Multiverse: Why does the world show a health bar? !

Fuyuki City isn't actually very large. It can roughly be divided into two areas: the New City and the Old Town. Li Mo was currently in the Old Town.

Ryuudou Temple, located on Mount Enzou, was situated in the western part of the Old Town.

**Atrum Galliasta.**

His skin was a wheatish tone, his hair golden—a magus from the Middle East.

Of course, he was at the lower end of the magus hierarchy. No matter how wealthy his family was, his status in the Clock Tower was nothing special. Magi measured their nobility by the length of their lineage. He was the first-generation magus of his family, and his magecraft had been purchased from other magi.

If not for his wealth, he would have been at the very bottom of the magus hierarchy.

But it didn't matter. The Holy Grail War was his battlefield for turning things around. Though it was just a rural magecraft war in the Far East, how difficult could it be?

There was just one thing that bothered Atrum slightly.

The Servant he had summoned was Caster—Medea.

"I was supposed to summon Siegfried as a Saber," Atrum said to the hooded Caster beside him. "Unfortunately, at the auction, I didn't have enough funds, and someone else outbid me for the catalyst. That's my first regret.

My second regret is that when I went to find the buyer to steal the catalyst, I discovered, to my dismay, that the catalyst had already been used as a consumable item.

And the person who used it was none other than a Grand Magus—Aozaki Touko, who was once designated for sealing by the Clock Tower but later had the designation lifted."

The events at the El-Melloi family were still fresh in his mind. It had happened just a few months ago. Aozaki Touko had accepted a commission from the El-Melloi family and then used the commission's reward—the catalyst—during the commission itself.

What a wasteful and excessive approach.

"Master, I don't think Grand Magi are all that impressive."

"Oh? You haven't met that woman. Even if this body dies, she can transfer her memories to the next one. Never mind, I don't feel like explaining."

Atrum disliked his Servant, disliking her arrogance.

Medea, the Witch of Betrayal, the Divine Magus.

Her latter identity placed her high above, looking down on modern magi. That look in her eyes reminded Atrum of the way the so-called nobles at the Clock Tower looked at him.

Disgusting.

Whatever. Soon enough, this Witch of Betrayal would witness his most impressive magecraft.

"Caster, do you know? My family is part of the Mage's Association, so in this war, I fight for my family's honor. It's not like the last time, when Lord El-Melloi II was just playing around."

"As a modern magus, you're about to witness a feat that rivals your divine magecraft."

The two entered the workshop.

The interior was decorated in a modern, minimalist style. Cold walls reflected the light. In the center of the room was a circular platform surrounded by transparent containers. Inside these containers weren't goods, but crouching children.

"Is this… a refining workshop?" Caster asked, immediately understanding the setup with just a glance.

Atrum spoke first. "My family's magecraft system generates magical energy through modern means. However, it uses a primitive curse—'live sacrifices.' Let me show you."

He raised his hand, and the people in biohazard suits standing by the control panel began operating. The lights in the workshop dimmed, and the magecraft began.

The so-called "live sacrifices" involved offering living beings to the gods in exchange for divine protection. In Atrum's case, it was about directly extracting magical energy from life to form crystals.

And as fresh materials, children provided the highest efficiency in extracting magical energy.

When the lights returned to normal, Atrum walked to the center of the platform and retrieved a white crystal from the table.

As a Servant, Medea could sense that it was a crystal composed of magical energy.

"What would normally take a month to complete now only takes an instant. Oh, and don't worry about the materials." Atrum was clearly pleased with himself as he showcased his pride to the divine magus.

He guided Medea to another area, where more children were restrained. From the looks of it, the children were unconscious.

"These aren't from Fuyuki. I purchased them as medical materials from other places at a high cost…"

"This is completely unnecessary," Medea interrupted. "Using lives for such low-level crystals is something only third-rate magi would do."

Medea walked to the central cylindrical device—the "furnace" that converted magical energy into crystals.

In the next moment, Medea waved her hand, and after a flash of light, a crystal larger than the previous one appeared in the furnace.

"What did you do…? No, how is this possible?"

Creating crystals out of thin air in the furnace, without even a chant… Activating the refining magecraft normally required three days and nights of chanting. Atrum had compressed the chant to an instant only with the help of the workshop.

But how had she done it?

The question slipped out.

"Modern magi see nothing but emptiness. Your methods of extracting magical energy are a step behind."

"Chants… To me, using magecraft is simply issuing a command."

"Master, please shut down this refining workshop. Abusing lives is a last resort, and this workshop's inefficiency makes it completely unnecessary."

As a Caster, Medea was a professional.

The workshop they were in was incredibly crude—so crude that even a novice wouldn't operate this way.

Even when she was first learning magecraft as a child, she had never seen such a shoddy workshop.

Rather than focusing energy here, it should be directed toward more important matters. Everything was for the Holy Grail War.

That was Caster's perspective.

Atrum, however, didn't see it that way. He wasn't looking at the workshop's inefficiency but at the overwhelming power of a divine magus in the realm of magecraft.

"I still know too little about Servants."

The initial panic had faded, and Atrum coldly raised his right hand. The bright red Command Seals on the back of his hand glowed.

"By the power of my Command Seal, Caster, I forbid you from using your Noble Phantasm against me."

Hatred?

No, it was jealousy. As a magus from history, now summoned as a Servant based on the "Throne of Heroes," she was still so powerful. Perhaps, in her eyes, a Grand Magus really wasn't worth mentioning?

He should have summoned a different class.

Atrum no longer wanted to communicate with Medea, just as he didn't want to interact with the nobles at the Clock Tower. Not everyone was like El-Melloi II, whose magecraft was mediocre.

"After all, being betrayed by the Witch of Betrayal wouldn't end well."

Such a person, unable to defy him. How satisfying… Too bad a different class of Servant would have been better.

Atrum punched Medea to the ground, then shook his hand and turned to leave.

He no longer needed Caster. He would go see what the priest at the Holy Church had to offer. Seeing her only reminded him of the ridicule he had endured at the Clock Tower.

He walked to the elevator and pressed the button, preparing to head to the Holy Church.

Then, as the elevator doors opened—

—a flash of blade light.