Chapter 32: Internal Strife
After examining the "Team Slayer" title, Su Xiao felt it wasn't exactly a debuff. Although he couldn't use the "Good Fighter" or "Traveler" titles for three derivative worlds, equipping "Team Slayer" would reduce many troubles, at least serving as a deterrent.
As long as lone wolf contractors and adventure groups in the same world as Su Xiao had no suicidal tendencies, they wouldn't actively provoke him. Unless there was already a grudge, Su Xiao wouldn't go looking for trouble with those contractors either—violators were the exception.
Having dealt with Stan, Su Xiao felt genuinely relieved. Earlier, Reid had tipped him off that a sixth-rank contractor was inquiring about him. If that had nothing to do with Stan, Su Xiao wouldn't believe it. This news had pushed him to accelerate the settlement of old scores with the Blood Gate.
Being targeted by a large adventure group was far from a pleasant experience. Now that Stan was dead, the remnants of the Blood Gate remained to be observed. Based on Su Xiao's intel, the likelihood of them seeking revenge was low—whether it was Nairoi or Huang Fen.
Not to mention whether Nairoi or Huang Fen even had the qualifications to retaliate against Su Xiao, the very nature of the Blood Gate Adventure Group prevented them from doing so. The Blood Gate was a large interest-based collective, unlike the Divine Emperor, which balanced interests with camaraderie. For Blood Gate members, profit was everything.
When Su Xiao first killed a Blood Gate member, Stan's immediate thought wasn't revenge but to demand compensation from Su Xiao for the loss of training that member.
The streetlight cast Su Xiao's shadow. During his fight with Stan and Nairoi, though they hadn't inflicted serious injuries, he had slashed his own chest several times before using the Shadow Flash, and using it twice had drained his stamina. He had little energy left for further combat, and encountering other Heroic Spirits now would be troublesome.
The first to regroup with Su Xiao was Bubu Wang, who had been patrolling nearby to prevent ambushes during the fight.
Soon, Amu's figure appeared on the distant street. He had come to reinforce Su Xiao, but the battle ended too quickly.
A few minutes later, Tohsaka Rin and Illya arrived. After meeting up, Tohsaka Rin was panting heavily, on the verge of collapse. Having just mastered a new ability, she had been full of fighting spirit, but she never got a chance to participate in the battle. She had been running the entire time, wondering if she had signed up for a marathon.
Illya, on the other hand, sat relaxed on Heracles' shoulder. Seeing this, Tohsaka Rin envied her but could only envy—sitting on Amu's shoulder wasn't an option unless she wanted to freeze to death.
"All done?" Tohsaka Rin asked, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself.
"Of course."
"Is Kirei Kotomine... dead?"
"Dead."
Hearing Su Xiao's answer, Tohsaka Rin's expression didn't change much, but her heart was far from calm. Revenge was finally hers—after all, it was for her father's murder.
"What do we do now?"
"Go back and sleep."
Su Xiao was exhausted. Though it was a good opportunity to deal with other Heroic Spirits or Masters, he had to stop here.
Time in the Holy Grail World was running out. Su Xiao needed to seize this final chance to try and push through everything.
The Blood Gate Adventure Group had started purging other contractors as soon as they entered the Holy Grail World. Nearly two hundred members split into several teams. By the world's start, over 70% of lone wolf contractors were dead. If Su Xiao hadn't ambushed one of their purge squads, the remaining lone wolves would have been wiped out.
Even so, the remaining 30% of lone wolves wouldn't show themselves easily. Combined with the bizarre situation of this Holy Grail War, including Su Xiao, six Heroic Spirits were still alive—only Lancer had unfortunately fallen.
Based on Su Xiao's investigation over the past few days, the remaining pairs were:
- Emiya Shirou (Master) + Emiya (Heroic Spirit)
- Illya (Master) + Heracles (Heroic Spirit)
- Kuzuki Soichiro (Master) + Medea (Heroic Spirit) + Sasaki Kojiro (Heroic Spirit)
- Matou Sakura (Master) + Unknown Heroic Spirit
...
Not to mention Emiya Shirou and Emiya, who were still sipping tea, the Illya pair posed little threat to Su Xiao. The reason was simple: with a snap of his fingers, Illya would explode into a mess of flesh.
The only threats left were the faction led by Kuzuki Soichiro and the never-before-seen Matou Sakura.
That's right, Matou Sakura had also joined this Holy Grail War, representing the Matou family. What surprised Su Xiao even more was that the old worm of the Matou family was cooperating with Matou Sakura rather than using her. As for Matou Shinji, he only had a vague memory of Matou Sakura from childhood—they had met once and weren't close.
Not just Matou Shinji, but Tohsaka Rin and Emiya Shirou weren't familiar with Matou Sakura either. Su Xiao immediately suspected this was a result of the Blood Gate's interference.
Remember, the Blood Gate was trying to create a artificial Holy Grail this time. Illya clearly couldn't continue as the Grail's vessel—the Holy Grail inside her had been corrupted by malice. Even if summoned, it would be the kind spewing sludge, capable of burning down most of Fuyuki City again with no other use. Matou Sakura might have been the new vessel the Blood Gate prepared.
Based on Su Xiao's speculation, the Blood Gate likely saved young Matou Sakura, formed an extremely unstable alliance with the old worm, and had other powerful mages train her to keep her free of malice. This way, the created Holy Grail would be a good one. If she had been thrown into the worm pit, she would have either broken down or turned dark.
Now, the old worm didn't dare touch Matou Sakura and had even bet everything on her, showing how powerful she had become.
With the Blood Gate threat eliminated, the remaining Heroic Spirits—except for Matou Sakura's unknown factor—were manageable. Thus, Su Xiao only needed to deal with Kuzuki Soichiro's faction and Matou Sakura's faction.
Remember, Su Xiao could absorb Heroic Spirit energy using the Devouring Core to level up his Azure Steel Shadow ability. Such opportunities were rare. After Azure Steel Shadow reached Lv.50, an ability called Energy Interruption fully awakened. Currently, Azure Steel Shadow was at Lv.45, and leveling it up became exponentially harder—a long and arduous road.
Thinking this, Su Xiao's gaze shifted to Heracles. This was the first problem to solve. Though he could control Illya's life or death, no one could guarantee she wouldn't stab him in the back to break free. If she lacked that courage, she couldn't control Heracles as a Berserker-class servant.
Su Xiao pushed open the door of a civilian house. The room was pitch black. He sat on the sofa to rest, wanting to collapse and sleep but unable to do so.
Soon, lights flickered on inside the house. Su Xiao ignored Tohsaka Rin and the others, remaining seated on the sofa.
Six hours later, the sky outside was still pitch black. Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Amu opened their eyes simultaneously. In the dim room, one man, one dog, and one cow stood up, the silence deafening. If an outsider saw this, they would be terrified.