Roman's heart was pounding out of his chest as he ran and ran through the hallways of Chaldea. He was gasping for air, even though the environment around him offered plenty, he didn't seem to be able to take in much. What can he do right now?

The entirety of Chaldea might as well be on their way to hell already. That's just how much cruelty resides within their beating hearts of stone. The God Hand. Once he arrived at a certain door, he made a sharp turn to the right, the 'safety' of his room comforting him just a bit, but even that bit wasn't much. It was like draining a single drop from an ocean of insanity and stress.

The door locked behind him as he immediately dropped down, sitting on the cold floor while resting his back on the door. Putting both hands on his face, he pondered to himself. What exactly can be done as a whole? Can he tag-team with Da Vinci and create some sort of device to contain demons? Should the director know about it? Maybe she'll help... or perhaps, it would be better to reveal his identity as King Solomon...

...No.

Romani has lost all of his authorities that he had while he was alive. Without them, there's no hope for even Solomon, especially the Solomon that's been summoned as a Servant, essentially a walking soul for Griffith to manipulate.

Despair filled the room, Roman pondered and pondered...

What had he done?

Before he could go on thinking, a knock on his door brought him to his senses.

The Present

"Let me get this straight, you didn't even bother lifting a finger even when Dr. Roman was about to figure out your identity? How could you take such a risk?"

"I believe you are a passionate follower of the holy messiah, yes?"

"That is correct."

"Well then, would you believe me if I said that he was a demon all along? That's how ridiculous it sounds. I didn't need to act if none would believe him. Even Leonardo da Vinci, who I barely interacted with... with a single look, she fell for it. What makes you think someone as naive as Animusphere would believe him?"

The Past

Chaldea Security Organization

The door to Romani's quarters opened. On the other side of the door, there was a tall man with long blonde hair, wearing attire composed of white and blue colors. It's like fate itself was taunting Romani. The man had some similarities with Griffith in terms of appearance.

"Oh- Kirschtaria? Hey, hi. What are you doing here? I thought the Master candidates were supposed to come in five days."

"Greetings, doctor." A faint smile grew on Kirschtaria's face. "Not all the candidates are here, it's just me and the rest of the A Team. We decided to come over to see if you guys needed any help before we start with the missions."

"I don't think we do, but thanks for your thoughtfulness." Roman turned around.

"Aren't you gonna come and say hi to the rest of us?"

"Sorry, I'm a bit busy right now."

"I understand. I'll see you later then."

Before Kirschtaria could turn away from him, Romani's voice called out to him again. "Hey, Kirschtaria?"

"Yeah?" He turned back.

"You probably know what I want you to do. A favor, as per usual."

"Ah, I already know. It's about Beryl, right?"

"Right. Keep an eye on him."

"Don't worry about it."

"Thanks. I'm counting on you."

ISAIAH 14:13

I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.

. . .

. . .

Five days later...

Chaldea Security Organization

"Just a little more on the left..." Olga stuck her tongue out, focusing. She had been seated in front of a mirror, a figure of average height brushing her hair from behind.

He moved the brush just a tad bit to the left, holding it above the spot chosen. "Here?"

"Yeah, right there! It's itching a lot." He then started to brush the part she had specified, ecstasy washing over her mind. "Ah... better. Thanks, Saver, I owe you one."

"I will always be at your service."

Olga leaned back in her chair, taking a deep breath. "Erm, Saver, this question is a bit out of place, but can I ask you something?"

"Proceed."

"Do you think I'm a good director?"

"Is there any doubt about it?"

"Yes, there is. I doubt it. You know, sometimes I wonder what my dad would think if he were here... disappointed?"

It was strange to hear 'dad' coming from her mouth, even for Griffith. A figure like her must be used to using more formal vocabulary. Evidently, she had let her guard down.

"If I were in your place, whenever such thoughts would rush to my mind, I would simply look around at where I am."

"...What?"

"You have been keeping this scene very clean. You are the one tasked with its upkeep, you've performed excellently."

"Anyone could do that, really. It's all so insignificant."

"If anyone could, then you wouldn't have been in this position."

