"Camelot?"
Mash immediately grabbed Gudako and raced into the dense jungle. Moments later, towering white city walls loomed into view.
"It's... it's actually real?!"
The walls were identical to Camelot's in the previous Singularity. If not for the surrounding South American rainforest, Mash and Gudako might have doubted they had even left the previous Singularity.
"Has the Lion King... or the Knights of the Round Table come here too?"
In truth, Jiang You had modeled the walls after Morgan's Camelot, making them identical to both the Pan-Human History and Singularity versions. It could only be said that Morgan's obsession with Camelot was beyond comprehension.
"But that's not the case."
As King Arthur's mentor, Merlin was intimately familiar with Camelot. He immediately spotted the discrepancy.
"The appearance is indeed identical, but these walls are actually made of reinforced concrete. Hmm, though they have been magically reinforced and warded, the craftsmanship is a bit crude... Oh? Is that Greek magic?"
"Greek magic?"
Gudako racked her brain, unable to imagine any connection between Camelot and a Greek servant. That's completely far-fetched!
"We'll find out the specifics once we're inside," Merlin said, gently nudging Gudako forward. "The Master here clearly hasn't bothered with any anti-spy measures. But given the current situation, we don't need to worry about that anyway. Just walk in boldly."
Just as Merlin predicted, the guards at the gate didn't question them at all, allowing the group to enter the city with their flimsy disguises.
"This... this is way too urbanized," Gudako exclaimed, gazing at the surrounding facilities. She almost felt like she'd been transported back to modern society.
"Is this really 2500 BC? What on earth happened here? And those guards were holding guns, weren't they?!"
"Senpai, keep your voice down! Keep your voice down!" Mash tugged at Gudako's sleeve, gesturing for her to lower her voice. Shouting in the middle of the street would draw too much attention. If the Master here harbored hostile intentions, things could get very complicated.
"Senpai, you're overreacting. You've seen fully automated robots back in America, haven't you?"
"Mash, you have to remember—that was America!"
Gudako figured that guns being present in America was hardly surprising.
"Senpai, please don't say things I don't understand at all."
The joke was too dark for the pure-hearted Mash to comprehend.
Meanwhile, Merlin had already taken Little Medusa by the hand and was asking passersby about the situation. Thanks to his Illusion Magic, the locals saw Merlin and Ana as a pair of weathered women. After all, Merlin's flamboyant appearance would easily arouse suspicion. This disguise allowed him to gather information more discreetly.
"Alright, we've gathered the surface-level intel. We'll need to see things firsthand to confirm the specifics."
Soon, Merlin and Ana returned to Gudako and Mash.
"This place is indeed connected to Camelot. The queen here is named Tristan."
"Wait, queen?" Gudako asked, doubting she'd heard correctly. "Tristan?"
"You heard right, it's Tristan," Merlin confirmed with a smile, emphasizing the name.
"That's exactly what's surprising me!"
Gudako knew Tristan was indeed a melancholic, long-haired beauty with closed eyes, but she couldn't associate him with the title "Queen" no matter how hard she tried. Her face twisted into a grimace.
Ana stomped on Merlin's foot, forcing him to finish his explanation. The mischievous fellow had deliberately left his explanation half-finished, eager to see Gudako's reaction.
"Ouch! I was wrong, I was wrong!" Merlin yelped, hopping on one foot and clutching his injured foot. Ana merely glanced at him, knowing he wasn't in any real pain. "The prefix before Tristan's name isn't 'Knight of the Round Table,' but 'Fairy Knight.' This place is also called Camelot, but its full name is 'Faerie Realm.' This Tristan isn't the Tristan from Pan-Human History. She's probably a Fusion Servant, or perhaps a Tristan from a Parallel World? Like the Lion King, for example."
"So this whole Heroic Spirit thing... it's completely incomprehensible," Gudako muttered, feeling utterly helpless. It was one thing for many Heroic Spirits to share the same face, but now there were also different versions of the same person from different worlds? She was losing track entirely.
"Hahaha, no need to get so hung up on the details. Who knows, maybe there's a female Merlin in another world too?"
"So this city was created by this Tristan as well?"
Mash touched the signboard of a nearby shop, the letters still electroplated. "Could this be Camelot that survived into the 20th century? Have the names of the Knights of the Round Table become mere titles?"
