"Hiss....
When Guinevere saw that he had drawn Heavenly Fire again this time, he knew this pull was worth it.
If, when he had drawn Heavenly Fire Judgment for the second or third time, Guinevere occasionally wondered if this skill had consumed too many of his pulls... now, his heart was filled only with gratitude.
After playing the simulator for so long, Heavenly Fire Judgment was the only Noble Phantasm that had carried him from the start to now, repeatedly rewriting his fate in desperate situations. Its value needed no explanation.
He should say, Heavenly Fire Perfume Bottle—uh, no—Heavenly Fire Judgment was simply the simulator's perfect weapon, already fused with it... the middle part's forgotten, anyway, perfect is perfect.
However, this time the two enhancement plans offered for the new perk did catch Guinevere's eye.
Each plan had its own merits. If he chose Plan One, his Heavenly Fire could become a permanent ability. As long as his mana was sufficient, he could unsheathe Heavenly Fire endlessly...
Facing Norwich Heavenly Fire? Unsheathe once.
Meeting Woodworth? Unsheathe once.
Encountering Morse Tide? Unsheathe once.
Running into Cernunnos? Then unsheathe twice.
Nothing couldn't be solved by a single Heavenly Fire unsheathing. If one wasn't enough, then two!
Moreover, he could now swing the Heavenly Fire Greatsword directly in battle instead of pitifully using the Kariya Knight Sword. In terms of style and power, the Heavenly Fire Greatsword was no less than the Sword of Promised Victory and even looked slightly better. He could just pick Heavenly Fire and be done with it.
...After careful thought, Guinevere still chose Plan Two.
There was no helping it. Plan Two... was, after all, Doomsday.
Physical Heavenly Fire was strong, yes, but without Doomsday Form it was incomplete. Against truly powerful opponents, it would still fall short—like in the last simulation where even a single Cernunnos forced Guinevere to the brink... and what if he faced someone stronger than Cernunnos? If one day he had to face Goetia, Tiamat, or even the Giant Spider?
At that time, Heavenly Fire Unsheathing's power would no longer suffice, and Heavenly Fire Judgment would lose its decisive effect. From Guinevere's years of playing RPGs, when you're at the starting stage with nothing, you pick strong wheelchair-like abilities to improve your overall gameplay experience. But once your equipment and skills have taken shape and offer decent strength, what you should choose are those that raise your upper limit.
Most importantly, Guinevere noticed a critical flaw in Plan One: under that plan, using Heavenly Fire Judgment would consume an enormous amount of mana.
And where was he supposed to find such massive mana? Or... if he had such mana reserves, would he even fear lacking firepower? Wouldn't Comet Azlemor be usable then?
The reason he relied so much on Heavenly Fire Judgment was because, no matter when, its cost was only his own life force. If he wanted to sacrifice everything in exchange for destructive power, Heavenly Fire Judgment would respond.
He had always done so before... no, perhaps it should be said that, in all those simulations leading to different futures, he had always chosen thus.
If there was no strength, then trade life for it.
As long as he wasn't dead, he wouldn't allow himself to "do nothing."
Of course, as for the fragments of the Heavenly Fire's memories... uh, self-awareness was important. Guinevere was certain he couldn't endure that kind of pain right now, so forget it—leave it for later.
Having made up his mind, Guinevere selected Plan Two:
\[Upgrade plan confirmed. Temporary Noble Phantasm Projection Heavenly Fire Judgment will be upgraded. Noble Phantasm rank upgraded from A to EX, category upgraded from Anti-Fortress to Anti-Fortress/Anti-Star, more permissions unlocked.]
\[Projection Noble Phantasm: Heavenly Fire Judgment]
\[Rank: EX]
\[This is a full-power projection of the Noble Phantasm.]
\[Anti-Personnel / Anti-Fortress / Anti-Star Noble Phantasm]
\[From a distant universe... only the light from a star's extinction can rival its brilliance.]
\[When the wielder possesses the physical sword form, the Heavenly Fire Judgment can be projected into its greatsword form.]
\[New Effect: Doomsday Form]
\[When using Heavenly Fire Unsheathing, it can be unsheathed again to upgrade Heavenly Fire Judgment to Doomsday Form.]
\[In Doomsday Form, its power greatly increases, upgraded to Anti-Star class, with additional Anti-Realm effect, ignoring "Invincible," "Evasion," and "Anti-Purification Defense" types of protection.]
\[After using Heavenly Fire Unsheathing/Doomsday Unsheathing twice, this Noble Phantasm will be removed.]
\[Current keywords: "Sacrifice," "Salvation," "Destruction," "Protection."]
"With this, I finally have another card to play against Cernunnos."
