Su Xiao, bare-chested, leaned against the edge of the bed. His talent had successfully awakened, and the burden on his shoulders had lessened considerably.
Now, all he needed to do was complete the main quest, which would essentially mark the end of this derived world. Unfortunately, he couldn't execute the main quest for the time being.
Many signs indicated that most of the contractees in the Holy Grail World had been killed, at least as far as the contact platform within the derived world was concerned.
Apart from Su Xiao and "Umbrellaless Brother," the contact platform seemed to have turned into a ghost town. This was the first time Su Xiao had encountered such a situation. In the past, contact platforms in derived worlds had been lively places, with rivalries and cooperation among enemies and potential partners.
If what Umbrellaless Brother said was true, then there were only four contractees left in this derived world. Su Xiao didn't consider himself a contractee; he was a Hunter.
Setting aside the ultimate goals of those three individuals, their actions indicated that they were cleaning house. If Umbrellaless Brother died, would Su Xiao be next?
Su Xiao didn't believe that those three high-level contractees would spare him, so before they made a move against him, he wanted to gather all the strength he could.
Checking the time, he had four and a half hours left before meeting up with Umbrellaless Brother. After a moment of hesitation, Su Xiao left the villa with Bubu Wang and the others. They headed towards the center of Fuyuki City under the cover of night.
...
The night in Fuyuki City was eerily silent, with dim streetlights illuminating the streets. Due to recent cases of home invasions and missing persons, Fuyuki City at night felt like a ghost town.
A car pulled into the central street, with Su Xiao at the wheel, Bubu Wang in the passenger seat, and Rin Tohsaka in the back seat. As for the Berserker, Kariya Matou, he had been stowed away in the trunk, which Su Xiao humorously referred to as the "special seat."
The car stopped in front of the cathedral on the central street. Su Xiao got out of the car and knocked on the cathedral's door.
Knock, knock, knock...
Despite knocking for a while, there was no response from inside. Just as he was preparing to use special means to enter the cathedral, he heard footsteps approaching from behind the door.
"Who is it?"
The tired voice of an elderly priest came from behind the door.
"It's me."
Su Xiao's voice made the elderly priest's spirit perk up.
"Could it be..."
The elderly priest quickly opened the door. At this moment, he was wearing pajamas, and there was a bit of sleep in his eyes.
"You... have you entered Ryuudou Temple?"
The elderly priest stared at Su Xiao, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Yes."
"Come in."
The elderly priest stepped aside, inviting Su Xiao into the cathedral. After entering, the elderly priest hurriedly freshened up and appeared before Su Xiao again. He seemed much more awake now, and the two of them sat in the cathedral.
"About that..."
The elderly priest hesitated, and Su Xiao took out a necklace, placing it on the wooden table in front of him.
"This necklace."
The elderly priest's voice was hoarse, and his hands trembled as he tried to pick up the necklace several times but seemed to lack the courage.
"Irisviel is dead."
Su Xiao's words seemed to hit the elderly priest like a heavy hammer. The elderly priest lowered his eyelids, and his once-bright eyes lost their light.
"Did she... suffer when she passed away?"
The elderly priest covered his face with one hand, his voice choked, and tears seeped through his fingers.
"When I killed her, she had already turned into a monster, the Homunculus Irisviel. As for whether she suffered, not much."
"Homunculus... Irisviel."
The elderly priest, nearing sixty, choked up and seemed unable to speak.
"Can you tell me what happened at that time? Did she still have... human features?"
Seeing the elderly priest's reaction, Su Xiao recalled Irisviel's human mentality at the time. Back then, Irisviel had retained her sanity in both human and monster states.
"No human features. When I saw her, she had already become a monster, devoid of reason and unable to speak. Perhaps her consciousness had long perished."
"I see... As long as she didn't suffer too much... that's good."
"She ultimately died from a gunshot wound and transformed into a green-haired beauty, looking around twenty years old, very beautiful."
The elderly priest fell silent, using one hand to cover his eyes. After a long time, his emotions seemed to stabilize somewhat.
"If only... no, there are no 'if onlys.' This is the fate of people like us. I am just one of the lucky ones."
The elderly priest got up, and after a while, he returned to the cathedral. At this moment, the elderly priest appeared much calmer, but his eyes were still somewhat red.
"Sorry, I lost control of my emotions. My relationship with Irisviel... we were once lovers."
The elderly priest let out a long sigh.
