it to rise from the murky sea, and gradually, vitality began to surge through the body...

[Bite!!]

The knocking grew closer, as if fearing the sound, and from the darkness that was frantically fleeing, crimson light gradually seeped out—

"Kid, how did you get here?!"

A harsh voice suddenly reached his ears. Shirou opened his eyes and found an old man with an obscured face standing in front of him, holding a hammer. Behind him was a roaring furnace and piles of discarded sword blanks around it.

"Where am I...?"

"They came here without even knowing where they were going. Are all kids these days so overconfident?"

Perhaps because he saw Shirou's bewildered expression, the old man's tone began to turn hostile.

Shirou did not answer the old man's question. In his heart, a voice seemed to urge Shirou to take the hammer from the old man's hand.

"Ha, you want to learn forging?"

"..."

"Tsk! If you want to learn forging..."

Seeing Shirou's actions, the old man clicked his tongue in apparent impatience and suddenly stepped aside. "You come over here and try pulling it. If it works, I don't mind teaching you something, I just happen to need a helper!"

Standing before the old man as instructed, Shirou looked at the furnace before him, which was even taller than himself. He took a deep breath, slowly grasped the bellows handle, and then pulled sharply—

Wow!

Shirou was nearly licked by the flames shooting from the furnace, cried out in surprise, then suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, and immediately heard the old man's exasperated voice in his ear—

"Boy, are you in such a hurry to burn yourself alive?! Get out of my way—"

Without a trace of sympathy, the old man grabbed Shirou by the neck and tossed him aside, then gripped the bellows handle again. "Remember this, there are a few key points to controlling a fire..."

And so, Shirou began to learn how to operate the bellows in this unknown place, somewhat haphazardly...

"Alright, that's enough for now!"

Looking at Shirou, who was already panting heavily, the old man nodded, his expression a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew. You may have some cleverness, but you're not exceptionally gifted."

Alright, get lost! What you want to learn next time depends on my mood! Remember, you're not allowed to forget what I taught you, or nothing will be discussed in the future!

As the old man's voice faded, Shirou felt his consciousness gradually being pulled away, while the old man, watching Shirou's figure disappear before his eyes, muttered a few words under his breath:

"How could any kid be so foolish as to want to learn forging? Oh well, I'll just have to think about what to teach him next time he comes..."

As for Shirou, when he opened his eyes again—

"Eh, Miss Touko Aozaki?"

PS2: This is a combined chapter with over 4,000 words, making up for yesterday's missed update.

(Above)

By the way, here's the group number: 235812800

The group was closed for a while due to certain reasons, but it's now reopened. Readers are welcome to join!

Chapter 305. You bastard, just who are you?

"You brat..."

Seeing Shirou groggily greeting her, Touko Aozaki couldn't help but laugh and tap him on the head. At least the heavy weight that had been hanging over her heart was finally lifted.

"Never mind--"

Rather than dwelling on my questions, the priority now is to get the child out of this dangerous situation.

Thinking this, Touko Aozaki turned her gaze to Araya, who hadn't made a move for some time, however—

"What are you doing, Araya!"

An exasperated voice suddenly rang out from the other end of the hall.

Following the sound, Touko Aozaki saw that Alba, who had collapsed to the ground in fright, was now walking angrily toward Araya, perhaps having recovered.

"How can you still be so relaxed? Have you already finished everything you needed to do?!"

Perhaps because of Alba's questioning, Araya shifted his attention from his now-functional right hand and looked at him calmly:

"It's all over now. As one of the masterminds behind this plan, I think you should know this better than anyone else."

"... Okay. I admit that what's happening outside isn't a problem, but what about Shiki Ryougi? She's only unconscious right now; once she regains consciousness, she'll escape. I don't want to do anything more pointless!"

"Don't worry unnecessarily. She's not locked up in her apartment room. I've already sent her to the infinite space connecting different spaces. The primary purpose of creating this distorted otherworld was to generate a closed wheel. This is a darkness from which no matter what means or power is used, there's no way to escape. Besides, her injuries have already made it difficult for her to move. Even if Shiki Ryougi wakes up by then, she won't have any way to leave that place."

Faced with Araya, and unable to find any flaws in his argument, Alba could only shift his gaze to Touko Aozaki, who was looking after Shirou, and immediately revealed his dissatisfaction:

"Araya, you clearly said I would handle Aozaki! Were you lying to me before?"

"I gave you a chance, but you failed."

Upon hearing Araya's blunt words, Alba's expression instantly turned to hatred:

"And what about you? Aozaki is still alive. For someone like you to spare your opponent's life, you've really become merciful."

"It's not out of mercy; I'm simply interested in that child. As for Aozaki, she has no chance of winning within my barrier."

Araya's expression remained unchanged despite Alba's unbridled accusations.