That statement of his only put further pressure on her mind. She covered her face with her hands, taking them off after a few seconds.

"Thanks, again... again. You really are a reliable guy. Is there anything you want to let out to me as well? It's really the least I could do."

"What do I want to let out, hm..." He thought for a moment, answering quickly. "I've always wanted a kingdom, ever since my childhood, but after I got it, I felt rather... empty, as you could say. Some of these days, I might pursue a normal life if you allow me. Perhaps that's what will make me happy."

Animusphere couldn't help but feel bad for him. His charisma was made up of child-like innocence and naivety, combined with his emotionless behavior. Right now, that innocence was being fully displayed. He's a Servant. He's already lived his life. It's impossible for him to start another. What will he gain out of it if he just loses the memories of Chaldea the next time he's summoned anyways? "That's a bit of a... shaky topic. I would allow you to do so, but you need to have everything thought of. Besides, do you know how recognizable you are in this day and age?"

"No need to worry. I have everything thought of. Firstly, to fit into current times, I'll change my identity as a whole... I'll change my name to Louis Cypher. How does that one sound?"

"Interesting choice. I can't say much else, it sounds random. What next?"

"I will work my way up and become the CEO of a large company, just like you. You are very inspiring."

A flustered Marie turned around, causing him to stop brushing. She looked straight into his eyes. Her face was red from sheer embarrassment.

"Wha— Please don't tell me that you idolize me!"

"...I fail to see the problem."

"Someone like you being inspired by someone like me?! Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?! We're on two completely different levels!"

"No. It is not ridiculous, not one bit. You sound like you have a lot of hate for yourself in your heart. I am very happy to be your Servant, know that."

"Saver..."

"I won't carry on with that topic anymore. It seems like you became uncomfortable. My apologies. Anywho, what's this all about anyways?"

"Eh?" Olga turned back around, Griffith starting to brush her hair again. "You mean the Master candidates out there?"

"Yes."

"It's a bit complicated. Um, to put it in a way you can understand, lets just say history is messed up. Like really messed up. I don't mean as in the violence and bloodshed happening, but history isn't as it should be, and because of that, our future won't happen."

"...Why, exactly?"

"That's what we're about to find out. Those Masters are here to basically travel back in time and fix the stuff that's messed up by correcting the source. The Grand Orders. The names of these missions that are going to be carried out. Anyways, Saver, you'll have to help me today— Actually, you know what, you're not going to be doing much. Just come with me stand around and let the Masters gawk at you, I'm going to be doing the talking since it's incredibly complicated. Say, Griffith..." As he went on and on brushing her hair... "Would you like to join the missions?"

"As you wish."

"Nonono— I want you to decide for yourself, I'm not going to force you."

"I'll have to give it some thought."

"Just don't take too long." About three seconds later, Olga raised her voice again. "That's enough. Put the brush down, let's go." Animusphere stood up with confidence, walking towards the exit.

While Olga was focused on the Master candidates, Saver on the other hand, had become fixated with the mirror. Almost as if he had seen something. When Flauros and Void looked at one and another, Flauros saw more than one soul in the body of the Hand of God. He had five other souls. Four of them oozed darkness, but the last had incredible light that was capable of combatting the darkness emitted by the other souls. Last time, they were at a standstill. A perfect balance of light and dark.

...

The light had overthrown the dark, just barely.

That is the start of an invisible timer. Once that timer hits zero, then he will lose everything. Not only everything that he's worked for, but also his identity and his body. What a shame.

"Saver?"

"...My apologies. Let us move."

Later...

Central Control Room

The door opened, three people entering. Two of those people were familiar faces: Mash and Lev. The third person was a new one. He possessed spiked, brown hair of fair height, not as tall as Lev's hair, but not all that short either.

Rows and rows of seated Masters occupied the room. They all possessed clothing similar to the boy's, revealing his identity as another Master. All the seats were taken except for one at the front row. Olga and her Servant both were already standing at the front. Looks like the boy had arrived barely just in time as she hadn't started yet.

"Right in front of the director, what bad luck." Mash commented. "Please try not to fall asleep, Senpai."

"Yeah, I'll try."

" . . . " Olga didn't look all that happy. Of course, she just wanted to get straight to the point.