"You were able to infiltrate Ryuudou Temple and kill Irisviel. I'm surprised. What about the other Avenger-class creatures?"
"They died peacefully."
Su Xiao didn't tell the truth. Those Avenger-class creatures had actually died quite horribly, evaporating into gas due to high temperatures.
"All of them are dead?"
The elderly priest was astonished, seemingly seeing Su Xiao in a new light.
"Uh... Ryuudou Temple has been razed by me."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
The elderly priest, who had been calm until now, suddenly sat up straight, as if he had heard something absurd. Ryuudou Temple's importance was beyond words; it was the core territory of the Fifth Holy Grail War.
"Literal meaning."
This time, the elderly priest couldn't remain calm. He stood up with a loud exhale, seemingly hearing something absurd.
"The underground mana is fine; I checked it when I disabled the spiritual barrier."
The elderly priest visibly relaxed.
"Father, this time, have I helped the Church by dealing with this problem?"
Su Xiao lightly tapped his fingers on the wooden table.
"Yes, Irisviel was once a proxy, and this matter should have been resolved within the Church. However, those bastards from the Mage Association suddenly intervened, saying that the Avenger-class creatures had research value. It's simply absurd."
The elderly priest handed Su Xiao a list, which was made of parchment and quite delicate. On the back, the symbol of the Church was displayed.
[Hint: The Hunter has triggered the 'Church of Oranyan' contribution redemption mechanism and can use Church contribution points to redeem items from the list. Current Church contribution points: 2219.]
These Church contribution points were all that Su Xiao had obtained from razing Ryuudou Temple. Aside from Irisviel, none of the Avenger-class creatures in Ryuudou Temple had dropped treasure chests.
Su Xiao took the list, and a list of items appeared.
[Soul Crystal (Large) x1]
Quality: None
Category: Concentrated essence of pure soul.
Rating: None
Description: The Soul Crystal is a rare item that can make Abyssal demons and other dark races temporarily set aside their dignity, becoming your henchmen, even in any world's hard currency.
Exchange Price: 1000 Church contribution points.
...
[Holy Water (Medium Bottle, 99% Concentration)]
Origin: Fate/Zero, Church of Oranyan
Quality: Pale gold
Type: Consumable (usable twice)
Effect 1: After drinking, restores 80% of health and 80% of mana, and rapidly heals injuries.
Effect 2: When splashed on enemies, deals 800 points of holy damage + 300 points of true damage to dark-type enemies, and inflicts forced purification/incineration effects on dark-type enemies.
Rating: 300
Description: Drinking it or splashing it, this is a difficult choice.
Exchange Price: 800 Church contribution points.
...
[Ghost Hunter]
Origin: Fate/Zero, Church of Oranyan
Quality: Pale gold
Category: Crossbow
Magazine Capacity: 1
Durability: 68/68
Attack Power: 73~135
Equipment Requirements: Strength 30, Agility 50, Intelligence 10, Basic Ranged Skills LV.25 or higher.
Equipment Effect 1: Mithril Bolts (Passive) - If Ghost Hunter is in an empty chamber state, it can generate an energy crossbow bolt within one minute. Generating an energy crossbow bolt consumes 50 mana and comes with Mithril special effects.
Equipment Effect 2: Silent Hunter (Passive) - The crossbow bolt is completely silent upon firing and blocks a certain level of perception. Bolt penetration +9, armor piercing +8.
Equipment Effect 3: Hunter's Mark (Active) - After activating this skill, you can mark any distant target. If the crossbow bolt hits the marked target, the Mithril crossbow bolt will explode inside the target, stunning or disorienting the target for 1~3 seconds.
Tip: Hunter's Mark (Active) lasts for 10 seconds.
Tip: Hunter's Mark (Active) consumes 100 mana.
Tip: Hunter's Mark (Active) has a cooldown of 2 hours.
Rating: 280
Description: The hunt begins.
Price: 81000 Park Coins
Exchange Price: 500 Church contribution points.
...
Apart from these three items, there were other equipment and items on the list, but none of them were as valuable as these three. Su Xiao had his eye on all three of them, but he only had 2219 Church contribution points, which was slightly embarrassing.
Su Xiao looked at the elderly priest, and the elderly priest noticed Su Xiao's gaze. He raised his eyes, staring at the ceiling.
"Father..."
"Cough, cough, cough..."
The elderly priest coughed violently, as if he were suffering from asthma.
"Ah, I'm not very useful at my age. What did you say just now?"
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