BCloud
patreon
IBHJ Chapter 580
🕑 Added 2023-11-18 23:39:41 +0000 UTCShirou frowned as he asked Gray about the connection points. Her explanation aligned with what Mash and Romani had told him, but with more concrete details.
"The Council is responsible for the formation of the connection points," Gray explained. "They buried a Grail in these other worlds, which formed a link back to our world at specific locations. That's how the connection points were created. There's one located in Romania."
"A Grail?" He raised his eyebrows. "Not like the one from the Holy Grail War?"
Gray shook her head. "No, this one was made by the Council. Recovering their Grail seems to be the key to eliminating the connection points."
He nodded slowly as he processed the information. "How did you learn all this?"
At that, she hesitated before asking, "Fujimaru-sama, do you remember Ritsuka?"
When he nodded, she continued, "Ritsuka learned this from Goetia himself, one of the Council members, during her battle with him at the first connection point. Chaldea investigated extensively, and it does appear to be true. Recovering the Council's Grail buried in each point causes it to dissipate."
"I see..." he nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "By the way, how has Ritsuka been doing lately?"
"I suppose she's fine," she replied. "She's Chaldea's true ace, with many Heroic Spirits pledged to her service. Even King Hassan stands behind her."
He shook his head. "I don't mean her achievements, but her physical and mental condition."
"Oh, I don't really know..." she looked down, shaking her head.
Shirou frowned in surprise. "You don't know?" he asked incredulously.
"No." she met his gaze sadly. "We've rarely been in contact with Ritsuka since the first connection point. She's always busy contracting other Heroic Spirits and attacking the connection points, spending almost all her time there without returning to Chaldea..."
Gray trailed off and glanced over at Mash, who was crouched nearby, intently surveying the town square. "That's probably why she chose to become a Master too," she murmured.
He fell silent, then simply asked, "So recovering the Grail buried by the Council is the key to resolving this connection point, correct?"
"Yes," she confirmed with a nod.
"Do we have a target?"
She nodded again. "There's a Holy Grail War taking place in Romania right now. Based on previous connection points involving this kind of war, it's highly likely their Grail is the one buried by the Council. It's worth noting the Council's Grails have had designated holders - for the first point, it was Edmond Dantès. Because Ritsuka swayed that Avenger, he betrayed Demon God King Goetia at the critical moment and lured him out."
"I see..." He nodded slowly.
The objective was clear now, eliminate the Grail buried in Romania by the Council. According to Gray, the one in this Holy Grail War was almost certainly it.
Shirou and the others would need to investigate the black faction's Grail.
"However, Chaldea has classified this connection point as rank E - a novice level," Gray added. "So it shouldn't be too hard. Please don't worry, Fujimaru-sama."
He nodded, but felt no relief in his heart. He had been caught off guard many times already. Those hard lessons taught him that underestimating anything often led to disaster.
"My dear citizens, look this way!"
At that moment, booming loudspeakers rang out across the square. The rich, melodious voice sounded like Nero's.
Mash gasped and pointed into the square. "It's Emperor Nero!"
Shirou and the others followed her gaze. There was Nero, dressed in solemn red dress, suddenly descending from the sky into the square.
"Ah, not this again!" Gray sighed, a rare look of distress on her face. "Why did I have to bring Her Majesty instead of Miss Okita?" She slowly took two earplugs from her pocket and inserted them.
Shirou looked at Gray in surprise.
Nero's sudden appearance caused panic in the square. The crowd assumed she was an assassin sent by their enemies to kill their saint.
Jeanne's followers, already on edge after Shirou's attack and the Red Caster's monsters, grew tense.
Jeanne herself frowned. Her Ruler class allowed her to instantly see through Nero's identity - she was a Servant, class Saber! And an unknown one at that.
Assuming her an aberrant factor in the Holy Grail War, Jeanne gripped her flag and braced for battle.
Nero glanced her way with a smile. "Don't be alarmed, Ruler! I'm not your enemy."
"Who are you? The Red Saber?" Jeanne asked. So far, she had not encountered Mordred and assumed this stranger was her.
Nero flashed a smile. "I'm just an artist! I came only to share my magnificent talents with more people!"
