A while later… “Delicious, delicious…”
Nyarlathotep patted her non-existent tummy as she emerged from the Hongzhou Yan Sui Guan · Taishan Chinese restaurant.
Chen Yu looked with some lingering fear at the Hongzhou Yan Sui Guan · Taishan Chinese restaurant behind him. He felt that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he probably wouldn't be frequenting this restaurant again.
After finishing the entire plate of mapo tofu, his tongue felt like it was being grilled over a fire, and it seemed as if most of the taste bud cells on his tongue had been annihilated by that mapo tofu.
It was incredibly fragrant, but also incredibly spicy, and the spiciness was the kind that crept up on you, getting hotter and hotter.
Initially, Chen Yu thought he could finish the mapo tofu himself, but the further he got, the more unbearable the spiciness became, and in the end, he could only hand it over to Nyarlathotep to finish.
Watching Nyarlathotep's satisfied expression, Chen Yu once again began to suspect that her taste buds seemed different from a human's; she appeared to enjoy everything she ate.
Since he had spent the morning playing with Nyarlathotep, it was time to get back to some serious business in the afternoon.
Strategically despise the enemy, but tactically take them seriously.
Play is play, mischief is mischief, but don't joke about war.
Taking Nyarlathotep, he walked out of the commercial street, found a secluded spot, activated the Mirror Dimension, and pulled Nyarlathotep into it, preparing to take her on a tour of the entire Fuyuki City.
“Let’s go, Nyarlathotep. We’ve been playing all morning, and this afternoon, we should prepare for the upcoming Holy Grail War. Let’s get familiar with Fuyuki City beforehand, so we can better handle any situations that arise.”
“Mmm, I’ll listen to Darling!”
Chen Yu retrieved his Nimbus 2000 from the Serenitea Pot, flew into the air, and looked down at half the city.
Nyarlathotep spread her wings and flew behind Chen Yu, wrapping her arms around his waist and sitting behind him on the flying broom.
Feeling the soft touch from behind, Chen Yu, while having Nyarlathotep point out Kirei Kotomine's location, began to explain some of the information he had to her.
“Fuyuki City is considered the most excellent spiritual ley line location in the island nation, apart from those under the Mage's Association’s jurisdiction. This small county town alone has four spiritual ley line locations.”
“It is precisely because of the existence of these ley lines that, a long, long time ago, Magi settled here in Fuyuki City, and the ritual of the Holy Grail War was also set up in this city.”
“As far as I know, the greater grail is located at the site of Fuyuki City’s largest spiritual ley line—Ryudoji Temple, and what serves as the source for replenishing the Holy Grail for the magical ritual is the site of the second largest spiritual ley line, provided by Nagato Tohsaka—within the Tohsaka Residence.”
As he spoke, Chen Yu piloted the flying broom over the Fuyuki Citizen's Hall.
The Fuyuki Citizen's Hall is located in Shinto's emerging residential area and is currently still under construction.
It is said to have cost over 8 billion yen to build and is one of the symbolic buildings of the Fuyuki Shinto development plan.
“This is the fourth spiritual ley line, located beneath Ryudoji Temple, the Tohsaka Residence, and Fuyuki Church—the Fuyuki Citizen's Hall. It is an acquired spiritual ley line formed through artificial intervention.”
“If the Holy Grail War progresses to its later stages, it will choose a place in Fuyuki with abundant spiritual power to descend. If nothing unexpected happens, this place will become the descent point of the Holy Grail.”
“After I take you to confirm the location of Fuyuki Church, I’ll take you to the Tohsaka Family’s residence and the underground cavern of Mount Enzou’s Ryudoji Temple.”
When a Servant descends, the Holy Grail only grants them some knowledge about the current era; it does not inform them of the Holy Grail's descent location.
Chen Yu took Nyarlathotep, soaring over the Fuyuki Citizen's Hall, and flew towards the Fuyuki Church.
Using the Mirror Dimension to familiarize Nyarlathotep with the entire Fuyuki City would undoubtedly avoid detection by other Magi's familiars.
Through the Mirror Dimension, one could see familiars from various factions occasionally streaking across the sky.
A bat-like familiar flew under the eaves of an unfinished building and hung upside down, seemingly feigning sleep, but in reality, the miniature camera on its chest was continuously working, recording Kirei Kotomine's movements.
Undoubtedly, this must be Kiritsugu Emiya's familiar; besides Chen Yu, only he would use such methods to monitor other Magi.
“Darling, there’s an Anti-Spirit Barrier deployed around here. Are we going to go down?”
Barrier?
Although the Mirror Dimension was in another space, Chen Yu didn't intend to try to sneak into Fuyuki Church with Nyarlathotep.
