I blinked several times to clear my hazy vision, as if I were peering through a thick fog. Slowly, the stench of rotting tires burning and a suspiciously high concentration of energy began to prickle against my skin. Black, manifested prana flowed through the air, fanning the flames, which began to crawl toward me as if they possessed a will of their own.
With a single 'Shinra Tensei,' I blew away the surrounding inferno. Only then did I notice two women lying unconscious in a corner.
"Clever bastard... you really used your head, Leek-head..."
I thought dismantling the bomb would be enough, but I never imagined he would reveal himself as a terminal of the King of Demon Gods while simultaneously launching a magical bombardment across all of Chaldea.
And just as I tried to negate it with Seal Absorption, he forcibly Rayshifted me along with them to maximize the destruction...
"Well, I have the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and near-omnipotence, so I should be able to manage the damage somehow."
I lightly patted the cheeks of the two unconscious girls. The orange-haired girl—Ritsuka Fujimaru—who seemed to possess a certain 'clear-eyed madness,' was the first to let out a groan and speak.
"Is it really okay to harass an unconscious lady's cheeks like that?"
"You've got quite a mouth for a 'lady,' and it's not like you were even out cold."
"You have no sense of mood, Mister!"
"…"
Mister...
...Well, fine. I suppose I have lived quite a long time. But I still look like I'm in my mid-twenties; being called 'Mister' really puts a scratch on my heart.
"…Senpai? And you... you're definitely one of the representative directors of Chaldea."
"Mash, we've met before, haven't we? I think I saw you once when you came to see the Chicken. For now, I am the Magician bearing the title of the Third, Karma Kirigaya. A pleasure to meet you, Mash Kyrielight and Ritsuka Fujimaru."
"Yep, nice to meet you too, Mister!"
"…I'm sorry, but could you at least call me 'Senpai' or 'Older Brother'? My physical age is in the mid-twenties, you know. Hearing 'Mister' from you has a serious destructive power in many ways."
"Saying your 'physical age' is twenty means your real age is way higher~"
…Good grief, as expected of a Grand Berserker. Reasoning is impossible.
"Y-Yes. Karma... Senpai? No, Mr. Karma?"
"Yes, I'd much prefer that. Mash, you really are a good girl."
After finishing our amusing banter, I granted both of them the protection of Shinra Tensei. Once the heat subsided, Mash looked down at her body, saw the shield that had suddenly manifested, and scrambled back in shock.
"Wait, more importantly, Mash—what's with that armor? Surely that's not the Director's personal taste, is it?"
"Senpai?! There's no way, right? This... it seems to be the power of the Heroic Spirit that has taken root in my body."
"I see, I see. Apparently, that Heroic Spirit has some very specific tastes. Putting such armor on the innocent Mash..."
Truly, an action worthy of praise... As expected of King Arthur's loyal knight, Galahad!
Sending a silent message of gratitude to Galahad from the depths of my soul, I looked around and spotted small, clattering skeletons and strangely shaped spirits.
"Hostile entities... Step back, Senpai. I'll...!"
"No, you step back too, Mash."
"What? But I should be the one..."
"You haven't gotten used to your awakened power yet. I'll help you stabilize it later."
Skeletons and zombies... Five minutes should be more than enough.
*
After five minutes of enthusiastically slaughtering the zombies, I turned to see Mash and Ritsuka sitting and waiting for me, having already formed a makeshift summoning circle using the shield.
Using the prana I had absorbed from the inferno fueled by magical energy, I activated the summoning array. Communication with Chaldea was restored, and Olga Marie's panicked voice began to ring out.
[Look, I told you they were alive! You over there! You're not hurt, are you? Answer if you can hear me!]
"Director! Mash and I are both alive and well!"
[Phew, thank goodness... Alright, listen carefully to what I'm about to say, Provisional Master Number 48. The Singularity you're in currently represents a sort of 'glitch' that has occurred in history.]
"Wait, Olga Marie. I'll handle the explanation regarding the Singularity."
When I cut in, she looked at me in shock before erupting into a hysterical tirade.
[You! Why are you even there instead of handling the aftermath of the terror attack!]
"I didn't plan on coming here either. The Chaldea system went berserk on its own and shoved me in... I can guarantee you, there is someone in Chaldea who planned this attack. And they are one of the high-level administrators."
[…I can only think of three people. But Romani is right here with me, and Lev died in the blast. That would mean...]
"Are you planning to suspect me?"
[No way. If it were you, you'd just solve it by dropping a meteor on Chaldea. There's no way you'd resort to this.]
"Glad to see you understand. The culprit is likely Lev Lainur."
She nodded as if she had expected it, then shouted boldly, though her voice trembled slightly.
[I'll interrogate Lev even if I have to summon the Department of Necromancy later. For now, the priority is the restoration of this Singularity and resolving the issues. With your combat power, surely you can handle the Singularity even with two 'burdens' attached to you?]
"Of course. However, protecting both of them perfectly is difficult. At the very least, they need a Servant they've summoned themselves... Is it not possible to Rayshift other A-Team members?"
[It's impossible; there are no Coffins left to use. It'll take at least 48 hours for repairs.]
"Can't be helped then. Just monitor the nearby hostile entities for me."
Immediately after, various supplies and nine Saint Quartz tumbled onto the shield. Ritsuka rolled the Saint Quartz between her fingers, looking at them with a curious expression.
"First... I should explain exactly what's going on. Do you know what history is, Ms. Ritsuka?"
"Huh? Ah! Even I know that. I always get failing grades on my history exams, though... hehe."
"That doesn't really matter. Honestly, what use are history and calculus in a world that's already ruined?"
