Chapter 1649: Internal Strife

After Su Xiao checked the ‘Team Annihilator’ title, he felt it was not really a detriment. Although the titles of Good Fighter and Traveler couldn’t be used in three Derivative Worlds, wearing the Team Annihilator title could reduce a lot of trouble, and at least serve as a deterrent.

As long as the lone wolf contractors and adventure groups in the same world as Su Xiao don’t have a penchant for courting death, they won’t actively provoke him. If there is no existing feud, Su Xiao would also not go out of his way to find trouble with those contractors, violators excluded.

After dealing with Stan, Su Xiao felt much more relaxed. Previously, Reed had disclosed to Su Xiao that a Sixth-Tier Contractor was inquiring about him. If this had nothing to do with Stan, Su Xiao absolutely wouldn’t believe it. It was due to this information that Su Xiao accelerated the resolution with Blood Gate.

Being targeted by a large adventure group is certainly not a pleasant experience. Now that Stan is dead, as for the remnants of Blood Gate, this still needs further observation. From the known intel, the chances of them seeking revenge are very low, whether it’s Naloi or Huang Yan.

Talking about if Naloi and Huang Yan have the capacity to seek revenge on Su Xiao, the mere nature of Blood Gate adventure group prevents them from retaliating. Blood Gate is a large interest-driven collective, unlike the Divine Emperor kind of adventure group that bases on interest with bonds of camaraderie. For the people at Blood Gate, interest is everything.

When Su Xiao killed Blood Gate members, the first thought Stan had wasn’t revenge; rather, it was finding Su Xiao to demand compensation, to make up for the loss Blood Gate suffered in nurturing a member.

The streetlights cast Su Xiao’s shadow. When he fought with Stan and Naloi, although these two didn’t inflict heavy injuries on him, he cut his chest several times before using Shadow Flash, and using Shadow Flash twice consecutively depleted his stamina. Right now, he really has no energy left for more battles; encountering other Heroic Spirits now would be troublesome.

The first to join up with Su Xiao was Bubu Wang, who was patrolling nearby to prevent a sneak attack on Su Xiao when he fought with Stan and others.

Soon, A Mu’s figure appeared on a distant street; it had come to assist Su Xiao but unfortunately, the battle ended too quickly.

Minutes later, Rin Tohsaka and Illya arrived. After regrouping with Su Xiao, Rin Tohsaka was already panting heavily, almost on the verge of collapse. Originally having just mastered new ability, Rin was filled with war intent, but she didn’t have a chance to join the battle. She was running throughout, even suspecting she was here for a marathon.

Illya, however, sat comfortably on Hercules’ shoulder, seeing this, Rin was envious, but could only envy since sitting on A Mu’s shoulder she didn’t want to freeze to death.

“Solved?”

Rin Tohsaka spoke, taking several deep breaths, her breathing gradually calmed.

“Of course.”

“Kirei… is he dead?”

“Dead.”

Upon hearing Su Xiao’s answer, Rin Tohsaka’s expression didn’t change much, but she was not at peace inside. Indeed, deep revenge was sought, after all, it was the murder of her father.

“What do we do next?”

“Head back and sleep.”

Su Xiao was very fatigued now. Although it was a great opportunity to deal with other Heroic Spirits or Masters, he could only stop here.

The time left in the Holy Grail World was running short, Su Xiao had to seize this final moment to attempt an unstoppable advance.

Blood Gate adventure group started clearing other contractors as soon as they entered the Holy Grail World, nearly two hundred people split into several squads; at the world’s onset, over 70% of lone wolf contractors died. If Su Xiao hadn’t ambushed one of the Extermination Squads, those lone wolf contractors would be wiped out by now.

But even so, the remaining 30% of lone wolves wouldn’t show up easily, plus, amid this bizarre Holy Grail War situation, counting Su Xiao, there were a total of six Heroic Spirits surviving, only Dog Brother was unfortunate enough to meet his end.

After Su Xiao’s days of investigation, the remaining combinations are:

Shiro Emiya (Master) + Heroic Spirit Emiya (Heroic Spirit).

Illya (Master) + Hercules (Heroic Spirit).

Kuzuki Souichirou (Master) + Medea (Heroic Spirit) + Kojiro Sasaki (Heroic Spirit).

Sakura Matou (Master) + Unknown Heroic Spirit.

Not to mention Shiro Emiya and Heroic Spirit Emiya leisurely sipping tea, Illya’s combination posed no threat to Su Xiao anymore for very simple reasons: right now, a single snap of Su Xiao’s fingers and Illya would be obliterated into scattered pieces.

The only threat to Su Xiao at present was the faction led by Kuzuki Souichirou, as well as the ever-unseen Sakura Matou.

That’s right, Sakura Matou was also participating in this Holy Grail War, and moreover, representing the Matou House. Even more surprisingly for Su Xiao, the old insect of the Matou family and Sakura Matou were collaborators, rather than exploiting each other. As for Shinji Matou, he only had vague impressions of Sakura having met once in childhood, not very familiar.

Not just Shinji Matou, Rin Tohsaka and Shiro Emiya weren’t familiar with Sakura Matou either. This change made Su Xiao immediately think it was the result of Blood Gate interference.

It’s worth noting that Blood Gate intended to manufacture an Artificial Holy Grail this time; Illya clearly couldn’t continue as the Holy Grail’s vessel. The Holy Grail within her had been maliciously tainted. Even if summoned, it would spew mud and damage most of Fuyuki City, serving no other purpose, whereas Sakura Matou might be Blood Gate’s prepared new vessel.

Based on Su Xiao’s conjecture, the people at Blood Gate likely preserved Sakura Matou during childhood and forged an extremely unstable cooperative relationship with the old insect, thereby allowing other powerful magicians to nurture Sakura Matou, ensuring she held no malice, creating a Holy Grail of good quality. If Sakura Matou were to enter the insect pool, she’d either collapse or undergo darkening sooner or later.

Right now, the old insect dared not touch Sakura Matou and even placed its wagers on her, clearly indicating Sakura Matou’s formidable strength.

Currently, Su Xiao had resolved Blood Gate’s hidden dangers, among the remaining Heroic Spirits, aside from Sakura Matou’s uncertain situation, others weren’t considered difficult to confront. Therefore, Su Xiao needed to deal with the factions of Kuzuki Souichirou and Sakura Matou.

It’s crucial to note, Su Xiao used the Core of Devour to absorb Heroic Spirit Energy, enabling the enhancement of Blue Steel Shadow Ability Level. Such opportunities were rare, once Blue Steel Shadow reaches Lv.50, an ability named Energy Blocking would fully awaken. Blue Steel Shadow was currently Lv.45, the higher its level, the harder it is to improve dramatically. The journey was daunting.

Thinking this, Su Xiao’s gaze fell on Hercules, the primary target that needed dealing. Although he could control Illya’s life and death, there’s no guarantee she wouldn’t stab him from behind to escape control. If she lacked even this courage, she wouldn’t have managed to control Hercules in his berserker class.

Su Xiao pushed open the door of a residence; inside was pitch black. He sat on the sofa for a brief rest. Though he would’ve loved to just sleep, he couldn’t afford to do so.

The lights quickly lit up inside the residence. Su Xiao ignored Rin Tohsaka and the others, sitting quietly on the sofa all the while.

Six hours later, it was still pitch black outside; Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and A Mu simultaneously opened their eyes. In the still dim room, one man, a dog, and a bull stood up together. The room remained in deathly silence. If outsiders caught sight of this, they would surely be terrified.