The Paladin on the Infinite Tour.

Karen didn't look back, she just said as she walked in front.

"If I have to explain this matter, I have to start explaining it after the end of the Eastern Expedition - do you know about indulgences? Exia."

"Yeah. I know."

Indulgences.

That was the remedial measure taken by Tianming to fill the financial hole caused by the failure of the Eastern Crusade in history. You only need to pay a certain amount of money to get the indulgences sold by the church, and the church declares that any purchase Anyone who receives an indulgence can be forgiven of their sins.

From the current perspective, it is easy to know that this is the church's evil act of making money, deceiving believers and squeezing people by taking advantage of people's beliefs and ignorance.

"At that time, I couldn't stand the evil deeds of the church, and I also witnessed the nobles oppressing the common people, so I thought of a way with Otto to start being a righteous thief and take away the money I got from selling indulgences. All the righteous wealth and gold coins hidden by the nobles were stolen and distributed to the poor to make them feel better."

"Hey, I remember this period of history is..."

——[Purple Kite Phantom Thief]

The general content of the key knowledge in the history textbook is similar to what Karen said, but compared to such a plain narrative, the description in the textbook is much more detailed and exaggerated. Basically, everyone will feel that it is a bit "over-beautified" .

Considering that the author was Bishop Otto, that's understandable.

"The act of being a righteous thief went smoothly at first, but one time, due to an accident, I discovered that Tianming was conducting research on Honkai Beasts and was also conducting dangerous human experiments."

Kallen continued to talk.

"I had a falling out with Destiny because of this incident, and I also had a big dispute with Otto, and was imprisoned... Although Otto later released me, I feel Human experimentation is really too dangerous, and Tianming’s behavior has deviated from the original track, so we decided to take the root of human experimentation away from Tianming.”

"The roots of human experimentation?"

"I think you should have seen it before. It's the fox demon possessing Sakura."

That black fox? !

Alexia frowned: "Hitamaru?"

Kallen nodded: "Yeah. But it wasn't called that when I found it, and at first it was just a black box excavated from a certain ruins by destiny, because it exuded strong Honkai energy. , so Tianming has always wanted to analyze and control it."

"After I stole the box, because I couldn't destroy it anyway, I originally planned to take it to China. During the Eastern Expedition, I fought with an immortal in China. I thought that the immortal would be able to Seal the box.”

"But unfortunately, when I went there, the immortals had disappeared, and the fairy mountain where the immortals were said to live was also burned down. I was also forced to board a ship heading to the far east because of the pursuers sent by the church. After that - —”

"Karen drifted to Yae Village."

It was Yae Sakura who continued.

While Kallen was talking, the three of them had actually arrived under the castle tower unknowingly. Then they only needed to pass through the gate to enter the castle tower.

Turning around and looking down at the direction where he and others were walking, and the small village located in that direction, Yae Sakura explained: "I picked up Kallen by the river near Yae Village. She was seriously injured at the time. I took her back to the village to settle down - by the way, Yae Village is where we were just now, and in terms of location, it is the predecessor of Changkong City."

More than 500 years ago, the once prosperous Changkong City was not a city. It was just a somewhat remote village in the mountains. It was not as big as Exia knew. Not to mention the port, the most peripheral places could not even reach the mountains. go out.

"I was very wary of Sakura at first, after all, I still had a black box with me at the time, but after getting along with her for a while, I also learned that Sakura is not a bad person, and became friends with her, and temporarily lived in Yae Village to help solve the problem. Some Honkai Beasts protect the safety of the village."

Kallen said while recalling the memories from the very beginning.

She was really happy in the first period of her life in Yae Village. After witnessing the evil deeds of the church in Europe, she actually liked the simple rural life of Yae Village. The villagers in Yae Village also treated her very much. So kind that she had the idea of ​​​​wanting to live in Yae Village forever.

but--

"Maybe it was the black box I brought, or maybe it was the custom that Yae Village originally had... In short, as time passed, some tragedies gradually occurred in Yae Village, and then until I realized By then, things had reached their worst point.”

Having said this, Yae Sakura and Kallen looked at the castle tower ahead.

