Chapter 332: Ex—

Chapter 332: Chapter 332: Ex—

Her hand holding the sword froze in mid-air, and the Invisible Air almost failed to maintain its form.

Her emerald eyes widened, her small mouth slightly agape, her face a mix of a shattered worldview and utter bewilderment.

She found it hard to describe this scene with words.

Stench?

No, it had already transcended the realm of "stink"; it was a multi-layered pollution.

Its power? It was outrageously bizarre, yet the effect was immediate.

(What... what on earth is this?!)

(Does Caster’s master... usually fight with this?!)

(In my career as a knight... I have never seen... and never want to see such a scene again!)

She suddenly understood why so many strangely shaped insect corpses were lying dead in those corners and on the walls along the way... It turned out they weren’t slain, but... stunk to death?!

Just then, from a smaller fork in the path nearby, came a heavy sound of footsteps and a hearty voice: "Hahaha! It seems this King is the first to find—ugh?! Pfft—!!!"

The King of Conquerors, Iskandar, strode out from the fork with his short sword on his shoulder and a bold smile. Before he could finish his sentence, a "breath of death" ten or a hundred times more terrifying than the original smell of the underground insect nest, mixed with the nest’s own foul odor, slammed into his nostrils like a battering ram!

"Urgh—!!!"

Even the King of Conquerors was choked by this sudden, brain-piercingly horrific mixed stench, his vision darkening and his stomach churning!

He lunged back two steps, covering his nose and mouth, his face turning pale. That breath he just inhaled almost made him vomit on the spot!

"Holy crap! What is that?!"

Rider’s voice cracked. He looked with shock and uncertainty at Stelle and Saber, who were facing away from him, the swarm of insects being cleared by the grayish-green "foul air," and the bizarre immortal salted fish in Stelle’s hand that was spewing the breath of death.

The exit of his passage happened to connect to the edge of the platform where Stelle and the others were, though at a slightly higher angle.

Clearly, both passages eventually led to this Mother Bug’s nest.

Stelle looked back at Rider, nodded as a greeting, and then continued to focus on "activating" the immortal salted fish’s stench to clear the remaining stray insects.

Saber cast a look of near-sympathy at Rider, an expression that seemed to say: "Welcome to hell... a hell of the senses."

Soon, the path from the platform’s edge to the Mother Bug was cleared, the ground covered in various stiff, dead insect corpses.

The immortal salted fish seemed "tired" of spraying; the terrifying stench it emitted receded significantly, but its lingering power remained, forming an invisible "forbidden zone."

The three of them met up.

Rider kept his distance, still shaken, and pointed at the salted fish in Stelle’s hand, his voice somewhat breaking: "What... what the hell is that thing?!"

Stelle looked at the salted fish and replied calmly, "A Curio. The immortal salted fish."

It was as natural as if he were introducing "this is a sword."

Rider: "..." (A Curio? What is that?!)

Saber took a deep breath, forcing herself to turn her attention back to the main topic.

She looked at the giant Mother Bug in the center of the nest, still in semi-hibernation, and the new round of small insects beginning to stir and hatch from beneath the insect carpet around it. Her emerald eyes turned sharp.

"We must destroy the core in one strike, or it will keep hatching," Saber said solemnly, raising her sword again. "I will use my Noble Phantasm."

Irisviel’s voice came faintly through her familiar, filled with concern and resolve: "Saber, I authorize the use of your Noble Phantasm. In the name of a command spells, I empower this strike!"

A warm sensation spread across the back of her hand as a command spells mark glowed slightly and then faded.

Surging magical energy flooded into her body.

Stelle nodded and gestured to Rider. The two of them retreated toward the safer rear of the platform, leaving space for Saber to act.

As Rider retreated, he couldn’t help but glance again at the salted fish Stelle was holding, his mouth twitching.

(This thing... is more terrifying than my army...)

Saber stood alone at the front of the platform, raising the invisible sword high above her head with both hands.

The wind wrapping the blade swirled violently, revealing the true form of the holy sword, as brilliant as gold!

Dazzling light erupted from the blade, dispelling the eerie green gloom of the cavern. Divine and majestic magical energy gathered like a storm!

"Ex—"

The holy radiance illuminated her determined face.

"—calibur!!!"

A brilliant golden torrent, like the light of dawn tearing through the darkness, erupted from the tip of the Excalibur!

It transformed into an incredibly thick torrent of light, crashing down toward the giant Mother Bug entrenched in the center of the nest!

The light swallowed all the small insects in its path and slammed hard against the giant bug’s thick carapace!

Boom—!!!

The deafening roar was accompanied by the sound of the carapace shattering and flesh evaporating!

The entire underground space shook violently, and rubble rained down!

The blinding light made both Stelle and Rider squint.

The light slowly dissipated.

A scorched crater appeared where the Mother Bug had been.

On its massive body, a horrific sword wound appeared, nearly piercing through it with scorched and melted edges. Dark green, viscous blood welled out like a stream.

Most of the surrounding small insects were killed or injured, and a large portion of the insect carpet was torn apart.

However... the giant bug had not been completely destroyed!

"Roar—!!!"

A sharp screech filled with pain, like countless pieces of glass rubbing together, erupted from the Mother Bug’s hideous mouthparts!

Its massive body began to writhe violently, and its compound eyes all lit up with a frenzied crimson glow!

At its wounds, the flesh writhed madly, seemingly trying to regenerate. Even more hideous small insects swarmed out from the insect carpet beneath it and the surrounding cracks!

It was completely enraged!

It had awakened from its semi-hibernation and entered a berserk battle state!

Saber panted slightly, her brow furrowed as she looked at the Mother Bug that hadn’t been killed in one hit.

(The hardness of its carapace and its vitality are far beyond expectations...)

Rider spat and gripped his short sword. "Looks like it’s not that simple! Kid, get ready!"

Perspective Shift.

Tohsaka Tokiomi felt as if he had been drifting in a cold darkness for a long time before being suddenly yanked back to reality.

The moment his consciousness returned, he was first occupied by waves of dull pain coming from a certain unspeakable part of his body, followed by total weakness and a lingering tightness in his chest.

(I... am still alive?)

He struggled to open his heavy eyelids. In his blurred vision were the anxious faces of his daughters—Rin in front and Sakura behind, the two of them working together to drag him through a dim, secluded alleyway.

"Fa... Father! You’re awake!"

Rin was the first to notice. Her sapphire eyes instantly lit up with a mix of surprise and lingering fear.

"Father..." Sakura also called out softly, tears still wet in her violet eyes.

Tokiomi opened his mouth, but his throat was too dry to make a complete sound.

He looked around; this wasn’t the familiar environment of the Tohsaka Residence, but a small alley cluttered with a few items that looked like it hadn’t been tended to in a long time.

"Did we... escape?"

He asked hoarsely. The last memories in his mind were of the side corridor, Kirei Kotomine’s cold gaze, the silent encirclement of the Assassins, and that terrifying palpitation in his chest that felt like it would burst out.

Rin and Sakura exchanged a glance, a hint of hard-to-admit embarrassment flashing across their young faces.

What had just happened... was truly a bit hard to talk about.

"Yes... we escaped."

Rin nodded vigorously, avoiding the details. "Over there... it seems there was some infighting! For some reason, the Assassins suddenly went crazy and attacked their own people, so we took the chance to run out!" She spoke quickly, trying to make the explanation sound plausible.

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