I'm Shenji, what are you doing?

Heine once again wandered into the vestibule of the stripped city Adela.

Yes, again, not the first time.

Why Heine was the first to discover the "corpse" of Hano Hisri was not because he got up early as he said, but because he didn't sleep at all.

On the night of Hanano Hisri's "death", he launched an investigation in his own way and gained a lot. And the death of Hanano Hisri provided new clues and directions for his investigation, right here, in this seemingly nothing special vestibule.

There was a forest there, and the sound of rustling leaves resounded like the laughter of a witch, a forest at night.

"...It seems like this is the right path."

He muttered to himself, stepping onto the piled leaves. When they came to a stone monument, there were signs of dragging near the stone monument.

Heine thought for a while, then began to push the stone tablet.

The flow of air can be felt between the gap between the pedestal and the ground. Soon, the steps leading to the underground gradually appeared from the gap.

There are tunnels, tunnels so deep that you can’t see the bottom at a glance. Although European castles often contain secret passages, it is rare to find them so deep.

Heine thought for a few seconds and finally made up his mind.

Heine walked down the steps slowly. His steps were light, but they made a loud sound when they landed on the ground, which made him feel a little uneasy.

He knew that he was a little impatient and it was not appropriate to investigate alone. Hisashi Hanano is dead. No matter how conceited he is, he dare not say that he is stronger than the managers sent by the Legal Affairs Department.

The correct approach should be to make allies and act together like Luvia. Unfortunately, although he also established an ally during the day, this ally is now protecting his sister, who is more important than his life.

The reason he came here and took the risk was all for his sister, Rosalind, whom he loved more than anyone else.

Recalling her profile.

Recalling her lovely appearance with her head raised like a bird, looking at herself.

Recalling her attachment to him, the young knight unconsciously glanced at his legs.

To be precise, it's not the legs, but the "magic markings" on the legs.

Initially, Heine did not intend to inherit the magic seal. The bright and open-minded character of the young man is incompatible with the dark side inherent in magic, so half out of interest and half out of escaping, he knocked on the door of the Holy Church. The Istari family, which had lost its heir, naturally turned its attention to had their second child, Rosalind.

Tragedy happened.

Rosalind's body reacted abnormally to the magic mark.

It is not rejection caused by under-adaptation, but over-adaptation.

Rosalind had all of her magic seals transplanted in just one year, and there seemed to be no rejection.

But this is on the surface. In fact, almost all of his life force has been taken away by the magic mark.

By the time the family realized something was wrong, and by the time Heine got rid of the obstruction of the Holy Church and returned to the Istari family to receive another transplant, it was too late.

——The magic mark once transplanted to Rosalind has undergone a qualitative change.

Although Rosalind's body had recovered to a certain extent, this time it was Heine's turn to have her life force slowly absorbed by the magic seal. Due to the stronger vitality obtained from Heine, the magic mark began to invade the body from the legs and became extremely complicated, even impossible to remove. According to the diagnosis made by an old friend’s witch doctor, he can only survive for a few more years.

Heine doesn't care about his life or death. As long as he dies, he will be completely freed from the magic mark. Although it is a pity to die halfway like this, there are too many such examples in the history of magic.

There was only one thing that he couldn't tolerate, no matter what - he didn't want Rosalind to see his death, and he didn't want her to know that he died because of her.

Therefore, Grevin Ashborne's secret method is needed, the secret method that can freely adjust the engraving.

Strengthening his determination once again and pushing away his uneasiness, the knight who protected his sister moved forward while thinking.

Has Hisori Hanano been here too?

Was he killed for this reason?

How was she killed, and how did she appear on the Angel Sword?

After advancing for a certain distance, Heine felt an unusual magical power.

"Is this the center of the workshop?"

All magicians can confirm that the entire "Split City" is a workshop, but no matter what kind of workshop it is, there will be a center, which is the source of everything and the place where secrets are most likely to be hidden.

"Convert——(circulate)!"

The young man whispered, and a purple light bloomed from his body, which was a sign of the activation of the Istari family's most precious treasure, the "living stone."

The more magic is activated in the body, the stronger it becomes. This is Istari's original magic principle, and "living stone" is the product of applying this magic principle to the extreme. It merges with the owner's body and can transform itself with just a short spell.

