4
“Intruder, what do you seek?”
Indeed, no memory? Or perhaps these two Counts are not the same…
The Count of Monte Cristo’s boasting, while unable to explain Xia Yuan’s situation, made him aware of other things.
Rubbing the Command Spells that had disappeared from the back of his hand, Xia Yuan had pretty much figured out the answer.
It was probably a situation similar to Fujimaru Ritsuka’s.
Looking at the vengeful ghost before him who was wearing a mocking smile, he continued, “No need to tell me these things. Now you just need to tell me where the enemies are.”
“Huh?”
The Count was slightly stunned, then burst into laughter, applauding Xia Yuan.
“Is that so? Even in hell, you’re not panicking, but instead have understood your situation and even thought of a way to leave? I’m truly impressed with you.”
“As I said before, this is the island of despair, the prison tower. This place is the shore of grudges, and also the cradle of sin. Your enemies have already arrived, following the scent of sin…”
“Sin…”
Creak—
Accompanied by the sound of the heavy iron door of the dungeon being pushed open, something was released.
At this moment, the howls of evil spirits also came from not far away.
The Count sat back in his chair, pointing to those evil spirits that had come following the scent, and said, “Then let’s start with them. Only desperate spirits wander in the prison tower, and this body full of vitality is naturally their first choice. Now they’ve found you by following the scent!”
“But there’s no need to panic. They are just departed spirits, without the ability to possess your soul. They envy all living beings, all things alive – that’s you! They’re all coming for you. So what’s your choice?”
The Count’s tone carried madness, like an opera, performing a frenzied show.
Watching countless evil spirits pounce, hearing the monsters’ screams.
The Count’s smile didn’t diminish. He stood up, clapping his hands, bringing down the curtain on this performance, then took the first step forward, standing in front of Xia Yuan to protect him.
“You’re lucky, or perhaps unlucky, to be connected with me and brought into the prison tower. But in this hell, you’ve met me, this vengeful ghost. So do you need help? From me, this vengeful ghost born of despair, constantly resentful, cursed, carrying this world’s most evil flames. Now you can call me Avenger.”
“Of course, Count of Monte Cristo,” Xia Yuan nodded slightly, extending his hand to him.
“Hm?”
The young man’s smile made the Count momentarily lose focus, but in that unguarded moment, his extended hand had already joined with Xia Yuan’s. A red glow slowly appeared on the back of their hands.
Three red Command Spells appeared again.
At this moment, another contract was established here.
“It seems you understand the situation here, my first-time Master.”
“More or less. Anyway, to leave, we need to break through here, right?”
Xia Yuan nodded, not denying the Count’s words.
He was a Master who had experienced the prison tower before, so he was naturally familiar with the process here. In short, it was to break through different judgment rooms under the Count’s lead, defeating corresponding enemies. Only the final victor could escape from here.
“What a simple and easy-to-understand interpretation. But you’re not wrong. For the prisoners here, breaking through all judgment rooms means their souls can be liberated. Conversely, if they die, their souls will truly perish.”
Whoosh—
A jet of black flame tinged with deadly poison flew out along their respective trajectories. In a flash, with terrifying heat, it directly pierced through the heads of several spirits at the forefront. Before they could even scream, they had already turned to ashes in the cursed flames.
After a round of fighting, countless spirits were burned to ashes by the flames. Those fragile spirit bodies were no match for the terrifying flames.
Finally, in the black, dilapidated cell, only this Master-Servant pair remained, gazing indifferently at what lay ahead amidst the ashes.
“All weak opponents. Your sin of envy is much lighter than I expected. You’re truly an upright person, Master.”
“However, if we continue fighting like this, can you hold on, Master?”
The ground was covered with scattered ashes. The Count looked at the disheveled Xia Yuan with some concern. Although the enemies weren’t strong, facing that number of spirit armies, even he found it difficult to completely protect his Master. There were also one or two weak spirits that he deliberately let through.
