Ability

"You really have a sharp tongue," Medea said with a smile, glancing at the knight sitting silently against the ship's wall not far away. "Isn't it inappropriate to say something like that in front of others?"

"That's a fact, and he knows it too, so there's no need to hide it."

The ship traveled at a great speed across the desert. When it stopped, they had reached the edge of the desert and could see a village in the distance.

Looking at the village, Mephistopheles pondered for a moment before saying, "There's no need to make contact. Let's go straight to solving the biggest problem. Once history is restored, none of this will have happened."

Seeing Mephistopheles say this, everyone naturally had no objections. As long as the problem was corrected and history was restored, even those who died now would come back to life in the original history. Rather than wasting time here, it was better to solve the source of the problem as quickly as possible.

Without any hesitation, the group continued their journey into the distance.

However, when they had traveled about halfway between the village and the Holy City, they encountered a problem.

The sounds of fighting could be heard in the distance. Hassan was battling a knight, and not far from Hassan were a group of about a hundred refugees.

The refugees watched in fear as Hassan and the knights fought in the distance. Seeing this, Bedivere exclaimed, "It's Tristan!"

"Tristan, the Knights of the Round Table, he's hunting down refugees..." Mephistopheles said, raising his hand and revealing a bow.

That was the bow of the sun god. As the bowstring was drawn, in an instant, an arrow of light flew out, shooting towards Tristan with lightning speed!

Red-haired Tristan clearly sensed the incoming attack and quickly dodged, but unexpectedly, the arrow of light seemed to have eyes, simply turning a corner and continuing its charge towards him!

Moreover, it was a close-range turn, and Tristan didn't even have time to react before the arrow struck his arm. At that moment, his hand holding the harp lost its grip on his weapon, and blood dripped continuously onto the ground.

He looked up in the direction from which the attack had come; the sudden attack was powerful, so powerful that it surprised him.

Then, Tristan saw a familiar face, the companion from his memories.

"Bedivere?!"

Staring at the knights with a group of strangers, Tristan was so stunned that he forgot he was still fighting. When he saw Hassan attacking, he barely managed to dodge the attack and didn't even have time to react and counterattack.

"Boom!"

With a deafening roar, Mephistopheles appeared between the two in an instant, his hand gripping the incoming weapon, preventing Hassan's attack from advancing any further.

Tristan dared not continue his attack; he preferred to gather as much intelligence as possible here rather than risk his own life.

"Alright, stop fighting for now," Mephistopheles said, releasing his grip on Hassan's weapon, then looking at Tristan. "You were summoned by King Arthur, weren't you?"

Tristan looked at Mephistopheles, a hint of doubt in his eyes. After a long pause, he asked, "Are you here to fix the problems of this world?"

"Yes, that's me. I have some questions for you. After you've answered them, I'll personally escort you back to the Throne of Heroes."

These words made Tristan look both amused and exasperated. He looked at the young man in front of him, who was clearly human, yet possessed power that even he could not resist.

Can I choose?

"No!" Mephistopheles laughed. "Don't even think about resisting. I wouldn't mind capturing your soul and then questioning you slowly."

At this moment, Mephistopheles was like a devil from hell.

Chapter 207 Abilities

Servants are essentially spirits, or rather, Servants are spirits. Imprisoning a spirit and slowly torturing it until it reveals what it should and shouldn't say is one of the most important things a True Magic should learn.

Therefore, as a legitimate True Magic, Mephistopheles was naturally very skilled at this kind of thing, and he was definitely not joking with the red-haired knight in front of him.

Tristan was slightly startled upon hearing this. The person before him was incredibly strong, able to easily break into the battlefield and simultaneously deal with both his and Hassan's attacks. This indicated that the opponent at least outmatched the two of them in defense.

Secondly, the opponent's attack was also very powerful. That homing arrow was not only difficult to dodge, but also incredibly powerful, easily piercing through my armor and strengthening me, unlike ordinary Servants whose bodies were injured.

Finally, the opponent was extremely fast. Just moments ago they were still far away, but in the blink of an eye, they were already right in front of you!

Any one of these three attributes, taken individually and combined with other stats that are relatively average, could make one a powerful Heroic Spirit. But this man in front of us has all three, and they are all very high!

This being was actually just a human?!

Such immense power reminded him of a being, a king from whom he could no longer discern any connection to the past. Even though this man's power was not as great as the king's, it was still far beyond that of his group of knights!

This man might really be able to restore the current king!

Seeing that Tristan was now cooperating, Mephistopheles asked, "Question: Why are you hunting down these refugees?"

Tristan spoke up, "Because they didn't pass the Holy Selection. Humans who haven't passed the Holy Selection don't deserve to live, so they have to be eliminated."

