"Are we just going to sit idly by?"
They were back in Holmes's room. But, except for Deadch, everyone – both Master and Servants – was in despair.
"If this continues, not a stone will be left upon a stone in London! The Human Order will be burned! We need to do something, and quickly!"
Deadch was wailing, but Ritsuka simply didn't know where to start. They had barely managed to defeat B, and now M appeared – a mage of the Clock Tower and the true culprit of the "Demonic Fog" plan, who intended to incinerate human history.
"His name is Makiri Zolgen. He was nicknamed M after the first letter of his name. He is behind this fog and all the anomalies," Holmes muttered, sighing as he looked at the London streets shrouded in mist.
"We can't handle such an opponent. Besides, we ended up losing Frankenstein."
"Damn it!"
Upon hearing Holmes's words, Mordred punched the wall in fury. She was beside herself with her own powerlessness in the current situation.
The mage, known as M or Makiri Zolgen, had bound them all, coldly subdued Frankenstein, and disappeared. His goal was simple: to ascend to the pinnacle of the world and burn humanity.
"He understands this too, doesn't he? He understands that no matter how hard we try, we won't be able to stop him. That's why he let us go so easily. Isn't that right?"
"Hm. If you think about it, that's true."
Deadch was about to object, but admitted the obvious: if they could truly thwart Makiri's plans, he wouldn't have let them leave alive.
"But are we really going to just sit and wait?" asked Hassan of the Cursed Arm, standing motionlessly behind the dejected Ritsuka.
True. They couldn't give up. Ritsuka and Mash had no right to surrender – for the sake of completing the great search for the Holy Grail, the Grand Order, and for the sake of restoring order in their home world.
"What if... just imagine... if Makiri missed something?" Holmes suggested, not taking his eyes off the window.
"Missed something? Did you find something?"
In response to Deadch's question, Holmes took a torn piece of letter from his inner pocket.
"This scrap was inside B's, Charles Babbage's, chassis when he fell. There's an address indicated here."
Holmes unfolded the scrap on the table: a simple diagram and an address, scrawled in a sweeping hand, were displayed there.
"Babbage knew something that escaped both us and Makiri. Apparently, his sanity returned just before his death, and he wanted to direct us... here."
After carefully studying the fragment, Holmes concluded that the address pointed to a steam engine manufacturing workshop near the clock factory.
"Alright. Nothing will change if we just mope around here. Besides, I'm not one to wait for death obediently. I have a plan. Who's with me?"
While the others exchanged confused glances, Mordred, having already made up her mind, spoke with a stern expression:
"I hate to admit it, but Master is right. Sitting in a corner is not my style. I'll crush this arrogant Makiri... or whatever his name is, Madonsoka! I don't care!"
Following the resolute Mordred, Mash and Ritsuka stood up, ready to support Holmes's plan. The Grail of this singularity belongs to Makiri Zolgen. Therefore, he must be stopped.
"So, what is your plan?"
"Makiri Zolgen said: 'I will burn humanity at the top of the world.' The top of the world... Most likely, he meant the highest place. And here, it's probably..."
Holmes's finger pointed out the window, at a building whose silhouette towered even above the dense fog.
"The Clock Tower. Big Ben."
London was just entering the era of industrialization, and buildings were becoming taller, but Big Ben remained the symbol of the city and its highest point in the very center. This must be why Zolgen dealt with the mages of the Clock Tower.
"I'll go to the workshop for the clue Babbage left. And you, Mordred, keep an eye on the guys for now."
"Pff. You can count on me!"
Then Holmes instructed Ritsuka's group:
"You try to delay Makiri's plans as much as possible. Provoke him, annoy him, do whatever – by any means and methods."
"Understood."
"Yes, sir."
Holmes secretly thought that this might be their last sortie. He had solved many cases, but this time they were going all-in. Perhaps at the cost of their lives...
"Let's move out!"
◇
The majestic Clock Tower, Big Ben, the symbol of Britain.
At its very top, Makiri Zolgen gazed with an impassive expression at London, submerged in fog. Frankenstein stood beside him.
"They've started moving."
Although they were far away, he felt the movements of Holmes and the Servants who intended to interfere with him. Makiri snapped his fingers, and Jack the Ripper and Hyde appeared on either side of him.
"Mommy! I... I want to play. Can I play?"
"Go. Play as much as you want. Until you get bored."
"Hooray-a!"
Jack's face contorted into a wicked grin, full of childlike innocence, and she jumped off the tower. Hyde, lounging on the parapet, twirled a dagger in his hands, enjoying the moment.
"The detective is not visible."
