Chapter 134: Beast Nero Has Returned to Chaldea?!
In front of them, the Fuyuki Bridge was engulfed in billowing black smoke. The fierce flames revealed that a brutal battle had just taken place here.
"We have won."
Looking out toward the burning city in the distance.
Marisbury Animusphere reached into his pocket and spoke slowly.
"So, what is it that you seek?"
A hooded Caster asked.
"I want to complete Chaldeas."
Said Marisbury Animusphere, his white hair fluttering slightly.
"I'm not interested in this so-called Third Magic. Our Animusphere family, the ones who wield Astromancy, must reach the Root through our own unique method."
"Chaldeas... that is your wish."
"And what about you? What do you desire?"
Marisbury Animusphere turned his head and asked.
That question struck directly into the soul of the Caster standing behind him.
"The Holy Grail has appeared. In the end, what is it that you intend to wish for with the Holy Grail?"
"I..."
The hooded Caster revealed his face.
Beneath the orange hair was that gentle expression.
"...I want to become human."
...
Immediately after, the scene abruptly shifted to a dim room inside Chaldea.
"It's you."
Marisbury Animusphere sat inside.
"You're five minutes late, Daybit."
Daybit stepped in through the door, pointing a gun at the Director of Chaldea.
"Shut Chaldeas down immediately."
"Oh? So you've figured it out..."
Facing the threat, Marisbury Animusphere gave a slight smile.
"Telling me to stop Chaldeas? That's a bit much, don't you think?"
He reached for a pistol on the table.
"Put it down or I'll shoot!!!"
Daybit shouted in warning.
"Between protecting humanity and preserving my own life, which should I prioritize?"
Marisbury Animusphere pressed the gun to his own head.
"No need to think."
BANG——————————!!!
...
The sound of gunfire rang out, and Ethan jolted awake from the dream.
That dream just now... was it a memory of the former Director?
Why was he able to see the memories of the former Director? Could it be related to how the scenario started changing after he actually entered the Singularities?
Human Order... could it truly be rejecting him?
"Oww oww oww——————!!!"
Before Ethan could think further, every muscle and joint in his body began reacting violently, sending waves of sharp pain coursing through him.
It was as if someone was stabbing him repeatedly with needles.
And it sounded like someone was still talking nearby.
"Hey, Mash is about to come back, hurry up you guys."
"Trust me, this method is guaranteed to wake the Master up. Back when I was in battle, no matter how lazy the soldiers were, just a single spark and everyone would jump up immediately."
"Huh? Why the hell should I listen to you people?"
"Seriously, as long as Master hasn't woken up, you keep causing trouble everywhere, people have been complaining nonstop."
"Hey, hey, who's causing trouble all the time… it's just coincidence, just coincidence!!!"
"Hehe, it's fine. This level can only be considered light training before becoming a king anyway. Besides, if he gets injured, Chaldea has a medical team—and even two Saints!"
"Alright... if this really wakes him up..."
Suddenly, a burning sensation surged from his pinky finger.
"As I thought... better stop now!"
"What are you saying? We've come this far—aren't you the Dragon Witch!!!"
"The Witch of Britannia is even more dangerous than you! Why don't we just go all in?"
"Aaaaah, what are you guys doing!!!"
Suddenly, another panicked voice interrupted.
"Aaaaah! Jeanne Alter-san, what do you think you're doing?!"
"This is bad, Mash is here! Mash, this has nothing to do with me!"
"In that case, I'll make my escape too… nigerundayo~~~"
"You two!!!"
The noise, combined with the burning pain in his finger, made Ethan frown. Finally unable to endure it anymore, he shot up and shouted:
"What the hell are you people doing!!!"
As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Jeanne Alter staring at him wide-eyed in shock.
Looking down, he saw a stream of black fire burning in her hand—it was clear now who the culprit was.
The other two had already vanished without a trace.(note: one of them was definitely Mordred, the other is probably Reines?)
"———————?!"
Upon seeing Ethan awake, Jeanne Alter first showed a glimmer of joy, but then noticed his eyes fixed on the flame in her hand.
"It's not... not what you think..."
"Senpai, watch out!!!"
Mash immediately rushed forward, trying to stop Jeanne Alter's next move.