He spoke these words without any pain or hesitation, as if he were a person without emotions.

"You should know what's going to happen to this world next, right?" Mephistopheles asked again.

Tristan nodded. "I know."

"Then you should know that even if you don't take action, they will all disappear as long as this world cannot be saved. Taking action like this is actually redundant."

Tristan remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "This is an order."

"Let me think, did Arthur issue this order directly?"

Tristan remained silent, while Mephistopheles continued to ponder. Although King Arthur's humanity had been eroded and his divinity had taken over, given King Arthur's character, he shouldn't have done something so unnecessary.

At most, she would probably conduct Holy Selection, then take away those chosen, leaving the unchosen ones to fend for themselves.

But the fact that this has happened suggests there are other reasons behind it.

"Was someone else issuing the orders on your behalf?"

"Yes, it was posted by someone else."

Mephistopheles smiled, glancing at the refugees who were hiding to the side, watching them with fear, and pondering why that person had done this.

"It was just pure killing, without any other superfluous actions, not even sacrifices. Let me think about why..." He stroked his chin, his eyes gleaming with light, because magic was flowing as he used a special spell.

"To prevent those who participated in the previous Holy Selection from sneaking in during each Holy Selection, thus increasing the total number of Holy Selection, it is reasonable to kill those who are not selected after each Holy Selection. In this respect, it is indeed reasonable, even coldly so."

"On another note, by reducing the number of those who were not selected, they will naturally be unable to join the resistance forces, thus weakening the enemy's strength. From this perspective, it's a win-win situation."

Listening to the man's analysis, Tristan said, "I hadn't thought that far ahead, and that person didn't give a reason, but what you're saying now does sound like something he would do."

"In reality, King Arthur now is merely a wandering spirit, unable to find peace on earth," Mephistopheles said, watching Tristan's expression shift between anger and helplessness. He pulled Bedivere closer, grabbing the man's right hand to make Tristan see clearly, "He's just a walking corpse driven by divinity."

"This is..."

"The weapon forged from the Holy Sword is also Noble Phantasm that grants King Arthur immortality. Using this will put her into eternal slumber," Mephistopheles said, releasing his grip on Bedivere's right arm. "This is to give her a release."

Tristan looked at the man in front of him with suspicion and asked, "What do you want me to do? Join you?"

Mephistopheles shook his head, denying the other's guess. "I said I would send you back to the Throne of Heroes immediately, and I will send you back to the Throne of Heroes immediately, so you don't need to join us. I just want you to tell me in detail what you saw about King Arthur."

"Of course, if you'd like, you can also tell me the information on a few of her subordinates, so I can see if it's necessary to come up with some suitable methods in advance."

After hesitating for about a minute or two, Tristan finally began to recount what he had seen and heard.

The so-called gods who walk among humans are beings who can bestow great power upon their subordinates, as if directly granting them extraordinary abilities, rather than simply providing a sudden increase in strength.

Rather than a pure increase in power, it's more like a conceptual boost.

With Tristan's account, Mephistopheles was now completely certain of his suspicions: King Arthur had indeed become a puppet of the Holy Lance, or rather, the divine power within the Holy Lance was the driving force, allowing the false god to reappear in Arthur's body.

Possessing the behavioral style of King Arthur, yet greatly modified, this is the Lion King we know today!

As the Lion King's subordinates, almost every knight received a power bestowed upon them, and this power, when combined with the knights' abilities, significantly enhanced their strength.

For example, the knight Gawain already possessed the ability to greatly increase his attack power during the day. With the addition of King Arthur's blessing, Gawain now has an ability called "Nightless" on top of his original abilities.

The place where Nightless is located is free from darkness, allowing him to enhance his attack power during the day Gawain. This ability also grants him powerful regenerative abilities during the day, enabling him to quickly replenish his magic power.

It's fair to say that Gawain is now practically a mobile, high-damage cannon with an extremely fast mana regeneration rate.

Even Mordred, whom they had encountered in the past, gained a similar power here: Rampage mode.

This ability is roughly equivalent to suppressing rationality, entering a state of indiscriminate berserk behavior, with a significant increase in attack power and destructive desire, but a loss of strategic judgment.

It sounds like King Arthur is betraying his own daughter.

Tristan naturally accepted the blessing. Mephistopheles chanted an incantation, and a True Magic circle appeared around Tristan, from which holy power erupted. This was a magic circle specifically used to dispel evil.

Naturally, this magic circle can also be used to dispel unfriendly spirits, and even friendly spirits.

Tristan's power is Reversal, which is why Tristan rarely feels sad. The power to Reversal emotions and logic transforms a knight who was originally unable to kill due to grief into a tool for killing.

