FGO Singularity 1950 Germany- The Road to Paradise

by ColinHayworth

A story in an alternate WWII singularity where its mystery still reigns and the mana were unusually dense for its age. It has allowed all those who were beyond 1900 to become heroic spirits as long as their deeds are beyond any comprehension of human beings. And now this is where all those who remains to reach the truth of what happened

20. A Light Illuminating the Depths

Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.

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Chapter 20: A Light Illuminating The Depths
First Layer - Azerium Research Facility

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Words of God: For this part, play A Light Illuminating The Depths - Zero no Kiseki

They quickly move as fast as they could through the stairwell, the deteriorated condition of it makes it looked like it could fall apart completely at any moment. The stairs hug tightly into the wall as it slowly descends into Underworld below.

"Stop!" Gudao said as he told the whole team to halt.

The next section of the stairs have collapsed completely in front of them, they don't know how large is the collapsed section is but considering the next one is below even into the mist down there, there is no possible way of jumping down there for their Master.

"I think we should find another way here, we can't assure if the Bounded Field is still affecting us or not.". Kiritsugu said as he looked into the depths below.

They looked around for a bit while before finding another door on their way here and they decided that they will take that path even if it is longer.

A new area was entered and they saw a few of those light poles lined up straight in their path to shine the way in this dark and long hallway. And in front of them is a massive iron bar gate that stood between them and the next area. The gate stood taller than them by at least ten meters and the width of the gap between the bar is too small for even Ruby to slip through.

"Damn... There has to be a way to open this..." Shirou said as he examined the door.

They attempted to brute force the door to open but once again, it refused to budge no matter what. Ruby's attempt to create an acidic potion to melt the iron bars away also came to failure when it refused to react at all despite its alchemy capability surpass many mages.

"Looks like we have to find another way after all.". Gudao said as he looked around and saw a staircase that leads them to another area.

"This way!" Gudao said as he leads his team to a different path.

At the end of the hallway, they found a door that wasn't locked at all. Thinking that there's nothing surprising behind it, they opened it and...

Thousands of gaze were landed upon them when they were washed over with a bright white light. Those gazes were from... more of those white-haired homunculi...

"What?" Kiritsugu said as he suddenly found himself in a different place compared to the deteriorating stairwell.

They looked at their guests curiously as if this was the first time they see anyone different at all. All of those homunculi look the same as the only thing that differentiates them is the hairstyles which are vary among them. Some have different styles of braids, some have different styles of buns, some have ridiculous hairstyles that just pure oddity. But even if they differentiate each other through their appearance, they are still fundamentally the same as that one certain homunculus, the one that is the apex of the arts of homunculi making, Irisviel.

There's no room left for doubt, the Einzbern has dipped their hands into the Third Reich and this is the concrete proof of their involvement.

"Hey, I haven't seen you here at all. Are you someone new?" A homunculus approached Iri with curiosity.

And then more and more of them started to approach Iri and they just completely surrounded her. None of the Servants here dare raised their weapons because none of the homunculi here carry any ill will at all and it would just leave them with a bad taste in their mouth if they tried to brute force.

"Please, can you tell me what is this place?" Arnold asked as he tried to disperse the crowd.

"Oh, this is the Azerium Research Facility where we apply it to practical use from household furniture to weapons of mass destruction..." One of the homunculi said with a smile that one can't tell if she is threatening them or just plain clueless of what it meant.

Azerium... That word again... It first appeared in the password where Irisviel basically noticed through bullshit. What does it mean here? Just what purpose does it hold? What is it exactly that it has such catastrophic effects that turned this whole world upside down because of it.

Kuro realized something, what if this Azerium thingy is related to what almost caused the cataclysm in the Pan Human History? She decided to muster her courage and asked one of the leading researchers about it.

"Hey, is this Azerium has an azure color and molecular weight of zero?" Kuro asked as she fears that the carbon copy of her mother would deny answering. And once again she is proven that there is nothing to worry about because they are as truthful as her mother.

"Yes... But how do you know about it, only us researchers are aware of such knowledge." The homunculus replied when asked with the question.

"Knew it..." Kuro thought after received the answer.

But this presents another question to her, any research done on Azerium tends to turn its researchers feral and prone to berserk any moment notice but then... why do all of these homunculi are unaffected by it?

"Let me go! I have something more important to do!" Iri said as she tried to break free from the crowd that surrounded her.

The crowd of her carbon copies soon dispersed to let their original pass, they haven't seen someone who looked like them wearing like that and thus them being curious is just as natural as breathing.

"Let us take all of you for a guide in this place." One of the homunculi with long hair and an ahoge bowed to them before guiding them on their way.

The team looked at each other and then followed wherever the homunculus will take them. The place is oddly sanitized to the point that it is a far cry compared to the outside of the research facility. Soon, they entered an airlock so that they can make sure to completely sanitize any visitor in this place.

"This here is where we convert Azerium into raw power through the alchemization process." The homunculus shows them a huge globe instrument of sorts floating in midair and radiating something.

The sheer power it radiates is so much that they felt pressured by it. There are multiple conduits connected to the base that it is floating on and seems to send power everywhere in this facility. Of course that it was also sealed behind a barrier of extreme hardened glass. There are multiple homunculi wearing lab coats and supervising the whole system.

"A single particle of Azerium can easily grant a huge amount of power, so much that it easily trumps the output of nuclear fusion reactors by a number so large that said multiplication number can only be written in exponentials." The homunculus said it as if it was a normal thing to say.

"What?" Kiritsugu said as he couldn't fathom what the homunculus said is real at all.

"The only reason I didn't get overwhelmed by what she is saying because I came across many incremental games that have number rise so high that it can only be written in exponentials.". Illya said as she comments on what was said.

They looked at the Azerium Alchemizer that was sealed away behind that glass barrier and wonder just what how did something like this fall into the hands of the Third Reich in the first place.

"You know what else doesn't sit with me here? There is something called the Kardashev scale and if what that homunculus said is true then the Third Reich would have dominated this planet already... No... They would have dominated the whole galaxy by now if they have such a ceaseless workforce like this behind them but nope... they are still stuck here in this filthy and desolated hell." Kiritsugu commented.

"So what are you suggesting?" Gudao asked his Servant.

"They might be reaching for something else. Something greater than how we could even imagine as a human species." Kiritsugu said.

"Hey! Are you two following or what!?" The homunculus said to them as she is about to exit the room.

Kiritsugu and Gudao quickly followed so that they don't cause any needless suspicion on them. They then continue their journey through this research facility as they saw many homunculi moving around here as if this place is a busy commute.

"As you know, we researchers are divided into two divisions. The Science Division and Magecraft Division. While we are categorized into different teams, the research of Azerium has both science and magecraft entwined heavily with each other, and thus there are fundamentally no differences between us." The white-haired researcher said with a smile that nobody knows if it held any malice but considering Iri has always been true to her feeling, the same could be applied to any homunculus here.

Pierce looked into the ID tag that she wore around her neck and saw 'Magecraft Division' written on it, that was probably the division she was assigned to.

After a while, they reached another place. A room that seems to have many homunculi like her attending the machinery here. The conduits neatly and tidily placed around the place as the symmetry here can easily be compared to many talented artists/

"This place is our workshop, where we use the power we obtained from Azerium to alchemize them into any material we wanted so that we can use them to process into heavily delicate-items that are used for scientific expansion. Although we already have mass-alchemizing machines that convert power into raw materials, those are more for mass-production of items rather than stuff that we have to make by ourselves." The homunculus said to them.

"So this is how they managed to build such an extensive facility like this in the first place. One would think that a desolated place like this would be impossible to thrive at all but here they are with the power of Azerium." Alfin said as she looked around the workshop.

And so they moved once more and they found themselves in a place completely different than before. Some homunculi are wielding some sorts of firearms as they unleash their power down into the firing range over there.

"This is the test firing range where it is also an extension to the weapon lab. We use this place to test out our prototype weapons that will be used by the army under Furher's order." The homunculus said with such an innocent smile that makes them felt unnerved.

They looked around the place and saw many testers using their prototype weapons. It makes them wonder how the hell does this part of the facility haven't been completely destroyed yet from the destructions that were unleashed upon from those. From a pistol that is capable of blowing a tank like a balloon, a multiple-barrel belt-fed rotary shotgun that can eat shotgun shells faster than an MG-42, a laser cannon that blasts a beam that so bright, it overshadowed everything else the moment the trigger was pulled.

Alfin looked at all of them attentively as if her weapon-seeking sense is tingling non-stop. If she saw a weapon, she will immediately want to have it in her hand. And thanks to Projection Magecraft, she could replicate them... almost perfectly. If Azerium has a play in this, she might be unable to replicate them at all. She sighed as she can't believe that she was in her heaven yet unable to feel it.

The homunculus then guides them into the further area and they were soon overwhelmed by the constant sounds of metalwork that is almost deafening to be here.

"By the way, you should be wearing these specific-built headphones so that we can communicate without the interference of our surroundings." The homunculus then gives them the headphones that were placed on the rack near the entrance.

"This place is our weapon lab, where new weapons of all sorts of types are invented in each hour. We can create any weapon we wanted but only firearms are accepted by Furher's order thus you can try anything you wanted but please don't interfere with the researchers, okay?" The homunculus said to them.

Kiritsugu by this point started to feel some screws being loosed in his mind, the fact that everyone here looks like his wife just made him felt that he will lose his mind soon enough if this continues any longer. The fact that they are adhering to Hitler's order doesn't make any of this better at all. He just wanted to pull his guns out and kill everyone here just to get himself out of this madness.

"Jii-san, don't..." Shirou said to his father so that he doesn't snap on the spot.

Kiritsugu takes in a deep breath to calm himself down so that he won't step on the mistake of his past life anymore. No more needless killing if he could help.

Arnold looked around for a bit and then noticed Alfin seems to have disconnected from the group and standing right in front of something and look at it with such attentiveness that it makes him question her sanity. He approached her then tapping lightly on her shoulder in which she responded by suddenly turn around confusedly.

"Alfin... Just what exactly got your attention like that?" Arnold asked her before looking at what got Alfin's attention.

It was a gun but there were so many differences from your normal kind of guns that he couldn't quite get it at all. It looks like what Joseph's assault rifle would be but the main body and barrel was upsized to accommodate the prism that was slotted right in it. It has a foregrip to give its user better control.

The gun was levitating there on that pedestal, radiating so much power that it felt so overwhelming. It was as if they were witnessing a God sitting there and gracing them with its presence.

"Excuse me but what is that gun?" Arnold tried to communicate with the closest researcher.

"Oh, I never thought I would have someone ask me what this thing is. It is one of our most prized prototype weapons based on a failed design Wunderwaffe, the Sun Gun. Now reconverted and redesigned into this miniaturized firearm but no less destructive than its predecessor. The Solar Prism." The closest homunculus said to Arnold as she answered his question.

Alfin when heard of it as the downscaled Wunderwaffe of her. She instantly wanted to jump in and reached for it. However, she was stopped right at that moment when she collided with a force field that blocked between her and the Solar Prism. Due to the effect of the Bounded Field still remain effective here, she is nothing but a kid who tried to force its way to the candy through a glass window.

"Sorry..." Arnold tried to apologize to everyone who witnesses such childishness that Alfin displayed before dragging her back.

"Okay, I think we have enough tour now but can you please guide us to a place so that we can open the iron bar gate that blocked us from reaching the lower level?" Gudao asked as he tried to divert the path away so that they don't waste too much time in this place.

"The iron bar gate? While we may be aware of that, just why do you want us to open it?" The homunculus asked as she finds it a strange question to ask.

Gudao tried to find a good enough reason to convince them to open it. He can't just straight up say he came here to kill Hitler or they may instantly use those very weapons here and kill him on spot. They may be true to their feelings like Iri but there is no saying that they can't be bloodthirsty at all.

Right at that moment, Arnold stepped in as he gathers all of his courage before attempting to convince these homunculi to open the path for them. He looked back into Gudao before look straight ahead into the homunculi in front of him with a sincere gaze.

"Miss... There's someone who is crying for our help in the land beneath us. She is someone how is holding a great deal of importance to us, someone that can easily change the fate of everyone involved. I don't know where she is placed in this whole conspiracy but I have to find her, for her sake. Please..." Arnold tried to convince the homunculus in front of him.

The homunculus stood there for a little while with her eyes closed, thinking about what Arnold said. Everyone there looks at her and Arnold, feeling the suspense rising up exponentially with each second passed. Soon, the homunculus passed her judgment.

"Okay, I shall then guide you to the control room so that you can enter the area below." The homunculus said to them.

At that moment, everyone can't help but let out their breaths in relief and happiness. If there is anything Arnold managed to inherit from Hitler, that would be the silver tongue that convinces people when needed.

And so the homunculus guided them to the control room where it is oddly simple compare to the complexity in the display of many other facilities. There are a few buttons that control the lighting and overall control of the area. The path to the area below is simply a lever that opens the gate. The homunculus then pulled the lever and the path to the next area is now free for them to go.

"The area below is usually sealed off unless we have to come down there for basic maintenance. Most of us never been that far or long and thus it is mostly uncharted territory as far as we concerned but please take care..." The homunculi said before pressing on a button.

Suddenly, they were engulfed in a flash of light that is so blinding that they can't sense anything else but when they finally recover their vision, they found themselves once more at the iron bar gate except it is now wide open for them to enter.

"That was such a strange place..." Arnold said as he can't fathom that so many homunculi that could appear in one location.

"Yeah... But at least a new path is opened for us. Let's go, now." Gudao said as he moves first into the darkness ahead.

The team then pushed forward into the unknown, the echoes that Arnold heard became more clear as if time is running down for each second he spent. Sweats broke on his head as he then swiped it away, knowing that he has no choice but to push forward.

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Second Layer - Database

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Within the dim-lit light of the corridors, the signs of deterioration have proven to have reached here long before anything else. It was as if the research facility in the First Layer is a separate world of its own from the slowly decaying world around it. But even then, they still have to push forward no matter what.

Stood out from the macabre stone bricks that have been there for who-know how long are modern and impenetrable steel security gates that have virtually no way to enter. The corridor is littered with steel crates and rusted pipes while there are multiple pipes and conduits hanging above them. Such disparity of the past and now is just unreal to accept no matter what.

"There are quite a few instruments here that definitely not belong to the WW2 era at all. I wonder if all of these are what the researchers at that researching facility managed to devise..." Richard said as he examined the place around him.

"Yeah... I wonder if all of these were modified by Hitler himself with the help of those homunculi but that doesn't explain why they have absolutely no clue about this place when they should know it like the back of their hands." Pierce said as Richard commented.

"Most likely, they probably equipped this place with research instruments that aid them in the research of Azerium if that has any meaning.". Gudao said as he draws to the most possible conclusion.

Suddenly, they noticed footsteps approaching them as they tried to raise their weapons but knowing that they might not have much in the hope of fighting against the entity that may appear in this place. However, it turns out to be a maintenance automaton that is moving around with such conditions that makes it clear that it is going to breakdown at any moment.

The thing then broke down in front of them as it collapsed into a heap of scrap. They tried to touch it but no response was given.

"It looks like it has been here for quite a long time, I could tell that the metal here was forced to endure harsh conditions during the maintenance of this area.". Shirou said as he used his Hawkeyes on it.

"Looks like this place isn't going to be any cakewalk at all.". Kuro said as she can felt the chill that this place emanated.

They then continue moving as the leaking pipes spraying the cold water vapor on them as they can't help but feeling cold in this area. The temperature here was oddly low that they can't quite understand at all. Soon, they found themselves looking at a security gate but with one major difference, there are three headlights situating on top of it and all of them are shining red.

"I wonder where this door will lead us but considering that it is still shut tight, we might not be able to get through there for a while.". Illya said as she noticed the security gate.

"Yeah... I think we need to find something that could unlock them.". Irisviel said as she comments on the conversation so far.

They turned to the left and saw a staircase that is going down and considering that there is no other path, they decided to go that way. The leaking water in this low-temperature area started to turn the water into vapors that float in the air and reduce the overall visibility in the area. Suddenly feel like they just wandered around and tumble in this area. Even if the path is just linear, they felt that a single mistake would cost them their mission.

"I wonder what Simo and the rest are doing right now..." Desmond said as he tried to swat the mist away.

