Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of chapter 70 also known as London's last chapter!
And it will also be the last one of the year. Making things even more special. I hope you all enjoyed the Tunguska raids (At least the ones that could be done...) and the year of 2023!
Now, without further ado, let's start it!
DISCLAIMER: All of the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author
Solomon
Just the mere introduction, and presence of the king himself was enough to make the tension inside the cavern get higher than ever before.
Against all expectations, when the party thought things had been resolved and the grail could be finally retrieved without further inconvenience, an unpleasent surprise appeard for Chaldea. One of the worst kind.
"S-Solomon..?" Mash voice tried to not break as she said the name while daring to stare at the mage king in front of them. A daunting glare that would freeze anyone that would dare to stare at him. The shielder noticed Peko fall to his knees right next to her. "Peko!"
The boy had his hand thigtly grabbed to his own chest, the pressure of Solomon proving to be too much for him. "I...His power is too much..."
Seeing her brother in difficulty was enough for Nala to break free from her paralysis, approaching the sibling and putting an hand on his back. "H-Hey! Get up Peko! You're okay, aren't you?" Altough she tried to act tough and unwavering to Peko, it was easily noticeable the instances of fear in her voice.
"So you..." Trying to gather the bravery to direct some words at Solomon, Ritsuka forcefully stiffened the arm of his muscles and took a deep breath before staring eye to eye with the mage king. "You're the one responsible for all of this, aren't you? You were behind Humanity's Inceneration, right?"
Looking down on the human with apathy, the king decided to gift him with the answer. "Yes, I am. The annihilation of the human race was my doing who's plan was crafted a long time ago. I am also the de facto leader of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods. Each one of them a familiar of mine at my command. Does this response satisfies you, human?"
"..." Ritsuka didn't replied, continuing to feel the silent animosity and danger from Solomon torwards them.
"Then our suspections were actually true! Solomon is the evil mastermind behind all of this!" Mash said, remembering of the hypotesis they had of Solomon being an enemy on the previous Singularity.
"And it also means he and the Demon God Pillars are correlated as well." Nala added, helping Peko get up.
"To think he would appear so unnanounced..." Peko speaked, giving a look at the mage king. "He isn't like the other Heroic Spirits we faced so far. Can we even beat him as we are right now?"
"So you're the one who's been giving our allies here an hard time overall." Mordred walked torwards Chaldea with the rest of the present servants. "Got tired of seeing your minions doing failed attempts at killing them and decided to come here personally?"
"Honestly, my dissapointment can't indeed be lied about with every single opportunity missed so far." Solomon replied, calming but still showing an evident voice tone of sovereignty. "Gilles de Rais, Nero Claudius, Jason, and now Zolgen. One failling after the other to give humanity its last dying breath. A mercy blow that would free humans from torment."
"Perhaps you shouldn't underestimate your enemies. Thought about that one already?" Hans attempted to provoke Solomon. "I swear, I can never uderstand what is with villains and them completly dismissing the main protagonists until it's too late. A wise king like you should know that!"
"Oh, but I do know. In fact, Chaldea is one of the last enemies that stands on my way." The mage king told to the party, touching the skin around his eyes with his own fingers "My Clairvoyance is of a special kind amongst its own, giving me the ability to spectate every possible future, from a singular individual to entire nations. That's why the Inicineration happened when it happened. You chaldeans were fortunate tho. Having transfered the base to a place out of the temporal axis area right before, prevented you all from being at my eyes reach."
"Makes sense. If it wasn't for that, Solomon may had known all of your movements since the very beggining." Tesla informed Chaldea. "Meaning that you most likely would be long gone before you could even clear your first Singularity."
"His sight can extended to such lenghts?" Peko asked, in a fearful awe of Solomon's grand power. Despite not being destrcuctive, Solomon's Clairvoyance was still something to be terryfied of.
"So this means he can predict everything we are going to do at this precise moment?" Ritsuka asked.
"I suspect so since we aren't in Chaldea." Peko told him.
"That sounds quite the disadvantage." Shakespeare commented. "He can spoil our every movement!"
"Maybe he can of one. But I wanna see him try doing that with an entire group of people who will attack him at the same time!" Mordred said, believing Solomon's Clairvoyance to not be completely flawless.
Meanwhile, Mash tried to contact back Romani. "Doctor, you are still in there? Da Vinci-san? If any of you still are, please listen to this! The identity of the Heroic Spirit behind all this is of the great king of Ancient Israel, Solomon!"
"Blabber as much as you want shielder. No one from the other side will be hearing you. I made sure that Chaldea's transmission and connection systems are inoperable as of right now." Solomon claimed, perceiving Mash's efforts to inform the Chaldea base as useless.
"You're doing all of this alone?" Nala questioned him. "If you're a servant, there might be the possibility that someone has summoned you."
"Like Zolgan was the master of Artoria Alter." Ritsuka had the same thinking as Nala, proceeding to stare back at Solomon. "Could it be that you've done the Incineration of Humanity because som-"
"I do not have a master. My manifestation and wish were independent of any secondary interests." Solomon wnet straight to the point, shutting down the possibility of him being a servant working for someone who had summon him.
"Then Solomon is for sure doing all of this by his own volition." Peko talked, proceeding to pick up on something the mage king had said. "That wish of yours, what is it? There has to be certain context for why you want to erase humanity other than causing simple destruction."
"But of course. My wish goes beyond simple chaos and extinction, child." Solomon replied to Peko, resulting in the first time the mage king smiled. And it was a smile that had no good intentions behind it. "The purpose of my own summoning is so that I can better the universe by disposing of the biggest waste there is in it: humanity itself!"
"What?!" Mash exclaimed.
"What even makes you believe that in the first place?" Tesla questioned Solomon. "Humans may appear to be insuferabble species, but as a member of the species itself, I tell you that we also have a lot of good traits to offer! Don't lump everything in the same basket!"
"Now you said it!" Mordred added.
"Way to go Tesla!" Ritsuka also complimented the inventor's argument against Solomon's ideology.
"Hphm. And I thought you were supposed to be a genius." Solomon scorned at Tesla's argument. "All the good things created are eventually outweighed and destroyed by the bad, like an inequitable balance. Humans are fools who ignore their own suffering. Always told to smile in face of such tragedies." Solomon gestured with his arms. "But how long can it be kept like this? How long until the smile and optimism cracks? Nothing good lasts forever as humanity finds a way to inevitable ruin it by their own hands. The blessing of life and prosperity was given upon the humans and you wasted it in meaningless and sordid conflicts, fruit of your own spitefulness. As it stands right now, humanity is a race that doesn't deserve to live." The mage king smiled wildly from ear to ear. "That is the painful but absolute truth, Chaldea. The future will not be saved nor is worth saving in the name of such obscene creatures."
"Only because humanity isn't the way you envision, you disregard every single person on it as disposable trash?" Mash confronted Solomon who responded with ease.
"I do. Life has no value when ones decide to take it away from others that easily. Humans greatest sin is to had never find a way to escape inevitable death and yet fear it when it comes to their own lives. How pathetic it is, that a human can be afraid for their own life while taking out from another one at the same time? How can a being be afraid of something that it will eventually happen? Does this action or thinking has any logical? Can it even be considered rational? Such problematic species can't exist like that. A new reality needs to be created." Solomon explained, bit by bit, clear and sure of his own words, never stuttering or hesitating once. He truly believed in what he was saying and doing.
"And how are you gonna do that?" Nala defiantly asked to Solomon, having stabilized her own dread of him despite still being nervous. "You might as well be all just talk!"
"Ah, such imprudent and naive child." Solomon chuckled at her, showing the nine rings he had on his fingers. "Being honored with such form of magecraft, I have since long ago perfected the art of traveling through time. With it, I sent each of every Seventy-Two Demon Gods to a specific era in the future when I died. This worked as a metaphysical bridge that would let my soul, body and essence to be reborned in any possible era throughout history. And I have since picked up seven specific eras that would be crucial to me."
"The Singularities!" Peko exclaimed, putting the dots together.
"Very attentive, young one." Solomon gave a slight praise to Peko's comprehension. "Seven eras were distributed with Holy Grails to serve as its foundation and where I would deploy my Third Noble Phantasm."
That line had caught the chaldeans and servants alike by surprise.
"A...Third Noble Phantasm?" Ritsuka was startled. "What is he even talking about?"
"Is it even possible for a servant to have three Noble Phantasms? I thought it was only one per each!" Nala was utterly perplexed, unbelieving of such thing.
"No. He is actually speaking the truth." Tesla told. "Altough rare, there can be a selective few servants who get the prowess of having three Noble Phantasms."
"Yeah. And we are just unlucky enough to have one of those few servants be our literal enemy." Hans added, not liking how dire the situation was getting inside his head.
