With Scáthach possessing Druidic aptitude—meaning Caster-class abilities—and Covan Alcatraz being one of the greatest modern magi, comparable even to those of the Age of Gods like Medea...
Combined with the resource known as the ‘Holy Grail,’ recreating the Rayshift technology was not an impossible feat.
[However, this is a gamble. Unlike Chaldea’s system, which can calculate precise coordinates, the best we can do is ensure you two drop into the Singularity at the same location...]
The Sixth Singularity: Divine Round Table Realm, Camelot.
Among the Singularities of the first arc—excluding the Final Singularity and the Seventh—this one boasted the most horrific difficulty, designated as an EX-rank anomaly that defied standard logic.
‘Technically speaking, what the Lion King was doing was closer to creating a Lostbelt... Regardless, if the King of Demon Gods’ Incineration of the Human Order succeeds, whether it's a Lostbelt or anything else, everyone except those preserved within the Sacred Lance would perish. It all amounts to the same thing.’
Anyway, to summarize the situation, it was quite simple.
In the Crusades—specifically, during the Ninth Crusade—one of the commanders was supposed to receive the Holy Grail. The original plan of the King of Demon Gods involved them using the Grail to succeed in a crusade that should have failed, leading to endless slaughter fueled by power. However, due to their excessive greed, a summoned Pharaoh seized the Grail and established an Egyptian domain. Then, a self-proclaimed ‘Richard I’ of unknown origin appeared to unify the Crusaders, and Artoria Pendragon—who had become a Divine Spirit, the so-called ‘Lion King’—manifested to summon the Round Table. Fighting against the Crusaders with those who followed her will, she transformed Jerusalem into Camelot...
In short, the King of Demon Gods’ plan had gone completely awry, but unfortunately, the opponent was a Divine Spirit, so the Incineration of the Human Order was still proceeding as scheduled.
However... the current situation had changed.
First of all, the Lion King is one of the few humans who, along with the King of Demon Gods and the King of Magic Gilgamesh, has glimpsed the ‘End’ of this world. In other words, she is one who realized the possibility of the Incineration of the Human Order succeeding. That is why, instead of storing humans within the Sacred Lance, she had lowered her status to a Servant and manifested in the Fourth Holy Grail War alongside Gilgamesh. Perhaps, through her divine sight, she had even left behind Altrium—a sort of signpost that allows one to travel directly to this Singularity...
“W-wait a minute, Uncle. Then you're saying Gareth-chan’s King... that King of Knights who was flying around Fuyuki City, is on our side?”
“Essentially, yes. For the record, she’s probably much stronger than the Mad King. While the Mad King was a case of taking a standard Saint Graph and maging it up to be Divine Spirit-‘class,’ she is a genuine Divine Spirit.”
Furthermore, considering the ‘Gifts’ received by the Servants of the Round Table, their capabilities would be astronomical. Given that the Fifth Singularity preceded the Sixth, and even after facing the Mad King, many had claimed the Gifted Round Table knights were the strongest enemies they had ever encountered.
Well, putting aside such power-scaling debates for now, if one simply understood how much of a ‘cheat’ a Divine Spirit existence was... they could vaguely grasp the state of the Sixth Singularity.
“Then it's a guaranteed win! If a Divine Spirit is helping us, can't we clear the Singularity easily?”
“Do you really think it would be that simple?”
“...Ah.”
“The fact that the Singularity still persists even with a Divine Spirit on our side means something so vile is running rampant that even that Divine Spirit is having a hard time, Ritsuka.”
“Um... do you have any idea what it might be?”
An idea. Honestly, there were too many to count, and that was the problem.
From that ‘False’ Richard I, whom multiple Gifted Round Table knights had to face, to other Servants the King of Demon Gods might have sent, or all sorts of monstrous entities the Crusaders might have summoned instead of the Pharaoh... Even during the Crusades, the Dead Apostles were involved.
Entities like Nrvnqsr Chaos or Merem Solomon were said to have been active then. Setting aside the Arcueid-obsessed Merem, I truly never wanted to cross paths with someone like Nrvnqsr Chaos, who achieved a form of limited immortality during war-like situations.
I doubted that the order of assassins—those whose very existence was death and who worshiped such death—would antagonize us, and since the Lion King had assisted us from the Fourth Holy Grail War all the way to London, she could basically be considered an ally... But conversely, we had to assume everything else was an enemy.
‘They call it the terror of the unknown, but this truly is more of a headache. Unlike the other Singularities where I at least knew the basic framework, this shows me nothing...’
I let out a sigh.
Moreover, aside from the lack of information, the depletion of supplies was a critical issue. While the repair of my heart had finished while Covan and Scáthach were preparing the Rayshift, and I had mended my body with the Asura Path and Preta Path, the dolls and various Mystic Codes that had been pulverized were beyond restoration. Many of the Mystic Eyes I had acquired from the Rail Zeppelin were also lost.
The Black Keys I brought from the Holy Church were gone, and the various Mystic Codes Ritsuka possessed were either broken or the cards themselves were destroyed.
“...The fact that we can't communicate with Chaldea is the biggest issue, though.”
Of course, I didn't think they would have lost to the Mad King. However, since he was a Divine Spirit-class Servant, it was certain he put up quite a fight, and Chaldea's facilities might have been damaged. With Touko here, and myself as well, we could eventually repair it... but honestly, I didn't expect the King of Demon Gods to be this persistent in attacking us. Is it even right to call it ‘petty’ at this point? It certainly felt that way.