For them, more than 500 years are enough time for them to accept the past with a complete state of mind.But even so, when they think of the thing in the castle tower now, it is still difficult for the two of them to let go.

Because that was the culprit that made the two of them go from being friends to being at each other's swords, and even hurting each other.

"Ancestor Kallen...Miss Yae Sakura..."

Alexia frowned.

"Hitamaru...what exactly is it?"

"The Lawyer."

Yae Sakura said.

Alexia's eyes immediately trembled!

(The Herrscher?! Hidamamaru is the Herrscher?!)

"Really or not? Although its Honkai energy strength is indeed close to the Herrscher level, but..."

"I think there should be nothing wrong. It never lies in this regard. During the more than 500 years that it was sealed by Kallen, I often heard it claim to be like this -"

"[The Herrscher of Corrosion]."

49. Hitamaru: Bully people!

There have been several civilizations on this planet.

This is something that Destiny has confirmed. It is not just a regional civilization, but a civilization of the entire planet.

According to the results of Tianming’s investigation over hundreds of years, it can be determined that at least 5 years ago, there was indeed another civilization on the earth that was much more developed than now. The [Holy Relic] Tianming has now excavated The series, and even [Key to God], are all products of that civilization.

[Pre-civilization], this is what Tianming internally calls that era.

And just like today's era, the former civilization also suffered the invasion of Honkai and achieved extremely brilliant results, leaving behind extremely valuable experience and information for the current civilization to fight against Honkai.

One of them is [The Lawyer].

Data show that there were a total of fourteen Herrschers faced by the former civilization. Except for the No. 13 Herrscher whose details are unknown, all the other Herrschers have left records.

From the original First Herrscher to the No. 12 Herrscher, each Herrscher has a separate name. Then after all the previous thirteen Herrschers have descended and been defeated, the last Herrscher will descend, and its name will be As [Final Yan], the strongest and final Herrscher.

The Herrscher of Corrosion that Yae Sakura mentioned now is also recorded in the materials of previous civilizations. It is the 12th Herrscher who came, and the Herrscher who completely broke the last life-saving straw for mankind. By.

.......

Inside the castle tower.

Because this is just a purely fictional space, except for Yae Sakura and Kallen, who are the main subjects, there is no other person here, so the three people's progress was not hindered in any way, and they arrived at the castle tower unimpeded.

Walking along the circular stairs towards the top, after turning around Exia, I can’t even remember how many times it has been -

"It's here."

After stepping onto the last step, Yae Sakura stopped and said.

Different from the previous maze-like interior below, the top floor of the castle tower does not have a very complicated structure. It is just a somewhat dim space. Not far from the stairs, there is a decoration painted with red paint, which seems to be from traditional Japanese culture. Special decorations used in.

Alexia doesn't understand Japanese culture, so he doesn't know what the layout here is, but other than that, he can tentatively see the situation.

"Is this...a seal?"

"Not really." Yae Sakura explained, "The top floor of the castle tower was originally a place for worshiping gods. The small torii and other things set up here turned this place into a small shrine. Every important festival During the Chinese New Year, in addition to... offering sacrifices, I will come here to offer sacrifices to the gods."

The top floor of the castle tower is the highest point, the place closest to the sky. Since ancient times, there seems to be a saying that "being closer to the sky can better communicate with the gods."

but now--

“Buzz buzz~~~~~~”

The entire top floor of the castle tower was filled with a palpitating aura, and the dim space was filled with strange lights and sounds, making people shudder.There are many chains in all directions, extending to the deepest part of the top floor of the castle tower.

There, there was a mysterious mist that was extremely turbid and seemed to have a physical form.

"That is the core of this space." Yae Sakura said, "This is what I learned after gradually merging with Hitamaru during the period of being sealed - the black box that Kallen brought seems to It’s a container that can be made into a weapon.”

"weapon?"

Make the Herrscher a weapon?Isn't that...the Key of God?

Alexia looked at the mist: "What's inside...is the God's Key made by the Herrscher of Corrosion?"

