Chapter 376

【Lord El-Melloi II had also once inspected the place and discovered that although it was a spiritual land, it was twisted to the point of being difficult to repair; if magecraft were used lightly, it would likely produce a large number of evil spirits, so he gave up the idea of unsealing it.】

【The three slowly approached the area and saw from afar that the old school building had been completely destroyed, as if it had been ravaged by a tornado.】

【Where the school hall had originally been, the floor had collapsed, revealing a pitch-black, vast space underneath.】

Kayneth: "The old classroom of the Department of Modern Magecraft, to think there is such a place underneath!"

Caules: "This was likely also created by Heartless."

Waver: "This man, how much planning did he do for this day?"

Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia: "Could this be Albion down there?"

Kayneth: "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Kayneth: "If this place were connected to Albion, it would have been discovered long ago!"

【Flat: "Underground, underground, it's all underground. Gray's hometown is like this too, I feel like I'm turning into a rat."】

【Svin: "Isn't this a place we are very familiar with?"】

【Flat: "Oh, that's because we are magi."】

【Svin: "I'll go down first."】

【The bold Svin jumped down without any hesitation, and Reines followed closely behind, leaving only Flat, who had no ability to go down, complaining above.】

【The cave was not very deep, and they reached the bottom quickly.】

【Reines: "I didn't expect Slur to have such a place?"】

【The two saw a huge object in the darkness; Reines was very familiar with it, yet for a moment she could not believe it.】

【Reaching out to touch it, it was indeed a familiar chitinous shell—this thing was indeed...】

【Svin: "Is this the corpse of an insect?"】

【That's right, the thing in front of them was a woodlouse, but its height exceeded three meters, and its body length reached ten meters.】

【Besides this thing, there were several other insect corpses lying all over the vast underground space.】

Illya: "Ah!!!"

No matter how dark-hearted one might be, facing these insects made one's skin crawl.

Rin Tohsaka: "So disgusting, why are these insects so big!"

Sola-Ui: "I will never go to Slur again."

Waver: "The reason this situation occurred is likely because the magical energy in the air is too dense. In that case—"

Kayneth: "..."

【"No, no, no! No matter how you look at it, this is impossible!"】

【Reines said in disbelief: "This scale, you know. Even with the most precise bounded field, burying something like this underground, it would be impossible for me or the students of the El-Melloi classroom not to have noticed for several years. If that situation were possible, we would be completely oblivious!"】

【More than that, the scope of this void clearly was not limited to the interior of the old school building; magi walked above it every day, how could no one have discovered it for so many years? This was unreasonable!】

【It was almost as if this huge void had been completed just a few minutes ago.】

【Putting aside the wild thoughts in her mind, Reines said slowly: "This should be the corpse of a creature from Albion."】

【Svin: "From Albion?"】

【Reines: "I can't think of any other explanation. If you searched the whole world, there might be strange lands where such creatures lurk, but it is absolutely impossible for them to appear in the underground near London, even reaching two or three meters."】

【"Is it that the part of Albion that is abnormally close to the surface happens to be connected to the underground of the Department of Modern Magecraft? Or did these insects dig through the soil and end up here? I would find it far more acceptable if Heartless had actually built a nuclear power plant underground. *Cough, cough... "】

【Just then, Reines suddenly felt something was wrong and began to cough violently.】

【Svin: "What's wrong with you, Princess?"】

【"*Cough, cough*, I'm fine..."】

【Enduring the discomfort from her Mystic Eyes, Reines said: "Svin, you should also fully activate your bestial magecraft and extend it to your respiratory organs. The dense ether is very likely to damage your internal organs."】

【Svin: "I understand."】

【Even the air itself contained dense mystery. No matter how you think about it, this is an environment that would only appear in the Spirit Tomb of Albion.】

【No matter how hard it is to accept, one can only admit this fact now.】

【However, what is going on? Heartless wouldn't have attacked Slur just to show these off, would he?】

Feng Xi: "Director Kayneth, what was it that was said before?"

Kayneth: "... hem—"

Waver: "Alright, let's not talk about this topic anymore."

Waver: "But I really didn't expect that there would actually be a passage to Albion beneath the old site of the Modern Magecraft Department."

Shishigou Kairi: "This passage has clearly existed for many years."

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Hartless's funding."

Rin Tohsaka: "What?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Weren't we wondering before where Hartless got his funding for the Rail Zeppelin and the Twin-Spire Iselma? Isn't it clear now?"

Waver: "Cursed bodies, smuggling—"

That's right, this explains why Hartless had so much funding despite having vanished for many years.

Kayneth: "With a passage like this, obtaining cursed bodies would indeed be a simple matter for him."

【At this moment, Svin, who had been observing the insect carcass before him, twitched his nose and keenly fixed his gaze behind the insect.】

【Through the full operation of his beast magecraft, his sense of smell had reached its maximum extent.】

【Reines also noticed Svin's state and asked cautiously: "Is he there?"】

【"Yes, though he is still some distance away."】

【Svin dropped to all fours without hesitation and said: "Princess, please sit on my back."】

【Reines: "Can you guarantee a ride as smooth as an Aston Martin?"】

【Svin: "If you can accept a wild horse."】

【Reines sat on Svin's back, and the other party immediately moved like a gecko, ignoring gravity as he strode from the dirt wall onto the ceiling.】

【After advancing for a while, Reines's field of vision finally discovered an anomaly.】

【"Is that—a crack?"】

【That's right, one of the only four cracks in London leading to the Spirit Tomb Albion had actually opened here.】

【And beside the crack, a massive chariot was parked there.】

【It was Hephaestion's Noble Phantasm, "Wheel of the Heavenly Chariot," and on the chariot were naturally Faker and Hartless.】

Kayneth: "A fifth passage... Hartless really has struck gold."

He had already begun calculating in his heart whether he should seize this place.

But the biggest problem right now was still Hartless.

If the real Hartless had also gone missing, then...

Hartless was like a ticking time bomb, and one never knew when he would jump out; one had to be careful, and then even more careful.

【"Ah, you've come?"】

【Seeming to have noticed something, Hephaestion revealed a ferocious smile.】

【"Great. Because I expressed my gratitude to my Master for giving me a battlefield. If you hadn't come, I would have looked like a fool, wouldn't I?"】

【Hartless: "Hmm, the timing is a bit poor. I originally assessed that the Lord would not be here, I didn't expect to run into you... no, this is no coincidence."】

Rin Tohsaka: "Has he been discovered?"

Waver: "No, that's not right. His tone doesn't sound like he's speaking to Reines and the others."

Shishigou Kairi: "Which means there is someone else... I think I can guess who it is."

Waver: "Me too."

Rin Tohsaka: "???"

【"Wait a moment!"】

【Just as Svin was preparing to leap out, Reines suddenly stopped him.】

【Reines felt that the other party didn't seem to be talking about them.】

【"Haha, I originally intended to come and get my cigarette back."】

【A familiar voice rang out, and the orange-haired magus walked out from the darkness, looking at the other party with a calm expression.】

【It was Aozaki Touko.】

Rin Tohsaka: "Aozaki Touko! Oh my, how could I have forgotten her?"

Shishigou Kairi: "Head of the Tohsaka family, your daughter's brain isn't very flexible, is it?"