[Whew, I've finished the basic magical formation.]
“Can we activate it immediately?”
[We need to gather magical energy. There are some resources left in the Grail, but remember how you almost died from contamination when we shoved the Grail in to fix your heart earlier?]
Right. The moment I was summoned with a destroyed heart, Ritsuka had immediately thrust the Holy Grail into me to replace it. In that moment, the trace planted by the King of Demon Gods had manifested and tried to consume my body. Fortunately, I managed to block even the mud using the Preta Path, which can filter out only pure prana. I could technically refine and use the Grail's prana that way, but it was better to avoid a dangerous path if possible.
“Gareth, are you still unable to tell us anything about the local Singularity?”
“...Yes, Master. Such constraints exist.”
“Well, nothing for it, then.”
In the meantime, Ritsuka had been peppering Gareth with various questions to get any scrap of info—or more likely, she was just curious about the King of Knights—but Gareth simply evaded them or deferred to me for any question she could answer.
Now that I think about it, even in the Fourth Singularity, Mordred and Tristan had brushed off requests for info with the ridiculous joke, ‘We leave it to you, heroes of the past!’ At the time, I just took it as a joke—since they knew who sent them—but was there actually a constraint preventing them from sharing information?
The more my thoughts spiraled, the more my anxiety regarding the Sixth Singularity grew.
I spent a sleepless night agonizing over what might occur in the Sixth Singularity until a day had passed and the makeshift Rayshift system was finally completed. And then... the system was finally ready.
[Alright! We finally did it!]
“Phew... I never expected us to finish such a complex system in a single day.”
“More importantly, Uncle, the Singularity has been restored, yet there’s been no contact from Chaldea all day...”
“It likely means the King of Demon Gods is dedicating all his efforts to keeping Chaldea in check. But if the King of Demon Gods knows we’re heading for the Sixth Singularity and is just standing by...”
As I looked at the Rayshift system with a worried gaze, Scáthach spoke up, drawing her demonic spear as if telling me there was no need to worry.
“Be at ease. This system is a one-use affair anyway. Once Chaldea returns to normal and locks onto your coordinates in the Sixth Singularity, you can return through them. As soon as the Rayshift begins, I will use my Noble Phantasm to pin space and transport you.”
“Whoa... that’s amazing.”
Mash spoke in admiration.
“Additionally, though it was completed in haste, one additional Heroic Spirit can be transported with you.”
“...!”
At Scáthach's words, Ritsuka's eyes widened as she looked around.
Li Shuwen, Karna, Nightingale, Scáthach, Diarmuid... all of them were Servants at the pinnacle of their respective fields, and it wouldn't be strange to call any of them ‘Great Heroes.’
“If we're heading to the Sixth Singularity instead of back to Chaldea...”
“That alone is plenty to be grateful for. However...”
I looked at the Servants with slightly narrowed eyes.
“You’re not thinking of giving this burden to Ritsuka, are you? Ritsuka is at her limit just maintaining the current prana supply. If she takes on any more, she’ll turn into a mummy.”
“I know. This system was proposed by Alcatraz with the intention of attaching another to you, since you used Altera as a decoy.”
“In that case...”
Each had their pros and cons... these were Heroic Spirits with clear strengths, whether it was large-scale destruction, one-on-one combat, curses, or medical support.
The first to speak among them was none other than Scáthach.
“I cannot go. I must monitor the Rayshift system from here.”
“I’ll grant you that.”
“...Then it is best that I step back as well.”
Li Shuwen said, shaking his spear.
It was true. Honestly, Li Shuwen lacked the same merit as Diarmuid or Karna in this situation. While his spearmanship reached the Divine Realm, he ultimately had the limitations of being a high-tier Great Hero, and he lacked unique strategic merits like Diarmuid’s dual spears or Karna’s massive destructive potential.
After a moment of contemplation, I spoke to Karna.
“Chapters 6 and 7 are battlefields. We expect large-scale melee combat. It would be more effective to take Karna, who possesses an Anti-Army... no, an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm, rather than Diarmuid, who has an Anti-Unit one.”
“I see. I agree as well, Master.”
“Diarmuid, you worked hard in this Singularity. Let's see each other again with smiles on our faces next time.”
“Indeed. I hope for that as well.”
As I sat in the device—which looked like a coffin but was constructed by twisting the receivers I had pulled out—I heard Alcatraz's voice, which seemed to hum slightly.
[Energy accumulation complete. Commencing pseudo-spiritron conversion!]
“Target confirmed. All processes clear. Locking coordinates... Gae Bolg Alternative!”
Immediately after, a red flash flared, and a powerful shock began to seep into my very bones. My body, converted into spiritrons, began to be sucked toward the point pinned by her demonic spear that pierced space. In that moment, a terrifying presence began to loom.
Is this interference from the King of Demon Gods?
The thought flashed through my mind.
But if that was the case, it was fine. With Scáthach and Alcatraz here, and the Servants who were continuously proving their existence—even if they couldn't communicate directly—the King of Demon Gods would be unable to separate me from Ritsuka as he had done before.
Yes, Karna, Gareth, and Kiyohime are here, along with Mash and myself. Honestly, with this level of firepower, even if the Mad King appeared, we could escape at least once. I tried my best to relax as my body de-spiritronized, while gathering magical energy in my palms.
—I see thy sin.
—O thou who flees from the End, come unto me.
Hearken.
O life that advances by deceiving death, behold thy sin.
The evening bell points to thy name.
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