Chapter 196: Red Archer dies again!
"Uh... huh~."
Red Archer's eyes flickered as he emerged from his light slumber. Upon waking up, a strong and pungent odor assaulted his senses. Opening his eyes, Red Archer realized that a pile of excrement was less than 3 centimeters away from his nose!
Seeing this scene, Red Archer's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets in shock. "M-Mouth area!!!" After a bout of dry heaving, Red Archer quickly sat up, distancing himself from the feces on the ground. Due to his previous sleeping position, he had inadvertently tilted forward.
Fortunately, he was slightly elevated from the ground, just a bit higher than his upper body's height. Otherwise... Red Archer shuddered at the thought of his unfortunate predicament.
If he had been any lower, he might have resorted to projecting a red lance similar to Cú Chulainn's, poking himself to death to avoid having his face smeared with feces. The idea of having his face covered in waste was absolutely unacceptable.
And if anyone were to witness such a spectacle, Red Archer's course of action would likely involve committing murder, followed by ritualistic self-disembowelment. After all, a shattered body is no concern; what matters is preserving one's reputation!
Just as Red Archer sighed in relief for having distanced himself from the pile of waste, he suddenly realized that something felt odd on his posterior. He had focused entirely on the feces earlier, thus conveniently ignoring the sensation on his behind.
Now that he was farther away from the filth, the peculiar feeling on his buttocks returned. "?!"
"Just now... Why does my rear feel itchy? And a bit sore?" As he experienced the discomfort and itchiness at the back, Red Archer felt utterly miserable, as if something had prodded him.
This sensation was new and fresh, likely occurring just a few seconds before he fully woke up. Red Archer was confident in his deduction.
He had intended to take a nap, possibly expecting his master Fujimaru Ritsuka to find him upon waking. However, the reality was different: he woke up with a sore bottom, fearing he might find blood when he checked.
But whether there was blood on his rear or not, that was no longer his concern. Thanks to a twist of fate, his entire body was wedged against the wall, and his hands were stuck too. He couldn't even scratch his buttocks, a seemingly simple action that was currently beyond his reach.
Just as Red Archer was contemplating his unfortunate circumstances, a red-haired child suddenly appeared in the restroom. Observing Red Archer stuck to the wall, the child curiously asked, "Big brother, why are you stuck to the wall?"
Upon hearing the incredibly familiar voice, Red Archer's head snapped up. Upon seeing the newcomer, his expression froze in disbelief.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the wall, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Astolfo concluded their eye contact. Their gazes coincidentally fell on the lower half of the person wedged against the wall, attempting to determine if this individual was a Servant rather than a decoration.
Astolfo was quite concerned about this. If it turned out to be a Servant and not an ornament, his finger that he had poked earlier... might be a lost cause.
As both of them scrutinized the situation, Red Archer suddenly lifted his body a bit due to being too close to the feces on the ground. "Woah?! It's alive!"
Seeing the lower half of the person stuck to the wall move, Astolfo's complexion visibly worsened. He glanced down at his finger, wearing a pained expression.
Oh no, his finger seemed to have gotten dirty. But then again, he had poked through the thick pants, so it should be fine, right? Astolfo tried to stay optimistic, otherwise, he really wouldn't want that finger anymore. Damn, he shouldn't have poked it so curiously. It was now a mental scar!
"Is this really a Servant, Da Vinci-chan...?" Gazing at the wall, Fujimaru Ritsuka's expression was one of disbelief. "Can there really be a Servant stuck in a wall? How iron-headed can a Servant be?"
"If I say it's a Servant, then it's definitely a Servant!" asserted Da Vinci confidently from Chaldea. She glanced at the data displayed on the monitoring devices and added, "Not only is he a Servant, but he also has a significant connection to the Root of Chaos."
Hearing this, and considering the Servant's current predicament, Fujimaru Ritsuka ventured a speculative guess. "Could he have battled with the Root of Chaos?"
"No, by 'connection,' I don't mean an indirect relationship; I mean a direct one," Da Vinci stated firmly without hesitation.
"Which means..."
Da Vinci, seated at the control center in Chaldea, looked at the screen's contents and nodded solemnly. "Exactly, this Servant is indeed a minion of the Root of Chaos."
Fujimaru Ritsuka was a bit puzzled. If the man stuck in the wall was indeed a Servant brought by the Root of Chaos, why was he stuck in such a bizarre manner? This wall could easily be escaped with a bit of Mystic Code's Magecraft, let alone for a Heroic Spirit. Escaping from it would be effortless, a simple etherealization would do.
As this thought crossed Fujimaru Ritsuka's mind, he began to retreat while voicing his confusion to Da Vinci, "Wait... if he's a Servant of the Root of Chaos, why is he stuck in the wall?"
"Who knows?" Da Vinci shrugged, her left hand gesturing dismissively as she replied quite directly. "Though we're uncertain of the reason he's stuck here, I suggest you take advantage of his vulnerable state and eliminate him with Servant Astolfo's help. This might slow down the Singularity's distortion."
"His Saint Graph scale is above that of Astolfo's, and considering Astolfo isn't a combat-oriented Servant, if you intend to kill this Servant, now is the time."
Upon hearing Da Vinci comment on his lack of close combat prowess, Astolfo's lip twitched, and he expressed his discontent. "Hey, hey, hey, you really said something you shouldn't have!"
Although, it was indeed the truth.
After a moment's consideration, Fujimaru Ritsuka made a decisive decision... to take action against this situation!