Infinity Throne

This is an ancient small city.

——"Uk".

Uk is located in a basin and is surrounded by mountains.

Branch rivers branched from the Euphrates and Tigris rivers pass through the town and merge into a small lake.

Before the war broke out, this was also a poor town.

The locals with sallow skin have empty eyes and indifferent faces.

They were dressed in rags, lying, sitting, or sleeping on the roadside, on rooftops, and on the river banks.

There are more people hiding in the shadows that can bring them a sense of security, hiding quietly, looking at everything in front of them with dull eyes.

before,

There was once a boring geographer who explored the reasons for the formation of the Uk Town Basin.

Some people say that this was formed by the subsidence of the ground where the entire town is located after the bottom crust changed;

Some people say that there is a rich underground river system under the town. Over time, it moistens things silently, and the ground gradually sinks, forming this landform;

Some people also say that many, many years ago, a meteorite fell from the sky and directly created a crater here.

The specific reasons are unknown.

After all, this is just a poor town that no one cares about.

How the basin was formed, who cares?

After the universal call,

This small town also experienced the baptism of riots.

After being plundered by seniors, the place was devastated, leaving only a mess.

"This is what humans are."

this day,

A man with silver-white hair passed by.

He wore a clean white robe trimmed with delicate lace. Under the robe is a dark and soft lining, and under the feet are a pair of thick round-toed boots. The man walked on the road with a smile on his face, giving people the impression that he was like the wind blowing on the grassland, elusive, but hard to feel bad.

"Excuse me, do you want to buy a rare item? Just, just 300 points!"

When the white-haired man passed by, a woman with clothes stained with dried blood staggered over and sold rare items to the man.

She lowered her voice because she only dared to do this when she saw the man dressed neatly. Otherwise, rare props can be exchanged for a lot of food at the veteran gathering place next door. Under normal circumstances, she would never dare to expose precious rare props.

The white-haired man shook his head and walked a few steps faster.

The woman bit her lower lip hard, moved closer, and said in a lower voice: "I'm very skilled, even 200 points. Please, please, I'm too hungry. Even... I can do it." .”

"Ouch, I really have a headache."

The white-haired man smiled coquettishly and rubbed his hair: "I'm not one of your kind. And I'm sorry that your determination has been tarnished. I don't like women."

The local woman who was selling [rare grade] props was startled when she heard this.

She looked at the man's face, his flawless facial features, and his gentle smile. In a peaceful time, she would have been willing to cheat on him. However, such a perfect man actually doesn't like women... Hey, what a pity.

"Shhh."

The white-haired man put his white index finger to his lips. He turned around and looked around. He saw many eager eyes peering into the dark place. He could only sigh helplessly and took out a package from his arms. , took out a loaf of dry bread from the parcel.

"Eat."

The woman hesitated for a moment, but still took the bread and started chewing it.

After a while, he finished the bread.

When she raised her head with unfinished thoughts, the wind-like man had already disappeared.

…

After doing something trivial.

The white-haired man came to a church.

The door of the church was open, and the benches used for prayer inside were scattered and lying on the ground.

In a corner of the church, close to the wall, there is a deliberately empty space. There, there were seven or eight corpses arranged neatly. There are various scars on each corpse. Some bodies were already cold, while others were still a little warm, as if they had just died.

Their ages, time of death, and manner of death have nothing in common. But the only thing they have in common is that at this moment, they are all placed in an upright posture, with their backs facing the sky and their eyes closed. Their hands, with their fingers intertwined, were clasped together in front of their chests, seemingly in a praying posture.

On the chest of each corpse, there is a small bright white flower quietly placed. This ordinary little white flower dilutes the sadness of death and adds a bit of solemnity and solemnity.

A thin young man wearing a black priest's attire, with his back to the open door of the church, bowed his head in prayer.

When the white-haired man stepped into the church, the young priest sighed softly and put on a ring: "Excuse me, are you here to pray...ah? Great Sage?"

The young priest turned around and stared, the round eyes on the bridge of his nose tilted to one side.

ten minutes later.

The young priest moved two relatively clean stools and a table in front of the statue of the goddess with only half of her body left in the church and the upper body had long since collapsed, and sat down with the white-haired man.

The young priest's expression was one of embarrassment, and he twisted slightly on his stool, seeming a little uncomfortable.