"But what is even Solomon's third Noble Phantasm? Even if it doesn't has a physical form, we should have at least noticed its effects once during our travel through the Singularities we have been already!" Mash told, not understanding how they could have been unaware of the mage king's Noble Phantasm for this long.
"But it does have a physical form." Solomon told them. "Do tell me chaldeans, didn't you saw a huge ring of light on the sky on every Singukarity you've been to until now?"
"Those rings in the sky?" Peko remembered of them and how mysterious they seemed to be, always looming over the world and everything beneath it.
That's when Ritsuka's head thought of a frightening possibility. "Wait! Don't tell me that..."
Solomon smiled amused. "Yes. Those rings of light are my Third Noble Phantasm: Ars Almadel Salomonis." He revealed to them. "And contrary to your belief, it isn't a ring of light but a ring composed of thousands if not million beams of light! All casted on the orbital space of the Earth! Each beam as powerful as a rank A Noble Phantasm and composed of all the planet's mana from each specific period they where set in!"
"That's...complete lunacy." Shakespeare said, shocked. "If unleashed at full power, one of those rings would be enough to evaporate the entire Earth!"
"Capable of destroying the entire planet with a single attack..." Nala's mind wondered as the girl gained a new fear at how mighty Solomon's magic could be. "Is such absurd power even possible?"
"By destroying the Earth from each specific era that was essential to human history through that Noble Phantasm, you will get to erase human kind completely off the map." Ritsuka sweated as he finally got the full view of Solomon's plan. "That is..."
"Too much of an overkill!" Peko protested, facing the mage king while trying to ignore the shivering fear inside his own body. "Do you need to go to such lenghts to achieve your goal?!"
"Complex problems ask for complex solutions." Solomon replied, staring coldly at Peko. "Killing you and your sister will be another step closer to it."
"Hphm!"
"What?!"
Peko and Nala's hearts both went up on the beat as their bodies got a whole new wave of chill down their spines. Peko reaction was more significant, with the boy taking a step back as he gazed at the mage king's eyes with terror, now that he knew such vile and threatening person wanted to have him and Nala dead. This was an opponent that the boy deep down didn't want to fight but instead run away from. Flee from that aura, that power, that wicked face and stare.
"He...He wants to kill us? Me and sis?" Solomon was a true fear for Peko. One he wanted to avoid.
Nala was feeling the same altough she quickly tried to desguise it. "Y-You want to kill us? Why?"
"Simply putting, your survival would pose a big threat to my plan. There is a 'sleeping' power of great potential within you that if awakened, could be of a great risk to me. As Flauros mentioned, you are of a mystery nature that I barely know anything about. Not even my Clairvoyance can predict a thing from you two. Perhaps you are not even human. But from what I sense of those mana crests on your backs and the type of mana circuits that flow within you...It makes you unpredictable weapons that if not dealt with fast, can become a nuisance. I am making sure it doesn't reach that point. Specially when you can attract 'other' problems to get in my way." Solomon raised his hands, about to do a spell with it.
In that instant, Ritsuka and Mash put themselves in front of Peko and Nala, with the servants also taking a stance against Solomon.
"Huh?"
"Guys?"
"Whether you are all powerful or not, we aren't letting you do any harm to my teammates!" Ritsuka told to Solomon, showing that the mage king wouldn't have his way that easily.
"If you want to hurt them, you'll have to get through us first!" Mash exclaimed as well.
Seeing their friends willing to protect them, helped to alleviate the fear from both Peko and Nala who smiled at the other two. They had people who got their backs.
"That's right! Time to show him some modesty!" Nala swinged her sword, taking a fighting stance.
Peko also summoned back his sword. "We've already went through a lot of problems and dangers! It won't be a more dangerous enemy like Solomon that will stop us!"
Having an entire group of opponents stubbornly deciding to oppose him, Solomon closed his eyes in boredom. "I see that you have chosened the path of violence. Very well then." Raising his hand, the mage king casted a spell, summoning a group of four Demon God Pillars from the ground, surrounding the party. "Since that is the only language you know, I shall reply in the same way!"
"Four of them?!" Ritsuka speaked in shock. Having to face one was already a task, but now four at the same time would be almost impossible.
"He summoned four Demon God Pillars just like that?!" Mordred also reacted in surprise.
"I thought of summoning more to have the job done more quicker. But since you at least showed to have some comradery between you as well as a level of purity altough foolish, I'll be merciful enough to at least give you a chance against four Demon Gods instead." Solomon explained, not wanting to dispatch of Chaldea all too quickly.
"And again you are understimating us!" Hans told angrily to the mage king.
"Let him! We already defeated some of these things!" Nala said to the short author. "Four of them at once shouldn't take that much time!"
Ritsuka agreed with her. "Our group is big enough to divide into smaller duos and fight a Demon God each! If we-"
"Careful master!" Mash immediatly jumped in front of Ritsuka as one of the Demon God Pillars targeted him, defending her master from the quick attack that came unexpectedly.
But as Mash had blocked the blow, another Demon God Pillar appeard from the left side, trying to deliver an surprise attack from the shielder. Peko however anticipated it by firing a light bullet at the Demon God before it could hit Mash.
All of the four Demon Gods then decided to attack at the same time, giving almost no time and space for breathing to the chaldeans and the servants. Each attack they would deal or block from a Demon God Pillar, one of the other three would appear to either attack them or prevent them from dealing damage to the first enemy.
"They are very coordinated!" Mash said, passing her hand on her own chin, rubbing her wounds as she begun breathing tiredly. "We can't barely scratch them!"
"Ghngaah!" Nala came falling next to Mash after being thrown away by one of the Demon God Pillars. "Crap! They fight like some annyoing insects everywhere!" The girl tried to get back up but ended up stumbling due to her wounds.
"You have been injured a lot already Nala! Don't force it!" Mash told to the younger girl, aiding her in getting up as she asked the girl to not push herself too hard.
Ritsuka observed Nala and Mash's condition some feet away, not being any much better than the two girls. No one was doing well. "This is bad..."
Tesla who was near him, fought the beams of the Demon Gods with his own electric beams, trying to change the tide. "They move calculated and coordinated, expecting our every move! Being Solomon's relatives, it isn't out of possibility to assume some of the servant's Clairvoyance is being shared with the Demon Gods! I'm afraid to say it, but not even the biggest of lightbulbs could lighten our outcome!"
"These things really know how to get into my damn nerves!" Mordred yelled, frustrated at the course the battle was taking.
Meanwhile, Peko was doing his best in surviving and fighting back against the Demon God Pillars against Hans and Shakespeare.
"Luminary Route!"
No matter how much he tried or with what itensity he would hit the enemies, Peko would always see the Demon Gods dodging the attacks or quickly regenerating from the hits he would successfuly land on them. "We won't last long like this! They are simply playing with us!"
Getting weary, Peko hadn't noticed an incoming attack from behind him. Thankfully, Hans and Shakespeare intercepted it in time.
"Hey! No time for snoozing around! You are these things number one target!" Hans reprimanded Peko, stepping next to him.
"An hardship is sure bothersome. But an hero can always overcome them in their stories no matter what. Tales of effort, will and spirit are good to rail up someone." Shakespeare commented it to Peko, narrating this fight as something of an epic. "With those traits, we shall overcome them!" He smiled to the boy.
"Eh, right!" The boy felt a bit of optimism overflowing from the english author. "If we keep fighting together and united, there will be no doubt about it! We can defeat Solomon and-"
"Behind you!" Hans shouted all of a sudden, breaking Peko's train of thought.
The boy turned around, seeing a Demon God Pillar about to deliver a fatal blow to him, way too close for Peko to be able to either dodge or block it. "Huh?"
In an act of sacrifice, Shakespeare intervened, shoving the boy away and letting himself be the target of the attack instead, his chest getting blasted off by the Demon God, much to Peko's shocking terror.
"..S-Shakespeare..?"
"Oh my..." The author stared to his own deep wound before giving a weak smile to Peko. "This certainly...wasn't in the script..."
Before Peko could say or do something to help Shakespeare, the servant's body exploded with flames in a blink of an eye, erasing any of Shakespeare's trace by the time the dirt died down, leaving a terrorized Peko to stare speechless at the place where the author once was just a second ago.
"He's...gone?"
"Dammit! They had to get your sorry ass, didn't they?!" Hans cursed angrily at seeing his fellow author being defeated, immediatly rushing torwards the stunned Peko and shaking his arm agressively. "Oi! You better snap out of it or you're going to be next!"
"..." Peko stood unresponsive, still alarmed by Shakespeare sudden downfall.
