The Disappearance of Mercenary Tao, White-Killing Operation Begins

Pitch-black phantoms rose like flags beneath the blood moon. Those phantoms also stretched toward the sky like tentacles, but the surging wave of mana that shot upward instantly shredded them.

Then they vanished without a trace.

"No!"

The girl’s unwilling cry rang out. Shirou Emiya could hardly believe that familiar voice had come from the gentle girl he knew.

He turned around and saw Sakura Matou sitting limply on the ground. Behind her, a pitch-black shadow writhed continuously as if it were alive.

Her face was still stained with unwashed blood.

"Sakura…"

Shirou Emiya’s voice was quiet, but Sakura Matou turned her gaze toward him. Her eyes held emotions far too complicated for a girl her age.

Adoration, joy, pain, sorrow, regret, hatred…

All those emotions gathered together, eventually condensing into pitch-black malice.

She reached toward the sky like a madwoman. She yearned for it—yearned for a world where she did not have to suffer so miserably, a brand-new world.

A timeline where she could grow up cherished by her father, never endure the Matou Family’s countless tragic experiences, never encounter scum like Matou Zouken and Shinji Matou, and simply meet Shirou…

Man-eating Flower lay prone amid the crowd. Her Mental Power had already spread outward, sensing information from the outside world as she frowned deeply.

"Because of the Human Instrumentality Project, Sakura Matou has completely fallen into darkness. Medusa has probably already been devoured by her. She also has a fragment of the Holy Grail within her, perhaps even Matou Zouken’s knowledge…"

Man-eating Flower keenly realized that Sakura Matou had already broken away from every predetermined timeline and was beginning to walk down a strange, dark path.

The battle between the two reincarnators who had thoroughly thrown this world into chaos had also ended. Mercenary Tao had won… but Mercenary Tao seemed to have touched the Root?!

Man-eating Flower once again confirmed that Mercenary Tao was a complete madman, a monster, an aberration that could not be measured by the common sense of ordinary humans or reincarnators.

Touching the Root was indeed the dream of many magi in this world, but at the same time, almost no one who touched the Root had ever reappeared.

The Root assimilated the overwhelming majority of individuals, completely erasing their individual traits. That was practically equivalent to killing them.

In The Garden of Sinners, Ryougi Shiki had once been warned by Orange not to overuse the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, because the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception themselves were a way of peering into the Root.

Perhaps Mercenary Tao was already dead…

Man-eating Flower’s thoughts became lively. She knew that after returning this time, she would most likely become famous overnight. She had encountered two madmen, White Face and Mercenary Tao, in the same mission world.

And she had survived!

At that thought, the corners of Man-eating Flower’s lips curled upward as she lay on the ground. But the next moment, slick tentacles crawled onto her body.

Damn it…

In the real world, somewhere in East Xia, a gigantic moose over four meters tall wandered through the woodland beside a river amid a lush forest shrouded in mist.

Specks of multicolored light fluttered through the flowers and grass.

A man in a floral shirt and flip-flops reclined in a blue-and-white deck chair, holding a bamboo-green fishing rod.

The rod appeared to have been made simply by pulling up a thin bamboo stalk, its joints still clearly visible.

The man hummed a cheerful tune.

Every so often, he lifted the rod and changed positions, looking thoroughly content.

A fierce wind suddenly swept through the forest. Trees toppled, and the moose and fairies fled into the depths of the woods in fright. A beautiful woman with flowing golden hair descended from the sky.

She surveyed her surroundings, the smile on her lips growing ever thicker.

"To think the King of Miracles is so lazy, hiding in a place like this to waste what little life remains. How shameful."

Cao Qi seemed unable to hear the woman. He lifted his fishing rod. At the end of the vine-made fishing line was a hook fashioned from a plant root thorn.

Seeing that he still had not caught a fish, he clicked his tongue and cast the hook farther away.

The woman’s mockery failed to produce the response she wanted, and the smile at the corners of her lips slowly faded. Her appearance began to change. Her golden hair lost its color, quickly becoming withered white before beginning to fall out.

Before long, the woman was completely bald, and her beautiful face had become gaunt and haggard.

Even more unsettling, her formerly ample chest had completely flattened, while an Adam’s apple protruded from her throat.

The old man came to Cao Qi’s side and said quietly,

"That Mercenary Tao isn’t your preferred type, so was this that person’s handiwork?"

Only then did Cao Qi deign to turn and glance at this increasingly uncanny fellow. He sneered twice.

"A half-finished product like that naturally wasn’t my work."

After observing Mercenary Tao, he had discovered that the other man was becoming increasingly hollow. He was probably a freak deliberately molded into the most suitable form for all kinds of actions and growth within the Infinite Dimensional Space.

But inside, there was only emptiness.

The old man could tell from Cao Qi’s attitude toward Mercenary Tao that he was not as indifferent as he appeared, though he certainly could not be called friendly.

"Mercenary Tao has already touched the Root. Even if it is only a tributary of a Derivative World, that rate of growth is enough to prove that what he said back then was not empty talk."