Meanwhile back at the Ground Zero, Simo and Anastasia are still waiting on the staircase of the abandoned relic of the past. The Brandenburg Gate. That the Chaldean Task Force will arrive at any time right now but their patience is running on a thin line. The SS Servants decided to do some basic scouting first and thus it is just them alone here in the place right now.

"Just where are those people now?". Simo said as he wanted to do something without wasting his time on needless waiting.

"Who knows... I am not a part of their crews in the first place." Anastasia said to him as she still hugs her doll.

After that, they continue waiting which honestly makes them felt bore faster than people in modern social media getting mad at random shit.

"So what do you want to do?" Anastasia said to him.

Simo thinks for a while about what they can do here. They could make a mini-blizzard here and create a snow turf but that means they actually have to spend too much to build a decent one in the first place. They could just instead play a snowball fight but that is just too plain simple.

"How about figure skating? It is a winter sport but I never actually get to try it..." Anastasia said to Simo with curiosity.

"Figure skating?" Simo said as he wasn't particularly well-aware of something like that.

They talk about it for a while and then proceed to go with it. It probably doesn't hurt too much to try... right?

Anastasia then used her power to turn the yard in front of her into a pure ice surface that is slippery to move on. Kinda perfect enough to replicate an ice rink.

"Anastasia? How do we get even a skating shoe for this?" Simo asked her about one of the most important parts of figure skating.

And right at that moment, Anastasia showed him two pair of skating shoes made out of ice in her hands. How she managed to do something like this? Nobody understands how but at least she did it...

And so they went on and try figure skating. There are some moments that they managed to do perfectly but so many else that are just pure embarrassing failures and hilarity that ensues from their own inexperience. Even if when they have Servants' modifier, it didn't help in the slightest.

At one time when they tried to do figure skate together, Simo lifted her up and rotated her downward but her duchess dress ended up falling down and covered his face making him unable to see anything ahead and they ended up skate to the boundary and stumbled into the ground. Another attempt was made but the role was reversed and due to her lack of gripping strength, she ended up letting go of Simo and have his head smashed into the ice surface and caused a crack that spreads throughout the rink.

It was painful but they didn't care at all, the important thing here is that they have their times together. One that can they laugh at and remembering their times even if it's fleeting.

And their last one was a pair lift that is called twist lift if they knew the term at all. Simo then threw Anastasia into the air and she twists around herself before getting caught by her partner. That was their last trick before their performance came to an abrupt halt. At least that their learning rates are actually amplified by Servants' stat stick.

A massive APC just suddenly appeared out of nowhere as it bursts through the fabric of reality and slowly coming to a halt on the ice rink. Simo and Anastasia stopped their performance and watch as the APC stood there and slowly rooting into the ground itself. They noticed the anchor that Gudao and his team placed before heading to Furher's Bunker is resonating brightly that it is hard to ignore.

Soon, the back door of the APC opened and they saw a huge amount of Servants there stood like soldiers waiting for their deployment. Legends from all corners of history all assembled and waiting for their orders.

Simo and Ana looked at each other and before they noticed it, the SS team from before has already made their way here already.

"That's definitely someone who I would not want to mess with at all.". Richtofen said as he looks into the APC and the group of heroes inside.

They quickly mobilize and assembled into the main exploration team right in the center of this yard. Simo slowly approaches them and the one that reached out to him is... Da Vinci.

"Hey, are you the guy that Master told me to get in contact with?" Da Vinci asked.

"Hold on... Your Master said nothing about me to you... How did you-" Simo said as he realized the contradiction.

"Look, you would have followed him too unless he told you to stay here. Don't underestimate my genius here... So what are you asking me for?" Da Vinci said with a smirk

"Sigh... Your Master told me that you can improve my firearms tremendously so will you please help?" Simo said to Da Vinci with a bit irritated expression.

"That huh? I have done that once before but this shouldn't be too different. Don't worry, you won't regret it one bit." Da Vinci said with an expression that one could tell there was sinister thought behind it.

Simo sighed knowing that this can't go to end without shit boiling down.

Back at the where Gudao's team currently is, after stumbling around in the mist for a while, they managed to find an abandoned room that just stood out among the mist. Inside are some abandoned crates and tools but the most important of them is what looks like a computer system with its wirings wired to the ceiling, most likely for ease of maintenance and tidiness.

They checked the system around for a bit before pressing on the one big red button on the corner of the system. The screen monitor lights up immediately as it started to work after being abandoned for who knows how long it was.

System check...

Command settings examining...

System stabilized... Initiate...

"What's this..." Arnold said as he never found something like this before.

"It's a computer system that was invented in the 1940s, the first generation in fact. Probably one of the first in its kind. Although compared to the system we found in the research facility at the First Layer, this thing is an antique by now but back then, it worths a huge amount of buck for its time." Gudao said as he utilizes his history knowledge.

"Hitler probably provided the money for this although it is hard to see if anyone actually gets this anywhere at all..." Shirou said as he examines the computer system.

"Yeah... There might be more of this computer system in this area so we might have to do a sweep throughout this place." Richard said as he tried to see if there's anything that stood out from this computer system.

Alfin then proceeds to approach the system and quickly using it with such proficiency as if she is a computer scientist. The sound of keys being pressed upon before them was a surprise for Alfin is always what everyone thought as a person who only has power as their fort but guesses they were proven wrong.

"Okay... I managed to obtain the access code to unlock that certain security door that was blocking our path." Alfin said as she turned around to everyone behind.

"Thanks, I guess?" Gudao said as he doesn't know how to exactly answer to that.

"Oh, and I managed to obtain some information within this database too, although some information was corrupted due to data decaying, they are still in decent enough condition to read and make out some of the stuff inside. Let me show it to you..." Alfin said as she messes around the computer for a bit.

"Pre Cataclysm"

The year is 1944, my name is Adolf Hitler, The Furher of the Third Reich.

The Allied and Soviet forces are quickly charging forward and reclaiming territory throughout Europe. The constraint of monetary and natural resources will most likely bleed us dry soon if this keeps up.

However, an unknown meteorite has fallen into the land of Berlin, causing destruction of lives and civilian and military infrastructure. We managed to recover the meteorite and placed it under material hazard confinement. Due to not exactly knowing what to do with the newfound meteorite, we ended up being stumped on the research of this new and hazardous material.

That is until one day when a self-proclaimed mage came to us and called for an alliance so that he will help us research the unknown material in exchange for funding his research on 'Heaven's Feel'. The man's name is Jubstacheit von Einzbern if I could write it correctly. With the aid of his homunculi and the expansion and combination of magecraft and science, our research progress on this material skyrocketed in mere days,

During our research of it, this material gave off an azure light and with metallic characteristics. Due to the unusual molecular weight of 0 g/mol in its perfect purity form. We decided to call this material, Azerium. A combination of azure and zero.

Researching this material was a difficult task for normal human researchers due to its effect on humans' emotions. We used to hypothesize that Azerium has a tendency to cause people to go feral and berserk but Jubstacheit has proven something else. It doesn't cause people to go berserk, but rather... it exaggerates the emotion being displayed by those who were nearby it. Researching is a tedious and consuming task that would bound to cause disharmony among the people and Azerium exaggerates those emotional traits.

But thanks to his homunculi who were specifically made to find joy in everything they do, they managed to sidestep the most critical and dangerous part when it comes to Azerium researching. Those homunculi when research said material, instead of turning to rage, they entered a state of euphoria that only encourages their research even further.

This was how all of this happened...

After reading the information stored within the database, they stood there thinking for a while about what it just said.

"Exaggerating the emotions of those around it... No wonder why..." Kuro said as she connects two and two together.

This opened a lot more possibilities and questions than how they would think at all. But one thing that is definitely confirmed is the involvement of the Einzbern family with the Third Reich.

"But still, this is pre-cataclysm, right? That means the real 'shit hit the fan' is still somewhere in this layer." Kiritsugu said.

"Yeah... the rest of the information was corrupted and can't be read at all. But at least we know something about what happened here." Arnold said as he tried to inspect further but turns up nothing.

Emotions exaggeration, it explains why the Azure Soldiers are extremely fierce and ferocious, war can easily make men mad and make them commit violence without caring. The azure ashes that were left after death are the signs that they were most likely homunculi that were infused with Azerium to boost strength immensely at the cost of their mental stability. There's no hope for them to have a normal life at all, death is the only solace they would find.

"Too bad for them I guess..." Iri said as she doesn't love the idea her fellow homunculi were also used as a weapon.

"We have to continue, no time to waste!" Gudao said as he quickly commands everyone in his team to move on.

They continue their path through this mist once more, and through the unknown will they search for another piece of knowledge that is hidden away in this place.

Back at the Shadow Border that Da Vinci rode on to get here. After tinkering around with the Mosin Nagant and Suomi that Simo gave to her and the Black Barrel's schematic that Sion gave in the events of emergency. She managed to upgrade the two of them into weapons of mass destruction. Not comparable to the original but still came close enough.

"This is the power of my genius. Behold! The Mosin Nagant MkII and Suomi DA VINCI Version!" Da Vinci said as she boasts her intellect.

"I'm still going to call them Mosin and Suomi, thank you.". Simo said as he doesn't want to put up any more second with her antic.

The guns become a lot more clunky looking in order to accommodate the power of the Black Barrel, red veins spread around its metallic surface area except for the wooden stocks of the weapons. And running across those veins are pure distilled power that is so much that not even he could comprehend.

"Either way, with the Black Barrel upgrade, their firepower is now completely separated from your Spirit Origin's level thus it can't be affected by the power of the Bounded Field that is beyond here. Just load the bullet and watch it tore you a new path." Da Vinci said with a smug face.

"Okay, we are done here, let us quickly get back to the team.". Simo said as he took his weapons with him to the exit.

Anastasia followed him as she looked back at Da Vinci, why does she felt that she has encountered someone like her from before? But she shut that thought away when she noticed that Simo is getting ahead of her to the vault gate.

However, the gate opened by itself before they even interacted with it and it seems to be someone familiar that has also made their way here.

"You Nazi scum can't hold me back you filth-" The one certain old man spew his crap at a homunculus who captured him and bound his arm with heavily intertwined steel threads that surrounded his wrists before got slapped on his cheek.

"Silence or I'll seal your vocal cord too..." The twin-tailed glass-wearing homunculus said to him with a stern voice.

And followed him is also his followers and Servants who probably didn't know shit about the Bounded Field and attempted to sow chaos in this place and failed.

"Guess that their karma got to them... ". Simo said as he entered the airlock with Anastasia before the vault gate closed on itself.

Their time to rendezvous with the squad comes near as they finally have the means to defend themselves in this place.

Back to Gudao's team, after wading around the mist in this linear path for a while, they came across a glass sliding door that stood in front of them, except the glass was shattered long ago and having no trace to be found nearby. They carefully slide the door as they saw multiple abandoned machinery and hospital beds that have been left long ago to the point of being moldy. They entered the place even further and found another computer system that lies around in this area.

Alfin then approaches it first and interacts with it. The computer then turned to life as it slowly booting up after being left for so long.

"Okay, I could switch the lock open now and it seems to have some data inside.". Alfin said to them as she inspects the thing even closer.

"Azerium"

War is drawing closer to Berlin, the jaw of the Allied and Soviet is getting so close now that we were running out of time if this keeps up. Jubstacheit has decided to use Heaven's Feel on this land and this is where things started to escalate. This is also when Hitler is introduced to the concept of Heroic Spirit and the Holy Grail. The decision is made and that's when Hitler, the Heroic Spirit which we will call as 'Adolf' is summoned. Although begrudgingly, he agreed to keep the Allied force and Soviet at bay for long enough so that the research may reach the mass-production phase.

From the report, wherever Adolf goes, destruction also came fort. Any battle that took place forever altered the landscape to the point of irreversible. But there's only so much that a sole Heroic Spirit could go. While he may win every battle he got into, this is a pincer attack from both side and while he pushing back one side, the other side took advantage of it and quickly advance to the point that none of the Wehrmacht could temporarily slow down their forces.

Soldier casualty started to rise sharply because of Adolf's intervention and it was almost as if they have no sense of self-perseverance. Either way, the important part of this data is the effect of Azerium and its use.

The research on Azerium requires the utmost care and importance and thus it was decked the most advanced researching equipment at the time and funding of the dwindling monetary resources.

Azerium held an unbound amount of power within, so much that we once tried to alchemize one particle of Azerium into gasoline and oils during the oil shortage and we almost ended up flooding Berlin in its entirety in an ocean of it. It is difficult to analyze how much of the Azerium we used in said alchemy because this is supposedly getting into quantum mechanics if they delve any further.

The massive yet weak magnetic field detected from Azerium is one of the enigmatic properties of this newly discovered material. It is too weak to even turn the compass to its direction but based on the properties of Azerium, it is hypothesized that it would pull in even more Azerium towards Earth due to being near-zero weight.

The process of purifying and distilling Azerium is a difficult task for it involves getting into uncharted areas of science and nuclear physics. We have to fuse impure Azerium molecules together and any mistake might blow up the entirety of Europe apart due to how much power Azerium can discharge. The homunculi have the precision far greater than human scientists to the point we ended up having to discharge them due to being far more of a hindrance in a field of research that has extremely little room for mistake.

It is theoretically suggested that if true Azerium managed to be obtained, that is when the mass-production phase will come in because impure Azerium will become far more impure with each duplication alchemization process it went through. The material when alchemized into itself, it ended up resulting in more of them and break the law of equivalence exchange. Unlimited Azerium will be a stepping stone into the greatness that is beyond any imagination, assuming we can beat the race against time.

At that time, we managed to learn a secret property of the Azerium that was discovered by sheer chance. It has the power to act as a catalyst for spirit fusion. The spirit fusions did with this material acting as a catalyst has raised the Spirit Origin's value to a higher amount without any side effect. Also, it can be used to artificially raise the S.O's value by itself alone, allowing us to turn Phantom Spirit that was lacking mystery behind it into proper Heroic Spirit without repercussion. This then allowed us to build our own Heroic Spirit army and bolster our forces. All just to bide for even more time.

They all stared at the information that was displayed to them. They were dumbfounded at what this 'Azerium' is holding and the secrets behind it aren't definitely nice to know.

"No wonder... That is probably the reason why the SS Servants came to life in the first place. The power of Azerium truly has no limit." Shirou said as he reads the last part.

"Sheer chance?..." Arnold felt that the words 'sheer chance' struck him in a way that he couldn't predict.

"You know... I heard that some battles was a complete disaster of unbelievable degree and I just believe that the negligence of the upper is why they allowed such a thing to happen. But if Servants were involved then... It is obvious what has happened back then... I was damn lucky that I have no participation in them.". Pierce said as he reflects on his memory of what happened back then.

"It seems that this whole place was originally a research facility before he moved all of them up to the top.". Kiritsugu said as he analyzes the information he obtained.

"And based on what we have seen, they have reached the mass-production phase long ago.". Arnold said as he connects the information he obtained so far.

"Alchemize one particle of Azerium almost floods entirety of Berlin in gasoline. I don't know how much energy does gasoline worth but to almost flood the entirety of Berlin in it just from one particle definitely tells me that it held great power behind it." Iri said as she digs up any magecraft knowledge she has.

"There are so much we don't know but the last database might be containing the most important clue to this whole place". Alfin said as she releases the lock open.

"By the way, where do we go-" Kuro said before they noticed a small door that completely melt into the surroundings.

The mist definitely hides it away from them because of how plain it was and when they opened that door, the mist completely flow towards them from behind that door.

"This is our only way, don't falter!" Gudao said as he dives into the mist.

They all wading their path through the mist that was created by the leaking water and coolants, but just right when the mist clears up a bit, Gudao quickly stops when they were met with another obstacle on their path.

The path in front of them was completely collapsed and they tried to see how deep it was, all they could saw is an empty void beneath it. It was at a corridor turn and thus they are unable to assess how long this hole itself stretches

"Let us not try our luck with it. We should find a different path because what else do we have left to try?". Kiritsugu said to his Master.

They retrace their path through the mist once more and it seems that they found another room that they completely miss during their way. With no hesitation, they entered it and found themselves in what looks like a storage room. Littered with abandoned supplies and machine parts and scattered in an unusual manner.

