Chapter 3: Fairy Tail
[Prompt: Hunter must choose within 10 seconds, otherwise a random selection will be made.]
Su Xiao hesitated for a moment. He had many things to do this time, so he couldn't choose a world that was too large. After only a brief hesitation, he selected a world.
[Spatial coordinates stabilized, consuming 0.021 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
[Based on the consumed Space-Time Power, the contractor's minimum comprehensive evaluation for this world must reach C- grade.]
[Beep, detected that the hunter's strength differs too greatly from contractors in the same derivative world. A special identity will be arranged.]
Su Xiao instinctively lowered his head, but the back of his skull still felt as if struck by a hammer.
That's right, a hammer strike. In the past, it was at most a blunt blow from a club. As his strength grew, the heavy impact during teleportation became increasingly intense. Could it be that they feared a club-level strike wouldn't knock Su Xiao unconscious? So they switched to a hammer-level?
When Su Xiao's consciousness recovered, he found himself in a "battlefield."
Upon arriving at this battlefield, Su Xiao immediately sensed something was wrong. This wasn't inside a derivative world at all. The countless corpses strewn around were all illusory. This was a place similar to a barrier.
"Who are you?"
A knight clad in black armor stood atop a pile of corpses in the distance. Except for his eyes, the armor completely enveloped the knight's entire body.
At this moment, the knight's figure was somewhat ethereal. Judging by his aura, he was not in his prime state.
"Who I am doesn't matter. You only need to know that only one of us can leave here alive."
Su Xiao drew the Dragon-Slaying Flash from his waist. Because his strength was somewhat greater than that of the contractors about to enter the derivative world, and because the world he was about to enter was not an open world, Reincarnation Paradise had arranged a special identity for him.
"A warrior drenched in blood and seasoned in countless battles. You are worthy of fighting me."
The black-armored knight descended from the corpse pile. Seeming to sense that Su Xiao was a worthy opponent, he even nodded to Su Xiao as a sign of respect.
"As a knight..."
The black-armored knight suddenly thought of something and shook his head. He was no longer qualified to call himself a knight. The mere fact of committing adultery with the queen doomed him to never claim that title.
"State your name."
The black-armored knight gripped the hilt of his knightly sword with both hands and held the longsword upright before his eyes. This was a pre-battle courtesy.
"White Night."
Su Xiao rolled his shoulders. Although his opponent was not at full strength, he would still be difficult to deal with.
"I am a Knight of the Round Table... no, I am the King's Betrayer, Lancelot."
Boom!
Su Xiao and Lancelot simultaneously stomped the ground beneath their feet. The long blade and knightly sword clashed together, sending a wave of air spreading throughout the barrier.
Within this barrier, the two engaged in a deadly struggle, for only one could leave this place.
...
Inside the derivative world.
In a dimly lit underground chamber, an elderly man on the verge of death was staring at a man with white hair.
The old man wore a smile, his gaze at the white-haired man filled with mockery. He didn't even bother to conceal this contempt.
The white-haired man turned his head away, as if unwilling to look at this old wretch any longer. The insects inside his body were crawling through his blood vessels. Every millimeter they moved brought unimaginable pain. Fortunately, the left half of his body had completely lost sensation.
"What are you standing there for? Everything is set. Begin."
The old man tapped the ground with his cane, pointing at a magic circle drawn with human blood, and let out a few sinister chuckles.
The white-haired man took a deep breath, trying as much as possible to ignore the excruciating pain inside him, and began chanting a spell.
"Thy body shall be under my command, my fate shall be upon thy sword..."
The white-haired man's voice grew louder. An artifact within the magic circle before him began to glow.
"After the malicious one, let thy eyes be clouded, thy mind be frenzied, a prisoner bound by the cage of madness. I am the one who manipulates this chain..."
Boom!
A brilliant light burst forth. A corpse severed into four pieces appeared on the magic circle, with thick black smoke spreading over the remains.
The old man beside him was somewhat stunned. Having lived for centuries, he had never seen anything like this.
"Can this corpse... really be used for battle?"
The white-haired man's voice trembled, despair filling his heart. The reason he had gotten involved in this matter and reduced himself to this wretched state was only to save two people. If he could save those two, he wouldn't care even if he went straight to hell.
"Wasting a whole year of my time. Trash is indeed..."
Before the old man could finish, a crisp cracking sound came from above the magic circle. Within the highly unstable space caused by the summoning, a hand suddenly emerged, wrapped in a crimson metal bracer.
With the appearance of this hand, a crack gradually formed in the space. A dense aura of blood surged out from the crack, pushing the old man and the white-haired man back a few steps.
The white-haired man staggered, trying to rush forward, but stopped after just two steps. His pupils trembled, as if he had seen something horrifying.
Through that spatial crack, the white-haired man saw a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood!
A man in a black trench coat, holding a long blade, stepped out from the spatial rift. Behind him followed a dog. A burst of cold air sprayed out from the rift.
"Whoosh~"
The man who emerged from the spatial rift exhaled a plume of cold air. The old man and the white-haired man were on high alert.
"Old worm, what are you looking at?"
From within the cold air, a pair of sharp eyes fixed on the old man.
Seeing this, the white-haired man's hands trembled slightly. It wasn't fear, but excitement.
The white-haired man's dim pupils were filled with longing. He longed for this old bastard, who had tormented him for a full year, to die. Even if the man was his "father."
The old man's expression stiffened. He sensed a threat from the cold air. This feeling had not appeared for a long time. The other party seemed to possess some ability that could kill him.
"Kariya, control your Servant!"
The old man growled. But he didn't notice that the white-haired man named Matō Kariya had a twisted smile on his face.
"I can't do it, hahaha. I... cannot control him."
Matō Kariya threw his head back and laughed, looking at the three red Command Seals on his arm.
"I am merely his mana supplier. I cannot control him. If I anger him, he might even kill me."
Hearing the white-haired man's almost manic laughter, the old man slowly retreated.
Su Xiao stepped out from the cold air. He now finally understood that he had arrived in this derivative world as a pseudo-Servant. This was the Fate/Zero world, the Holy Grail War world.
Unlike semi-energized Servants, Su Xiao's body had not changed. The pseudo-Servant was merely an identity. As for Matō Kariya's true Servant, Lancelot, he had been cut into four pieces just minutes ago, and the energy that had dissipated had already been absorbed by the Holy Grail.