He didn't need to obtain the Command Spells left over from previous Holy Grail Wars from Risei Kotomine; he just wanted to confirm the location of Fuyuki Church.
After confirming that Kirei Kotomine had returned to Fuyuki Church, Chen Yu immediately took Nyarlathotep directly above the Tohsaka Residence.
The Tohsaka Residence truly lived up to its reputation as the site of Fuyuki's second-largest spiritual ley line; various barriers were stacked up as if they cost nothing, totaling twenty or thirty layers of barriers.
At this time, the Tohsaka Family was flourishing under Tokiomi Tohsaka's management. With his excellent business acumen, he converted the spiritual land into commercial land for rent, making him, so to speak, the landlord of Fuyuki City.
Through magical and mystical means, the tenants of the commercial land were spared from ill fortune, disasters, and spiritual disturbances, allowing them to inexplicably achieve commercial success.
It was precisely because of this that, even though Tokiomi Tohsaka treated the commercial land tenants as “tenants farming the Tohsaka Family’s land” and collected rent from them, many tenants were still willing to lease the Tohsaka Family’s commercial land.
In addition, Tokiomi Tohsaka made many innovations in magic and applied for numerous magical patents at the Clock Tower, accumulating wealth through these magic patent rights.
In summary, the Tohsaka Family was flourishing at this time, making it unimaginable that after Tokiomi Tohsaka's death, Rin Tohsaka might have to rely on “household chores” to maintain her livelihood in the future.
Looking at the Tohsaka Residence, which resembled a bunker under layers of barriers, Chen Yu once again showed a subtle expression.
Speaking of Rin Tohsaka, Chen Yu recalled Rin Tohsaka's legs, with their perfect proportions, just the right length and width. The lines from her thighs to her hips, whether standing or walking, exuded an indescribable beauty and sexiness.
Coupled with her noble and elegant temperament, this aura complemented her beautiful legs, making Rin Tohsaka's legs even more captivating.
Shinji even praised them after touching them, even uttering the outrageous statement, “Legs to play with for a year.”
Chen Yu, lost in his fantasies, suddenly felt a strong surge of killing intent from behind him.
It was like a dripping, blood-stained cleaver, silently pressed against his neck, making Chen Yu's heart pound and his spine chill.
In an instant, Chen Yu felt goosebumps erupt all over his body.
“Dar—ling—!!! Are you thinking about other girls in your head?”
Hearing Nyarlathotep's unhappy voice from behind him and feeling the astonishing killing intent, Chen Yu immediately cast Occlumency on himself to stop his wild thoughts, then promptly turned around and decisively flew to the last location, Mount Enzou's Ryudoji Temple.
Wait, Nyarlathotep, when did you learn mind-reading?
I didn't see that skill listed on the panel!
Occlumency prevented him from thinking about anything lewd, and as they rapidly moved away from the Tohsaka Residence, the icy killing intent from behind him began to rapidly dissipate.
Chen Yu turned his head, preparing to explain, when he felt his cheeks being squeezed by two hands.
“Darling, you can’t have perverted thoughts about other girls, okay!”
“Being perverted is wrong! No perversion!”
Feeling the outward-stretching pain on his cheeks, Chen Yu decisively conceded: “I’m~ sor~ry~”
Hearing Chen Yu admit his mistake, Nyarlathotep let him off the hook, cupping Chen Yu's cheeks and earnestly saying, “Darling, if you want to be perverted…”
Before she could finish, a charming blush appeared on Nyarlathotep's face, and the rest of her words were as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
“If you want to be perverted, it’s not like Nyarlathotep can’t…”
Being perverted with the little Evil God Nyarlathotep?
Nyarlai Yutos… what if she reveals her true form when excited?
On one side, there's the image of Nyarlathotep as the Night Howler, a constantly roaring, hideous giant with a massive tentacle where its face should be.
On the other side, there's Yog-Sothoth, a luminous bubble formed by countless spherical aggregates.
And then combine the two… Chen Yu once again felt himself calm down, like a post-coital sage, with no personal desires capable of surfacing in his mind.
Since he was preparing to participate in the Holy Grail War, matters of love and romance should be cast aside, just like for ordinary Magi.
Perversion… perversion is temporarily bad… it's a bad civilization!
“Mount Enzou’s Ryudoji Temple has arrived!”
Chen Yu changed the subject, not daring to respond to Nyarlathotep's fervent emotions, intending to use serious business to deflect her.
Looking at the Anti-Spirit Barrier in front of them, Nyarlathotep curiously placed her hand on the barrier, but it didn't cause the slightest ripple.