"Guess everything went off the rail when you have no management left.". Kuro said as she digs around the room for anything that may potentially

They too tried to find anything that could help them get over the large hole on the ground. The effect of the Bounded Field means they are at most human at best and any attempts to jump over that hole means doom. Digging up this whole room is also a fruitless attempt as they found nothing at all. That is until they looked around the room itself and find a ventilation duct that seems to go into the wall. The size is large enough for even a human to enter without being stuck.

"Guess we know where to go next..." Kiritsugu sighed before he quickly piles the junk in the room to create a makeshift stair to reach for the duct itself.

Kiritsugu grabbed to the duct entrance and climbed into it, Gudao also followed with the help of his Servants who gave him a small boost. Pierce also entered with the help of his Servant and the rest soon followed.

"Holy shit, the duct is barely big enough for an adult!" Shirou said as he struggles to crawl his way through the ventilation duct.

"Yeah, it was never meant as a path to move in this place thus we were lucky that we could just crawl through it.". Kiritsugu said to his son who is moving behind right now.

"Yeah, I hope nobody is peeking into my-" Illya tried to say before Shirou shut her up immediately.

"Nobody likes looking at your buttocks, Illya... And the person behind you is Kuro if the placement of entering that I assume is correct.". Shirou said to his sister before she completes her sentence.

"How did you know!?" Kuro said from behind Illya.

"And I pity the person who has to look at you from behind..." Illya said as she sighed.

Kiritsugu who was leading at the time saw a fork on their path. He checked both directions and saw light coming from one.

"Hold... Don't move until I gave you command." Kiritsugu said as he picks the one with light at the end of it.

After a bit later, something metallic was heard crashing into something. And right after that, they heard Kiritsugu's voice spoke to them.

"Okay, follow where I moved! I unscrewed the duct's grate and we have made it past the collapsed area!" Kiritsugu said to everyone.

Kiritsugu got out of the ventilation duct first as he gracefully landed on his foot despite getting out head first. And then Gudao got out as he squeezes through the hole and Kiritsugu catches him when he finally got out. And then Shirou barely got out because of his body's build but Kiritsugu has to pull him out by grabbing his son's hands.

And then soon enough, everyone managed to get through the duct and continue their journey through this place. Going on their path through the mist that filled the whole corridor, they came across what looks like lines of empty shelves placed along the wall and messy desks scattered through the place.

"What the..." Arnold said as the dim light of this place doesn't make it feel any better.

"Based on what's left behind, I would say that this place was once a library where scientists would often gather here to look up for books for research purposes.". Larry said as he inspects the stuff that was left behind.

They looked around the place for anything left behind, other than moldy books that are just happened to be forgotten, they found nothing that would help them in helping to find a way to this place.

"Search everything! Leave no stone unturned!" Gudao commanded his Servants to dig around the place more.

They tried everything in their capabilities to find a clue in this place but once again were they disappointed by what they found. Nothing... just nothing... Alfin started to get annoyed at the impasse she got stuck in and grabbed a chunk of rock and threw it to the ceiling. However, the rock hit something they didn't expect. Something metallic was heard and when they looked up, they saw a ventilation duct that seems to hang above them and go somewhere. They trace the path and saw it enter through a wall and beneath it was a massive pile of rubble blocking their path.

"No wonder why we didn't find anything at all, the path was out of our sights, to begin with..." Richard said as he approaches the pile of rubble.

Kiritsugu first thought of the idea of blowing the pile of rubbles with explosives but upon realizing the run-down condition of the place, they might end up collapsing the whole area on top of them if they did so. Because of that, they decided to retrace the pathing of the duct and try to find a way to forcefully enter the blocked area through it.

They started to pile desks on top of each other to reach for the ducts and then break into it after opening the grate that they unscrewed and remove away. Just like they suspected, the size of the duct is big enough for even an adult's body size. Kiritsugu followed first and then Gudao and Pierce, the rest of the Servants acrobatically climbed to the ducts right that hangs to the very ceiling itself.

It is clear the duct wasn't in use for a long time because of how dusty the inside is. Gudao can't help but coughing when he crawls through the duct and feel extremely itchy during the whole process of doing so. They keep crawling through the duct and not knowing where they are currently until Kiritsugu felt the duct is turning unstable and soon it falls apart.

Kiritsugu was in the fallen ducts as it hits the ground really hard. He is still fine although a bit dazed from the collision. Gudao peeked into the room that they managed to get in and noticed all of the computer processing units placed carefully in here and the terminal placed neatly in the middle of the room. The steel security door that also has three headlights on top of it also has two of them turned green.

"It seems that we made it passed.". Gudao said as he crawled out of the ducts and miraculously landed on his two feet.

Kiritsugu crawled himself out of the broken ducts and tried to rebalance himself after that rude awakening with the floor. Everyone has also assembled at this room prepared to release that lock and the data in there is waiting for them to be read.

Alfin approached the computer terminal and activated it. After releasing the lock, the security door right at their left side opened for them to exit at any moment but they aren't done here yet, the data may have a clue to what may come. Alfin then browsed the data and little didn't they know what they just learned at that moment.

"Corruption"

After attaining True Azerium, we managed to safely reach the mass-production phase where we can easily use them for a virtually limitless source of power. However, the enemy is extremely close to Berlin by now and unless we managed to turn the tide, this project would be easily fell to the hand of the enemy.

Jubstacheit has decided to tap into this power and used it to enchant the gears of all the weapons we used to have. He has also handmade some beasts that is a variation of the homunculi making technique and amplified it with Azerium. With only limited manpower we have left right now, we have to make sure that none of those Allied soldiers nor the Soviets will breach into Berlin at all costs.

...

(Insert many blank lines that have no purpose other than wasting your times)

...

We managed to repel the Allied and Soviets singlehandedly, there were reports in humanitarian lost but it is negligible to the greatness we are about to reach. But little did we know the danger of mass-produced Azerium to the local populace.

The moment those Azerium power plants rolled out and the transmutation factories started working, we started to notice subtle changes in the environment. The population at that time was so badly devastated to the point that only Berlin is their last saving grace after both the Allies and the Soviet murder every civilian they caught their eyes on. Burn every building to ashes... They held no discrimination between soldiers or civilians as they both killing them in the name of 'justice'.

Roughly three months after the repelling of the Allied and Soviets. The sky soon started to turn azure as days started to pass and became even more cloudy as those factories roll out. But that wasn't the worst about to happen but rather our fatal mistake for relied too much on the homunculi that we forgot just how fragile human's withstanding threshold can be.

This... was the beginning of the cataclysm... Azerium Corruption

The first victim of Azerium Corruption was reported to have shortness of breath, asthma, intense dizziness, constant coughing, headache. After roughly just a few hours of reporting, the said victim has collapsed completely into azure dust and started to dissipate into the air. Anyone who was close to the victim at the time and inhaled those dust started to have said symptoms and the cycle repeated itself.

Many doctors attempted to quell the corruption through medical treatment which was all useless against it. In reality, everyone's life was on the ticking due to the exposure to Azerium. Berlin's population quickly skydived as they were hopeless against it. The people dying as they desperately cling onto their life but was too powerless against it. Jubstacheit and his homunculi tried to develop a means to fight back against Azerium Corruption and finding any way to reduce the speed of it. The homunculi quickly deployed throughout the city, building treatment centers for the sick but they were unable to stop the clock's hand from moving.

In the end... It was all the same... That's just how the Third Reich came to an end like that. Hitler at that time lost all of the SS Waffen in one mere day and the Wehrmacht that was stationed there suffered the same fate. They were all completely powerless... Soon... Berlin became remembered as "Azure Crematory" where the whole place has azure ashes flew towards the sky like smokes of a wildfire. Bodies that are decaying into azure dust. No life was spared against its calamitous swept across the last paradise for the German civilians.

Powerless...

Hitler refused to accept it and tried his best to find any survivor that may remain in there. His heart before then only know of pain and bloodshed, but when the people suddenly fell victim to it, he took up all he has left and tried to find anyone who is still alive. Anyone... anyone...

And... he saw one... One person... A little girl who was barely twelve, she was all alone in this world... Lost everyone she held dear and became a wanderer in this forsaken land. She desperately clings onto her life as each breaths burning her harder than the fire of hell torturing the souls of the sinners.

Hitler tried to approach her as fast as he could. Feeling the resonance of his past burning into each second of the passage of time. The memories of the past came flooding back as he once tried to save someone... Someone who was once important to him but no longer in this world... All is also because of him...

The girl collapsed into the hard concrete road, feeling mere seconds left remaining in her hourglass of life... He quickly tried to run as fast as he could... And that was when Hitler... for the first time, saved someone by himself. Not because of order or self-interest... but merely the call of his heart.

He tried any means possible to delay the inevitable as he carries her back to his Bunker himself where the homunculi will try to delay it as best as possible. That girl... she was in a lot of pain and the painkiller they registered to her only barely reduce them.

Time soon passed as the environment started to turn for the worse as the rain started to befall on them. Those rains were of sorrow... The lingering regrets of those who died here will forever stuck here as there is nowhere left for them to turn to.

Jubstacheit at that time confessed that his family was brutally murdered by the Red Army. Despite them having great assets in magecraft and homunculi making. They can only stand so long against the tsunami called the Soviets... He remembered clearly with his eyes as his mansion was collapsed by the artillery barrages, seeing his wife died there along with so many homunculi who once tried to defend this place. He can only escape with what he has left before the Red Army came and ignites the whole place in blazes.

The time he confessed it, he didn't have that long left to go. He was sealed in confinement so that even if he died by Azerium Corruption, he will pose no threat to those who remained. That's when he faded away into the ashes, the ashes that he once considered to be the greatness that will bring them to a new height. So much for Heaven's Feel.

The Heroic Spirit Hitler at that time witnessed all of it with a heavy heart. Hitler at that time tried his best to save the only life he managed to rescue along with the homunculi. And one day... Hitler just gave up... He just gave up as his body went completely limp without a warning. Gone... just like that...

At that time, the homunculi were taught to be self-independence and capable of doing research of Azerium on their own and one of those inventions they made was... the Spirit Divider. A machine that was used to divide excess Spirit Origins and recycle them in order to refine into much better Heroic Spirits. The girl's condition made it clear that she doesn't have any longer left to live even with all of those medical machinery at their disposal at the time.

At that moment, Hitler brought her nearby the Spirit Dividers and the preserved corpse of Adolf Hitler. He used himself as a sacrifice to save her life. The moment he placed himself there, Hitler's Spirit Origin shattered into two fragments and a lot of wasted power from it due to the machine is still a relatively new invention. One fragment possessed the corpse of Adolf Hitler who was incarnated into him. The other fragments fused into the girl's soul and in return completely revitalized her with overwhelming power that Azure Corruption is no longer a problem with her. And at that moment, the girl's previous life faded away as she became... 'Alice'.

Feeling completely fine after being in pain for so long, Alice for the first time managed to step on the floor with her own two feet as she approached the motionless body of Adolf Hitler leaning against the wall. She tried to wake him up to which he responded with dimly opened eyes as he laid eyes on her. He felt so much weaker than before and a huge chunk of his memory was lost but that doesn't bother him anymore, the only thing left they have to look forward to is 'the future'...

They became silent upon this revelation. There's no denying it anymore, Alice... is Hitler... They knew a cataclysm of sorts has happened here but to know in-depth of what has happened is what really hits them in a way that they can't fathom. It is like knowing an incoming attack but never expecting it to be a low blow.

"Alice... Just what are you?" Arnold said as he couldn't quite believe that Alice is someone like that.

"Okay then... You are Hitler, you are also Hitler, she is Hitler. Is there anymore Hitler that I should know about?" Pierce said as he finds the duplication of Hitler is starting to become more unreal.

"Spirit Divider? Azerium Corruption? This definitely not how anyone would ever imagine to ever turn out at all." Iri said as she tried to process the information she received.

"Killings... No discrimination..." Pierce said as those words suddenly feel like having far more power than how anyone imagined.

Suddenly, a head-splitting headache went through Pierce's mind as he collapsed to the ground while trying to suppress the overwhelming pain that is tearing him apart. Richard tried to check on his Master until he felt that same kind of pain. Both Iri and Desmond quickly jump into action in order to suppress it as quickly as possible.

Kiritsugu and Shirou held Pierce to the ground as Desmond injects the anesthetic into him so that he can temporarily subdue the pain for the time being as they search for a solution.

He felt drifting away from reality as those suppressed memories of the past started to come back as clearly and soon he will realize why warfare was about who was left, not who was right.

...

...

...

...

He opened his eyes and saw him and his old allies around him, positioned as he watches the higher-up talking about something. Apparently, it was at its end already thus it would be pointless to listen anymore.

Pierce was waiting in line, waiting for the order to be completed. Seeing his fellow soldiers just having pure disciplinary like this kinda makes him felt weird that they can be so disciplined despite being newly recruited like this.

The moment they are done with the assembly, his platoon is just about to approach lunchtime. He is about to be deployed right in the late afternoon and thus he decided to make the most out of the time he has.

"Hey!" A familiar voice said to him.

It was his sister, Penny Nicholas. She was deployed as an engineer here and about to reach the end of her tour of duty. If she completes this mission, she will be able to go home.

"I am about to be done with the assembly of the armored units and I will be able to leave right in tomorrow.". Penny said to her brother.

"Yeah, I wonder what will we have for lunch today.". Pierce said to his sister.

And so time passed and in the canteen that they are waiting... After Pierce got his meal which is just some mash potatoes and hardass bread that is tough like a brick. He knows that soldiers are meant to feed with the most fulfilling food, not delicious stuff so he has no right to complain. He looked to his sister's meal and saw it was a lot more than how he thought. She has hashes and gravy along with americano, all of them are stuff that you would see the higher-ranked personnel.

But the look on his sister's face is telling something different. Those eyes... they were empty. It was as if there is something going on behind them. Pierce knew something isn't right is happening as the looks of those around him is telling that something bad is going to happen.

A while later in the command center. A shout was then heard from there.

"You what!?" Pierce shouted at the man who is behind the desk.

"Listen... Even if you are a comparably high enough rank officer. You have little to say about this operation." The commander said to him.

Yeah... If you think about it, being a colonel is pretty much high enough for Pierce to stay out of the frontline and planning out shit instead. But nope, he fought along with all of his allies even in the jaw of death itself.

"Look, what gave you the permission to create this suicide operation!? Even if the higher-up than me condone this, I am not allowing you to send someone who is close to their end of duty to go on a suicide mission like this!" Pierce argued with the commander.

"Oh? Then if you can find someone who is willing to go willingly in her place then I shall allow that switch. Dare tell me who?" The commander said with a sinister smile knowing there is no man who is mad enough to send himself into his grave.

Pierce looked at that commander with a disgusted look, he knew that the commander of his platoon can safely trust that no man is suicidal enough to go on that mission. But if that's the case, he shall beat the commander at his own game, at his own rule.

"Then bring me in, if I survive this mission, you will be receiving a humiliating beatdown in front of all of the soldiers present here.". Pierce said with a stern voice before turning away from him.

He stepped out of the command center with soldiers standing around there wondering what he just did at that heated argument just now. Penny approached him with teary eyes as she grabbed Pierce at his shirt.

"Pierce! What have you done!?" Penny said as she tugs Pierce repeatedly by his shirt.

Pierce doesn't say anything, at least his sister is out of this mess. All he needs to do is survive. He keeps walking away as nobody sees him until the late afternoon when he was assembled to the suicide squad of this operation.

It was a group of 30 soldiers, all of them are unfamiliar faces that he never knew one of them. But something about them stood out to him, their faces are pure emotionless. It displayed nothing inside as if all of them were the husks of their former self. It felt like they have all resigned to their fate and have no signs of resistance at all.

"Okay, this operation involves taking down a train that is transporting a large number of armaments and weapons. This also includes V2 rockets and should they be transported, they will basically be undone all of our efforts. Because of that, we have to make sure we managed to stop that train no matter what." Pierce said to them.

No response... They look like they were dead long ago. Pierce sighed because knowing that all he can hope is to make it out of this suicide mission alive. And the unresponsive faces of them only demoralize the mood even further.

Dusk started to come, they mobilize toward a train station of a rural town. The surroundings make it clear that conflicts were taken place here earlier and now, this place is about to be abandoned by the enemy.

Pierce holding his BAR while leading the suicide squad as they slowly approaching the entrance of the train station. They heard foreign voices talking in there and thus they can confirm the presence of the enemy.