"Hey! Have you gone deaf!? I'm talking to you!" Hans insisted, strill trying to get Peko to react.
Ritsuka had seen it. They had their first casualty on the fight. And unfortunately for the party, it wouldn't be the only one.
"Ghgnr!"
Staring behind him, the human master saw Tesla fell to his knees, grabbing his own mechanical hand as it started to dissapear. "Tesla! What's wrong?!"
"My time as run out." The inventor replied, seeing his own body vanishing slowly. "A price for my insubordination to that mage. I abused too much of my mana capacities on the previous fight and this one without having a supply to make my existence here last longer. Tsk! If only I could last long enough for my true geniality to shine..." Tesla lamented sadly, giving a look to Ritsuka. "I'm sorry for having to leave so spontainly in a time of need master of Chaldea. May we get the luck of our paths crossing again." He smiled. "I ensure that if we do as a servant and master, I will show you what I can be truly capable off."
"Tes-"
And the inventor was gone as well, dissapearing into an explosion. Chaldea and the allies just got two casualties in the space of seconds. A possibility Ritsuka didn't thought it could happen even in the direst of situations, causing his mind to start to panick while he tried his best to remain calm. Some drops of sweat even falling from his face as his eyes were full of anxiety and pressure started to build up inside him. "Is this really happening? What am I supposed to do? What can I do!? I need to come up with something as a leader! Something! I can't let us be killed off just like that!"
Also witnessing the demise of two of their members, Mordred's frustration turned into rage, directed upon Solomon and the Demon God Pillars who started laughing at them. "Damn you! DAMN YOU ALL SHITHEADS!" Mordred made an absurd onslaught torwards Solomon, trying to pass by the Demon Gods first. But as soon as she slashed her first obstacle, she got hit back by one of the Demon Gods tentacles,crashing her to the ground, not even making close to Solomon.
"Is that the best you can do?" Solomon asked dissapointed as he saw Mordred trying to get up.
"Y-You..piece of shit..!" The knight cursed at him, staring Solomon in the eyes despite of the state she was in.
"Try all that you want. All is useless before me." The mage king told. "Your attacks can't slash me. Your spells can't curse me. Your best efforts are nothing but for naught. In the end, your fight..." Moving his eye, Solomon spotted Nala appearing behind him, about to catch him by surprise. "Has been simply in vain."
"Arghaah!" Before she could land a hit on Solomon, Nala got caught off guard by a Demon God Pillar who slammed its body on the girl, smashing her to the wall and falling helplessly to the ground.
That scream of pain, reached to Peko's ears, triggering him out of the stun he was in. "Nala!" He immediatly got up and runned torwards the place Nala had fallen.
"Hey! At least tell me where you going!" Hans speaked, going after Peko who ignored him.
"Mordred! Are you still okay?" Ritsuka asked as he and Mash both reached Mordred, trying to help the knight to go back at her feet.
"Downright paltry."
"Can you get up Nala?" Peko grabbed his sister's arm, coming to her aid alongside Hans.
"The way you struggle and cling desperatly to life is so poignant to look at." Solomon speaked, standing undisturbed and unfazed by all his opponents, eyeing them trying to aid each other against his Demon Gods. "This is a curren't you're unable to swim against. Yet you foolishly try to despite the limits and tiredness of your beings, resulting in drowning deeply at sea with no land in sight. It's all so pointless! So fatuous!" He then targeted Mordred, who seeing that, shoved Ritsuka and Mash out of the way.
"Stay back!"
"I am doing a favour by eliminating such uncomprehensible behaviour." Solomon claimed, releasing an offensive spell torwards Mordred, about to give her the same end as Shakespeare and Tesla.
"Mordred!" Mash tried to save her ally, instinctively stretching her arm for the knight who closed her eyes and expected for the worse.
Yet, she wasn't the one getting hit. Instead Hans jumped in front of Mordred, taking Solomon's blow in her place. "Gnhaaah!"
"Hans!" Ritsuka exclaimed in surprise.
"He reached there fast!" Nala remarked, seeing how quickly the author servant went from helping her get up alongside Peko to jump in front of Mordred.
"Shortie N.3?! Why the hell you did that?!" Mordred asked in muddlement, surprise by the small servant noble act.
"Eh, you taught I was just a pure mean spirited asshole, didn't you?" Hans chuckled and smiled despite the pain and the fact his body was starting to vanish, resting in Mordred's arms. Not wanting to go out without providing something of useful that Chaldea could know about Solomon, Hans stared at the mage king. "Hear me out everyone! This information will be important and the last one I'll tell you! We've all sensed Solomon's mana and what he is capable of doing by just this fight alone! His skills are far greater and better than everything you've probably faced till now! A servant unlike any other!"
"We had that figured out already!" Mash told him, also being aware of the superiorty of the mage king's skills when in comparison to anyone else.
"What are you trying to imply here?" Ritsuka asked, not understanding why Hans would say something they knew already.
"Well...this deduction of mine might be wrong by a small margin but...When taking into account the old ritual the records we got from the Clock Tower's library stated about, the concept of Grand Servant and the greatest humanity threat they are suppose to fight against...Analyzing those texts and the aspetcs of Solomon's Saint Graph in itself, there is almost no mistaking it..." Putting all of his remaining energy into it, Hans speaked the next line loud and clear. "King Solomon, king of magecraft is one of those Seven Grand Servants! The Grand Caster himself!"
The reveal was indeed huge to Chaldea and Mordred, getting to know what type of enemy they were up against with.
"The Grand Caster is Solomon?" Peko said in bewilderment.
"How perceptive." Solomon himself commented on Hans guess, seeming midly annoyed. "You aren't wrong by any means."
Hans smilled triumphantly at that. "Eh, guess you shouldn't have exhibited that magic of yours so highly and mighty." The servant coughed blood as new wounds appeared on his body. "Ergh!"
"And you shouldn't have such disparaging mouth." Solomon said with a closed fist, having sent the final blow to the small author.
"Hans!" Peko stared at the servant as his eyes started to go lifeless and his body begun fading away.
"I hope...this was helpful to you..." Hans smiled to the remaining party. "...Don't waste it,knockheads..." And he also dissapeard.
Within a minute, Solomon and the four Demon God Pillars had diminuished the party, already putting three of them down.
"The mere fact of knowing about my status or not won't change a thing here." Solomon said to the remaining members of the party. "You will end up losing anyways."
Seeing his allies decaying one by one and without a solution in sight, Peko started to get desperate, aware that his and everyone else's deaths was possibly near. "This can't end here! I can't die without knowing who I really am!"
The mage king raised his arm. "Now you-"
Reacting out of desperation and instict, Peko raised his mana charged arm quicker at Solomon, releasing his beam of light. "STAY AWAY!" Screaming scaredly, Peko had pointed his most powerful attack at the mage king.
But a mindless and spontaneous attack would only suffer a befitting result. Solomon didn't had to do much. All that he did was putting a transparent shield against Peko's beam, parrying the entire attack in just a few seconds as the light lost intensity and the beam had completely dissapeard. Not even a scratch was made on the mage king's skin.
"Laughable."
Putting his own arm into a tight grip, Peko fell to his knees, having used his all into this attempt. But like Solomon described, it served nothing. "H-How..?" The boy muttered before falling to the ground, tired.
"Peko!" Ritsuka and the rest immediatly approached Peko and stood by his side.
"We...can't..." Peko tried to speak as some tears started to emerge from his eyes, viewing Solomon's imposing figure. The mage king was way above their league. "We...can't win this."
Ritsuka's heart sank as Peko told him that and the human master saw the tears flowing from his eyes. His friend speaked what was on everyone's mind in that moment.
Defeating Solomon was impossible.
"Doctor! We need an Emergency Rayshift!" Mash tried to contact Romani again. "I repeat! We need an Emergency Rayshift! Urgently!" She said while trying to do her best in keeping her composure despite her face being of someone nervous.
"Wait! Are we retreating?!" Nala stared at Mash and everyone else in disbilief. "But if we-"
Just before she could finish speaking, a Demon God Pillar moved on of its tentacles, swipping all of the party away, crashing them into a wall.
Reopening her eyes, Mash saw Ritsuka's lower half of the body stuck beneath a pile of rubble. "M-Master!"
"Nothing's crushed Mash! Don't worry, I'm just stucked!" Ritsuka responded as he tried to get himself out of the wreckage, with Mash now helping him.
"Ritsuka!" Peko appeard next to the two, noticing the master of humanity's situation.
"Help me here Peko! Let's try it on three!" Mash told to the boy, with the two now doing their best to get Ritsuka out of the debris.