Space was torn apart, Tristan was banished back to his Throne of Heroes by Mephistopheles. He looked at the silent Bedivere beside him and said, "Regretting it?"

Bedivere remained silent for a long while before whispering, "I regret it. I shouldn't have disobeyed the king's orders and not thrown the sword into the lake."

"It's alright, there's still a chance. As long as the erroneous history is corrected, everything will be restored to normal. In fact, because it's a single timeline, even those who died will be resurrected, as if this had never happened."

Mephistopheles offered words of comfort to the knight, who was more like a woman than a man, and then looked at Hassan.

"Take these refugees and leave. No one should attack you again anytime soon," Mephistopheles said.

Hassan had already discerned Tristan 'Mephistopheles intentions from Mephistopheles conversation and, knowing there was no conflict between them, nodded slightly and said, "Thank you."

"No need to thank me," Mephistopheles said with a smile, then added, "Oh, by the way, tell your leader that I've broken Ramses II's Certain Death. Don't attack Ramses II for now; he's chosen to help us. And once the world recovers, Ramses II will naturally leave this place."

Hassan was confused; Certain Death, or could the attack be broken?

Seeing that the person in front of her said so, she agreed. It was just passing on a message, nothing serious.

Then, Mephistopheles looked at Medea and the others who had been watching the show from a distance, and waved with a smile, "Let's go, let's continue on our way!"

However, after saying this, Mephistopheles frowned slightly and looked at the group of refugees.

Then he asked Hassan, "Do you have enough supplies over there right now?"

"It can hold out for a while longer."

"That's good. If it's not enough, I can go back with you and help you replenish your supplies. But since it's enough to last for a while, just relax and wait. The crisis here will be resolved soon."

Mephistopheles smiled, beckoned to the group, and continued towards the Holy City.

He had originally planned to use the endless milk to replenish these people's supplies, but now it seemed unnecessary.

The place where the Old Man of the Mountain lives is a place that Hassan would not normally go, because seeking the Old Man of the Mountain's help is tantamount to giving up one's life.

This means that Hassan, as a figure of this era, is incapable of handling the current situation; that is incompetence.

However, there's no need to risk your life just to pass on a message.

The Old Man of the Mountain listened silently to Hassan's words, his low breathing coming from beneath his mask, as if he were pondering their meaning.

He did indeed feel it; not long ago, he felt the Certain Death curse he had placed on Ramses II had been lifted.

That was the strongest death power that even Ramses II's Sun Temple could not erase. If he wanted, he could even use this power to bestow the concept of death upon gods who had no death!

But this power was suddenly erased, almost making him think that Ramses II was dead. After all, if Ramses II was dead, then the disappearance of the Certain Death curse in his perception would make perfect sense.

But now, according to the news coming back from Hassan, Ramses II is not only not dead, but has also had his own Certain Death erased with the help of others!

"His name is Mephistopheles?"

"Yes, his name is Mephistopheles."

"Mephistopheles ..." In his memory, he had indeed heard this name before. As Grand Servant, he knew many secrets, and the name Mephistopheles was indeed among them.

A human from the Age of Gods of Greece, the lover of the moon goddess, and the beloved of the witch Medea, he participated in the War of the Giants in human form and even later killed Typhon!

These legends alone would be enough to make this human Grand Heroic Spirit, but he didn't. He disappeared mysteriously from the Root, like an unofficial history that didn't leave much of a mark on the past.

Or rather, a large portion of them disappeared at their Root.

But according to Hassan, this guy is still alive, he's human, and he's a human who came back from the future to save this era.

A human being who could rival the gods, or even surpass the supreme god, was now inside Chaldea. The Old Man of the Mountain suddenly felt the burden on his shoulders lighten, and his mood instantly brightened.

Sure enough, all I had to do from now on was watch the show; I didn't need to think about anything else.

As for Ramses II, let's keep him for now. Anyway, once the crisis of this era is resolved, Ramses II will return to the Throne of Heroes. In fact, this time Ramses II is on the side of humanity.

However, why would such humans appear, and why in the future? Could that era truly support the existence of such people?

The Old Man of the Mountain was also filled with doubt at this moment.

The queen, with her golden eyes, sat silently on her throne. She possessed the appearance of Artoria, yet she had a distinctly different aura, a quality that made it difficult to mistake her for Artoria.

Even if they look the same, this kind of aura can make people feel for a moment that this person is not Artoria.

At that moment, the goddess was gazing into the distance. Just moments before, she had sensed the death of her subordinates and their return to the Throne of Heroes.

The man who killed his own men was now walking this way, and it wouldn't be long before he appeared in front of him.

However, when she tried to see more of the future, she found that she couldn't see it clearly anymore.