Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of chapter 112 of the story!
And before anything, don't worry for the chapter arriving a day late! I'm okay, I'm alright. I didn't got shot or runned over or anything like that. My parents just came to visit for the week which slowed down the writting process of this chapter (that is also hugely long! So you know what that means: Dividing the gigantic chapter into two! So you readers get two chapters in one day! Yay :D).
But I'm sorry for delivering this chapter with delay. Unfortunately, I really had a busy week this time, so I apologize if I made you think there wouldn't be chapter this week or if something happened to me. It's all good and I'll continue to release chapters weekly like always!
Also, how was your Halloween? Mine as been the same ever since I was 14. It's things like this why growing sometime sucks. No free candy anymore.
Also, I was today years old when I discovered you can costumize your Google's PC background with gifs. Honestly, it's pretty amazing and I'm baffled I've only discovered it today. Unfortunately, the gif backgrounds on my computer somehow just stopped working for whatever reason shortly after, meaning that it ended up being a useless discovery for me. Still, those first minutes of experimenting with it were pretty cool.
And with that out of the way, 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
The entire chamber was in an admired silence in reception to the reveal of who was behind the person in the yellow coat. None of them, with the exception of Peko that had already known a day prior, could imagine that another version of the legendary british king, Arthur Pendragon, would be roaming around and present on this Singularity. One that was more in line with the general public's imagination of his appearence and myths.
"Salutations, people of Chaldea and allies. I am Arthur Pendragon, the King of Knights." One of the bona fide versions of the king of Britain, and male counterpart of Artoria Pendragon, presented himself to the party, branding a bright, joyus and kind smile. "It is an honor to finally meet the people who are fighting for humanity's survival in person."
"But you..." Bedivere blinked his fazed eyes twice, unsure if they were seeing it right. This Heroic Spirit didn't looked like his king but at the same time it did. The clothes, the eyes, the hair color, the armour. All aspects that resembled the knight of Artoria Pendragon. It was like staring at some type of twisted mirror of his king. He couldn't look at Arthur and not imagine Artoria in his place and vice-versa. If Bedivere had never seen his king's identity and accompanied her up close during their entire lives, alongside the fact she would pretend to be a man for the kingdom's people, with the knights also helping her on that act, the Knight of Loyalty would believe that this young man in front of him was the king he used to serve. "This cannot be real...A complete counterpart of the king from the opposite gender? It is like a stuff from a dream."
"But it doesn't appear to be one." Mash responded to Bedivere. The shielder was sensing a sort of ressonance within her own body. The Heroic Spirit inside her seemed to have reacted the same way. Whatever they were feeling, it was a sentiment that was trasnferred and shared with Mash, telling her that the servant in front of them was indeed of a scaring similar nature as Artoria Pendragon. "This Heroic Spirit right here...is truly the King of Knights! An alternative version from the one we knew!"
"And it isn't the first time it happens to us." Peko replied, having already known of the detail about Arthur since yesterday. "We've already had other cases of stumbling into different versions of King Arthur that we're meeting for the first time again."
"Both the altered saber version in Fuyuki and the King of Storms in London." Ritsuka commented, his mind reminding him of their previous encounters with two other alternative depictions of King Arthur they faced on the journey once again.
"And speaking of which, the Lion King herself is also a different version from Artoria Pendragon as well. Or so we are led to believe." Mash remembered of that information, proceeding to stare at Peko. "Peko, since you were her prisoner, can you confirm if the Lion King's appearence resembled anything like the previous personas of Artoria Pendragon we encountered before?"
Peko nodded. "Yes, I can. Under that helm, the Lion King's face is truly of Artoria Pendragon, more precisely, a face identical to the King of Storms but...how can I put it? Looking less obvious tyrannical and more stoic cold I suppose."
"So that confirms it to a degree." Ritsuka put a thumb on his chin while Nala was beside him, scratching her own head in confusion.
"Egh! This is starting to get into some snowball non-sense! So you're telling me that there is a normal Artoria Pendragon, an evil Artoria Pendragon, a mature evil Artoria Pendragon, a mature stoic evil Artoria Pendragon and now a male Artoria Pendragon? And they are all somehow the same person but NOT the same person as well?" Going by all that thought process was causing her to begin feeling dizzy. "Uurgh! My brain feels like being torned apart! How many versions does this woman have!? Does she also have a kind of swimsuit versiom as well?"
"Don't sweat it. I know it might sound a bit confusing when hearing it for the first time, but think of it in this way." Arthur told comprehensively to the girl, offering himself to dilute the topic. "While I am indeed Arthur Pendragon, the legendary king of Britain, I am not your King Arthur, but from a different timeline. A whole other universe to put it simply." He explained, pointing at himself. "The King Arthur you've known about, Artoria Pendragon, ruled Albion as a girl disguised as man to the eyes of the population. I am a King Arthur that was truly born a boy, being the main difference that set the two of us apart. But despite of those differences, both our tales go pretty much the exact way. Pulling Caliburn from the stone, the Round Table, Camelot, Excalibur, my victories and my death. Basically, I am the closest parallel version to your King Arthur while being a young man instead of a young woman. That must be why some of you feel a very strange feeling of close familiarity with me altough this is the first time we meet."
"Hum, different timeline and universe..." Nala's mind tried to understand it. "That was quite the mouthful explanation, but I think I got it...kinda."
"That does make sense. While us servants have a definitive version of our own story, there are other countless variations and interpretations to our tales and characters itself." Sanzang speaked, having grasped Arthur's explanation, being well aware of it. "Having many different version of oneself is not a thing that's new to Heroic Spirits. Specially from different timelines from our own."
"And that is where concepts such as 'Alter' comes from. A complete opposite of a Heroic Spirits ideological traits while physically still being of the same body. Either for good or bad." Touta also joined in, adding more to the subject. "However, Arthur Pendragon here isn't exactly an 'Alter' of Artoria Pendragon because the two have different bodies. The thing that connects them, is the identity in this case."