A little further in the distance, Nala was slowly getting back up. "Ngh..gh.." Despite being badly injured, the girl didn't want that to slow her down. "S-Solomon..." As her eyes glanced at the mage king, the noises of some grunts grabbed her attention, spotting Peko and Mash to the side attempting to get Ritsuka out of some rocks. "Ritsuka's in trouble!"
"Nala! Come here!" Peko shouted, having seen her sister in the distance, waving his arm at her. "Ritsuka's stuck!"
"I'm..." Taking a step only, Nala hesitated to take another one. Her peripheral view was still seeing the mage king. And right now, her mind was occupied with just one thing.
"Hey Nala! Help us here!" Peko shouted again to his sister who seemed to have stopped in place. "Do you hear me!?"
No, she wasn't hearing him. Nala's thoughts were not of helping her team, but of doing another thing instead.
"Nala please!" Mash shouted alongside Peko.
Ritsuka was finding Nala's lack of response weird. "Why have you stopped moving Nala?"
The girl didn't heard her name being yelled and called out by any of them. She was ignoring their cries. Her head was completely on other place. Another objective. She knew this would be selfish from her part but..."I have to defeat Solomon!"
Repressing her feelings to help the rest of the team, Nala rised her head up and determinedly choosed to go against the mage king.
Peko could tell what his sister had opted for with that glare of hers. "D-Don't tell me you-" He then saw Nala jump to the front, heading fastly torwards Solomon, much to Peko's sudden shock. What was she thinking? "NALA!"
"If we..."
Filling up with adrenaline, Nala was able to dodge some attacks of the four Demon Gods, skillfuly using her sword to cut through.
"Oh? Such boldness to come at me like that." Solomon commented, slightly impressed by Nala's effort of ripping through his Demon Gods in order to reach him.
"If we defeat Solomon here..."
Slidding down one of the Demon Gods tentacles, Nala used the very enemies as a course torwards the mage king, believing with every meter taken that she could make it. It was now or never for her. There was only one way she and Chaldea would get out of this, and it was with a victory.
"Grgh!" Slicing an incoming laser in half, Nala proceeded to cut a barrier of tentacles that was protecting Solomon, coming face to face with him.
"Humanity will survive and me and Peko will see our parents again!"
She truly believed in that. And it was with that faith, Nala would cut her enemy down,her sword being centimenters away from the Grand Caster.
"SOLOMOOOOOOON!"
"I could have called you brave for doing all that effort. Howbeit..." Cracking a smile, Solomon didn't even needed to lift a finger to send Nala flying all the way to the walls of the cave, crashing her body into it.
"Krghrhg!"
"That was rather foolish than brave, young girl!" Solomon exclaimed, sending Nala's body down to the ground. "Only brainless halfwits would dare approach me solely relling on agility and rush alone!"
"Nghg..." Getting back up again, Nala didn't gave up. "I'm not done yet!" She jumped torwards the mage king. "You-aah!" Unfortunately, Nala didn't even got the chance to get closer to Solomon again before being sent down by one of the Demon Gods tentacles. C-Crap!" Nala tried again, only to be met with the same result. "Not yet!" She shouted, trying by the third time and getting sent to the ground by the third time. Yet she tried again. And again. And again. And again.
"How awfully imprudent." Solomon critizised as he continued to watch his Demon Gods sending Nala to back to the floor.
Peko, as well as Mash and Ritsuka, watched it speechless. "Please Nala...Stop it." Peko begged in a whisper, not being able to endure the situation his sibling was subjecting herself into much longer.
Ritsuka cleenched his teeth, extremely disgruntled by Nala's efforts. "Stop it already Nala! You won't reach anywhere by insisting like this!" He wanted to go immediatly next to her and stop the girl from mindlessly trying to reach Solomon, but the slight movement of his body would remind him he was still stuck, only rising up Ritsuka's frustration and anger. "Dammit! If I could get out of this!"
"You are only hurting youserlf by doing this! It's no use Nala! Stop it!" Mash also begged for her friend to cease her efforts while trying to take Ritsuka out of the wreckage. She cursed her own body for being injured and with almost no energy left. "C'mon! I need to-"
"Step away!" Mordred appeard behind Mash suddenly as she pulled the shielder away and destroyed the wreckage with her sword, freeing Ritsuka from it.
"Thanks Mordred!" Ritsuka told to the knight, who immediatly fell to her knees, being already at her limit.
"I sweare if we survive this...I might consider becoming your servant." She said, hardly standing up on her feet without Mash's helps.
At the same time, Peko rushed torwards Nala, having seen enough of her sister getting repeatedly hit by the Demon God Pillars. "Nal-urgh!" The boy almost had no time to react as Nala was sent torwards him, hitting her back against him with strong impact, making the twins fall on the ground.
"Well now, have you learned your lesson? Or will you continue to be an annoying fly?" Solomon asked torwards Nala as he signaled the Demon Gods to stop, seeing the beatened girl moveless on the ground, having stopped her attempts. "But I avow that this was probably the most amused I've ever been when squishing an insect! Hahahahahahahahaha!"
Hearing the mad and loud laughter of the mage king and his Demon Gods, Nala stayed defeated on the ground, tightning her hand into a fist out of frustration, resisting to the urge to sob and cry. "..."
"N-Nala..." Although weakened, Peko was able to approach her, standing by Nala's side as he grabbed her hand and shoulders. "G-Get up sis..."
Solomon viewed him trying to help his sister, leaning her head and back in his body as support. "Toucheful. To think you decide to atempt rescuing your sibling in a dire situation instead of cowardly running away and saving yourself." Solomon commented, reflective. "Perhaps that's what makes you and them different."
"..." Peko didn't said a thing, looking freightned to the mage king altough still holding Nala protectively in his arms.
"...Peko..." Nala said, appearing to be half-conscious.
"Whatever you want...I won't let you hurt her!" Peko said to himself.
"And here I only intended to visit you chaldeans on a whim. See how well you were faring on my trials." Solomon speaked to them. " But then, I soon learned of the danger those two children posed against me if not dealt with. And recently, Barbatos perturbed called about the problem he was facing just some minutes ago. So many problems and migraines that I don't bother to count. Fortunately, most of it is being cleaned at proximately the same time. I get to visit you and prevent the 'royal twins' from being a larger nuisance to me consecutively."
"Wait. So what you're basically saying is..." Mordred stared at Solomon, processing all of what the mage king had said. "You originally wanted to come here just to piss on us?!"
"When putting in that way, sort of. As you stand right now, you are barely even worth my attention. If you want to seek audience with me again, clear the remaining Singularities so that I can consider you as a threat." Solomon replied, going back to stare at Peko and Nala. "But if the rest of you desires to continue living, step away and let me wipe these two children from existence. If so, you may live a little longer." He aimed his hand at the twins.
Yet to his disdain, Ritsuka and Mash, alongside Mordred, stepped up in front of Peko and Nala, defending them.
"Hm? Have you not heard what I said, humans of Chaldea?" Solomon asked.
"We did and we choosed to not stand by!" Ritsuka exclaimed. "If I want to be an exemple of a leader, I shall never abandon any companions of mine!"
"Exactly! We will never leave one of our friends behind! You can't underestimate us on that Solomon!" Mash added defiantly.
"So you wish to die right here instead, alongside your precious 'friends'?" The mage king questioned them.
To wich Mordred answered for Ritsuka and Mash. "Hell yeah we do! I am a knight so I will die like one!"
Behind them, Peko was still holding Nala in his arms, moved by the declarations of the three. He knew the most reasonable would be leaving him and Nala to die and save themselves. And honestly, Peko wouldn't be mad if they'd do that. But seeing to how such lenghts they would go to the point of risking their own lives for him and his sister, was something that still continued surprising the boy.
The mage king cackled at the scenario. "Human stupidity never fails to amaze me." A red glow appeard on his hand as he targeted it at the small group below him. "Perish together then."
With his and everyone's lives much likely about to tragically end here, Ritsuka's eyes did not closed or avert the image of the mage king in front of him. Standing next to Mash and Mordred and in front of Peko and Nala, the master of humanity stared at Solomon bravely. If he would perish here, so be it. "Do your worst."
Solomon grinned at that, ready to obliterate all of his enemies. "Heh. With plea-hmngh!?" But something stopped him. A presence.
To the rest, it was unnoticeable, but to the mage king's Clairvoyance, he could see it. Deep down at the dark hallway to the cavern, Solomon felt a powerful mana, equal to his. In the middle of the grim dark shadows, the omnious yellow glow of a beast's eye had seen him.
"Kgh! He's already here!" Suddenly being filled with hurry and chills, Solomon decided to speed up the things before his plan to kill Chaldea could be thwarted. Firing a black and red laser from his palm, it should be sufficient to kill his enemies.
Seeing the incoming attack, Ritsuka and everyone else closed their eyes, awaiting for the worst.
