Shiomi withdrew Longinus, interlacing his now-empty hands and stretching backward. Up until now, his battles had always been life-or-death struggles. It had been a long time since he'd fought just for training. There was no intent to kill, but he pushed himself almost to his limit, simply to demonstrate his strength.
The muscles and bones, once lax from rest, slowly began to regain some of their former condition. But the price for this was clear: the girls participating in the mock battle were now sprawled on the ground, gasping for air, looking up at Shiomi, whose clothes remained untouched.
"The attrition tactic worked quite well—by the end, even the Valkyries had to step in," Shiomi remarked, stretching his arms from side to side. "Rather than relying on subjective impressions, seeing everyone's growth through combat like this makes it much clearer how far they've come over time."
Sakura leaned on her wand, her mana depleted after being the primary attacker in the magecraft battle. She was utterly exhausted.
"Sakura? What do you think? Should we try attacking again while the teacher's guard is down?" Olga Marie asked, refusing to admit defeat. She was kneeling on the ground, catching her breath as she pitched the idea to Sakura.
"Hahaha…" Sakura let out a dry laugh. "Do we really have a chance…?"
Around them, the others who had joined the mock battle were also exhausted, unable to continue fighting. Not only were Mash, Ritsuka, and Gray there, but Barghest and the Valkyries had joined in as well. Though they had overwhelming numbers, they still couldn't suppress Shiomi or secure victory in the simulation battle.
"I'm fine, but it looks like I broke Melusine's equipment. I'll need to set her aside for now," Shiomi said, reaching out to pull Melusine from the shallow waters onto the shore. She had been knocked from the sky by Shiomi's well-timed strike and had crashed into the sea. She was unharmed, but the equipment had failed to deploy its emergency landing systems, rendering it temporarily unusable. After all, it was still an incomplete prototype—issues like this were to be expected.
"I'm sorry, this was a gift you prepared for me," Melusine apologized.
"It's not a real Noble Phantasm, after all. There are limits to what it can do as a weapon," Shiomi said, helping Melusine remove her gear. "Rest for a bit. You're exhausted too."
"No, I can still—"
Melusine was, in fact, in the best condition among the group fighting Shiomi. If she took the lead, another attempt to strike could still yield decent results.
"Hmm… if you still want to continue, then return to your positions—"
Before Shiomi could finish, Melusine seized the opportunity while his hands were empty, launching a sword strike. He had already explained the rules: ambushes were fair game. As long as the battle hadn't truly ended, combat could resume at any moment.
At such close range, Melusine had never missed an attack.
But that was against other opponents.
"...How...could....."
Melusine watched as the crystalline sword, formed from her Mana, was seized barehanded by Shiomi, without even a drop of blood spilling.
"A clever tactic. Well then, I'll have to take you out of the fight first."
Shiomi held the hilt of the sword in his left hand. Before Melusine could swing her other blade, he gathered a substantial amount of magic power in his palm.
A grand Magecraft, powerful enough to knock Melusine unconscious, was ready.
Sakura, who had been preparing to assist, hadn't even managed to get up from the ground yet, only managing to let out a worried cry.
Olga Marie raised her palm, fingers pressed together, black Gandr gathering at her fingertips—ready to strike, but clearly too late.
"We're done for. We're losing!"
Melusine's heart raced in panic.
At that critical moment, an emergency broadcast suddenly crackled to life. Romani's voice echoed through the speakers, filling the entire simulated combat training room.
"Apologies, but the Control Room has detected a minor Singularity. All personnel are requested to report to the Control Room immediately."
This wasn't just a broadcast for Shiomi; it was a call for all resting Chaldea personnel to return to their posts, signaling a new emergency.
"A Singularity?" Melusine froze.
The sword that had been caught in Shiomi's grip was suddenly freed. He released the Grand Magecraft he had been preparing, and the simulation room's Barrier quickly dissolved, returning to its original, unremarkable state.
"I'll go check it out first. Everyone, you worked hard in training just now."
Shiomi casually ruffled Melusine's hair, and her face lit up with joy. She nodded in response.
"I'll look after everyone here. Please head to the Control Room first."
"Oh, training's over, huh?" Baobhan Sith suddenly sat up.
She had started pretending to be defeated by Shiomi midway through, feigning unconsciousness so she could openly slack off.
"Training is over, but another Singularity report has come in." As Shiomi passed by Baobhan Sith, he flicked her forehead. "You slacker. I'll deal with you later."
"Hehe~" Baobhan Sith giggled happily.
After leaving the cleanup to Habetrot and Artoria Caster, who had come to assist, Shiomi hurried to the Control Room. There, he met Morgan and the others.
The anomalous point was marked on the flat, Bleached World projection of the Earth's belt-shaped model.
"The Director and the others just endured a grueling battle and need rest. Romani will chair the meeting." After relaying Olga Marie's message, Shiomi inquired, "So what's the situation with this Singularity? What's the risk assessment?"
"It's hard to say. Though it's a minor Singularity, just like the previous ones, Trismegistus' calculations suggest it will likely dissipate on its own in about seven days." Sion smiled as she explained the situation earnestly. "We could leave it be, but considering the location and estimated era, it warrants discussion."
"This location is..." Shiomi stared at the brightly highlighted point marking the Singularity.
Romani manipulated the model projection and added, "Additionally, this Singularity was discovered in a mountainous region of Japan—specifically the mountains of Toyama Prefecture, dating back to 2001. As someone born in Japan, Shiomi should be quite familiar with it, right?"
"Toyama Prefecture..." Shiomi scratched his head and turned his gaze toward Morgan. "Could it be that place?"
"That place? Come to think of it, since taking up my post at Chaldea, I haven't had time to visit there for sightseeing." Morgan recalled.
Scáthach's eyes gleamed with amusement. "So this Singularity actually has some connection to my beloved disciple?"
"I can't say for certain."
Shiomi understood Romani's implication and could only explain helplessly to Scáthach, "In May 2001, I did indeed return to Japan with Morgan, bringing Sakura and Caren with me. Then we invited Rin Tohsaka to join us for a hot spring trip—"
Then, Touko took over the conversation:
"In other words, the timing of the Singularity's occurrence coincides precisely with the period when you were active there?"
...
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