Chapter 506: The Movement of the Reaper

On the massive stone plaza, a colossal temple, thick with the traces of time, stood tall upon this 【Yuanzang Mountain】. The stone steps were continuous and winding, and the mountain mist and dew dampened the cloaks of the visitors one by one.

The heroic spirit, clad in a purple samurai robe, stood with his arms crossed, his deep blue long hair tied into a ponytail hanging behind his head. At the mountain gate beside him, a long blade over five feet in length leaned diagonally; the purple scabbard seemed to have been stained by some dew, brewing with mist.

"To think that this remote mountain gate would have so many guests today, it really is..."

Sasaki Kojiro only said half of his words before stopping himself. The crowd below seemed not to have sensed his presence, having already arrived one by one at the open space beneath the mountain gate.

This was a dangerous signal, and among those who had come, there were clearly some extremely dangerous fellows.

Although Sasaki Kojiro felt he was merely a lonely ghost, unworthy of the name of a heroic spirit, having been summoned by that mother fox, he could only stand guard before this mountain gate.

Hum~

The famous blade 【Monohoshizao】, over five feet long, had appeared in his hand before anyone knew it. It slowly left its scabbard, and the inscription 【Bizen Osafune Nagamitsu】 on the blade was faintly visible.

A strong sense of sharpness tore through the misty rain, and Sasaki Kojiro's presence rapidly intensified.

The spot where the visitors stood was about two meters lower than the mountain gate. This group of people, wearing gray-white or yellow-black rain capes, seemed to exchange a few glances, and finally, a petite figure in a yellow rain cape walked forward.

Unfastening the cloak, she revealed meticulously styled golden hair. Her silver-white armor shone brightly against the backdrop of her blue battle skirt. She wore silver-white gauntlets on both hands, her stance meticulous like a rigid knight, only the space where her hands were clasped was empty, and nothing could be seen.

Sasaki Kojiro lowered his long sword toward his rear diagonal and slowly walked down from the mountain gate. Only then did he notice that on top of the blonde woman's head, a small tuft of hair seemed to stand up alone, ruining that meticulous, rigid appearance.

"Saber..."

The red-haired youth, also wearing a bright yellow rain cape, looked at Artoria with some worry. Emiya Shirou, who was determined to become a 【Hero of Justice】, was still not used to hiding in the back and letting Saber engage in all sorts of dangerous battles at this very moment.

This did not align with his values.

But the others beside him seemed indifferent; no one had any intention of stepping forward to relieve Saber.

He turned his head and saw the sturdy white-haired heroic spirit, who had just moved his gaze away from him, only to stand with his arms crossed, watching the Ryudou Temple mountain gate in the misty rain.

Emiya Shirou looked again at the handsome man at the end of the line, who was a size larger than the others. Although there were still many things he did not understand, he vaguely sensed that that guy was the one truly leading everything in this group.

Whether it was the Magician calling himself Qiu Luo on the Tohsaka side, or Tohsaka and this white-haired heroic spirit, all were observing the other's reactions before taking action.

And Emiya Shirou remembered very clearly that last night, that guy had appeared near his house and had fought with someone...

"What are you worried about?"

Tohsaka Rin frowned, looking at Emiya Shirou's restless state, feeling inexplicably irritated.

"Saber is the most excellent Servant, not some little girl who needs to hide behind you!"

As if to annotate her words, the one holding the 【Excalibur】 concealed by the 【Wind King Barrier】 let out a low growl and slashed out a fierce sword strike. Amidst the bursting rain and mist, the violent Force emitted a huge roar.

Sasaki Kojiro's figure was light, and he instantly retreated several steps. He keenly realized that the opponent was holding a weapon in her hands that he could not see.

Qiu Luo lowered his head to look at the communicator in his hand, seeing the contact sent by the team members as instructed by Bai Mian, and felt incomparably conflicted in his heart.

The fact that Bai Mian had obtained Gilgamesh's trust through some unknown means had already been confirmed by his team.

And compared to Saber, who could not receive Magic Power replenishment, in terms of stats and values alone, in this Holy Grail War, and even in this deployment mission, Gilgamesh was undoubtedly the overwhelmingly powerful one.

