C315

"Wait, Nrvnqsr Chaos?" Caules exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock. He turned to Arcueid, his voice filled with disbelief. "Miss Arcueid, are you sure about this? Could you be mistaken?"

Arcueid wore a serious expression as she replied, "You should find a place to hide, Caules."

Caules nodded, his fear evident, and hurriedly moved to take cover behind the nearby furniture.

Nrvnqsr Chaos... That name sent shivers down his spine. As the heir of the Forvedge family, Caules may have appeared careless and often immersed himself in manga and other trivial pursuits, but being the heir also meant he possessed some fundamental knowledge about the world of magecraft.

Nrvnqsr Chaos, the 10th ancestor of the Dead Apostle Ancestors!

Legend has it that Nrvnqsr Chaos hailed from the "Wandering Sea" branch of the Mage's Association. However, unlike the other True Ancestors, he took a different path, delving into forbidden research that led him to transform himself into a vampire and become a Dead Apostle.

His power is nothing short of extraordinary!

Despite the Church's relentless attempts to eradicate him, they have all proved futile.

He has gained a reputation as one of the most troublesome True Ancestors.

Caules couldn't help but wonder why Nrvnqsr Chaos had chosen to make his appearance here, in the heart of London. Out of all the places, why right in front of him? It felt like an incredibly unfortunate stroke of luck.

Fear and confusion swirled in Caules's mind, intensifying his trepidation.

"The True Ancestor is our target."

Nrvnqsr Chaos locked his gaze onto Arcueid, and from within him, an abyss of darkness surged forth. It swiftly materialized into a pack of ferocious and menacing black beasts, charging towards her with a terrifying ferocity.

Arcueid furrowed her brow, ready to take action, but Shirou quickly reached out and stopped her.

"Shirou?" Arcueid's surprise was evident in her voice.

"Let me handle this. If you intervene, it'll only lead to more destruction," He warned, his body emanating a foreboding dark aura.

Swirling black mud surged around him, morphing into a monstrous maw brimming with jagged teeth. There was a horrifying "crunch" as the gaping mouth devoured the encroaching black beasts. It reduced them to a gory mass of shredded remains before consuming them entirely with a satisfying "gulp."

"What... what kind of Mystic Code is that?"

Caules felt his scalp tingling at the sight.

Nrvnqsr Chaos's attacks were already terrifying enough, but the Mystic Code displayed by Shirou, no, Fujimaru-sama, was even more horrifying!

"Monster! Monster...!"

"Help... help!"

Ceramic plates crashed to the floor, their shattering noise echoing through the room. Chairs and stools were sent hurtling through the air, adding to the chaos unfolding before them.

It was as if they had walked into a nightmarish realm, straight out of a horror movie. Fear gripped the people, their instincts screaming at them to escape in sheer panic. But Nrvnqsr Chaos stood firmly at the entrance, blocking their path. Their only choice was to retreat, forced to backpedal relentlessly.

"What is this entity that bears semblance to my primordial sea...? What do you humans think you're doing?" Nrvnqsr Chaos asked.

"Something that will be your downfall," Shirou replied. Behind him, a surge of black mud gathered, forming a protective wall that shielded the onlookers from view. Suddenly, dozens of swords materialized through his Projection and soared towards Nrvnqsr Chaos.

Reacting with impressive speed, Nrvnqsr unleashed a crocodile-like creature from within his body, its gaping jaws devouring all the incoming swords in one swift motion.

"I'm not so easily impressed," Shirou sneered. He tightly clenched his hand, channeling his power.

—Broken Phantasm!

A deafening explosion erupted as dozens of swords shattered simultaneously. In the blink of an eye, Nrvnqsr was obliterated into countless pieces.

However, the flesh and blood transformed into a pure black chaos, coalescing and reshaping itself into the humanoid figure of Nrvnqsr Chaos.