He looked at Cao Qi.

"As a senior who grasped the art of miracles from the Root, what kind of magic do you think he will obtain?"

Cao Qi fell silent for a moment, then chuckled.

Avoiding the subject of the art of miracles and the Root, he instead said with a smile,

"Don’t you think that guy is about to lose control of the game?"

"Heh, this is already the second time Mercenary Tao has acquired a seed of power beyond his plans, isn’t it? The Limiter, the Root…"

"The Soul King he wants to cultivate will probably soon turn into some grotesque form that even he cannot recognize. Hahahaha, just thinking about that expression on his face feels so satisfying."

The gaunt old man changed again. His body rapidly reverted to youth, and before long, he had become a child.

His voice turned childish as well.

"Cao Qi, I hope you can tell me: will the Root change Mercenary Tao’s fate?"

Cao Qi lowered his head, tossed aside the fishing rod, and deliberately kneaded the child’s face.

"Haha, who knows about something like that? Even you, the King of Destiny, can’t see it clearly. How could I know…"

His tone was casual, and he did not sound like he was telling the truth.

The child glared furiously. Whether he was unhappy about having his face pinched or dissatisfied with Cao Qi’s evasiveness, he emphasized,

"Don’t you understand? Once you die, the Iron Rule of the so-called order faction will completely collapse. This world, this country, these secret gardens you have cultivated… before long, they will be trampled freely by reincarnators."

"We can try again…"

"Try my ass!"

Cao Qi rudely cut him off, then lay down by the river, closed his eyes, and refused to continue the conversation.

The explosive news spread rapidly through the public space of the Infinite Dimensional Space, East District.

"In a certain Type-Moon Derivative World, Mercenary Tao and White Face engaged in a brutal battle. White Face was killed, while Mercenary Tao is suspected to have entered the Root and vanished!"

"As proof, only Man-eating Flower, the captain of the Black Man-eating Flower Team, returned. The entire team led by Ice Demon Qiu Luo was wiped out, with no one returning!"

Black Butler looked at the youth before him, who resembled Golden Boy. The pitch-black sun behind the other youth was somewhat terrifying.

At the same time, the price he had offered was outrageously high.

But Black Butler still shook his head.

"Sorry, I don’t know whether Mercenary Tao is alive or dead for now. His stall is still there, but there are indeed no signs that he has returned to the Space."

Every time Mercenary Tao returned from a mission world, he would grandly head to the Slum Area and display all kinds of Scarlet Drop Cards and profits at his stall.

It had practically become common knowledge.

Now, more than an hour had passed since Man-eating Flower returned from the Derivative World, yet Mercenary Tao had still not appeared.

More and more people began to believe that Mercenary Tao had likely truly met with some mishap.

In comparison, the fact that White Face had been killed by Mercenary Tao in that world was not particularly shocking. It merely became another powerful piece of evidence proving the authenticity of this news.

After all, many people knew that Mercenary Tao had indeed been preparing to hunt White Face before deployment began.

Jin Yue’an coldly watched the flow of information before turning and leaving the public space.

Meanwhile, in Teng City in the real world, a clean-faced, upright young man looked somewhat surprised at the man and woman waiting for him.

"Officer Luo, Officer Song, I didn’t expect you to come pick me up in person…"

Luoshui stepped forward and took the bag from Bai Cangshu, whom she had not seen in a long time. She rarely did such things, causing Song Xian to cough twice.

"I happened to have some business in Myanmar, so I came to pick you up while I was at it."

That was how Song Xian explained it. Looking at the young man, he could see that the vitality and life force in his body far exceeded those of ordinary people.

His gaze dimmed slightly. He had not expected himself to make such a decision—to find a way to lead such an outstanding young man into that hellish place.

Luoshui was in an excellent mood and took the initiative to introduce Bai Cangshu to the benefits of his future job. Not only would it be an official position, the salary and benefits were also excellent.

She did not know Song Xian’s specific arrangements and assumed it would be work similar to hers. She was positively radiant with happiness.

There was none of the awkwardness one might expect after not seeing each other for months.

Bai Cangshu also lowered his eyes obediently and followed the two of them into the car.

At a resort hotel in Teng City, a man opened his eyes and withdrew his senses. He immediately dialed a number.

"The target has appeared. Mercenary Tao is suspected to be returning to East Xia, accompanied by that hunting dog, Song Xian."

"What do you say? Is the operation canceled?"

The voice on the phone also hesitated for a moment, seemingly communicating with someone, but ultimately said,

"The operation continues. They said we don’t need to act. You only need to follow them and lock onto their whereabouts."

As if still worried, the voice added in particular,

"Remember, don’t use any offensive abilities against Mercenary Tao. His perception is very strong. Don’t throw your life away for nothing!"

The tall, thin man answered in a muffled voice. Thinking of that group’s strength, he ultimately got up, picked up his Backpack, and prepared to return to East Xia first.

Multiple high-ranking reincarnators were joining forces to ambush Mercenary Tao. He could only hope he would not get dragged into it…