Chapter 429: Baiyi’s Great Plan
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Barely moments after the girl screamed out a warning, a palm appeared out of nowhere and struck her neck, knocking out her instantly. The girl toppled forward, leaving behind an average faced man standing behind her.
The mysterious intruder glanced at the Hero of Justice and demanded, “Summon your little Servant right this instant, or I’ll kill your teachers and cla.s.smates!”
As a protagonist and a hero in the pursuit of justice, the young man would, naturally, never let that to happen. He screamed “Noooo!” at the top of his lungs — a protocol many protagonists followed — and a stunningly beautiful girl in a white dress and black socks appeared in between the hero and the average-faced man. The beauty, who was as fair as an angel, gripped the hilt of her long sword and pulled it out. Its golden blade emitted a chilling glint as the beauty a.s.sumed an attack stance. “Do not be afraid, Master. I may not be used to my duties as a Servant, but I shall— Huh? What is this? W-wait,whaaaaaaaaaa —”
It was not unexpected that this Servant, who was not used to her duties, had not even mastered the act of completing her proclamations. She had been swiftly captured by Baiyi, who had used his ‘n.o.ble Phantasm’, which involved him spinning his targets until they lose consciousness.
“Tsk! I came here expecting Duvet, and this is who I got? This isn’t a Duvet; it’s a Blanket! Does no one really plan on talking about the fact the Servants I have come across, thus far, are either loli versions of their original selves or outright lolis? Has not a single one of you reached Stage Four of your evolution?” Baiyi mumbled, examining his newest abductee. Without further ado, he hoisted her up onto his shoulder and turned to leave.
“Stop!” The Hero of Justice shrieked, “Put that girl down!”
Baiyi stopped and glanced back at the young man. However, how he did this was eerie; only his head made a shocking 180-degree turn — something only Mr. Owl had done in the past.
The Hero of Justice gasped before stuttering, “Y—y-your head! Wh-what kind of a f-f-f-freak are you?!”
“d.a.m.n it; my armor has gotten a bit loose,” Baiyi mumbled and adjusted his helmet, after which he turned around. “Where was I? Oh, right; no offense, but you can’t make it. Your magical energy is inferior; you can’t even supply enough energy upkeep to your own Servant via normal means, so you resort to the heavy-handed method of ‘direct replenis.h.i.+ng’. Think about the aversive effects it will bring to your health! Therefore, you should just let me take care of her.”
“No, you freak! Let—her—go!” The Hero of Justice bellowed. He grabbed a sheet of paper on the desk in front of him and rolled it till it had taken the shape of a baton. The hero then used his Mageraft on the paper baton, making it as hard as a steel pipe. Only then did he lunge at Baiyi in fury.
However, before the Hero of Justice could swing his weapon, Baiyi’s fist had made contact with his nose, sending him flying backward.
“D-d.a.m.n it… I could not even perceive… his movements!” The Hero of Justice held his broken and bleeding nose with one hand, using the other to prop himself back to his feet. The gaze he now directed contained a hint of fear.
“You’re indeed very strong… Stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. Are you even human?”
“Nah; I’m a Servant,” Baiyi indifferently replied. “A Servant brought to this world for the glorious purpose of ending this war. You may call me by my cla.s.s name: Teacher.”
With that, Baiyi and Blanket, who was still unconscious, vanished into thin air.
“Teacher, huh? I had no idea…that such a Servant cla.s.s existed in this war,” the Hero of Justice murmured to himself.
Before he could gather his thoughts, however, his fatigued knees gave way, and he slumped to the ground. When the Hero of Justice’s bleary eyes fell on his unconscious cla.s.smates, the young man hurriedly got to his feet and rushed over to them. Fortunately, they all seemed to be asleep. Some of them were even drooling, and puddles of saliva had formed underneath their lips.
‘Teacher — the incredibly professional Servant cla.s.s, knew not to harm students on a whim!’
With the unconscious Blanket in tow, Baiyi returned to workaholic’s house. He walked in to find the three girls sitting in the living room, eating confectionary in a manner that made resemble three adorable critters [1]. When the girls saw Baiyi come in, the violet-haired girl, his Servant, quickly stuffed the rest of her cake into her mouth. “S-sorry, Master,” she said sheepishly through a mouth filled with cake, “I got a b-bit curious about the taste of this thing, so I, um…”
This reminded Baiyi of a time that he caught a young Mia sneakily eating cake when she thought he was not around. It is in the same manner that the Servant had acted when he caught her red-handed.
The memory caused his expression to soften considerably. Out of his old habit, he patted the violet-haired girl’s hair and calmly said, “It’s alright. Take your time. I bought them[2] for you all to enjoy.”
He pa.s.sed a new bag of snacks to his violet-haired Servant. “Here, I bought this just now. When I thought of you la.s.sies at home, I could not help buying it.”
The a.s.sa.s.sin loli and Santa-like loli exchanged confusion-filled glances. Why was this demon, who had caused them so much terror, acting so kindly? Why were the confectionaries, which they had stuffed their pockets with, so delicious? Buying them candy, cakes, and cookies… Was all this a ruse to gain their trust?