Instead, a dark fog quickly appeard from behind, surrounding all of them, plunging the area into a pitch black, from the ground to the walls. Being too quick to process it properly, the party only had enough time to see a figure in a dark cloth standing between them, about to face Solomon's laser coming torwards them.
"Eh?"
"What is-"
In this short second however, Peko was able to grasp a detail of the figure next to him. Sticking out almost shyly from the hood of that cloth, the boy's eyes seemingly viewed a few strains of dark hair coming out of it. A tone of dark hair that Peko thought he had seen before, somewhere else.
"Are you-"
But then...
.
.
.
"Emergency Rayshift completed."
"Guys! Are you alright?!"
"Quick! Heed and treat to their wounds!"
Inazuma Eleven OST- Raimon Failed ~Shocking Feedback~
Entering hastly into the Command Room, Romani and Da Vinci were accompained by a group of the staff, rushing torwards the defeated and injured group on the ground.
"Hey! Fujimaru! Can you hear me?! Say something if you do!" Romani attended Ritsuka, begging him to wake up.
"Ugh...D-Doctor..." Opening his eyes, Ritsuka saw he was back at Chaldea, away from Solomon's threat.
"What...happened?" Mash asked as she also opened her eyes to see Da Vinci near her.
"We were able to make an Emergency Rayshift and transfer you back to Chaldea." The servant explained. "It was a close call. Another one second and we might have lost you."
"But...what about the grail..?" Peko speaked, his wounds being healed by some of the staff. "And Solomon? Mordred? The entire city of London?"
"Fou fou!" Fou made some noises, seemingly asking the same as Peko.
Romani stared down in dissapointment, not being easy to admit what he was about to say. "Unfortunately...this Singularity can't be cleared as of now. Best we can do is hope that it can hold on for a few days before sending you there again." He said to the group, as much as it pained him to say it.
"..." Ritsuka's initial reaction was also of huge deception and sorrow, wishing that they hadn't left the Singularity unresolved like that. But he knew that Romani had the team's well being at heart first, not daring to put them through more harm than the necessary. "I understand..."
"That means we can't do nothing as of right now?" Mash asked, concerned.
"No, we can't." Da Vinci shook her head. "As much as ridiculous it sounds, the best we can do is pray and hope that the Singularity doesn't collapse in the meantime until you are rayshifted to there again."
"Then, we are completely relying our survival on luck now." Peko replied, not liking the sound of that. The entire mood of the room was depressive.
"And we got a confirmation on all of this." Romani called everyone's attention. "That our greatest enemy and orchestrator of Humanity's Incineration is the mythic King of Magecraft and Ancient Israel, Solomon."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
A loud yell suddenly got everyone's attention, as they stared at the source of that scream.
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" Nala shouted in rage as she punched repeatedly the ground, devastated by the outcome of their battle.
Meuniere, who was next to her, tried to calm the girl down. "H-Hey. Cool your head a little!"
Nala completely ignored him, blinded by her anger and frustration at the group's defeat. "We weren't able to do nothing to him! NOTHING!" She screamed in exasperation. "How can we defeat him!? HOW?! We tried everything and he just laughed and mocked us! I was unable to do anything! How can we save humanity if we can't even land a hit!?"
Everyone could tell Nala was the most frustrated and emotional in that moment, not taking well the news of their lose. And despite the behaviour, what she was saying was true. Solomon toyed with them. Killed three of their allied servants like if they were nothing and by a miracle that he did not killed the rest of them. Their first confrontation with the mage king was a complete failure.
"Well, for start, you could think more about your comapnions than yourself." Peko told to his sister, making her angrily look at him.
"What?!"
"You heard me!" Peko replied, not stepping down, thinking his sister needed to hear what he was about to say. "You tried to resolve the things alone and guess what? It didn't worked! Instead of helping me and Mash take Ritsuka out of the wreckage, you decided to try and be a saviour of the day!"
"So what?! I had to try!" Nala said agressively. "If I managed to hit Solomon-"
"Yeah! But you didn't!" Peko cut her short, provoking Nala. "You like to think you are above everyone else when it comes to a fight! That from now on things would be very easy since you are so strong! That you'd barely have to break any sweat! But it ain't like that!"
Nala cleenched her teeth, irritated on being called out by her brother. "Shut up!"
Mash immediatly tried to separate the two siblings from increasing the squabble. "Please, let's not start having a fight here. Just simmer down you two!"
"I won't!" Peko exclaimed, still looking at his sister. "What I'm saying is true! You are an arrogant and smuggish idiot for thinking you and your abilities alone are enough to defeat everybody!"
"Shut up!" Nala said it louder, but Peko continued.
"It sucks when you have to face reality where you aren't that powerful and you need to relly on others! That deep down, you won't find our parents by simply forcing your way through!"
"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT THE HELL UP!"
Breaking from Mash's hold in a fit of rage, Nala violently punched Peko on the face, sending him to the ground.
"Fou!"
"Peko!" Mash instantly went next to the boy's side, with Ritsuka, Romani and Da Vinci doing the same.
Some members of the staff were about to forcefully hold Nala down as the girl begun to calm herself down, her anger slowly dying amidst her repressed breaths, allowing her to analyze things much clearer.
"Are you okay, Peko?" Ritsuka asked to the boy who was still on the ground.
"Y-Yeah." The boy slowly rised his face, showing his nose bleeding from the punch.
"I hope this doesn't mean you broke it." Da Vinci talked, touching the boy's nose to check if its bone had been broken due to the punch.
"Fou fu..." Fou stared sadly at the boy, rubbing his fur into him.
Seeing the damage she had done to her brother's face, Nala begun feeling guilty, her heart and throat starting to develop a sentimental pain inside. "I-I'm sorry...I...I di-didn't...I didn't mean-..." Being overwhelmed by the feelings inside her as Peko shifted his eyes to stare at her alongside the rest of the room, Nala's vision got blurry and the girl immediatly turned around and shoved Meuniere away, running out of the room.
"Nala wait!" Mash immediatly tried to go after the girl, only to be stopped by Ritsuka who put a hand on his shoulder. "Eh? Master?"
"Stay here. I'll go talk with her." Ritsuka told.
Having the door of Nala and Peko's room automatically opened for him, Ritsuka stepped inside the twins bedroom. "Nala." He called out for the girl, knowing that she would most definetly be here.
"Go away..." The weak voice of Nala replied, the girl being on top of her bed, giving her back to Ritsuka whilst covered in her blanket.
Despite that, Ritsuka walk and sat on her bed, putting his hand on Nala's head. "Don't be sad. I know you didn't meant it."
In response, Nala slowly descended her blanket and turned around to look at Ritsuka, showing her sobbing face and crying eyes to her friend. "You think so?"
"Of course. That was just in the heat of the moment. You were both not thinking straight due to the emotions." Ritsuka reassured her.
"But I punched Peko. I hurt my own brother." Nala replied saddened.
"And you did that while in anger. Normally, you wouldn't do that. I am sure he can understand that and forgive you." Ritsuka responded, not wanting Nala to think otherwise.
"I don't know if he should..." Nala cleaned her tears.
"Why? Just because you punched him? He loves you Nala. No matter what happened now." Ritsuka told her. "He was the first who went to protect you against Solomon, holding you in his arms. And he for sure wouldn't let you go for anything if that meant your survival. He loves you as a sister more than anyone else."
"I see..." Nala said, staying silent for a short time before grabbing part of the blanket in her head and shoving her eyes into it. "I'm sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" She said repeatedly, starting to cry again, much to Ritsuka's confusion.
"Why are you saying that?" He asked Nala, wipping her tears away.
"Because I decided to fight Solomon instead of helping you get out of the wreckage! You could have died because I ignored you!" Nala explained, feeling extremely guilty when thinking how could she have been able to abandon her friend like that. Perhaps Peko was right on her being egotistical.
"But I'm still here ain't I?" Ritsuka gave her a comforting smile. "Even if we lost here, having all of you still alive is a small win for me, no matter if the enemy was defeated or not. Plus, even if you acted wrong, deep down you wanted everyone to be safe by besting Solomon, right?"
Nala gave a shy nod, still thinking her act was blameable. "Yes."
Ritsuka then put an arm over her shoulder and pulled Nala closer to his chest. "Then heads up Nala."
"R-Ritsuka?" Nala rised her head to look at Ritsuka, her crying having ceased.
"Nothing is lost. We can still do this." Ritsuka showed her his fist. "Together."
Nala's face brightened up as the girl was able to show a smile after the tears. Ritsuka managed to ease her pain. "Together." She replied, doing a fist bump with her friend.
