After the defeat of the King of Storms, Artoria Pendragon Alter... honestly, there were no more variables to account for.
The Holy Grail had been rigged near the center of the Spirit Tomb Albion to drain the spiritual pulses of all London. Setting it up may have been an ordeal of merit, but recovering it was a simple matter.
"Hmm... so this is the end of the Singularity. Young man, this is where you and I part ways."
"...It's a shame to say goodbye like this, Makiri."
"Haha! Not necessarily. In any case, my 'future' self will eventually regain his senses after taking a blow from you... Though I suppose it would be better if he came to his senses before it reached that point."
"It can't be helped... A Singularity isn't exactly the kind of story that ends with 'and they all lived happily ever after.'"
In truth, I wanted to take all the local Servants—Paracelsus, Mordred... even Sherlock Holmes—and transfer them to Chaldea.
No, if possible, I would have taken Makiri Zolgen as well. A magus whose potential rivaled Olga Marie and whose practical combat prowess exceeded hers would have certainly lightened the pressure on the staff and the other Crypters currently working themselves to death in the control room. Above all, I didn't want to leave the Makiri who still dreamed of 'justice' behind in this vanishing Singularity.
But... unfortunately, that was impossible.
"I'll just have to be satisfied with Paracelsus."
Due to the limitations of Chaldea's system and the recovery of the Holy Grail, the Singularity began to slowly restore itself. Mordred... as expected, refused to go to Chaldea. Ritsuka, Mash, and Olga Marie asked her again, unable to understand why she would refuse... but I could roughly guess the reason.
'The 6th and 7th Singularities have definitely changed. There's a chance the difficulty will be absolute hell...'
The ones who assisted me back in the 4th Holy Grail War in Fuyuki were clearly the Lion King—Rhongomyniad—and the Caster King Gilgamesh of the 7th Singularity.
From the perspective of those with Divine Vision or Clairvoyance, it would have been easy to discern that I was trying to suppress the summoning of the King of Heroes by summoning Archer Tristan.
Judging by their actions back then, one thing was clear.
They are figures who could be considered my allies within the Singularities... and the difficulty of those Singularities will likely surpass my imagination.
Well, even if we set aside the 7th Singularity, Babylonia—which originally boasted a hellish difficulty that could rival most Lostbelts—I can't even begin to guess what kind of horrific nightmare the 6th Singularity has become. Strictly speaking, if the Lion King has become an ally, she could just crush everything... and since the Sun King or the Old Man of the Mountain aren't exactly opposed to the Restoration of the Human Order, it should be easier.
In other words, there is a high possibility that there are those pushing toward Camelot who are even more formidable than the Sun King or the Old Man of the Mountain.
The reason is simple.
'...Because Mordred didn't come to Chaldea.'
Mordred and Tristan made some absurd jokes earlier as a 'message,' but if you reinterpreted those jokes, they served as a form of proof.
It meant there was definitely an existence that had sent the two of them. And for those who belong to the proper Heroic Spirits guarding the Human Order to return to the Throne without helping Chaldea... it means the place they must return to is even more dangerous than the Singularity currently facing us.
Frankly speaking, this London Singularity was just incredibly complicated to resolve; it wasn't actually that much more difficult compared to the previous ones. After all, the Ten Plagues of the Tetragrammaton were a trump card that would have wiped us all out if not for Shiki's forced manifestation.
"...Are you awake?"
"Just barely... By the way, Paracelsus... in a way, we've gained a Servant as necessary as a front-liner."
It was hard to feel it now because Chaldea's forces were so abundant, but in reality, there were few Servants capable of Rayshifting. Elizabeth, who possessed the unique ability to summon acoustic bombs and castle walls but had below-average performance as a Servant, and Kiyohime, who was lacking in many ways unless she underwent dragon transformation.
The Servants who could be considered the main force were almost all encountered and borrowed locally, and the only Servant Ritsuka had successfully summoned directly was Gareth.
Thanks to my support, the cooperation of other local Heroic Spirits, and Gudako's grand-tier sociability, we've been able to conquer the Singularities so far... but it's different from here on out. Although I've tried to give Ritsuka some means of self-protection, the best way to deal with a Servant is ultimately another Servant.
Simply put, it means we need Servants other than Mash and Gareth.
"On that note... how many Saint Quartz have we gathered?"
"Collecting the magical energy leaking from the Singularities and the Holy Grails without reservation, we have 30... enough for 10 summons. It's cutting it close, though."
"...Well, we've received plenty of catalysts from Brishisan, and we have Mash's shield, so we should give it a try."
The remaining Singularities are the 5th Singularity: North America, the 6th Singularity: Camelot, and the 7th Singularity: Babylon.