These slightly positive thoughts soon vanished from their minds, as Baiyi shoved Blanket, the new abductee, at them.
“Keep an eye on this girl, Blanket, for me; don’t let her run off on her own. She’s a hard head, so you might need to prepare for a little trouble.”
“Is she the Saber-cla.s.s Servant?” The violet-haired girl asked as she hugged Blanket. “She’s so beautiful! What’s her name?”
“Probably something like ‘Pendragon’ or whatever, but I think Lily would suit her just fine,” Baiyi replied.
“Oh! She’s called Lily? That’s my name too!” The violet-haired girl grinned. She then pointed at the Santa-like loli and said, “Her name is also Lily.”
“That is not true! My name is Santa!” The Santa-like loli refuted.
“Alright, alright. Take it easy, and converse more cordially. Make sure your words do not turn explicit; we’re tiptoeing on the line of copyright infringement here,” Baiyi said and turned around, ready to head out on his next mission.
“Are you leaving already, Master?” The violet-haired girl called out, prompting Baiyi to stop. “What do you plan to do now? I really want to help!”
“My plan? Simple: I want to end this war, without you little whippersnappers tainting your hands with the blood of each another.”
After Baiyi had said that, he disappeared.
The girls sank into a contemplative silence. From the onset, each girl knew that the others were also Servants like themselves, summoned by their respective Masters to kill each other, till only one remained in this Holy Grain war. However, after the short time they had spent with each other, the girls had come to realize that they were not so different from each other. This made them unable to reign in their shock at the cruelty of the missions their respective masters had intended for them.
“Do you think… Do you really think this big meanie will be able to pull that off?” The Santa-like loli, who had decided to call herself ‘Santa’, asked in a low voice as she inched closer to the loli a.s.sa.s.sin, her new friend, who she seemed scared of losing. Once the two were huddled together, they looked up at the violet-haired girl. They knew that this girl did not share the opinion they had of Baiyi, but they still considered her friendly and endearing.
“The experience I’ve had with magic makes me see that goal as nothing but a pipedream, but it possible that this limitation applies to everyone but him,” the violet-haired girl replied. “Master is the strongest person I’ve ever met, so maybe…”
“If he does pull this off, should we still consider a bad guy?” ‘Santa’ asked in a low voice, and her friend, the loli a.s.sa.s.sin, remained silent as she had no answers.
Baiyi, on the other hand, had no idea that the girls he had abducted were beginning to see him in a new light. Although he would have preferred to stay back and play with them, there were important matters that he had to attend to.
What he had said to his Servant before leaving the house was not an attempt at showing off; he meant it.
As his thoughts s.h.i.+fted to the Holy Grail — the power source he intended to charge the War G.o.d’s Sword with — he began to think about the magic behind its construction. The ability to bring a ‘wish machine’ like the Holy Grail to reality reminded Baiyi of a certain magic called “Spiritual Manifestation”. This was something that the Voidwalkers’ universe lacked, and no research has been conducted on such a thing. From the looks of it, this magic might be vital to the freedom of those trapped in the Void.
After all, the true motive behind the Holy Grail wars was the opening of a portal into the Vortex of Radix. Although the manner with which Radix presided over this universe differed from the way the Laws governed the Voidwalkers’ universe, Spiritual Manifestation — which had been created, tried, and tested by the magi in this universe — served as an inspiration with which one could use to tackle the conundrum the Voidwalkers faced in their universe.
Baiyi also believed that another form of magic in this world, ‘Parallel World Interception’, could end up perfectly countering the Grandruler of Forgiveness’s Law-altering power.
It had already dawned on Baiyi that his arrival in this universe would benefit him greatly. Aside from the enjoyment that he got from kidnapping lolis — and the fact that the powers of everyone in this world combined did not hold a candle to his — the amount of knowledge that a perceptive and scholarly sorcerer could obtain from the systems in this world would be greatly rewarding.
Had the War G.o.d’s sword, as the Oracle Walker had put it, sent here at random, or did it seize the opportunity to take Baiyi somewhere that would prove helpful towards his long-term goal?
When Baiyi’s thoughts s.h.i.+fted to the decisions the War G.o.d had made in the past, he began to consider the possibility that his arrival in this world was another one of the War G.o.d’s schemes. The deity had sent Baiyi off to Duat to face off against the Grandruler without warning him about the latter’s powers, and this had caused Baiyi to end up here. There were many things here that could benefit Baiyi, and once he returned, they would enable him to lay a smackdown on the Grandruler. Once he was done, he could then reclaim the War G.o.d’s lost Law Fragment.
Although Baiyi considered the War G.o.d a “dumb G.o.d who just won’t shut up”, his arrival on this world would mark the second time he had fallen for the War G.o.d’s schemes — something that had taken him a while to realize. This did not make Baiyi feel bitter, though; on the contrary, he approved of being used like this, seeing as this instance had benefitted him greatly.
