"Thank goodness, Gil… really, thank goodness…!" Ritsuka sobbed.
Not unscathed, but having defeated Saber, we shared the afterglow of victory.
"What's with that face? Did you really think I'd bite the dust?" I teased.
"No, but… I didn't!" she protested.
"Then quit crying. Here, take this handkerchief. Your face is a mess."
A silk cloth from the golden ripples was soon soaked with tears and snot.
"…That's not how you use it, fool…" I muttered.
"Thanks…" Ritsuka sniffled.
"On second thought, keep it," I said, patting her head.
"Sorry… for worrying you."
"No, my fault for losing it. Gotta step up as a Master," she replied.
"Man, I can't get used to this. You, apologizing sincerely? That's the real Singularity," Cú Chulainn quipped.
"What are you blabbering about? A king must assure his vassals of his well-being—hm?"
I noticed Cú Chulainn's feet dissolving into spirit particles, returning to the Throne.
"Stray shot hit you? A Caster, dead?" I asked.
"I ain't dead! My role here's done, so I'm being sent back to the Throne," he clarified.
His role complete—the Singularity was resolved, its cause eliminated. With the Singularity gone, the summoned Heroic Spirits lose their tether to the world and fade.
"Even though you didn't lose, you're vanishing…" Ritsuka murmured.
"That's the limit of a Servant. Those summoned by the Grail vanish once it's reclaimed," Roman explained.
"The sorrow of a rootless weed. Fitting for a dog like me, though," Cú Chulainn said.
"Alright, the rest is up to you lot. Don't screw it up," he added.
"Mash, got anything to say? He helped us out, didn't he?" Roman prompted.
"While you were slacking, Doctor. Reflect on that," I jabbed.
"I said I'm sorry!" Roman whined.
"Um… thank you, Cú Chulainn!" Mash said earnestly.
"Keep at it, kid. If fate's kind, we'll fight side by side again," he replied. "Oh, and you, Goldie."
"What? Finally ready to repent for your insolence?" I asked.
This vessel seems fond of Cú Chulainn, like a teasing old friend, though I, the nameless soul, am unsure.
"Nah, uh…" He scratched his head awkwardly. "Look after the girls."
His parting words cemented his role as the dependable big brother.
"Sure, I'll see it through. Fade away without worry," I said.
"Tch, still no charm to the end," Cú Chulainn smirked, leaving only a wisp of particles.
The guide, Caster Cú Chulainn, returned to the Throne.
"Farewell, loyal hound. Come back with your spear next time."
(Your teachings won't be wasted. Thank you.)
"Now, this 'First Order' is complete. Let's go," I said.
"Wait! The Holy Grail, the Singularity's cause, is right there. Can you retrieve it?" Roman interjected.
"The Grail…" Mash whispered.
"…Grand Order… Why did that Servant mention that term?" Olga Marie mused, arms crossed.
As the group's de facto leader, I looked to her for direction.
"Little girl, you're the flag-bearer. Stop dawdling and do your duty," I urged.
"Huh? Oh, right… Everyone, good work. Despite some unknowns, the First Order is complete. Let's retrieve the Grail and return to Chaldea," Olga Marie declared.
"Yay!" Ritsuka cheered.
"I'm exhausted… I'm heading back," I said.
Then, a voice echoed from the depths of the high ground.
"To think you'd make it this far. Beyond my plans and my patience."
"?"
A jolt of alarm coursed through me.
"Mash, shield Master and Olga Marie," I ordered.
"Huh…!?" Mash stammered.
Whatever was coming wasn't human.
"Lev…!?" Olga Marie gasped.
"Hey, Olga. Didn't expect you here," the figure said.
"That caterpillar-haired guy…!" Ritsuka exclaimed.
"Stay close, both of you…! That's not the Professor Lev we know…!" Mash warned.
Mash was right. Though cloaked in a human guise, the vessel saw through it—a grotesque pillar of flesh, an abomination.
So, that's the ████ lurking in ████. A ████ commanded by ████? The noise obscured details, but the vessel had pierced its true nature.
Why, though, was this truth hidden from my nameless soul? Some interference?
Looking at it, an emotion surged—not irritation or disgust, but rage.
"The 48th Master. Overlooking a talentless girl was my mistake," Lev sneered.
"Wait! Professor Lev's there!?" Roman's voice crackled.
"That's Romani, huh? I told you to stay in the infirmary, but you didn't listen," Lev said, his polished facade peeling away to reveal venomous curses. "All of you, uncoordinated trash. Your reckless actions make me sick."
"Not as sickening as your existence, 'Flauros,'" I retorted.
"Oh? The King of Heroes siding with such trash?" Lev mocked.
"Filth. Who do you address without my permission?" I snarled.
The vessel's rage was unprecedented. What was this gentleman that provoked the King of Heroes so?
"A Servant acting like the hero himself? Laughable," Lev taunted.
"You're the clown here. That Master you dismissed crushed your Singularity. How will you atone to your 'king'?" I shot back.
"—"
"Lev…" Olga Marie whispered.