The common denominator among these Singularities is that their final bosses all boast absurd specifications. They are unlike the previous bosses—the evil dragon Fafnir with his weaknesses of Gilles de Rais and Jeanne d'Arc, Lev who got trashed after making a mess of things, or abstract entities like the Ten Plagues and the Mafia Game. While I don't know what variables will appear... at the very least, Tiamat in the 7th Singularity will likely remain the same. Even Goetia would find it difficult to meddle with her.
If that's the case...
"...It would be great if we could summon an Archer or a Rider class."
First off, since Waver will stand in the summoning circle, we could aim for Iskandar. As a Rider who possesses a Reality Marble as a Noble Phantasm, he would demonstrate immense power in mass battles, and more than anything, his overall performance as a Servant is terrifyingly excellent.
"Where's Ritsuka?"
"She's awake and currently hanging out with her brother and Mash."
"She's surprisingly carefree... then again, I was the one who practically dragged her into the Restoration of the Human Order."
"It wasn't just you, it was 'us.' The man of the Unified Language, those with 'eyes'... anyone who heard that story from you is practically an accomplice in this."
"...Well, it feels good to hear that kind of comfort from you, Sis. So, do you have any other business to attend to?"
When I spoke, our Professor Aozaki smirked and tried to slam her fist, hard as steel, into my head.
Naturally, it stopped right in front of my face due to the automatic Shinra Tensei mode...
"Hey, what was that for?"
"Honestly, I just came because I was worried, you know?"
"...Wow, today must be some special occasion. Getting worried about by you?"
"You haven't slept properly all this time, have you? You've been through a lot in many ways."
Sleep, huh.
I have been taking catnaps here and there. Unlike before, the frequency of my dreams has decreased significantly, and I suspect the reason is likely Merlin. Or rather, I should say 'thanks' to Merlin.
"I'd prefer to avoid having the King of Demon Gods approach me in any way. Ritsuka seems fine because she's 'GudaGuda' in many ways, but I'm a Connected One, aren't I? It seems I'm that much more susceptible to interference from him."
"...It would be better if we could just summon Merlin to our side."
"Ah, that's impossible."
Merlin is likely being worked to the bone right now in both the 6th and 7th Singularities. Especially the 7th. If either Merlin or the Caster King were missing there, the end of the world would arrive instantly.
"Anyway, you should probably get up soon. Ritsuka has to summon a Servant, too."
"...She certainly has a knack for pulling Servants... She said she wanted a Rider and an Archer, right?"
"Yeah."
As we walked out, Godo-word, Touko-san, Ryougi-san, and even Manaka, who had been waiting, joined our conversation.
"Certainly, if the next Singularity is 'as it should be,' a Rider or an Archer would be useful. While a Caster might be better for mass battles, this is ultimately a system where you have to take down a 'boss.'"
"That's true. So, what kind of Servant do you think would be suitable?"
Godo-word asked me.
"For a Rider... Iskandar would be the best. Since Waver is here, a bond summon would likely work, and his personality is quite decent."
"...True, he would be of great help in the upcoming Singularities."
"So? What's the second choice?"
Second choice, huh...
Honestly, there wasn't just one or two excellent Riders. There was even a common saying about 'Rider supremacy,' and the Riders we've met in the Singularities and Holy Grail Wars so far have all performed impressively.
However...
"We lack a direct connection. While Iskandar has a bond with Waver, among the other Riders, the ones Ritsuka has a direct bond with are Captain Drake, Teach... and maybe Jason and Boudica, who have aspects as Riders."
Martha was an enemy, so she was out of the question from the start, and Marie Antoinette spent more time with me than with Ritsuka.
And above all... there won't be any 'seas' in the upcoming Singularities. In that situation, pulling Captain Drake or Teach would be a waste.
"It might even be more appropriate to aim for an Archer. If we have Gareth as the vanguard, an Archer to protect the Master while sniping the enemy, Paracelsus as support, and Mash fighting alongside Gareth on the front lines..."
"Well, regardless of what we say, a Servant actually has to appear first."
True.
Whether in the game or in reality, summoning a Servant is never easy. Even though the impact of Lev's bombing was suppressed as much as possible and the Witch of Fairy Tales—an expert in crafting Mystic Codes—worked on the repairs, Chaldea's summoning system is still glitchy. Excluding the times we pulled Gareth, Kiyohime, and Elizabeth, it has mostly spat out nothing but Craft Essences.
And at that... only redundant ones that were already completely useless.
"Are you ready?"
"Ready!"
Regardless, the preparations were complete.
A fragment of the Round Table, Mash's shield, Waver—who could be considered a human catalyst due to his bonds—and other catalysts received from Brishisan.
"Spin, stars of the gacha! Gacha! Gacha! Gacha-gacha-gacha!!!"
"...This is why the Servants don't come."