On a hall of Chaldea, Peko, now with a small bandage on his nose, was observing the cold view of Antarctica from the other side of the glass shield, seeing the intense snow falling on the frozen continent that was home to the Chaldea headquarters. For now that was all of the outside world he could see. Mountains of snow and blizzard. But his mind wasn't really thinking about that. The boy was wondering about his interaction with Nala instead, thinking how he upset her. The words he told her to anger his sister.
"Perhaps I deserved this punch." Peko said, seeing his own reflection on the glass.
"Peko."
"Fou fou!"
Looking to the left, Peko saw Mash and Fou approaching him, the shielder already in her normal attire and with some bandages on her wounds.
"Seeing the view of here?" Mash asked him.
"Kinda." Peko replied.
"Eh, this place brings me some memories." Mash smiled a little, watching the landscape outside. "It was on this very same place I met master for the first time."
"Really?!" Peko asked, surprised.
"Yes. I remember exactly how it was. He was lying on the ground, sleeping and everything. First day on the job as well." Mash chuckled.
Peko laughed a bit as well. "That does sound like him."
"He was only another one of the 48 candidate masters that would work for the Chaldea Organization by clearing missions and dealing with distortions of time and space back then. And so, an accident happened and now he is the only master available and capable to deal with this current problem. That's a lot of weight on his shoulders." Mash told some of the events that happened before she had met the twins.
"Yeah. It only makes more amazing how he can always be positive in a situation like this one. I guess any one of us would have broken and gave up." Peko admitted, admiring Ritsuka's fortitude to do such task.
Mash nodded in agreement. "I think that's what makes me proud of being his servant. It was also around the same time when we found you in that destroyed city of Fuyuki."
"And what a journey has been ever since." Peko replied, thinking how much they've been through until now.
"Yes. Doing all of this Singularities with you however, makes me feel a lot better." Mash confessed. "To know I'm not doing this alone and that I can relly on people I consider friends like you, Ritsuka and Nala. Definetly makes the hardships more bearable."
"Fou!" The animal exclaimed a bit upset, gathering Mash and Peko's attention.
"Eh. And you too as well Fou." Mash said, correcting her previous statement.
"Likewise." Peko told to the shielder, going back to stare at the snowy view. "Hey Mash. Is it true you never stepped out of this place?"
"Never. My whole life has been inside these walls of Chaldea." Mash responded with sincerity. "The Singularities are the closest I've ever been of experiencing the outside world."
"But the places of those Singularities, they aren't of the modern world that we currently live in, right?" Peko asked her.
"Right." Mash responded shortly.
"Then, what do you feel about it? To have explored locations of the past but not a single minute in the locations of the present?" Peko made another question.
"As much as its really odd and a bit sad the fact I never got to spent time on the outside of our own modern world, I still enjoyed visiting those places, even if they don't exist or aren't equally the same as of now." Mash answered him with a smile. "Just the fact I could see blue skies and rivers, green hills, different types of houses and buildings that weren't in books, was already an enjoying experience to me. One that I will never forget."
Peko smiled. "Honestly, I think the same. Despite not having many recollections of my life before Chaldea, I always got this feeling of wondering what the world looked like. To go anywhere at any time. And while these Singularities shouldn't be treated as a trip and are dangerous, I also appreciated going and exploring every single one of them. It showed me how the world can be so beautiful and scary at the same time. An experience that while not one hundred percent happy, it helped me have a ampler scope of the planet."
"The world is a place full of curious and misterious things, isn't it?" Mash asked him, liking the conversation.
"Yeah. And once this is all done and I find my parents, I'll visit every single place of the world. Not alone but with Nala, Ritsuka and you Mash." Peko said happily. "A nice way to celebrate our victory, don't you think?"
Initially hesitating to respond, Mash put a concern in the back of her head and answer the boy. "Sure."
"Mash! Peko!"
The voice of Ritsuka called the two's attention as they saw him and Nala walking down the hall, approaching them.
"Hi master. I see yours and Nala's wounds have been treated as well." Mash replied upon seeing them.
"..."
"..."
Both Peko and Nala stood embaressedly silent, don't knowing what to say to each other after that whole incident in the Control Room.
"Who do you think will speak first?" Ritsuka whispered to Mash, watching the two siblings staring at each other.
"Don't know. I only hope they forgive each other." Mash replied, also murmuring.
"Oi...Peko..." Nala talked first, having adverted her gaze from her brother for a moment. "I...I'm sorry for punching you and breaking your nose."
"No. I also am to blame." Peko replied to his sister. "I shouldn't have provoked you like that. I think I was also angry. Not only with you but with myself too." Peko confessed.
"But wou were right to be angry at me. I screwed up there." Nala replied. "I'm really a-"
Peko immediatly hugged her. "All those things I said, I'm sorry for saying them! I don't think of you like that!" He said, starting to tear up. "I think of you as my sister! And so it will be until the end!"
Nala was taken aback by Peko's hug before returning the gesture equally, feeling his brother's face crying on her shoulder. "I love you too silly."
"And peace was made just like that." Ritsuka speaked, happy to see the siblings reconciliation.
"I was scared that they would never talk to each other again after what happened." Mash replied.
"Because of a disagreement? Siblings always have those things Mash." Ritsuka told her.
Mash looked surprised to know that. "So it is a normal occurence for siblings to get angry at each other?"
"I never had one but it's pretty much that. And at the end of the day, they still love each other." Ritsuka said.
"Ah, then a bond between siblings must be a very special nd strong one." Mash thought, admired by the nature of a relationship between two siblings before approaching Peko and Nala. "Now with that resolved, I hope you two don't do that again to each other. Understood?"
"Fou! (That's right! No more infighting here!)"
"We will try our best Mash!" Nala replied to the older girl.
"Understood Mash!" Peko also responded, cleaning his tears, giving the shielder a smile.
"Whatever difficulties and complaints we can have about each other, remember..." Ritsuka put his hands on Peko and Nala shoulders. "We are in this as a team. And so will it be until the end."
Both twins nodded at that.
"It's good to see you were able to settle out this small conflict between yourselves." Da Vinci remarked as she appeard walking torwards them alongside Romani. "Normally it always needs an adult's help."
"Sorry for escalating the things back there, Da Vinci. Doctor." Peko apologized to the two.
"Yeah. It wasn't professional from our part." Nala added.
"Hey now. We aren't asking you to be professionals. Only that you work well as a group." Romani chuckled, dismissing the kids apologies.
"Are you here to tell us something Doc? Da Vinci?" Ritsuka asked them, wondering if there could be another motive they were looking for the group.
"Yes we have." Romani replied. "It's about-"
"The London Singularity?" Mash interrupted him. "I know we had to exit from there urgently but...now the entire city may suffer because of that since we still haven't resolved it."
"With Solomon specially in there, I doubt it can hold on much longer before it collapses." Peko speaked. "Our only hope is that Mordred managed to escape and regrouped with Jekyll and Fran and that some other rogue servants appeared to help them out."
"But even then, Solomon is just way too strong. If no one is able to stand up against him then the Singularity will inevitably fall and..." Nala didn't want to complete her line, fearing for that outcome.
"All hope of saving humanity dies. With us alongside it." Ritsuka finished, pointing it out. "All because we were unable to retrieve the grail." He said sadly, sharing the same sentiment as the rest of the team.
"If the next days will be our last because of it..." Mash closed her hands into fists, feeling a huge sorrow growing in her chest. "Then...Then I-"
The sound of Da Vinci and Romani's chuckles interrupted her, making Mash and the rest stare at the two confused.
"What's so funny about failing and dooming the entire humanity because of it, eh?" Nala told them, not liking how they seemed to be handle such fate lightly.
"What happens when you don't let other people finish from speaking." Da Vinci shok her head, stopping the laughter. "Show them Romani."
"What?" Ritsuka only got more confused by Da Vinci's words.
"Allow me." Romani said, taking an object he was hidding behind his back. "It seems when you went after Nala, you dropped this on the ground Fujimaru." To the team absolute astonishment, the object Romani was holding in his hand was in fact, a Holy Grail.
"THE HOLY GRAIL?!"
The four of them all exclaimed at the same time.
"But how?!" Peko questioned. "I thought we had abandoned the Singularity without retrieving it!"
"Well, we too do not know how this was possible but it seems when we made the emergency rayshift, the grail got rayshifted alongside you." Romani explained, also not being very sure how the artiffact ended up in their hands.
"But that doesn't make sense. I am sure the grail was still on Angrboda when the moment of the rayshift happened, so how could it be on master's pocket all of a sudden?" Mash said, finding the entire thing strange.
"I think we should perceive this surprise more as of a pleasent one rather than a weird one." Da Vinci told them.
