Chapter 571: Another Black King
Kaito Shirogane opened his eyes. The black mud continuously dripped in front of him, and within it, an invisible spirit body continuously struggled and twisted.
Kaito Shirogane tilted his head, watching that intensely struggling King's heart constantly sink.
In this special state, he could almost completely read the heart of this King.
Bearing the destiny of the Chosen King, countless soldiers fought alongside her, but ultimately, the kingdom still headed towards decline. The pain and disappointment of the people almost destroyed her.
The ever-victorious King of Knights began to fear facing the faces of those defeated and dead knights. She began to be swallowed by the guilt and regret in her heart.
The Chosen King fell into self-doubt because she couldn't save Britain, and the ever-victorious King began to worry she couldn't win.
Those dark and twisted thoughts entangled this King's resolute and flawless soul. Accompanied by the erosion of the black mud, this spirit body was quickly submerged by the black mud.
Fresh flesh and blood began to condense in [All the Evils in This World]. That magical energy, intense enough to condense into a physical entity, naturally radiated.
The blue dress and silver armor faded away. Over the black dress and dark armor, scarlet patterns permeated. Even the brilliant blonde hair seemed to have faded into an almost white state.
Accompanied by the appearance of a pitch-black faceguard on her face, covering this King who had fallen into the dark side of her heart, the blackened Artoria officially appeared in the real world.
On top of the tower, Kaito Shirogane looked at the Black Saber appearing before him, his eyes full of interest.
The posture of that holy and flawless thing falling into darkness made him feel incomparably interesting. Moreover, he felt he could come closer to the so-called [Heart] by observing the other party's state.
At the very least, he had currently obtained some commonalities from these people who displayed the Radiance of the Heart and Pulsation of the Soul.
Intense emotional fluctuations, incomparably firm belief, and a catalyst capable of burning these things to the point of overwhelming personal will!
The first two are easy to explain. Only for that last factor, Kaito Shirogane doesn't have much of a clue yet.
However, he is inherently still far from that kind of position right now.
His current top priority is naturally to continue strengthening his energy attribute, break through the so-called Second Ladder, and obtain authority.
In addition, find a way to trade and obtain more [Golden Souls]. To him, compared to making his own soul holy and pure, directly integrating ready-made [Golden Souls] into his body is more convenient.
Fortunately, [Death Toll Heaven] told him there is already news in this regard. They seem to want to use that thing in exchange for a special trade.
"How to, seize?"
Black Saber's voice was cold, and her phrasing was extremely curt. She was controlled by Kaito Shirogane because the black mud rebuilt her physical body, but [All the Evils in This World] didn't deprive her of her personal will and pure ideals.
She merely developed another kind of thinking under the influence of the black mud, a crueler, more resolute concept of carrying out her ideals.
Artoria pursued the concept of "being an aloof King." In order to protect Britain and the pure justice in her heart, she severed all personal selfish desires and obliterated her own emotions.
It was a typical sacrificial idealist personality.
But her purity and ideals ultimately ran contrary to the results. Therefore, under the influence of [All the Evils in This World], she accepted another path.
Tyranny is also the way of a King!
Pure violence and cruel slaughter can also protect the people behind her and maintain the justice in her heart.
Since she is not understood, then there is no need to be understood. As long as she carries out her own way of the King and practices the path of a supreme ruler with pure power, then the world she seeks will also reappear.
This is the change in the blackened Artoria. Her cold question actually meant: Where should we start?
The newly revived blackened King seemed to have an irrepressible killing intent beneath that cold face and voice.
At the same time, the black [Sword of Promised Victory (Excalibur Morgan)] in her hand also constantly radiated a terrifying aura because she no longer restricted her magical energy.
Suddenly, Artoria turned her head, looking outside the city.
"Powerful magical energy."
She walked to the edge of the tower, leaning on her sword with both hands, the pitch-black magical energy directly spreading out.
In the sky, a person felt the chilling magical energy and simultaneously raised his eyes, landing on that iconic black high tower.
White long hair floated in the wind. A pair of heterochromatic pupils only needed one glance to have already captured the target.
"Black Saber... Is this a coincidence or destiny?"
The voice of the man codenamed [Solomon] transmitted into the high tower. In the next moment, accompanied by the light of magical energy, he directly teleported and appeared.
And outside the city, [Jin], who had the appearance of a young boy, the [Tree Herder], who had dealt with Kaito Shirogane in the B711 world previously, and another pair of a man and a woman, all flew over from a low altitude.
Usually, Reincarnators reaching the Title level or above would more or less obtain some flight-related abilities.
In the past, to avoid being captured by cameras, Reincarnators rarely used them in the real world. But with the emergence of the title [Ability User], more and more High-tier Reincarnators became accustomed to moving more freely in the real world.
White long hair, one red and one blue pupil, a tall and slender figure, wearing a white knit sweater, his whole body brimming with the fluctuations of magical energy.
This [Solomon], in Kaito Shirogane's eyes, radiated a presence almost completely on par with Mahakala and the few others.
"A coincidence, or destiny?"
"Do you mean that the blackened Artoria holds some special significance in the Space?"
"In the [Black King Society], her existence is there?"