"I suspected as much when going off by our previous experiences with the handful of alter servants we had already encountered." Mash said, referring to the two already mentioned alter versions of the young and adult King Arthur, adding also the alter versions of Jeanne D'arc and Cú Chulainn to that list as well.
"Also, having alternative versions of an Heroic Spirit doesn't necessarily mean it has to obligatory come from a different universe." Sanzang continue to speak. "Many times, it can be a specific point in time where we are summoned as either or younger or older selves. That can make an Heroic Spirit change from classes. Per exemple, currently I'm a caster, but depending on which point of my life you have summoned me, I may have appeared as a Rider with Bai Long instead" The monk giggled, contemplating the endless possibilities of her variations. "But if that doesn't sound interesting in the grand scheme of things, right? Like, what if you picked a Sanzang from a universe that didn't became a monk? What if it was a Sanzang that was killed by her own disciples? A Sanzang that followed the path of another figure instead of Shakyamuni? A Sanzang that decided to open a sto-"
"Alright! They got it pretty much already!" Touta cut his 'mentor' off from chattering more. "No need to get onto this topic any further than that!"
"Multiverse shennanigans. Of course." Ritsuka muttered, sounding like he should have expected such concept to be talked about and introduced ever since he became a master of Chaldea.
Bedivere continue to stare to Arthur. "Still, even if you technically aren't my King Arthur, I can't shake off the sensation that I am speaking to the king I have known for a lifetime right now." The knight ended up bowing down to Arthur in a courteous manner. "Therefore, I must also show the king respect as if it were my own liége."
However, it seemed Arthur Pendragon didn't want none of that, chuckling a bit instead. "I appreciate thy formality, Sir Bedivere. Trully, I suspect that my own Bedivere would do the same if he were to come across with your King Arthur." With a smile, the King of Knights extended his hand to Bedivere. "Howbeit, thou excuse thyself of such cordial acts before me. As the Knight of Loyalty, I believe that Sir Bedivere should bow to one King Arthur only. That is, thy own king and not me. The one thoust swore an oath to."
Being told to not bow down to a version of King Arthur that wasn't his, Bedivere ended up doing it as such. "Understood. Sorry if I acted unnecessarily servile with king Arthur Pen-"
"Just Arthur is fine." Arthur said to Bedivere, keeping humble. "There's no need to adress me as king if I am not really the ruler you served."
"I see." Bedivere smiled a bit. "You do also appear to share some of the virtuous qualities of my king."
"But so, what is you deal in this Singularity then?" Ritsuka wanted to know the reason for why there was another version of King Arthur in this Singularity besides the Lion King. "I deduce you're here to help us."
"Don't tell us that this is somehow a convuluted scenario where this Singularity is actually the Camelot from your timeline, all messed up and modified, with the Lion King being a somewhat of an imposter version that usurped you from the throne and took control of your kingdom!" Nala prattled about, her mind going way out of the box with Arthur's involvement.
The King of Knights gave a bit of an awkward smile as he heard all that, a drop of sweat on his face. "H-Hum, no. Not at all. You do have a very fertile imagination, young lady. If anything, I'm the imposter here. But just like you chaldeans, I too came from the outside, having been 'summoned' to this place." Arthur told them. "And yes, I indeed intent to help you as an ally to your noble cause. Be it in a short-term or long-term."
"That sounds great, Your Majesty!" Mash almost exclaimed with joy. "With the aid of Arthur Pendragon, fighting against the Lion King and her knights will be-oh! D-Did I just called you Your Majesty?" The shielder blushed a bit in embaressment, having called Arthur of that spontaneously. "I-I didn't meant to! It just came out."
Arthur didn't seemed that upset, his kind and friendly smile remaining on his face. "Hahaha, don't need to apologize for that! I know it wasn't your intention."
"So we will have the legendary Arthur Pendragon by our side eh?" Ritsuka looked amused and happy with that fact. "Finally! I was getting tired of every version of King Arthur we ended up meeting, being our enemy."
"Be that as it may, my main objective in this Singularity isn't to put an end to the Lion King." Arthur told them suddenly, adopting a more serious face, slightly suprising the party.
"Eh? You aren't here to defeat the Lion King?" Mash asked, addled.
"If not, then what's your main reason to be here in this Singularity?" Nala questioned him.
Arthur was quick and straight to the point. "To slay a beast. One that I've been persuing for too long."
"To slay a beast you're chasing?" Ritsuka reacted, wondering what was even this beast the King of Knights was referring to while being dead serious.
"Arthur had already told me his true motive in advance before you all reached here to the Atlas Institute." Peko told to the rest of the group. "And while he may have filled me in on some aspects of his identity, I also am as clueless as you about what he means by that." Saying that, the boy turned around to stare at the King of Knights. "Now that all of my team is here, I hope you and the detective gives us the answers that we want to know."
"Do not fret. You shall have them." Arthur said, being congenial with Peko as he then stared to all of the party. "All of you will. That's why you came to this place, no? If so, then follow me." He showed them the path lying up ahead of the chamber. "Up ahead, thou shalt find investigative man who will present thee with the truth about Solomon's plans and the Lion King's identity. And possibly others."
Sanzang approached Arthur. "By mentioning 'beast', you aren't referring to..."
"I think he is." Touta added, thinking on what Sanzang was thinking.
"So you two also seem to know what I'm talking about to some degree." Arthur replied to the duo before looking at the Chaldea Team and Bedivere. "As for the rest of you, you shall see." Arthur begun to walk up ahead into the hallway, indicating for the rest to follow him behind, ready to lead them to the place where all of their major questions could hopefully be answered.
Now guided by Arthur Pendragon, the group went through the blue halls of the Atlas Institute, encountering no enemies or a defensive system to oppose them in their tracks.
