The Devouring Barrier

The sun rose, and for Fuyuki, it was destined to be an extraordinary day. At that moment, an eerie red light shot into the sky from Ryuudou Temple, enveloping the entire Ryuudou Temple. The residents of Fuyuki could not possibly ignore it. Bai Mo stood on the rooftop, gazing at the distant Ryuudou Temple. A gust of wind blew, and a helicopter flew overhead...

"Is this the Holy Grail War that we were talking about from the beginning, one that had to be conducted in secrecy?" Kayneth stared at the thing, veins bulging on his forehead, as he sat in his room dialing an old-fashioned telephone. On the other end of the line was Tohsaka Tokiomi Tohsaka was already drenched in sweat.

"If the Tohsaka Family, as one of the planners, can't handle this, they can expect to go bankrupt." Leaving this final ultimatum, Kayneth hung up the phone without waiting for Tokiomi Tohsaka's explanation, leaving a frantic Tokiomi Tohsaka behind.

There was no other way but to send Archer.

"King of Heroes..."

"Stop thinking, Tokiomi. I would never use my treasures to fill that disgusting bottomless pit." Gilgamesh looked at the eerie red barrier, showing no intention of cooperating at all.

"I've really been ruined by this father," Tokiomi thought bitterly, glancing at the Command Spell in his hand.

Meanwhile, Kiritsugu stood on the hotel's top floor, observing through binoculars while speaking into the walkie-talkie, "It seems your coercion tactics have failed. Now, we'll have to try a feint attack ourselves."

"Tsk, once I get back to the Clock Tower, I'll definitely teach the Tohsaka Family a lesson."

Below Ryuudou Temple, Bai Mo, Saber, and Rider charged in from three directions. Rider pulled on the reins, and the oxcart, crackling with lightning, crashed into the barrier, yet caused not a ripple. Iskandar frowned and said, "This is troublesome. This seems to be a barrier that devours magic power. Kid, you'll probably have to stay outside."

"Huh? No way, that's way too dangerous."

"What? We came here because of all the conditions Lancer Master offered. Wouldn't it be a huge loss if we went in and died?"

"It's none of your business. Our job is just to keep watch on the surroundings, so stop thinking about recklessly charging around all day long."

Iskandar looked pained and troubled. "But... we're already on the edge of their territory, it would be too embarrassing to just patrol around once."

"Rider!"

Meanwhile, Artoria ventured deep into the barrier. Originally, Kayneth and the other Magecraft were also preparing to participate, but the barrier forced them to remain on the sidelines. Artoria then acted as a feint and stormed into Ryuudou Temple.

As she stepped closer, Artoria felt her sword grow heavier. A figure approached her—Gild Ray.

"We meet again, Saint Virgin, no, you vile imposter Joan of Jeanne d'Arc!" Gild Ray roared angrily at Saber.

Artoria had no intention of wasting words with the guy in front of her. The way to deal with this kind of person was to just cut his neck like Bai Mo did. Artoria rushed forward, but another figure attacked her. She raised her sword to block, but was knocked back several steps.

A Berserker, completely black, appeared before her, wielding a sword dripping with Black Mud. Artoria raised her holy sword. "Good, this will greatly reduce the pressure on Bai Mo's side. We need to hold them off."

"Let us begin this blasphemous feast!" Gild Ray roared, and countless sea monsters, along with Berserker, charged towards Saber.

On the other side, Bai Mo went directly to Ryuudou Temple. At this time, the once peaceful temple was like Hell. The surrounding area was barren land without any life and flowing Black Mud could be seen, as if it were the lair of demons.

In the center of the Black Mud pool in the square, a white flower bloomed quietly. Fran looked at Bai Mo and gave a standard curtsy. "Welcome, I didn't expect you to actually come. How foolish of me."

The next moment, the Black Mud beneath her emitted a distorted light, and magic arrays wove together, condensing magic power into a sharp sword that pierced towards Bai Mo with incredible speed. Bai Mo didn't need to do anything, letting the sword fall on his body. With a boom, a massive torrent of magic power was released in the air.

"This magic..."

Outside, almost every Magecraft could feel this terrifying torrent of magic, but inside the barrier, Fran's expression was somewhat blank.

"No way..."

Bai Mo, like a reef blocking a river, defied the magic and charged directly in front of Fran, delivering a Orca Tyrant Fist that struck her body, sending her flying like a cannonball.

A thousand feet of Black Mud was splashed up.

"Oh dear, are you really human? That was my strongest attack! Tsk, that True Magic definitely had something up his sleeve. My imitation shouldn't have had no effect at all." Fran reappeared from the Black Mud, his clothes completely restored.

"But does this really make sense? Mr. Bai Mo, no matter how hard you try, unless you blow up my and Fuyuki's spiritual veins together, I will still get up no matter what."

Francesca said with her hands behind her back, "Look, this is the feast I've prepared for you. No matter how strong your life force is, it will only be devoured little by little here. You'd better hold on, I still want to have some fun."

On the other side, Artoria was already in a fierce battle. The barrier was constantly devouring her magic power. At this time, even the surface Invisible Air of the Holy Sword was difficult to maintain. She was panting heavily as she faced Berserker and countless sea monsters.

Can I hold on for another ten minutes at most? I hope things go smoothly for Bai Mo.

Is it going smoothly? Attacking the spiritual vein beneath their feet with all their might might indeed break the Magecraft, but that level of destruction would practically lift the entire Fuyuki up. On the surface, Bai Mo's situation certainly doesn't seem smooth, but... what's the reality?

"You really think this kind of trick can leave me helpless?" Bai Mo's voice remained calm. Fran looked at him and immediately felt a sense of foreboding. The next moment, her body suddenly hardened, then crumbled inch by inch into powder.

"What's going on?" Francesca was somewhat surprised and immediately mobilized her magic to try to repair herself, but the terrifying destructive power was still raging inside her body. The next moment, Bai Mo was already in front of her and grabbed her head.

"You think the same trick will work on me a second time? You'll only pay the price for your stupidity." After the first battle, Bai Mo pondered how to deal with this unkillable being. There is no true immortality in the world; once this guy's physical body is destroyed, he will enter the Black Mud.

When Bai Mo first killed Fran, he left behind some Magnetic Field Power as a "marker" to confirm that it was a physical restoration, not a reshaping of a body. Therefore, there are many ways to deal with her.

The ideal attack would be a direct strike to the external soul, but Bai Mo cannot activate his primordial Primordial Spirit like Xie Bai. However, coincidentally, Oga's Orca Tyrant Fist contains a method to counter this attack.

The opponent's body is hardened, and then the powerful punch is unleashed, disintegrating the enemy's body. Unless the hit part is severed immediately before the power dissipates, the opponent cannot escape.

If a fatal blow is struck, the body needs to absorb the terrifying force of the punch before it can recover, which Fran is absolutely incapable of doing now.

The girl's body was like porcelain, cracked all over, broken piece by piece.