After leaving the Emiya residence, Fang Mo and Sakura Matou made their way to Ryudou Temple.
Since the Emiya house was located in the suburbs, the distance to Ryudou Temple wasn't too far. After walking for a short while, they could already make out the silhouette of Mount Enzou.
Fang Mo had spent most of the day analyzing the chanism behind the creation of Heroic Spirits. On top of that, he had just played out the drama of Archer betraying the Tohsaka family, which ant that it was already late in the day. The sun was setting, and in its place, a bright full moon was slowly rising.
Although there was a temple on Mount Enzou, the Fuyuki City had been in chaos recently, and no one dared to venture out at night. This made the area feel especially deserted.
Thanks to the temple, a stone staircase had been built along the mountain, and Fang Mo was leisurely following this winding path.
As they walked, Fang Mo struck up a conversation with Sakura.
"So, you must have secretly co here earlier today, right?" Fang Mo asked casually, glancing around at the surroundings.
"It wasn't ," Sakura replied, shaking her head. "It was Saber. I used a Command Seal to bring her here."
"Oh?" Fang Mo asked, intrigued. "And what did you tell her?"
"I relayed the information you provided, instructing her to act accordingly," Sakura explained. "I told her to avoid conflict if possible and to borrow the enemy's Noble Phantasm. If that wasn’t feasible… well, she was to handle it in her usual way."
"I see," Fang Mo nodded.
In the original story, Caster was quite a troubleso opponent. Her real na was dea, the Witch of Betrayal from Greek mythology. She was a dangerous character, not just because of her magical prowess, but because of her ability to sever the bond with her original Master using her Noble Phantasm and kill him in retaliation.
Later, as she was about to disappear, she was saved by a man nad Souichirou Kuzuki. Caster fell in love with him and insisted on staying by his side.
Souichirou Kuzuki was no ordinary man either. Though not a mage, he was a forr assassin with remarkable combat skills. After Caster enhanced his abilities with her magic, he was able to stand toe-to-toe with Heroic Spirits.
When Fang Mo first saw this part of the story, he was shocked. It was like Fuyuki City's own version of "Superhuman."
Not only were Caster and Kuzuki a tough combination—Caster had also figured out the summoning chanism of the Holy Grail. Exploiting its loopholes, she managed to summon another Heroic Spirit while still being one herself, in this case, Assassin.
This ant that Ryudou Temple was now ho to both Caster and Assassin, along with a Master who could fight Heroic Spirits directly. On top of that, Caster had amassed a trendous amount of magical energy by attacking ordinary people.
In short, dealing with them was a daunting task. Even in the original story, Saber struggled to defeat them, largely because Shirou Emiya, as her Master, couldn’t supply enough magical energy to unleash her full strength.
But now, things were different. The current Saber, contracted with Sakura, was imnsely powerful, with nearly limitless magical energy. Defeating these opponents wouldn't be much of a challenge.
"So, did Saber take them all down?" Fang Mo asked, rubbing his chin.
"Probably not," Sakura replied, tilting her head in thought. "When a Heroic Spirit dies, their magical energy and soul are absorbed by the Grail, and their Noble Phantasms disappear as well. I don't think Saber killed them."
"Alright," Fang Mo nodded and continued up the path to Ryudou Temple.
After walking for a bit longer, they reached a flat area halfway up the mountain. In the pale moonlight, they could see a small, traditional Japanese temple ahead.
However, at the end of the staircase, near the entrance to the temple, Fang Mo spotted a man dressed as an ancient swordsman.
He held a long katana and had flowing purple hair, giving him an elegant appearance. But strangely, there was a bruise over one eye and a swollen forehead, as if soone had beaten him up. 𝔯ÄNọʙƐṧ
The man seed to have been waiting for Fang Mo and Sakura, standing there silently.
As the two approached, the swordsman spoke first.
"So, you've finally co?"
His gaze shifted to Sakura. "You must be Saber's Master. Co, call her out and continue the battle."
"I'm no longer Saber's Master."
"What?" The swordsman looked confused. "Did she lose? Who defeated her?"
"No, I just handed her over to soone else." At this, Sakura proudly showed the dark Command Seal on her hand, which was as black as ink. "Now, I am Archer-sama’s most loyal servant."
"…Archer?"
The swordsman was clearly bewildered. "So this was your plan? You ordered Saber to steal Caster's Noble Phantasm and then made a contract with Archer?"
"Of course," Sakura said confidently, raising her head. "My Archer-sama is invincible."
"Is that so?" the swordsman muttered, shaking his head. He turned his attention to Fang Mo. "So, you’re this Archer, then?"
"Whoa, it’s the Sword Master!" Fang Mo exclaid.
The swordsman's expression imdiately darkened, but he raised his katana nonetheless. "It seems you’re confident in your strength. But I’m nothing more than a wandering spirit. It’s natural for you to look down on . Very well, let test your strength."
With those words, the swordsman lunged forward.
Though his movent was slow, the mont he swung his sword, it was incredibly fast. Sohow, despite wielding only one blade, he managed to unleash three strikes simultaneously from different angles toward Fang Mo.
"Is this the Rising Dragon Slash? Who do you think you’re dealing with?"
Fang Mo didn’t even flinch in response to the attack.
He stood perfectly still, allowing the sword strikes to hit him. There was a series of tallic clangs, and the swordsman’s katana was knocked away.
The force of the recoil sent the man stumbling back several steps.
