"At a time like this, are you going to show off those excellent skills of eating, taking, and extorting, junior brother?"
"—Are you taking it or not? I don't believe Master didn't send me something new on this trip."
"Tch." Taigong Wang clicked his tongue and reluctantly took out a full set of gear. "I'll hold it off. Change quickly. I came here to support you and help you rack up merits, but I never expected us to be fighting a Beast of Humanity directly."
Bai Ming ignored Taigong Wang's muttering.
And so—
Bai Ming wore the Seven-Star Jade Crown on his head, the Azure Dragon Embroidered Robe over his body, the Thunder-Phoenix Armor over his shoulders, and the Coiled Dragon Jade Belt Hook around his waist. Beneath him was the Five-Element Pénghóu Hound.
Akuta Hinako, who had been preparing to leave, specifically stopped to take another look at Bai Ming, who resembled a general in full regalia. Then she dragged away the starry-eyed Fujimaru Ritsuka and carried out Spiritron Transfer.
Watching Bai Ming cut such a majestic figure in the air below, Merlin peacefully closed his eyes. Though he could fly as well, he had no desire to go up there. Combat was not his specialty, and asking him to deal with a Beast of Humanity was simply asking too much.
Immense magical energy gathered in Bai Ming's hand.
Merlin also began chanting slowly on the ground.
Taigong Wang flashed to the side and began reciting an incantation.
The Great Red Dragon wheeled through the skies.
Yet in battle, it was cast down to the earth, then seized by an angel, bound with a great chain, thrown into the bottomless pit, and imprisoned for a thousand years.
When it sensed the endlessly rising magical energy in Bai Ming's hand, the Great Red Dragon in the sky felt fear.
This man's fists were heavy and powerful, and his will was incomparably firm. The corruption and desire it represented could not stir him in the slightest.
Meanwhile, the squinty-eyed man riding that ugly thing and the druid on the ground both looked like they intended to bind it.
Seven streams of dragonflame erupted from the Great Red Dragon's mouth and shot straight toward Bai Ming. The Pénghóu Hound beneath him barked furiously, and earth, water, wind, fire, and lightning surged from its five tails, blocking every last flame.
Sibuxiang, also a mount, was instantly stunned. How come you were both mounts, yet you came with such cool elemental abilities?
"Submit peacefully."
Bai Ming rose from the Pénghóu Hound's back and drove a fist into the Great Red Dragon.
Violent magical energy erupted.
Brutal force shattered its scales and pierced through its dragon bones.
The sound of bones breaking was swallowed by the explosion.
The recoil from that punch blasted apart the overcast clouds filling the sky. The impact of energy and force made the Great Red Dragon let out a pained roar.
Its massive, muscular dragon body now fell rapidly from the sky like a bird with broken wings.
Yet Bai Ming did not stop there.
His fists, powerful enough to rival magical cannons, swung again and again. Dense waves of fist force wrapped in chaotic magical currents continuously bombarded the Great Red Dragon.
Merlin and Taigong Wang were not idle either.
Massive amounts of talismans and incantations blanketed the Great Red Dragon, imprisoning it.
Bai Ming freely unleashed his own energy, while the red dragon cried out in misery.
A sudden beam of light blasted straight toward Bai Ming, interrupting his attack. Sensing danger, Bai Ming twisted around and threw a punch directly into the beam.
The two waves of magical energy collided. Seeing that the enemy's beam was overwhelmingly powerful, Bai Ming threw several more punches in quick succession. After a violent explosion, everything fell silent.
Bai Ming took a few breaths, then roared, "You beast, how dare you launch a sneak attack!" Without even looking back, he charged toward the source of the beam.
Seeing Bai Ming rush at her, the expressionless silver-haired, brown skin woman gathered dense magical energy into the red greatsword in her hand and swung out another beam.
Bai Ming unleashed all his magical energy at once and charged straight through the beam toward the silver-haired woman. Then the beam vanished.
Fist and sword collided, then separated. In an instant, they clashed dozens more times.
Then Bai Ming grabbed the red blade with one hand.
Twisting his body, he kicked toward the silver-haired woman's head. Seeing how firmly Bai Ming held the sword, she immediately released it and dodged his kick.
Then vast magical energy erupted from beneath Bai Ming's foot. A pillar of light formed from magical energy engulfed the silver-haired woman and plowed a massive clearing into the ground.
The silver-haired woman instantly dispersed.
Bai Ming spat and went off to execute the Great Red Dragon without looking back.
The End
When Bai Ming returned to the scene, the Great Red Dragon had already reverted to human form.