However, from the start of the battle until now, even when chased so desperately by the spirits, even when his own life was threatened, he was unwilling to disturb his Servant’s battle, unwilling to drag him down. Such a Master was truly rare.
No wonder he could form a connection with him?
No, someone like him should probably get along well with any Heroic Spirit.
Soon, the Count recovered from his daze, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.
“I didn’t expect my Master to be unexpectedly outstanding.”
Chapter 4: Prison Tower Rerun
“Well done, Master. Your performance was somewhat surprising. For an ordinary person to persist to this extent.”
The Count, having quickly dealt with the main enemy force, turned back and saw the two skeleton soldiers lying next to Xia Yuan. He couldn’t help but praise him.
“Initially, seeing that you were an ordinary person without magic circuits, I was a bit worried. It seems I was overthinking it.”
“Hehe, I’m an ordinary person… I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
Leaning against the wall to rest for a while, the energy consumed earlier was slightly recovered. At least he could settle down for a moment and catch his breath.
At the same time, his wariness of the hidden world deepened. Just a few skeleton soldiers could make him so disheveled, what level could those higher-grade phantasmal species or mages reach?
His understanding of those mages’ capabilities was only based on fragmented memories. He was only wary of Servants, but now he realized he was too wrong. For him, those powerful mages were no less threatening than Servants.
“Sigh…”
Looking at the now empty gun in his hand, he couldn’t help but sigh.
Are things from the surface world so powerless against the magic of the hidden world?
In his current muddled state, he might not die in the prison tower, but would probably die in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
“…”
After calming himself, Xia Yuan briefly exercised his joints and turned to look at the Count: “The end of the first level should be the judgment room you mentioned, right?”
“That’s right. At the end of this long corridor is the judgment room containing the sin of envy.”
“Then there should be some kind of gatekeeper for the first level, right? What is it? A Heroic Spirit, or some phantasmal species enemy?”
“About that…”
The King of the Cavern shook his head, “I don’t know either. We’ll only know when we go in. You’ll have to see for yourself.”
“See for myself? So you’re saying the gatekeeper isn’t fixed, but changes based on my memories and psyche?”
“Hahaha, you’re quite sharp. That’s right, I don’t know the gatekeeper’s identity either. Their identity depends on you, depends on the challenger. And now, you are the challenger of this tower of hell!”
“You’re too noisy. Count, when will you change this habit of suddenly getting excited? Be quiet, why are you shouting so loud?”
Hearing the Count’s sudden loud laughter again, Xia Yuan was still a bit uncomfortable. In this situation, he didn’t have such a strong heart to laugh. In this predicament, he was already trying hard not to cry.
A transmigrator?
But also an ordinary person.
“Master, you’re really no fun at all.” The Count quickly calmed down and looked at the still calm Xia Yuan, asking,
“Aren’t you excited at all? Revealing hidden truths, then defeating the gatekeeper enemy, giving your all to survive. This is a heroic tale written by both sin and redemption!”
“…”
When outside, the Count could at least suppress his nature when interacting with him. In the prison tower, has he completely let himself go? Why so much inner drama?
In this situation, he’s not like the Count. Any normal person wouldn’t be able to laugh, right?
His expression twitching slightly, he still managed to answer very reluctantly: “Excited? Giving my all to survive and fight alongside the Count, of course I’m full of motivation. I’m just not good at expressing it.”
“Is that so? I’ll believe you for now. But if you’re this unsociable, you won’t make friends outside, Master.”
“…”
Not being able to make friends, no matter who says it, I especially don’t want to hear it from you.
The Count just smiled, then started teasing him again, “The seven deadly sins, everyone commits them. But I really can’t imagine what the sin of envy in the psyche of someone like you looks like. With your calm appearance and lukewarm attitude, I suppose the me outside must find it very boring to interact with you.”
