"Eighty! Eighty! Eighty!"
Mo Shuying was immersed in the joy of his gains, everything around him seemed irrelevant. So what if the ground collapsed and the gardens crumbled? Was that more important than gaining souls? So what if he was falling from hundreds of meters up? He could just jump right before he hit the ground.
"Eighty!"
*Bang!*
As Mo Shuying cheered, an entire wall behind him shattered, letting in a faint moonlight that revealed the scene of Mo Shuying tormenting the Shadow Entity.
"Ah!!"
There were few of the resentful faces left on the Shadow Entity, and its body had shrunk significantly. When another face shattered, the Shadow Entity suddenly paused, then began to writhe frantically.
Before, it had been struggling; now, it was a desperate, death throe.
Suddenly, the Shadow Entity arched into a bridge, and after a tremor, it exploded, scattering everywhere.
"What the heck! It's gone already? Did it escape or was it destroyed? I didn't get any experience points."
Mo Shuying dodged a few fragments. He didn't hear any messages about gaining experience, nor did his intuition sense the Shadow Entity's presence anymore.
*Boom!*
At that moment, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon crashed to the ground, its last main structure shattering and collapsing. A crack immediately opened beneath Mo Shuying's feet. He hopped on one foot to avoid the crack, then used Flash to escape the danger zone. Looking back at the collapsing Hanging Gardens of Babylon, it was already nothing but ruins.
"Momo!"
Just then, Astolfo, who had been circling outside, flew over on his Hippogriff, waving quickly at Mo Shuying.
"Are you okay, Momo?"
The Hippogriff landed, and Astolfo jumped off, asking.
"I'm alright. Barely managed to stack a hundred layers."
Mo Shuying replied casually. Astolfo paused, a string of question marks appearing above his head.
"Haha, just kidding! Come on, let's go. Our Holy Grail War is supposed to be covert, we shouldn't be seen by ordinary people."
Mo Shuying laughed and stepped forward, patting Astolfo's shoulder. Astolfo turned to look at the mountain-like ruins. Even he understood that this Holy Grail War had nothing to do with secrecy anymore.
"Let's go."
Mo Shuying called out again when Astolfo didn't move. Astolfo quickly turned and ran over.
"Coming, coming~ Let's go, back home, we can still get some sleep~"
Astolfo ran a few steps and leaped onto the Hippogriff, turning back to extend a hand to Mo Shuying.
Mo Shuying reached out and took Astolfo's small hand. With a pull, he was on the Hippogriff, which immediately ascended and flew towards Emiya's residence.
It was nearly dawn, the last sliver of moonlight hidden by the clouds. An invisible force undulated through Fuyuki City, causing the residents, who had been terrified and thought it was the end of the world, to return home. Those who needed to sleep slept, and everyone went about their business.
It was as if nothing had happened, only the deep gash in the earth and some scattered remnants told the world that something major had just occurred.
At this very moment, within a mysterious space, the Holy Grail emitted a contented groan as it absorbed newly born souls.
Just as the Holy Grail was marveling at finally receiving souls, even if they were just ordinary human souls, which were better than none.
"Hmm?"
A moment of confusion was followed by shock. A fragmented Heroic Spirit returned to the Holy Grail, causing it to tremble. It was Semiramis, whom it had sent out.
She hadn't been gone long, had she?
It had cost it a lot of Mana. And she was back so soon?
Semiramis's fragmented spirit was absorbed by the Holy Grail, and the most direct memories of the battle surged forth. The Holy Grail "saw" that familiar figure and immediately burned with rage!
"It's you again!"
The Holy Grail roared. Mo Shuying had disrupted its plans more than once. It had just been born when Mo Shuying extorted it, causing it to lose a lot of energy, which it hadn't recovered yet. It had planned to recover some energy from the Heroic Spirits' battles, but who knew...
Question: This Holy Grail War was too harmonious. What should it do?
Did it have to be this peaceful? Was it not showing enough respect for the Holy Grail War?
Just as the Holy Grail was seething with anger,
*Swoosh~*
A tiny, hair-thin black shadow returned to this space, writhing its way to the Holy Grail and transmitting another memory.
"What! That man can weaken your power!"
The Holy Grail was shocked. For how many years had the Shadow Entity been an invincible existence? Even Noble Phantasms couldn't destroy it, but this time it had failed, and failed completely. Its very source of power, its souls, had been annihilated.
"Who in the world are you, you despicable fellow?"
The Holy Grail could connect to the Throne of Heroes, but there was no such person in the Throne of Heroes, neither in the past nor the future, which was very strange.
"Could it be that this Holy Grail War can only end in this way?"
The Holy Grail emitted a low sound, its tone filled with helplessness, yet also with much unwillingness.
Detected no sign-in today. Sign in?
"Sign in."
"Ding~ Host check-in successful. You have received the Noble Phantasm [Thornmail]."
"A Noble Phantasm! Have I finally checked in for another Noble Phantasm? But why is it Thornmail?"
Mo Shuying was a little excited. He finally had a second Noble Phantasm, but why was it still armor?
Noble Phantasm: [Thornmail B]
Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm
Increases fixed HP by 1000
Increases armor by 300 points
Reflects magic damage equal to armor value + 5% of attack when taking physical damage.
Inflicts 60% grievous wound effect on attacker. PS: Grievous wounds reduce healing effectiveness.
Mo Shuying looked at the stats. How should he put it? It was certainly good, but it wasn't as impressive as Madman's Pride.
After all, one was A++ and the other B. The difference was vast, so he should be content.
And like Madman's Pride, it didn't require Mana to manifest. It was already effective, and when manifested, it would be another set of steel armor, with even higher direct defense than Madman's Pride.
"Ah, this feels good, this feels good. Time to sleep."
Although he was straying further and further down the path of an Assassin, Mo Shuying was no longer worried.
Who says an Assassin can't build tank items? Killing someone by reflecting damage with Thornmail is still a kill, isn't it? It's not assassination? Well, bouncing damage to kill them from the shadows works just as well!
Satisfied, Mo Shuying pulled up his covers and went to sleep, not waking until morning.
His good internal clock made Mo Shuying open his eyes, then get up, wash, and exercise.
Other exercises could be done at the Emiya residence, but running required going outside to feel truly free.
Mo Shuying walked out of the Emiya residence and started jogging down the street. He ran two blocks before realizing something.
"Why isn't anyone around?"
Yes, Mo Shuying hadn't seen a single person along the way. The entire street was silent, a silence that reminded him of when he was in another dimension, so similar.
"Something's… not right."
A strong sense of dissonance welled up in Mo Shuying's heart. He slowed his pace. No matter what, it was too quiet.
Becoming more vigilant, Mo Shuying looked around. Suddenly, he saw someone standing on a streetlamp not far away.
It was a handsome man with blond hair and red eyes, dressed in black pants and a black shirt, with a white undershirt.
His attire was quite casual, making him seem laid-back, yet he exuded an astonishing aura of superiority.
He looked at Mo Shuying, a hint of an uninhibited smile playing on his lips. After sizing him up, the blond man spoke.
"How did you do it?"
"What?"
Mo Shuying didn't understand why Golden Flash would seek him out.
"I'm asking you, how did you manage to destroy that Shadow Entity!"
When Mo Shuying retorted, Gilgamesh's tone grew increasingly hostile, his eyes flashing with killing intent, like a villain.
But did you know, this guy's true alignment is Lawful Good!
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