Doctor Romani was peacefully dozing off when Da Vinci, who peeked out from behind his shoulder, directed the camera at herself. Ritsuka wasn't surprised by his friend's nodding off - too much depended on him in Chaldea. The servant, embodying the great artist, remarkably resembled his most famous portrait, charmingly smiling and sparkling with witty jokes, never losing her almost poetic style of speech. Fujimaru sincerely rejoiced at the opportunity to communicate again with his loyal allies and friends who remained in Chaldea to monitor his unexpected adventure. Even the current director, Goredolf Musik, peeked out from behind Da Vinci - a portly man with lush wheat-colored mustaches in an exquisite white suit, he looked baffled as he glanced at Ritsuka and only reluctantly accepted the testimony from his report.
Even Da Vinci, despite her unwavering optimism and enthusiasm combined with a burning desire to prove herself, understood the hopelessness of the situation. At one point, she suggested transporting an object to 1996 called "The One and Only Suitcase" in order to maintain secrecy. It stored Heroic Spirits, from whom Ritsuka could summon a Servant to help at any moment. He was prepared to make any necessary sacrifices just to stop the impending disaster as quickly as possible. However, Da Vinci came up with a counterargument.
"Ritsuka, we can't simply transport the suitcase to the past like that. It's too risky and could have catastrophic consequences for the entire timeline."
"Then what should we do?" Ritsuka looked at her with hope in his eyes.
"We need to look for other ways to solve the problem. We need more information about this Grail and find a weakness in its defenses. Perhaps we can find a way to destroy it. But for that, we need time and the opportunity to conduct additional research."
Ritsuka understood that Da Vinci was right. He was willing to do anything to stop the disaster, but he couldn't risk the lives of others and the stability of the timeline.
He looked at the door of the adjacent room where Mash slept peacefully. Her face from that unfortunate day floated up in his mind once again. Mash had been trapped under a massive stone slab, and all he could see then was her face. He could have taken her hand, but he didn't have enough strength to pull her out, and even if he had - would anyone have had time to help her? Everything around them was engulfed in flames, and the once-blue Chaldea's sphere was now painted in shades of crimson and orange, bringing even more horror and anxiety. These memories and their helplessness at that moment clawed at his heart, when no one could come to their aid and the doors closed treacherously, cutting off their last hope for a safe outcome.
It was uncertain how much time had passed, but Fujimaru woke up in a city that didn't exist, doesn't exist, and will never exist on any world map—another place ravaged by disaster. This time, Mash stood on his side, but he couldn't help but feel his own worthlessness as a mage. Even Olga Marie, capable of unleashing devastating spells like bullets from her fingers, didn't have enough power to fight the local monsters, let alone himself. All he had left was to fight hand-to-hand, but what could an ordinary person do against a monster surpassing their strength? It wasn't even worth mentioning the Servants — any of them could obliterate a person in an instant, without giving them the slightest chance to resist. Mash, an artificial vessel for a heroic spirit, had fulfilled the hopes of her creators. On that day, she received powers from the noble Sir Galahad—an additional Servant of the Holy Grail War, renowned as one of the Knights of the Round Table, whose leader now aimed to govern all of Britain.
Arthur Pendragon. Or Arturia. It doesn't matter. Ritsuka knew well the character of this great king in all of his incarnations. Saber wouldn't proclaim herself to the world willingly. It was in a Servant's nature to act in secrecy from the rest of the world and not publicly declare their names. Knowing the name of a Servant was the prerogative of the one Master who had summoned them, but in public, they were known as Arturia-Saber, Julius Caesar, Siegfried, or any other heroic beings forever enshrined among the Servants. Only the class name could be used to name a Servant publicly without revealing their true identity.
Ritsuka finished the conversation and glanced at his watch. It was half past nine in the morning, and he hadn't slept since the evening. He understood that if he went to bed, sleep wouldn't come. Too many thoughts had settled in his head, too much responsibility had fallen on him. Not for the first time, but this time it felt like the first. Thoughts about when he had seen Harry Potter in his dreams bothered Ritsuka. Someone in light clothing and a mask, an ally of Voldemort, whose expectations he shouldn't disappoint. A Servant with great magical power and ancient artifacts.