"Lord Great Sage..."

After the awkward silence, the young priest plucked up the courage to raise his head and was about to break the silence, but the white-haired man smiled. His gentle smile was like a spring breeze. He magically pulled out a box of chess sets from his robe.

"Shh, don't talk," the white-haired man smiled and winked: "Let's play a game of chess!"

The young priest was stunned.

But after a while,

They still played chess.

At first, the young priest was a little restrained.

The white-haired man's attack was methodical, unhurried, and had the feeling of boiling a frog in warm water.

But it happened to be this kind of chess style, and the game continued. The young priest was stunned when he saw the empty camp on his side, and the trembling "Queen" surrounded by a group of soldiers and horses.

"Come again."

The white-haired man smiled slightly, looking very happy, and played another game.

Second game.

The young priest lost his temper, and his chess moves gradually revealed his prowess and murderous intent.

The white-haired man, however, still responded calmly, not killing those who should be killed, and leaving those who could be killed for a while, as if he was not in a hurry at all.

A few minutes down.

The young priest found that his "delicate queen" was surrounded again.

No more.

He felt that he had lost inexplicably.

But convinced.

"As expected of the great sage."

The young priest didn't want to play anymore.

"Come again."

The white-haired man seemed to be addicted to playing. He rolled up his sleeves and took the initiative to rearrange the chess pieces on the messy chessboard.

"Sir Great Sage, what are you..."

"Boy Xiaozheng~ Ah, we haven't seen each other for ten years, but we have become estranged from each other."

"is teacher."

The young priest, whose real name is "Koshimine Kotomine" and nicknamed "Komasa".

The familiar tone of the white-haired man made Kotomine bow his head. He quickly succumbed to the authority of the white-haired young man and obediently changed his name.

But his face clearly looked a little happy.

The two chatted casually.

The third game begins.

"Boy Xiaozheng, I haven't seen you in ten years. You have grown up."

"The teacher still hasn't changed at all."

"Yes," the white-haired man sighed, made a random move, then touched his face and said seriously: "In my long life, this handsome face has been my only worry."

Justice Kotomine: "..."

He played chess silently and tried a different way of playing.

The serpentine movements, the false and the true, the truth and the false are difficult to distinguish... Well, Kotomine lost this round faster. Kotomine suddenly recalled the fear of being grabbed by the teacher and tortured to death thousands of times during the boring days on the moving mountain in the Wandering Sea ten years ago.

Kotomine was kicked off the fourth game.

While he was doing it, he couldn't help but speak again: "Teacher, long time no see."

"Yes, ten years."

The white-haired man played chess meekly and smiled.

"You came today because..."

"Let's play chess. Oh, Xiaozheng, you don't know. In that lifeless place, no one wants to play chess with me."

It's weird if someone is willing to accompany you.

Kotomine complained secretly in his heart.

No one wants to keep experiencing the feeling of losing again and again, losing again and again, and losing until the end is bloody.

"Do you know why you lost?"

The white-haired man asked with a smile.

"Because the teacher's skills are so good."

Kotomine answered honestly.

"No, I'm not actually strong." As he said this, one of Kotomine's "horses" fell into the sand with its halberd broken, its legs were broken, and it sadly withdrew from the battlefield.

Justice Kotomine: "..."

"Most human beings only like to look at the 'now', but I like to look at the 'present', 'past' and 'future'."

"Teacher, normal people would not use their 'prophecy' ability when playing chess."

Kotomine raised his head and glanced at the white-haired man, feeling a little unable to hold himself tight.

"You don't understand," the white-haired man said with a smile, "What is the past, what is the present, and what is the future? When you really understand, you will find that the past, present, and future are just made up of countless lines. , a mystery formed by the intersection. You and I are both in the mystery."

"But teacher, you still won."

"Because I'm playing chess."

Justice Kotomine: "..."

"How have you been these past ten years?"

The white-haired man did not continue to delve deeper into this topic.

Playing chess is still fun.

He asked Kotomine about his life over the years.

After hearing this, Kotomine was silent for a long time. It wasn't until the chessboard was empty again that he answered: "Just average, sensei."

"Tsk, you are still blaming me."

The white-haired man pouted.