"Damn it! If I can't explain it properly, then let's just die together!!!"
With a "screw it" look on her face, Jeanne Alter grabbed hold of Ethan, who was still groggy and clueless.
"Eh?!"
BOOOOOOOOOOM————————————!!!
The black flame erupted violently in the room!!!
Ethan's room—was blown to bits!
...
"Honestly... can you at least behave a little while you're still inside Chaldea?"
Doctor Romani sat at the front, sighing as he spoke.
"Logistics came to me again, saying Ethan's room is severely damaged and temporarily unusable."
"I'm sorry... I acted too hastily."
Mash sat on the chair, her face full of guilt.
"I didn't expect Jeanne Alter-san to actually be worried about Senpai, I thought she was trying to attack him."
"W-Who the hell would worry about that guy!!!"
Jeanne Alter, sitting nearby, suddenly jumped up, her face full of tsundere vibes.
Ethan still looked completely dumbfounded.
"Come on, come on, even though there was an explosion, it wasn't that dangerous, and Popess Johanna helped with the treatment too. As the Master, of course you should be generous enough to forgive."
Da Vinci smiled while lightly patting Ethan on the shoulder.
"Right, Ethan-kun~?"
"..."
My room was blown to pieces, and you call that not dangerous?!
…But Jeanne Alter really didn't have malicious intent.
"It's good that the misunderstanding was cleared up, I'm fine."
Ethan smiled and waved his hand — the arm he raised was wrapped in tight bandages.
A faint smell of antiseptic drifted past his nose.
Even though Johanna treated him immediately, honestly… it hurt like hell…
"First of all, congratulations are in order—The second Singularity, Rome, has been successfully restored!!!"
Doctor Romani and Da Vinci stood in front of Ethan, Mash, and Jeanne Alter and made the announcement.
"To think, in a situation where you had to face Beast VI, you still managed to summon Grand Lancer and the Holy Sword Wielder, and successfully counter the crisis threatening the Human Order this time. Honestly, I didn't believe you could defeat Beast VI at first."
Doctor Romani spoke with deep emotion.
"But Ethan, summoning Arthur Pendragon is understandable, but Grand Lancer–Romulus? How exactly did you summon him? After all, Servants of the Grand Class can't normally be summoned using human methods."
Facing Doctor Romani and Da Vinci's curious eyes, Ethan immediately replied:
"I don't really know either, I just gave it a shot… and he appeared."
What was he supposed to say—
That when facing the Beast, you could summon a temporary Grand Servant just by spending 500,000 livestream points?!
"So that's how it was."
"Summoning arts from China really are mysterious. Ah, if possible, I'd love to study them in more detail."
"——————?!"
Doctor Romani and Da Vinci both nodded in agreement, as if that explanation made perfect sense.
"Eh? That's it?!"
Now Ethan was the one confused.
"Well… so many strange things have already happened around you, we were just curious."
"It's not like you'd know the reason anyway, right?"
Da Vinci stated firmly.
Thinking about it… Ethan had to agree.
After all, they'd already encountered a Beast in just the second Singularity, so summoning a Grand Servant didn't seem that far-fetched anymore.
"Anyway, the reason we called everyone here isn't about that."
Doctor Romani exchanged a glance with Da Vinci, who then walked over to the control panel and began operating it.
"You all remember, after defeating the Beast of Sodom, we found a blonde little girl at the scene, right?"
Ethan and Mash immediately recalled — indeed, while retrieving the Holy Grail at the Singularity Rome, they had found a little girl unconscious on the ground.
Or… maybe it wasn't accurate to call her a "little girl."
Because that face was clearly the larva form of Beast VI.
Hadn't Chaldea already confirmed that the Saint Graph of Beast VI had completely disappeared? So who exactly was this unconscious girl???
"Because the doctor said she posed no threat, after retrieving the Holy Grail, we left her behind… Why do you ask?"
"That should've been the end of it… but——"
On the large screen behind Doctor Romani, a heavily secured room appeared.
Right in the center of the room sat a petite blonde girl.
"Hey! This king wants to meet that Master of humanity, do you hear me?!"
As Ethan's gaze fell on the screen, the girl turned her eyes toward him, as if she could see through the monitor to look directly at Ethan.
