Twelve Labors

Pfft!

Qiu Luo spat out a mouthful of blood. Magic power radiated from him as he froze the wound in his abdomen and quickly cast a healing spell.

Although Qiu Luo mainly relied on the mage enhancements from the world of Fairy Tail, because he had failed to obtain the Dragon Slayer Mage bloodline, he had also learned some magic from other worlds.

The power systems of the Infinite Dimensional Space were remarkably inclusive, and the magic power system was considered one of the largest systems within the Infinite Dimensional Space.

However, the definitions of magic power differed to varying degrees across worlds, and the requirements for using magic and magecraft were likewise different.

But after being integrated by the Infinite Dimensional Space, they had all become a unified system.

Whether one relied on Magic Circuits, meditation, or simply incantations and magic power, all of it had become abilities of the unified magic side.

In that sense, the magic side was the most widespread system in the Infinite Dimensional Space.

Qiu Luo suddenly came back to his senses. He touched the blood on his forehead and shook his head, realizing that his internal organs had been injured and his concentration was beginning to slip.

He immediately cast Potent Focus on himself.

The world became clear in his perception once more: Berserker’s intense malice, and the terrifying strength that gave him an overwhelming sense of danger merely by standing underground.

Massive stones kept falling from above. As Qiu Luo dodged, a figure silently descended, light as a feather and without the slightest sound.

"Qiu Luo, did you and White Face both think that someone like me would never care whether my Master lived or died, that I would only want to settle everything in one stroke, and therefore leave Illya completely unguarded?"

Mercenary Tao’s voice carried a faint laugh, but Qiu Luo’s heart lurched. He saw that the ends of Mercenary Tao’s black hair had turned slightly white, while currents of electricity flickered around his body.

Mercenary Tao had electromagnetic abilities too?

I never heard of that. Is it that rumored Inherited Title, Ororchi Yashiro? This madman actually used it himself?

As Qiu Luo’s thoughts raced, weak electronic signals radiated from his cerebral cortex.

Without piercing through someone’s skull, Bai Cangshu could not read their thoughts clearly, but he could still sense that panic.

"Don’t be surprised. Just think of it as a kind of mind-reading~"

Compared to Inner Force, the energy system of Current Propulsion leaned more toward psychic powers. Bai Cangshu had known this long ago.

Therefore, when he opened another new lightning acupoint during his training before entering the Space, he was not surprised to discover that he had gained effects similar to psychic powers.

At his current level, he could not read minds from afar, but it was more than enough for extracting information through interrogation.

Qiu Luo’s expression changed. From the corner of his eye, he watched Berserker, who was still facing off against Heroic Spirit Emiya and had begun another round of combat. He had no time to wonder why Mercenary Tao had chosen this moment to reveal such a thing.

He had an extremely bad feeling, as though Mercenary Tao’s goal was about to be achieved, and he and the others had already lost their value and could be killed at any time.

Bai Cangshu shook his head and looked at Medea, Berserker, and Heroic Spirit Emiya. There were only three Heroic Spirits present; this was not yet the final battlefield he had been waiting for.

Berserker’s appearance had been an accident.

But…

Buzz!

Bai Cangshu vanished in an instant. A magic circle lit up in a flash, and layers of crystal-like shields rapidly rose before Qiu Luo.

Qiu Luo watched as Mercenary Tao was frozen within layer upon layer of ice shields, but each of those Mercenary Taos quickly vanished. He knew that the frozen figures were all afterimages. Almost instinctively, ice crystals immediately lit up across his own body.

Clang!

A violent impact rang out. Bai Cangshu watched the block of ice he had sent flying with a single finger. Qiu Luo had actually frozen himself with some kind of ability, and that ice possessed unbelievably powerful defenses.

Even his force could not penetrate it. Instead, it exploded from the outside and blasted the ice block away.

Boom!

From the cave behind them came another crash, as though the entire mountain range were about to collapse.

Berserker, covered in Black Mud, unleashed a savage strike that sent Heroic Spirit Emiya flying once again. However, Rin Tohsaka had already taken the opportunity to find the exit, so this battle probably would not last much longer.

