Chapter 328: Devil

Shi Chen again erupted with astonishing power, trying to lunge at Yan Feng Qili, but Rider and Weber held him down even more forcefully.

Facing the teacher's frantic accusations and murderous intent, Yan Feng Qili's expression remained unchanged; he even stepped forward, his voice raised slightly, carrying a tone of admonition:

"Teacher! Please calm down! Look at how you appear now! Look at what is happening in this city!"

He pointed toward the alley, where faint, painful moans and sobs, finally returning from the silence, could be heard.

"Humanity is confronting an unprecedented abnormal crisis! Countless innocent civilians are suffering! Their pain, their despair, their most basic dignity are being trampled! This is a great calamity, this is a cataclysm!"

His gaze, like a cold probe, pierced Shi Chen: "At this moment, personal grudges, so‑called face, even the outcome of the Holy Grail War, in the face of these sufferers' pain, what do they amount to?!"

He paused, his tone growing heavier, as if bearing the moral weight of the entire world:

"As Magus, as one who possesses power, what is our responsibility? Is it to place personal honor and loss above the suffering of billions of souls? No!"

He swung his arm abruptly, the stain on his cuff tracing a line in the dim yellow light.

"It is responsibility! It is dedication! It is placing the greater cause above all selfish desires! It is giving everything to rescue those compatriots struggling in the mire! Teacher, you once taught me the Yuanban Family's duty and elegance; now, would you abandon that duty, drowning in personal misconduct and rage?!"

These words, striking the ground with resonance, exuded righteous vigor; combined with his priestly bearing and solemn expression, they truly possessed a somewhat soul‑shaking power.

Ailisi Feier listened, slightly moved, her eyes showing agreement.

Saber also seemed thoughtful, her emerald eyes turning toward Yan Feng Qili, with a few fewer traces of the previous wariness.

Weber felt a surge of hot‑blooded enthusiasm from this "greater cause" speech, thinking that although the priest had acted oddly earlier, he was still reliable in the crucial moment.

Shi Chen was knocked a bit dazed by this barrage of moral grandstanding and accusations of higher purpose.

He opened his mouth, looking at Yan Feng Qili's righteous demeanor of "concern for the nation and people," "deep anguish," then glancing at the surrounding people's seemingly persuaded expressions, a sense of nonsense surged in his heart.

(It was him… it was him and Archer who brought me to this! He betrayed me! Now… now he stands on the moral high ground accusing me?!)

(Me… my problem?)

For a moment, Shi Chen almost began to doubt whether he was truly wrong.

Was he too obsessed with personal dignity and family face, neglecting the "greater responsibility"?

But immediately after, a scorching pain from behind snapped him back to the harsh reality.

(No!!!)

(This hypocrite! This devil!)

"You… you…"

Shi Chen, trembling with rage, pointed at Yan Feng Qili, but due to extreme anger and physical discomfort, he could not form coherent words; only broken syllables and a string of furious curses burst from his teeth: "scoundrel… beast… despicable… filthy… (omitting three thousand words)"

Seeing the teacher's incoherent, completely lost demeanor, within Yan Feng Qili's hollow eyes a cold ripple spread again.

This feeling…

The feeling of forcing the other into a desperate corner, making them collapse completely before everyone, losing all reason and composure, while one stands on an unassailable moral high ground…

(The pleasure of "spectating"…)

(Seems… upgraded?)

His face still wore the expression of "deep anguish" and "righteous grandeur", he shook his head slightly, as if sighing at the teacher's "obstinate ignorance".

Just then—

Poof.

A familiar muffled sound erupted again from Shi Chen.

Shi Chen's tirade abruptly halted.

The anger on his face froze instantly, slowly turning into an incredulous bewilderment.

He mechanically lowered his head, looking toward his own back.

On the ground, the just‑now evidence.

Meanwhile, that feeling of something blocking a subtle spot…

…has returned?!

Shi Chen jerked his head up, looking at Yan Feng Qili, then at the pitch‑black night sky, the last hint of color on his face fading away.

He tugged at the corner of his mouth, as if to smile, but only emitted a near‑whimpering sigh.

Then his leg gave way; if Rider and Weber hadn't been holding him, he would have collapsed outright.

The same scene replayed on countless citizens of Winterwood City who had just experienced a liberation, now caught in brief relief or deeper embarrassment.

The thing that was on the ground just now vanished.

The uncomfortable feeling returned.

And moreover, it seemed… clearer.

In a certain street, Jian Tong sensed the message from the Mother Insect.

His twisted face revealed a grim, exhilarating sneer.

"Want to eliminate them? Naïve!"

"It's not time yet… my children…"

"All of you, return! Grow properly… then, with a more perfect bearing, bring new life to this world!"

Under Winterwood City's night sky, a "SecondRound" cycle that further tests the limits of human bladders and sphincters quietly began.

And Yuanban Shichen, without doubt, was one of the brightest star contestants in this cycle.

He stood there, being held, feeling the familiar ebb and return, even more "lively", watching the hypocritical traitor before him, smelling the lingering complex odor in the air, hearing the city's various places once again echo with moans more desperate than before…

The once‑elegant Tohsaka Patriarch now had only one thought looping endlessly in his mind:

(…let me die.)

(Die now.)

(Immediately! Right now!)

Xianzhou Luofu.

Heimu seemed to be listening attentively to Qingque's introduction of Luofu, while Xing Ze had already successfully bought a Mingou Cake, taking small bites, their eyes squinting with Happiness.

But Heimu's primary consciousness was processing multiple streams of information.

(The bug was forcibly pulled back… not Huan Long.)

(Bug Armor Assassin's perception Lock… Huan Long also noticed…)

Through Bug Armor Assassin's dark‑red vision, she saw Huan Long, whose fox‑tail was swaying not far away, also directing her gaze toward the same direction.

The two, separated by the chaotic street, seemed to have their gazes intersect in the void for a moment.

Huan Long's fox eyes curved slightly, the fan lightly covering her red lips, as if silently saying, "Interesting."

The next second, she gently tapped her folded fan—now closed—toward the surrounding citizens who had just undergone a round of release and were now limp on the ground, bewildered.

The mental Suggestion spread like a stone thrown into a Calm lake, ripples expanding.