Fate/Magus Path

That afternoon, after successfully summoning Artoria, Roy and Eulyphis returned to the Clock Tower.

Their movements were swift, even somewhat hurried, almost as if they were fleeing.

This was all Eulyphis' idea.

After all, the terrifying magic ritual displayed in Glastonbury could not be kept secret. The horrifying scene caused all the magus in London to look up in awe.

The dazzling white pillar of light pierced through the clouds and cut across the sky, even obscuring part of the sunlight. What should have been an afternoon sky was painted with the colors of dawn.

The immense magical power drew upon all the ley lines in the London area. Almost simultaneously, every family with control over the ley lines noticed abnormalities within their leylines.

The situation quickly escalated to an alarming level. The entire Clock Tower began operating at full speed, desperately searching for the culprit responsible for the anomaly within London.

...

Clock Tower

In a classroom within the Barthomeloi family's estate, located in the jurisdiction of the Department of Policies.

This was a very peculiar room.

Although called a classroom, there were no windows surrounding it. Only ventilation ducts maintained airflow in the sealed space.

Countless mirrors of different shapes hung on the walls, their smooth surfaces reflecting every corner of the room.

Each mirror was adorned with various colored gems on top. These magical mirrors served as observation tools, allowing those using them to precisely examine the state of the corresponding leylines.

At the front of the room stood a massive, transparent crystal wall, depicting a complex map representing all of London's ley lines.

Below the wall was a control panel covered with buttons of various colors, with busy workers scattered across the room.

This was the ley line observation room, one of the most important classrooms under the jurisdiction of the Department of Policies.

Its primary responsibility was to monitor the state and movement of all ley lines in London. At regular intervals, they recorded and reported the data to the upper echelons, who would then adjust the ley lines accordingly to ensure stability and prolong their lifespan.

For the Clock Tower, this classroom was vital yet seemingly a place of ease.

The task here was simply to observe the ley lines. The stability of these ley lines directly impacted the future of the Clock Tower. Yet, just by moving a few fingers and observing, they could amass significant achievements.

The work here was relatively light because ley lines typically flowed smoothly, like underground rivers. As long as there was no interference, the ley lines would remain stable, and there was no reason to worry about anything going wrong.

And this was London... the stronghold of the Clock Tower within the Mage's Association. No magus would dare tamper with London's ley lines.

Such confidence stemmed from being a member of the Department of Policies and a noble of the Clock Tower.

But this misplaced confidence only lasted until a certain daring magus arrived in London.

Suddenly, the room erupted in chaos.

The shrill sound of alarms mixed with the continuous shattering of mirrors.

Dozens of observers stared at the crystal wall, now crisscrossed with red lines as if the sky itself had fallen. They couldn't believe their eyes.

Reports from the observers monitoring the ley lines flooded in.

"B-level alert! Three leylines in the eastern suburbs of London are simultaneously showing signs of disturbance."

"C-level alert! A leyline in the western suburbs of London is showing signs of reversal, possibly even exhaustion."

"B-level alert…"

"B-level alert…"

More and more observers rushed in with their findings.

"Pull up the data immediately! I'll go inform the head of the family!"

"Wait, Chief! A-level alert! Five leylines in the city are rapidly drying up!"

"What kind of joke is this?!"

The plump man stared in disbelief at the observer reporting to him.

"Simultaneous depletion? The city's leylines were just stabilized recently. How could they suddenly dry up? And at the same time!"

It wasn't over. Suddenly, a researcher working frantically on the other side of the room let out a scream.

"It's still happening! The ley lines are still in turmoil! All of London's leylines are in chaos! We don't know why."

"What did you say?!"

In the blink of an eye, the map symbolizing London's ley lines began to crack before the stunned eyes of the plump chief.

Like dominoes, from the first line to the last, all interlocked and then… shattered.

At that moment, all the observation instruments in the room, those mirrors... went into overload, their shattering and exploding filling the air with an endless series of sounds, until the entire classroom started collapsing.

"Run!!"

Someone shouted, snapping the stunned researchers back to reality.

Under the chief's lead, dozens of people rushed toward the back door, leaving behind a room filled with sparks cascading along the walls.

It was clear that someone was deliberately causing trouble. But this was London... one of the branches of the Mage's Association. Even if the True Ancestors came with their army of Dead Apostles, they wouldn't dare to do such a thing.

Whoever was behind this had declared war on the Mage's Association itself!

Realizing that the situation had spiraled out of control, the plump chief immediately reported the incident to the Department of Policies.

...

While the nobles of the Clock Tower and the Department of Policies were busy dealing with the chaos caused by the ley lines, the car carrying Roy continued to move steadily.

Compared to Roy, who appeared indifferent, and Artoria, who seemed unconcerned about the events that had transpired, Eulyphis, sitting beside them, looked much more troubled.

As a witness to this miraculous summoning ritual, his heart was filled with shock, and he couldn't help but marvel at Roy's audacity.

To dare tamper with the ley lines across the entire London area was an insane move, effectively severing ties with the Clock Tower and cutting off any path of retreat.

From the perspective of concealing mysteries and safeguarding family interests, this matter was far from over.

Those who controlled the ley lines in London were no ordinary forces; each was an ancient and powerful magus family.

Moreover, most of these families and factions held high-ranking positions in the Clock Tower.

If this had only caused a large-scale phenomenon, they could have easily deceived the public by claiming it was an experiment with a new type of fireworks or some sort of aurora display. If needed, they could even use memory-erasing potions to create artificial rain over London.