He slowly peeking into the inside to check but it is mostly dark due to the electricity was cut off long ago. He decided to sneak in and not causing attention as long as he could. But... if only his allies are actually on the same wavelength as him in the first place.

One of his soldiers charged into the place like a madman and opened fire upon the closest person who doesn't wear the same clothes as him. Also, emphasis on 'doesn't wear the same clothes as him', it will be important later.

"What are you doing!?" Pierce said as what that soldier doing is breaking the discipline.

Fearful screams started to come the moment that one soldier pulled the trigger and the German soldiers quickly retaliate in order to prevent potential further casualty. More of those soldiers started to rush in so that they can suppress the enemy as effectively as possible. There are no tactics here, just senseless slaughter and charge on. Pierce tried to reprimand them to stop attacking indiscriminately like that but it was as if his words carry no power at all when they continue to charge through the train station.

Pierce eventually got roped into the madhouse and forced to fight for himself as his allies charging mindlessly into the death zone. German soldiers return fire against the ferocious tide of the suicide squad with each soldier fall one by one as their weapons dropped into the stone-cold floor. But in the process of doing so, they lost their own men during the firefight.

Pierce heard some German voice being spoken as the soldiers quickly fall back to the train at the distance away from them. His own men act almost as if they were being controlled by something. Something even worse than how he could possibly imagine. And when he thought things couldn't get worse, one of them brings out Hitler's Buzzsaw and quickly prepare their position for fire.

Right at that moment, Pierce quickly retreated to behind the pillar while the rest of the suicide squad are still rushing towards them like a group of rabid wolves. They pulled the trigger and soon the bullets were relentlessly unleashed. That sound would forever haunt anyone who fought on this battlefield long enough but to the suicide squad, it meant nothing. They were unfazed against such a relentless barrage.

The machine gun barrages tear the suicide squad's soldiers apart. Limbs being ripped from the body, blood splattered everywhere, innards flying around as the guns cut them as if it was a saw blade. At that moment alone, the suicide squad lost 90% of its soldiers in that moment but the remaining quickly overwhelmed the machine gunners as they lunged towards them.

Pierce peeked into the bloodbath that occurred, seeing the butchered corpses on the blood dripping floor and the screams of fear and pain from the machine gunners as the remaining of the suicide squad tore their bodies apart like a pride of lions devouring its prey, literally.

The remaining German soldiers managed to retreat to the train thanks to the blockade made out of crates and sandbags stood between them and the fact that none of them force their way through without thinking about going around. Pierce ended up becoming the one who managed to get ahead as the train started to move away from the station. Seeing the options remaining, he decided to jump down to the track and continue his pursuit.

He keeps chasing them but he couldn't possibly run on foot for the whole journey. Right after he got out of the station, he found multiple abandoned jeeps with machine guns installed on each of them. He checked the fuel and finds out that it only barely have enough to work. He then proceeds to hotwire the jeep and continue his pursuits on them.

Driving on the train track might not be the greatest idea for he soon found himself in the wilderness, chasing an enemy that's willing to run away as fast as it could.

Soon, he caught sight of that train and quickly gas towards it. With nothing left to stand in his way, he quickly got to side to side with the train that he has to stop. But something unexpected happened.

He heard something moving behind and turns out one of his soldiers in the suicide squad he got assigned to is arming the installed MG-42 on the back of the jeep and aims them at the train carriages.

"What are you doing?" Pierce said as he felt the feelings of dread started to swell inside.

And without any hesitation, that soldier started to fire the MG-42 at the carriages as the bullets tore the wooden wall of those carriages away. And when those bullets pierced into the inside, he heard the scream of someone. Not man, not soldier, but rather... a mix of everything...

When the wooden wall collapsed, he saw the torn dead bodies of many people. Not just soldiers but the woman and children, all of them were killed in that sweep of bullets.

"Stop! I command you to stop!" Pierce quickly tried to stop the insane soldier from trying to kill more of the innocents.

Once again, his command fell on deaf ears as the machine gunners on his jeep refused to budge away from the trigger. And when he thinks things couldn't get worse, two more of those jeeps controlled by those complete maniacs started to mercilessly kill anyone on board with the machine guns emplaced on their jeeps. This was a complete nightmare to him as he couldn't believe his own man would commit such atrocity without batting an eye like that.

"Stop! I told you to stop!" Pierce yelled but nobody listened.

The German soldiers on the train reacted when they knew something bad was going on. Upon seeing the pursuers, they quickly deployed their MG-42 and fired at the pursuers. His jeep was targeted first as the machine gunners got fed a fistful of bullets into the torso and the head until they all liquified against the power of 7.92mm bullets and soon the lifeless corpse splattered into the ground.

Pierce tried to get away by keep gassing as hard as he could with the jeep but the machine gunners on the train tried to shoot him down as they repeatedly aiming at him. That's when they also got shot down by the other two jeep riders.

Pierce in his futile attempt to get away from the madness that is unfolding. He knew this is a suicide mission but not this suicidal! He watches as the two jeep riders at the back killing anything that doesn't look like them that they laid eyes on. The German soldiers trying their best to fend off the pursuers to save all the passengers they have left.

At that moment, he saw another side of those soldiers. They were simply those dudes that were roped into something possibly greater than how they could ever realize. They are dying... for something they will never understand.

One of the soldiers on the train used a rocket launcher and fired towards one of the jeep riders and blew both the jeeps and its rider into smithereens. One carriage opened up and reveal an anti-tank cannon as it is carefully aimed towards the other jeep rider. The machine gunner on that jeep keeps firing towards the shielding of the cannon but unable to harm the operators.

With a single lever pull, the other jeep rider ate a full explosive shell and were blasted into oblivion. Now it is just him remain... He doesn't want to cause any more unnecessary harm so he tried to brake only to realize that the brake is broken. Upon that realization, he tried to gas so that he could probably escape the wrath of the train's defender.

He soon found himself side by side with the train engine and some soldiers carried an MG-42 just to exterminate him and they begin to open fire on his jeep. He felt the tension rising as they are about to one-sidedly kill him at any moment notice. In his attempt to swerve away from the train, the sustained damage from the previous machine gun attack left his jeep into a state of constant deterioration, and soon, it would fall apart on its own.

The steering wheel broke off and now he stuck driving in one direction. In his desperate attempt to find any last chance of saving himself, he stepped on the gas as he closed his eyes.

A loud crash was heard as he opened his eyes once more. It turns out that he drove to the train track and the jeep is being pushed away by the train engine and he is basically immobilized to it. The sound of the jeep being gound to the steel track is deafening as the sparks it created are intense like a firestorm.

He heard a loud snap that followed and realized the jeep will go under the train if he wastes any more time here. He quickly climbed to the edge of the slowly being crushed jeep as time started to run out. Feeling the overwhelming dreads that are built up inside, he quickly jumped out of the jeep just right at the moment it goes under.

Pierce rolled for multiple meters on the ground as the train was derailed and the carriages cascade upon each other. The civilians were soon caught up in a huge explosion that will occur when all of the armaments detonated from the impact of the derailment. In a blink of an eye, all those lives went up in flame as all of the content inside the train blew up.

Pierce felt the pain courses across his body after pulling such a stunt like that. He tried to pull himself up and looked at the destruction he caused accidentally. Although his objective was fulfilled, there was no satisfaction that he gained. While they may be technically correct about them carrying armaments back to Berlin, it wasn't the only thing they carried. There were innocents there, stuck on that ride... and he condemned them all...

Why did they hide the fact that the train was carrying innocent lives among them? Why was everyone in the suicide squad disobeyed all of his orders? Why were they consumed by such madness that they can kill so indiscriminately like that? And... why... why does this has to happen?...

His men... There was not a single shred of decency inside. No amount of propaganda or indoctrination would turn men into such ferocious monsters like that.

Pierce lied on the ground once more as the sounds of the crackling flame of the destruction left behind. He was too tired... too tired to care anymore. He felt the fatigue seeping in as his eyelids started to close... Soon, what happened here in this place will be an insight into what things truly are.

...

...

...

"Pierce? Are you alright?" Desmond asked in worry about what just befell upon him.

Pierce looked at everyone there for a while before he replied.

"Yeah... I think so..." Pierce said as he felt a bit tired after witnessing such a memory like that.

"I see it too. Their actions are far too maddening... It seems that there is no one who is truly righteous in warfare after all..." Richard said as he leaned on the wall.

"You know?!" Pierce said in surprise.

"Yeah... You're my master, aren't you? This spiritual link is what allowed us to see each other's memory and dreams." Richard said to his Master.

Pierce then explained the details of what happened back then with such attentiveness. Everyone listened to what he has to say and that fragments of memory ended up granting them a whole new insight into what happened.

"Hold on... What's the day you started the Berlin Offensive?" Gudao asked because this might be an important clue because there was a Servant's intervention back when WW2 still raged.

"If I remembered correctly, it was December 1945 when we initiated-" Pierce said before Gudao cut off into the important part.

"In December? But in normal history, it is supposed to be April! And it was supposed to be the Soviet who initiated that attack first, not the Allied!" Gudao said as he noticed the discrepancy.

That's when they realized this world and theirs wasn't the same. The damage that was done to this world was beyond salvation or anything to change it back to the proper course of history. This world is no longer a Singularity but rather... a Lostbelt.

"Normal history? Wait... what do you mean about that?" Pierce asked when he learned that the offensive is supposed to be earlier than that.

"The history if Hitler didn't summon Servants to delay the inevitable basically. Because of that changes, it is clear that something has happened and thus pushing your world into this state." Gudao tried to explain the best he could.

"This is gonna be a long talk and we don't have much time left. He would understand it by himself soon enough so we will have to move now." Arnold chimed in.

They think about it for a bit then agreed on Arnold's suggestion. They together leave the computer room through the steel security door and found themselves once more on the familiar path. The same security door that stopped them from proceeding further has all three lights turned green but the door doesn't seem to budge at all.

"I think the door is stuck. Let us give it a nudge to see if it would activate..." Iri said as she approached the door.

Everyone noticed the small gap between the security doors and thus they tried to pull it in the opposite direction from each other. However, the door quickly opened after they managed to get the gap larger by just a centimeter. But what came out of that door wasn't in anyone's expectation when it happened.

A completely grotesque humanoid being that is giving off azure light walked through the security door as everyone became panic upon its sight. Kiritsugu draws out his Contender and blasted it through the head. But the only thing it managed to do is to knock the thing back. Everyone tried to distance away from it as fast as they could upon its disgusting appearance.

But they didn't need to be afraid for long because. In the next moment, that grotesque monster's upper torso was blown off into small chunks in a mere instant. Everyone was confused at what just happened until they looked at the person who managed to kill it. It was Simo and his upgraded Mosin.

"It seems that I wasn't a second too late at all.". Simo said as he let goes of his aiming stance.

The corpse of that monstrosity soon dissipated into ashes and the path was cleared once more. Everyone gathered towards him and checked the upgraded Mosin that he received.

"Wow! I have seen Mash's Black Barrel in action but this is honestly something I haven't seen in quite a time." Illya said as she looked at the upgraded Mosin Nagant.

"Yeah, not that many Servants with near-modern firearm exist so to have some to be upgraded with the Black Barrel is just always something nice to see.". Kuro said to her sister.

"Guess that we are no longer defenseless in this place.". Shirou said as he looks at the security gate that they managed to unlock.

"If that monstrosity existed in that area then there are clearly more of them around in there. We should be cautious once we entered whatever is in there." Gudao said as he tried to keep everyone's spirit up.

"Right!" Everyone shouted at once when they entered whatever is behind that security door.

And so their journey continues even if they aren't any closer to their objectives.

What is behind that door was another stairwell that seems to be separated from the actual one that is connected to the abyss. It may only bring them one step closer but any progress is accepted no matter what. They keep moving down through the spiral staircase, losing count of their steps or height after moving through them for what they guessed is a quarter of an hour. When they finally reached there, they felt a tremendous amount of power lies behind that door.

They don't know what lies beyond there but they knew it can't be anything nice if the mana can spike this badly. Pierce volunteered to reach for the door first as he slowly pushes the door open. Little did they know though is that they won't like anything behind that door.

---

"._.""._.""._."

Third Layer - Azerium Processing Plants

"._.""._.""._."

---

The overflowing tide of power rushing through them as Pierce opened the door. The inside looks like it has been left to its own device for some amount of time. The safety measurement is so horrendously bad compared to the Research Facility above them that this place looks like it will fall apart soon but not yet for some reason. In front of them is a canal and inside of it is flowing some sort of luminescent liquid that is going in a certain direction of sorts.

"This place is..." Arnold tried to find a suitable word to describe this place but failed to do so.

"Are that liquified Azerium?" Richard asked as the azure color of it is definitely suspicious.

"No... They wouldn't treat Azerium with such a precarious manner like that but that liquid is definitely suspicious no matter how you stretch it." Larry said as he can ascertain some details.

"It probably is the wastewater that was created during the process of treating Azerium so that they can use them to fuel for stuff. Even the excess power turned even the water here into something that could probably dissolve a human if carelessly fall into it. Because after all, Azerium is being sent to the Research Facility above us." Alfin said as she hypothesizes based on what she knows so far.

"It makes sense if you put it that way, it does resemble this Azerium stuff that is being said so many times but such quantities in this hazardous manner? No way in hell would they treat it like that when it is proven to be dangerous for misconducting with them." Anastasia said.

"It doesn't have that much effect on Servants but that doesn't mean we should contact it at all. I would even say that we best avoid contacting it all together." Shirou said after he used his Hawkeyes on the wastewater.

"Honestly, that strong resemblance is still unnerving no matter how you would put it but even then, we have to push forward no matter what.". Arnold said as he tried to reaffirm his drive.

"Yeah!" Everyone said in unison.

And so they continue their path through this place, even if filled with treacheries and obstacles.

Back at Ground Zero, the Chaldean Servants managed to cover a considerable amount of ground in this place. They swept through the abandoned buildings for any clue until they managed to encounter one particular thing that just finally managed to be found in this area.

A large crystal the size of a skyscraper that is surrounded by the mist. The thing gave off an azure hue and when they tried to approach it, they felt their body is becoming lighter and thus decided to temporarily stay away from it. The only Servant who dared to get close to it is Void Shiki as she acrobatically leaped to the top of the crystal and used her sword to slash the top to extract a sample from it.

After obtaining the crystal sample, she brought it to Da Vinci and Gilgamesh who just got here when he managed to conclude his research on his side. That's the most he ever put effort into something after such a long while. Sitonai has also made her appearance because of her role in discovering and proving the existence of said material and thus at least deserved to see it with her own eyes.

Void Shiki carefully placed the sample on the desk that Da Vinci prepared for this very moment. They all looked attentively at the sample that Void Shiki obtained as they tried to decipher what this thing really is. While Da Vinci and Sitonai tried to figure out what this is, Void Shiki already has the answer. Gilgamesh knew of Void Shiki's capability, is just that he knew she would rather let others do racking their heads until they figured that out for themselves.

But... she decided to come out with the surprise first by telling them to the real nature of this crystal.

"This crystal here... It is a fragment of crystalized voids... Or more exactly... The Root itself." Void Shiki said with such an indifferent voice as if it is something obvious.

"WHAT!?" All three of them said when Void Shiki just said something like that.

"As much as I wanted to say otherwise, this was the undeniable truth..." Void Shiki said with such certainty that none should ever have.

"Impossible! Preposterous! No such thing like this should ever be possible!" Gilgamesh shouted at Void Shiki.

"While the chance of it happening is so low that even if you were given an amount of time from Big Bang to Universe Quantum Fluctuation to write a number in a Rayo's number amount of digit per Planck second. You wouldn't even have enough time to write that down no matter what. But as long as that number exists, it would bound to happen nonetheless as long as we detected it.". Void Shiki said to them.

They all looked at her as if Void Shiki thinks herself as a smartass but she is in truth as omnipotent as she claimed herself to be. None of them could stand up to her even if they wanted to. If she said anything in a serious manner, they would better take it as a singular truth no matter what.

"Damn it... This is too outlandish to take seriously.". Gilgamesh said as he stepped away from the desk.