"Art?" Jeanne blinked in surprise.
"That's right," Nero nodded. "Your confrontation has reached its halfway point. What better time to soothe your minds with my musical masterpieces!"
Jeanne hesitated before lowering her flag. "If you're simply performing and don't mean me harm, then that's acceptable." She took a seat.
"She's an artist!"
"Here to help us relax!"
"Good! Soothing music can allow the weary saint to unwind and rest her mind a bit."
The crowd's hostility toward Nero evaporated.
Grinning, Nero picked up the microphone.
She had set up eight hidden speakers among the masses, ensuring her music reached every corner.
She took the stage, microphone and violin in hand, gazing out at the sea of faces below. Excitement flushed her cheeks red. She even waved at Gray, Mash, and the others.
Unlike the excited Mash, Gray smiled politely and waved back. Little did Nero know, Gray had already inserted earplugs and cast a temporary deafness spell. She continued smiling, feigning the ability to hear.
Well, this Gray...... she had become quite the sly fox.
Shirou chuckled and watched Nero with interest, curious to see her performance.
Nero's singing was rumored to be a lethal sonic weapon on par with a mythical abomination's voice that could sing monsters to death.
But that was likely an exaggeration. At worst, she'd sing off-key - hardly terrifying.
Before being transmigrated, Shirou had listened to recordings of Nero's singing. The voice actor was just deliberately singing poorly for effect. Nothing to worry about.
Jeanne, seated closest to Nero, watched with interest.
The recent concert by Eternal King had polluted her soul. This was a good chance to cleanse it.
Yet her vessel Laeticia suddenly felt uneasy. "Um, Miss Jeanne? Why do I feel like I've seen this before?"
Jeanne laughed. "Just your imagination, Laeticia. Let's listen closely to the musician's song. The singing of Eternal King earlier really made me want to vomit. Now it's a good time to cleanse our souls."
"Uh... okay." Laeticia responded hesitantly.
For some reason, she always had a sense of foreboding.
At this moment, Nero sang while playing the violin.
"I am Nero, the Roman emperor. Hmm. Hmm. Roman emperor~! Rome~!"
The eerie, off-key notes rang out.
At first, Shirou expected run-of-the-mill bad singing. But as he listened, his heart began to ache.
Not just him - the townspeople were soon writhing on the ground, clutching their chests as pained wails filled the air.
Shirou realized how wrong he'd been. Singing people to death was no exaggeration - it was his own shortsightedness. He had not realized the true horror until experiencing it firsthand.
At this moment, Jeanne, who was at the forefront, was clutching her chest with a look of seeing ghosts on her face.
She was spiritually polluted again.
Eternal King's singing was hoarse roaring that made people's heads hurt. But this - this hurt the heart!
My god...she weaponized song itself!
It wasn't unheard of. Everything has a frequency. At the right pitch, sound can shatter objects. Like glass cups.
But ordinary singing rarely achieves those frequencies.
Nero was different. A one in a million genius! She had reached a realm even beyond Shirou.
No one could withstand it. Fanatics, Saint's followers- none of that mattered now. All were fleeing this spiritual pollution.
Clutching his aching heart, Shirou was more uncomfortable than ever.
He wrapped himself in [Evil] to avoid being contaminated by this spiritual disaster.
Shirou turned to check on Mordred. To his surprise, he found she was gone. The clever girl had noticed something was wrong when she saw Gray put on earplugs before the performance. So she pulled Saber and Sisigou away to escape.
Relieved, he considered wrapping Mash in [Evil] too, but to his surprise, she was listening with great interest.
Well.
His Master was also a one in a million superb listener!
After a song, the flowers on the ground were in ruins.
When Nero opened her eyes, what she saw were the people who had long fled, and Gray, who was elegantly smiling and waving at her.
"Gray, Mash..." Nero's eyes misted over.
And that's why she loved her Master and Mash the most.
Because her Master and Mash were her best audience.
Turning around, Gray quietly undid the deafness spell, took off her hat, and secretly removed the earplugs.
Comments
JeanMartin Freites
Nero truly is a special kind of bad.