Was his deity friend, the War G.o.d, who he considered a dumb and biased nag, actually someone that utilized every opportunity to dote on his messenger?
This was not the best time for Baiyi to think about these things, though; all he had to was wait for the truth to reveal itself. Right now, he planned to abduct all the Servants that could be summoned in this war, thereby stopping them from killing each other — something that would sabotage his plan with dominoes effect. Only then would he head to a certain castle, which was located on a mountain, to pilfer information on the creation of the Holy Grail.
If Baiyi had some time after that, he would proceed to London and see if he could steal some information on the Parallel World Interception.
To accomplish all these in just seven days, Baiyi had to move as fast as possible. He was currently hurrying over to the family that was famous for their fascination with worms. It was at their abode that he found the Rider-cla.s.s Servant — an adorable loli who had a delicate face and long, disheveled purple hair. She had on a pair of white silk socks, with a questionable collar around her neck. When Baiyi found her, she had just woken up from her sleep, kneeling on her bed groggily while rubbing her eyes. It was as though she was waiting for someone to play with her. Baiyi considered her really moe and definitely worthy of being licked [3]. Now, this was the sort of girl that would grow up to become a clever and proactive ‘big sister-like woman’ with a little bit of a fetish.
Without standing on ceremony, Baiyi grabbed the girl and swung her around till she fell unconscious. He hurried back to the workaholic’s house and dropped the girl off with the others he had kidnapped earlier.
When Baiyi put down the unconscious Rider-cla.s.s Servant, he realized that Blanket had finally woken up. She was one of the most famous characters in her universe, and Baiyi knew all too well about her att.i.tude. Although the current her had yet to experience betrayals and her kingdom in ruins — which should make the current her less distrustful and aggressive — she still behaved aggressively. This meant that the distrustful and aggressive nature was something she also had as a kid. Hence, Baiyi greatly limited his energy upkeep to her, preventing her from gaining enough strength to change into her armor or lift her golden sword.
Powerless, Blanket could only sit on the floor alternately. Her eyes s.h.i.+fted from the other girls, who were dining on confectionary, to Baiyi, who she glared daggers at.
When Santa and the loli a.s.sa.s.sin saw the new girl that Baiyi brought in, they quickly licked the b.u.t.ter off their hands and ran towards him. “Don’t throw her at us! We’ll just take her from your arms!”
When the girls gently took the new abductee from Baiyi’s hands, the Fifth Walker said, “Take care of her, mmkay? Also, please share some of those snacks with your friends!” Suddenly, he pointed at Blanket and said, “Don’t be fooled by her scowls. She loses herself in the face of food. She could even down a few bowls of rice in one sitting.”
“You asinine knave! Is this how you treat your prisoner? I am a king; is this how you treat royalty?! Truly rebarbative! An uncouth ruffian! This is a display of savagery on the highest ord— oww oww! ” Before Blanket could complete her tirade of abuse, Baiyi fired an ice pellet at her forehead.
“Could you be a bit more grateful? Do you have the slightest idea what captors other than myself would have done to you? I did not even touch you anywhere inappropriate, which is really pretty ‘couth’ and ‘civilized’ of me,” Baiyi said.
He then turned his attention to his violet-haired Servant and said, “I’m surprised you did not do anything nasty to her (Blanket) while I was gone! I thought you would have changed her clothes into a white evening gown and tied her up shamefully and suggestively [4].”
The violet-haired servant’s expression of confusion was her only reply.
“Never mind. You shouldn’t learn something like that at a young age.”
After that, Baiyi vanished once more, leaving behind Blanket, who was faced with a dilemma: retain her pride, or succ.u.mb to the temptations of those sweet cookies.
Baiyi only had the Berserker-cla.s.s and Archer-cla.s.s Servants left to capture. These two cla.s.ses were more unique than the other cla.s.ses he had captured thus far. They were famous for the large collection of terrifyingly strong Heroic Spirits in their possession. They were nothing like the Saber-cla.s.s and Lancer-cla.s.s Servants, Blanket and Duvet, whose units were weak. Hence, Baiyi had to take these last two attempts more seriously than he did the rest.
The abnormal changes that had occurred to the Servants had not escaped Baiyi’s notice, though. Thus far, every Servant he had come across was not any more threatening than a porcelain doll. Baiyi had spotted the Berserker when he was taking a tour of the city; she now wears a bridal dress and has a horn protruding out of her head.
Baiyi reckoned that she would be easier to target than the Archer-cla.s.s Servant. However, Baiyi decided to first visit the castle, where he believed he could obtain information on the Holy Grail’s construction.
When he got to the castle, he realized that defenses had been set around it. It became apparent that the family who lived in the castle had gotten news of the ‘Servant-napping’ cases from the other Masters. The moment Baiyi stepped into the castle’s grounds, a storm erupted above him and warmly welcomed him with bolts of green lightning.
“Ha! You’re dead meat, stranger! Ground into ashes by my Berserker’s n.o.ble Phantasm already, I bet!” A dark-skinned loli, the Master residing in the castle, exclaimed confidently.