"I don't dare, teacher." Kotomine Koji took a deep breath: "I have dirty blood flowing in my body, and I inherited a despicable surname. Teacher can accept me as a disciple. Kotomine is really happy. After all, teacher , but what about the 'Great Sage'?"

"Do you know why, after ten years of not seeing each other, you and I will meet again at this moment, here?" the white-haired man asked.

"Disciple is very curious."

"Everything in the world has laws. As the saying goes, each of us is in a mystery without knowing it. Ten years ago, I expelled you from the Wandering Sea on the grounds of 'cheating in chess' , was sent to the Holy Church to serve as a small priest in this barren land, do you know the reason?"

Kotomine said helplessly: "Teacher, you should know that it is precisely because of the blood in my body that I resist this place."

"No," the white-haired man said with a smile, "Everyone exists for a reason. Kotomine is fair, remember, you and I are both part of the mystery."

Then,

Kotomine lost another round when he was distracted.

He silently laid out his chess pieces and prepared to start the next game.

It has been ten years since the teacher had such a long discussion with him.

And he still doesn’t understand.

But this feeling made him miss it very much.

When Kotomine was young, he was looked down upon because of his surname "Kotomine".

His teacher also told him the story hidden in this surname.

Therefore, Kotomine is fair and wishes he could change his name.

Then the teacher gave him a name.

——"Kotomine is fair".

He came here ten years ago, with faith in his heart, and silently studied the "miracles" of the Holy Church.

The teacher later wrote quietly and said that everything had a reason and he would understand it one day.

However, ten years have passed, Kotomine is still confused, and he does not understand why he was expelled from the Wandering Sea by his teacher in the first place.

But he believed what the teacher said.

Because, his teacher is a figure who has been wandering in the sea like a mystery for an unknown period of time - the Great Sage.

Some people in the Wandering Sea once suspected that the Great Sage might have genes from ancient fantasy creatures in his body, which was why he could survive for so long.

To put it simply...he is not human.

That's why he can survive until now.

Very few people in the world know the name of the great sage Wandering Sea.

It just so happened that Kotomine Taira was one of the people who knew the great sage's name.

That was what the teacher told Kotomine in secret in order to comfort Kotomine when he was still very young and was being tortured horribly on the chessboard and couldn't help but burst into tears.

The Great Sage watched as Kotomine started to play the chess pieces silently. He gently pressed Kotomine's hand to stop his movements. He took out a pocket watch, took a look at it, and sighed with exaggerated movements: "Oh, there's no time to play another round."

Kotomine looked at his teacher blankly.

"Here, I'll give it to you."

The Great Sage handed a handmade doll into the hands of Kotomine Justice.

Kotomine took a look and saw that the doll was somewhat similar to him: wearing black priest clothes, a cross hanging around his neck, short brown hair, and old-fashioned round glasses on the bridge of his nose. The overall style of the doll is slightly cartoony and looks a bit silly and cute.

"Teacher, what is this?" Kotomine was fair and confused.

We haven’t seen each other for ten years, come here?

"It's a gift," the great sage said with a smile, "Actually, it should be a reward. Do something for me, teacher."

"I knew it." Kotomine bowed his head and murmured to himself, but carefully placed the doll close to his body and hid it. However, he did not refuse and asked: "Teacher, what is it?"

"I'll tell you later." The great sage stood up, patted the non-existent dust on his clean white robe, and walked towards the door step by step. The gentle sunlight fell on the great sage, making him look like the incarnation of light. Kotomine stared blankly at the back, almost feeling the urge to worship in his heart.

"By the way, another disciple of mine will come here later to help you complete something. She is a beautiful woman."

"Okay, teacher." Kotomine bowed his head impartially, not asking any more questions and showing no interest.

"The weather is really nice today." The great sage raised his head at a forty-five-degree angle and looked up at the sky. He spread his white fingers in front of him, and the sunlight filtered through the gaps between his fingers, casting a mottled look on his face. At this time, the Great Sage was silent for a while, turned his back to Kotomine Justice, and suddenly said: "Do you still remember my name?"

"I remember, sensei." Kotomine said impartially.

"Call me once, I haven't heard anyone call my name for a long time."

"Good teacher."

"?"

"...Merlin."

Merlin walked out contentedly.

"Kotomine is fair,"

Merlin suddenly sighed, faced the sun, turned his back to Kotomine, and called out his full name.

"goodbye."