"!?"
The swordsman’s expression changed, clearly shocked. "An Archer who takes my attack head-on? Is it a defensive Noble Phantasm? Or is it…"
He glanced at Sakura, who, completely unbothered, stood there mimicking Fang Mo’s stance, her small hands behind her back. However, given her petite size, it looked more awkward than imposing.
At that mont, Fang Mo spoke.
"Don’t overthink it, bro."
He waved dismissively. "I’ve got high defense. You just bounced off."
"…"
The swordsman frowned but didn’t give up. Tightening his grip on the katana, he seed ready to try again.
But just as he prepared to strike, Fang Mo suddenly raised a hand.
"!"
Startled, the swordsman imdiately leaped back, entering a defensive stance.
"Relax, I’m not using a big move."
Fang Mo chuckled and reassured him. "It’s just that my level’s too high. Fighting wouldn’t be fair, so I’m going to find you a more even match."
"What?"
The swordsman was puzzled.
And then, Fang Mo pulled a dog out of a ripple in space.
"???"
The swordsman was stunned. Why would soone bring out a dog in the middle of a fight?
Fang Mo had indeed pulled out a dog, specifically a Shiba Inu. It was chubby and didn’t look like it could fight, with a rather pitiful expression. For so reason, though, it had a strange katana strapped to its back.
"Are you mocking ?"
The swordsman’s surprise turned to anger.
"No, no. Quite the opposite," Fang Mo replied, shaking his head as he dropped the dog onto the ground. "This is how I show my respect."
"I fail to see how this is respectful…"
"Trust , you’ll understand soon enough." Fang Mo then gave the dog a kick. "Cheems, go. Take him down."
"Woof!?"
The Shiba Inu—Cheems—looked utterly shocked. It raised its head in disbelief, glancing between Fang Mo and the swordsman as if to ask, "?"
Fang Mo wasn’t interested in a discussion. He turned and headed toward Ryudou Temple, leaving Cheems behind.
"Stop!" the swordsman shouted, unable to contain his frustration. Furious, he charged at Fang Mo with a quick-draw slash.
But in the next instant, sothing shot forward at lightning speed.
With a loud clang, a blade intercepted the swordsman’s attack.
"What the…!?"
The swordsman was stunned. When he looked up, he was even more shocked. It wasn’t Fang Mo or Sakura who had blocked his strike—it was the dog.
Yes, the Shiba Inu.
The dog, holding a katana in its mouth, had sohow managed to block the swordsman’s strike.
"…"
The swordsman couldn’t comprehend what was happening. How was this dog even holding the katana? But there wasn’t ti to think, because the dog had already launched its counterattack.
A flash of blue and black.
The swordsman felt an overwhelming sense of danger and quickly retreated, but not before a lock of his hair was sliced off, and a small tear appeared in his clothing.
"What… What is this dog…?"
The swordsman was still in shock, but Cheems didn’t give him any ti to recover. With a pitiful expression, the dog charged at him again, wielding the katana in a bizarre, almost unnatural style.
anwhile, Fang Mo ignored the fight, simply calling out, "Let’s go."
"Ah, yes, Archer-sama," Sakura replied, still a bit dazed from watching the strange battle. She quickly followed Fang Mo as he headed toward the temple.
The fight outside continued, but Fang Mo paid it no mind as he entered Ryudou Temple.
Imdiately, he noticed sothing off. The place was eerily quiet. There were no lights, and the silence was unnerving. Even though this was a temple, there should still have been so signs of life at night. But now, it was completely deserted.
"Hmm?"
Fang Mo raised an eyebrow, glancing at his minimap. The temple was empty. Not only were Caster and the others gone, but so were the ordinary people. It was like a shell had been left behind.
"Did they die?"
Fang Mo muttered to himself. "No… it looks more like they escaped."
He quickly deduced what had happened. Black Saber had stord the temple earlier, destroying Caster’s magic workshop, beating up her forces, and stealing her Noble Phantasm.
Caster wasn’t foolish. If Saber could break through once, she could do it again, and next ti, it wouldn’t just be for a Noble Phantasm—it would be to kill her. Knowing this, Caster must have fled with Souichirou Kuzuki to hide and avoid being killed.
As for the swordsman guarding the entrance, it wasn’t his choice to stay behind.
As ntioned before, Assassin was an irregular summon. If he had been properly summoned, he would have been the infamous Hassan-i-Sabbah, the Old Man of the Mountain. But since Caster had summoned him illegally, this Assassin couldn’t leave the boundaries of Mount Enzou.
He was more like a bound spirit than a true Heroic Spirit.
"Archer-sama, it seems the Heroic Spirits hiding here have already fled," Sakura reported after investigating the area. "Should we chase them? Or perhaps capture Assassin for interrogation? The Empire should have truth serums, or maybe you’d prefer another thod, like a gas chamber?"
"Let’s leave them for now," Fang Mo said, feeling a bit exasperated. Sakura was definitely starting to show signs of her darker side. "First, let’s go check out the leyline beneath the temple."
"Understood, Archer-sama," Sakura nodded obediently and followed Fang Mo as they headed deeper into the temple. Though the passage was well hidden, it couldn’t escape Fang Mo’s minimap.
Soon, they reached an underground area, where the suspected leyline of Fuyuki City was located. The mont they arrived, a system notification sounded in Fang Mo’s mind.
[System Notification: New module feature detected. Research to unlock download permissions.]
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