Fate/Magus Path

119 Sleeping Princess

"How bold, to dare use familiars to openly test us like this."

In a small alleyway, Roy stood over the corpses of several pitch-black beasts whose heads he had pierced. He fell into brief contemplation.

He was puzzled by Nrvnqsr Chaos's reckless probing. Normally, this kind of behavior would be considered a blatant provocation.

'What's going on? Could it be that after seeing me interact with Ciel from the Burial Agency, he assumed I'm an ally sent by the Holy Church? Sending out so many black beasts at once... is he trying to eliminate me, or simply test my strength?'

"All dealt with..."

On the other side, Shiki, slightly out of breath, sheathed her dagger and surveyed the creatures she had just finished off.

They were the corpses of several black hounds, which she had precisely dismembered.

Now, they had been reduced to scattered pieces, lying in a pool of blood on the ground.

Over the past year, through her efforts, Shiki had reached a level where she could easily dispatch these ordinary monsters. When Roy tried to help after dealing with his own opponents, she refused.

Using her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception combined with reinforcement magecraft, she swiftly eliminated the beasts. Each strike cleaved their lines of death with precision, and her efficiency surprised even Roy.

She had truly become accustomed to battle... she had grown so much...

After slaying the monsters, an uncontrollable sense of joy appeared on Shiki's face.

Even though the beasts were defeated, that sense of joy didn't fade. Instead, it grew even more intense.

"For some reason... I suddenly feel like slicing something up... "

This thought surfaced in her mind, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Hm? Shiki, what's wrong?"

Roy finally noticed something amiss. He quickly turned his head and looked at the silent Shiki beside him, witnessing a chilling scene.

She was smiling... a smile that wasn't ordinary. It wasn't a happy smile, nor was it a troubled one.

It was a terrifying smile.

Sweat seeped from her forehead, dampening her bangs. Her lips curled into a slight grin... though the angle wasn't extreme, it sent a shiver down Roy's spine.

She lowered her head, crouching down as she reached out with her dagger towards the freshly killed corpse, her eyes filled with excitement.

"Shiki, stop."

Roy swiftly turned and tightly grasped her outstretched hand, his expression serious. For a moment, his own ice-blue Mystic Eyes, which resembled her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, flared as he gazed into her frenzied eyes.

"Ah..."

As soon as her arm was grabbed, Shiki snapped out of it. She dropped the dagger and stepped back several times, looking lost and bewildered.

"What... just happened to me?"

"Killing impulse."

Roy furrowed his brow slightly.

"Your old problem again. I thought with all the training you've gone through, you'd be able to suppress it by now. Looks like I was too naive."

Roy had some inkling of what had just happened to her. He had read records in the Ryougi family's ancient texts regarding demon hunter families. Though Shiki and her alternate personality, SHIKI, had reached a balance, and Shiki could cut off SHIKI whenever she wished, the killing impulse should have been suppressed.