"Hmm, things seem pretty empty and quiet here when compared to the outside." Ritsuka commented as he stared to the walls, the interior of the Atlas Institute seemingly looking more peaceful in contrast with the wild sphyinxes guarding it on the outside. "I'd tought such place like this would have more of a security."
"Yeah. It isn't sitting quite right with me." Nala replied, also finding it suspicious. "There must be at least one monster on the way."
"Actually no. You can lower your guard here." Peko told to the group. "I've been here since yesterday and got told there wouldn't be any hostile creatures roaming around here as well as confirming it for myself. Arthur and the other Heroic Spirit in here made sure to clear the entire place from enemies way before we arrived."
"Your friend is telling the truth, chaldeans." Arthur corroboded Peko's statement. "When I came to this institute with the plan of making it my hideout in this Singularity for the first time, its hallways were infested with creatures. With some help of the Heroic Spirit that was here before me, we managed to clean the area on the inside while letting out the wild sphyinxies outside to make as guards, technically turning the Atlas Institute as our base of operations."
"There's another servant that has arrived earlier to this place than Arthur-san?" Mash asked, catching up that detail from Arthur's words.
"Yes. I'd say he is a very perspicacious individual with a keen and incisive mind. You'll get to know him very soon." Arthur replied to the shielder. "He is also desirous of meeting with you."
"By the way Arthur-san describes this servant, he seems to be a very intelligent person." Mash said, imagining the servant Arthur had just discribed. "I can't wait for us to meet him!"
"Fou! Fou!"
Appearing from her shoulder, Fou said something in his typical animal noises before jumping torwards Peko after getting the boy's attention!
"Fou!" Catching the creature, Peko was gleeful to see Fou again. "It's also good to be back with you! Was missing you a lot as well!"
"Fou fou fou!" Fou happily replied, waving his paws and tail, poking the boy's face playfully.
Laughing a bit, Peko stared with joy at his sister and friends. It was good to be back with them. But it was by looking at them that Peko's mind finally catched something. "Oh! W-Where's Da Vinci? Only now I'm noticing that she ain't here. She was supposed to be with you, right?" He found it strange that upon having reunited to the group, he saw that the italian inventor was nowhere to be seen.
The mood of the other members of the Chaldea team changed to a more withdrawn and dolorous expression, realizing that Peko wasn't there when Da Vinci had sacrificed against Lancelot to help them flee.
Peko however didn't looked to had caught that, a smile still on his face. "Did she decided to stay behind to plan or create something that may help us later? Knowing Da Vinci, she'd certainly do that! I can't wait to thank her and tell her how much the new dispositive of hers was of huge help to-..." But once he saw how dispirited the others looked, Peko finally understood that something was wrong. "...Hey...Why for the long faces? I don't understand. Where's...Where's Da Vinci, guys?"
Sorrowfuly, Mash tried to give Peko the bad news that had already happened over a week ago but only now he was finding out. "Da Vinci-san is...Well..."
Without having to say much, Peko connected the dots, his confused eyes and face transforming into shock and slight terror. "It...can't be. Are you serious?" Questioning the other three, the boy wanted to make sure he wasn't speculating thw wrong thing, their prolonged silence ony confirming it for Peko who's happiness immediatly vanished in that moment. "I see...Looks like I'll never get to thank Da Vinci then."
"Fou fou..." Even Fou was sad, mourning it briefly.
"We never would've made it if it wasn't for Da Vinci willingfuly throwing her life away for us." Nala approached Peko, trying to comfort him a bit. "She did it to give us a chance. A chance that we could still get you back, Peko. And that our odds of resolving this Singularity wouldn't end at that specific moment."
"We couldn't even have the appropriate time to mourn or properly tell her goodbye. Da Vinci was already decided on doing it. And when she's like that, it's almost impossible to convince her otherwise." Ritsuka speaked with some burden on his chest. He wished that Da Vinci could still be here, aiding them all the way through until this point. But as a leader, the last master of humanity knew that his team couldn't be full of sad faces at this moment. Specially now that Peko was back. "However, once we return back to Chaldea, we will make sure to held a proper funeral for her and there we shall say our final goodbyes to Da Vinci. As of now, let's focus on what's more important."
Despite of being sad with the tragic information of Da Vinci's death, Peko came to agree with what Ritsuka had said, nodding his head in acceptance. "Right...There's no use wheeping now. We'll save that for later when we're done with this!"
Mash and Nala looked at each other for a second and nodded as well, thinking Ritsuka couldn't have put it any better.
"But by the way, Peko. How did you exactly escaped from the Holy City?" Ritsuka asked his friend, curious. "I figure it must have been hard."
"Pretty much." Peko said, taking out a silver disk from his pocket. "It was thanks to this creation that Da Vinci had secretly given to me: Árma Hermes. That and an assault on the Holy City that put it under siege."
As he had said that last part, the entire party, except for Arthur and the boy himself, got dumbstruck by the reveal.
"Say what?!" Nala exclaimed.
"The Holy City got under attack yesterday?" Mash said, perplexed.
"By who?" Bedivere asked to Peko. "Who could have attacked the Holy City with the Lion King and the other knights in there?"
"More of a what. That 'what' having been The Blight." Arthur answered the question. "In this last week and so, it seems that it had more accelerated advances than expected torwards the Lion King's kingdom, ending up attacking the Holy City."
"How huge were the damages?" Touta made the following question.
"Being huge or not, the Lion King and her knights must have survived it, otherwise we would either hear news of her death by now or Peko would have told us already."
"Right on the money." Peko responed to the monk. "The destruction on the Holy City with th raid from The Blight was indeed huge, causing a part of the city's walls to collapse which gave me a huge exit to finally escape from there. And altough som soldier knights have died, the Lion King and the other knights of the Round Table are still standing."