"Enough of the chit-chat," Lev smiled sheepishly. "Go have fun with the director and her demon Servant. Good luck!"

"The demon wha-?!"

Lev gave the Master yet to be seated a playful shove, prompting him to move to his seat. He sat down after reaching the remaining seat.

"Not quite on time, but acceptable, at least everyone's here. Welcome to the special organization dedicated to preserving humanity's future, Chaldea. I'm the director, Olga..."

Mash slowly tuned out Olga's words, turning to Lev. "Demon Servant? Where, exactly?"

Ah, he let that slip out, didn't he?

"Come on, don't act like that with me, Mash. You know who I'm talking about."

"...Saint Griffith? A demon?"

"Just look at him. Do you see Olga prancing around with so much emotion? He's the exact opposite, he hasn't smiled once, he hasn't frowned once, he's just there. He just exists. Are you even sure that Dr. Romani summoned a Servant and didn't create a robot?"

"Perhaps he thinks it's better to bottle up those emotions rather than show them off to those around him. I, for one, think that makes him look stronger mentally. Keyword, look. Bottling up emotions will always lead to mental instability."

"Tch." Lev paused for a moment. "Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son."

"Lev!"

"Ahem!" Olga cleared her voice, catching Mash's attention. "Excuse me, Miss Kyrielight, this is a very important talk session here."

"...I am sorry."

"Thought so."

Mash's relationship with Lev was incredibly healthy, but this? This was just out of character for him. Strange.

Chaldea's Cafeteria

Much like the Masters, the staff members of Chaldea were all seated down at the tables in the cafeteria, although in contrast, they were actually there of their own free will, not on orders. All of them looked rather beaten, it must have been quite a tiring day.

Da Vinci took a sip from a cup of coffee. Roman was seated at the other side of the table, a futuristic-looking holographic tablet in his hands. He was watching Olga Marie brief the Masters from the cameras.

"Ahhh, nothing beats a fresh cup of mediocre coffee in the morning."

"It's literally night-time right now."

"Close enough."

"Wha-"

"I'm just playing around." Da Vinci took a peek at the tablet Roman was holding. "Eh? Is that the director?"

"Yeah."

"You know you could just get a first-hand look like Mash and Lev back there, right?"

"I know, I know, but I don't think I need to explain. You already know."

"Oh, let me guess, hmmmm... whoever could it be?" She looked away for a moment, turning back to him afterwards. "Y'know, I think you two would be best friends if you just got over your obsession with the God Hand. Those guys have been gone for so long yet you conveniently remember them now."

"Look," Romani rubbed his eyes. "He basically gave me solid proof."

"Explain? Please?"

"Okay, so, we were in the sauna together. He gave me some life advice. I dunno, something about leaving Chaldea to take control of my own life. Long story short, he told me 'do as thou wilt.'"

"Is it bad that I don't know what that exactly means? I mean, I understand the sentence, but what does that prove?"

"It's not a bad thing at all, it's confidential information; at least in Chaldea. Just about everyone from the Mage's Association know everything and probably ten times more. Anyway, the Apostles of the God Hand have a single commandment. Do as you will. Do whatever you want with this power. Save people, kill people. Whatever."

"...Oh. Yikes. I mean, it can be a coincidence. Just saying."

"Nonononono- He worded it exactly like the God Hand would say. Who says 'thou' in this day and age? Come on."

She let out a deep breath, covering her face to think for a few moments. She took her hands off after three seconds. "Alright. I believe you now. With that entire list of evidence, this is just the cherry on top. Do you have a plan?"

"Plan for... what?"

"To resolve this. Take down a member of the God Hand."

"Are you serious? Do you think I could come up with a way to kill a piece of The Root in a week's course? This is ignoring all that Causality and Third Magic crap too."

"I already have an idea." She placed her right hand on her chin. "It'll be hard, but we can convince the director to use a Command Seal."

"There's no guarantee that will work."

"It should weaken him at least."

"No, like, I mean, there's no guarantee it'll work AT ALL. I have no idea how much control he has over his Third Magic considering that he still needs a vessel to come to the physical world, yet it just seems barely enough to negate Command Seals. And, besides... now that I think about it," A beaten Romani looked down. "I don't think he even made a contract with her in the first place."

