"Jeanne." Rather than a demon, Bluebeard—who looked more like a knight in terms of appearance—drove the sharp sword in his hand into the little boy's abdomen under the terrified gaze of the bound child.
The little boy struggled in agony, trying to break free, but it was all futile. Not to mention he was tied up right now—even without restraints, there was no way he could escape from a heroic spirit.
"Blood... Jeanne! Jeanne! Aaaah... heh heh." After watching the little boy die miserably in front of him, Bluebeard actually showed a satisfied smile, as if this felt comfortable to him.
"Sigh, you're just killing him like that? Not cool at all. Are demons' aesthetics really this boring?" Uryu Ryuunosuke seemed completely dissatisfied with Bluebeard's method. Or rather, simply killing like this was something he was already getting tired of watching. He'd thought a demon's way of killing would have more flair, but it turned out to be almost exactly like his own.
If it were Bluebeard in another class—especially if he manifested as CASTER—maybe it could've given Ryuunosuke a different experience.
"Mr. Devil, what are you doing?" Ryuunosuke noticed that after killing the little boy, Bluebeard didn't leave. Instead, he used both hands to rummage around inside the boy's abdomen. Ryuunosuke asked curiously.
"Gold coins."
"Gold coins? Mr. Devil, do you think there would be gold coins inside a human stomach? No way." Ryuunosuke clapped his hands and kept shaking his right hand, indicating that what the other guy said was impossible.
"Clink." A crisp metallic sound rang out in the sealed room.
Ryuunosuke widened his eyes and stared hard at Bluebeard's right hand. In the dim light, he actually saw a flash of gold.
As Bluebeard withdrew his right hand, coin after coin—smeared with blood and reeking of a thick, bloody stench—slid out through the gaps between his fingers.
"That can't be... there's no reason..." Bluebeard's act slapped Ryuunosuke in the face hard.
Bluebeard had actually pulled gold coins out from inside the little boy's body. Ryuunosuke's worldview went into chaos at that moment.
"Mr. Devil... you're so COOL~~~~"
Cool? Completely impossible to understand a serial killer's way of thinking.
Bluebeard, also known as Gilles de Rais, was born in France and was a noble from birth. During the Hundred Years' War between England and France, he followed Saint Jeanne and was once praised as a national hero. But after Jeanne was executed, he suffered a severe mental blow and withdrew to his domains at Machecoul and Tiffauges, burying himself in the study of alchemy. He hoped to discover the secret of the Philosopher's Stone through blood, and tortured more than 300 children to death. He was later burned at the stake for it.
One of Bluebeard's Personal Skills: Alchemy (C) can transform children's organs and blood into an equal amount of gold coins. Note: The child must die under extreme fear and torment.
"The seventh class, Berserker, has also been summoned. I don't know what magus summoned them, but the Holy Grail War can be considered officially started now." After Ryuunosuke accidentally summoned Bluebeard, almost at the same time, all participating Masters learned of it.
The Holy Grail War officially begins.
"Hypocritical tactics." Meruem learned of Mapo and Tokiomi's scheme immediately. Mapo—or rather, Tokiomi—planned to use the fact that Mapo's Servant Assassin could exist in multiple bodies as cover, using Assassin's Presence Concealment to infiltrate Tokiomi's home and put on a show in front of every Master's familiars.
Let Assassin withdraw "legitimately" in front of all the Masters, then hide Mapo and Assassin in the shadows. At the same time, display part of Goldie's power, sending the message "I'm strong, don't mess with me," to intimidate some Masters with ill intent.
The plan was workable, but it was basically useless. Because before long, Kiritsugu would discover that Assassin still existed.
Didn't he know this could easily make several Masters join forces to eliminate the most dangerous one first?
Because Goldie Gilgamesh's strength far exceeded the other Masters' expectations.
Don't assume Kiritsugu wouldn't cooperate with Kayneth. Kayneth might always look down on a Magus Killer like Kiritsugu, but for the sake of victory, it's nothing to have the relatively weaker side team up to deal with the strongest and knock them out.
This is a war for something called the Holy Grail. Since it's war, anything and any means can be used. Even though after taking the other side out together, they would definitely fight each other to the death.
"Yo, one person is already out." After learning this through his familiar, Waver said happily.
Perhaps among the seven Masters, only he would naïvely think it was really over and that someone had already withdrawn. What, Ryuunosuke? Ryuunosuke doesn't even understand what the Holy Grail War is.
The King of Conquerors poured cold water on Waver's excitement.
"It's just an Assassin. What's there to get worked up about? Assassin's only advantage is hiding and ambushing." The King of Conquerors didn't care about a Servant's withdrawal at all. What he cared about was the ability of the Servant who defeated Assassin. Or rather, that way of thinking was the correct one—but unfortunately, Waver had no ability to scout the enemy's strength.
Or for Waver, everything happened too fast. Before he could even react, it was over. The only intel he got was that Assassin withdrew.
That approach made the King of Conquerors very dissatisfied, and he flicked Waver hard on the forehead.
"You can fly a plane too?" Irisviel asked in surprise after she and Artoria had just gotten off the plane, hearing what Artoria said.
"My Riding skill—aside from Phantasmal Beasts and Divine Beasts, as long as I straddle a saddle and hold the reins, I can handle it." What Artoria said was true, because she did have the ability to pilot a plane, but... just imagine the scene of "my king" piloting a plane with that look.
"Pfft." Irisviel couldn't help laughing.
"Did I say something funny?" Artoria didn't notice anything about what she'd said and instead asked with an adorably blank expression.
The King in a black suit was so beautiful it was unreal, and paired with that adorably blank expression—no wonder people say "Madam" (meaning Irisviel) got completely conquered by the King.
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