"You think Cursed Arm and the others at the village have already caught wind of this?" Ritsuka asked to Mash.
"Possibly. If so, it is a bit unlucky that we decided to leave for the Atlas Institute now." Mash replied to Ritsuka. "If we were all together and begun to reunite an army earlier, the conditions would be met for a great opportunity to storm the Holy City since their defenses are down as we speak." Th shielder let out a sigh. "Looks like we passed by a golden chance here."
"It wouldn't matter." Arthur speaked to Mash, telling her that such opportunity wouldn't be worthy of getting one's hopes up. "The Lion King and her knights work fast. By the next day when you and your army went to strike the Holy City, the walls would already have been rebuilt again and the defenses all restored. Unless you were literally near the kingdom, that opportunity would have already gone away by the time you arrived."
Peko believed in what the King of Knights said. "Having been captive there, that claim isn't far-fetched as even if some of their units aren't the brightest, the knights, specially Agravain, can administrate and operate the city's functions with efficiency. And even if I didn't want to say it, they must be finishing the reparations of the damaged walls as we speak."
"Then it wouldn't make much difference." Mash muttered with a frown.
"Speaking about your time as the Lion King's prisoner." Nala approched Peko with a serious face. "She...She didn't hurt you or done something to you, did she?"
"No. Not at all. I'm completly fine!" Peko told his sister with a reassuring smile. "All that happened was..." But then, Peko's mind flashbacked to that moment. The one where the Lion King attacked him with her sacred lance, absorving and stealing a great part of the 'light' within his soul. The boy wasn't sure if the others should be aware of this, not wanting to worry them. "Was..."
"You alright, Peko?" Ritsuka asked to the boy, noticing the sudden pause in his speech.
"Was these new clothes I got!" Peko said, showing the prince custome he was wearing now. "The Lion King really wanted her knights and everyone else to treat me as a highly important and well treated prisoner, so I think this outfit was part of it."
Taking a good look, Nala nodded with a smirk. "Hm hm! I do have to say, you look good in it."
"Thank-"
"It makes you look way more puny!" Nala joked.
"W-Who are you calling 'puny'?!" Peko replied, in distaste of his sister's joke.
"I don't think you look puny, Peko." Ritsuka told to his friend who went to smile at him.
"Eh. At least you go-"
"You look puny and adorable!" Ritsuka pranked Peko as well.
"Fou fou! (Same!)"
The boy ended up pulling a comical angry face. "Why you- That isn't funny at all!" Despite vixed, deep down Peko couldn't deny he missed these small moments of quipping with them.
"Pay them no mind, Peko." Mash told him, being always the person way too kind to even throw a banter to one of her friends. "I do think those clothes make you look very royal and majestic indeed." The shielder praised his looks.
"Well, they are prince's clothes after all." Peko pointed the obvious of Mash's comment, still happy regardless. "But thanks for being the one with decency, Mash."
"Sure thing." Mash replied, trying to hide a blush on her face as Peko turned around. "But I can't lie that he looks so cute in it too! It makes me desire to hug him!"
As the conversation beetween the chaldeans was happening, the party was now reaching to the end of the hallway.
"We're already seeing the exit up front." Bedivere said, trying to take a glimpse look of the chamber that lied beyond the entrance.
"This will be it now." Arthur made a disclaimer to the party. "Once we step through that entrance, some of the vital answers that you have been searching for will be found. Get ready and be prepared."
And so, the entire party got ready. Not because they were expecting to fight some enemy or powerful creature in there, but because they were about to get very crucial revelations. About their mission, their enemies, even about themselves. Whatever awaited them on that room, they knew they would exit it with new changed perspectives, different from the ones they were now entering with.
Getting through the tall and wide entrance, the party soon got to see the huge chamber. A large dome with an open circular ceilling, giving view to the blue sky outside. The entire floor was made of piles of sand, with large blue cubes of carved lines composing the walls around. And on its center, there stood three tall obelisks, going as high as almost reaching the open ceilling. Thousand if not millions of inscriptions written on the pillars, containing information and history as vast as an endless sea.
All of the party, besides Peko and Arthur that had already seen the room, stared to the giant pillars in awe.
"T-This is..." Ritsuka glazed impressed at the oblisks.
"It looks just like the Command Room at Chaldea!" Mash commented, seeing the resemblence.
"Owing to the fact that what are you glaring upon is the Pseudo-Spiritron Calculation Engine, TRI-HERMES, the basis and inspiration of the Chaldea's system, TRISMEGISTUS, it should not come as illogical that the founder of the organization would also decide to replicate other details of the Atlas Institute into Chaldea's decoration and architecture."
Having heard a voice echoing around the room, the group look around to see where it was coming from.
"Hum? Who's this? Have you guys heard it too?" Nala asked to the rest of them.
"Atlas Institute, also known as the Titan's Pit, a nickname much likely based on the titan that hold the entire world in the greek mythology, Atlas. A mostly pondered and safe conjecture to make. What some may not know is that the alchemists of this institution have biological ancestry with the egyptian goddess Isis, being her descendants. With that in context, Atlas Institute being now located in the middle of the egyptian desert does not seem that out of place, does it my friends?"
The voice continued to speak, the person speaking behind it still not showing up.
"How about you do the favour of telling us that in person?" Ritsuka replied to the voice. "Is there a reason why you won't show up to us?"
"But I am already present you see? Sometimes, all we need is a second, more watchful and attentive gaze so that not even the miniscule of details can pass unnoticed. The same goes for the flagrant, bigger ones that can stand right in front of you."
"Hm?" Looking once again to the oblisks in front of them, Ritsuka now spotted a man standing right in front of the entire party.
"Was already wondering if you would start playing an enigma on them first." Arthur said to the man who had just appeared out of nowhere, chuckling in response.
