Chapter 2: The Sorrowful Knight
The next moment, a female synthesized electronic voice began to echo all around.
「Spiritron Transfer commencing.」 「Entering Spiritron Transfer countdown.」 「3——」 「2——」 「1——」 「All systems, Clear.」
The sensation of the Spiritron Transfer was wondrous; his entire body suddenly felt as light as smoke. His consciousness seemed to pass through a long vortex of blue magical energy before entering a world of pure white light, where the solidity of his body gradually strengthened.
The sensation of the wind blowing against his skin became increasingly real.
It wasn't until sand ran into her mouth that Gudako suddenly let out an exaggerated cry: "Uwaah! Mash! S-something strange got into my mouth!"
"S-Senpai!" Mash hurriedly pried open Gudako's mouth to check: "It doesn't look like there's anything strange in there."
"Because it's already down my throat, ahhhhh!!!"
Ignoring the increasingly comedic Gudako, Shirou and Da Vinci cast their gazes toward the surroundings.
This was an endless desert, vast and boundless like a golden sea, undulating continuously; standing amidst it, a person felt as small as an ant.
The sun shone upon it, and thousands of points of light shimmered.
Under the baking heat of the scorching sun, waves of heat rose from the desert, making one feel as if hot air were swirling through their body even while breathing.
Violent winds filled every corner of this desert, sand particles flew, and the sky grew dim.
"Deserts are really annoying..."
Gudako complained, half-covering her eyes with her arm.
"I can see the existence of a city to the east, though it's a little far," Shirou said.
"Ah... in a desert like this, are we really going to walk there?"
Gudako's face instantly fell into a look of despair.
"Let me handle it."
Da Vinci revealed a confident smile, then slightly raised the staff in her hand.
A custom-made vehicle appeared before their eyes, powered by surging magical light.
"Oooooh! As expected of the all-knowing Da Vinci-chan!"
Gudako praised, her eyes sparkling.
"Hmph, needless to say."
Da Vinci showed a moving smile, puffing out her chest, causing those magnificent peaks to sway charmingly.
It is said that Leonardo da Vinci redesigned her own body as a female (Mona Lisa), and this body of hers was a perfect form comparable to a goddess, one that could maintain eternal beauty.
Heading east, with Da Vinci's help, they arrived at the edge of the desert after only about an hour, entering a wilderness.
"Wait... a wilderness. Isn't this the era of the Crusades? How could there be such a vast wilderness in the Middle East during this period?"
Looking at the scenery around her, Gudako said with some disbelief.
It was a land of death.
Gray and parched, ground fires erupted from cracks in the earth every so often. Even though one could not see much flammable material, they burned stubbornly and fiercely.
There were no people, no animals, and now not even plants were to be seen; only sparse, charred, dead wood lay scattered in the areas that weren't burning, adding a sense of misery to this desolate and bizarre scene.
Opening the data gauge to collect external readings, Gudako's eyes widened after a short while.
"The air temperature is 48 degrees Celsius, the relative humidity is 0, and the magic density in the atmosphere is 0.3 mg... This is no longer an environment where humans can survive. No wonder I feel like I'm going to get heatstroke..."
Among those present, only Gudako was a 'normal' human. As for Shirou, the only other human like her, he was of the 'abnormal' variety.
And this extreme environment was almost fatal to Gudako.
Although Gudako, Mash, and Da Vinci had a discussion about the environment they saw, in such a Singularity, even the strangest things became reasonable; research and discussion were simply meaningless.
With time to spend on that, they might as well go straight to the Holy City to take a look.
Shirou was very curious to know right now: was the Lion King in that Holy City Artoria, or his own Saber?
Or were both there, or perhaps a combination of the two?
No matter which one it turned out to be, it seemed like a total win...
While Shirou was thinking about these improper things, Gudako was already contacting Chaldea.
"Wow, finally got through!"
Roman's image popped up, looking with some curiosity at the environment shown from Gudako's end.
"Are you all in the desert? Regardless, I'm glad you're safe."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Roman continued: "According to the strategy developed by the Control Room, your top priority is to find the leader of the Crusaders, Richard the Lionheart."
Shirou, at this point, shook his head.
"No need to study that. The Crusaders in this Singularity have all been wiped out by the Knights of the Round Table, and if I'm not mistaken, that Lion King should be King Arthur of Britain."
"King Arthur of Britain?"
Roman felt somewhat surprised.
Just as he was about to question Shirou, Roman's expression suddenly turned serious.
"Let's discuss that in a moment. We have just detected a massive magical energy reaction in your vicinity. These are Servant fluctuations, located not far from you."
"Your report is too late, Doctor. We've already seen them."
Gudako said, looking ahead.
Over there, a handsome man with long, bright red hair was standing quietly with his eyes closed.
He was dressed in silver-white armor, his pure white cloak fluttering in the wind, with a thin sword hanging from his waist and holding what was less like a bow and more like a special harp in his hand.
Opposite him, a thin, dark-skinned Hassan of Serenity was cautiously clutching her daggers.
Standing behind the Hassan were many ragged civilians; judging by their faces, they appeared to be the indigenous people of this land.
"Tristan..."
At the first glance of the red-haired man, Shirou had already spoken his name.
Seemingly hearing Shirou's voice, the eyes-closed Tristan moved his head slightly. Although he could not see, he could perceive the surroundings through other means.
Presumably judging that Shirou was a stranger and, based on his perception, posed no threat, Tristan continued to point his bow at the refugees.
Although the Hassan had been trying desperately to protect these refugees, the gap in power between the two sides was simply too great.
In the end, the Hassan of Serenity sacrificed her own life in exchange for the cost of Tristan being unable to use his right hand for a day, only to be cut down by her opponent.
Fresh blood flowed, dyeing the light red under the glare of the scorching sun.
The pure white uniform that Tristan wore was also eroded by the blood-red reflection.
The sacrifice of the Hassan of Serenity was in vain, because Tristan's method of attack was sound blades.
That is to say, he only needed to pluck the strings of his harp to form multiple sound blades, killing those defenseless refugees with ease.
The gentle stroking of the strings released a pleasant, melodious tune; yet, its sounding represented cruel slaughter.
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