Mash's reasoning was entirely wrong, yet the conclusion was perfectly correct. However, the group had no way of knowing this.
"That's impossible," Merlin countered, though he found Mash's theory intriguing. "A kind passerby told me that the queen has always been accompanied by a man. Together, they defeated the god who had taken root here, and within days, they built this Camelot. It's likely this city's creation is connected to that man, probably a Servant."
"Someone who could build a city like this must be a modern Heroic Spirit, right? But also capable of defeating a god... Just out of curiosity, who was this god they defeated?"
Gudako knew that gods came in all shapes and sizes, their power differences potentially greater than the gap between humans and dogs.
"Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent God."
Merlin glanced toward the arena, where powerful magical fluctuations continued to emanate.
"I'm the Great Goddess of the Aztecs, you know," Quetzalcoatl added, sensing Merlin's gaze. She paused Fairy Tristan's wrestling massacre, and medical personnel quickly carried away the "corpses," awaiting their resurrection.
"Princess of the Faerie Realm, unwelcome guests have trespassed upon our territory. We must extend a proper welcome, no matter what. Are you ready? The real battle begins now."
Quetzalcoatl glanced at the empty seat beside her, looking slightly troubled.
"As for Jiang You... he's slipped away again."
The moment Merlin and his companions entered the arena, spotlights converged on them.
"Let's welcome the Challengers from Chaldea!"
Host Hundred Faces, standing on the high platform, announced Gudako and her team's identities to the crowd. Beside her, Medea activated the Spell inscribed during the arena's construction. Under her control, the arena transformed into a vast gladiatorial combat zone.
"Miss Hundred Faces! And Miss Medea too?"
The Host Hundred Faces' flamboyant attire betrayed her identity, allowing Mash to recognize her and Medea instantly. Only the blonde, South American tribal-style female Servant remained unfamiliar.
"What are you all doing here? Does that mean the unknown male Servant the villagers mentioned is Mr. Jiang You?!"
"Eh? Jiang You?"
It suddenly dawned on Gudako that Jiang You, who had summoned both Lancelot and Medea, was the most likely Heroic Spirit to connect Camelot and Greece.
"Then that means we've gained a new ally!"
Given Jiang You's solo rampage through the sixth Singularity, Gudako had unwavering confidence in this formidable Heroic Spirit. He had explicitly pledged to aid Chaldea and had even reported for duty.
Jiang You had originally agreed to enter the Singularity with Chaldea, but contact was abruptly severed as the appointed time approached, severing their contract. Presuming some unforeseen crisis had occurred, they were astonished to find he had already arrived independently. With his arrival, their strength would surge dramatically, a prospect that filled them with elation.
"It's great Jiang You's back with the team, but where is he?"
"Stay focused."
Ana, who had been silent until now, drew her scythe, her gaze fixed on the approaching Fairy Tristan. "This woman harbors hostility toward us!"
"Comrades?"
Fairy Tristan looked at the strangers, taken aback by their claim that Jiang You was one of them. An inexplicable irritation rose within her. "How ridiculous. Didn't he tell you he's your enemy now?"
Just as Quetzalcoatl had said they would use the battle to assess her progress, Jiang You had also resolved to oppose everyone. Fairy Tristan unleashed her magical power. The intense combat of recent days, combined with Quetzalcoatl's rigorous training, had yielded remarkable results. Her maximum capacity hadn't increased, but her control over her magical power had improved exponentially.
A blood-slicked slide allowed Fairy Tristan to effortlessly bypass Mash, who was focused on protecting Gudako. Magical daggers and stiletto-heeled kicks struck simultaneously at Ana.
"Let's start with you!"
Just as Fairy Tristan was about to strike, she vanished from the spot without warning.
Quetzalcoatl covered her face. What terrible luck! She would have to personally greet the envoys from Chaldea.
Meanwhile, Jiang You was leading Hundred Faces and Serenity alongside Cursed Arm. To win over scattered villages in the area, Jiang You had assigned Cursed Arm to serve as a bodyguard for the supply convoy.
But this morning, Cursed Arm had rushed back urgently, reporting that their convoy had been attacked and their supplies stolen.
"Someone actually managed to steal supplies from you? That's quite rare," Jiang You remarked.