"Good heavens, King Arthur. The king knows that as much as I like puzzles and riddles, as a detective I am the type of person to resolve them, not creating." The man took a quick inhale from his wodden pipe, exhaling the smoke out after two seconds, his white gloved hands holding the object. He was tall and handsome, a mature adult man with neatly brushed short dark blue hair as well as a clean shaved face with no trace of facial hair on his skin, dark green eyes of a deductive and analystic mind. The fancy looks of a traditional gentleman by the book, wearing a long black victorian coat, covering most part of the white shirt and grey vest he was wearing underneath. The dark blue tie around his neck and black trousers to complete the look of a refined and classy man.
"Hmm, quite dandy looking." Sanzang commented the man's appearence.
"Is he the other Heroic Spirit you were talking about?" Nala asked to both Peko and Arthur.
"Yes he is." Peko replied. "A famous one too! The 'Great Detective' as some may refer to him."
Mash gasped a bit as she theorized by the man's appearence and Peko's basically dead giveaway on his identity. "You're telling me he's-..."
Smiling with tranquility and certain composure, the man introduced himself to the party. "Altough I admit it would be captivating to see you try and guess who I am, I dread that my appearence may be one that causes little to no speculation. So we better brisk to the formalities." Clearing his throat, he revealed his name. "At last we meet, chaldeans. For the one speaking with you right now, is none other than the great detective from the novels of 19th century London, Sherlock Holmes."
Knowing of the servant's identity, the group reacted with initial silence due to how astonished they were upon hearing the servant's identity.
"I knew it!" Ritsuka exclaimed. "Judging by the looks really made it easy!"
"S-Sherlock Holmes? The true Sherlock Holmes!?" Mash almost shouted, containing herself a bit as she stared to the detective. "Incredible! He's just like what I imagined the famous Sherlock Holmes to look like!"
"Is this the guy from the books you're always talking about, Mash?" Assuming it by her friend's face, Nala smirked with some mischiveous intent as she approached Holmes. "Excuse me, Mr Holmes, but my friend here is-"
"A huge fan of my fictional mysteries." Holmes didn't even let the girl finish as he had already made an assumption. "An avid reader and bookworm nonetheless, having a fascinating intrigue by literature, many of it of the fantasy, thriller, detective and romantic nature."
Nala was apalled by the guess. "What a- how do you know all that?"
The detective just chuckled with amusement, a bright shine on his eyes as he looked down at Nala. "Elementary, my dear."
"Oh my god! He actually said it!" Mash exclaimed in euphoria internally while trying to look calm and composed on the outside.
"He was able to figure all that out from a person just by looking at her?" Touta commented, astonished. "Unless he is a god in disguise, then this guy truly is the world's greatest detective!"
"Guess it's only fitting that the most important information and secrets we are about to receive could only be given by the likes of a detective like you." Ritsuka speaked to Holmes. "Now that I think about it, it's funny how we didn't met you in London but here instead." He said, believing that if there was a proper place where they would have met Holmes, it would be on the city he lived his entire life in instead in a place in the middle of the egyptian desert.
"Oh, but that's were you got it wrong, master of humanity, Ritsuka Fujimaru." Holmes replied. "I was in that Singularity indeed. Our paths just weren't meant to cross yet."
"Hum?" Ritsuka got a bit confused.
"Holmes-san was in London?" Mash asked, also confused.
"He truly was!" Peko confirmed, proceeding to explain it. "Remember of our mission of entering the great library of the Clock Tower beneath its headquarters? How Hans discovered the book with the information that we were looking for about the Holy Grail ritual? That he told us that it seemed someone had left it for us to discover it?"
Nala remembered it as her brother recounted the experience. "So you're telling us that the one who left that book for us to discover..." She looked to the detective, there only being one possible answer. "It was you, wasn't it?"
"A very easy of a guess, but factually correct, young lady." Holmes replied, revealing that was indeed him who had left that book in order for Hans and the others at that time to discover it. "Having a bit of an helping hand from the sidelines here and there can be crucial sometimes. All of the data you found in that book was organized by me, passing off the scope of the mage and his associates without notice." He briefly mentioned Zolgen and his group of people that were teorrizing London in that Singularity.
"Glad you did that for us then." Ritsuka thanked Holmes for his secret and mysterious help to the party. "However, if you were there, why didn't you introduced yourself and joined to help us at that time?" He questioned the detective, wondering that if Holmes had been in London, why didn't he allied to Chaldea and allies in that Singularity?
"Now now, do not get ahead of yourself in this case, Mister Fujimaru." Holmes told Ritsuka to not think it like that. "I may have been the one who laid the book with information for you to find, but who said I was still in the Singularity by the time you had arrived, being long gone after the task?"
"Hum, you beat us there." Nala admitted. "Forgot about that hypothesis."
"In the world of investigation, every pondered hypothesis counts. Do not just be confine to the select few that may be more realistic to your minds. There are cases where one must think outside the box sometimes with the little evidence they have." Saying that in a sort of 'advice', Holmes smoked a bit more from his pipe. "And I do crave to aid your righteous cause as an ally and supporter on Chaldea's most important murder case of today: The Incineration of Humanity."
"Then why is Holmes-san speaking like he can do that as of now?" Mash asked him, finding the detective's phrasing a bit weird.
"Eh, clever and sharp-witted mind the young lady has." Holmes smiled to her. "Truly, I cannot help you any further than this due to my hands being occupied with another case at the moment. One that my dear friend, Charles Babbage, requested me to resolve."
"Charles Babbage?" Ritsuka found that name familiar.
"That huge tank steam engine guy?" Nala recalled it of their confrontation back in London.
"What did Charles Babbage asked you to do?" Mash interrogated Holmes.
"According to Holmes himself, some information that can only be found here in the Atlas Institu-!" Peko said before immediatly shutting his mouth. "Oh! S-Sorry! I should have asked you if I could say that to them!"
