Eiji and Altoria were walking through the dilapidated and decaying Dragon Palace City.
The land was devoid of life, with gray coral and clumps of Cursed Energy resembling fish floating in the air.
Every scene spoke of the ruin of the Dragon Palace City.
They stepped onto gray, white stairs that looked like they would crumble with a single touch.
Crrunch.
They did crumble.
Eiji bent down and picked up a bead embedded in the steps on the ground.
"It looks a bit like a pearl."
He tossed the pearl aside casually.
The two continued, on guard, towards the main gate of the Dragon Palace.
Creeeak.
Crash.
As Eiji pushed with both hands.
The gate, like rotten wood, let out a creaking sound under the strain before collapsing with a roar.
Eiji stared speechlessly at the shattered gate.
In the moment the gate fell, Eiji even felt a sense of shock, as if he'd been scammed in a past life.
Aren't palaces and ruins in novels always full of historical charm, only to become gleaming after a simple wipe-down? What's going on with this Dragon Palace City?
It was truly something else to be in such a state of disrepair due to age.
"Be careful later. Don't let this palace collapse and bury us."
"Mm, I understand."
Altoria nodded seriously.
At the same time, she was mentally planning how much power she would need to use in a fight to ensure the palace wouldn't fall apart.
The two entered the palace, greeted by two rows of tall pillars and giant pink shells.
Continuing forward, they passed through the rows of shells, and Eiji and Altoria arrived at what seemed to be the depths of the main hall.
Here, the two finally encountered a Cursed Spirit.
Its lower body was like a snake's tail, with fins growing from its waist, spine, and elbows.
Its skin was very pale, not the soft white of a human, but a slippery white like the belly of a fish.
Its eyes resembled human eyes yet also fish eyes, and its hair was like seaweed.
Eiji, who had initially thought he'd encountered a mermaid, now regretted observing the Cursed Spirit so closely.
As if recalling something.
Eiji closed his eyes and opened them again.
The scenery in the hall had changed.
Vermilion dragon-entwined pillars.
A large, girlish pink shell, containing a bed that looked like flesh and a giant pearl.
The previously dirty floor had transformed into a red carpet.
Shimmering coral, unidentifiable sea flowers, and a luminous pearl at the top of the hall—everything was dreamily beautiful.
Finally, Eiji's gaze fell upon the Dragon Throne in the hall.
There sat an incomparably beautiful Goddess, her tail like a dragon's.
Her lovely face, paired with small, exquisite dragon horns on her head, fulfilled every fantasy one could have of a Dragon Girl.
Eiji closed his eyes once more. When he opened them, everything before him had reverted to the dilapidated palace.
The graceful, beautiful Goddess had transformed back into an ugly Cursed Spirit, resembling a Nure-onna.
The Cursed Spirit on the Dragon Throne slowly swam towards the two.
Seeing this, Eiji and Altoria instantly assumed a fighting stance.
The Cursed Spirit tilted its head, seemingly confused as to why Eiji and the other harbored such hostility towards it.
The Cursed Spirit continued to wiggle its water snake waist and advanced towards them.
"Riya."
"Mm."
As their voices fell, Altoria was the first to draw her sword and attack.
The Cursed Spirit became enraged, letting out a hoarse roar from its throat.
Its sharp claws lunged towards Altoria like five gleaming daggers.
Ding.
Altoria blocked the Cursed Spirit's attack with her Sacred Sword, then used a sidestep to deflect its momentum, throwing the Cursed Spirit off balance.
She then landed a blow, leaving a massive gash on the Cursed Spirit.
The Cursed Spirit opened its fanged maw and lunged at Altoria.
Altoria back-flipped, escaping the Cursed Spirit's attack range.
Just as Altoria prepared to attack again, the Cursed Spirit twisted nimbly and lashed its tail at her.
Sss sss sss.
Snake scales scraped against the Sacred Sword in Altoria's hand.
As the aggressor, Altoria's Sacred Sword remained unharmed.
Instead, large patches of scales were scraped off the Cursed Spirit's tail.
If Altoria's Sacred Sword were used to scale fish for Heroic Spirit Emiya, it would be incredibly effective.
Eiji suddenly had this thought.
Then, Eiji continued to observe the scene within the great hall.
This Cursed Spirit isn't very strong.
It's probably one of the top-tier Grade 1 Cursed Spirits.
If I weren't worried about accidentally demolishing this palace with excessive force, this fight would have been over in a few rounds.
Eiji wandered around the palace a few times but found no useful clues.
Eiji pulled out his phone, intending to check how long he had been inside.
14:07.
Eiji frowned.
"What's wrong, Eiji?"
Altoria, having defeated the Cursed Spirit, walked up behind Eiji.
"The time is wrong."
Eiji turned his phone towards Altoria.
"It is indeed wrong. 14:07 should be the time we entered, but now..."
Altoria fell into thought.
"It should be at least 16:00."
Her sense of time had been somewhat confused since entering this place.
However, Altoria still made a judgment based on her extensive experience.
"So, the phone's timer stopped when we entered here?"
Eiji rubbed his chin, falling into thought.
"This area is all uninhabited, right?"
"Yes, this island isn't large. Only the central area is occasionally visited by fishermen when they're out fishing."
Altoria answered Eiji's question affirmatively.
"Riya, let's use your Noble Phantasm."
Since that was the case, Eiji didn't intend to waste any more time.
Isn't there a saying: if you can't solve the problem, solve the person causing it.
Since the problem lies with this Dragon Palace City, why not just use a Noble Phantasm to completely destroy this palace?
"I understand."
Altoria nodded.
The two left the palace and returned to the entrance.
They planned to evacuate immediately after Dragon Palace City was destroyed.
"The entrance... it's gone?"
Eiji strangely touched the wall in front of him, then punched it hard with his Cursed Energy-infused fist.
Bang.
There was no debris flying, nor did the wall crack.
All that happened was the wall rippled like the surface of water.
"This feeling... is it a Barrier?"
Altoria recognized what it was immediately.
There were quite a few Barriers at Jujutsu High, and Eiji and Medea often researched Barriers together.
Through constant exposure, Altoria had also developed a deep understanding of Barriers.
"Hmm, it seems they really intend to trap us here until we die."
Eiji formed hand seals, and Qiongqi appeared behind the two.
"Let's begin."
Eiji looked at Altoria.
"Okay."
Altoria held the Sacred Sword in front of her with both hands.
Whoosh.
The Wind King Barrier dissipated from the Sacred Sword, and specks of light began to gather on the blade.
The light gradually coalesced into a dazzling pillar.
Altoria raised the Sacred Sword high and then swung it down in the direction of Dragon Palace City.
"Excalibur!"
A destructive pillar of light erupted from the ground, and Dragon Palace City turned to dust in this attack.
Qiongqi immediately flapped its wings and flew above the two, the gale surrounding it ready to shatter any falling debris.
However, to Eiji's surprise, not much debris fell from above them.
Instead, a strange cry echoed in Eiji's ears.
After riding Qiongqi into the sky, Eiji finally confirmed the Cursed Spirit's true form.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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