Chapter 533: The Vortex of Roots!

Thump, thump, thump...

Amidst the hurried Footwork, the black-haired man charged into the Black Mud; he seemed to sink into the mire in an instant, and the various phantoms of the past came for him once again.

Yet, in Emiya Kiritsugu's hollow eyes at this moment, there seemed to be a firm goal.

His physical body had long since been altered by that mysterious woman, and at the same time, the Black Mud that had previously eroded him had instead become a part of his body during the transformation process.

This granted him a certain degree of Immortality, allowing him to revive from the long sleep of death, and he now possessed a certain resistance to the infection of the Black Mud.

Emiya Kiritsugu let out a low shout, reached out, and grabbed a withered, fleshy body directly within the Black Mud.

He exerted force through his feet, twisted his body, and prepared to throw the other person out of the Black Mud.

Creak!

Emiya Kiritsugu used too much force, and the withered flesh in his hand made a strange sound as if it were being torn apart.

This startled him, but the next moment, a golden luster suddenly appeared from within the Black Mud.

Boom!

Emiya Kiritsugu felt a jolt in his hand and subconsciously let go; immediately after, the Black Mud in front of him flowed and contracted rapidly.

His vision suddenly cleared; Emiya Kiritsugu felt a stinging pain between his brows and his heart sank.

A corpse, pitch-black as ink and withered in form, stood stiffly before him.

The man, originally tall and sturdy, now had his body shriveled down to just about 1.7 meters.

His whole body looked as if it were cast from Black Mud, with faint scarlet light flowing through it, but in the hollow sockets of his eyes, a bit of golden luster still remained.

Emiya Kiritsugu subconsciously focused his gaze; he was extremely close to Tao Baibai, even able to feel the warmth contained within that golden light.

It was completely different from the feeling radiated by Tao Baibai and most people in this world.

Pure, idealized, the radiance of humanity.

Just by touching that light, Emiya Kiritsugu felt as if he could recall the incomparably pure ideals of his youth.

"A guy like Tao Baibai, why would he..."

Emiya Kiritsugu subconsciously leaned closer, even moving up to the corpse-like eye sockets of the other, peering through those pitch-black holes to chase after that golden radiance.

Squish, squish, squish...

It was the sound of Black Mud churning, or perhaps like blocked blood beginning to flow; countless worm-like flesh was regaining vitality.

Pop!

Two full eyeballs suddenly appeared from the eye sockets, the malice in the gaze undisguised; those pure black pupils looked as if they were condensed from Black Mud.

"Tch, unlucky Ally of Justice, what do you want to do to me?"

With that signature mocking tone and a viscous killing intent that felt like it was stuck to his skin, Emiya Kiritsugu immediately backed away.

This guy, he actually didn't die!

Before Emiya Kiritsugu knew how to speak, Bai Cangshu shifted his attention away from the other.

This guy was no longer a threat to him at all.

【All the World's Evils】

【Type: Special Creation, Material, Ingredient】

【Quality: World's Rare Treasure】

【Description: Negative energy accidentally born in the Type-Moon World due to the Third Magic, containing the malice of the entire world】

【Effect 1: Consumes 1 A-rank Singularity and 35,000 Dimension Points; can be poured onto any Spirit Body, causing intense malicious erosion to said Spirit Body. Spirit Bodies that resist this erosion can be materialized and gain a physical body; those that fail to resist will be blackened and the user will gain control over them】

【Effect 2: Can be used as a material for casting (Note: using as a casting material will cause unpredictable consequences for the user, and this item will disappear after use)】

【Effect 3: This item can be consumed as a material for special abilities such as Felix Felicis, Wish Water, or Wish spells, but the resulting items or abilities will be twisted into malice-oriented wishes】

【Effect 4: This item can be used as a Bloodline material for Bloodline enhancement; each use will consume a small amount of this item, and the user will suffer erosion while gaining additional Bloodline Tese】

The corners of Bai Cangshu's mouth curled up, his smile evident.

This "Black Mud" could probably be considered a universal material to some extent.

It could be used to "incarnate" a Spirit Body, and it could also be smelted into a Bloodline like the 【Azure Heaven Hegemon Blood】 to gain improvements.

At the same time, it possessed special functions like 【Wish】; although the wishes would all be twisted toward malice, for a Reincarnator, malice was often not much of a problem.

Most importantly, if he were willing, this thing could also be used as a red-quality material for casting.