Holmes just laughed a bit. "No need to concern young lad! I'm fine if you told them or not either way." The detective then stared to the rest. "But like your friend has mentioned here, the main reason of my presence here is to obtain information only found in Atlas Institute of a case Babbage trusted me with. What case you might ask? Perhaps one of little and trivial matter, meant to be turned into another one of novel cases. And I certainly would not have arrived this far to the center of the institute if it wasn't for the great help of the legendary king of Britain, Arthur Pendragon himself." The detective speaked torwards Arthur.
"Well, when arriving here, I needed a place good enough to use it as a base during my stay in this Singularity. And luckly, the Atlas Institute ended up fitting those interests." Arthur replied to Holmes, the king having helped the detective in getting rid of the creatures inside the place nad turning the institute into their headquarters for th short moment. "But just like Mister Holmes, my first and most important objetive here foremost is rather personal. Hunting down and put an end to the beast once and for all."
"Who or what is exactly this beast that you're speaking of?" Bedivere asked him. "King Arthur seems to be chasing it for sometime for the sound of it."
"Quite the long time indeed." Arthur stared to Bedivere. "This beast is a duty of mine. A long made promise I made to myself...and to another one. And despite the years passing by, I won't rest until Excalibur deals the finishing blow on such dangerous and baleful creature!"
"..." Altough silent, Bedivere was slightly impressed to how devoted Arthur seemed to be on completing his task, having been a promise he had made a long time ago. An analogous situation between the Knight of Loyalty and the King of Knights. Bedivere could tell that such determination was truly befitting of the male counterpart of his king.
"Then for Arthur-san to be here, does it mean the beast you are looking for is also here in this Singularity?" Mash asked to Arthur, theorizing.
"Well, I do also wanna hear more about that." Peko stared to the king. "You said that out of all the timelines you've been through on your relentless hunt, this Singularity as made you feel closer to the beast than ever before."
"..." Not saying a thing, Arthur simply gave a side stare to Holmes who catched it, staring back at Arthur. For a moment, it seemed the two servants were talking telepathically.
Before anyone could call them back, Holmes begun to speak. "Do tell, chaldeans, you still remember of the information contained in thr book found by mister Hans, do you? About the great ritual of seven grand servants being summoned to fight a giant, great evil of humanity? A very threat to the world itself?"
"Yeah, we do remember." Peko responded. "An ancient Holy Grail ritual that seeked to form a team of the greatest servant from each class to protect Earth and humanity against a powerful, terryfying enemy. The servants being labeled as Grand Servants."
"And the threat to humanity being a representation of their collective sin, borned from a sense of twisted love and care." Mash added, reminding of what Hans told them.
"Well, as you might suspect, for every good force that wants to protect humans, there must be a counter force willing to destroy them and possibly more. A ying to a yang." Holmes said with seriousness, eyeing mostly the chaldeans. "The 'Great Evil of Humanity' you just described, are the Beasts, from the cursed Beast Class."
A chilling sensation of dread runned down from the team's spines as they heard the designation of the forbidden class.
"A...Beast Class?" Ritsuka muttered.
Meanwhile, both Peko and Nala went awfully silent, the name of 'Beast' sounding pretty familiar to them. As if it brought them memories.
Dark ones, plunged into a dark sea.
"Aaagrh!"
"Gghaah!"
"Peko! Nala!" Ritsuka and Mash immediatly rushed to the other two, startled by their sudden shouts of pain and agonizing jolts.
"Fou!"
"Are you two alright? What happened?" Mash asked with concern as she put a hand on Peko's back and Ritsuka on Nala's shoulders, both panting a bit.
"I-I don't know... It felt like my brain had just been shocked inside!" Peko put a hand on his sweating forhead, feeling his head calming down.
"As if something bursted inside of it!" Nala also said, the sudden aching now gone from her mind.
"That's strange. I hope it's nothing serious!" Ritsuka replied, wishing it was nothing more than a scare.
"Nah, it's all good now! Don't panic!" Nala blinked her eye to Ritsuka, brushing away the small moment of concern for her well being. "But how exactly are you acting surprised as well? Didn't Holmes told you of this information when you arrived here first before us?" Nala questioned Peko, having thought her brother was already aware of the Beast class that they were discovering only now.
"No. Holmes didn't." Peko replied to his sister as Mash let him stand on his own. "First time that I'm hearing of this just like you."
Silent, the detective glared at the siblings with a deep and incisive stare for a brief moment, discerning their behaviour and reaction, attempting to make a clue out of it correlated with their hazzy and mysterious background. The word 'Beast' looked to had triggered an acute pain on their brains. He pondered 'why' however. What could be the reason for it? Yet, Holmes let the cogitation on stand-by for now. "It's true. I told to your friend that you would only be getting the essential answers once they'd also be here at Atlas Institute. I perceived as unfair if one of you got to know ahead of the others. This way, you all get to know the truths at the same time. So do count as the revelation of the Beast Class, as the first one uncovered here."
Predictably, Ritsuka wanted to know more about it. "This Beast Class you speak of, is it humanity's natural enemy? How dangerous it is?"
"Dangerous enough that even many of the Heroic Spirits would refuse to fight it if they ever stumbled upon one." Sanzang speaked, getting more into the conversation. "If a Beast class is present, it's a warning that catastrophe will follow in its path. A Beast is the joint of all evil, symbolizing the great capital sins committed by humans. Fake prophets and saviours, abominations, calamities and forces of natural terror and apocalypse." The monk said with a very serious voice and look, wanting the chaldeans to get in their heads just how dangerous this class was. "They are born as karma for the flaws and sins of the human nature, searching to destroy humanity in a distorted and warped goal of saving it, perceiving the suffering inflicted on the species as nothing more but a sense of 'love' and 'well being' for them. In other words, beasts while being the amalgamation of the great evils, do not exactly act out of malice, but more by a twisted desire of 'loving and protecting' mankind."
