In Type-Moon: Creating a Magecraft Family Lineage

[Leaving the tavern, you unexpectedly run into Kishinami Kiara.]

[Five years have passed. This is your second meeting—]

In this world of frozen wind and snow, even the hazy mist seemed to have solidified in mid-air, becoming a streak of white ink. The streets were deserted. Lu Kang stood at the mouth of an alley, staring fixedly at the figure that had appeared before him. Although surprised, he was not panicked. In fact, after the initial shock, a sense of inevitability washed over him.

Yes. Inevitable. That meeting five years ago felt like a lifetime away. Since then, until now, he had not met with anyone from the Church again. But he would never forget the irreconcilable conflict between himself and the Church, nor the scene of his clash with the Executors in the library, and certainly not the projection that had appeared at the very end, the one named Kishinami Kiara.

He also knew very well why the Church had let him be—as an ancient religious organization that had existed for two thousand years, they really had no need to make a big fuss over him.

"We meet again... no, this should be our first true, face-to-face meeting, shouldn't it?" After a moment, his thoughts calmed. A smile appeared on Lu Kang's lips, as if greeting a long-lost friend.

The woman who walked out of the wind and snow paused. She had walked all this way, yet the ground behind her was perfectly smooth, without a single footprint. At this moment, Lu Kang could also see her appearance clearly. Though wrapped in a seemingly plain nun's habit, the charming face under her wimple and her full figure, which even the heavy fabric could not conceal, were unforgettable at a single glance.

"Mr. Lu Kang, good afternoon," Kishinami Kiara's red lips parted slightly as she spoke. "As you said, this is indeed our first meeting."

"Since it's our first meeting, it wouldn't be right not to offer some hospitality, would it?" The young and charming woman in the nun's habit had a crisp voice, its trailing notes seeming to sway.

"Hospitality? This doesn't look like hospitality." Lu Kang glanced around. His expression was still calm, his smiling face showing no surprise. But what was reflected in his eyes was a religious mystic code, a 'Miracle', slowly flowing through the frozen wind and snow. Just as he had encountered in the library last time, he was once again trapped by the power of a Miracle. But unlike last time, this confinement was more thorough, more absolute.

"Using the faith of nearly every Church believer in Moscow as an energy source to deploy a large-scale Bounded Field, freezing time and sealing space, just to trap me here... what a grand gesture!" Lu Kang, seeing it clearly in that instant, couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. They really think highly of me!

"Ah, but after all, I have been watching everything you've done these past few years. I couldn't afford to be careless, you know?" Kishinami Kiara said, making no attempt to hide her intentions. With her absolute overwhelming power, she was very confident. She was even happy to see her opponent resist, happy to see the unexpected occur.

She said, "This time, you won't have another chance."

"There are three days left."

"Three days from now, the Tsarist empire will completely collapse. Nicholas II will be forced to step down. And as long as the empire collapses, everything you have obtained, including you yourself, will belong to the Church."

"Your Eminence, Lu Kang Luvest!"

"I see. So that was your plan?" Lu Kang tilted his head, his eyes squinted, a look of sudden realization on his face.

"Naturally," the 'Nun' from the Church's Burial Agency said with a smile. "Although you have gone astray, you are, after all, from the Church. We will not abandon you—" Her expression was bewitching yet gentle, like a true saint filled with compassion.

"Does 'not abandon' mean using the faith that formed this Great Miracle Bounded Field to flood my brain and turn me into a puppet loyal only to the Church?" Lu Kang saw through her purpose in a single sentence.

"Or perhaps, loyal to me personally?" Kishinami Kiara's face was alluring, yet seemed to carry a hint of mercy.

Lu Kang laughed. "So are you a nun or a bald donkey? Why are your methods so similar to the śramaṇa of the East?"

Kishinami Kiara continued to smile. She would not be so easily shaken by his words. And she did indeed have a connection to the śramaṇa—Buddhism—which originated in the East. She was once a nun from the Far East, from Japan. It was only several decades ago that she had changed her faith and joined the Church, becoming a member of the Burial Agency. That was why her codename was 'Nun', and why her methods were so similar to Buddhist ones. Because she was, originally, a nun.

But she had no reason to explain these things to him. She was just silently admiring this young man who had achieved so much in such a short time, even forcing the Church to personally intervene in the World War to defeat the Tsarist empire. But before she could speak, she suddenly paused. The smile on her face grew wider.

