"Senior, look!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka, who was walking with his head down, heard Mash's call, immediately stopped and looked in the direction Mash was pointing.
I saw a dilapidated small village appearing in the direction Mash was pointing.
This small village was not big. Perhaps before it became like this, hundreds of ordinary people lived here, living a life of sunrise and sunset. However, judging from the traces of fire in the village and the dried, blackened blood, it seemed that it had been in trouble for a long time.
This small village was no exception. At this time, it had been 3 days since Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash left the Pyrenees Mountains. As they went deep into the hinterland of France, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash had already encountered quite a few villages that looked like they had been looted.
Fujimaru Ritsuka punched a nearby large tree in frustration.
"Again! Just what happened here!"
"Senpai, please calm down! Should we still head into the village to take a look?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka took a deep breath to calm his emotions, nodded seriously to Mash, and then carefully entered the village under her protection.
Just like the villages they had seen on the road before, there were traces of arson, dried blackened blood, perfectly preserved valuables, grain that hadn't been taken, and missing corpses; all of this hung over Fujimaru Ritsuka's heart like a thick mist.
"It's too strange! It looks like a raid, yet the valuables and grain are all still here, and there are only bloodstains without a single corpse to be found."
"Senpai, do you think it's possible that, like that army we saw the other day, these villagers were abducted to be turned into zombies!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka shook his head. Although Fujimaru Ritsuka's level as a Magus was quite poor, as the Master of Chaldea who had undergone various training, he was a Master of theory. While he couldn't create zombies himself, he knew the general manufacturing process.
While it was unknown what zombies were like before the Age of Gods, or if the concept even existed in Europe during that time, modern zombies in the true sense of Magecraft actually originated from Egypt and China. It was only through the concepts of Chinese Jiangshi and Egyptian mummies that zombies truly appeared within the European Magecraft system.
Zombies in the true sense within the European Magecraft world were created using the concepts of Chinese Jiangshi, mummies, and Dead Apostles for inspiration. Therefore, they were also called Hopping Vampires—vampires that leap. Conceptually, they are 'walking corpses,' meaning corpses that can move freely, possessing a certain level of intelligence and self-will. They are completely different from traditional Ghouls and the 'living corpses' categorized as zombies (resurrected corpses), and the difficulty of their creation is on a completely different level.
Precisely because of the difficulty involved, there are certain requirements for the corpses used to create zombies; not just anyone can be turned into one. Seeing as the zombie army Fujimaru Ritsuka encountered that day consisted entirely of adult males, he was certain these villagers were not taken to be turned into zombies.
But if they weren't taken to make zombies, then what were these villagers captured for? Whenever Fujimaru Ritsuka thought about this, a bad premonition would well up in the depths of his heart.
After Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash carefully searched the village again to no avail, he had no choice but to use the communicator to contact Rin Tohsaka and Reines to explain his doubts.
"Fujimaru, are you saying the villagers have all disappeared? Reines, what do you think?"
"There isn't enough intelligence right now. Why don't we ask Da Vinci and see if she has any new observation results over there!"
On the projected image, Rin Tohsaka shook her head.
"If Da Vinci had new observation results, she would take the initiative to notify us. Asking now would be a waste of time."
"Right! Rin, Jeanne and I have already infiltrated one of the villages these past few days. From the information we've gathered, it's said that France and Britain are currently occupied by the Dragon Queen and the Evil Queen. Could it be..."
"No. Although I don't know who the Evil Queen is, I've probably already guessed the identity of the Dragon Queen. If the Dragon Queen possesses the Holy Grail, she can create Wyverns without needing any materials at all, so humans are of no use to her. Furthermore, if they were meant to be rations, there would be no need to capture them; she could just let the Wyverns hunt for themselves..."
Suddenly, Rin Tohsaka seemed to think of something in the projection. Her expression shifted from relaxed to one of intense tension, and then she sucked in a cold breath at her own guess.
"I've thought of a terrifying possibility! Those humans are very likely being captured to be used as sacrifices! Fujimaru, Mash, return immediately to regroup with Jeanne and Reines, and then use the fate system to summon as many Heroic Spirits from Chaldea as possible to help!"
"Is it that serious, Director?"
"Yes! If my guess is true, then this will be a hard-fought battle!"
Hearing Rin Tohsaka's categorical words, everyone couldn't help but start getting nervous. For Rin Tohsaka to use the term 'hard-fought battle,' they could already imagine the level of opponent they would be facing next.
Amidst the swirling yellow sands, Rin Tohsaka, who was carrying Gudako on ishtars bow and flying toward the Nile River basin, clenched her fists tightly. 'I hope my guess just now was wrong!'
"Gudako, hold on tight, I'm going to accelerate! There's no time to take it slow!"
With that, ishtars bow carried Rin Tohsaka and the constantly screaming Gudako, flying toward the Nile River basin at maximum speed.
Cairo, this ancient city located at the southern tip of the Nile Delta, currently seemed as if it had returned to the Age of Gods.
A massive, unfinished palace towered in the center of Cairo, with tens of thousands of physically strong slaves working intensely around this giant structure.
Outside the city walls of Cairo, several hundred-meter-long Giant Snakes were lazily coiled around the walls, sunbathing, while a group of young women dressed as divine Servants were sweating profusely as they cleaned the scales on the Giant Snakes' bodies.
The passing merchant caravans and civilians nearby seemed to have long since become accustomed to the presence of the Giant Snakes, calmly entering and exiting through the city gates surrounded by the serpents without any sign of fear.
At the entrance of a small palace to the right of Cairo's city center, two Sphinxes stood tall and majestic, watching all creatures passing by the palace road, faithfully guarding the royal palace behind them.
Deep within this small palace, a series of anxious footsteps could be heard. That sequence of pitter-patter footsteps indicated that the owner of the sound was actually running within this solemn and dignified palace.
Cleopatra, dressed in a thin white veil, frowned and pushed away the grapes a maid had peeled and offered to her mouth. She sat up from her small velvet-covered couch and looked toward the gates of the great hall.
At the entrance, loyal Guards crossed their spears to block the gates of the hall, stopping the High Priest who had come running in a panic.
"Halt! The Great Pharaoh is resting!"
"Fools! Get out of my way! I have a matter of utmost importance to report to the Pharaoh!"
The two Guards didn't speak, but silently aimed their spears at the High Priest's chest, seemingly intending to let his blood spill right there if he uttered another word.
"Let him in."
At that moment, Cleopatra's charming voice drifted over, causing the two Guards to withdraw their spears.
Having received permission, the High Priest gave the two Guards a smug glare, then trotted to Cleopatra's couch and knelt on the ground.
"Great Pharaoh, an oracle! An avatar of a god is about to arrive in Cairo!"
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