Following "Lev's" disappearance, Lancer deactivated the "Rune" barrier and retrieved the "Holy Grail."
This was the second time Lancer had held a "Grail," but he didn't say much, because—
Crack... Crack...
The collapse of the underground space was accelerating. Without a doubt, after Saber death, the Greater Grail had been barely maintaining this shard of the world. With Lev gone and Lancer taking the Grail, this broken Fifth Holy Grail War had officially come to an end.
"Mash, Fujimaru, Director, and Mr. Lancer. We are preparing the 'Rayshift' here. Please get ready!"
Roman voice came through Fujimaru Ritsuka watch-like terminal. Everyone breathed an involuntary sigh of relief, but as the Rayshift began, something unexpected happened.
Mash, Ritsuka, and even Lancer bodies began to gradually digitize into spiritons, but Olga Marie body remained completely unchanged.
"Dr. Roman! What's happening?! The Director! Nothing is happening to the Director!"
Ritsuka, the first to notice, tried to grab Olga Marie arm but found she couldn't move. Simultaneously, the voice from the terminal became intermittent.
"Unable to transfer?! Impossible! Didn't the Director already transfer to Singularity F? Why won't the reverse transfer work..."
Everyone had overlooked one thing: Chaldea's "Rayshift" was a very precise technology—so precise it required "compatibility." There was a massive difference between a human and a spirit. Earlier, because Olga Marie was lucky, her spirit had been swept into the Rayshift by accident. Now, in a "formal" Rayshift, she was getting no response at all.
Olga Marie, already terrified of facing her own "death," realized what was happening amidst the shouts.
However, having experienced so much in just over a day, perhaps her heart had truly turned to steel, or perhaps she was simply prepared. She turned out to be the calmest among them, even waving to the three with a small smile.
"Mash, Fujimaru, and Mr. Lancer... I leave the rest... to you..."
Smack!!
Before she could finish, a hand clamped firmly onto her arm. She saw Lancer right hand raise something and shove it toward her.
An unknown liquid was poured into her mouth—so crudely that some even went up her nose.
A strange burning sensation stimulated her throat and nasal membranes...
"Cough! Cough!! Lancer!! What are you doing?!! Are you really not even going to let me say a final goodbye?!"
Amidst violent coughing, Olga Marie tried to break free from Lancer left hand, but with her strength, trying to escape his grip was a pipe dream.
"Save the goodbyes for later. I didn't actually want to do this, but if you're leaving, it's better to leave 'alive.'"
"What do you mean?"
Olga Marie didn't react in time, but Lancer gave a confident smile.
"I am the Lord of the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons—the Aka-Oni! Is it not perfectly normal for me to have one extra little ghost under my command?"
As Lancer words fell, the "Rayshift" was officially completed...
The command for the Rayshift had been given by Roman. Once the command was issued, he hurried toward the "coffins" without hesitation. The fires there had long been extinguished. When he saw Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash gradually reforming from spiritons, excitement flooded his face—but that wasn't the end.
A man in a kimono also manifested. But before Roman could rush forward excitedly...
"You bastard, what did you do to me?! What did you pour into my mouth!!"
Olga Marie, who appeared alongside them, was like a cat that had its tail stepped on, wildly swinging her "claws" at Lancer. However, her words made Roman expression turn quite peculiar.
Olga Marie looked a mess. Not only was her clothing disheveled, but her face was smeared with various fluids (saliva, mucus, tears). Her clothes were damp and clung to her body, making her curves much more obvious. Strangely, though, the fabric wasn't transparent at all—Chaldea's clothing quality was indeed top-tier...
"Director! What's going on?"
Following Roman gaze, Ritsuka and Mash also noticed the odd situation behind them. Mash, who was already in a bodysuit, didn't have much of a reaction, but Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't help but shout out.
In just one day, she had experienced things a normal person wouldn't experience in a lifetime. She had "forced" herself to grow during the battles, but that was limited to combat. Looking at the "strange" state of Olga Marie, her face went poof and turned bright red.
Though she was a "good girl," as a JK living in the information age, she had been exposed to some "unusual" knowledge even if she didn't seek it out. After all... this was Japan, where certain industries were pillars of the economy.
Combined with Olga Marie shouting, a bunch of "censored" images flashed through Ritsuka mind. What confused her was that although she and Mash had Rayshifted a bit faster than Lancer and the others, it was only a matter of seconds. Was Mr. Lancer... that fast?
Lancer had no idea he had become a "gentleman" (hentai) in the eyes of others, or that he was considered "gifted" in certain areas. Facing the bristling Olga Marie, he simply raised a finger, and her movements were "forced" to a halt.
"Calm down. I just gave you some 'sake.' As for the reason, you haven't forgotten what I said before, have you? Actually, haven't you noticed—you can float?"
Following Lancer gesture, Olga Marie slowly drifted into mid-air. Her expression turned from shock to utter dejection.
Because so much had happened, she had momentarily forgotten that she was "already dead." But what did that have to do with pouring sake down her throat?
"You haven't forgotten the last thing I said, right? I am an 'Oni.' Since you drank my sake, you are naturally a member of my 'Night Parade.' As a ghost, you can naturally exist, but—as a newborn ghost, you're still a bit weak."