When you're facing an enemy several times stronger than yourself—both in numbers and in quality—how exactly are you supposed to fight that battle?
That was the exact problem confronting the Military Uniform Princess right now.
Then again… those people can't fly, right? She glanced skyward. Couldn't she just take to the air and escape?
But the moment the thought crossed her mind, it was shattered—
quite literally—by a sudden chant that filled the battlefield.
"Sore wa subete no kizukizu, subete no enkon o iyasu warera ga kokyō!"
(That which heals all wounds and grudges, our glorious homeland..)
Mash closed her eyes, her round shield radiating a dazzling light.
"Kengen seyo!"
(Manifest yourself!)
"The still-distant City of Hope—Lord Camelot!"
Before the Military Uniform Princess could react, massive walls materialized around them, crushing her dream of flying away.
Walls this tall… if she tried to escape by air, she'd be shot down instantly.
"Damn it… No one is going to stop me from saving Setsuna!" She grit her teeth, resolve hardening—then, with no other options, made a messy but decisive choice.
"If I surrender to you now, will you help me fulfill my wish?" she suddenly asked, turning her gaze toward Ritsuka, her tone unshakably firm.
"Eh?" Ritsuka was completely thrown by the sudden turn of events. What was this, some cliché novel twist?
"Uh… y-yeah… I guess?" She had already decided from the start—if it made someone happy, she'd grant their wish.
"You promise?"
"I promise."
"…Good."
The Princess took a deep breath. (Ritsuka: She's not about to breathe fire at me, is she?)
"I surrender!"
Everyone on Ritsuka's side: "…And where did all that stubborn resolve of yours just go?!"
Once the Military Uniform Princess surrendered, the remaining cleanup was left to Kikuchihara, the black-suited agents, and the soldiers. Ritsuka and her team—along with a few Servants—returned to the Special Countermeasures Council, intending to interrogate her there.
"Name?"
"…Altair."
"Gender?"
"Female."
"Age?"
"…Not even two years old."
"…Measurements?"
"Hey! That's not part of a normal interrogation!" Altair slammed her hands on the table, flustered, while Ritsuka maintained a 'Oops, my hand's on my face again' pose.
"It's very important!"
"My Creator didn't design me with those, so how would I know?!"
"Alright, Miss Fujimaru, please wait." Kikuchihara held Ritsuka back, then turned to Altair.
"Miss Altair, who is your Creator? And why do something like this?"
"My Creator…" Altair hesitated. "…Her name was Shimazaki Setsuna… and… Mizushino Souta."
The moment she said it, all eyes turned to one man: Mizushino Souta, who suddenly felt like the most conspicuous person in the room.
"Wait… are you… the fan-made character based on Eternal Wars Megalosphere's Shirotsumekusa?" Souta asked, recalling something.
"You know about this?" Kikuchihara asked.
"Yeah… She was… a friend of mine who created a second-generation doujin character."
"A friend? Can you invite her here?"
"…I can't. She… chose to end her own life."
"…What?!"
Silence fell, broken only by hushed whispers. Ritsuka noticed Altair's fists clench tightly.
"I met her in January 2016 through an art website. We became close friends, even went together to an Eternal Wars Megalosphere convention." Souta's voice wavered. "I never thought… she would…"
Kikuchihara's brows furrowed—this was more complicated than expected. "What was her reason?"
"…Probably… accusations of plagiarism."
"Plagiarism?"
"Yeah."
"She had created a fanmade Eternal Wars Megalosphere doujin series, but some said she plagiarized designs and music. She was flamed online, and someone even compiled her 'plagiarisms' into a wiki page." Souta revealed the ugly truth.
"And what did you do?" Kikuchihara pressed.
"…I admit, I thought about helping her. But in the end… I didn't. Part of me even felt… relieved."
"Relieved? Why?"
"She was about to collaborate with a famous creator. I was… jealous. So I distanced myself. When the accusations hit, she messaged me. I replied: 'I'm not in a position to help you. I'm troubled myself.' She never responded. The next call I got was from her mother… telling me she was gone."
Hearing this, Altair snapped—
"So you were part of it!" She tried to draw her saber, but Artoria Lancer pinned her down before she could strike.
Kikuchihara sighed. "Young people… Always ready to live or die over something… And now, this almost destroyed the whole world."
"…Alright, Miss Altair, could we see your original design?"
Altair nodded.
A computer was set up, Eternal Wars Megalosphere loaded, and soon the original Shirotsumekusa appeared onscreen.
"…This is you?" Selesia asked, shocked.
"Other than the twin-tails, nothing matches," Meteora noted.
"Pink hair… and a healing-type character? How did you turn that into a violent warrior?" Mirokuji asked.
"Honestly, I wouldn't even recognize you," Kanoya added.
Kikuchihara turned back to Altair. "So—why are you doing this?"
"…I summoned other fictional creations because I needed them to disrupt this 'world'," Altair explained. "I have forty-eight sabers—each representing an ability. As a second-generation doujin character, I wasn't given a set skillset. So any attribute tied to me can become a power. One of those powers… is resurrection. I want to bring back my Creator—Shimazaki Setsuna. She gave me her final wish: 'I don't want to die.' But by the time I arrived in this world, she was already gone. The problem is… these powers can't be used freely. This world's 'self-correction' keeps interfering with me. Overuse, and the world will eject me entirely. So I summoned more fictional characters to disrupt that correction… so I could revive my Creator."
"…So that's your wish?" Ritsuka asked. "That time you were on the rooftop talking about your 'plan beginning'—you meant this?"
"…How did you know?" Altair's eyes widened—this was her dark history!
"When you appeared, Chaldea detected an anomaly. I had Edmond Dantès track you," Ritsuka explained, as the Count of Monte Cristo emerged silently before them.
"Yes. My wish is to resurrect my Creator. You have over 200 Servants—this shouldn't be a problem for you," Altair said, looking at Ritsuka with hopeful eyes. "I'll do anything if it works."
(Girl… if this were a certain kind of manga, those words would have a very different ending…)
"…I can't guarantee success. Let me ask around," Ritsuka replied, frowning. No Servant she knew had a Noble Phantasm for resurrection—but maybe Gilgamesh could help.
She used a Command Seal to call Kid Gilgamesh. "Kid Gil, can your Sha Naqba Imuru work here?"
"Ah, Master! Yes, I've even used it to look up game guides."
(…You used a legendary artifact for… walkthroughs? Then again, Cu Chulainn uses his spear for fishing… My Servants really know how to 'live'…)
"Good. Check for a soul named Shimazaki Setsuna."
"Okay, Master… hmm… huh?"
"What is it?"
"…This soul isn't in this world—it's outside of it!"
"What?!"
Kid Gil explained: "Right before death, she didn't want to die, so she called to her fictional creation. That caused a space-time distortion, destroying her body but ejecting her soul into another world. The problem is—the world itself rejected her soul. Unless this world accepts her again, she can't return. And this world doesn't have a true consciousness like ours—more like a machine, with only basic judgment functions."
Ritsuka felt a headache coming on. She'd already promised—but how could she say 'no' now, especially with a silver-haired twin-tail beauty looking at her with such hopeful eyes?
With a sigh, she relayed Kid Gil's words to Altair. The revelation hit her hard.
"…So even resurrection would be useless?"
"…I'll still try," Ritsuka said, scratching her head.
"…That's enough. Thank you."
"Kikuchihara, can you prepare us a large boat?"
"…For what?"
"We're going out to sea."