"Sure thing! This was quite the miracle!" Nala commented, before holding her horses as she remembered something. "Wait! And what about Solomon?! He can still be there!"
"That won't be a problem as well." Romani said with a relaxed face.
"Our systems haven't detected Solomon's signal anywhere in the Singularity as it now begun to restore itself. So it is more than likely he abandoned it." Da Vinci explained, putting the entire group's hopes high up.
"Wich means..." Ritsuka talked, in expectation.
"Another Singularity you guys cleared." Romani pronounced with a smile. "Four down, three more to go. Congratulations everyone!"
A huge relief was sensed by everyone of the team in that moment, joyful that not everything was so lost as it seemed moments ago.
"Thank goodness to hear that." Mash took a breath, grateful for such luck.
"Phew! I think we dodged a massive bullet here." Ritsuka said.
Nala went to hug Peko in excitment. "Haha! You heard it? We did it! We can still save humanity!"
Altough happy, Peko tried to calm down his sister's spirit, not wanting to be accidentally chocked by her. "Y-Yeah! We a-are very fortunate!"
"But from now on, I reckon that we have to be more careful and prepared if Solomon shows up again." Mash remarked.
"You said it well Mash. Our enemy has revealed to be mighty and unpredictable. A dangerous combination." Romani told her.
"Didn't he told us that he'd only fight us again if we collected all of the Holy Grails and cleared the remaining Singularities?" Ritsuka brought that up, remembering of what Solomon said to them back in the cave.
"But he also plans to kill Peko and Nala for other reasons." Da Vinci warned. "Since he failed to do that, he might appear again to make sure that won't happen again."
"That is quite the problem." Peko said, knowing that from now on, neither he or his sister could feel safe with someone like the mage king after them, feeling a bit of dread on having that thought.
Nala however didnt want her brother to feel that. "So be it! I'm sure next time we meet that jerk, we will be more prepared and stronger to fight!" She put a hand on Peko's shoulder. "Isn't that right?" She asked, making her brother snap of those thoughts.
"Y-Yeah! Absolutely sis!" He responded.
"Than we better all get stronger and more capable as well." Ritsuka said. "I'm sure that from now on, things will get difficulter since Solomon has appeared."
"Aye aye captain!" Nala told him.
"We and the staff here at Chaldea will also make sure you succeed in every way." Romani told them. "However, to think Solomon was the real culprit behind all of this in the end...Working with the Seventy-Two Demon Gods no less." He muttered, seeming a little upset and heartbroken about it.
A thing that worried Mash. "Are you okay Doctor?"
"No need for concern. Just Romani's fanboyism of Solomon getting shattered." Da Vinci immediatly told the shielder, changing to another topic. "Anyways, the surprises don't stop here." She took out a piece of paper behind her back. "This one is for you, Peko, Nala."
Peko grabbed the piece of paper, with him and Nala being puzzled about it. "For us?"
"A sort of gift. Hope you liked it. I spent quite the hours drawing it." Da Vinci said, winking at them.
Staring at the drawing on the paper, the twins eyes widened in surprise as they saw what it was.
"T-This is..." Peko's hands started to tremble as the boy couldn't contain his emotions from taking his body upon seeing the portrayal.
Nala also looked overwhelmed, staring obsessively at it. "Yes...The details. That's how I saw him on the memory..."
The hair. Mouth. Eyes, chin, ears and nose. All nicely and minutely drawned by the crafty hand of Da Vinci, creating a perfect face portrayal that almost looked like a photo, being the most realistic a drawing could ever reach.
"There is no doubt..." Peko's voice faltered as he begun to tear up again. The boy really seemed to cry a lot. But this time, it wasn't out of sadness, nor fear, anger, frustration, lamentation or dissapointment. For the first time, the group saw Peko spilling tears of joy as the boy smiled to the portrayal that begun to get wet with his tears. "This face...Its our dad..."
Nala quickly turned around, covering the eyes with her arm, trying to not cry as hard as she could.
Ritsuka and Mash also laid their eyes on the drawing of the twins father.
"Heh. You really look a lot like him Peko." Mash told nicely, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"This was an important step taken, Peko, Nala." Ritsuka said, happy for the two kids.
"Did you liked it?" Da Vinci asked to the twins.
"Thank you, Da Vinci. Really." Peko rised his head to look at her. "Thank you a lot."
"Oh please. One 'thank you' is enough." Da Vinci giggled.
"Already have an idea where you're going to put it?" Romani asked the boy, who nodded in reaction.
"Yeah. I do have." He replied.
Nala then grabbed his hand. "If so, let's go already! I too have a place in mind where we can put it!" She exclaimed with a smile, dragging her brother behind her.
"W-Woah! Calm down! I'm already going!" Peko told her, following Nala down the hall.
"Fu fou!" Fou runned after the two.
"Welp..." Ritsuka put his hands on the waist. "Guess that means we get to relax until the next mission appears. I'll- hm?" Feeling something pocking his back, Ritsuka turned around to see Mash holding something behind him. "What is it Mash?"
"Here's something for you senpai." Mash handed Ritsuka a tiny piece of paper with a number combination on it.
"Is this...some type of password?" Ritsuka asked, confused.
"Hm hm. You said you have forgotten of the old one to the library, correct?" Mash said, reaching her hand for him as she smiled gently. "How about we go read some books together, senpai?"
Ritsuka slightly blushed at it, looking at everywhere. "I-...hum..I..." He then turned his head around to look at Romani and Da Vinci.
"Eh. Do it as you like Fujimaru." Romani told him, with him and Da Vinci giving some sort of 'permission' to Ritsuka, who went to look back at Mash.
"Sure thing Mash! Let's go!" Ritsuka said happily, causing Mash's smile to get slightly bigger, guiding her master to the library and leaving Romani and Da Vinci alone.
"Hehe. They are truly quite the happy and united bunch." Da Vinci claimed, crossing her arms. "Regardless of such defeat, they continue running to their objectives." She then stared at Romani. "Do you think they are still capable of facing all of the adversities, Romani?"
Looking to the view outside, the doctor put a hand on the glass, his lips shifting into a small smile. "I do."
"HM! W-where am I?! What happened?! Is everyone okay!? Show yoursel-..."
Waking up in a frenzy, Mordred had recovered her consciousness, drawing out her sword and getting her guard up again...only to see she was in the middle of London streets.
Yet, her mind was cramped with questions on what happened, why she was there alone and how did she ended up getting to the outside. And the knight also noticed another strange thing, initially thinking it was her eyes playing a prank.
"Hm? The fog is...dissapearing?"
The smoke and mist that once haunted and covered the entiree city with its monsters was going away, giving a much clear view of the houses, the trees, the benches and every other detail and object in the scenario around Mordred.
She was utterly oblivious about it. "But how did this happened?"
"Glad to see you are okay."
Fate Grand Order OST- Winter Memories
Hearing a voice out of nowhere, Mordred immediatly pointed her sword to the source of it. "Who the hell are y-..." Gasping, the knight's eyes stared in shock to the figure in front of her.
There stood a young man, covering his face with a black and white hood and the rest of the boy in small clouds of mist. The aura and semblence Mordred got from him was very identical to that of someone else she knew once before in her life.
"Do not fret. I'm not here for a fight." The young man responded. "I only stayed around to make sure you would wake up. Now that it happened, I have to go before this Singularity finishes from correcting itself."
"B-But... how can you..." Mordred was still in awe by the presence of the other person, feeling she knew him from somewhere else.
"I'm sorry for not having arrived sooner. I let the beast escape yet again." The young man apologized politely, about to walk away. "Ah, and one more thing before I forgot to say it..." He turned his head around, looking at Mordred. "You did a splendid job defending this city Mordred. Goodbye."
Mordred got almost speechless as she saw him go away, about to dissapear deep into the fog. "W-W-WAIT! Don't go away dammit!" She stretched her amr torwards the mist. "At least tell me who you are!"
"Mordred!"
Hearing another voice shouting behind her, Mordred saw Jekyll, Fran and the grumpy old man walking down the street, appearing to her.
"Who were you talking to?" Jekyll asked the knight, concerned.
"That guy over there! He's..." Pointing to the place where the young man was, Mordred stopped talking as she saw that he was long gone. "Where the hell did he go?"
"Did the fog made you see things or something? There's clearly no one there." The old man told her.
"Shut up. I wasn't talking to you." Mordred replied before looking at Jekyll. "Hey dude, I just woke up now and kinda adrift from what's happening now. Are the rest of the group with you?"
"Hm?" Fran tilted her head to the side, not understanting what Mordred was asking about.
"What rest of the group? I thought all of you went to the chamber where Angrboda was located to put an end to it and the Demonic Fog." Jekyll told her, also not comprehending Mordred's question.