In the frozen wind and snow, under the Bounded Field of a Miracle that had sealed time and space, she said, "It seems... it has already begun!"

It has begun—

As her words fell, Lu Kang also seemed to sense it in an instant. Though he was trapped here, having been in the Kremlin for so many years, he could still sense the changes happening there. Yes. At this moment, the Kremlin was changing!

"Who goes there?!"

"How dare you trespass in the palace—damn it, are they rebels?"

"It's no use, the enemy's firepower is too strong!"

At the Kremlin, the guards before the palace gate were shouting. The shouts, accompanied by the crackle of gunfire, rippled through the snow. A booming explosion erupted simultaneously. Thick smoke, blooming like a firework, rolled hotly, instantly evaporating the snow on the ground into a cloud of steam. In the square before the palace gate, amidst the mixture of white steam and black smoke, figures rushed out, charging towards the palace complex that symbolized the supreme power of the empire. They held guns, unleashing their firepower freely. The flags flying in the air revealed their identity—another political party existing within the Tsarist empire, the Mensheviks, who represented the lower-middle class workers and reformists!

The armed uprising, originally planned for February, had suddenly been moved up. The overwhelming firepower caught the palace guards completely off guard, and it was also far beyond Lu Kang's expectations.

"Was this your plan?" Lu Kang stared at the young nun opposite him. "Are you changing 'history'?" He knew this nun also possessed Clairvoyance; she could vaguely see the future's development.

Kishinami Kiara's expression did not change. "It is just a small bit of guidance. It is not excessive to slightly modify the course of Human History without changing the overall situation. As long as the fact that the Tsarist empire will eventually collapse remains unchanged, then nothing will change. Human History itself will not care about such a small 'diversion'. And this action, three days ahead of schedule, is enough to disrupt all your preparations, Your Eminence Lu Kang Luvest!"

"So this is the real reason you've trapped me here? Not simply to make me wait for three days, but to ensure that when I leave here in three days, all I will see is a foregone conclusion?" Lu Kang's brow furrowed tightly. He had indeed not anticipated this situation.

This time, Kiara did not respond immediately. She habitually brought her hands together as if in prayer, then instantly lowered them to make the sign of the cross on her forehead and chest. She smiled, looking forward to seeing the change in his mentality over these long three days. He seemed calm now, but that was only because it was still early. She thought to herself that as time passed, when the empire truly teetered on the brink of destruction, this young man would surely show a panicked side—he would absolutely be flustered. Because having lost the protection of the great imperial edifice, he would be forced to spit out everything he had gained—not just wealth, but also the knowledge and mystery he had acquired from the empire!

That was what Kishinami Kiara believed.

But Lu Kang suddenly sighed. His expression was not one of forced calm in the face of despair, but rather one of resignation at having to act prematurely... But I'm the one who acted prematurely! The 'Nun' was slightly taken aback.

Then she saw the man before her speak softly. "Things have changed," he said. "But fortunately, I have already made preparations."

Made... preparations in advance? A flicker of confusion crossed Kiara's mind, but also a hint of anticipation—anticipation for what new things this young man could show her. But in the next second, her expression suddenly changed, from anticipation to bewilderment, then to stunned disbelief.

"You..."

"Can you feel it? You who have broken into the palace gates, can you feel it?" Lu Kang's lips curled up again, this time into a wide, wild grin.

And Kishinami Kiara could indeed feel it. Although she was not within the palace gates, her gaze was always focused on the rebels storming the palace. So she naturally saw what they saw after they broke through the front line of defense and rushed into the Kremlin.

It was a swirling blizzard. It was a flowing mystery. The palace buildings within it were all emitting a 'mystery' that ordinary people could not sense! At this very moment, the entire Kremlin had been inscribed with a mystic code, forming a gigantic magic circle. And this was precisely the preparation Lu Kang had spoken of!

The moment the rebel army broke in, this giant magic circle also slowly began to operate. In their vision, the world suddenly spun. In Kishinami Kiara's eyes, everything within the court also became a swirling, chaotic mess of colors!

"This is not the mystery of Magecraft, nor the mystery of Miracles!" In the frozen street, the 'Nun' suddenly looked at the man opposite her. "You've merged the two—you have committed the greatest taboo, one that neither magi nor the Church can ever tolerate!"