Nrvnqsr glanced at Shirou and responded, "I see what you're doing. It's a straightforward combination of Projection magecraft and the release of magical energy. Nothing too advanced, just a tactical utilization of basic magecraft. It's a shame, though, that my immortality renders it ineffective."

Nrvnqsr Chaos was extremely confident.

And that was normal because he possessed a special Reality Marble called the "Lair of the Beast King."

Nrvnqsr Chaos's Reality Marble differed from Iskandar's Ionioi Hetairoi and Emiya's Unlimited Blade Works. His "Lair of the Beast King" functioned similarly to Kiritsugu's Time Alter, as it manifested the Reality Marble within his own body.

In simpler terms, he activated the Reality Marble within himself.

The Lair of the Beast King, possessed by Nrvnqsr Chaos, created a swirling vortex of the combined essence of 666 creatures within his body, granting him a semblance of having up to 666 lives.

Since Nrvnqsr Chaos had merged with the animal factors himself, the creatures he unleashed were considered an integral part of his body, rather than mere familiars. These animal factors lacked a fixed form within him. Even if the released beasts were slain outside, as long as they returned to the core chaos and reverted to their original state, they wouldn't be completely eradicated. Therefore, to kill Nrvnqsr, one had to swiftly eliminate all 666 lives in one fell swoop!

Interestingly, the most effective strategy when using the Lair of the Beast King was to leave a few lives hidden in the outside world. This approach made it virtually impossible to kill Nrvnqsr Chaos, no matter the circumstances.

This was precisely what made Nrvnqsr Chaos an exceptionally formidable Ancestor.

The only thing capable of restraining him was the power of the Mystic Eye of Death Perception!

They need to kill him directly from the root!

But, neither Shirou nor Arcueid possessed such a thing.

"Shirou, there's no point in confronting him directly. In a way, his immortality resembles mine," she remarked, casting a glance at the black wall behind her. "We should lead him away first."

"No need for that." Shirou looked at Nrvnqsr Chaos and sneered. "In front of me, a Dead Apostle has no such thing as immortality!"

Upon hearing his words, Nrvnqsr remained unperturbed, maintaining his calm demeanor.

After all, having been a Dead Apostle Ancestor for numerous years, he had confronted both the Church and Arcueid, who had relentlessly pursued him, yet none could lay a hand on him.

Now, faced with a mere human boasting in his presence, how could he possibly react?

Crimson mud began to ooze forth from Shirou's body.

"That is..." Nrvnqsr's expression couldn't help but freeze.

As a result of possessing the Lair of the Beast King, he had gained immortality, but his own personality had become incredibly diluted. Yet, even with such diminished emotions, he couldn't help but be startled.

The moment the crimson mud materialized, he realized that his vampiric impulse had vanished!

It was gone!

This was utterly inconceivable!

Dead Apostles earned their name because they were vampires who relied on consuming human blood, thus possessing a deeply ingrained vampiric impulse, an instinctive craving. Even the True Ancestor he had hunted down retained that impulse.

Nothing in this world had ever been capable of eradicating a Dead Apostle's vampiric instinct, until now...

Yet, the moment that crimson, mud-like substance materialized, his vampiric impulse genuinely vanished!

What was that?

Nrvnqsr couldn't help but question the nature of the crimson mud as he witnessed Shirou hurling it towards him.

Unknown things were always terrifying, and even Nrvnqsr couldn't escape from this feeling.

He swiftly summoned several massive monsters, intending to intercept the crimson mud.

However, the moment his unleashed creatures made contact with the crimson mud, they were swiftly dissolved, as if they had stumbled upon their ultimate nemesis.

What astounded Nrvnqsr even more was the realization that the dissolved monsters couldn't regenerate!

Or rather...

Once the crimson mud had stripped them of their regenerative capabilities, the black mud proceeded to devour them mercilessly.

What... what was going on?

Nrvnqsr had no idea, but he instinctively wanted to avoid this mud.

However, it was already too late.