Under Homura's control, after directly transforming the Light Orb into a handy system-style format, the conditions for acquiring and using power were all clearly listed out.
Although the Main World had imported power from quite a few worlds,
Most of them were just the seeds of their respective worlds—essentially the original code. Once obtained, they only provided foundational power, and one had to rely on constant self-training to grow stronger.
Of course—relying solely on cultivation to get stronger was too slow, and even the Main World's Gaia-mom wouldn't allow her own child's growth to be dragged down like that. Among the intel Homura had received, there were actually faster ways to power up.
Besides some basic powers that required cultivation, there were also templates that could directly grant full access to a power set;
Take the Heroic Spirits from the Type-Moon World as an example: If Homura drew the power template of the French Marshal Gilles de Rais, he'd gain the marshal's full combat prowess, but this power would only count as borrowed. To truly claim it all, there were two paths.
One was to resolve the marshal's regrets and obsessions—for instance, by altering history to save Joan of Arc and earning his recognition, at which point the marshal would willingly offer up everything.
The other was to collect the Power of the Heart!
In a material world—mystery itself was the power of fantasy, the manifestation of a spiritual light that shouldn't even exist.
The more impact Homura made on others' emotions and minds while acting in the marshal's identity, the more of that spiritual light born from him he could collect.
This spiritual light was incredibly valuable; it could help Homura fully master the power template and even elevate it far beyond the original holder's level.
At the same time, the Power of the Heart was the universal currency for continuously drawing more power imports from other worlds—securing the second batch, third batch, and so on from those worlds. This stuff was beneficial to the worlds themselves too, like an all-purpose energy source.
Right now, the most reliable option was to just draw a Heroic Spirit template straight up... thought Homura.
Whether it was easy to control or just borrowed power was one thing, but it meant steadily gaining immense strength!
Though Saigo Homura really wanted to pull a powerful template right out of the Light Orb and use it, the imported powers didn't seem to let him fully decide which one he'd get.
Most other worlds were like the Main World—operating on instinct without self-awareness. When sending over power, they wouldn't bother labeling which was useful or not; they just bundled everything up into a blind box of sorts.
The upside of no self-awareness was that they wouldn't just dump junk on you, but the downside was you couldn't expect them to help you pinpoint the really strong stuff.
What a rip-off!!
This was even worse than those gacha games—no pity system or anything; whether you scored was pure luck, huh?!
Thinking of his super-world-class luck, Homura: ...I should be able to score something, right?!
But amid all this info, there was another, more stable way to draw good stuff.
If he could earn the recognition of the original holder of a certain power template, it would boost the odds of drawing that power during the process.
For example—having an especially strong conviction in a certain area could draw a response from a hero aligned with that belief, who might lend their power willingly.
And so—Homura suddenly thought—if he wanted to be a partner of justice, to be the world's savior, and hypnotized himself to amp up his sense of justice, could he get a response from the Emiya Family in the Moon World?!
That family of Heroic Spirits who were obsessed with being partners of justice probably wouldn't hold back on lending their power, right?
Though he'd turned the Light Orb into something like a system golden finger, aside from digitizing his stats so he could view his own panel, the only ability left was the lottery (power import).
And the first shipment of imports was fully funded by the Main World's will itself—no need for Homura to collect any Power of the Heart—so this was his one shot, betting everything on a single draw!
Come on—!! Homura's gaze sharpened.
"Draw! Congratulations on obtaining the Noble Phantasm Reiji Maigo..."
And then—!
Then—???
After the system prompt, that was... it.
Homura's expression froze on his face.
Noble Phantasm—Reiji Maigo?
Sure, it was called a Noble Phantasm—but this thing wasn't the same as the ones from the Type-Moon World.
An ultra-rare treasure from the same worldview as the Crimson Denizens, it was even the protagonist Sakai Yuji's sole cheat in the early game.
But—this really couldn't be used for direct combat boosts!!
It restored all Power of Existence at midnight every day, allowing an ordinary person without a contract with a Crimson Demon King to wield Freely Law without draining themselves dry—practically an alternative perpetual motion machine.
Who knew, maybe it didn't just reset Power of Existence but restored all powers too, like an ultimate save-file reload for one's state.
It was a great item, but what good was it for dealing with the current crisis?!
—He'd actually drawn a support-type ability with zero combat enhancement.
Homura even checked it out, and this Reiji Maigo of his was the pure version—no Power of Existence from its creator John, and no will from the final boss, the Serpent of the Ritual.
Without the Serpent of the Ritual, there was no chance of a Silver Knight popping out of the Reiji Maigo to fight for him when danger struck.
