Shape Moon, The Road to the Magician

【Foresight is a kind of dream, and events wake us up from the dream——】

……

……

Xia Yuan had a dream.

He saw the black sun falling from the sky, and beside him were ruins burning with dark flames. A huge hole opened in the sky, and dark red waterfalls poured down.

Malice, resentment, sorrow...

In an environment where all things were extinct, he could not see any living creatures, only the pitch-black earth under his feet and the dark red sky above his head.

Ominous mud, chaotic sky, boundless malice, he has seen and heard descriptions of these things before. This is the burning Fuyuki City.

When the Holy Grail absorbs enough Servant's magic power and soul, the hole of the Holy Grail will finally be completely opened, and the evil of this world tilted out of it will bring everything into the sea of fire.

When you witness this scene with your own eyes, it is definitely more impactful than the truth learned from words and screens. Xia Yuan swears that this scene is definitely the most realistic [hell] he has ever seen, even the most realistic [hell] he has ever seen. Even the descriptions of hell in myths and legends are probably nothing more than this.

"Hiss - it hurts!"

While he was still shocked by the hellish scene in front of him, the strange heat coming from his left hand made him grit his teeth. Looking down, the three bright red command spells began to emit a strange brilliance, followed by a wave of The strong traction is guiding him in one direction

"——What's this?!"

This strange pulling force made Xia Yuan stagger, and he could only let the invisible force drag him away.

Then the scene in front of him began to flow rapidly, and the burning ruins around him gradually disappeared. The hollow in the sky and the pouring black mud gradually disappeared from his sight, replaced by a gorgeous and warm room. At this time, a gorgeously dressed girl was reading a book in the room.

There was a door. An invisible door separated them.

Xia Yuan couldn't see the girl's face clearly, but he felt very familiar. There was a very close feeling about the girl, which made him subconsciously want to get closer, but his steps were blocked. The invisible barrier blocked the door, keeping him at a subtle distance from the girl.

Looking through the thin gauze, all he could see was the girl's long golden hair and a pair of glasses. Although he couldn't see the full picture of her jewel-like eyes

, Xia Yuan was sure that she was definitely a rare beauty.

"Who are you?"

Xia Yuan wanted to ask, but the girl shook her head at him.

"Haidee……"

Then, the girl's name came out of Xia Yuan's mouth subconsciously, and even he himself didn't know what was going on? When and where did I see this girl? How did you know this name?

"It's me, my dear lord, but it seems that you are not him.……"

The girl said softly, but there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes that could not be concealed when she looked at Xia Yuan. Perhaps it was because the person she was waiting for was not the person she really wanted to see.

Before Xia Yuan could say anything else, Haidai had already arrived in front of her with flexible steps. Then a warm touch came from her chest, and a gentle voice whispered in her ear.

"It’s not time yet……"

…………

"I think it's time."

The familiar voice woke him up, and the original feeling of tiredness and haziness was shattered.

Looking at Merlin sitting opposite him with a serious look on his face, Xia Yuan frowned slightly and looked around, but there was nothing. I found Haidee again.

Merlin, this is indeed Avalon, but what happened just now?

Is this a dream within a dream? Or is my spirit just in a different state? A space that belongs to the dream world?

And... Haidee, he knew this name, she was a supporting character in The Count of Monte Cristo, and she was also a very important person to the Count.

Since he summoned the Count, he had been reading about it. Of course, the story about the Count of Monte Cristo is already clear in his mind. Although the King of the Cave in the book is far different from the Count he has seen, there are similarities.

Of course, he cannot understand what he just said with his magic skills. What happened, so he once again focused his attention on the crooked dream demon in front of him, hoping to get answers from him.

"Ah da da da, for this kind of dream interpretation thing, just ask me, my close brother, you are still very discerning.——"

Merlin scratched the back of his head and said with a serious face:"As a dream demon, no one understands dreams better than me. Whether it is making people dream or helping people interpret their dreams, this is my specialty."

After listening to Xia Yuan's words, After a brief explanation, Merlin's face showed a little inexplicable smile, and he also took it into his eyes.

"Do you understand this situation?"

"Of course, big brother, who am I? The mentor of the majestic King Arthur, the court magician of Great Britain, isn't this little situation easy to handle?"

"That is to say?"

Xia Yuan raised his eyebrows. This guy likes to talk in the middle of his words.

"Ahem, this situation is very complicated, and it would be very troublesome to explain it in detail, so I will make it short. As for the root cause of this situation,——"

Merlin stood up, pointed at Xia Yuan's left hand, and smiled enigmatically.

"do you understand? Although that person has left you and his behavior can be called betrayal, he has never chosen to cut off contact with you. Why do you think this is?"

"Of course, I don’t know exactly what he was thinking, but the situation you mentioned can only be entered when your soul is silent, that is, when you are dead or near death."

"That Haidee said it was not yet time, maybe it means that you are not completely dead yet. When you are seriously injured,���Use magic to help relieve your physical injuries, and it will be time when you are completely dead"

"How about it? Do you want to try to die now? Try it and see what happens?"Merlin raised his eyebrows, showing a mean expression.