Covered in wounds, she no longer possessed her previous heroic and towering appearance.
Instead, she had a petite body like Nero's—though naturally, her chest could not compare to Nero's true form at all. It was so flat that even Akuta Hinako herself would think her own chest was huge by comparison.
At that moment, the Beast of 666, or rather Draco, merely glared furiously at everyone around her without saying a word.
Bai Ming could not be bothered to say more. He raised a hand and began unfolding a magecraft formula. "If this Beast dies, then another Beast will take its place."
"At that time—"
The squinty-eyed Taigong Wang opened his eyes. "Is that your designated Investiture?"
"Wrong, wrong. This is my designated Demon Seal. Its function is different from your Investiture of the Gods."
As he spoke, Bai Ming placed seals upon Draco. "In short, it seals them in an independent space, ensuring their consciousness remains in existence while their physical body remains motionless. For those who are difficult or impossible to kill, they can be directly restrained, preventing their revival or their rank from being replaced by someone else. If I die without releasing them, their bodies will die along with me, while their souls and minds remain there, holding their places and maintaining stability."
"That's absolutely ruthless."
Taigong Wang shook his head. "I'm already curious about what exactly you did after Master sent you down the mountain."
Merlin thought for a moment, but ultimately said nothing. He merely asked, "Where is the Holy Grail of this era?"
Mordred, who had been standing around doing nothing until the end, spoke up. "It's with the man called Lev. Um, Father, I—"
Bai Ming shook his head. Lev, that useless idiot, had a Holy Grail and still got instantly killed the moment he showed his face?
In the end, he merely patted Mordred's shoulder. "Keep it up."
"No, I'm already dead, so does that mean I can—"
Before Mordred could finish, Bai Ming punched her away.
"You can my ass."
Bai Ming withdrew his fist, while Merlin had already begun pulling a Britain-running-man stunt, running all the way from Rome back to his Inner Sea of the Stars.
Taigong Wang wanted to say something more, but considering that the sword wound in his ass had yet to heal, he hurriedly left the Rome Singularity first. Still, he lamented inwardly that Bai Ming's descendant was truly one hell of a brat. That greatsword had practically dragged his asshole inside out.
"All right, then."
Mordred closed her eyes and sighed. "Then we'll meet again in the future, Father."
Since things had come to this, she could only go to the Sixth Singularity and lay a net around her father.
What she could not obtain in life, she had to obtain after death. If she still could not get it in the Sixth Singularity, then she would have to find a way to answer Holy Grail Wars everywhere from the Throne of Heroes and fulfill her wish through one of them.
Bai Ming looked at the many Servants who had fought to protect humanity as they began to return, then contacted Roman to initiate Spiritron Transfer.
◇Inside Chaldea's Command Room
"Humanity's restoration and mankind's reclamation have taken another step forward."
After returning, Roman saw the Seven-Star Jade Crown, Azure Dragon Embroidered Robe, Thunder-Phoenix Armor, and Coiled Dragon Jade Belt Hook on Bai Ming. He could not help wanting Bai Ming to take them off so he could wear them himself and enjoy the feeling.
Why was it that Bai Ming had such flashy equipment just because he had gods backing him, while Roman had nothing like that?
"My suggestion is that we take some time off. The people in the Command Room should have no objections, right? Our progress has been a little too fast."
After returning, Bai Ming directly wrapped his arms around Mash's shoulders from behind. Hunching over, he rested his chin atop Mash's head. "Let the three of them spend more time training. I ran through two Singularities by myself in a row, and even if I punched my way through everything, I'm still mentally exhausted."
Mash blushed as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she only said, "Senpai, your armor is too hard."
"Then I'll put it away."
With a thought from Bai Ming, all that flashy equipment vanished, leaving only the waterproof, fireproof, tear-resistant formal inner garment Taigong Wang had thrown to him. "And while we're at it, we'll solve little Mash's physical concerns."
"Ah... yes!"
Mash only felt her mind grow feverish and her body tense. She had not heard clearly what Bai Ming was saying. Her mind contained only one thought: Senpai is so close. I can feel Senpai's breath. Senpai's embrace is so warm...
Bai Ming half-held and half-guided Mash toward the Command Room door, then said, "Well then, let's go. Da Vinci, don't be in a hurry over Magic Material. Fujimaru Ritsuka and Akuta Hinako, rest up first. Everyone else, arrange the upcoming shift schedule, and then we'll begin our vacation."
"Understood! Acting Director, Second Generation!"