"Weren't you there? You should have seen it happen."

"I did see it, but I'm thinking it's all an illusion. He doesn't need a Master to anchor him, why would he put himself at risk by making a contract? It's not like the God Hand can't use illusions either."

"Huff..." Da Vinci rest the left side of her head on the table. "Now that I think about it, everything beats mediocre coffee on a crappy night..."

Central Control Room

"Singularity F is like a tiny stain on the dress that is human history. It ruins its beauty just by existing. Your job is to extract it, by doing that, human history will go back to its proper state." Olga then looked down at the same boy from earlier, her annoyance and frustration radiating from her body. "What is the Association thinking? Sending me someone who doesn't know basic space-time theory?"

"H- Huh?" He barely got out to her, his voice muffled by his tired state.

"This plan is a Grand Order, the highest possible duty in the world of magecraft! Whatever, that doesn't matter. What team are you with? Show me your ID."

He got his ID out at a rather sluggish pace, handing it over to her. Once she fully observed its contents, she became even more frustrated.

"Wh... huh?! A civilian with no combat experience?! You're in the wrong spot!" Conversations among the crowd rose. "Hey, keep it down! I do not condone bullying." And so, silence. She may be evil, but she's evil with a heart of gold. "These missions are far too important! Lev! Lev Lainur!"

Lev walked past the chairs placed, going towards Olga with his usual optimistic look. "I'm right here, director. Why the yelling? Is there a problem?"

"Why... YES! Problems everywhere, but for now, get this amateur out of my sight!"

"Ah, this young man here?" He shifted his eyes to the boy. "I think being that rude is unnecessary, director. After all, he is a chosen Master."

"I can't handle having an unexperienced Master around these parts. What's going to happen if something happens to my Chaldeas? Just get him out! Let Romani handle this, at least let him get some basic training in!" Having cleared her thoughts, she cleared her voice. "Ahem. My apologies, as I was saying..."

"Sorry, Ritsuka, I don't think she likes you. Anyways, orders are orders. Mash, could you take Fujimaru to his room?"

Mash zoomed over to Lev, standing next to him. "Understood, I just need to-"

From behind Olga a voice came. He was behind her all this time, wasn't he? It's surprisingly easy to forget he's there. He's like a ghost.

"...I am not one to object against your orders, but director Animusphere, I do not think this boy here should be thrown out." Of course, he's the one to be the devil's advocate.

Olga turned back around. "Now's not the time to be complaining about orders, Griffith. We have so little time."

Discussions were rising within the crowd once more. Although his identity wasn't known for sure beforehand, it was confirmed with this.

"She's right, your highness." Lev gave off yet another sheepish smile. "Besides, why would you want to keep an amateur around?"

"I believe I can see things within people. In this case, this man..." He turned his attention to Ritsuka. "...You were Fujimaru Ritsuka, correct?"

"Y... yes." He was a bit nervous. Indeed, the face of God brings all those around him to their knees.

"I see. He reminds me of a good friend of mine. The legendary Hundred-Man Slayer, in specific."

"...The Hundred-Man Slayer was real? And he was your friend?"

"Why, yes. He was quite a nice person outside of the battlefield. I think we should keep Ritsuka."

"Well, look at it this way, since you're not going to be heading into the Singularities, you could help him get all the training he needs. If he really has the potential you claim he has, we'll place him on the A Team. How about that?"

"Excellent! Fujimaru Ritsuka, I am happy to say that we will become training partners from now on."

"Erm-"

"Alright. Mash, Lev, one of you just take him already."

"Come with, Senpai. I'll show you your room."

"This should only take two hours. We'll see each other after that, good Fujimaru." Lev waved goodbye as Ritsuka stood up, following Mash to the exist.

"As I was saying..."

...

Perhaps the Archangel of the God Hand had seen something in that boy, or maybe it was all just an act. Who knows?

He had not only seen something in that boy, but also something in the future...

The futuristic utopia turned into a burning wasteland. Interesting.

What are you planning, Flauros?