"Lady Morgan…" Only just having learned her name, Aoko fixed Morgan with a grave look.
"From earlier on, both you and Mr. Shiomi have been acting like you already knew what was going on. What exactly is the situation?"
"There's nothing mysterious about it," Morgan replied calmly. "I already explained it while introducing ourselves on the way here. Neither my husband nor I belong to this era. The 'Tenkei and Morgan of 2001' who truly belong to this time went missing five days ago. Our arrival merely happened to fill that vacancy."
"Missing for five days?" Aoko sprang up. "What on earth—"
"At first, we thought it was simply the Singularity preventing a collapse of events," Morgan said evenly. "The '2001 versions of us' who should have been here were excluded from the Singularity, and once it was repaired, they would naturally return. But reality turned out to be different. Only by lifting the seal on this Singularity and restoring the surroundings to 1999 will the answer become obvious."
"And there's only one reason why the 'first' and 'second' went to the hot spring bathhouse before dawn and used the Fifth Law to jump," Shiomi added. "Although the 'first Aoko Aozaki' temporarily suppressed the disaster's spread by delaying the entire Singularity, the 'New God' avoided that interference. In other words, the moment it came into being, the 'New God' already possessed the ability known as 'Independent Manifestation.'"
"An ability to descend into the present world on its own…" Alice fell silent.
"So that's why Touko's sister went to the hot spring bathhouse every morning and used the Fifth Law there," Scáthach said, understanding dawning on her. "She was trying to block the 'New God's' advance and keep it from interfering with this Singularity."
To possess 'Independent Manifestation' meant the 'New God' existed across all spacetime. Even manipulating time with the Fifth Law and creating paradoxes couldn't erase it.
"That's probably how it was," Aoko said, rubbing her temples. "The first two 'me' were killed by the god without much trouble, but they most likely succeeded in holding it back."
Shiomi nodded, then added a warning. "But that was only a temporary delay. Using their lives to stop the 'New God' worked solely because it hadn't yet reached its complete form."
"So you're saying we should strike while the New God hasn't fully stabilized, and go to 1999 to deal with it directly?" Aoko grasped Chaldea's intent.
If they could gather that much fighting power, there might be a chance to stop the New God's further emergence and destroy it.
"Wait," Artoria said, her expression darkening as she placed a hand on Shiomi's shoulder. "If that 'New God' already has Independent Manifestation, doesn't that mean it's become a Beast larva? Are you certain about this judgment?"
"Most likely," Shiomi accepted it calmly. "Even if the reason it became a Beast isn't clear yet, I think we'll understand what happened once we go there."
Touko turned her gaze to her sister. "So, Aoko, what are you going to do? Do you trust our strength enough to lift the seal on this Singularity and face the culprit that's making it worse, or—"
"Is that even a question?" Aoko stood up decisively. "If you can piece together the reality that only I could reach from such fragmentary information, then there's only one answer."
Having barely synchronized with what the 'first Aoko' had witnessed, Aoko now understood one thing clearly. Even if they uncovered the cause of the Singularity's birth here in this delayed 2001, it wouldn't erase the fact that the 'New God' had already been born.
The only way to truly resolve the crisis was to defeat the 'New God.'
With that decided, Aoko led Shiomi and the others, along with Alice Kuonji, to a narrow alley behind the new wing of the inn.
It was where the garbage bins stood, the spot where trash trucks came regularly to collect waste.
At the same time, it was an area of the inn that almost no one ever approached.
Even Shiomi and the others had only taken a quick look at it on their second day here.
"Alright, we'll stop here," Aoko said. "I'll release the fixation covering the Singularity of 2001. It'll be like letting a stretched rubber band snap back. The surroundings should revert completely to 1999."
She turned around as she spoke, then paused in surprise.
Just moments ago, Morgan and the other three had been in ordinary clothes. Now, they were fully armed. Only Touko remained unchanged, wearing her usual outfit that worked for both everyday life and combat.
"Go ahead, Magician," Morgan gestured calmly. "None of us are ordinary. Don't worry about the shock caused by changes to the timeline. Most likely, the moment we return to 1999, the battle will begin."
By then, Shiomi and the others had already formed up. No matter which direction the enemy appeared from in the next instant, they would be able to engage immediately.
"Not bad at all. You all look quite used to fighting," Aoko said with a bright smile. "But with so many powerful people gathered here, it really does seem like the abnormalities of this Singularity are far more serious than expected."
Shiomi gave a silent shrug.
He didn't have the heart to admit that everyone had originally gone through Spiritron Transfer with the mindset of a sightseeing vacation, never imagining things would turn out like this.
"Alright then—Reverse Canal Singularity, begin! Let's go. Destination: Kumano Hot Springs, 1999! Open your eyes in three seconds, and you'll be there!"
There was no Spiritron Transfer frame, no proof-of-existence procedure.
It was a direct Spiritron Transfer.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't Shiomi and the others who were moving. Rather, the Singularity itself, stretched and delayed in time, was being pulled back to 1999, the point when the anomaly had truly occurred.
Even so, the Mystery of the Fifth Law was not something to be taken lightly.
Reality gave Shiomi no time to be shocked or to think things through.
With a faint sense of premonition and an answer already forming in his mind, he deployed a defensive barrier against erosion the instant the scenery around them finished shifting.
"The mana density here is already on par with the Age of Gods. Looks like we've really returned to that era…" Shiomi gave a wry smile. "No wonder Mother admitted that if something truly became a Beast and possessed a similar 'principle,' it would live up to the name 'Child of Tiamat.'"
Before them, the lush mountain forests that once surrounded Kumano Hot Springs were gone. The hot spring inn itself had vanished as well.
All that remained was a massive pit, like the aftermath of a volcanic eruption, from which violent mana winds continuously spewed forth.