"So what?" Lu Kang said nonchalantly. "I was never accepted by this world anyway. What difference does one more or one less sin make? Besides, aren't you curious what this magic circle is for?"

Lu Kang looked up into the distance. What he saw was a white curtain of frozen snow. He could see nothing, but in an instant, it was as if he could see the giant magic circle outlined within the Kremlin, slowly starting up. And he could see, at the very center of that giant circle, the man sitting silently on the imperial throne—Nicholas II.

He said, "This circle is not for offense, nor for defense. It is for... summoning!"

Kishinami Kiara heard it. The moment the circle activated, she felt a tremor from beneath the ground. From beneath this street. From beneath Moscow! The natural magical energy existing in the leylines beneath Moscow was converging on the Kremlin, serving as the energy to activate that giant magic circle.

"Servant Summoning—? You're summoning a Servant?" Such a large-scale flow of mana, such a massive mystic circle... Kiara immediately thought of a possibility. She was in disbelief. "How could you possibly..."

"Of course I can't. Summoning a Heroic Spirit is a grand undertaking that requires at least 'True Magic' or world-level authority to achieve!" Lu Kang did not deny it. His gaze was calm, fixed on the woman before him. His words were like a knife, step by step cutting through the defenses she had raised in her heart. "What I am doing is not simply summoning a Heroic Spirit. I am using the power of 'Miracles' to shape a Phantasm, and then using the power of 'Magecraft'... to summon It!"

At this moment, Kiara finally understood his meaning. The power of miracles, born from faith, was the power of cognition. And a so-called Phantasm, unlike a Heroic Spirit, was not a historically real entity, but merely something that existed in the cognition of the majority, whether based on a prototype or purely fictional. Such a fictional existence could naturally be shaped by miracles—just like the intangible 'God' formed by the Church through faith. Lu Kang certainly couldn't create a 'God' that the Church had spent two thousand years creating. But he had grasped the power of a nation. Creating a powerful Phantasm was not impossible! And then summoning it with magecraft... was even more feasible!

A Phantasm, after all, is not a Heroic Spirit. Summoning one does not require such a high level of mystery, only a specific ritual. No wonder he had said this was a preparation made in advance. Such a large-scale project indeed needed to be prepared beforehand! Although a Phantasm created this way would not last long... under normal circumstances, it could still fend off most crises!

Kishinami Kiara's thoughts settled. A sharp, piercing sound rang out almost simultaneously. She had acted. No matter what, she was a member of the Burial Agency. No matter how much she enjoyed playing, she always remembered her own choices.

"As a reward for letting me see such an interesting thing, I shall... give you a quick end. Let you sleep for three days and three nights!" Her voice swayed. The black and white nun's habit billowed wildly in the frozen wind. A black dagger glowing with the light of a miracle appeared in her hand, its sharp point thrusting towards the man opposite her!

She appeared before Lu Kang. The blade thrust forward! The miracle's light enveloping the dagger was intense and thick, as if it could melt away all impurities! She displayed a power far exceeding that of an ordinary Executor.

Lu Kang did not react. But he did not need to react. Because...

"Don't you want to know who the Phantasm I shaped and summoned is?" He spoke a name. And so Kiara's movement paused for a fraction of a second before thrusting out again—though only for an instant, she had indeed hesitated!

And so, the next second, with a great boom, the imperial court was shaken. Amidst the rolling dust and smoke, as if a great beast had broken out of its shell, a massive figure appeared in the sight of all the intruders. It appeared above the vast palace, like a phantom, yet utterly real!

A single snowflake fell on the sealed street. Yes. Here, where time and space should have been sealed, a single pale flake fell, landing on the black dagger Kiara had thrust out, and also between the bright outer robe that the dagger's sharp point had pierced. The frozen space began to flow again. A crack had appeared.

In this crack, Lu Kang's outer robe lit up, blocking the incoming attack. Kiara's black eyes widened slightly, a feather-like mystic light piercing deep into her eyelids. The Sanctuary of Formulas activated at that instant. Just like five years ago... he had once again shaken the heart of a wielder of miracles, causing her to feel surprise, successfully tearing open the seal of the miracle, and successfully activating his magecraft.

And this, was just because of one sentence. A single... blasphemous sentence!

...

'Angel or Demon?'

'The angel is the demon.'

—From "The Book of the Law"

What Lu Kang had summoned at this moment was both an angel and a demon! He said:

"Look."

"—It's God!"

....

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