Did he really want to be enemies with a heroic spirit like "Jinshanshan"...

But on the other hand, he had accepted Tao Baibai's "cooperation invitation," and if he had other thoughts now, he would surely be hunted down by Tao Baibai. Qiu Luo looked at Tao Baibai, who was standing in the rain and mist at the end of the line as if wandering in his mind, his expression flickering.

Bai Cangshu was currently sitting upright in the massive Consciousness Space, perched high upon the 【Heart Throne】, carefully examining the Spirit Body fragment before him.

This was probably the first time a Spirit Body fragment had appeared in this space where even Spirit Bodies could revive infinitely.

It came from that Reincarnator who was able to perform the Release of a Zanpakuto.

Gojo Satoru had his hands behind his head, leaning back in mid-air out of thin air. His position was slightly lower than the 【Heart Throne】, and he kept clicking his tongue, believing that this strange Consciousness Space was implying Bai Cangshu's dominant status in this form.

"This corpse piece, I spent quite a bit of effort to snatch it from that guy's mouth, you know. To think I'd still be looked down upon by you like this, tsk~"

Gojo Satoru never had a serious demeanor. Bai Cangshu automatically filtered out his various emotions and, hearing this, looked toward the corner furthest from himself below.

A once-huge spirit creature had almost completely solidified. The Ghost from the Naruto World should have been a special god-like Spirit Body born from primitive faith worship or nature, similar to a deity of incense.

But at this very moment, the opponent's figure had shrunk to just over two meters. That Hannya mask radiated a sense of reality that was out of place in this Consciousness Space, as if... it were a real mask, a tangible entity that had entered this Consciousness Space.

Moreover, the opponent's short Ritual Blade now had a length of over a meter, having turned into a Tachi with a white scabbard.

"That guy swallowed an ice-blue-haired woman who suddenly fell in not long ago, and turned into this state."

The Millennium Worm, wearing a black trench coat, also spoke up to explain.

In Bai Cangshu's Consciousness Space, there were hundreds of thousands of Spirit Bodies at this time, but these Spirit Bodies had gradually begun to form different factions due to the long-standing battles.

As the Spirit Body that had cooperated with Bai Cangshu the longest and was the first to possess independent consciousness, Gojo Satoru had the best compatibility with him. Furthermore, because he had the experience of previously fighting for control of the body and once sitting on the Heart Throne, he was vaguely the side closest to Bai Cangshu.

And the Millennium Worm, because it knew of Tao Baibai's terror and was persuaded by Gojo Satoru's theory, wanted to rely on Tao Baibai to become stronger so that it could be granted a physical body, allowing its soul to reappear in the world and complete a rebirth in another sense.

Therefore, the Millennium Worm also belonged to the "Pro-Bai Faction."

Further away was Uchiha Madara, clad in red armor. Although he had cooperated with Bai Cangshu a few times, he was always Arrogant, believing that he had only been absorbed into this space because Bai Cangshu had used some clever tricks.

He believed that Bai Cangshu had not yet witnessed his prime era and was not worthy of dancing with him, but regarding the matter of resurrection, he basically held an attitude of tacit consent.

Therefore, he belonged to the type that would cooperate with Bai Cangshu but would not actively help him. He currently occupied a fairly large space alone, and many Spirit Bodies gathered around him without attacking him.

In the corner opposite Uchiha Madara, Minato Namikaze was curiously observing the figure that had finally appeared on the throne that had always been empty in the sky.

He could not defeat Uchiha Madara, but in this space, Spirit Bodies were clearly immortal; even if killed, they would revive in that river of Yellow Springs.

Minato Namikaze was still at the stage of trying to figure out the situation.

Closer to him was the recently absorbed Guardian Spirit, Lv Bu. This formidable warrior, having lost his mount when absorbed by the Reincarnator, had his strength impaired and had been suppressed head-on by Bai Cangshu, so he stood coldly in a corner at this time.

With a casual wave, he hacked and killed a large number of ghosts, but immediately, more evolved and powerful ghosts would launch attacks at him.

Bai Cangshu saw the ecological niche here clearly, then raised his hand, and a strong Wave began to radiate from his hand.

"Come here!"

(End of chapter)