Imperial Army Headquarters.
Inside one of its deepest chambers.
"Ugh!"
As soon as Nobunaga exited her spiritual form, she immediately braced herself against the wall beside her to avoid collapsing.
She staggered over to her desk and sat down. After several deep breaths, she tapped the crystal orb resting upon it—the very object left behind by the Magus who had come and gone so swiftly not long ago.
The orb flickered briefly, then emitted a soft glow—within the dim room, a human figure materialized.
"Oh?"
The woman seated there, mid-bite into her buttered bread, seemed momentarily confused before turning toward Nobunaga. "Hmm… Sudden connection like this? Miss me?"
Or—
"You finally met my man?"
Nobunaga smiled and nodded at the white-haired girl projected before her, casually munching on her snack. "Yes, I met him, Magus."
"Then how was the fight? Judging by your state… you got utterly crushed, didn't you?"
Utterly crushed?
Nobunaga sneered and shook her head. "He didn't fight—his companion did. That woman, sitting atop a golden flying vessel, just threw Noble Phantasms around like garbage! It made me so jealous! If I'd been that rich back in my day, I would've conquered the Sengoku period and ruled the entire world! Tokugawa could've shown up ten times—I'd have blown him into smithereens! Even the Uesugi clan wouldn't have scared me!"
Golden flying vessel?
Throwing Noble Phantasms like trash?
"Ahh… that must be Angelica. Naoki is with her."
"What? You know that woman?"
The White Magus—Merry—nodded. "You could say she's the person closest to me… though that was ages ago. Still, this really surprises me. Angelica was supposed to be a maid to that noble master… Could it be that the doll-loving fool has finally taken action?"
"What are you talking about? Say something I can understand!" Nobunaga slammed her fist on the desk in frustration. "And since you know who she is, tell me everything about her right now! I need to go back and get revenge!"
"Fight again? Nobu, you lost? Then why don't you just come here and help me? This place suits you perfectly! Plus, it'll lighten my workload."
"I'm still alive! It's way too early for me to show up at your place!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah… Ah, looks like I'll have to keep working overtime. Honestly, overtime is the worst."
Finishing her buttered bread in a few bites, Merry licked the crumbs off her fingers and said: "To face Angelica, there are two key things to remember. First—her Displacement Magecraft, which she masters above all else. Simply put, it's magic that swaps objects. But Angelica doesn't just swap objects—she can swap entire spaces, involving Second Magic."
"Oh, oh, space-swapping… I'll write that down in my notebook first."
Pulling out a notebook from the drawer beside her, she flipped to the last page and began scribbling down what Merry said. Nobunaga pressed on: "What's the second?"
"The Class Card—a Mystic Code Angelica possesses. Similar to divine possession, it allows her to absorb a Servant's power into herself, enabling her to manifest combat strength equal to that of a Servant. By the way, the Servant Angelica can transform into is Gilgamesh."
"Gilgamesh? Who's that? A Servant I've never heard of."
"..."
Seeing Nobunaga completely baffled and unfamiliar with the name, Merry suddenly felt compelled to record this projection—and show it later to the Golden Man who always forced her to work. She was certain the reaction he'd give would be priceless.
—And so she did.
After storing the recording in her mental archive, Merry explained: "Gilgamesh… In short, he's the oldest King of Heroes. The wealthiest new-money aristocrat in history, possessing every treasure ever forged on Earth. The radiant golden man whose entire body gleams."
"Monkey?"
"Precisely!"
(This line must be saved too~)
"But jokes aside, the King's power is terrifyingly real. He stands as the pinnacle among all Servants, especially because he has collected every prototype treasure known to the world. No matter the enemy, he always has a counter ready. He's essentially nature's antithesis to Servants."
"But Nobu, I think you could fight him evenly! After all, Gilgamesh's divinity and mystery are extremely high, and his fighting style resembles yours… Uwaaaaaahhhhhhh!"
Before Merry could finish, a massive boulder plummeted from the sky—crashing onto her entire body—followed by a gleaming golden spear piercing through the pile.
Nobunaga: "Is he dead?"
"Tiiiiiiiiiidaaaaak…"
Merry's muffled voice echoed from beneath the rubble.
"Hahahaha… Guess I can't keep gossiping about him behind his back. Otherwise, next time I'll really become a hedgehog. Anyway, that's the info on Angelica—enough?"
"Yes, that's enough! You've worked hard! With this, that woman will die!"
"Then Nobu will surely come to my place to report." Merry chuckled, struggling to crawl out from under the rocks while yanking the spear from her head. "Our conversation ends here. I'll file a complaint against the irresponsible citizen who's littering everywhere. Next time you're clueless, feel free to ask me again."
Seeing Merry about to vanish, Nobunaga reached out urgently: "Wait! I haven't asked about the most important man yet!"
"Naoki?"
Merry paused mid-motion, thinking for a moment. "Ah… telling you about him won't help you, Nobu. Even if I told you everything, you couldn't possibly defeat Naoki."
"Hoho… dare to say that?"
"Because it's fact. If you want to fight Naoki, you'd have to become the true Demon King himself. As additional advice—where you are right now? Better leave quickly. I think it's about to become rubble."
"Eh? Why?"
"Because my Master is extremely vengeful…"
With those words, Merry's projection vanished before Nobunaga's eyes.
And almost instantly—
*SWISH!* *SWISH!* *SWISH!*
A rain of golden meteors suddenly fell from the heavens!