Da Vinci doesn't know how to respond after Void Shiki said about it. Sitonai felt her head is starting to become aching when trying to fathom such probability. Void Shiki only looks at them knowing that the journey's end will be a conflict of a scale that is simply beyond everything imaginable and the world... No... The whole universe is at stake upon the inevitable final battle that will unfold.

Back to Gudao's team, after they made it through the sewage area, they entered through another door and find themselves in a completely different area than before. Many prison cells lied ahead of them but they were empty nonetheless. The red light is the only source of illumination in this place as those things have been running through the span of multiple years. The fact that they aren't busted is a miracle in itself and a testament to their durability.

"Why are there prison cells everywhere? I honestly don't think there are many uses to seal prisoners right beneath here at all.". Kiritsugu said as he finds this place just out of place.

"Jii-san. I don't think this place would really be used to hold any prisoner at all. If that was the case then why do you see there are crates and stuff in there?" Shirou said as he looked into the inside of the cell.

Shirou was right, there were crates and stuff lies in there. And based on the dates written on some crates, they were most likely abandoned from long ago and forgotten too.

"Why don't we try to pick them open? There might be something useful that might help us in our journey." Iri suggested.

"Honestly though... all of those wraiths that we encountered back in that sewage area was a nuisance at worst. But the fact that I have to carry the team alone is not nice at all." Simo said as he pulled the bolt of his Mosin back to check the ammo.

"Actually... we don't even need to pick any of those locks at all.". Alfin said as she approached one of the cells.

She kicked the gate slightly and the cell's gate automatically falls off on its own. In other words, abandoned long enough to not even maintain any of these.

And soon all of the contents of everything in here are free for them to loot. Most are just pure useless, but one of those things they found ended up igniting the hope of their survival.

A strongbox with a basic lock that Alfin can easily pick it open. She opened it and the azure light started to shine from the inside. There was a paper that is stuck to the lid in which she read its content. The paper turned out to be an instruction on how to use the items inside.

Before she read them entirely, Arnold tapped on her shoulder in which she turned around and saw him pointing at something. It was another computer system that is connected to a power generator. While there might be nothing inside, she still decided to test it out because nothing gained if nothing ventured.

Arnold turned the generator on and Alfin pressed the power button of the computer. The system was left inside here for long but by some dumb luck, it is still functional.

System check...

Command settings examining...

System reboot...

System stabilized... Initiate...

Last use... 24 September 1947... Checking datalog...

"Decision"

During the events of Azure Crematory, we received multiple radio signals from areas that we have presumed to be completely devastated during the course of warfare. They said that they were Wehrmacht soldiers who were stuck and unable to retreat to Berlin. During this event, we decided to try our best to build a safe haven for them. Germany has lost enough men in this charrade and there isn't really anyone left here anymore.

Because of that, we built a checkpoint that is 50km away from the center of Berlin and just built from there afterward. Before we realized it, it has become a facility the size of this Bunker's originally was. Things just keep expanding from there afterward and soon it will become so large that it will eventually dwarf out Berlin originally was, that is what I have envisioned.

The soldiers, however, if I told them the truth of what happened. That truth will crush them as they will be overcome with the senses of isolation and loneliness. Because of that, I gave them the false impression that the war is still ongoing. That's when the Azeium Soldiers come in, a variation of homunculi making utilizing Azerium as their power source, granting them tremendous power. And with that, I deliberately sent out a battalion of them, month by months to the USA. Just enough to make sure that they could find a way to overcome.

However, there is one certain thing that will never be resolved. Alice's guilt. She is the only one left who survived the Azure Crematory and her survivor's guilt will crush her if left unattended. Because of that, I take up the role of a psychiatrist for her and tried to help her with her mental stability as long as I could. Anything I could do for her.

One day, she dreamed of something. A place where heroes gathered for the sake of protecting humanity. Heroes from all sorts of legends, from the past even to the future itself. They all gathered in there, led by one man. The man was ordinary but his will to protect all he dears goes beyond anything. At that moment, she wished to be able to join them.

I couldn't blame her, this world is on a slow path to be pruned. Too much destruction has scarred this world and there isn't any hope left of progress but for the men in this place. How much faith could I really place on those oblivious men and homunculi that know anything better? That's when she said if I have no one left to trust, she wanted me to put my faith in her. That's when I realized, if I could have by any necessary means, I will be able to at least fulfill her dream.

"Alice... Do you want to be a hero?" That is what I asked of her in which she agreed with me without hesitation.

That's her decision and I respected her for it. I will do anything for her. For the small light that remained in this forsaken land...

Using Azerium as the catalyst, I used the necessary means to raise her Spirit Origin's level artificially. Due to her Spirit Origin's originally belong to a Servant. It can be raised without worries about any potential side effects. Soon, she is taught how to do magecraft by the homunculi in this place, and eventually, she has the power equal to a Servant.

But that wasn't enough for her, I taught her everything I knew from when I am still a combat-capable Servant. She picked them up quickly and soon become capable of self-taught and to refine her own techniques. I examined her Element and Origin and... The effects of Azerium have turned both of it into... Nothing... Literally nothing. She has become an Incarnation through the effects of Azerium and her power only exponentially increased thanks to it.

But it wasn't without a cost. Her carefree spirit and happy demeanor faded away in eventuality and human emotions became a distant concept. Soon, she only has that emotionless face on her as she became more than capable of causing destruction on massive scales that are beyond the power should any of the accidents involved Azerium happened.

But... even when all of them faded away... She still reaches out for that dream and even if it was a fictional existence, she still wanted to be a part of it no matter what. It was almost as if it is an inseparable part of her even if her emotions faded into ashes.

We eventually stepped up the scale by starting to surgically inject Azerium directly into her blood veins which resulted in a massive spike in her Spirit Origin's level and it became so great that it ended up making even Divine Spirit a complete child play to her. But there is a drawback that comes to this. Each Azerium surgical injection exponentially increases her SO's level but it also raises the risk of Azerium Corruption by each time. The more we do this, the greater the risk would become.

At this point, Alice is anything short but to be considered a goddess on her own right. Her power can easily devastates continents on a snap of her own finger. She could easily destroy and wipe out the entirety of the American continent. But there isn't any point in striving for world domination of this husk of a world anymore. But instead... she would reach for something even greater...

That's all there is in the database here. It opened up a bit more on Alice's ascension to godhood and the very reason why Hitler even attempted this.

"It started out as a wish and Azerium twisted it into such monstrosity..." Arnold said as he reads over the last part.

"To think that she went through all of that just for a nonsensical dream... To think that one would believe that there is such a place where heroes gather and..." Alfin said as she just finds the very reason completely nonsense until she realized what that dream entailed.

Chaldea... That's what Alice dreamed of... When Alfin realized it did she shut herself up from saying anymore thing that might incur the wrath of those nearby.

"No fucking way..." Gudao said as he reads over the part where Alice dreamed of his original base of operation.

"Hold on... If Azerium has the power to exaggerates the emotions of those around it then... What if the reason for Alice's apathy is because the Azerium in her blood flows would exaggerate them to a dangerous degree?" Illya said as she connects two and two together.

That actually makes a lot of sense. Alice displayed her apathy is because those Azerium would turn her emotions against her if she displayed any emotions on any degree. But her emotions were never gone, to begin with. She displayed some of them subtly for both Arnold and Alfin when they were still together.

"Okay then... It seems that we would always be learning something new in this place. Especially when it comes to Alice. Guess fate was on our side for this time because we may actually have something that would help us to stand a chance against Alice..." Alfin said with a smug smile as she reached for the strongbox once more.

Alfin opened the strongbox once more and found what looks like necklaces. They look like jewelry at first glance but the azure hue it gave off tells a different story. She then grabbed the instruction that was stuck to the lid and read its entirety.

"Azerium Ward"

These special Mystic Codes are specifically made and tailored for only one purpose. To grant its wearers resistance against virtually everything. The effectiveness of these Mystic Codes is proven by Alice herself as their wearers managed to survive her attacks with barely any injuries when they were supposed to be erased from existence.

There are no side effect or any additional rule or requirement to use it. Just wear them around your neck and you will be able to stand up even to gods themselves. Don't mistake that wearing this thing means you're invincible, it just that you can take in more punishment than how it is physically possible.

After reading the instruction written on the paper, she wore the Azerium Ward on herself and then grabbed a pistol out of her pocket. She then put it against her temple and pulled the trigger. Just before she did so, Arnold saw what she is about to do and tried to stop her.

The bullet was fired but it bounced off immediately from her head as if it has no effect at all.

"It seems that Hitler didn't lie about this at all.". Alfin said as she puts her own pistol away.

"Alfin, just what were you thinking!?" Arnold said to her as he saw her reckless action.

"Nothing... Just to see if any of these would hold up against Alice at all. The chance might be very slim but as long as it exists, I will strive toward it no matter what.". Alfin said as she shows the Mystic Codes to Arnold.

Everyone gathered around where the strongbox was found and they all take one Azerium Ward for themselves. They don't feel that much different but they felt safe when wearing the Azerium Ward. It is a feeling that they don't know how to explain

"You know... I have a gut feeling about this. Why does Hitler create something that might actually stand up to Alice in the first place? It doesn't make sense at all.". Arnold said as he felt this is going way too well.

"Yeah... This is kinda like deliberately stepping into something to check if it is a trap or not. But at least there is a difference between stepping into certain death and stepping into a trap. You can survive a trap but definitely not certain death.". Kiritsugu said as he looked at the azure centerpiece stone on the necklace.

"Even if it is a trap, the Hitler we probably facing and one we know might be fundamentally different. Such inconsistency might change the whole perspective of everything." Shirou said as he examines the Mystic Code.

"We may not know unless we seek the answer directly from him. Let's go.". Arnold said as he moves first through one of the doors.

Arnold steps through the door and found himself back in the stairwell that goes straight into the abyss below. He noticed the collapsed part of the stairwell and it seems to be still going downward.

"You know, you have to give it to him for building something this ridiculous just to chase one futile dream. But either way, it seems that both paths is collapsed so we have to look for another one.". Gudao said as he looked down into the misty abyss below before moving back through the door.

Arnold stared into the abyss for a bit while before turning around. Suddenly, he heard a voice in which he turned around to check where it is only to realize that it is most likely in his head. Alice is trying to speak to him but he knew he has to get there as quickly as he could. Arnold then quickly moves back through the door as the team then proceeded to move through the other path.

However, when they thought they no longer have to deal with the sewer area, it turned out that the first one that they went through was just a small section of it. This... is the true sewage system.

Azerium-imbued wastewater filled the whole area completely and their means of travel between the high ground is very limited as the only things that connect them are what looks like steel bridges.

"What in the world is this place!?" Kuro said as she felt the excess power emanating from the wastewater is making her sickening.

"I don't know... But it would be in our best interest to get out of here as fast as we could.". Arnold said as he quickly navigates a proper path in this place.

Gudao then leads everyone once more as they quickly move as fast as they could. If there's anything that is standing out in this place, it would be the gigantic valve sat in the middle of this room. They quickly move towards it as fast as they could as the wraiths that are popping up from the wastewater. However, Azerium Ward turned all of them into a nonexistence threat as a single attack from them does even less damage than a grazing wind. They were more of a nuisance that just stands on their way.

"Onii-chan, why do these things just keep appear?" Kuro asked her brother.

"How should I know? I'm not the one who built this place here!" Shirou said to his sister.

Shirou focused back on his journey but Illya's gaze seems to be focused on something. Right at that moment, Shirou tapped on his sister's shoulder as she became startled at the sudden touch of Shirou.

"Wah! What were you doing!?" Illya said to her brother.

"Illya, you seem to have something on your mind, right?" Shirou asked her sister.

"I don't know how to put this but I detected quite a few spiritual presences in this place. They were most likely lingering souls from the event that devastated Berlin and now they are here still clinging onto that hatred and unjust deaths. The presence of Azerium most likely makes it even worse by twisting that hatred even further and when they were given a tangible form, they lash out at anything that still living as they project that hatred on the others". Illya said to him as she gave her hypothesis about the reason the wraiths come up.

It does make sense if one thought about it. This is an Azerium processing plant and Azerium would obviously affect the environment and surroundings. If there are spirits lingering around here, the appearance of these wraiths is just pure obvious.

Soon, the team managed to reach the valve. It looks like it has been left there untouched for a long time based on how dusty the handle was.

"Shall we turned it, Master?" Kiritsugu asked.

Gudao simply replied with a nod in which all of his Servants started to attempt to turn the valve. But the thing refused to budge due to how rusted it was after being left on its own for who-know how long. The Chaldeans attempted and then Richard started to join in and then Arnold and Alfin also jumped into the fray. Eventually, even the Masters attempted to also help them by turning the valve as hard as they could.

After a backbreaking amount of effort, the valve finally budged as it suddenly turned effortlessly and ended up making everyone falls on top of each other. A loud mechanical noise was then heard afterward as they noticed the wastewater level started to getting lower until it reached a level below the iron grate. Except for also one thing that is also lowered with the wastewater... the bridge itself.

Turns out... the bridge wasn't exactly bridging between the gap but rather floating above the wastewater itself. Those bridges are just happened to position themselves in a way so that the maintainers could bridge across the high ground and then reaching the valve.

"This will be tough..." Kuro said as she sighed at the fact that it won't be a straight road here.

With no other path left to take but to go downstairs into the drained sewage area, the team braced for whatever they may find in this sewage.

Back to Ground Zero, Da Vinci is trying to find a way to boost the power of the radio system in the Shadow Border. She tried to use additional auxiliary power but the mist still blocked her signal transmit from the radio just like always.

"Damn it... Come on, me... You just need to find a good way to communicate with them before it would become too late!" Da Vinci said as she is trying to find a way to amplify the radio signal power.

Gilgamesh stepped inside the room and saw Da Vinci struggling to find a solution so that she can communicate with her Master. Gil would probably have an unorthodox solution in his mind already but once again, he can't leave Ground Zero so there is nothing that he could do about it. He just finds her struggle an amusement to him. That's just Gilgamesh's nature, being prideful and placing himself above all others in an unreasonable manner. And to make it worse, he has the power to prove that and do so. He just being lazy and love to see others squirm before him.

"Gil... I know you are laughing behind my back..." Da Vinci said with an unamused expression.

"So what? If you wanted to do something, then just ignore my presence, mongrel." Gilgamesh said with a voice that is just meant to provoke others.

Da Vinci pouted, she knew Gilgamesh is just trying to pull her legs. While he may not mean any harm or self-sabotage and he gave respect whenever it is due, the guy is still the biggest douche to ever known in history. But beneath those taunting and brutal ego of his, the guy does still wish good upon others even if they are masked away from those without keen observation.

"He just trying to provoke me no matter what. Fine... If he wanted to make me look like a fool then I'll show him-" Da Vinci thought before her line of thought got cut off.

Another person stepped into the room and it was... Void Shiki. Gilgamesh immediately stopped his talking down of Da Vinci when he was met with her presence. While he might be the strongest Servant in terms of myth, Void Shiki is not what you would ever consider a Servant. A more correct term with be a god shoehorned themselves into a story just because they felt like it.

"So... What's the problem?" Void Shiki asked.

"Oh... You know... That Goldie over there asserting his dominance instead of doing something useful..." Da Vinci said with a voice that carries nothing on the surface but with malicious intents inside.

"Of course that I am doing something useful, I am trying to encourage Da Vinci so that she could get a solution quickly!" Gilgamesh said with such confidence that it shouldn't even be a thing.

"I would say that you would be more useful if you actually helped me here!" Da Vinci said as she felt what Gil is saying is just pure nonsense and irrational.

And right after Da Vinci said it, Gilgamesh started to laugh uncontrollably after hearing it for himself. Admittedly though, the three of them got surprisingly close to each other in a way that they didn't expect at all. Gil never has that many friends, to begin with.

"Sigh... Let me guess, you wanted me to help with boosting the signal power of the communication system with our Master?" Void Shiki asked with certainty.

Da Vinci nodded in which Void Shiki just lets out a small smile on her face. She would normally leave things on their own but this time, she finds that it would be more interesting to help her this time.

And so things go smoothly for them while Gil just standing there wondering why does Void Shiki suddenly interested in helping Da Vinci in the first place.

Back to the team, they finally managed to make a loop and reached the other side of the valve. While they managed to drain the sewage away, the excess mana is nauseating that they tried to move through it as fast as they could.