For a moment, Fujimaru imagined Gilgamesh in the company of Voldemort. An overly vivid image appeared before his eyes and Ritsuka shuddered. No. Although Gilgamesh was one of those Servants who could have been involved in recent events and despite the personal characteristic given to him by Ritsuka, he didn't seem like someone who would collaborate with Voldemort for so long. Someone had reached Gilgamesh's treasury and stole the catalysts used for summoning. Looking at the news headlines, Ritsuka became more convinced of this every day. He wasn't sure whether Saber had summoned Voldemort or his followers, but he knew for certain that Saber was a key element in this mysterious game of shadow puppeteers controlling this Holy Grail War. Only with Saber as the King of Britain, seizing all power over the country, could one dictate their own rules on the world political stage and play with truly major figures.
Even the experts at Chaldea agreed with this thought. They all awaited unexpected political moves and decisions from Saber with bated breath, although they understood that Saber wouldn't rush. Saber would realize that something was wrong with this Holy Grail War and would seek a way out of the situation. Saber had enough intelligence not to blindly follow all the instructions given by their Master and would start their own game – a subtle and large-scale one, very complex in many details, and therefore hardly accessible to most ordinary people. If it was the divine Arturia from Camelot, let the whole world lament the traitors who put her on the English throne. If it was Arturia Alter... Ritsuka felt his legs weaken at the thought. No. Under no circumstances. He hoped, he sincerely believed, that the Master who summoned Saber hadn't completely lost his mind and had made a mistake by inviting the Saber who still retained at least a tiny bit of humanity in this world ruled by Britain. Feeling his hands grow cold, Ritsuka remembered the terrible words of the knights of Camelot and Arturia herself, who explained her plan to save the people she had chosen.
"I won't apologize and I still believe that my actions are right, and there is not even the slightest mistake in my plan."
The game of the misunderstood genius of divine Arturia was a great success. She never expressed emotions, her face remained unchanged when, at her command, the legendary knights of Camelot destroyed innocent poor people who were left without shelter and means of existence. Those who arrived at the eastern gates of the great city waited for anything, but they were met with an unbiased choice from the cruel king when Arturia selected the most deserving from the crowd. Those whom she didn't choose faced arrows and the icy steel of a knight's sword. Ritsuka survived then only thanks to the noble Sir Bedivere, who came to Arthur's fortress to fulfill what he hadn't completed in his lifetime.
Sir Bedivere handed the legendary Excalibur, which he was unable to throw into the lake as instructed by the dying king, to the divine Arthur. His action had made him unworthy of death. But now he returned the sword to the king and, having fulfilled the mission for which he was resurrected by the great Merlin himself, vanished into the very fabric of the world around him, restoring his peace.
Incomprehensible to a human mind, the divine Arthur's motivations were presented by Ritsuka as such. But even from the perspective of the Servants, her plan seemed amoral and inhumane. King Arthur, assuming the role of the creator of the Universe. King Arthur, the punisher. King Arthur, devoid of memories of her legendary past and having lost the last connection she once had with humans. This was how Ritsuka remembered the divine Arthur and did not wish to experience such a thing again. The hair on his already disheveled head stood on end at the thought of repeating past events, but on a scale fitting the modern world.
If it is indeed her, the world is doomed irrevocably and there is no slightest chance of salvation.
Ritsuka pounded the table with his fist and covered his face with his hands, mourning his situation. He was as helpless as a child, and there were no Servants in the world ready to come to his aid except for his own. He felt like a wild beast trapped by poachers, desperately searching for an escape, but even the best minds of Chaldea could not help him. All they could offer him was waiting. Fujimaru was ready to wait for as long as necessary, but with each second of waiting, precious time necessary for victory was being wasted. Seizing his hair, Ritsuka sank to the floor and pondered. He still had a chance to train the Hogwarts students and make them true Masters. Summon their own Servants, unite their efforts, and win this war - that was their destiny. They did not choose this destiny, and not everyone among them would agree to it, but they could not escape it, because it had chosen them.
But they would not succeed unless someone invested enough mana in their summoning. Looking at the newspaper headlines, Ritsuka's gaze stopped on one of the photographs. A young, beardless face smiled at him from the paper, framed by long gray hair. If anyone were to help them, it would only be him.