The flying knives that Lucius had knocked down emitted a Glorious flash. The magical energy within them began to expand rapidly, and then they quickly transformed. One dagger took on the appearance of a tactical mine, while the other became a flashbang. They then exploded in quick succession. A powerful shockwave, accompanied by a blinding flash and smoke, obscured Lucius's vision.
Melusine immediately picked Aslan up on her back and disappeared from the manor at her top speed.
The huge noise and commotion naturally attracted the attention of the other guests at the party. Lucius's subordinates and the manor's staff followed the sound and found him. Upon seeing Lucius, his subordinate hurried over. "Your Highness, this place..."
Lucius waved his hand, a grin of excitement spreading across his face. Although some tricks were used, wasn't that what battle and war were all about? With survival and victory as the primary goals, Lucius, a battle maniac, actually preferred this kind of person. People who followed the rules too closely were rather annoying.
"It's nothing. I just ran into a little thief."
After dismissing the crowd, Lucius prepared to return to the imperial capital by carriage. In the carriage, the Roman Emperor's lips curled into a smile. "Run all you want. It only makes the sense of accomplishment in conquering you that much greater!"
Lucius even considered whether he should have a portrait of Miss Estée Lauder painted and have his personal guard secretly investigate and search for her. However, the Roman Emperor's idea was destined to remain unfulfilled. Aslan had already torn off the dress halfway through their escape and used magic to cover himself in a suit of armor.
From that day forward, the word "cross-dressing" became a term that absolutely must not be touched upon in Aslan's heart!
Aslan had never thought that his actions would actually leave an even deeper impression on the Roman Emperor. But thinking about it carefully, in Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Sky Silver, wasn't this Roman Emperor's relationship with Arthur a bit... intense? He single-mindedly wanted to conquer Arthur... their relationship was really something else. If Sajo Manaka found out, she would probably do everything in her power to drag Lucius out and give him a beating.
However, Aslan had indeed achieved his goal on this trip. Next, he just needed to investigate where the "Gem of Venus" was discovered, and then he could try to find the remaining Machine God fragments. Even if there were no other fragments at the gem's discovery site, he could still use the detector he built to search. It would just be a bit more troublesome; he would probably have to make a circuit around the Roman Empire.
Previously, Aslan had worried that the remaining Machine God fragments might be like Atlantis, sunk at the bottom of the ocean. He didn't have the means to excavate from the sea. The wreckage he found on the continent now was proof that Machine God remains also existed on land.
To completely separate himself from "Estée Lauder," Aslan even temporarily put away the Sword of Glorious Victory and instead began using a spear, traveling through the Roman Empire with the identity of a Christian Holy Knight. Because of the holy spear in his hand, many people even secretly called him the "Son of God" or "the Holy Knight," though Aslan himself was unaware of these titles. If Aslan continued to travel with this identity and the stories were passed down through generations, sooner or later, a "Son of God" aspect of his Heroic Spirit self would probably emerge.
Fortunately, this era was much more tolerant of Christianity compared to the Rome ruled by Nero. Traveling through the Roman Empire with such an identity, while he would receive some whispered gossip from those who still believed in the Roman pantheon, he would also gain the respect of Christian believers. The change of religion was not a matter of a day or two; this situation would likely continue for some time.
Because Aslan was constantly searching for something, some Christians, as the rumors spread, secretly speculated that Aslan was hunting demons and slaying them. That was a holy spear, after all! A warrior recognized by a holy spear must be fighting according to the Lord's guidance! If, one day in the future, Aslan were summoned as a Holy Knight and faced questions from his Master, he would surely answer with a bewildered look, "I'm not, I didn't!"
It was a bit of a pity that the location where the Gem of Venus was found held no more Machine God fragments. More than a year and a half had passed since his first accidental battle with Lucius. During this time, Aslan had traveled through basically the entire western region of the Roman Empire. Although he found other Machine God fragments, the help they provided was still limited. Thinking about it, in the proper timeline, after the Machine Gods fought the White Titan, the possibility of their main bodies remaining intact was extremely low. Otherwise, with the Machine Gods' own shelf life, they could have easily survived into the modern era.
However, these fragments, which no longer held much power, did help Aslan narrow down the range of the magical fluctuations. At the same time, these fragments were also excellent materials for forging equipment, and were key to realizing Aslan's ambition. Aslan even pondered that if he ever had the chance to enter the Greek Mythology Lostbelt, he would definitely dissect a Machine God completely to fully understand how they were made.
He lightly marked an 'X' on the map in his hand. Aslan, clad in silver armor and holding his holy spear, stood up. He then looked at the group of refugees following behind him. "Everyone, I am heading east next. That area is prone to frequent warfare. This place seems quite suitable for long-term settlement. Why don't you all settle down here?"
This was the location of the last Machine God fragment Aslan found while traversing the western regions. Perhaps because the fragment buried here belonged to a god of agriculture, the land was quite fertile. However, because it was occupied by magical beasts, it had not become a prosperous area. After arriving here, in order to retrieve the Machine God fragment, he had naturally wiped out the magical beasts that had taken root. These magical beasts had been able to continuously reproduce since the Age of Gods because of this very fragment. This was, by far, the most powerful fragment that still retained its original effectiveness that he had collected in the entire western region.
Aslan hadn't expected that acting under the guise of a Christian would attract the respect of so many other ordinary believers. As mentioned before, although friction between religions was less common, it was not non-existent. These people were victims of persecution. He didn't know how he ended up with so many followers after one long journey.
Now, it was time to settle these people here.