"Damn it... The only thing that is nauseating isn't the smell but the excess mana combined with the nerf from Bounded Field.". Shirou said as he is panting from the fact that he moved as fast as he could.

"Lesson learned... Better have something to filter it out. Ruby? You have a solution?" Illya asked the wand that is flying nearby her.

"I have really limited options left but I think the best I could do for now is just this..." Ruby said as it gave her a handkerchief.

"Really?..." Kuro said in disappointment as she doesn't felt great about the half-assed solution that Ruby just gave.

"We don't have any choice left to go since the bridge is down and this is another dead end if we don't change something so... Why don't we just turn the valve once more?" Gudao said as he approached the valve.

"Urgh..." Everyone said as they couldn't believe that they have to turn the valve once more.

As much as they don't want to, they still obliged no matter what. And fortunately, they don't have to turn it with everyone but the most abled person can do it alone although additional help accelerates the process so that they don't waste time.

A loud mechanical sound was heard and the sewage started to rise back up to the previous level. The bridges are also back and since they are in a different location and thus they can move further now.

"Let just hope that we don't have to go down there anytime soon..." Iri said as she felt she could throw up at any moment.

And they once more navigate their way and soon found the direction taking them to a door that is placed on the furthest right.

"So where will this door take us?" Pierce asked.

"Who knows? Anywhere but here at least." Arnold replied.

And they entered through the door and found themselves in a hallway or something like that, and when they looked at the right and they saw a trunk placed there. Just a single trunk and nothing more. If it was a bunch of stuff left behind then they would just assume they were abandoned stuff that has nothing useful inside but the fact that there is only one thing there tells a different story.

Arnold approached the trunk and opened it and the content inside was a reel of film, One that seems to be the size of his thigh but definitely has contents inside. There is however one more important detail attached to it. There was a word written on the side and it was...

Alice...

Arnold muttered the word unknowingly and everyone seems to give him the weird look about what makes him so fixated at a reel of old films like that.

"Oh... Nothing wrong here... Just that it seems to be an important clue, that just it, okay?" Arnold tried to dissuade everyone from making assumptions of him and it doesn't work if anyone here has more than one single brain cell.

"Whatever... We need to get out of this place soon and I am getting sick of it..." Gudao said as he moves ahead of everyone else and soon the rest of the team followed him.

Arnold still clings to the film reel and then followed them quickly. Through the corridor of this place, they found themselves once more back to the sewage area but this time the path leads them back to the valve once more.

"Okay... Just hope that this is the last time we have to do this..." Gudao said as he steps toward the valve and turns it. This time, he alone can do it.

Another loud mechanical sound was heard and the sewage started to drain once more. But this time, it is the last that they have to do because the path to the exit of this area is now opened for them.

Arnold looked around and notice that there was another door placed on the furthest left of this room and the path to it is just simply going down into the sewage area and walk up back to the high ground. Even Gudao noticed it and thus everyone quickly makes their way to the exit of this area in a swift manner.

In just a few minutes later, they managed to exit the sewage area and found themselves in a room that is similar to the prison area from before. But this place seems to be in a worse condition as many cells were in a collapsed state where there are multiple holes that lead into the abyss itself. The abandoned supplies and items in this place are scattered around like trashes.

"The further we entered this place, the more deteriorate it seems. We would better be careful in a place like this because who knows when the ground beneath us would collapse." Gudao said as he checked the area.

The place was deteriorating enough that even the prison cages literally fall apart on its own and thus anything inside is free for them to take. But among all of them, there is one certain thing that stood out. Something that was covered by a dusty veil and when he takes the veil off, it turned out to be one thing nobody expects them to be. It was a film projector and it seems to be waiting here for a while... A long while that is...

He then checked to see if it would still be functional or not as he checked the external appearance of it but since he can't risk dismantle it, he decided to place his faith that it still works fine. Placing the reel of film into the proper position and connect it together. A power generator that is also conveniently placed nearby in which he plugged the projector into it and then turn the generator on. Like a well-oiled machine, the projector worked, and soon the content within the reel was all displayed for him to see.

A black and white recording of the interaction between Hitler and Alice... One that shows the insight of him and the very reason itself at a close quarter.

14 December 1949

Butterfly Effect

A girl who is lying on what looks like a hospital bed and one singular source of light hanging above her and illuminating this dark and empty room. And then one person started to appear. It was Hitler and he is holding a syringe containing a substance of sorts in it.

Alice just looked at him with no doubt or uncertainty in her eyes. It was obvious how much she looked up to him because after all, he was the only one who saved her when everyone else died. Because of that, he is nothing but a hero in her eyes.

Hitler seems to say something and then the next few seconds were replaced with a panel with words on it. Much like those old black and white movies from back then.

"Take this... It would help you stabilize the Azerium within you, for at least a while."

It soon followed with Alice injecting the syringe by herself in which it is obvious that she wasn't sick or crippled or anything... It just that even the slightest action of her could cause an insurmountable amount of destruction.

"Alice... Are you still okay?"

In which Alice replied with a nod as she steps down from the bed. The scene then is cut and moved into a chamber of sorts. There is hardly any way to discern anything there with such a dubious quality that the film was given.

Hitler then sits there and starts to explain things with the given limited amount of film he has.

"Back when my partner Jubstacheit still alive, he explained to me that throughout the history of magecraft, there were five True Magics that were discovered until this point. The first was 'materialized nothingness', the act to create something from nothing. The second was Operation of Parallel Worlds, the act to move or bypass between the parallel universes or to look into them as one may please."

It then turned back to him and Alice seems to gather some sort of energy behind his back. He still not care about the potential danger that might be going to happen.

"The third was Heaven's Feel, with its last wielder deceased long ago. That man was Jubstacheit, he might not be the best friend but he was at least someone I managed to count on... The fourth was... it existed but Jubstacheit never even know it himself. The fifth was Time Travel in technicality... He didn't tell me who discovered it but that is the gist of it."

The next scene shows Hitler standing up by himself as he steps to nearby Alice who is levitating on her own.

"But this time... with the power of Azerium and the help of countless homunculi with their ceaseless efforts to uncover the secret behind it, I managed to learn one ultimate revelation. Azerium was in fact... the fragments of the Root itself. And there is one certain thing that connects all of these True Magics together, they were discovered after their discoverers managed to reach the Root themselves. With the power of Azerium... I shall carve my own path..."

It cut back to that same scene where Alice is still levitating but there is one difference from before, the aura around her started to appear.

"All Servants who came into contact with Azerium or in Alice's case, she became one thanks to it. Azerium grants its user the ability to increase their power with their strength of self-belief and faith. The stronger their will, the more powerful they become. As long as they don't falter against adversaries, they will eventually reach the top."

"This will be the advent and the birth of a new True Magic, one that will surpass any previous and pre-existing one."

There is nothing boastful about it. It was just an empty voice as if Hitler was doing this just to find a purpose he has left on this world.

And soon, Alice turned into something as the camera started to shake. The aura that she gave off was so blinding that it can't physically be captured at all. It was as if he is just staring at a flashlight directly into his own eyes. And on the film that he is watching, it was as if that part was burned away.

"This is Zeroth Magic, the power of Chaos Theory... The power to control fate, ranging from the past and even to the future. With her Spirit Origin's level transcend even gods, the power of her clairvoyance transcend even linear time as she can see the alternative timelines and branches without trouble. With the divine power that she attained, she can easily calculate and slightly altering the conditions of the past or the future so that fate will always go with the path she predetermined for it. In a sense, she became the entity that governs 'karma' itself. The Zeroth Magician"

Honestly though... it is unfathomable to him... Never once in his life would he ever hear such a word like that. The power to control fate itself? It just outlandish no matter how one would stretch it but here he is. She can affect the past and future in a way so that it has barely any immediate effect but will cause a huge change later on.

"So then... show us your capabilities, Alice!"

And that white part of the film started to spread as if the film was being burned apart and soon enough, it ended just a few seconds later when the only thing it shows is pure white blankness.

"What the fuck did I just watch..." Arnold said as he couldn't believe what was displayed then.

And right at that moment, he noticed that everyone else in the team just gathered around him to see the film itself. They were all in disbelief at her capability and the fact that Hitler created a True Magic has also bewildered everyone.

"One day, I will just wake up suddenly and found out all of these are just a delusional nightmare that I thought up myself but it obviously never came and thus I have no choice but to accept this..." Kiritsugu said as what was said in that film still linger in his mind.

"Zero... Fate..." Gudao muttered those words as he couldn't believe what they are truly facing against.

And then it hits them... What if... they were always in the palm of Alice's control since the beginning... Everything was at her guidance... Everything was her puppets... The whole universe... was her plaything...

But it doesn't explain one thing at all... Why didn't Alice kill them the moment they landed in this world? Why does Alice allow herself to be an ally when she can supposedly far stronger than them? Why? None of this makes any sense at all.

And then it hit Gudao... There was one reason why... That distant dream... the place where heroes gathered... It was Chaldea itself... She wanted to be apart of them and then... the realization finally hit him.

He felt somebody was watching over him from back then... from the first day he was there. Alice... she altered his fate so that he became the one to avoid the demise that swept all 47 other Masters. And she assisted him by altering many situations that would have obviously killed him. Alice... she did all of this just so that she can have a chance to be one of those heroes too.

"That girl... carrying a damn burden like that without caring about what would do to her..." Gudao said as he finally realized it.

"So... what do we do now?" Kuro asked.

"We have to get down there, no matter what. I want to know what is exactly going on down there and I will bring her back to Chaldea even if it is the last thing I can do." Gudao said before he storms off by himself.

His Servants then quickly followed their Master, leaving Arnold there alone and ponder for himself. Even if there is something he learned here, one question was raised from that very film itself.

Why did Hitler seek True Magic? That was the question he has on his mind. So many more questions started to pop up like how and why does Hitler seek to control fate? All of those questions are overwhelming his mind and he decided to shut them up for now and continue his journey through this place.

"Everyone! Wait for me!" Arnold said as he quickly followed the path that they most likely take and pursued them.

Soon enough, he found himself moving through a bridge that is connecting between this place and the stairwell that leads to the abyss itself. But there is one thing though, everyone else in the team is fighting something. It looks like a massive congregation of wraiths into one single entity and that thing is fighting everyone else. The only who is actually capable of dealing proper damage is Simo with his Black Barrel, everyone is trying to do something but none of their attacks really have that much of an effect due to the nerf from the Bounded Field.

"Damn it! We need some help right now!" Gudao said with an irritated voice.

Although none of its attacks are actually damaging thanks to the Azerium Wards, that thing is actively blocking their way and thus they have to destroy that thing if they wanted to go any further. They just need some more additional help, any help...

Back to Ground Zero, after attempting to make a power converter and using the sample of Azerium they managed to obtain, they then plugged it into the radio system hoping that it would work. Although it may overload their communication system, this is their last shot of any meaningful contact with their Master.

"Okay... Last chance. Here goes nothing!" Da Vinci said as she switches on the system.

They were suddenly pushed away by the signal that the communication system sent out. The power of Azerium amplified the system and they managed to make it through the mist. Soon, the hologram displayed Gudao who seems to crouch on the ground and commanding his Servants.

"Master! What's happening!?" Da Vinci asked.

"Oh, you know... A fucking massive mesh of those wraiths appeared and it is blocking us from advancing!" Gudao said to Da Vinci.

"Oh no! Let me send you over another one!" Da Vinci said to her Master in worry.

"Don't even bother! Unless you send a divine Servant whose capability transcend human's limit then don't even send anyone else over!." Gudao said before he cut off the transmission by himself.

Da Vinci then turns off the system in case she may overload it and lost all contact with him until this mission's end. She sighed because there is no possible way to send any Servant outside the Ground Zero without triggering the EKS outside. This mist was the veil that shrouded their presence and without it. It is game over for everyone here.

"You want to know how to do it? My omniscient amount of knowledge may help you and just this time once more." Void Shiki said to her.

"Really!? Then please tell me!" Da Vinci said in gratitude when she was given a helping hand.

"Yeah, but I need you to re-extract the Azerium we used in the power converter and we'll make something else out of it. Something that can help us shroud the presence away much like the mist." Void Shiki said with belief in her words.

Da Vinci then grabbed the converter but before she did so, Gilgamesh grabbed her hand. In the midst of confusion, she looked at him and she noticed that look in his eyes are saying.

Let me use the communication system after you're done with this, I have something else important to announce to our Master

Da Vinci nodded and then carefully detach the power converter and quickly moved to the workshop where she'll make that thing based on Void Shiki's guidance.

Soon enough, they gathered all of the Caster Servants in the workshop and with Void Shiki's guidance on how to create this item. In a matter of time, it was created...

"Honestly speaking, it is a really interesting experience to have my hands on such a material like that.". Medea said as she holds it up for everyone in the workshop to see.

The thing that Medea is holding is a cloak, but the azure color that it gave off is radiant and unblemished as if it is something only the divine or godlike would wear. All of the Casters here pitched in their efforts and managed to make something like this with Void Shiki's help and thus the time it took them to do so is very small. Around 15 minutes if any of them actually counted the time during their passionate making of something with this godly material.

"Okay then... Who is going to wear this?" Medea asked as she asked Void Shiki.

However, Void Shiki has no need to answer because the answer itself appeared before them.

"I do..." A voice spoke to them in which it caught their attention immediately.

The person that spoke was Sitonai, she stood there amongst them with a determined look in her eyes. She serious about helping her family and would do anything possible in her own way.

"You're sure about this, Sitonai?" Da Vinci asked.

"Yes... I have been preparing for this moment long ago. Everything was culminating to this point and thus it is only fitting that I will get down there and make up for all the lost time... There's no other way for this..." Sitonai said with such determination.

All of the Casters in the workshop looked at each other and then nodded in agreements. Even Void Shiki agreed with them that it is fitting for Sitonai to take up the mantle. Gilgamesh peeked in and telling something with only his gaze alone.

"Void Shiki, can you please take her to the teleporting circle so that we can prepare to send her over there in a swift manner?" Da Vinci asked Void Shiki a request.

Void Shiki nodded, it has been quite a long time did she ever investing so much effort on something like this. She kinda likes the feeling but once again, all of those were just fleeting moments to her.

"Okay then... I shall take the remaining Azerium and the power converter back to where it is supposed to be. Gilgamesh, please follow me, your highness.". Da Vinci said as she quickly takes the power converter and traces her path back to the communication center.

Gilgamesh would normally say that she didn't give him the standing ovation he demanded. But considering the emergence of the situation right now, he decided to ignore that and followed back with Da Vinci.

After Da Vinci made it back, she plugged the power converter into the communication system and reinitiate the communication once more. And once again, Gudao is still stuck there fighting that same wraith.

"Master! Mark your current location, now! I managed to find a way to bypass the EKS and I will send over the most suitable Servant now!" Da Vinci said to her Master.

Gudao in the hologram grabbed a piece of mana chalk out of one of his pockets and draw a summoning circle on the ground as fast as he could. He did this many times already, it all just his muscle memory did the work at a swift pace.

Da Vinci then proceeds to relay the information back to the rayshift chamber where a teleportation circle is readied for Sitonai to use. Void Shiki gave the signal upon the received information from Da Vinci and thus Sitonai who has worn the cloak then jumped into the circle.

Like a flash of light, she appeared right at the bridge that hung above the abyss below. Seeing the massive wraith composing of multiple smaller wraiths, she knew what she has to do. Her Master tossed over to her one of the Azerium Wards he found and told her to wear it. Heeding her Master's words, she then wore the ward and its protection soon covered her.

Even if the Bounded Field nerfed her capabilities, she is still a Divine Servant, and thus her power still far surpasses anything else. She quickly used her bow and fired a bolt of pure ice at it and froze anything that it touches. With a part of that massive wraith being frozen, Simo took advantage of the situation and fired his Black Barrel at the frozen part in which it shattered in a mere instant without difficulty.

The wraith screams upon a part of its body shattered, it tried to attack even fiercer but it didn't even matter in the end. Sitonai used her divine power to completely encase the entire wraith in a mountain of ice and Simo activated his Noble Phantasm although partially but it gets the job done by shattering the entire frozen wraith into thousands of fragments with his final shot.

After they confirmed the defeat of their interloper, they let out a sigh of relief that they no longer have to deal with it again anytime soon. But they started to give Sitonai the strange look at her as if she is something entirely different than them. Can't blame them though... that's precisely what she is. A goddess that stands above many others.