Of course—the upside was no worry about being targeted by a creation-god-level Crimson Archfiend for body-snatching.
In the original story, if the protagonist hadn't earned the Serpent of the Ritual's approval and agreed to build an ideal world together, the serpent's first move upon awakening would've been to off the body's original owner.
That was the Serpent of the Ritual, modeled after the creation-god version of Fuxi—no way Homura would allow such a terrifying time bomb inside him.
Was his super-world-class luck fake? Was his real luck rank E, like some certain lancer's?!
Boom~!
A sudden crash echoed from the shopping mall entrance as the wall was completely shoved aside. Right after Homura finished drawing his reward, the seed-like time-stop on the world fully vanished.
The massive infant-like monster seemed to sense Homura's uniqueness and was breaking through the wall to barge in.
The giant infant monster at that moment: "Huh—he can still move?!"
A sphere made of clustered human faces floated beside it and spoke: "Don't talk while eating... how rude~"
"Hi~..." The infant monster let out a response that sounded cute but was utterly horrifying.
The human-face monster: "But—it's weird. We scanned this world earlier; there shouldn't be any of those damn Fire Mist Warriors, and he doesn't look like one of the remaining shells."
The infant monster had paused its feasting: "But he's moving in Fuzetsu."
The human-face monster: "Maybe the laws of this world are different. No—the other guys can't move, so—this one's special. Like a Mystes from our world."
The human-face monster's beautiful female faces smiled one by one, their eyes widening slightly as a pair of lovely eyes locked onto Homura, like they'd found an intriguing new toy.
The instant he was targeted by these two downgraded monsters, combined with their overwhelming power gap, Homura felt a chill run down his spine.
He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stay calm as he racked his brain for a way out.
Of all things, it had to be the utterly useless Reiji Maigo for combat!
But even with Reiji Maigo, if it got completely devoured in one go, he'd die.
Reiji Maigo reset his state, not revived him—it offered zero help for survival right now.
Meanwhile, the infant monster on the other side was getting excited: "Mystes?! One of those Torches with treasures inside? (Torch: the remnants after one's Power of Existence is eaten, leaving only a tiny ember)"
The human-face monster: "Yes, and a rare variant at that. Does this world have similar things too? He might have some good stuff on him. What a delightful gift. The master will be pleased."
The infant monster spread its arms in joy: "Awesome! We're gonna get major credit! Major credit! Major credit!!"
With that, it wobbled forward, shaking the ground with each step.
Crash!!
Here it comes—dodge—!
The moment it reached out, Homura locked eyes on its arm and calmly sidestepped. His sharp reflexes let him successfully evade the first strike.
The infant monster was stunned: "!!! Ah, he dodged!!"
The human-face monster praised: "Not bad reflexes. This Torch must've been an exceptional human before. If he'd become a Fire Mist Warrior, we'd have a headache, but now he's just scraps."
With that, the human-face monster flashed a smile of utmost cruelty: "That's about all he's got—! Stop playing around and finish him off! The master's waiting for our report!"
The infant monster replied: "Got it! Time to dig in!"
It bared an excited grin, like a cat toying with a mouse, and this time lunged with acceleration beyond what Homura's body could react to.
So fast—!! Can't dodge!
—He could see it with his eyes, but his body couldn't keep up with the reaction speed!
This time, Homura was caught clean, hoisted up like a chick. The immense force made his bones creak in agony—pure torment!!
So this was the monster's true power? Speed totally at odds with its massive body!
Homura's face twisted slightly... With his total mastery over every inch of his body, he could clearly sense which ribs were broken, even how his organs were being crushed and bleeding to varying degrees.
As he saw the stinking infant mouth open wide, drool strings dangling... the revulsion of ending his life this way dulled his fear a bit...
He was actually going to get eaten by this disgusting monster?
The infant monster: "What's with that look, you bastard—!!! A mere Torch, daring to show no fear?!"
It lunged to chomp down on this bold human, but suddenly, a blade's gleam flashed. The infant monster's body split right open, letting out a wail.
"Ah, my arm—my arm~!!! Who?!"
Crash. First, beautiful sparks scattered from the air like embers, then a petite figure leaped down from above, landing in front of Homura.
As the rescued Homura broke free from the arm's grip and stood up, he laid eyes on a figure that was incredibly familiar yet strangely new.
It was someone he'd met in person for the first time, but one he could never mistake.
Flame-haired—blazing-eyed—! And that aura of majestic poise, clashing with her petite, cute frame.
The girl, wielding a tachi and draped in a black cloak, appeared before Homura in all her splendor.