“It’s not boring, but Count, you were indeed quite cold at the beginning.”
“Cold, huh? It’s human nature to be cold towards unfamiliar or unaccepted food. If you can’t reach a level I can acknowledge, naturally you don’t have the qualifications to accompany me, to become my accomplice.”
“This point is the same for any version of me. However, from what you’re saying, it seems you get along well with me?”
The Count raised an eyebrow and explained.
“We’ve just established a connection. To reach the level of becoming an accomplice is still far off. After all, I’m not a qualified Master yet.”
“The judge of whether you’re qualified isn’t you, but me. Whether you have the qualifications to become an accomplice is up to that guy outside to judge.”
“Right now, what I’m more curious about is, what does the sin of envy you’ve committed look like?”
“The sin of envy in my psyche? If I have to say, the one who most fits the sin of envy should be him…”
Recalling what Fujimaru Ritsuka saw in the prison tower.
After pondering for a moment, with the Count’s hint, Xia Yuan also thought of a certain figure, and his expression began to change slightly.
“Oh? Looking at your expression, you must have thought of something. That enemy must be quite difficult to deal with, right? Kuhahaha, I’m starting to look forward to it.”
The Count, who occasionally raised his voice again, looked at Xia Yuan with great interest, wearing an arrogant smile.
“Alright, alright, you’re happy, that’s good. But that enemy is very difficult to deal with. Count, please don’t be careless later, you’ll suffer for it.”
Suffer for it?
“Kuhahaha, is that so? You, who have already witnessed my power, still come to this conclusion? This is really interesting. I’m increasingly looking forward to that sin of envy in your psyche.”
“However, before that, we should first collect these spoils of war.”
“Spoils of war?”
Looking at the dust all over the ground, apart from the ashes of those directly incinerated by the Count, he really couldn’t see any so-called spoils of war in this pitch-black corridor.
However, without explaining to him, after speaking, the Count swirled his cloak, suddenly bursting with the speed of an Agility-class Servant, instantly sweeping through the corridor and raising clouds of dust.
After a round of flying, his figure returned in front of Xia Yuan, slowly extending his palm. It was a handful of dark purple dust.
“What’s this?”
“Magic dust.”
Xia Yuan looked at the Count uncomprehendingly, just about to open his mouth to ask, when suddenly his mouth became dry. The next second, the Count had already poured that dark purple dust into his mouth.
“Mmph…”
Xia Yuan was shocked and couldn’t speak anymore.
…
“Cough cough cough…”
Retching heavily, tears involuntarily flowing from his eyes, the churning in his mouth and stomach made him feel resistant.
The instant dryness was unforgettable, and the physiological discomfort made it difficult for him to move.
“Do you feel it?”
The Count stared at Xia Yuan in surprise.
In his mouth was a lit cigarette that he had somehow taken from Xia Yuan’s pocket.
“Feel? What feeling?! You fed me a handful of ash, now apart from physical discomfort, what else am I supposed to feel?!”
“…Not that.”
The Count shook his head slightly, pointing at Xia Yuan’s chest. It’s a feeling in the body, not physiological.
“Want to vomit, does that count?”
“…”
“Master, I’m asking you to feel the mana in your body. How is it? Do you feel the sensation of mana flowing inside you?”
Mana flowing inside?
“But I don’t have magic circuits…”
Hearing this, the Count was silent for a moment, then took a deep breath: “The fact that you could summon me and come to the prison tower proves that you have the qualifications to become a magus. Even if we take a step back, Command Spells are mana crystals that only magi are given. I’m using the magical materials here to stimulate your magic circuits.”
“However, you really don’t have any common sense as a magus, Master. Although I’m not an expert in magecraft, I’ve learned some basics from Heroic Spirits who are familiar with this field. Now I’m going to help you activate your magic circuits. Otherwise, with your current half-baked level, you won’t stand a chance in the Holy Grail War or in breaking through the judgment rooms ahead.”