The spider's eyes, like jewels, reflected the back of the old professor and the notebook on the table. In a hotel in Salem, an old man in a Japanese-style robe coughed twice, spitting out a mouthful of blood mixed with a few insects. His emaciated body looked as if it were just skin and bones, making one worry that this old man might go to see God at any moment.
However, at this moment, the old man had a smile on his face. The opportunity for revenge was coming. Before the time arrived, he had finally found the last item that could be used as a catalyst. As long as he found this so-called "key," the three catalysts he wanted would be gathered.
Just then, a knock came at the door of the room. The old man sitting in the chair squeezed the handkerchief in his hand and casually threw it into the trash can. Then, it was as if something was constantly writhing on his body, rapidly changing his shape. In a short while, he had turned into the appearance of an elderly Western man. Even the clothes on his body had changed into a decent suit.
"Come in..."
The war from more than 60 years ago had severely damaged his body. The connections and family power he had possessed had also been completely destroyed. Now was not the time for his identity to be exposed. Before the Holy Grail War began and ended, he needed to use this current identity. After all, he needed the connections and money of this identity.
Looking at the secretary who had come in, the old man picked up a card from the table and, without looking back, threw it into the secretary's hand. "Go and add some more activity funds to the archaeological team. I want to see phased results as soon as possible. Remember, as soon as possible!"
The secretary nodded, not at all suspecting that the old man before him was no longer the person he had originally sworn to be loyal to and help. After all, even disguise couldn't achieve this level.
After sending the secretary away, the old man came to the window, gently opened it, and released a large number of insects. With his injuries, the strength of the insects he could control was much smaller. But it didn't matter. The abilities he now possessed were enough for him to complete his arrangements before the war.
"Darnic... I will take back the Holy Grail that belongs to us."
The pain of being engulfed in flames, of his entire body being slowly scorched, of his own life-worm almost turning to charcoal in the flames—the old man would never forget this in his life. If he hadn't taken the opportunity to fall into the sewer, and the filthy water had extinguished the flames on his body; if Darnic back then had only sought the help of an ordinary army, he would have really died. Fortunately, the flames spewed by those flamethrowers were not the kind that would burn forever without being extinguished, or that would directly burn the soul.
Back then, it was one thing for the Einzbern family to cheat, but even an outsider like Darnic had cheated. Since that was the case, then he shouldn't be blamed for also cheating in the upcoming Holy Grail War.
Don't forget, the summoning system of the Holy Grail was constructed by him! To find a loophole in it was simply too easy. The world always thought that the Heroic Spirits summoned in the Holy Grail War only had seven classes. Until the last Holy Grail War, when the Einzbern family cheated, the Ruler class should have been added. But who said that the Heroic Spirits in this world only had eight classes?
---
As Aslan and the others' plane landed, Caren felt the aura in the air and couldn't help but frown. Even though this place had already been through many of the Church's baptisms, the air was still faintly filled with the smell of resentment. Others might not feel it so clearly, but a person with her special constitution was extremely sensitive to it.
However, Salem was, after all, a place where witch trials had once occurred. The people of the Church would more or less also pay attention to the situation here, and would also regularly come here to disperse the resentment that wandered above the town. A place like this, where a major incident had once occurred, would, on the contrary, receive more attention from the Church, making it more difficult for a powerful demon to be born. Therefore, although Caren felt uncomfortable, she didn't say much more. If something really happened, they could also solve it. Caren still had such confidence.
---
Just as Aslan and the others were experiencing the historical charm of the early days of the United States, the archaeological team, which had received more funding, also began to investigate the cemetery with even greater effort. Even if there were graves in this cemetery that were still cared for by their descendants, they could use a large amount of funds to buy them out. Where was this? This was America, a country where money flowed. As long as you had money, as long as you had funds and capital, there was nothing they couldn't do.
Under the premise of money paving the way, this cemetery was, of course, for the entire archaeological team to do as they pleased. One after another, the graves were opened, revealing the long-since-decayed or still-remaining husks of the dead. Perhaps because this place had once had a large amount of resentment, from the outside, there were far more bodies that had not completely rotted than imagined.
It was also during this time that Aslan and the others heard about this cemetery and, following a tour guide, came here to visit along with other tourists.
The tour guide had a smile on his face. "Dear tourists, you are really lucky. You might be able to take this opportunity to see some of the early artifacts of our country."
Aslan's mouth twitched. He didn't know where this tour guide before him got such confidence, to so proudly say that they had a chance to see early American artifacts. Wasn't it just a history of two or three hundred years? Sometimes it couldn't even compare to the stone of a single castle in Great Britain, let alone the city walls of some of the cities in the distant East. But in this era, America's strength was indeed very strong. To be proud because of strength was also normal. It's just that this pride wouldn't last for 30 years.
The old professor was cleaning a small coffin. Finally, after opening a small package, he saw the key with the same cross-like shape as on the notepad. The unique and strange patterns on the key gave the whole thing a strange feeling. Inexplicably, the old professor felt as if he were looking at a magical starry sky. He then picked up this strange thing. At the same time, the old professor, comparing it with the notebook in his hand, couldn't help but unconsciously mutter aloud, "Ia, Ia, Y'ghaa, y'gai, gai?"
The old professor's actions naturally attracted the attention of Aslan and the others. However, before Aslan could react specifically, he heard this old professor mutter a somewhat familiar phrase. The entire key also emitted a seven-colored light.
At the same time, in the hotel, the old man directly smashed the wine glass in his hand. He had not expected this old professor's guts to be so big, to actually dare to recite the forbidden incantation. If this old man had ever played a tabletop RPG, he would surely lament that adventurers and archaeology professors are, as expected, TPK engines.