Qiu Luo, who had used Ice Barrier, an "invincible" life-saving skill, to evade the strike, had already broken free. He raised both hands high and slammed them fiercely into the ground.

Crack! Crack!

An enormous mass of ice instantly froze the entire cave, trapping Mercenary Tao, Berserker, and everyone else inside.

Qiu Luo seized the chance to turn and flee.

Even the falling rocks had been frozen, making the cave’s enormous exit relatively safe. Qiu Luo stepped onto continuously forming ice and shot outward as though surfing.

But just as he emerged from the cave, a figure appeared in the air before him, and a finger stabbed directly into his face.

Qiu Luo felt pain in the center of his brow. The next moment, a current surged into his brain.

The entire course of his communications with White Face began flashing through his mind uncontrollably.

"Mercenary Tao, you…"

Qiu Luo gripped Mercenary Tao’s body with both hands. Frost instantly froze Mercenary Tao solid, yet he seemed entirely unaffected and continued releasing that faint current.

"Rest easy, Qiu Luo. I remember our agreement. I will not kill you."

Before cooperating with them, Bai Cangshu had indeed promised not to kill Qiu Luo unless Qiu Luo actively betrayed him.

That was why Qiu Luo had planned to push everything onto his teammates once the matter was exposed, thus avoiding being killed by Mercenary Tao.

Bai Cangshu’s eyes flickered as he continuously flipped through Qiu Luo’s memories.

The reason he had suddenly changed his plans was because he had seen the Black Mud lingering on Berserker’s body.

It made him realize that in his competition with White Face, he had actually fallen far behind.

Neither Bai Cangshu nor White Face had intended to complete this world according to the Holy Grail War.

White Face wanted to carry out the Human Instrumentality Project in order to achieve some goal.

Bai Cangshu had originally only wanted to hunt White Face, but after obtaining Vortex of the Heart and turning it into an ability-based Noble Phantasm, he had developed greater ambitions.

He wanted to become the Lesser Grail’s Avatar and contain the dead Heroic Spirits within his own body. Thus, he had deliberately delayed the progress of the Holy Grail War.

He had also hoped to use this to delay the completion of White Face’s plan.

But he had never expected that White Face had been able to obtain Black Mud from the very beginning.

Perhaps it was a remnant of the previous Holy Grail War, or perhaps White Face had seized someone else’s Destiny in this world. Bai Cangshu guessed that it was probably Kirei Kotomine, who had never appeared.

In short, White Face’s Human Instrumentality Project had never needed to wait for the Holy Grail War to conclude.

Therefore, Bai Cangshu’s plan to delay the end of the Holy Grail War could not affect White Face. In other words, White Face’s plan had been proceeding all along with virtually no obstacles.

The only thing that could pose an obstacle or threat to him was likely the trap Bai Cangshu had deliberately left behind—Bai Cangshu had intentionally left Illya alive, then spread the news that she might draw White Face’s attention.

What he had used was the Matou Family faction that Bai Cangshu had previously bombarded relentlessly.

The Black Man-eating Flower team hiding underground had never escaped Vortex of the Heart’s detection. Faced with the threat of death, they decisively betrayed White Face and joined Mercenary Tao’s camp.

Just as Qiu Luo’s group had betrayed Mercenary Tao and joined White Face.

Reincarnators cared nothing for loyalty. Naturally, Bai Cangshu had no trust in these people either.

After learning that White Face and Gilgamesh had remained inactive, Bai Cangshu guessed that White Face was probably waiting for an opportunity. Before the Human Instrumentality Project could be activated, perhaps some condition still needed to be fulfilled.

Pfft!

Bai Cangshu withdrew his finger, turned around, grabbed Qiu Luo, and returned to the cave, directly tossing Qiu Luo to Berserker.

Bang!

A body of flesh and blood was smashed to pieces.

Bai Cangshu’s black hair flew in the air. The next moment, white light began radiating from within his body.

Vortex of the Heart unleashed.

Bai Cangshu opened his eyes. White vortices spun continuously within them as he tilted his head and looked at Berserker, who had been affected by the Black Mud.

"I want to see how these so-called Twelve Labors operate. Could you demonstrate them for me, Berserker?"