"…Hey, Olga. You're alive too, huh?" Lev said softly.
"It's you, isn't it, Lev?" she asked.
He knew. No, worse—he orchestrated Olga Marie's loss of her body. An explosion at Chaldea's Rayshift chamber left her and 47 others half-dead.
"Why are you here, Lev? Where have you been…?" Olga Marie pressed.
"I'm sorry for worrying you, Olga. You've been through so much. Come, I'll help you like always," he cooed.
"Answer me! Are you really Lev!?" she demanded.
"Of course. I'm—"
"Then why do you look at me like I'm trash!?" she cried.
"Because you are, Olga," he said coldly.
"—What?"
"Let me show you the ruin of the Chaldeas you craved."
With his words, space tore open, revealing Chaldeas—a crimson inferno at its core.
"That's… Chaldeas? No way. Why's it red?" Olga Marie stammered.
The observatory of humanity's continuity, burning red. Her distress signaled a catastrophic anomaly.
"No trace of humanity's blue survival remains, only the red of incineration. You humans burned to ash and perished," Lev declared.
His words hit like a revelation.
Humanity's incineration—the end of history. A burned future, humanity's extinction.
It wasn't preventable—it was already done.
Humanity was already destroyed by him—by them!
"A pity, Animusphere heir. This is the end of your deeds," Lev sneered.
"Chaldeas… my Chaldeas…" Olga Marie whispered, broken.
"It's not yours. You've been a burden to the end," Lev said.
In that instant—
"Director!?" Mash cried.
"No… I'm being pulled into Chaldeas…!?" Olga Marie gasped.
"If you're so obsessed with Chaldeas, experience it fully. You'll be the first human to touch it," Lev mocked.
"Wait! Chaldeas is layered space!" Olga Marie protested.
"Like a black hole. Or a sun. It'll disintegrate your lingering thoughts to molecules," Lev said.
"Lingering… thoughts?" Olga Marie faltered.
"What does that mean!?" Ritsuka demanded.
"Olga's already dead. I planted the bomb at her feet. Sheba preserved her residual thoughts, but you've no body to return to, no place in Chaldea," Lev explained.
"No… no, no, no! That's a lie! Help me! Mash! Ritsuka! Help!" Olga Marie screamed.
"Director!!"
"I'm coming, Director—!" Ritsuka shouted.
"Fool! You'll die with her!" I snapped.
"But the Director—!" Ritsuka pleaded.
"I don't want to die now! I want to live more!" Olga Marie wailed. "I was finally praised! Told my work was commendable! For the first time!"
"…"
She craved a true ally…
"I was finally recognized! I learned how joyful it is to be acknowledged!" she cried.
The pull intensified.
"I made friends! Ritsuka, Mash! They treated me as an equal, humored my silly stories!"
"I haven't apologized to Mash! I haven't repaid Ritsuka! There's so much I want to do, could've done!"
"Director—!"
"No…! Director!" Ritsuka sobbed.
"I finally wanted to live! To try my way! I don't want this end!" Olga Marie screamed.
"A fine final cry. Now, be torn apart in the dimensional rift," Lev sneered.
"Nooo!" Olga Marie wailed. "To end like this—without doing anything—"
"Struggle if regret lingers!" I roared, the golden king slicing through despair's weight.
"Gilgamesh…!" Olga Marie gasped.
"Living messily is humanity's virtue! Not repentance or curses—just wish!" I urged.
Yes! She already holds the vessel to save her!
"Director!" Mash called.
"Don't go, Director!" Ritsuka pleaded.
"Mash, Ritsuka…!" Olga Marie cried.
"We're friends, aren't we!?" Mash shouted.
"Let's eat candy together again!" Ritsuka added.
"Do it! Wring it from your soul!" I commanded.
"Your judgment isn't now!"
With all her being, Olga Marie defied death's pull and screamed, "I don't want to die and leave my friends!"
"That's it. Well done," I said.
Lev's face twisted in confusion. "This reaction… impossible."
A golden glow enveloped Olga Marie.
"Impossible… the Grail!? Why does Olga Marie have it!?" Lev snarled, glaring at me.
I smirked. "Who knows? Maybe she picked it up somewhere."
The golden light surged, breaking Chaldeas' deadly pull. It enveloped Mash and Ritsuka, forming a safe zone, completing preparations for their return to Chaldea.
"Doctor, we're returning to Chaldea," I said.
"Is that okay!?" Roman asked.
"The anomaly in Chaldeas explains enough. If you don't get it, I'll fill you in," I replied. "There's nothing left to see here. The pathetic show's canceled."
I snorted, inwardly cheering the vessel's arrogance.
"King of Heroes—you…!" Lev growled.
The transfer began.
With Mash, Ritsuka, and the girl who escaped death's fate.
"Farewell, clown. Choose your next spectacle wisely," I said. "Or rather, the next time you enter my sight without permission, you'll pay with your life."
The world faded to black.
Two girls and two cheats returned to the observatory.
The gamble, it seems, was ours.
The self-proclaimed mastermind, Flauros, blind as a bat.
A duo of dimwits with Big Bro?