"Ha— Araya, you're still so naive after all this time. Aozaki is known as the 'Scarlet Pain,' that fox spirit. If we don't kill her now..."

"--Shut up! Cornelius, you said something you shouldn't have!"

"What?"

Alba, whose speech had been interrupted by Araya, looked surprised, but the next second he understood—

Killing intent

A chilling killing intent, almost piercing to the bone, emanated from the other end of the hall. Turning around, he found Touko Aozaki staring intently at him, her gaze as cold as if she were looking at a corpse...

"Asshole--"

Startled by Touko Aozaki's icy gaze, Alba instinctively took a step back. After regaining his composure, an expression of barely suppressed anger flashed across his face, but quickly Alba by an unpleasant chuckle.

"Aozaki, you are not only severely injured, but you have also lost that monster..."

Before he could finish speaking, Alba turned his gaze to Araya.

"Hey, Araya, how about I handle Aozaki?"

"Suit yourself, after all, it was your prey to begin with."

However, Araya's voice did not reach the ears of the Red Magecraft.

Looking at Alba's back, even without seeing his face, Araya could imagine the twisted expression on Alba's face.

"My prey, Aozaki..."

"Kid, if you find a chance later, you can leave here on your own. Don't worry about me."

After giving Shirou these instructions, under Shirou's somewhat dazed gaze, Touko Aozaki propped herself up with her body, which had an unknown number of broken ribs, and headed towards Alba.

Touko Aozaki felt an almost tangible killing intent towards Alba, who had violated her taboo, but beneath that killing intent, she still maintained a degree of clarity.

He wanted to use his fight with Alba as an opportunity to divert Araya's attention and make him take his focus away from Shirou.

While Touko Aozaki's idea was good, she clearly hadn't anticipated Araya's obsession with Shirou's "special" abilities.

With just one step forward, Araya's tormented figure appeared before Shirou. Extending his only remaining left hand, Araya tried to grab Shirou to find out the reason for the previous failure to awaken [Origin].

"Traceon!"

"Was it Projection Magecraft?"

Seeing the familiar spear reappear in Shirou's hand, Araya's eyes flashed with understanding and seriousness.

Compared to the previously harmless Projection spear, this time, the spear in Shirou's hand actually gave Araya a feeling of being tempered by fierce fire?!

"It seems that although the Origin Awakening ritual failed, it still brought you quite a few benefits. However..."

Before even setting up an Araya reached out his left hand and grabbed the spear that had already reached him. Then he coldly snorted:

It's all show and no substance.

Immediately, the spear Projection Shirou snapped Araya's left hand in two. The broken spear tip didn't even have time to hit the ground before it turned into magic and disappeared in mid-air.

As for the spear Projection Shirou, it was undoubtedly a "copy" of the [Durandal] in his father's possession. Wang Xiaoming, who already knew Shirou's abilities, naturally had no need to suppress the direction of his growth.

Aside from having Shirou practice Projection more often in his daily life, all Wang Xiaoming, who knows absolutely nothing about Magecraft, can do is "contribute" [Durandal] so that Shirou can try to understand its structure.

As for the results of the exercise--

As Araya said, compared to the real thing in Wang Xiaoming's hand, the [Durandal] in Shirou's hand is just an empty shell.

However, considering the unique nature of Projection Magecraft, the fact that this young man has achieved such a level at his age is truly remarkable; calling him a prodigy would not be an exaggeration.

"What a pity, that such a talented person had to be eliminated."

"A talented person, that's quite a compliment."

However, it was not Shirou who answered Araya's question, but a voice that came from the entrance of the hall.

"?!"

The sudden sound forced Araya to stop what he was doing and turn around in the direction from which it came. He then saw a familiar spear gradually grow larger in his field of vision.

"Silence!"

Without the slightest hesitation, facing the spear that exuded an aura of death, Araya decisively erected the barrier around himself.

Once the smoke and dust had dissipated, the scene in the hall was once again revealed to everyone.

Despite the barrier's obstruction, Araya was still pushed back to the corner, while the figure gradually entered the hall...

"It's you again..."

Araya was kneeling on the ground, looked up at the figure that had already stood in the room and revealed a solemn expression.

"Your name is Araya, right? My child was taken care of by you just now."

"You bastard—"

Pressing his hand against his chest, which still ached slightly, Araya uttered a bewildering question to the man before him in his characteristically bitter voice.

"Who exactly are you, you rascal?"

(Recommended: パラレルワールド)

PS2: I'm going to be busy all day today, but I have plans tonight. I'll make it up to you tomorrow.

(Above)

Chapter 306.[Rider Kick]

"It's you again--"

Seeing the man who had disrupted the solemn atmosphere in the hall walk in from outside, Souren Araya, clutching his chest, revealed an expression more serious than ever before.

"Ah, yes, it's me again. My child is so grateful for your care."