"Maybe for boiling soup? Anyway, what's the important part, Mister?"
"…The most important thing is that history has specific 'Turning Points.' The Industrial Revolution in Britain, the persecution of Christians in Rome, World War II and the atomic bombings... There are specific points that changed the world, and if a problem occurs at one of those points, history itself is compromised. This is clearly a major city in Japan... but is it 'normal' for such a massive fire to break out in a city like this?"
"…So that means something went wrong with the history of this era?"
"You catch on quick."
"To be honest, seeing those clattering skeletons or Mash's shield, anyone would have their doubts."
Ritsuka downplayed herself with a humble tone. I gave her head a pat before looking at Mash.
She was busy dealing with the skeletons approaching with her heavy shield. Looking at Ritsuka, she flushed and bowed her head.
'By the way, it's strange that I can't sense Cu Chulainn.'
Strictly speaking, there should be seven Servants appearing in this Burning Contaminated City, Fuyuki.
Saber Alter guarding the cavern, and five Shadow Servants... The Reading-Nee-san, Archer, Hundred Faces, Fake-Kei, and Berserker. Finally, instead of Solomon who should have been summoned to this era, CasCu—Caster Cu Chulainn—should have appeared...
'Why can't I see Cu Chulainn?'
At that moment, light flashed in the distance, and a sword resembling a giant drill came to a sudden halt right before my eyes.
As the sword, having flown in an instant, paused for a fraction of a second, Mash swung her shield and batted it away. The sword plummeted into something resembling a cliff and detonated, forming a small mushroom cloud.
The mushroom cloud, which contaminated the surroundings with muddy, pitch-black prana, was fortunately held back by my Shinra Tensei so the shockwave wouldn't reach us. Mash looked on, horrified, and stammered a question.
"M-Mr. Karma. What was that just now?"
"An Archer's sniping. Fortunately, the auto-mode of my Shinra Tensei blocked it..."
"…Oh, wow. This is actually dangerous, right?"
"What happened... wait, I didn't think I'd fail to notice a presence of this caliber."
Indeed, it was bizarre for a mere Shadow Servant to have such high-level Presence Concealment.
Moreover, it definitely seemed dangerous.
Heroic Spirit Emiya and Fake-Kei—Hitachibo Kaizon... and even Medusa, the youngest of the Gorgon sisters. Three Heroic Spirits had surrounded us from a distance before we knew it.
"…What should we do?"
"Mash, you focus on protecting Ritsuka, since your paths are connected. I'll handle those three Servants."
"But Mr. Karma!"
"Don't worry. I'm not so weak that I'd lose to mere Shadow Servants."
…Well, obviously, if this were a battle at full strength, I'd lose miserably.
Even if I showed my true skill and used every means of meteors and sealing, three Heroic Spirits who are masters of combat would be far more difficult to face than an ordinary Dead Apostle. However, these were strictly Shadow Servants... their stats were reduced to a fraction of the originals, and even their Noble Phantasms—the symbols of the spirits themselves—were sealed.
'...So then, what is this ominous feeling?'
My intuition was particularly sharp in these matters. I shifted my body into the Asura Path and contacted Olga Marie via the link before entering combat.
"Olga Marie, the connection is still live, right? Scan their Saint Graphs. I suspect there's something 'strange' about them."
In an instant, Archer charged at me, swinging Kanshou and Bakuya.
As Mash deflected him with her shield, I transformed my five fingers into blades and lunged at him. Suddenly, Medusa intervened, swinging Harpe to parry my blades, while Fake-Kei swung a massive naginata toward my neck.
They had realized that between Mash and me, Mash lacked combat experience and began to target her relentlessly. I quickly reinforced the Shinra Tensei barrier surrounding Mash. Hitachibo Kaizon's naginata grazed Mash's shoulder. Seeing this, I launched a rocket punch from my Asura-modified arm, only for Medusa to plant her spear in the ground and kick my torso like a pole-vaulter.
"Dammit, that actually... hurts!"
I tried to slash her face with my finger-blades, but Emiya charged again with Kanshou and Bakuya. As Mash deflected him once more, Archer suddenly materialized another set of the dual swords and threw them into the air like a juggler.
In that moment, Archer hurled the two swords with desperate abandon while simultaneously forming another pair in his hands. I rushed toward him, shielded by Shinra Tensei, intending to strike his eyes with the Asura Path.
"◼︎◼︎◼︎…!"
"…What's that, why don't you speak a human language?"
After parrying the Triple-Linked Crane Wings, Emiya brought his hands together in a stance to prepare a Broken Phantasm. The other two Servants, sensing what was coming, quickly backed away.
At that moment, Olga Marie's calm briefing echoed in my ear.
[Their Saint Graphs are just normal Shadow Servants. However, they are all linked by a single source of prana... but the output itself is just that of an ordinary Shadow Servant. Shouldn't you be able to handle them easily?]
"…No, unfortunately, these aren't the normal Shadow Servants you know."
Right then, Archer Emiya clapped his hands, causing all his projected Noble Phantasms floating in the air to self-detonate.
Mash quickly raised her shield to block the erupting flames and debris. Suddenly, from the shattered armaments, a muddy, turbid Mud began to flow out.
The black prana that had only been feeding the flames turned into a thick, viscous substance, beginning to surround me, Ritsuka, and Mash.
"…I miscalculated."
Lev Lainur hadn't thrown me here just to break Chaldea.
That bastard intended to eliminate both me and Ritsuka Fujimaru as variables within this Singularity.
[Manifestation of the Evil of Humanity—The Evil of Retribution, Angra Mainyu]
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