After all this, Guinevere turned toward his final pull machine... and unlike before, the button had turned dark red.
This time, what he would draw was the Fated Skill he earned by clearing the stage.
Who knew what kind of grand-sounding Fated Skill the system had prepared for him?
Full of anticipation, Guinevere pressed the button.
Then, amid shining light, a massive black dragon swept across the screen, scorching dragonflame falling, and from within it a card flipped over:
\[You have acquired the skill "Zhuagenbao's Time Stasis" EX (Fated Skill).]
\[(The details of this skill cannot be known to anyone but you. To others, it appears as Instinct A.)]
\[You can pause time anytime, anywhere, without limitation. While time is paused, you take no damage of any kind, but cannot deal damage or move.]
\[During time stop, you can still access the system, switch your equipment and skills, and use consumables. Eating food during this time will restore some HP and stamina based on what you eat.]
\[Additionally, during time stop, if you have activated "Endless Trials of the Undying" and marked your opponent, you can directly trigger time-reversal.]
Uh...
Reading this, Guinevere blinked, unsure how to complain.
Honestly, his previous skills were all from Soulsborne protagonists. Shouldn't this one have been from Sekiro? Why did they pull in a skill from Elder Scrolls instead?
Guinevere stroked his chin and quickly found the answer.
It was probably due to skill potential.
Thinking so, he continued scrolling to read the rest:
\["Zhuagenbao's Time Stasis EX" Awakening Conditions:]
\[1. Slay nine or more pure-blood dragons (wyverns don't count).]
\[2. On top of 1, defeat one being possessing both Dragon Attribute and A-rank or higher Divinity.]
\[3. Possess at least one "Dragon" or "Dragonslayer" keyword.]
\[Upon meeting these requirements, the skill "Zhuagenbao's Time Stasis" will awaken into "World Eater."]
As expected.
Seeing this, Guinevere was convinced: these Fated Skills were exclusive powers only main characters of various games would possess, and by performing their feats, you could awaken the skills to top-tier strength. Sekiro's world ceiling ended at Corrupted Divine Dragon—far below others' complete forms.
But this was fine. Time Demon Zhuagenbao's time-stop skill was still strong, practically completing the system itself. With "Save-Load," "Pay-to-Win Upgrade," and "Extra Skill Tree" already in place, now he had "Pause Game" as well—unquestionably powerful.
Imagine... if he could stop time mid-battle, even against faster opponents, Guinevere would gain near-infinite reaction time, finding optimal solutions at every moment. Not to mention...
Healing while eating during time stop—Vegetable Soup War God is online!
Just imagining its uses lifted Guinevere's spirits.
It was a pity the normal simulation had been closed, so he couldn't properly test his new skills—wait, but wasn't the Fate Simulation mode still there?
Thinking of this, Guinevere perked up and opened the Fate Simulation interface. "Let's test the blade!"
\[A player has entered Simulation Matching, waiting in the Creation Hall.]
\[This simulation is confirmed to be in FATE/Fate Simulation mode.]
\[Matching worldline...]
\[Instance selected: Sixth Singularity – Holy Round Table Domain: Camelot.]
"Huh?"
Before Artoria and the others could recover from the news of the normal simulation shutdown, these lines suddenly popped up, catching their eyes.
"Fate Simulation? Who secretly started this one?"
"It must be Noctnare," Bavan Si frowned. "That guy sneaks off often enough!"
"Fate Simulation? What's that? I've never seen it before?" Gareth asked curiously.
"This... is a long story..." Bavan Si began, then suddenly realized:
"Wait, this mode should only unlock for players deemed victorious, right? Artoria and I only unlocked it because we piggybacked on Guinevere's King save file. Noctnare unlocked it by becoming King herself... but Gareth, why did you?"
"Huh? I don't know?" Gareth looked confused, but Artoria guessed:
"Could it be... because the normal simulation was cleared, the system now marks all players as cleared?"
"Makes sense..." Bavan Si nodded, then quickly said:
"Never mind that—let's hurry and get ready, or Noctnare will sneak off again—no, wait... Melusine is even more dangerous!"
With this thought, the three confirmed participation and joined the simulation.
"But why is this Singularity set in Camelot?"
Not only Artoria and the others—Noctnare, Melusine, and Bagst also joined immediately from distant places.
And beyond these usual players, this newly opened simulation also drew the attention of someone who had never appeared before.
"Camelot Singularity... hmm?"
Seated on the throne at Camelot's center, a silver-haired queen crossed her legs slightly:
"So, this time's destination... is Camelot of Proper Human History?"
At the same time, behind the veil, her perfect face showed a hint of curiosity:
"Interesting."