"Crap." Mordred cursed, her mind having theorized the worst might have happened to them.
"What do you mean by that? What happened on the cavern and everyone else that went with you Mordred?" Jekyll demanded, not seeing the rest of the party with the knight.
"Well, there was this powerful king guy that appeared at last minute when we were about to retrieve the grail and resolve this Singularity whatever-bullshit and wiped the floor with all of us, killing some of our allies." Mordred shared her experience. "So I'm afraid that the rest of those guys...also perished and I'm the only one that luckily made it out alive." The knight's lips moved down in slight anger. "In other words, we failed."
Fran then went torwards Mordred and shok her head, denying the knight's statement.
"Hm? What do you mean we actually won?" Mordred asked to the artificial girl.
"No. Fran is right." Jekyll told her with a smile. "You destroyed Angrboda and stopped the Demonic Fog from continue to spread across London. I mean, just look around you."
"True. The streets aren't so congested with fog as before." The old man agreed. "A clear change on the scenario happened. Hence why we are out here in the first place."
"Hmm now that you mention it..." Mordred put a thumb under her chin, thinking about it. "Yeah! That checks it! The Demon Fog is no longer a threat!" She said, getting to smile again, looking to the sky that started to open up from its clouds. "I don't know what you guys did to clear it, but whatever you've done, great job!"
"And so London is save." Jekyll adjusted his glasses. "Wich means its time for you to lay down and rest again."
"Hum?" Mordred stared at Jekyll before noticing a glow on her hand, seeing it beginning to vanish. "Oh, so it appears my job is done. I have to say, for a nerd, it was cool working with you."
"The feeling is mutual. You really honoured the mantle of being a knight of the Round Table." Jekyll told her. "I think this was a once in a lifetime experience."
"Tsk! Don't tell me that! I'm no knight of the Round Table anymore!" Mordred reprimanded him. "I just did what I felt like doing. It was never a matter of honour dumbass."
"I see. In that case, I hope you enjoyed doing things by your own will Mordred." Jekyll told her, still smilling, unfazed by Mordred's attitude.
The knight also calmed down. "You're so damn polite that it feels wrong to insult you." She said before smilling. "But I think it makes you likeable."
"Uhm uhm!" Fran said something to Mordred, looking like she was saying goodbye to the knight.
"Eh, I'm also gonna miss you Fran. I know your life has only just begun but remember to always stick up for yourself, got it? If someone annoys you or insults you, a good punch is a great answer!" Mordred told her.
"Hm hm!" Fran nodded.
"What hell of advice is that?!" The old man exclaimed incredulous.
"You will take care of her, won't you?" Mordred asked to Jekyll as she was about to vanish.
"You have my word. For everything you and the others did for this city." Jekyll assured to her.
"Eh, that's good to hear. Because honestly..." Mordred smiled one last time. "There are people who just don't seem to get things inside their heads. No matter how much you punch them over..."
And the Knight of Rebellion dissapeared, with the Singularity on its final touches of fixing itself.
"So Fran..." Jekyll gently grabbed Fran's hand. "What follows up for us?" He asked her.
"Uhmmm..." Fran put a finger on her forhead, thinking.
"How about you two come to live to my house?" The old man proposed them.
"What? Really?" Jekyll said surprised.
"Until your apartment is finished from being rebuilt that is." The old man added, meanly.
"Oh, yes. Of course." Jekyll responded, smilling nervously and looking to the side. "The things is, I don't know if I have money enough to get a restoration of my entire house."
"That is of no concern young man. You will get it for free." The old man told him, surprising Jekyll.
"Oh?!" Fran sounded surprised as well.
"Seriously?! But how?" Jekyll questioned.
"Do you even know who I am boy? The owner of one the most powerful and biggest construction companies there is in the entire United Kingdom. I am no mere shareholder. You will get your house back with no additional costs." The old man cranked a smile. "And that is me being the most generous I've ever been."
"Oh my...thank you so much sir! I don't even know how to repay you!" Jekyll exclaimed.
"Hmm, how about making me some tea when we get home? I am sure a young man like you knows how to do one." The old man requested.
"You are in luck sir. Tea is one of my speciality. There is this specific one from China that I think you will like." Jekyll said as he and Fran started to walk alongside him.
"As long as it tastes good." The old man replied.
"Uhm uhm!" Fran gave a slap on the old man's back, as a way of showing her gratitude.
"Ah! P-Please don't do that again!" The old man begged. "I am already at an advanced age you know?"
"Oh. Hm hm." Fran nodded, comprehensively.
"Does she know how to talk?" The old man asked to Jekyll.
"She does not sir." Jekyll told him.
"Well, then let's make sure to teach this young lady all that life has to offer with a proper education!" The old man exclaimed, much to Jekyll and Fran's happiness.
"I am sure she would love that. Wouldn't you Fran?" He asked to the artificial girl who nodded back with a smile.
"Hm hm!"
And so the three begun walking to their residence, no more being face with the Demonic Fog that threatned the inhabitants of London. Very soon, the people started to walk out of their homes and hideouts, not having to be afraid of the dangers that once worried them and turned this city into a ghost town. London once again became a urban zone full of noise from people walking, chatting and doing their labours, horses pushing carts and carriages, factories working again, kids running and playing around and beggars asking for coin. It wasn't perfect. Far from it. But this London was essential to the human history and the influence it would have on the next two centuries. Being free of what seemed its impending doom, London went back to be a city with life.
.
.
.
From a location out of the space and time axis. Unable to be reach by none. Neither in the past nor future. Isolated from everything. The private dominion of the one who coordinated current humanity's downfall and incineration.
In the midst of a vast and glorious blue sky with its white clouds and lively green grass terrain, the giant grey columns and immaculated pale staircase that composed the temple stood tall between the giant drifting rocks in the air, in front of the presence of one of Ars Almadel Salomonis rings. At the apex of the grandious temple, Solomon was sat on his throne, apparently unbothered.
Apparently.
"Ah. I see you were able to reach me here. Such feat is of no simple doing, Man of Sin."
Solomon spoked down to a figure covered in a dark cloath, facing his throne.
"I deduce you were the master of that alchemist as well as the one who Flauros told me about. For being of such a persistent and mysterious presence that I can no longer ignore, I wil grant you an audience with me. So do tell, what is your whole purpose in this? Why do you seem to be in both mine and Chaldea's way?"
Solomons asked to the figure, wanting to discover what was its plan and schemes in the middle of his own conflict with Chaldea.
The figure looked up to Solomon, giving a small chuckle.
"It has been some time since I last saw you...friend."
Fourth Singularity: Death World in the Demonic Fog City: London- Foundation Restored
To be continued...
And that was it for chapter 70 and London's finale!
Now I know what you might be thinking "What the hell was that ending? And that scene? Will I have to wait for more context?" Yes you will. Nothing better than ending a Singularity by creating questions and speculation on the reader's mind. Kinda jerkish, I know.
With that, I can proudly say we have reached the half point of this saga. Wow, we've really come a long way in just a space of a year and half. Now only Pluribus Unum, Camelot and Babylonia stand in the way. All of the earlier Singularities have been done, with Septem, Okeanos and London all in this year. Quite the progress.
And now, thinking about 2023 in FGO aspects, I won't lie. It was probably the shittiest year of the game so far. Dead month, no QoL, no reruns, no animation updates, just one main story chapter (Two if you wanna count with LB7 part 2) and the events were rather hit or miss. Saying that, I hope that 2024 can turn things around for FGO.
Also, since 2024 will mark the 20 years of the entire Fate franchise since the release of the original FSN novel, I am also a simple fan like you who desires one thing only...PLS NASU AND TYPE-MOON! GIVE US A FATE ROUTE REMAKE BY UFOTABLE! PLS! THAT'S ALL I EVER WANTED!
That aaaand, more news about Strange Fake, the Mahoyo movie and something to spice up the FGO side of things. (And perhaps something about that Fate Extra game than the usual radio silence...no?...)
Eitherway, that's all I wanted to say and I will see you all next year on Pluribus Unum! Peace!
P.S:
(Nala is seen reading a book by Mash)
Mash: Oh? Nala's reading? That's unusual. And that book is intresting as well.
Nala (Notices Mash): Hey Mash, could you give me your glasses for a second please?
Mash: Hum, s-sure. Here you have it.
Nala: Thank you
Mash: Why did Nala asked me for the glasses? Could it be...she's having trouble with her vision?
Nala (saddened): Hmmm...hey Mash.
Mash: What is it Nala? Please don't tell me you have a problem in your eyes.
Nala: The glasses. They aren't making me smarter
Mash:...oh...
(IMPORTANT NOTE: THERE WON'T BE CHAPTER NEXT WEEK)