"………"

Xia Yuan rolled his eyes at him and ignored Merlin's tricks, just thinking about the answer he just gave.

Letting Emiya Kiritsugu plant explosives in the magic formation and almost sending the three of them away was undoubtedly a betrayal.

But why did the count do that? Why kill yourself? Is it because you are a foreigner?

No, that's not reasonable. If it was just like that, he should have taken action long ago, without having to play with him until now. After all, with the speed of the Cave King, it would be easy to kill himself before using the command spell.

Moreover, the Earl has absolutely no murderous intention or hatred towards his feelings. After such a long time of getting along, he is sure of this.

The space he arrived at when he was about to die and the Haidee he saw proved that things were not that simple. The count did not kill him for such a boring reason.

So he had a bold guess that the count wanted to achieve a goal, and a certain condition for achieving that goal might be his own death... and meeting Haidee was only part of the plan.

Thinking of this possibility and his own situation, Xia Yuan felt cold all over. He looked at the command spells in his hand and felt that they were so dazzling.

I began to think, if I directly used three command spells to make the earl commit suicide, what would be the success rate? Do you really want to do that?

Merlin, who had seen through Xia Yuan's thoughts, reminded you:"I advise you to give up this idea."

"You know what I'm thinking?"

Xia Yuan suddenly raised his head and stared at Merlin, trying to read some information from his expression.

"All your intentions are written on your face……"

"Don't look at it. Big brother doesn't know anything about this matter. Otherwise, I wouldn't be busy doing the time-consuming and laborious work of repairing your body.

Merlin shook his head and smiled:"The content of my deal with him is that I tell him the real names and hidden information of Amakusa Shiro and all Servants, and he lets me enter your dream and contact you." Other than that, I didn't have much contact with that nasty guy."

"The reason why I advise you to give up this idea is because of your connection with him. As I said before, there are impurities in your soul, as if something has been mixed in. At first, I couldn't guess the reason, but now it is clear.. Merlin pointed at Xia Yuan's eyes, and the reflection in his pupils seemed to ignite a black flame:"It is the soul of A. venger!""

"soul?!"

"Yes, he separated his soul and integrated it into your body. Haidee is the best proof. It was one of the most important experiences of the Cave King during his lifetime. There is no problem even if he sublimates into a Noble Phantasm after death. , but he let your dying soul touch her, which shows that your soul has been manipulated for a long time."

"In this case, if you use a command spell to force him to commit suicide, let alone whether it will succeed. Even if it succeeds, there is no way to guarantee what kind of impact his soul will have on you."

"…………"

"But in dreams, you should feel much more relaxed, right? I used your spirit as a medium to perform healing magic on your body, and also soothed your spirit, so you must repay me well in the future."

Repay?……

"Can I help you enlighten Artoria? Xia Yuan sighed:"In this situation, do you still think I can do that?" Originally I agreed to you because we have enough fighting power here, but now that things have turned into this situation, you can't expect me to fight Artoria, right?"

"Ah, this is indeed very disturbing. Although I can see his movements in advance, you didn't fall asleep at that time, so I couldn't notify you, right?"

"Uh, okay, but what are you going to do now? It seems your plan has failed. Without the earl's help, it would be impossible for me to face Artoria.

Xia Yuan paused and continued:"With her stubborn character, if she could persuade her just by talking, she wouldn't have ended up like this in the end.""

"If you want to persuade her, you can only subdue her first. Only in this way will she listen to you honestly. As her teacher, you must know her character better than I do."

"Hahaha, you really understand little Al, you even understand her better than the Knights of the Round Table, just like his big brother."

"You are absolutely right. Little Al’s character is indeed a very troublesome type. She is both kind and stubborn, and she is also a bit stubborn. Sometimes I can’t do anything about her. Merlin nodded when he heard this and agreed with Xia Yuan's words. However, he was not distressed by this situation. He still had the same smile on his face.

He said,"But don't worry about this first. If I might find it difficult with other enemies, but if the enemy is Little Al, of course I have a way to deal with her."

"However, before that, please allow me to take the liberty of asking, are you interested in Servant?"

Merlin's words had a hint of meaning, but Xia Yuan didn't notice it.

"For Servant? Artoria...what do you mean? You don't want to leave her to my care, do you? Forget it, I don't dare be interested in that kind of big eater, I can't afford it, I can't afford it."

Xia Yuan thought for a while and didn't notice what Merlin really meant. Instead, he thought of something even more outrageous.

"Ah?"

This answer was a bit beyond Merlin's expectations, but he didn't say anything, he just laughed like a child.

"Ha ha ha ha! Are you actually not interested in little Al because of this aspect? If she knew, she would probably be angry for a long time, right? But she really doesn't have the charm of a woman. Are you really a gay from the big sister faction? If that's the case, let's stop chatting.——"

"Next, let’s have a good discussion on how to trick Little Al and help you deal with the next situation.……"

"Since we don't have much time left, the big brother's methods may be a little extreme."Merlin raised his head, stared at Xia Yuan seriously, and said in a pleasant tone.

"You must hold on, if you die, everything will be over."