"That's right." Kallen explained, "But I think it's still in an unfinished state. No one can use that God's Key, and through that God's Key, the Herrscher of Corrosion can still do whatever he wants - continue I can only leave it to you when I get down, Exia. Sakura and I can't do anything here."

If it was the Yae Sakura that Exia had met before, she still had a certain amount of fighting power. In that state, she was a Herrscher, but now the Yae Sakura is just a memory, and her real body has long been destroyed by Exia. .

She and Kallen could only watch.

"I understand. You two, please just watch from here. I will deal with the Herrscher of Corrosion soon."

After saying that, Exia walked towards the mysterious mist bound by chains.After getting closer, Exia could see clearly that every chain was in tatters and looked like it might break at any time, with lines of collapse energy flowing on it.

(It's not a seal, it's better than a seal...but I think it's no longer necessary.)

Alexia put her hand on the chain and flicked it——

"Crack, click, click, click, click!"

All the chains were frozen and shattered in an instant!Countless ice powder fragments were scattered inside the castle tower!

And as all the chains were broken, the mist bound by the chains immediately seemed to be free again, and in an instant it multiplied and expanded to several times its original size!Until it finally condensed into the obvious black fox-like appearance!

[Here we come, Kaslana, Kallen’s descendant! 】

"Did I keep you waiting for a long time? Herrscher of Corrosion."

【snort!You can be arrogant now. Untying all these chains will be the biggest mistake you have ever made!In this way, my power will be completely liberated! 】

[Don’t think I will spare you, human being! 】

"call------------!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Hitamamaru turned back into mist, and then the entire mist exploded!The [Core] that Yae Sakura called at the center appeared!

That was the knife that Ixia had seen before.

On the black blade, the deep phosphorescence was constantly rising, converging and condensing rapidly above it, forming in an instant a huge armored ghost with a ferocious face!The arms covered with dark red gauntlets each hold a blade shrouded in black mist!

"boom------------!"

A violent storm suddenly blew past the top of the castle tower with the appearance of this ghost and god, as if cheering and celebrating the birth of the ghost and god!Or perhaps it is promoting the huge and unrivaled power possessed by ghosts and gods!

In fact, behind Alexia, Yae Sakura and Kallen both had stern expressions on their faces. Even without power, they could understand the power of this ghost and god.

That is the substitute shadow warrior embodied by the Herrscher of Corrosion, which has now turned into the Key of God, and it is the carrier that can maximize its power!

"Exia..."

Kallen couldn't help but look at her descendant with some worry. How could he fight the Herrscher with his bare hands?

The next moment, Exia gave the answer.

Facing the ghost and god transformed by the Herrscher, Ixia raised her hand and punched him directly!

"Boom—————————!"

A sound reminiscent of the roar of the earth suddenly erupted!

The extremely quick punch landed on the ghost's chest almost like a dragonfly!The speed was so fast that even the ghosts and gods didn't seem to realize that they had been hit by Exia!

But then--

"boom--------------!"

It was like being bombarded by artillery shells!The ghost's entire body was instantly frozen!Then it was shattered by an instant blow!It turned into countless debris and spread directly over the entire top layer!The subsequent impact shattered the entire wall behind it!A big hole was opened in the castle tower on the spot!

Here's a reminder - Exia is still in effect while [It Will Save the World].

Therefore, even if she does not rely on her frost ability, just relying on her pure physical ability, Exia can already be regarded as an outlier among the Servants!

"If it was a Herrscher with a physical body, then I probably wouldn't be so trusting, but a Kagemusha who only uses a substitute... there should be a limit to looking down on people, right? Hitamaru."

Alexia came to the jet-black blade and took it off the pedestal.

Then—

"Boom--!"

Throw it under your feet and step on it hard!

Yae Sakura and Kallen suddenly felt that the entire castle tower was shaking!

50. It couldn’t have come at a better time.

Reality, Changkong City.

"Boom!"

Using a powerful sword to knock away the Honkaimon blocking her way, Artoria rushed into the gate of Senba Academy at full speed!

I don’t know what happened, but from just now, Artoria suddenly felt that the connection between herself and Exia had been seriously disturbed. Although she recovered quickly, she couldn’t do anything after that. Got in touch with Exia and Sajo Aige.