"And to have an idea just how horrifyingly mighty one can be, all of us here present in this room, would have very hard chances of defeating one even if putting all our efforts together." Touta highlighted the powerhouse and threat that the Beasts were. "To even realistically think of putting a Beast down, we would have to get the help from both the Lion and Sun King, as well as a Grand Servant present in order to slay a Beast." The archer ended up looking at Arthur. "You wouldn't be enough of a madman to go toe to toe against a Beast alone, would you? Unless..." Touta gave him a through look. "Are you a Grand Servant?"
Before the entire room could get into speculation about that, the King of Knights was quick to deny it, shaking his head. "I am not. Altough I do have the qualifications to be the Grand Saber, I do not occupy that rank, being only a grand candidate for the position at best."
" 'At best'?! Do you know how hard it is to be considered a grand candidate?!" Touta said in perplexity. "That alone would be an honour to majority of us servants!"
"I know. But being a Grand Servant isn't exactly what I aim to be, hence why I honestly think there should be other Heroic Spirit that is actually willing to become one in my place." Arthur proclaimed with zero egotism.
"Damn! He surely is humble!" Touta said im his own mind.
"All that I crave for, is that the Beast I'm hunting will be put down for good!" Arthur stated. "I fear of what harm it can bring to other worlds, being free to do so."
"Hmmm..." Suddenly, Nala closed her eyes, beggining to think.
"Hm? What are you doing?" Ritsuka asked her.
"You know...if Holmes stated that Grand Servants and Beasts are a ying and yang, then one is unable to be present without the other's presence, right? And since we've met with the Grand Assassin, First Hassan, back in the mountains, and now with a candidate to Grand Saber here..." Nala explained, connecting the dots little by little.
Bedivere figured what she meant. "Then there can only be one clear answer to this." The knight looked to the entire group. "There is indeed a Beast in this Singularity. The Beast King Arthur is chasing down."
"Well observed, my knight companion." Holmes replied to Bedivere, praising his deduction.
"Eh? What about me? I'm the one who was pointing all the details out!" Nala was left in shambles, also wanting Holmes to recognize her work.
"However, I do have a distaste of being the bearer of bad news but, Bedivere's assumption was slightly to the side." Taking a small break, Holmes revealed a shocking fact to the party. "Me and King Arthur, through the usage of TRI-HERMES, found that currently there isn't one Beast in this Singularity, but three."
"WHAT?!"
The entire party yelled out in a terrified shock, thinking they heard it wrong.
"T-Three beasts within one Singularity?!" Sanzang exclaimed loudly. "By Shakyamuni, that's an absurd!"
"At this point, this Singularity won't get into a catastrophe but a pandemonium!" Touta added.
"Do you know those Beasts exact location?" Ritsuka asked to Holmes, approaching the detective, fearing that it meant something really bad about to happen.
"Unfortunately, we do not." Arthur responded for Holmes. "When Holmes was using TRI-HERMES for geographical search and analysis on the Singularity's map, the system ended up detecting three highly unstable and potent signals on the radar right around the area of the Holy City."
"Unfortunately, the system of TRI-HERMES went a bit erratic at that moment, barely having time to make decent notes of the Beasts nor if those three signals were exactly their location." Holmes stared to the three tall oblisks. "Such ominous power that it ended up forcing TRI-HERMES to a shutdown and cut the power of its system in half. Now, it only retains half of its energy left as consequence." The detective went back to stare at the party. "Thankfully, TRI-HERMES was able to capture and share with me the three names, or rather, titles of the Beasts."
"Which is?" Mash asked, she and the whole group waiting for Holmes to spell the names out.
Wanting them to hear it loud and clear, Holmes made sure his voice was as composed and stable as ever. "The three Beasts within the Singularity as of this moment are: Beast VI/R, Beast VI/L and lastly, Beast 0/XIII."
"So those are the names..." Peko whispered, taking note of it mentally.
"..." Ritsuka's mind meanwhile couldn't stop but wonder how terrifying a Beast was for even the servants be cautious of it and speaking with some slight fear. He wondered if they were close to meeting one now at the late stages of their order. Or, if they had encountered with one already without knowing, the short and flashing 'memory' of his recent dream with the Man of Sin blitzing through his head. "!"
"Is everything okay, senpai?" Mash asked to Ritsuka in a low tone, noticing the small change on his face expression.
"Y-Yeah. I am Mash." Ritsuka replied, naturally disguising the slight discomfort.
"Wait a minute there! Beast 0/XIII?" Sanzang eyed Holmes with a minor skepticism. "I know there might be variations of each specific Beast number, but they are based on the seven deadly sins of humanity! So how can there be a thirteenth Beast?"
"That is a question I do not have an answer to give." Holmes admitted with a bit of a sad frown. "Truly a mystery that I wish to solve if it wasn't for the already existing one I have." The detective poked the tip of his pipe on the chin. "Hmmm...Beast 0/XIII. Thirteen, the number of bad luck in some cultures. And zero. To represent what exactly? Nothingness? The nullity of the void perhaps? One can only wonder."
"What do we are sure in is that one of those three is the Beast I'm looking for." Arthur speaked. "That, and The Blight being work from one of them."
"The Blight is work of a Beast?" Mash asked, wondering why for that connection.
"Do think this way." Holmes speaked, about to explain her and the rest about the subject that was The Blight. "By now, I'm certain all of you must have seen the effects that The Blight causes on those that end up infected by it."
"We sure have!" Nala replied. "It makes someone appear a demon'ish' zombie lookalike."
"The skin, face, body, limbs. They all seem to become disfigured and corrupted, taking the form of something wicked and no longer human." Peko added more to what they've seen of The Blight, specially of his own encounter with it during the siege of the Holy City. "It takes control of ones body and overtakens it, being totally in control of their functions, like a parasite."