Bai Cangshu vaguely remembered Bai Mian mentioning something about the 【Ladder of Spirit and Flesh】; just hearing the name, it was likely the same type of thing as the 【God's Ladder】 mentioned by Knight Girl.

This Black Mud, which possessed a certain effect similar to the 【Third Magic: Heaven's Feel】, was very likely related to that 【Ladder of Spirit and Flesh】.

Now that both 【All the World's Evils】 and Bai Mian's Spirit Body were in his hands, he had plenty of time to ponder that thing. At this very moment, something else was probably more important.

Bai Cangshu looked up at the blood moon in the sky, hanging high as if it were not a thing of this world.

All around was complete darkness.

Even though the time at this moment should have been daytime.

But all light had been stolen away.

Bai Cangshu's flesh became full as if being inflated; soon, as the erosion and suppression effects of 【All the World's Evils】 decreased, his Regeneration speed became faster and faster.

Before long, he had almost fully recovered.

Because the Black Mud had been completely absorbed, Ilya and Emiya Shirou were also walking toward this side at this time.

But the next moment, Emiya Kiritsugu shouted immediately.

"Don't come over!"

He sensed an extremely terrifying aura beginning to emerge, and the world seemed to become blurred in his eyes.

Ilya subconsciously stopped her steps and grabbed Emiya Shirou in front of her; her feelings for Emiya Kiritsugu were complex—resentful, yet vaguely holding onto a hope she herself was unwilling to admit.

And this "younger brother" who had just held a sword to protect her made her feel inexplicably close.

Therefore, Ilya, who originally did not care about her own life, actively brought Emiya Shirou to a stop at this moment.

The next moment, Ilya saw her powerful servant Assassin, Tao Baibai, turn around and show her an inexplicable smile.

The other party had a tall build, his mouth stretched wide; one could call it brilliant, or one could call it cruel, but that smile was incomparably vivid.

She did not understand what exactly the other party wanted to express; perhaps, the other party did not know himself.

After all, Ilya had seen into Tao Baibai's heart, which was even more hollow than her own, a complete and utter void.

The other party was a beast with no origin and no home to return to, seemingly living only to pursue power.

But as for that thing called power, if there is no purpose, what value does it truly have...

Ilya did not understand.

But Tao Baibai had already raised both hands high, and a force of Magic Power absorption, stronger than ever before, erupted with a boom.

Ilya's face turned pale; at this moment, she roughly understood that Tao Baibai's smile was like a prank of malicious taste.

"Noble Phantasm Release, Heart Vortex!"

At this moment, Ilya prostrated on the ground, the Magic Circuits all over her body shining brilliantly, and the Magic Power within the leylines was rapidly drawn by her and then absorbed by Tao Baibai.

She saw, behind Tao Baibai, translucent, gigantic tentacles, like tails shooting straight into the sky, suddenly plunge into that blood moon in the sky.

They intertwined with the invisible vortex spreading outward from there.

That is... the power emitted by the Root of Vortex...

Does Tao Baibai want to enter the Root?

But he is clearly a Heroic Spirit; he should eventually return to the Throne of Heroes on the outer side of the world...

Emiya Kiritsugu pondered continuously in his mind, but he was powerless to explain, only having one finger pressed against his brow.

Bai Cangshu looked at Ilya, his gaze seemingly asking her.

【Do you need me to kill this person, Master?】

Bai Cangshu had already sensed the immense tearing force coming from the sky, compared to some Side Missions remaining in this world, and other rewards.

He was more interested in the Root beyond the space-time void that was about to vanish.

Although he knew that Matou Sakura must have undergone some kind of change due to the completion plan, and Matou Zouken had likely been killed or absorbed by her.

Staying behind would certainly allow him to unravel this part of the mystery and obtain certain rewards, and at the same time, the Thaumaturgy knowledge of the Matou family and the Tohsaka family, and even the design for the legendary 【Jeweled Sword】, were not impossible to obtain.

But... 【Root of Vortex】, perhaps even other top-tier Reincarnators might not have the chance to enter.

Ilya understood the meaning of her own servant, and in the end, she shook her head.

The next moment, a scarlet light of Magic Power descended from the blood moon, completely enveloping Tao Baibai.

Boom!

The ground shattered, the Heart Vortex and the Root of Vortex became entangled, and the immense tearing force sucked Bai Cangshu directly in.

In an instant, Bai Cangshu felt his body being torn apart; his Constitution of over 50 points had absolutely no ability to resist.

His consciousness was suddenly struck by a torrent, and in an instant, it was completely lost.

【You have touched... the Root of Vortex】

(End of chapter)