"Oh? The last Master of humanity… This king has come to meet you."
At that moment, the small girl on the screen gave a sly smile — the crown and dragon features were now gone.
Completely different from her ascended form — a seductive and alluring woman — now she looked like a clueless little brat, totally flat-chested.
But just by looking at that smile, one would instantly recognize — it's her! The Beast VI they had defeated at the Singularity Rome — Beast of Sodom!
"Doctor Romani! Didn't we not bring her back?! How the hell did she end up in Chaldea?!"
"…It's most likely because of 'Independent Manifestation'."
Doctor Romani sighed.
"However, her Saint Graph has also undergone changes. She's now using the Saint Graph of a regular Servant. Alter Ego – one of the Extra Classes beyond the main seven."
"Looks like she altered her own Saint Graph to sneak into Chaldea. Fortunately, we discovered it in time and immediately contained her."
Doctor Romani's gaze turned again toward the girl in confinement.
"No need to be so tense. This king just wants to see when the downfall of humanity will arrive. After all, if even this king could be defeated by you, then I'm sure that when the time comes, I'll get to see all sorts of interesting things, right?"
Immediately after, the screen was cut off.
"In any case, we'll continue to monitor her. That room has been reinforced with special barriers for Servants. Johanna and Waver provided a lot of assistance."
Da Vinci stepped closer.
"Keeping a 'Beast' in Chaldea… if it were before, this alone would've been enough for the Investigation Committee to file a hundred charges."
At this point, Da Vinci shrugged.
"We can only call it luck that we're in an emergency situation. We'll deal with the aftermath later."
"Right now, Ethan is the last Master of humanity. A special era calls for special measures."
"Romani, you really are an optimist… But, well, I suppose you have to be."
Da Vinci winked, flashing a smile toward Ethan.
"Before we save the Human Order, Chaldea will always stand by naughty kids like you."
"..."
"Da Vinci-chan! Senpai is not a naughty kid!!!"
Mash immediately objected.
"Hahaha, I was just using a figure of speech."
Da Vinci laughed heartily and continued:
"The Servants who returned with you this time—we've temporarily arranged things while you were unconscious. But it's best if you assign them yourself."
After saying that, Doctor Romani quietly leaned in close.
"Ethan, that Caster you summoned… the one who calls herself Lady Avalon."
"Her? What about her?"
"She's not really Merlin, is she?"
The doctor wore an extremely mysterious expression.
"Probably not?"
"Then could you ask her for me… if she's updating any websites, or maybe… if she's working as an idol or something?"
"Oh, Doctor, you wanna know if she's actually Magi☆Mari, right?"
"Shhh!!!"
Doctor Romani quickly clamped his hand over Ethan's mouth.
"Romani, the world's collapsing out there and you're still obsessed with online idols?"
Da Vinci's eyes suddenly turned cold.
"This is one of the very few remaining joys in my life!!!"
"But isn't she always roasting you to hell and back? What's so fun about that?"
"That's exactly why… hehe... hehehe~…"
Seeing the doctor's expression, both Da Vinci and Mash couldn't help but take a few steps back.
"Doctor, would you like Johanna-sab to use a miracle to treat you?"
"Maybe we should just go with a full-on craniotomy, see what kind of trash is packed inside that head of yours."
"That's too harsh!!!"
Doctor Romani immediately turned to Ethan for help.
"Ne ne Ethan, you get me, right?!"
"…Doctor, I honestly don't know if I do or not anymore…"
Ethan looked at Roman with a sympathetic gaze.
"But I think she's probably not Magi☆Mari. After all, she's from a different world."
"You're right!!!"
Doctor Romani instantly perked up.
"So Magi☆Mari is someone else! Oh right, I haven't left a comment on her stream yet today!"
Looking at Romani's behavior, Ethan could only sigh.
If Doctor Roman ever found out the true identity of the "adorable idol Magi☆Mari," who knows what kind of weird chaos would ensue…
Let's just hope his "journey to uncover the truth" doesn't go too smoothly.
[Beep beep... If the host does not begin the livestream soon, all accumulated points will be reset. Please check and confirm.]
The system notification suddenly rang in his ears again.
It's time — time to livestream!