"Correct! That's precisely the same conclusion I came upon when analyzing the substance." Holmes replied, seeing that Peko was reaching to the same conclusion as him. "And now, besides The Blight, have you witnessed similar happenings or beings that shared some traits with The Blight, people of Chaldea? Cases of someone being corrupted?"
Being asked of that, Mash remembered of some instances. "Well, there is this type of fiendish enemy that appeared in order to attack us ever since the Third Singularity. Their appearence being completly demonic overall." The shielder described to the detective. "As for cases of seeing someone getting corrupted and transformed into something monstrous..."
"...Faust. From when we had to fight him back in the end of the London Singularity." Ritsuka recalled it with some anguish, remembering from when the alchemist became a winged bird demon out of control right in front of them, forcing to put an end to his misery. "Altough I'm not sure if what took over him at that time was The Blight, it felt like a similar subtance, taking over and morphing his body into a terror of an abomination. He had completly lost control of his body and mind there." He said with a bit of sorrow, having wished that Faust's end didn't had to come to that. "And also, on the previous Singularity, an ally of ours stated how these demonic enemies seemed familiar with the evil spirits of his native tribe." Ritsuka also brought up that detail from when Geronimo had told them back in North America. "That must mean something torwards The Blight, no?"
"Yes indeed young lad." Holmes slightly moved his head. "The researches of The Blight, lead me to discover one thing. That it is not only a type of dark magic, it is also one that acts like a virus, corrupting and infecting anyone who touches it. Its nature is very alike to that of a fungus. A kind of cordyceps that tethers the guest's body and free will, contaminating to a molecular level, detheorating any living being of rational thought. Therefore, The Blight is indeed a plague! A type of pathogen magic spell that corrodes a human into becoming more like a demon! Except, there is a differencethat sets a normal fungus virus and The Blight apart." The detective pointe to his own head. "While a fungus most of the times goes for the brain, looking to take the control from the host's neurological motions and capabilities, The Blight goes for another thing." Holmes then pointed to his own chest. "The soul."
"The soul?" Ritsuka looked puzzled at Holmes.
"For many if not all the cultures, the soul symbolizes life. Our own moralities and core piece of existence as individual beings. What better target to corrupt with sinful evil than the soul?" Holmes clarified. "Very soon, it can overpower our normal, rational toughts, replacing it by poluted, inorganic and wicked ones, erasing our own conscious and senses as it modifies us into something monstrous. For where there is light, darkness comes to engulf it and take over."
"In evil there is good, and in good there is evil. Such is the fundamental understanding of a soul." Sanzang said deeply, remembering of the philosophy from her own land. "A true yin-yang of equilibrium. And The Blight disrupts that."
"Pretty much it. That is The Blight whole gimmick." Holmes replied. "And it wouldn't be a surprise if one of the Beasts uses it to create havok within the Singularity. Which one of them has it? I'm not sure."
"But there is an high hypothesis that these three Beasts might be working together." Arthur said.
"How so?" Bedivere asked him.
"In a short moment, Olgoi-Khorkhoi is killed right here in the desert, accompanied by a loud sound. And in the next hour, The Blight advances like never before and attacks the Holy City, leaving its defenses down." Arthur expounded. "I don't know about all of you, but to me, it felt like an orchestrated and coordinated attack performed by the Beasts. We better stay on alert as we do not know what their next move could be."
"If what you're saying is true, then I guess the Lion King will be the less of our problems here." Touta replied, thinking of the hge danger three Beasts at the same place implied.
"While I could agree with you, the people of Chaldea still need to regard the Lion King as their main enemy to defeat in this Singularity despite the bigger threats lurking around." Holmes said, not undermaining the Lion King's importance as an enemy simply due to the presence of a stronger and more threatening one. "For she and the Holy City are the cornerstone of this Singularity."
"Hm?"
"Eh?"
"What?"
"Come again?"
The entire Chaldea team replied to Holmes addled.
The detetctive reacted joyfully at their confusion. "Muddled? Worry not then my good friends! With the topic of the Beasts and The Blight out of the way, we can now proceed to the other important questions you might have. Do ask them and I will make TRI-HERMES search an hypothetical to objective answer within the middle of its vast pile of information!" Holmes told them, but he then dropped the smile. "Altough I do must warn you: TRI-HERMES current energy in the system is at a low. Because of that, the limit of searches it can perform right now is three in total."
To be continued...
And that was all for chapter 112!
Holmes is finally in baby! And where there is Holmes, there is exposition! But we all love him for it. He's the guy that can still make a total nonsensery fuck of a situation have some sort of context and reason.
And this chapter, like the questions, is a very fundamental one for the story and the last stages of it. (Just like the one in the game was). In this one and the next one (That will release in the next minutes if no accident happens to me) Are of true essence to some of the aspects of the story's core. You already saw that in this one, the Beast Class was revealed as well as the 'presumably' presence of three of them in the Singularity.
And oh, do believe me that the next one will also have some discoveries (Well, ones that were already part of the game and the rest being original of this fic)
But anyways, with all that said, see you right up next on chapter 113, were more crucial information is waiting! Peace!
P.S:
Nala (Eating a protein bar) Tsk! Can't believe there are people in Halloween with the lack of shame to give this in place of actual candy.
Angra Mainyu: Oi.
Nala: Oi...what do you want?
Angra Mainyu: Nothing really. I just wanted to ask you if I'm scary.
Nala: If you're scary?
Angra Mainyu: Yeah. Since it's Halloween and all.
Nala: Well...if you're scary as in, the Fate Stay Night timeline and Hollow Atraxia? Pretty much. In FGO? Buddy, I'm gonna be honest, you're just another one and barely in the top-10 scary. I even sometimes forget you even exist.
Angra Mainyu (sighs): I wonder when I will finally be able to do something relevant in this game.