"He's probably plotting something. Well, I'll go too," Hyde replied, not sensing Holmes's presence, and also jumped down.
"U-u-u-u..."
"Well then, let's begin. Legacy V," Makiri said.
With the help of magic, he wove a staircase directly from the material of the Clock Tower's roof. Frankenstein, under compulsion, slowly began to ascend the steps disappearing into the London sky.
"Two Servants! They are approaching!"
Ritsuka's group, having almost reached their destination, froze, sensing the approach of Jack and Hyde, who were falling directly onto them from a height.
"Hey! Hey! I'm bored. I asked Mommy, and she let me play. I'll play until I get tired. Will you play with me?"
Jack crouched down, drawing a pair of scalpel-daggers.
"And why does she keep calling for Mommy? Is she Superman? Maybe her mom's name is Ma..."
"I think it's better to save that joke," Ritsuka interrupted him.
Deadpool puffed out his cheeks in confusion in response.
"Hey, a good joke is good the second and third time. What, have you never been on the internet?"
While Deadpool grumbled, Hyde appeared, and the situation finally heated up.
"It seems your detective chickened out and ran away? Well, of course, what else can you expect from a coward who can only swallow his pills and hallucinate!"
"Watch your tongue! Only I can mock and curse him! As a Knight of the Round Table, I will not allow any riff-raff to insult my Master!"
"Oh, scientifically, this is called double standards. I can, but others can't," Deadch interjected.
Mordred stepped forward, facing Jack.
"It seems we've clashed somewhere before. Yes! I feel it! But this time it will be different. Because I will win."
"You talk too much. I hate talkers the most! Except for one guy..."
Mordred prepared for battle. Meanwhile, Hyde headed towards Ritsuka.
"So, who should I have fun with?"
"Your opponent will be me," Hassan of the Cursed Arm blocked his path.
Assassin versus assassin. Ancient master of shadows versus modern butcher. Hassan began to unwrap his bandages, revealing his distorted limb – "Zabaniya: Cradle of Fantasy."
"Will you allow me to take your heart?"
"I'll rip yours out first!"
Hyde, dagger in hand, broke into a mad smile, his eyes glowing with boundless malice.
"Senpai, we have to stop Makiri!"
"I'm with you!"
Mash rushed forward, and Ritsuka and Deadch followed her inside the Clock Tower.
"Oh, they left. Well, whatever, it's still more fun to play with you. Are you ready?"
"Enough talk, I'm starting!" Mordred lunged forward, bringing her sword down on Jack the Ripper.
However, Jack swiftly dodged and, in an instant, got behind her. But...
"I see everything!"
As if anticipating the thrust, Mordred struck back with her gauntlet before the dagger could touch her neck. Jack jumped high, creating distance. Crouching like a beast, she fixed her gaze on Mordred, and her face contorted into a grimace of mad delight.
"If you don't expose yourself, it won't be interesting. Hahaha! I'll cut you slowly, painfully... Again and again, and in the end, I'll rip open your belly!"
"Less talk, more action! Try it if you've got the guts!"
Unfazed, Mordred swung her sword, enveloped in crimson discharges.
◇
Meanwhile, Holmes had reached the address from Babbage's letter. Using lockpicks, he opened the heavy lock of the steam factory and entered.
"Steam engine... Coal, fire, boiling water, and the power of steam. A symbol of industrialization. What did Babbage find in such a place?"
Wandering through the dormant workshop, Holmes stumbled upon a slightly ajar door deep within the premises.
"What is this..."
This workshop was noticeably different from the rest of the factory.
Parts of a chassis and limbs hung on chains, suspiciously resembling B's parts – Babbage, whom they had fought. And in the corner, Holmes discovered blueprints of his mechanical body.
"This isn't just armor... Babbage died ten years ago, and Makiri said he summoned him as a Servant using the Grail, but..."
Studying the papers, he noticed numbers scrawled in the margins. The year the blueprint was created – 1878. Exactly ten years ago.
"Now it's clear. He tried to create this steam-powered machine, but he died. And Makiri used the Grail... No, he killed him. Forced this engine to spread the mana-infused fog. Magically turned him into a Servant and made him his slave."
Flipping further through the blueprints, Holmes froze when he came across a diagram drawn with incredible precision – it was a form, almost human, unlike the bulky Babbage.
"He wanted to resist to the end, but couldn't withstand Makiri's magical pressure. And yet, before his death, he regained his senses and left me this..."
Holmes's eyes gleamed.
"This is what both we and Makiri missed!"
At that moment, clouds of steam erupted behind Holmes. A steel bulkhead slid aside with a screech, revealing an iron armor, exactly like the one in the blueprint.