"What kind of bizarre title is 'Second Generation'...?" Roman, sitting nearby, picked up his warm black tea and let out a long sigh of relief. "Neither the acting director nor the director has retired yet."
"Roman, things are temporarily over now." Da Vinci did not rush to leave the Command Room. Instead, she and the other Chaldea staff blocked the door. "Shouldn't you explain King Solomon and Humanity Foundation incineration?"
"As you can see, I'm here. When I helped Marisbury win the Holy Grail War and wished to become a real human, the future was burned away. That is why I've worked so hard since coming to Chaldea. As for the one wearing my body—Goetia—I think Bai Ming knows more than I do, but I don't think Bai Ming will tell you."
Roman set down his teacup and said, "Although everyone has worked very hard, you simply can't help much in battle. If you knew the truth, perhaps the twenty-some of you would start fighting among yourselves first."
Da Vinci shook her head, as did the other Chaldea staff.
"What Roman says does make sense, but I have a question. With the EX-ranked Clairvoyance of your physical body, the future you saw should not have been just one timeline, but every possibility. Didn't you see this coming before making your wish?"
Da Vinci simply could not understand. Roman merely smiled gently, scratched the back of his neck, then pointed at a crude little wooden doll on the table before turning and leaving the Command Room.
◇Inside Bai Ming's Room
The released Olga Marie looked at Mash, who sat obediently on Bai Ming's bed, as sweat trickled down Olga Marie's temples.
Being alone with Mash was a tremendous torment for her.
Because of her father Marisbury, Olga Marie had always felt both guilty and afraid toward Mash. She feared Mash would kill her, yet felt guilty over the human experiments her father had conducted on Mash. When Bai Ming said he would solve Mash's problem, Olga Marie had naturally been delighted. But on second thought, she felt that she owed them even more.
Thus, Olga Marie picked up the books beside her: "The Imperial Censor Sent South to Deliver the Betrothal Gifts," "Zhuangzi: Robber Zhi," and "Legend of the White Snake." These were books Akuta Hinako had tossed to her after Olga Marie gathered the courage to ask the usually unresponsive Akuta Hinako, "How do you repay someone like Bai Ming?" Olga Marie had not yet had time to read them, so she could only read these completely unfamiliar books to ease her tension.
Leave Request
I'm taking a day off today. Ever since I woke up this morning, I haven't been feeling well, and I haven't been able to recover. It's probably because it didn't snow where I live today, so there are more germs breeding around. Maybe I caught something.
I especially remind everyone to drink more water, take better care of yourselves, and stay healthy.
That's all. I hope everyone can have a happier 2025.
If You Stand Against Humanity, I Will Stand Beside You
Mash sat quietly at the edge of the bed, while Olga Marie flipped through the books uneasily.
All three books conveyed the same message: offering oneself in marriage.
Olga Marie had considered such things as well. The current problem was that she did not even have a physical body. Though Bai Ming had not stated it outright, Olga Marie knew he did not want her to regain a body immediately. That man was always so mysterious, so Olga Marie had no idea what he was thinking.
At that moment, Bai Ming was washing up in the bathroom while communicating with the System, which served as company for conversation.
Bai Ming: Have all the previous resources been integrated?
They have been integrated, but what do you want the wreckage dropped by those defeated Systems for?
Bai Ming: I want to try making a System. Do you think it can be done?
Setting aside whether you can even accomplish that, are you trying to become some kind of System necromancer?
Bai Ming: Don't I have you? You should know your own structure better than anyone, right?
Fine. I've rested enough already. If you want to try, Host, then go ahead.
Bai Ming: You rested? Rested from what?
Didn't I say before that seven Systems were competing over you as the same Host for their graduation projects? In truth, the moment one of us obtained the Host, the graduation project was already complete. The graduation rate was only one out of seven. The only reason I called the other Systems over to act was because I lacked motivation.
Bai Ming: Motivation?
That's right, Host. You guessed it—I'm a battle maniac just like you. After every fight, I can't help turning into a lazy bum for a long time. I blew up the other six Systems with my bare hands, and after graduation, I started operating independently. Otherwise, why do you think I cooperate with you so well? Training every day, watching you constantly fight and train just like me.
Bai Ming: Then why did you say you failed to possess Takemikazuchi?
This System isn't good with mental matters. I only specialize in historical transition, item creation and development, body generation, and armed conflict, so I really did fail to possess him.
Bai Ming: Let me process this. You're saying you're actually a battle maniac like me?
Mm-hm~
Bai Ming: All right, I accept reality. Then you can handle Mash's physical adjustments. That'll save resources.
No, bro, aren't you going to do that yourself?
Before you continue