But with magicians, it wasn't that simple. The ley lines were the foundation of all magus families, and tampering with London's ley lines was equivalent to threatening the very lifeblood of these families. No magus could tolerate such a thing.

Eulyphis knew that if it weren't for witnessing a miracle that satisfied him and having firmly decided to follow Roy, he wouldn't have let this matter go so easily.

Though they hadn't returned to the Clock Tower yet, he could already guess the chaos that had broken out there. The Department of Policies, along with other factions, would be frantically searching for the maniac who dared disturb London's ley lines.

They weren't fools. With the Department of Policies's capabilities, it wouldn't take long for them to trace the incident back to them.

After all, their prior preparations in the suburbs and today's movements were impossible to conceal.

So, the plan had to be moved forward.

Originally, even if they had to change the course of events, Eulyphis hadn't intended for things to escalate to such extreme measures, leaving no room for retreat. But now that it had been done, there was no turning back.

Unless... he immediately distanced himself from Roy, severed their ties, and portrayed himself as a victim to escape the fallout.

But that was impossible.

He had invested too much, entangled himself too deeply, and paid too high a price. At this point, it wasn't a matter of simply walking away.

Now, he had no choice but to follow Roy down this path, no matter where it led.

Such a... willful lord.

Inside the long car, Eulyphis glanced at Artoria, sitting beside Roy, and let out a sigh of relief.

The only comforting thing that had happened today was the success of the summoning ritual.

Roy had successfully summoned the legendary and ancient King of Britain, King Arthur, right before his eyes... a truly astonishing achievement.

At the same time, he had discovered a new direction for summoning magecraft: the Heroic Spirit summoning used in the Holy Grail War.

However, that would have to wait for now. They had more pressing matters to attend to.

Next, they were about to change the course of history...

Eulyphis gazed out of the window with shadowed eyes, gripping his cane more tightly.

The time it took to travel from the outskirts of London to the city wasn't long.

One assistant was driving, while the other kept watch. Eulyphis sat silently beside Roy, lost in thought.

Roy, sitting in the back seat, leaned against his chair with his eyes closed, resting. No one spoke.

The spacious car remained quiet, aside from the occasional sound of Artoria snacking.

Though her eating seemed a bit out of place in the current atmosphere, given her noble status, Eulyphis didn't dare say anything.

He wasn't in a position to lecture the ancient King of Britain, King Arthur. Like Roy, she commanded his respect, both for her power and her noble bloodline.

Having seen how Artoria regarded Roy, Eulyphis was confident that King Arthur was now an ally.

With a Magician at the helm and a King from the Age of Gods summoned to the present, Eulyphis felt more reassured.

As they continued their journey and neared the city center, something happened.

"There's an ambush!"

Artoria, who had been calmly eating, suddenly reacted to her instincts. She quickly turned to warn Roy.

Roy nodded slightly and responded, "I've noticed."

At that moment, the driver suddenly slammed on the brakes.

The car skidded forward due to inertia. If the passengers had been ordinary people, they would have been thrown forward by the sudden stop, likely crashing into the seats.

But there were no ordinary people in this car.

Roy remained steady, leaning back in his seat with his eyes still closed, unbothered by the abrupt halt. Artoria, though unmoving, had a spark of battle readiness in her eyes, while Eulyphis gripped his cane tightly, his gaze dark and shadowed.

He turned to the assistant and asked, "What… happened?"

"I'm sorry, Lord. A large number of autonomous puppets have suddenly appeared on the road ahead. If we force our way through, the vehicle will be shredded by their blades." Said the scouting assistant, his tone grave.

"There are many of them, and they are specially designed for combat. They seem quite powerful. Should we call for reinforcements from the family, Lord?"

"No need for such trouble… This is just a petty trick from those people…"

"This is probably… some kind of test." Eulyphis muttered, shaking his head, then turning to Roy. "Lord Roy and King Arthur, please just wait a moment… I will take care of these troublesome puppets myself…"

"No need. That would be too slow."

As Eulyphis stood to exit the car, Roy stopped him, then turned to Artoria and said, "Let King Arthur handle these enemies. Compared to you, she is more suited to this situation."

"Can I count on you, Artoria?" Roy asked.

"No problem, Master."

Artoria put down the half-eaten cookie in her hand, patted her chest, and asked, "Shall I eliminate them all?"

"Yes, eliminate them all, and make it quick."

"Let Lord Eulyphis witness the power of Britain's legendary king. And while you're at it, send a shock to those rats daring to test us, with the power of a Heroic Spirit from the Age of Gods."

As he spoke, Roy opened his slightly narrowed eyes, a sharp gleam flashing within them.

"Understood, Master."

Upon receiving Roy's command, Artoria nodded and swiftly vanished into spirit form, leaving the car.

*Boom!*

A roaring sound followed shortly after.

With the blinding light and heat released by Excalibur, the puppets were quickly reduced to molten metal.

In less than two minutes, Artoria returned to the car and picked up the cookie she hadn't finished.

"All cleared, Master." She reported.

"Thank you for your hard work, Artoria."

Roy nodded, clearly satisfied with Artoria's efficiency.

With her infinite magical energy combined with the homeground boost, Artoria was indeed incredibly powerful.

"Since they're all eliminated, let's continue on. Lord Eulyphis, let's not keep the people at the Clock Tower waiting too long."

"Yes…"

Called out by Roy, Eulyphis nodded, snapping out of his shock, and quickly agreed.

He then ordered the two assistants... both still stunned into silence by Artoria's display of power... to resume driving.

And so, the black car continued along the main road, heading straight toward the Clock Tower.

----

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