"Who is this girl over here?" Simo asked because her presence making him felt weird.

Sitonai pouted when she immediately got sidelined as if she is just some nobody. Her parents just smiled at her with a bit of worry on their minds but nothing else. After a little while later, they finally get everything sorted out. That's when Sitonai finally properly introduce herself.

"The name is Sitonai, the goddess in Ainu legend. While only this vessel belongs to the daughter of the Einzbern family, I am still technically a part of them no matter what. So nice to meet all of you!" Sitonai said with a proud voice.

"They have a goddess for a daughter... Unbelievable..." Richard said as he couldn't believe what he is seeing.

"Yep... They are all together now... There is no stopping them anymore. I am kinda just glad that we have them on our side and not fighting against them.". Pierce said as he could felt a shiver in his spine when he sees them together.

Kiritsugu carried Sitonai as she sits on his shoulder and then she jumped to Iri as her mother then carries her piggyback style. The family just finally managed to get their happy reunion but they know that this time here is fleeting and they don't even have much of it yet anymore. The moment they are done indulging in those precious seconds, they quickly proceed ahead with their journey.

"Okay everyone, let's go!" Gudao said as he commands every Servant present here to continue.

"Yeah!" All of the Servants presented shout in unison.

And so they continued their journey through the stairwell until they reached the end of it.

At the end of this stairwell buried beneath this azure mist is a masoned stone platform with a marble stone fence that belongs to the early Renaissance. They found what looks like an elevator, still functional with lighting inside. The reel of cable placed above it is the size of a grown adult as it carries the elevator the size of a massive dump truck.

Gudao then received another call from the Shadow Border, he turned the communicator on and the person who called him was Gilgamesh. If he is calling then there is something serious that happened.

"Gilgamesh! Did something happened?" Gudao asked the person who was making the call.

"No... The search team is fine but I am talking with you about something else. I told you about the calamity that befalls from the sky, right? I managed to find another clue after such long research that I have only found it until now. It was about a goddess who governed fate and she was tasked with a job to ensure the prosperity of the people who worship her. It was an obscure legend that most historians aren't aware of, probably because all records were destroyed." Gilgamesh said with a serious voice.

Everyone quickly gathered around Gudao to listen to what Gilgamesh might say. This might be a really important clue that may help them in some way or one another.

"In order to choose the best outcome for her people, she has to remain impartial and unbiased when it comes to judgment and the best course of fate to turn to so that at least everyone will be able to have a better outcome. Sounds good on the surface but that is when you started to realize something is wrong, in a world of strife like this, such impartialness is impossible to maintain.". Gilgamesh explains the gist of the beginning parts.

All of the Servants here are listening attentively to what Gilgamesh is saying, the tension started to rise so much that the mist felt lighter than the tension itself.

"She guides humans by knowing man, knowing all of the surfaces, controlling karma itself. And apparently, unlike certain stuff that it was something that granted limitless to human's desire and withering them away. This goddess, however, never make any mistake yet managed to maintain such an amicable and eminent personality. To guide her worshippers without corrupting mankind at the end. With such power, it should have been obvious that she should have been able to guide the correct path for the existence called 'man'.". Gilgamesh continues to explain.

Feeling their heads throbbing with those veins for trying to shoehorn those memories into their mind

"But there is a limit to everything... All of humanity's nature and karma. To rationalizes all the irrationalities and fallacies, to comprehend those while still guiding them is equal to have human 'emotions'. Such paradox started to tear her apart and she soon realized that if she continues like this, she'll come to harm those subjects that she has sworn to protect. In such an event like that, the goddess decided to make the one final decision, to entrust the hope that humanity will conquer fate on their own measures and thus she unbound her causality and disappeared away.". Gilgamesh explained as the stories came to an end.

Everyone became silent for a while as they tried to rationalize what happened in the story that Gilgamesh told them. To entrust the hope that humanity will come to conquer their own fate.

"So that's what happened..." Larry said as he tried to rationalize the story that Gilgamesh told.

"That definitely sounds absurd no matter how one would interpret it.". Desmond commented as the many parts of the story Gil told flew over his head.

"But at least, I see what you are trying to get at.". Alfin said as she understood what it can possibly mean.

Alice's fate... If she has become the governor of karma, there will be no doubt that she will face a lot of fallacies and irrationality and Hitler isn't exactly your best consultant you should have. In eventuality, she will start to lose faith in herself, and then... only oblivions lie at the end of her path.

Shirou and Kiritsugu understand that paradox very well because they were once the people who sacrificed themselves for the power that they could use to save everyone and ended up putting themselves through the wringer that ended up with them being betrayed that very ideal itself. The thing is, both Kiritsugu and Shirou ended up facing the consequences of their actions for all eternity.

Pierce remembered one detail clearly from back then. He asked her where does she get her power from and the answer she gave him was

Self-belief...

He used to brush it off as a joke but after he reconsiders it now, it makes a ton of sense. Her lack of emotions displayed yet vigilant and self-confidence can be sensed is what could have told him about the kind of person she is but he was too centered on what is ahead of him that he forgot about what is going on behind his back.

And the fact that they just found her in a place distance away from the Heart of the Reich basically means that they are meant to find her soon and considering Alice's ability, it was inevitable that they will find her in any possible way she could imagine.

"By the way... once you continue with this journey, the communication will be cut off unless we send another team who are qualified to not trigger the EKS to set up a relaying station from where you are. So brace yourself for what all of you may found beneath there!" Gilgamesh said before he turns off the communication.

When the communicator in Gudao's hand is silent, they knew what is going to happen down there. There is no turning back anymore. Everyone looked at each other and nodded as they attain such unity without a single word being spoken to each other. With their decision made, everyone then stepped into the elevator. There is no floor here, only a lever to go up or down.

Gudao placed his hand on the lever and pulled it down, the mechanical sounds of the elevator was heard as it slowly descending them into the misty abyss below them. Soon, the mist engulfed them entirely as they can't even discern what is even nearby. A sense of ominous dread looming over them but they knew that there is no other choice left.

And so they descend into the primeval land beneath this world. The other side that the mystic retreated to...

---

"._.""._.""._."

Fourth Layer - Reverse Side of the World

"._.""._.""._."

---

After descending through this mist for who knows how long, they even felt that the concept of time was twisted to the point that they were moving on a separate plane of existence. Not that they are wrong because when the mist cleared up, the atmosphere started to turn in a hazy azure color which tells them that the effect of Azerium has even reached this place.

The elevator landed safely on a plain that has its surrounding blocked with walls and such. There are some benches and a vending machine placed around here. It seems that Hitler has managed to somehow pierce through the fabric of the modern world and into this mystical land.

Iri stepped out of the elevator first as she gazes into her surroundings. She knew what this place was like, it was where she was created in or at least receiving its blessing for being one of its inhabitants originally due to being created here.

"This place is..." Shirou said as he looked into the surroundings.

"The Reverse Side of the World. It is a layer of the world where all supernatural beings and mystical retreated after the Age of God ended. This place still follows its law so be careful.". Shirou said as he examined everything around.

Kiritsugu feels different, it was as if there is no restriction left placed on him. After decided to check it for himself, he tossed a knife into the sky and surprise... The knife flew high up into the sky, higher than how it is humanly possible. It was at that moment when everyone realized that by technically going into the Reverse Side of the World, they are no longer bounded by the Bounded Field itself. With this knowledge, they are free to do whatever they wanted in here. The sky is the limit and now there is no reason for them to hold back anymore.

Still, they decided to not using any of it here because they might destroy the only means to get out of this place.

"Okay, let's move!" Gudao said as they quickly move out as soon as they can.

They were soon taken into a grassy plain and in front of them is a paved stairway. But there is only one thing that it leads to, an industrial complex with pipes connecting each one and seem to go back into the elevator area that they just got off with. And that one massive building that is the sight for sore eyes stand right in the middle of that complex.

"Guess that is our only way to go.". Gudao said as he looked into the complex below.

Gudao about to steps outside the area only to have his Servants stopping him from even making the first step.

"Master. Let us handle this to make sure it is truly safe." Kiritsugu said as he and his family members are making sure to secure the surroundings.

Kiritsugu stepped out first and a chimera lunged towards him. However, he unsheathed the Natalia and bisected that chimera in a mere instant. The rest of the Chaldeans quickly stepping out and saw a horde of those mystical beasts are charging toward them upon sensing their presence.

"Should have known that this won't be easy. Everyone! Move quickly towards the complex!" Kiritsugu said as his sword severed a wyvern that is trying to claw his face.

All of the combat-capable Servants quickly protect their Master from the mystical beasts in the Reverse Side of the World. Those ferocious monsters that are rushing towards them from all directions relentlessly as they prey upon those they seen as 'weak' but the Servants are from anything that is called weak.

Bolts and bullets flew everywhere as they tried to repel the horde of beasts. They ranged from everything, from globins to werebeasts and then suddenly monstrosities like daemons, sprigans, and even dragons. Sitonai's power and prowess repelled away from a majority of them thanks to her crowd control with ice power and thus decimates a huge chunk of the beast horde.

"Why are they out for blood!? What did we even do here!?" Gudao said as he could harshly believe such ferocity being displayed.

"The Azerium within the atmosphere may have significantly increased their aggressiveness to an unrestrained degree. There's no possible way to calm them, we just have to slaughter our way through them if we wanted to have any hope of making through." Shirou said as he fires as many of those Caladbolgs bolts as he could.

Their suicidal like attacks and tendencies are ironclad proof that they have been turned feral by the Azerium within the air. While they are slowly and surely making their way to the complex, there is hardly any assurance that they will make it out unscathed.

Arnold spent more time tossing out dynamites to take out as many of those beasts as he could while Alfin is shredding through the fodders with the autocannons and taking down the big ones with artilleries. While they might not be the ones who are dishing out the most damage, they don't have to spend much of their mana to upkeep the cost.

"Berserker! Include!" Illya yelled as the stone sword-ax appeared once more in her hand as she used it to sweep across a huge chunk of those phantasmal beasts.

Kuro and Shirou traced as many of those blades as fast as they could and sending them upon the enemies like a hailstorm. Blades upon blades impale thousands of beasts large or small. Soon, the grassy plain turned into a bloodbath, a complete butchery filled with thousands of gore in just a mere minute. Just like how anyone would expect if a modern war unfolded.

It just a hundred meters, so then... Why does it felt so difficult to make it to the complex!? The destruction they inflicted upon this field has already surpassed any war already. The green and peaceful field completely bathed in the blood of thousands of phantasmal beasts. All of them were obliterated by the sheer power each Servant held inside.

"How long do we still have to go to reach there!?" Desmond said as he tried his best to assist his allies.

"Fifty meters left! Don't falter right now!" Larry said as he dishes out as much damage as he could.

Larry unsheathed the Muramasa once more as he controlled his breathing and in the perfect moment, he pressed the trigger while his other hand still held to the Muramasa tightly. The moment the blade comes off from the sheath, a torrent of slashes was unleashed as it quickly shredding apart any phantasmal beast on its path into a bloody mess like being tossed into a blender.

"Let none of them get close! Take them down as swiftly as you can!" Pierce yelled as his Chimera's Cry butchers through the horde like a knife through butter.

"Y'all may have an advantage over numbers, but can it stand against my Gatling Gun!?" Richard yelled as he used his Gatling Gun upon the relentless horde of beasts.

They are still getting closer to the complex but they are still everywhere that it is overwhelming. Those beasts have their mind completely overwhelmed with bloodthirsty and instinctive bloodlust that it tramples over the corpse of other slain beasts just so that it may have a chance to attack the Servants. The small ones are nothing to talk about but those phantasmal beasts of large size like sprigan and hydra is a different kind of story altogether. They have to take them down in a swift manner if they wanted a chance to not get overwhelmed by everything else.

"Twenty meters left! We have to do this!" Shirou said as he can feel the finishing line is getting closer that he could feel it.

"Ambush!" Kuro yelled to everyone as a hydra sprung up from nowhere as it whips its tail at them.

Everyone managed to break formation temporarily as they barely escape its whip but on its path was one certain thing. The pipeline...

Its tail smashed onto the top of the pipelines and soon something started to leak out of it and sprayed everywhere. The azure color that is being sprayed out, it was liquified Azerium. When that moment happened, there was one person who was underneath it at the time.

It was Alfin...

Suddenly being washed over by liquified Azerium, she fell to the ground as she was coated by it as the beasts quickly lunged at her thinking that she is now easy prey for them to kill. Arnold quickly draws out the MG08/15 and kill any beast that dares to approach her. But the main problem here is the hydra that is about to devour them if not taking down soon enough.

"Alfin! Wake up!" Arnold yelled at her in an attempt to wake her up.

However, something unexpected happened. The Azerium started to flow into her as if she is absorbing them. Right at that moment, Alfin's eyes opened as the pupils lighted up with the color of azure. Filled with newfound vigor. Suddenly felt as if all of the restraints were broken, all of those weapons with those unidentifiable materials mixed inside suddenly become completely clear to her. It was like a file with data redacted suddenly revealed all of them back to her with clarity.

The jaws of the hydra quickly about to clamp her in one fell swoop. She quickly used Projection and recreated a weapon that is capable of taking it down in one shot. With a railgun in her hand, and the Azerium inside that she managed to perfectly recreated through the absorption of them in the first place. Filled with power far surpassed what it was originally, she pulled the trigger and the bolt was shot with a speed that reached near relativistic before a second could pass and ruptured the space around it.

The power of that shot turned that entire hydra into nothing, not even a piece of gore, just completely obliterated like that. And the railgun in her hand is still intact despite firing such a powerful shot like that. Arnold gives his hand to her as she quickly grabbed it so that Arnold can pull her back to proper stance. By that point, the leaking pipelines have already sealed themselves away.

"Alfin! Are you okay?" Arnold asked her in worry.

"Even better than before..." Alfin said as she fires another shot at the rampaging horde of phantasmal beasts that is charging toward them.

A single shot and the entirety of anything stood in her line of fire ended up obliterated into nothing... Not even a blood mist or anything. They were just erased like that.

"Don't waste any more time standing here! Get to the complex as fast as you can!" Alfin said as she covers the flank of the formation.

With a sudden burst of power of the team, they managed to plow through even the most brutal and merciless beasts with Alfin's help. In just a matter of time, they reached the ironclad gate of the complex. Arnold noticed the lever that is placed nearby the gate and thus quickly pulled it down. Upon doing so, the gate slowly opened for them but the tide of an endless amount of beasts are rushing towards them faster than the gate is opening for them to enter.

"Damn it! Keep the suppression going! Don't let any of them get closer!" Arnold said as he keeps firing the MG08/15.

That's when until he was tossed over with a shotgun made out of entirely synthetic materials with three barrels that seem to be threaded to each other and a massive ammo box that is connected to the gun by the left and when he grabbed it in midair, he noticed that Alfin is looking at him and giving him the nod that is telling him to use it now.

Without any hesitation, he finds the trigger and placed his hand in a suitable location. The moment he pulled the trigger, a torrent of pellets rushing out of the gun with such fierce ferocity that literally nothing came close. Shotgun shells fly out of the ejection port with speed like a high firing rate machine gun. With firepower surpasses even his MG08/15, they managed to push the horde back by long enough until the gate was wide opened for everyone to step in.

Arnold checks for anything that would close the gate which is just another lever at the side. He quickly pulled the lever but the gate closes just as slow as when it opened.

"Oh god damn it!" Arnold said as he realized that things just won't end on an easy note.

Alfin decided to give Larry the Final Conda from before as he then quickly uses it to its purpose. And the fact that they were in the Reverse side of the World means its ammo capacity is spiked to a whole new level as they quickly pushing back against them. Larry then unsheathed his Muramasa and used the gun against the approaching horde.

Like a firestorm that was unleashed, deafening explosions were heard as each bullet brutally mutilate anything that stood in its way. The power of those incendiary explosive bullets would most likely cause huge damage if not outright kill.

The fodders are nothing but bigger beasts aren't as easy to kill no matter what. And now there is a group of them about to make a suicidal charge toward them. They are bound to breakthrough no matter what. At that moment in front of that predicament, Alfin took a deep breath and proceed grasp for the weapon that is capable of annihilating all the same.

