"Sigh, it seems he still plans to push himself to the absolute limit..."
Helena looked at the spot where Takumi had vanished, smiling helplessly.
Takumi hid the anxiety in his heart quite deeply, but under the passive diffusion of the [Heart of Fire], Nightingale wasn't the only one who noticed it. The other Servants had all sensed it to some degree as well.
That was why, after discussing it among themselves, they had collectively pushed Nightingale forward as the most suitable candidate to counsel and emphasize the issue to Takumi last night. They had hoped to make him pay a little more attention to his own well-being before he completely collapsed from exhaustion.
The result...
"It is not the Master who is sick, but this world."
Nightingale stated expressionlessly.
As the Servant who had a private chat with Takumi yesterday, Nightingale understood better than anyone that Takumi wasn't someone who didn't know how to rest and relax. It was simply that the relentless pressure from the outside world and within his own heart left him with no other choice.
No one could sway Takumi on this matter, and he didn't need anyone else's counsel. Even fully aware of everything that might happen from here on out, his will remained utterly unbreakable. He had never once fallen into despair.
He genuinely believed from the bottom of his heart that he could succeed, and he was willing to wager every ounce of his effort to make it happen.
Ever since the [Heart of Fire] was ignited, he had been walking the correct path. The current Takumi needed no guidance; that blazing, crystal-clear flame had already illuminated the road ahead for him.
"I believe we will undoubtedly meet him again at the very end."
Karna crossed his arms, looking calmly ahead, and spoke with absolute certainty.
Hearing this, the Servants recalled the warm yet unyielding flame they had witnessed and couldn't help but mirror his confident smile.
"Indeed. If even he can't do it, then who else possibly could?"
As for the prophecy once decreed by the King of Demon Gods, it had long since been blurred into irrelevance under the burning light of the [Heart of Fire].
***
Stepping out of the Rayshift Chamber, the smile on Takumi's face vanished instantly, reverting to a mask of cold calmness.
Forget about whether changing faces so fast was out of character or not; facing this desolate Chaldea where there wasn't even a single living soul to speak to, Takumi genuinely couldn't muster up a good mood.
Going through the motions as usual, Takumi sat in the commander's seat in the Control Room and began writing in his diary once again.
Opening the notebook filled with his meticulous handwriting, he skipped past the mere half-page dedicated to the Fourth Singularity and began to write.
"The Fifth Singularity: North American Myth War."
"The Rayshift drop point was as random as ever, but fortunately, the current me is completely different from the past. Such a minor issue doesn't affect me that much anymore—though, in the end, I still failed to save Rama in time..."
"First, I killed Fergus... then soloed Fionn and Diarmuid... eliminated Medb with a single sword strike... absolutely crushed Cú Chulainn Alter... In short, Rama's power is immense, and mine isn't bad either. Combining the two makes me ridiculously overpowered..."
"It's just a pity I didn't get to meet my favorite Emperor Nero. I absolutely loved that bridal outfit... But maybe it's a good thing we're meeting later. The current me is still a bit too miserable-looking..."
Glancing at his prosthetic right arm, Takumi let out an imperceptible sigh.
The ballpoint pen hovered over the notebook for more than a dozen seconds. As if going through a fierce internal struggle, Takumi finally resumed writing.
"Actually, with the current me, I might genuinely be able to properly utilize the Heroic Spirit Summoning System designed for the Incineration of Humanity, provided I spend a certain amount of time studying and researching it..."
As early as clearing the "Prison Tower," Takumi had gained a relatively clear understanding of his own abilities. As long as he was willing to invest some time, he could absolutely complete Heroic Spirit summonings using Chaldea's existing equipment.
"But... it takes far too much time..."
In a situation where every second counted, where any delay increased the likelihood of unforeseen complications, how could Takumi dare squander that precious time just to satisfy his own selfish desires?
Yes, selfish desires. Because Takumi's Rayshifting was fundamentally an illegal, anomalous transfer—the principles of which even he didn't fully understand—Chaldea itself recorded absolutely nothing about what happened in the Singularities, aside from providing the round-trip coordinates. That included every single Heroic Spirit Takumi had encountered so far.
Without any catalysts, even if Takumi mastered the Heroic Spirit Summoning ritual, he could only rely on affinity-based summoning.
But unless the Heroic Spirit summoned through affinity was a genius magus like Da Vinci or Helena, they would be completely useless to Takumi. Leaving aside anything else, Takumi couldn't even guarantee he could pull a summoned Heroic Spirit into a Singularity with him.
To summarize, the only result of Takumi spending a massive amount of time attempting Heroic Spirit summons would be squandering his already limited time, just for the sake of making Chaldea feel a little less lonely.
"I really want to... but I'll have to push this anticipation further back..."
Takumi set the pen down, exhaled deeply, and closed the diary.
Now, he had to get back to the grind. The remaining two Singularities would require significantly more energy and time just to officially initiate the operations.
Why?
Because the remaining two Singularities were completely different from the previous ones. Leaving aside the Seventh Singularity—which existed all the way back in the Age of Gods and was far too ancient—there was also the Sixth Singularity, heavily warped by the Holy Lance, making it incredibly difficult to observe even for a fully operational Chaldea.
Unlike the previous five Singularities, which had been locked onto successively over the past five months relying purely on Chaldea's AI, Takumi had to operate the systems manually to have any chance of completely locking onto these two sets of coordinates.
To achieve this, Takumi was going to have to work some serious overtime.
Standing up from the Director's chair, Takumi quietly surveyed every workstation below, analyzing and recalling the original functions they were supposed to perform.
Closing his eyes, he sorted through the processes and ran a full simulation in his mind. Then, his eyes snapped open, and his figure vanished.
Looking down at the Control Room floor, one could see Takumi's silhouette continuously flashing into existence at various workstations, his hands blurring as he operated the different consoles—
He actually intended to single-handedly perform the jobs of at least two dozen Chaldea staff members!
Activating [Tiger, Burning Bright], Takumi essentially turned his ultimate evasion skill into the ultimate overtime tool. Relying on his ultra-high-speed state, he teleported between stations, spending an average of only one second at each position, frantically pushing Chaldea's progress toward locking onto the Singularity coordinates.
From a hidden vantage point Takumi hadn't noticed, Fou watched the seemingly manic Takumi and couldn't help but raise a paw to wipe a non-existent bead of cold sweat from its brow.
This human is pushing himself way too hard!
Glad it didn't have to work overtime, Fou shifted into a more comfortable position, rubbed its front paws together, and began to rest.
Lending the [Independent Manifestation] skill to Takumi for this operation was quite exhausting for it as well. To ensure Takumi's safety during his future Rayshifts, Fou needed to conserve its strength.