Jiang You and Cursed Arm arrived at the site of the ambush. Fortunately, Cursed Arm had held off the attackers, preventing any casualties. Massive sword slashes and charred remains littered the ground.
"This subordinate has failed in his duty. Please punish me, Lord."
Cursed Arm immediately knelt, willing to accept punishment for failing to fulfill Jiang You's orders.
"Don't worry, I'm not blaming you."
Cursed Arm's loyalty and righteousness were unparalleled; Jiang You had no need to worry about him holding back in battle.
"It seems the other party is also a Servant. Judging by this act, I can guess who it is."
Apart from Merlin, Gilgamesh had summoned seven Servants in total. However, one Servant disobeyed Gilgamesh's orders and instead fled to become a bandit. This Servant was the Berserker, Ibaraki-Doji.
"Well, isn't fate bringing us together?"
Jiang You had previously invited Ibaraki-Doji to join him, but she had refused. Now that they had crossed paths again, he had no intention of letting her escape. While obtaining a Card through combat yielded far fewer rewards compared to earning one through raising Affection, Ibaraki-Doji herself wasn't particularly strong. Jiang You figured he might as well complete her entry in his Card Index.
As the saying goes, "Forced fruit may not be sweet, but it quenches thirst." Jiang You resolved to beat Ibaraki-Doji into submission and claim her Card on the spot.
"Hundred Faces, I'm entrusting the tracking to you."
Beyond combat, Hundred Faces was a versatile utility knife. She could summon any bizarre specialization personality, as long as it was within the realm of human possibility. In tracking, she far surpassed the other Hassan.
"Master, please follow."
Ibaraki-Doji had no sense of counter-surveillance, leaving behind obvious tracks that posed no challenge to Hundred Faces. She quickly analyzed the scene and pinpointed Ibaraki-Doji's destination.
When Jiang You found Ibaraki-Doji, she was sprawled on a massive boulder inside a mountain cave, licking a lollipop with her tongue sticking out. The Demon King's lair on Mount Ōe was shockingly dilapidated, and Ibaraki-Doji looked less like a formidable oni and more like a rebellious runaway teenager.
"Ibaraki-Doji, long time no see."
Having met her before, Jiang You greeted her directly.
Seeming to realize that eating in such a manner in front of others was rather unbecoming, Ibaraki-Doji bit off the candy in one bite and swallowed it whole.
"You!?"
Ibaraki-Doji recognized Jiang You instantly, as he often appeared with Minamoto no Raikou. "I remember you being with Raikou, that milk cow! Is she here too?!"
"Not this time."
Although Jiang You could have simply summoned Minamoto no Raikou and, with her power combined with the Hassan's, easily defeated Ibaraki-Doji, his true goal was to obtain Ibaraki-Doji's Card and recruit her to work for him in this Script.
"She's busy right now. You'll have to face me alone."
"Just you?"
Any Servant could see Jiang You's weakness. Ibaraki-Doji was about to mock him when she suddenly remembered his Noble Phantasm. Jiang You's combat prowess didn't rely on his own strength at all. Yet, she felt no resistance; on the contrary, she grew eager for the Duel. "Then Shuten-dōji is in your Deck too, right?"
Seeing Ibaraki-Doji's sudden cheerfulness, Jiang You knew he had won her over. She wouldn't refuse his challenge.
"Of course. Let's play a Shadow Game. If you lose, you'll obey my commands. If I lose, I'll give you anything you want—even shuten is no problem."
Jiang You immediately initiated the Shadow Game.
"Enough talk! Just start already!"
Ibaraki-Doji urged Jiang You on, her Oni nature akin to the fairies of Britain—creatures driven by amusement, with little regard for consequences.
Jiang You: 4000 LP
Ibaraki-Doji: 4000 LP
"My turn!"
Jiang You, taking advantage of Ibaraki-Doji's lack of Duel experience, seized the initiative. His Fairy Tristan Deck was particularly strong when played first.
"I activate the Spell Card, Grudge Fusion! By sending Fairy Knight Tristan and Cernunnos from my Deck to the Graveyard, I Fusion Summon—Cait Cú MikoCer!"
Recently, Jiang You had been able to draw key cards even without Fairy Tristan by his side.
The colossal, white-antlered deity shattered the sea's surface as it rose, summoning the bewildered miko of the Divine Offering in its wake.
Fairy Tristan (Swimsuit)
Attack Power: 3000