She closed her eyes as those phantasmal beasts are getting closer to the gate while it is still wide-opened. Forcing herself into a state of clarity and putting all her faith into herself. The image of that one weapon becomes clearer as she reaches out for it.

"Mourning Star!" Alfin shouted its name as she used the power of Projection to recreate it.

That gun from back then whose power can devastate anything in its sight. There's no denying it as its presence unnerves everyone upon its sight.

Triple barrel bunched together and each is shrouded by a deep coolant tube that gives off azure tinted light. The azure battery on its side resonating with great power. There is no denying it, the Mourning Star that Severloh used is being held in her arms.

Quickly pulling the charging handle and change its mode into Barrage, she pulled the trigger while holding such an unwieldy weapon like that in her arms. Bursts of azure ray annihilated any beasts that dared to approach her and her switching to Concentrated Burst allow her to take down those large and monstrous phantasmal beasts in a single attack.

When the gate is almost closed, Alfin decided to give them her last parting gift as she used her Projection Magecraft and created what looks like a cylinder of something. She tossed it out right before the gate completely closed and then when the gate is shut tightly and the beasts outside tried to break in but up to no avail. A smirk appeared on her face as a deafening explosion was heard that it shook the ground as if an earthquake just occurred.

"Alfin? What did you just do?" Arnold asked as he couldn't quite believe what on earth just happened.

"Remember the V2 rocket that almost annihilated us? I just recreated its core when I looked over it and just reduce its firepower so that we don't bust our own exit." Alfin said as she turned around from the destruction she caused behind that gate.

They all looked at her when she moves toward the center facility as they were baffled by her sudden changes. She would have her head split opened from sheer information overload and now she just recreated one of the probably most devastating weapons without a care as if it was as simple as breathing.

"Azerium... those things are impossible to comprehend and yet..." Arnold said to himself as he felt that each development is going to take him further into the unknown.

And he wasn't wrong to assume so because their own enemy will turn it against them.

Soon, they entered the center facility, and fortunately that there is nothing locked in here. The place was left automated to work on its own and thus need very little personnel to watch over. They managed to find another elevator inside the facility and once again, it only has a lever and thus it would only take them down further and below this place.

"Are you sure this is our only way to proceed?" Arnold asked as he felt it is going too smoothly so far.

"Yeah... We spent all of our time in this facility and checking every nook and cranny and thus we can confirm this is the only path to go.". Gudao said as he asserts his confirmation.

This is the same thing as the elevator that descended them into Reverse Side of the World. Where it will take them? Would it be a place below the abyss itself? Is there even anything there? So many questions on their mind yet so little time to find an answer.

"Who knows... But our only choice left is to go there. Even if it meant to descend into the abyss, we won't turn back especially after this far!" Gudao said with a rousing spirit.

They all looked at him and agree that there is no other choice left. They have made their own determination to get this far and thus they must not spit on their own effort to get this far. With everyone entered the elevator, Arnold took the honor and pulled the lever by himself. The mechanical sound was heard before the elevator would descend them into the unknown.

---

"._.""._.""._."

Fifth Layer - Paradise Lost

"._.""._.""._."

---

Everything... All of them were the color of azure... The mist... the cloud... the light... the atmosphere... anything... It was as if everything they looked at has an azure screen filter.

Time was once again distorted, they can't even tell how much they have descended because they are moving into another different plane of existence. An uncharted area that no living mages have ever dared to step into. One could even say that to do so is even more difficult than to reach the Root itself.

"Jii-san... Is there any term for the layer that is beneath the Reverse Side of the World?" Shirou asked his father.

"There are many mages theorized that beneath the Reverse Side of the World is the 'World' itself. The Earth at its primordial state. But nobody could confirm it since nobody could even make it past the Reverse Side of the World anyway and would most likely die from mana overdose before making any step in here.". Kiritsugu said as he sighed.

"Honestly... I wouldn't even be surprised if beneath the Reverse Side of the World is just the abyss itself. But once again, I am not well-versed enough to make an educated guess.". Irisviel said as she looked down only to see nothing but azure mist.

"This azure color supposed to make me remind of those peaceful days where I don't have to worry about anything. But everything that has transpired so far has turned it into something that makes me paranoid for every second I live.". Desmond said as he walks around impatiently.

"Same shit... Same every day... I wanted to have a bit of personal talking with our very Hitler beneath whatever is there.". Larry said as he gazed into the outside.

But perhaps the most concerned right now is Arnold and Alfin. They were the incarnation of Hitler himself and their presence here is telling them that there might be something beneath the masquerade of lies itself.

"I have to ask him... why on earth is he getting so far into this and why did we come into this world?" Arnold said as he sat on the smooth stone ground.

"Yeah... the fact that our memory is messed up and separated into to different parts mean something is happening behind the scene.". Alfin said as she leans on the stone fence.

Pierce and Richard are looking at the surroundings despite it is all just azure mist that is surrounding them. They knew they are reaching their journey's end and they can't be any more glad that things will finally end. But... they don't know why they are so feeling empty... They are supposed to be glad that this nightmare will come to an end and yet... they felt nothing closely resemble that at all.

"Those friends that I fought together... We may no longer be close together anymore but their presence will always be close to me no matter what. For their sake, I will drag this illusion and fantasy out to the broad daylight..." Pierce said as he strengthens his determination.

"This is just one of those few times I was summoned but I could tell you that I have no regret being summoned by you. No Master has proven his mettle like you at all." Richard said as he gazed directly into his Master with a trusting look.

Their time together has strengthened such bonds to the boundary of unbreakable. Even if they knew their journey will end and that is when they will depart from each other, they will still remember each of them even when no longer together.

"It seems that we have finally made it..." Larry said as he finally saw the mist cleared up for them to see.

The elevator touched the land beneath them as they all together stepping out of it. They looked at the surroundings as they take in all of what this place has to behold.

Everything was azure... from the night sky to the white horizon. From even the flowers that bloom here to the dust that flying across the field. It was peaceful and serene to the point it would be considered a paradise if it wasn't for the fact that they knew what truly entailed in this place. The dust flew into the sky, forming into constellations themselves. Everything here... only has a color of azure.

"A paradise beneath this fractured world... I... There is no need for words anymore..." Iri said as she couldn't even fathom what is being shown in this land.

The only landmark on this place was a tower in a distance away from them. They sense great power resonating from there, so much that even the mana level from this place got dwarfed. There is only one path and it led to the place itself. There is no other path left to take this but to reach for the furthest place beyond the world.

"We have to go now... Can't let her wait for any more second.". Arnold said as he steps ahead.

Everyone soon followed as they move towards the tower in the distance. They are soon approaching their journey's end and in just a matter of time, they reached the grand entrance of the tower. The area further is shrouded with complete brightness that is so blinding that none of them can't see what's beyond. But even then, they knew that they have already passed the line of no return long ago and thus they have no reason to fear whatever is beyond.

Arnold and Alfin looked at each other as they together held their hands. As long as they are still together, they won't allow themselves to be separated anymore.

"No regret!" Arnold and Alfin said as they together jumping into the entrance.

Everyone then also jumped into the otherworldly entrance as it takes them into the unknown.

...

...

...

Within it... they seem to be moving in something. It was as if they were flowing through a ley line but the whole thing was like threaded by entirely azure threads. However, it wasn't the only thing here... They saw those flying fragments of something... They were...

"Wait... I died in that place? That doesn't make any sense!" Arnold said as he saw a brief but unforgettable memory fragment.

That Arnold... died when he was vaporized when Shirou used the Excalibur at the ridge battle from back then... It was so long ago that they forgot about that.

"Huh? Wait, what!?" Alfin said as she saw that one fragment flashed in her mind.

The one that she succumbed to her madness due to the fact that she didn't encounter Arnold from back during the second ring. She ended up causing unbounded amounts of destruction before being put down by Gudao's group.

"No..." Kuro said as another fragment showed up in her mind in just a brief instant.

The one from when they were still fighting against the hexagonal siege. Kuro and everyone who tried to stop the inevitability got erased in that beam of destruction because Shirou didn't reawake fast enough.

"Un-fucking-real..." Kiritsugu cursed under his breath as another showed up.

It was him and Iri being bisected in a mere moment of mistakes by that killing robot back in the fourth ring. It just shows up the moment like that without any additional information. But just that alone sends a chill down their spines.

So many moments that they could have died but they preserved and made it past that. These were all of those moments when what they feared become true. In reality, a 'golden' ending isn't easily achievable by all means and can't be done without the knowledge of the future. The group shouldn't have been able to grow large like this at all but there is only one reason why this is where they are right now.

"Although vaguely... I think finally understood just what Alice's true intention is now..." Arnold said as his uneasiness become more visible.

In a flash of moments, they finally appeared. In front of them is the one and the only person that is behind all of these... Adolf Hitler. There's no mistaking that toothbrush mustache and the Nazi uniform he is wearing. And behind him is...

"Alice..." Alfin tried to reach out to her but she didn't respond.

That girl... her aura and divinity are beyond any of the existing gods and goddesses. Her hair has completely turned into the color of azure and its length reaches even longer than her own height. Donning on her is the garments of the divine although it does very little to show how powerful she is. The tiara that she wore has the azure centerpiece gem that shines even brighter than the galaxy itself.

She stands there, levitating atop the summit of the paradise. And Hitler is the only one to stand between them.

Arnold and Alfin look at Hitler with vengeful eyes, knowing that there is no possible way for them to allow Hitler to do what they assumed him to.

"So you've come..." Hitler said to them with a completely neutral voice.

None of Gudao's group responded but Hitler seems to be more fixated at Arnold and Alfin more than anyone else in the group.

"Welcome to the core of the principle of causality of everything, at the farthest reaches of the world..." Hitler said to them normally without any trace of ill-intents.

Alice looks down upon them, they felt her own gaze is so overwhelming that it could crush them.

"Arnold... Alfin..." Alice whispered as if she is trying to reach out to them.

"Alice!" Arnold tried to speak to her.

"Thank the Lord that you're safe..." Alfin said to her.

"Honestly... You always make all of us worry about what would happen to you..." Arnold said as he tried to speak with all of the feelings that are welling up in him.

"I... always had something... Something that I couldn't tell you outright no matter what... I'm sorry that I have to deceive you like this..." Alice said to them.

"It doesn't matter! It just... you being safe is enough for us..." Arnold said to Alice.

"Adolf Hitler... You have a part in this whole madness, am I right?" Alice said to the man in the old Nazi uniform.

"While I truly have a hand in this delusional madness, the only thing I am doing is respecting Alice's will. Isn't that the truth..." Adolf said as he turned around to Alice.

Alice simply nodded.

"What a load of hypocrisy..." Arnold said as he finds it extremely unconvincing.

"Alice... Why?" Alice said as she couldn't believe what is being displayed.

"The power of Zeroth Magic, it has to be something to do with it, right?" Arnold asked as he knew.

Alice nodded in agreement with her eyes closed.

"Alice... Why don't you tell them the truth... That you have done all of these just for them..." Hitler said with a voice that is empty of malice.

No words or response from Alice as if she is afraid of telling them. Although Arnold and Alfin could already hazard a guess out of her already.

"Unlike any of the previous True Magics, the Zeroth Magic possesses the power of time and space. And then when the karma that represents "mirage" affects and interfering with cause and effect cognizance and united with the power to alter time and space. Alice attained the power to alter and control Fate itself.

"The power to control Fate..." Arnold said as he couldn't believe there is something that could allow her to be that powerful.

"In other words, it's the power to manage the principle of causality, to rearrange the whole order of the world. She could mess with the process of evolution, she could cause changes into how physics normally worked." Hitler explained to them.

"A "system" network that every phenomenon was recorded. The ability to manage and alter the past, present, and future..." Alfin said as she tried to process the mess of infodump that was laid on her.

"In other words... I will realter my own past... No more bloodshed... No more of those pointless genocides... And... No WW2" Hitler said as this might be the first time in a while that they actually see him display emotions...

In defeat... he was taught humility. At that moment when Berlin succumbed to Azerium Corruption, Hitler realized what he has lost in all of those times during the time of crisis. He managed to obtain his lost part of humanity and just that alone changed the course of fate itself. Without it, Alice wouldn't be here.

"Alice... shows them what would happen without your help... Even if they made it past all of the treacheries on their way." Adolf said as he told Alice what she needs to do.

A flash of insight appeared within Arnold's mind. It was in an alternative timeline where Arnold was about to use his Noble Phantasm as an attempt to take down the fifth wall but someone backstabbed him right at the moment he is about to activate it.

It was the Fragarch and due to him during the activation of the Noble Phantasm, its power got exponentially increased and it flat out killed him. The person who used it was Gudao, and that person in that alternative timeline was having too much distrust that he decided to kill Arnold before he thought Arnold would betray.

"Ah..." Arnold said as he remembered that just now.

Alice's intervention... She restructured his fate so that Gudao would be compelled to have his Servants use their Noble Phantasm first before him. And she compelled Simo to steal the Fragarch and revealed it for everyone to see and thus ruins all of its mystic power.

"Such a thing..." Iri said as said memory was also sent to everyone.

"But it doesn't seem to be a lie at all..." Kiritsugu said as he could harshly believe his Master would do something like that.

"However... Avoiding your tragedy was nothing but just the beginning. By amplifying Alice's ability. Not only tragedy can be avoided but reality can also be altered.". Adolf said to them.

They all think about it for a second but Arnold and Alfin just have a disappointed look on their face thinking that removing himself from history would actually change it. Can't blame him because his guilt pretty much devastated him already.

"Adolf... Are you really fine with this?" Arnold stepped forward towards Adolf while asking his question.

A brief silence was seen in Adolf's action before he replied.

"In anything one does, preparations are needed... Human history is also one that deals with all kinds of risk. And Alice... has the power to control that. That's the undeniable truth of this "reality"." Adolf tried to explain in the plainest voice he could but the sorrow that is leaking out can be detected by Arnold.

"Even if the result could otherwise erase her existence away from paradox? " Arnold asked as he finds messing with the causality can have a dire consequence.

"She is now an entity that stands above everything... As long as she held her faith in herself, not even temporal paradoxes would affect her in the slightest." Adolf said as if it was something completely natural.

"I heard that a goddess who once has the same kind of authority erased herself due to grief in an attempt to rationalize all of the irrationality. Do you really attempt to put such a heavy responsibility on a girl like her?"

Another brief moment of silence... He could feel the atmosphere become tenser as he keeps the conversation on like this

"That's why I am here... So that things won't turn out that way..." Adolf tried to convince that it was right to do so but the tone is telling that he knew this was an immoral thing to do.

"But that still doesn't answer my one question that I have asked... Are you really fine with this?" Arnold said once more as he steps ahead.

Adolf shuddered at the question Arnold asked.

"Everything has its own "dignity", man, society, even history too... Even if they're connected by mistakes and results in tragedies. To pretend that they never happened is to violate the "dignity" of those concerned with the tragedies above. For instance, the strength of those who recovered from said tragedies." Arnold said with a determined voice.

"Indeed... Man is a creature that makes mistakes at the time but to pretend them never happened means they can't grow up. The meaning of learning together, cooperating, progressing forward. All of them would be cast away without meanings." Alfin said as she also steps ahead.

Adolf looks at Arnold and Alfin with a look that told them that he seems to know something about them. He closed his eyes as if to hide his own shame.

"Even if it's painful... No one should ever rely on miracles alone... That's why we have to proceed with things in "the proper way". Arnold and Alfin together said at the same time

"So this is it then... Alice, you know what to do..." Adolf said to Alice after he heard what Arnold and Alfin have to say.

Suddenly, a barrier appeared and separated Arnold and Alfin from the group. Everyone else behind the barrier tried to brute force their way but it was pointless. Blades clashed, guns were fired but none of them does any effect on the barrier.

"You!..." Arnold said as he can't believe that Adolf would be doing something like that.

"If you wanted to prove your own stance is correct then you have to prove that your will is strong enough for that merit..." Adolf said as a miasma of sorts started to appear around him.

"Shit!" Alfin said as she tried to attack but the miasma has already covered them.

Their sense of spatial awareness was fractured as they can't even tell where is where. They tried to reach out to each other but their vision was soon clouded by that dark miasma.

Soon... they will find themselves in a nightmare that has no place for those without determination... Only if their wills to preserve through this madness are strong enough would they ever see the light beyond the darkness.