Kaito Shirogane's thinking was very active. The so-called "world-shocking wisdom" wouldn't be a joke for him in the future.
Solomon also fell silent for a moment. Nowadays, many people say that Mercenary Tao is not just a powerful fierce beast, but also a fierce beast probably smarter than everyone else.
He had also witnessed this point.
Nodding, Solomon's body sat down smoothly. The rock on the ground swelled up, wrapping him perfectly like a seat.
Without any spellcasting movements, not even a process of mobilizing magical energy. This performance, Kaito Shirogane guessed, was probably the manifestation of a spellcaster reaching the [Peak of Technique] Lv9 specialization.
Of course, it was also possible that Solomon mastered a special spellcasting ability or bloodline.
Unlike spellcasters like Mahakala who purely specialized in destruction, Solomon's abilities were hidden and varied.
Artoria, standing at the door, also turned around at this time. That terrifying black longsword was pulled up smoothly, and the magical energy at the top of the high tower immediately fell into disorder.
Solomon frowned. He wasn't sure if this action was Mercenary Tao intimidating him.
But even he clearly felt that omnipresent aggressiveness from Mercenary Tao at this time.
This was completely no longer within the category of a fierce beast.
An overly powerful, overly smart fierce beast had already broken away from the category of a beast. Perhaps, it would be more accurate to call him a [Monster].
"The [Black King Society] currently probably has seven members. I have only confirmed three, and among them is that one."
He spoke vaguely, but Kaito Shirogane understood that in the [Black King Society], an Artoria existed.
That wasn't necessarily an Artoria polluted by the black mud, but more likely, like that Luffy, the true [Black King · Artoria] who had everything taken away from her in various worldlines and timelines.
The Noble Phantasm held in the other party's hand might also not be the [Sword of Promised Victory (Excalibur Morgan)], but the complete Holy Sword of the Planet, or... the Holy Lance...
Kaito Shirogane instantly associated many things but didn't speak. Solomon didn't explicitly point out the identities of the three Black Kings he confirmed, obviously not wanting to give this hidden intelligence to Kaito Shirogane for nothing.
Whoosh~
Amidst the sound of piercing the air, the Snow Witch, the Tree Herder, and the other few members of the [Far East Magic Association] also arrived on top of the high tower one after another.
The atmosphere became chilling in an instant.
"Haha, our lineup right now is perhaps even more terrifying than the formation that besieged you that day, Your Excellency Mercenary Tao."
A crisp laughter came from a blonde young boy. He bared his chest, not having much muscle, and on his chest was a huge symbol like a red sun, faintly flowing with magical energy.
[Jin], the number two figure of the [Far East Magic Association] second only to Solomon. Many people rumored he might have mastered the ability of the [Sin of Pride] from the [Seven Deadly Sins] world—[Magic Power · Sunshine]!
But it had never been confirmed.
The Tree Herder stood behind him and the Snow Witch. This bizarre man with green hair and pale skin actually exchanged a glance with Kaito Shirogane and nodded.
The Snow Witch noticed this, and the atmosphere became even more subtle.
"Hahahaha..."
Kaito Shirogane laughed heartily. Intense sound waves accompanied by violent vibrations of the air; the volume was so loud it made people unconsciously frown.
The smile on Jin's face also faded a lot amidst Mercenary Tao's loud laughter.
Without any aura of energy fluctuations, this commotion was truly caused by Mercenary Tao laughing loudly.
Damn it, just how high are that guy's physical attributes?!
He was very certain that after effectiveness conversion, Mercenary Tao's strength was probably nearing a hundred points!
That kind of physical body, paired with Mercenary Tao's martial arts techniques, close combat would be a nightmare for all spellcasters.
"Don't make that kind of pointless probing, Mercenary Tao. We don't want to be enemies with you, but similarly, we won't fear your existence."
Solomon spoke, ending the increasingly tense atmosphere.
Subsequently, he snapped his fingers, and a dazed Yang Yan appeared before him.
"Yang Yan, hand that thing over. We will forgive your actions this time and won't pursue you. Of course, if you bump into our members in a mission world, that will be your misfortune."
There was no element of negotiation in Solomon's words.
Yang Yan instinctively looked at Kaito Shirogane, but the latter only looked at him with a smile.
Only then did Yang Yan realize that although Mercenary Tao would protect his life safety in Paradise, in mission worlds and other places, he completely wouldn't care.
Moreover, Mercenary Tao... wasn't exactly a charitable or devout person to begin with!
He shivered. With a flash of light in his hand, a somewhat special pager appeared. Looking at the style, it seemed somewhat similar to the one Nick Fury used to contact Captain Marvel in the Marvel world.
Kaito Shirogane naturally reached out his hand, and Yang Yan also hesitated for a moment before handing this thing to Kaito Shirogane.
[You obtained Item · S.H.I.E.L.D. Emergency Communicator (Blue)]
Seeing this, Solomon didn't stop him. He slowly shifted his gaze away from Artoria and looked at Mercenary Tao again.
"Before the mission begins, we will come find you to form a temporary team. I hope you will be prepared in advance when the time comes."
"What we are facing is not just one Vision."
"Probably, there will also be an exceptionally angry... Witch."
(End of Chapter)
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