“An Anti-Spirit Barrier has been deployed here too… and it’s a specialized Anti-Spirit Barrier. To enter Ryudoji Temple, one must go through the real-world gate… Darling, do you need Nyarlathotep to break this barrier?”
“I heard long ago that before the Holy Grail War, a high monk used secret methods to deploy an Anti-Spirit Barrier at Ryudoji Temple. It seems that even within the Mirror Dimension, it’s not easy to enter Ryudoji Temple. Let’s go, we’ll enter through the front gate.”
Perhaps it was a deliberate measure left by the high monk who once deployed the powerful barrier; to enter Ryudoji Temple, one must pass through the main gate. Spiritual bodies attempting to enter from other angles, even high-level spiritual bodies like Servants, would be repelled.
No wonder in the story, Saber and the others had to climb the steps to enter Ryudoji Temple; it wasn't that they didn't want to climb over the walls from other places, but that this was the only way to enter Ryudoji Temple.
He controlled the flying broom to descend to the base of the steps outside the barrier, then returned to the real world.
Observing the real world from the Mirror Dimension was like looking at the outside world through tempered glass; while one could observe events in the real world, one could not interfere, nor could one perceive the target's energy intensity.
As soon as they returned to the real world, Chen Yu felt the immensely powerful magical energy emanating from Mount Enzou.
He cast the Confundo on himself and Nyarlathotep again, making it impossible for others to discern their true appearance, and began to ascend the steps of Ryudoji Temple.
As the two ascended the steps to Ryudoji Temple's main gate, the higher they climbed, the more clearly they could perceive the immense magical energy contained within the ley lines. Upon reaching the pond behind the temple, they could already clearly sense a vast and dense magical power brewing underground.
Chen Yu felt the flow of the ley lines beneath his feet and murmured to himself, “Is it directly below?”
“Darling, should we look for it?”
Nyarlathotep picked up a small stone from the edge of the pond and threw it in, startling the fish in the water.
Perhaps due to being nourished by spiritual power, the fish here were exceptionally large.
And they weren't afraid of people at all; even when Nyarlathotep threw small stones to scare them, the fish still emerged from the water, their mouths opening and closing as if begging for food.
“Since we’re already here, why not go in and take a look?”
Following the traces of magical energy flowing beneath their feet, the two moved down the mountain and, without much effort, found the entrance to the magical array housing the greater grail.
It was a mountain carefully disguised with illusionary magic, looking just like a real mountain, but one only needed to touch it to know it was merely an illusion.
Chen Yu was also quite curious about what the greater grail looked like.
Of course, the greater grail did not refer to a cup-shaped entity but rather the massive magical array system within the great cavern of Mount Enzou, which is the Holy Grail system.
Just as the two were about to enter the great cavern, they heard a buzzing sound, similar to an alien swarm of bees, from their ears.
Insects, pigeon-sized insects, were attacking from the dark corners of the forest.
Facing these insects, Chen Yu didn't even need to act; a casual whip from Nyarlathotep smashed the buzzing insects to pieces.
“Although they’re all insects, the swarm I summoned definitely looks cuter.”
Indeed, the swarm summoned by Nyarlathotep had a distinct metallic texture, with sharp angles, like intricate mechanical creatures.
These blade-winged insects, however, looked like creatures made of disgusting chunks of flesh, which was quite nauseating to behold.
Not to mention they were cultivated by a truly rotten old man.
Seeing the insects shattered by Nyarlathotep, Chen Yu coldly spoke towards the cave entrance: “Since you’re here, stop lurking in the shadows.”
“Hehehehehe…”
As if responding to Chen Yu's warning, accompanied by an eerie laugh, a hunched old man, leaning on a cane, emerged from the dark shadows of the forest.
This old man resembled an insect in appearance: bald, hunchbacked, and short.
His limbs were like withered mummies, and his sunken eye sockets glowed with a sharp glint.
“I didn't expect someone would try to take control of the greater grail before the war even began… Heh heh heh… A very strange interference magic, it prevents me from seeing your true faces.”
Zouken Matou stood in the tree's shade, his throat emitting a sinister, decaying voice.
He stared at Chen Yu and Nyarlathotep. Having lived for over two hundred years, although he didn't possess much combat power now, his two centuries of accumulated magical knowledge were immeasurable, enough to sense the disharmony on Chen Yu and Nyarlathotep.
Who were they?
Were they a youth, an old man, a child, or a woman?
Under the effect of the Confundo, after detecting the disharmony on Chen Yu and Nyarlathotep, their appearances constantly shifted according to his imagination, preventing him from discerning their true faces.
“However, ordinary professions wouldn't be interested in the greater grail. Only a Magus, a Caster, would have a way to utilize the magical energy within the greater grail in advance. So, is it you? Or you? Which of you two is the Caster?”