The purple light that lights up on the body surface is the magic alloy that combines with alchemy to transform the body surface, including the face and the clothes on the body. Heine's suit is also woven by the alchemy of Istari, which can be fused with "living stone" and has the effect of stabilizing its shape.

At this moment, Heine was like a heavily armored knight from ancient times, wearing heavy armor and carrying a lance.

The armor's hardness is not inferior to that of sapphire, and the lance is comparable to diamond. If he attacks with the Istari family's matching machine horse, the young man is confident that he can penetrate the composite armor of the chariot.

This gun and armor were his destiny. The armed form of Heine Istari who once defeated all the assassins of the Templar Church. When the knight enters this state, it is enough to confront lower-level heroic spirits head-on.

The footsteps changed, becoming heavy and chilling. They hit the wall and then returned to merge with the new footsteps, making the air in the passage become more and more dull and chaotic.

However, no matter how chaotic the environment became, Heine remained calm. Soon, he used his magic-enhanced vision to capture shadows deeper than the darkness.

A beast wrapped in darkness, unable to see its true appearance.

"meet again."

Heine smiled at the shadow, lowered his weight, and raised his gun.

On the night when Hisri Hanano died, he had encountered this beast, and they had a brief encounter with each other. In the end, Heine won a small victory, and the beast escaped. He chased him to the atrium and found the body of Hisri Karano.

The Cavaliers did not underestimate their opponents just because of a small victory. Although it is called a beast, it is not clear what level of intelligence it actually possesses, nor is it known whether there is someone behind it, or whether the operator is lurking nearby.

Shorten the distance carefully. Even if the armor is strong enough, don't easily withstand the enemy's attack. Make full use of the range difference between the claws and the gun.

Even now, the gun pierced the air, and the shadows were racing at the same time.

The strategy was accomplished as expected. There were no scratches on his armor, and there was a deep piercing feeling from the end of the lance.

However, it was Heine who suffered the loss - the tip of the spear he pulled out, which was as good as a diamond, was missing a piece. The shadow beast's claws were not aimed at Heine, but at the spear itself that the young man was wielding.

The shadow after success continued to linger in the darkness, as if mocking Heine's weakness, next time it will be your armor.

"Have you been tricked?"

Heine was thankful for his caution, as the beast showed far greater abilities than when they first met.

He raised his wrists and repositioned himself. The metal that was then refined was slightly shorter than before, forming a gun blade again.

However, this was meaningless against the beast. Lances and armors could not block its sharp claws, and Heine's physical abilities were far behind it.

The beast jumped up. It bounced back and forth in the narrow passage like a pinball.

At first, Heine could still count the number of ejections, but as the beast became faster and faster, it even exceeded the three hundred yard mark. This has exceeded the limit of human dynamic vision, even with magic enhancement.

At the moment when Heine was exhausted and exposed a flaw, the beast launched an attack. From a blind spot that Heine could not see, sharp claws that were more terrifying than the lance easily embedded into Heine's armor. Just like the last time, Heine's gun was easily embedded in the body of the beast, and the ending was surprisingly similar - the attacking party suffered a loss.

The sharp claws embedded in the armor were imprisoned by the limp armor.

"I caught you," the young man whispered.

His armor doesn't just harden.

On the contrary, it is possible to soften in order to capture the opponent. From the time the beast cut off the tip of the spear, Heine had replaced the armor's characteristics. Then he very carefully transformed the armor into a lock, further restraining the beast.

"Please let me see your true face this time."

The knight slowly turned around and raised his gun.

The beast opened its mouth and roared.

"AHH~~~~~~~~"

It's said to be a roar, but it's actually more like a song, a sad song, as if it's crying.

But it was the tragic song that blew away Heine's body. Not only that, the moment he heard the sound, the originally tame magic imprint in Heine's body suddenly stopped operating, and the out-of-control magic power rushed wildly inside his body, messing up his magic circuit.

The more magic is activated within the body, the stronger it becomes, and therefore the stronger the riot it causes. Heine didn't even have time to scream, and his consciousness fell into chaos.

In the last moment before unconsciousness, he vaguely heard someone calling his name.

"Mr. Heine——"