Anchor, Stop Pretending, You're in Chaldea - Chapter 54

“Hoo… I confirm that the familiars have been completely eliminated,” Mashu said, putting down her shield and letting out a sigh of relief.

“To think that such evil creatures were being used. That Caster is truly a terrifying person,” Martha frowned as she looked at the mess on the ground.

When she was sent out to pursue the enemy, she knew very little about this Caster, not even his true name. She only knew that Dragon Witch relied heavily on him.

“Kiyohime, are you alright?” Elisabeth asked with concern, looking at Kiyohime, who was leaning against the wall. She had also expended a lot of magical energy in the battle just now.

“I apologize,” Kiyohime tried to compose herself and then bowed to Bai Qiu and the others. “Thank you all for coming to rescue me. I am truly grateful.”

“We can talk about the rest later. Let’s hurry and leave this place first,” Bai Qiu immediately made a decision.

The sea demons seemed endless, and they had no idea where Gilles de Rais was at the moment. It would be better to return to the surface as soon as possible. Besides, ever since they entered this prison level, they had a constant feeling of unease.

“Yes, being trapped in a place like this must be tiresome. Let’s get out of here quickly,” Elisabeth sighed.

“…Yes, you’re right. Thank you all for your help,” Kiyohime nodded and started following the group.

As they turned back towards the previous path, they remained vigilant for any sea demons lurking in the shadows.

“Kiyohime, are you going to join us in settling the score with that stalker?” Elisabeth turned around to look at Kiyohime.

“Are you declaring war against Dragon Witch?”

“They happen to have conflicts with those guys too, so I reluctantly agreed to their invitation,” Elisabeth said, crossing her arms.

“That young man, is he your Master?”

“Of course not!” Elisabeth immediately denied, but quickly added, “But, considering how much he needs me, I let him be my manager, just that, nothing more! As for being a Master, I need to think about it carefully!”

“Hehe…” Kiyohime suddenly laughed.

“Why… why are you laughing? It’s true! If you don’t believe me, go ask that guy. He was the one who said he needed me first!” Elisabeth hurriedly explained, waving her hands.

——————-

At this moment, Bai Qiu didn’t want to interrupt the conversation between the two girls, so he pretended not to hear.

“Well, I’ll assist you as well,” Bai Qiu said, nodding and accepting Elisabeth’s invitation.

“I was summoned specifically to deal with that witch, so it would be great to have someone else with me,” Kiyohime replied.

Upon hearing Kiyohime’s response, Elisabeth smiled.

“That’s great! Once we find that stalker, we’ll give him a good beating. We’ll settle the score for locking me up and for making you suffer.”

“Yes, we must make him experience being locked up, perhaps with a three-day and three-night burning. And then, we can lock him up in Csejte, let him feel the eternal pain of imprisonment. After all, there are still many empty spaces inside.”

The two girls smiled at each other.

Their shared experiences and positions brought these two girls, who had no connection before, together as friends.

Soon, the group arrived at the staircase they had descended earlier. They only needed to go up this staircase to leave.

“Senpai, I’ll go up first to check the situation.”

“Sure, please do.”

Mashu went up first, and after confirming it was safe, Martha and Bai Qiu followed suit.

Because Kiyohime was too weak, she rested a bit below and finally went up with Elisabeth.

When Kiyohime was climbing the stairs, she seemed to struggle a bit. Elisabeth, who was in front, reached out her hand to her.

“Come, grab my hand.”

“……Okay.”

Just as Kiyohime reached out her hand towards Elisabeth above her.

Blood splattered out.

In the horrified gaze of Elisabeth, a sharp tentacle pierced through Kiyohime’s chest.

“——————?!”

Mashu immediately sensed something.

“Senpai, there’s a magical energy reaction!!!”

“This is bad!”

Bai Qiu immediately turned back and looked down the stairs.

From the darkness, the nauseating sound of sea demons could be heard again.

“Hold on tight, everyone!!!”

Martha was the first to react. She turned back and grabbed Elisabeth, pulling her and Kiyohime up from below the stairs together!

“Squawk——————!!!”

Several tentacles flew out from the shadows below the stairs.

“Haah!!!”

Mashu directly launched a shield strike, knocking all the leaping sea demons back.

To prevent the sea demons from following them, Mashu immediately used her shield to block the staircase and sealed off the passage.

“Kiyohime, how are you?” Elisabeth, who was pulled up, hurriedly went to check on Kiyohime’s condition.

At this moment, crimson blood kept gushing out from her chest, slowly staining Kiyohime’s kimono red.

“Cough… cough…”

Kiyohime, who was already weak, couldn’t speak anymore after being seriously injured.

“Martha, can you use ‘Miracle’ to heal her?” Bai Qiu immediately asked Martha to examine Kiyohime’s injuries.

After carefully examining Kiyohime’s wound, Martha shook her head slowly.

“I’m sorry, her Spirit Core has been damaged, and this body will soon collapse.”

“How could this happen…”

Elisabeth couldn’t believe it as she held Kiyohime’s hand.

“We had agreed to give that stalker a good beating, didn’t we?”

But no matter how Elisabeth called out, Kiyohime’s body had already started to become transparent.

With her last bit of strength, she held onto Elisabeth’s finger and softly uttered two words:

“…Thank… you…”

Under the gaze of everyone, Kiyohime disappeared just like that.

The Kiyohime who had planned to join the team earlier had now returned to the seat of a Heroic Spirit.

Helplessly watching their own Servant disappear before their eyes, not to mention that the other Servant was not summoned by themselves, they couldn’t even use Command Seals to repair the Saint Graph.

“System, can I special summon Kiyohime now?”

Just like Martha back then, if they used a special summon now, they might still have a chance.

Having one more fighting force now would be good, especially since the decisive battle was about to begin.

Special summoning a Servant consumes far fewer points than drawing cards.

[Beep beep… Detected that the Servant did not possess the will to protect humanity during their lifetime, nor did they detect any “bond” with the host.]

[Unable to establish a connection, cannot perform a special summon.]

“——————?!”

So there are so many restrictions on special summoning?

Indeed, Kiyohime is not considered a Heroic Spirit that protects humanity, and they have only exchanged a few words, so naturally, there is no so-called “bond” between them.

Damn it… At this point, I can only accept her departure.

Just as Bai Qiu was about to go comfort Elisabeth, a figure slowly walked out from the depths of the corridor in front of them.

“How is everyone feeling in this carefully prepared stage play by me?”