"What a miscalculation..."
Suspended in midair by a single hand, Paracelsus couldn't help but mutter to himself:
"Had I known it was you, perhaps I'd have had a better chance staying in the real world to fight."
"What do you mean, 'had you known it was me'?"
Will frowned, sensing the implication in Paracelsus's words. He gave the man's arm a sharp yank, tearing it clean off. Watching the pain twist across Paracelsus's face, Will pressed again.
But Paracelsus only stared back in surprise. For a brief moment, something seemed to click in his mind—but even more questions quickly followed, crowding out whatever answer he might have found.
And yet, it was already too late for him to find those answers.
"At this rate, I really will crack under torture and spill what I shouldn't," he said suddenly. "So let me do just one last thing—something I can still manage. I'm no hero, but I'm not someone who'd sell out his comrades so easily either."
"You still think you can cause a ripple now?"
Will's grip on his throat tightened as he reached out with the other hand to snatch away the Azoth Sword, forged from Philosopher's Stone.
But just then, Paracelsus suddenly closed his eyes.
And the next moment, his skin began to ripple and twist, like massive tentacles were writhing beneath it. His face stretched and tore open, and white tendrils burst out from all over his body—twisting him into a full-blown tentacled abomination.
[Special Hunt Quest Triggered: Nightmare Incarnation V – Nauthoba, High Priest Lost to Forbidden Knowledge]
[In the Dream-London that has become a sanctum for divine descent, you've encountered one of the Nightmare Incarnations, a true mastermind behind everything—Dr. Paracelsus von Hohenheim, one of the trio known as P.B.M. To thwart their scheme, slay him.]
[Objective: Slay Nauthoba – High Priest Lost to Forbidden Knowledge.]
[Reward: Mystic Code – Philosopher's Stone; Hunter Rune – Unity.]
The moment the quest notification appeared before Will, Paracelsus's body began to bloat rapidly—like a balloon being inflated to the extreme.
Then—BOOM.
He exploded in an instant.
In the center of that grotesque burst, a glowing red "core" shattered, revealing the radiant Philosopher's Stone nestled within.
Even Will couldn't move faster than light. The instant he was touched by that brilliance, a powerful repelling force slammed into him, as if the world itself were rejecting his existence—trying to forcibly eject him to the opposite side of reality.
"Back to the real world with you."
Paracelsus's voice echoed in his ears:
"I'm curious—if you can only exist in the real world, and can never set foot in Carcosa, how will you solve all of this?"
The next moment, Will's vision went completely white. He was engulfed in endless light, every color, every shadow wiped from view.
And in that moment—like a dream nearing its end—a vague sense of waking surged in his chest.
Simultaneously, the text floating before his eyes shifted again:
[Nightmare Incarnation V – "High Priest Lost to Forbidden Knowledge" detected missing.]
[Target confirmed defeated. Reward distribution commencing.]
[Due to Dual-Personality Integration, you may transfer one or more rewards to your other persona. Transfer now?]
Did Paracelsus just... die?
As the thought crossed Will's mind, another notification popped up:
[Due to passive effect "Twin Souls," you and your alternate persona may now act simultaneously in both the dream and the real side of the London Singularity. Upon each status change, you may choose to synchronize memories.]
[You may now sync memories with the other. Sync now?]
Status change... Wait—I'm waking up?
Will suddenly realized.
Which meant...
He didn't hesitate for even a second.
He selected [Sync Memories].
And when he opened his eyes again, what met him was the cold, empty halls of the real Scotland Yard.
But from outside, he could hear approaching footsteps.
[Memory Sync Complete.]
[Due to Will's memory sharing, you have received the following rewards: Mystic Code – Philosopher's Stone; Hunter Rune – Unity.]
[Due to Player Will's state now fixed as AWAKE, you have been locked into the DREAM WORLD and can no longer wake up.]
The moment Guinevere—blinking groggily—regained his awareness, this was the message that popped up before his eyes.
After digesting the shared memories from Will, he glanced again at the newly appearing notification—and fell silent.
"Tsk... That guy reacted fast."
Guinevere rubbed his temples, his head beginning to ache.
To prevent himself from spilling secrets under torture, Paracelsus had chosen self-destruction.
Moreover, because the key to resolving this Singularity clearly lay in the dream, he'd paid the ultimate price—forcing Will, the greatest threat, out of the dream and back into the real world.
And at the same time—thanks to the Twin Souls trait—Guinevere, the "docile and harmless" one, had been dragged back into the dream.
Now this was a problem.
Guinevere buried his face in his hands.
Originally, having the OP murder-machine Will stay in the dream to shred enemies, while the diplomatic and friendly Guinevere explored alliances in the real world, would've been the perfect combo...
But now Will was stuck in reality, and...
What, were these nightmarish monsters seriously expecting him to do the fighting now?
No way. Losing his carry this early in the Singularity? This kind of abandonment should've waited until after the final boss!
Even with his buffs and stat boosts, he was still barely a third-rate Servant. How the hell was he supposed to take on a bunch of nightmare incarnations who were all walking cheat codes?
"Uh... Jekyll?"
As Guinevere sank into despair, a familiar voice came from nearby.
He turned to see Mordred looking at him, wide-eyed.
"You okay?"
Like a drowning man spotting a lifeboat, Guinevere's eyes lit up.
"Mordred!"
He lunged forward, grabbing her hands.
"You'll help me, right?!"
"Eh? Huh?" Mordred was taken aback, then quickly turned her head away with a bit of an awkward scowl. "Why would I help you... Weren't you just moving so fast earlier I couldn't even see you? Clearly you're way stronger than me. You don't need help from some half-baked knight like me..."
"That was my other personality! Not me!" Guinevere waved his hands. "Totally different guy—super OP. I'm just the weak version. Think of it like Morgan le Fay. She had multiple personas too, right? Each with different behavior, skills, and personality. You get it, right?"
"Huh? Like Mother... Oh! Ohh!" Mordred's eyes lit up as she made the connection. "So the one standing here right now is the Jekyll I know—and you really need my help, right?"
"Yes! Absolutely!" Guinevere nodded frantically, then looked at her earnestly. "You'll help me, right?"
Hearing this, Mordred visibly perked up. She folded her arms, closed her eyes, and nodded solemnly.
"Hmph~ Can't say no to that. We are friends, after all. And as a knight, supporting your comrades is an important virtue!"
She smacked her chest plate twice—clang! clang!
"As the future successor to the King of Knights, if you ever need help, just ask! I'll be there for you!"
She struck a heroic pose—but her cheeks flushed pink almost immediately. Seemingly embarrassed by her own dramatic speech, she quickly diverted the topic:
"Anyway, speaking of which—aren't you going to do something about that sword you just grabbed earlier? It's been glowing nonstop."
"Huh?" Guinevere blinked, then looked down at his hands—realizing that the enchanted blade he'd taken from Paracelsus hadn't vanished with its owner.
And just as he focused on the sword, a new notification popped up:
[Mystic Code – Philosopher's Stone]
[Rarity: SR]
[Though named the Philosopher's Stone, this item is actually the Noble Phantasm of Paracelsus, a magic sword wholly constructed from ultra-high-density, refined Philosopher's Stone.]
[Its true function is that of a spiritual particle computation device, capable of high-order magecraft simulations. It is his most prized Mystic Code.]
[Empowered by the authority of the Nightmare Incarnation, its function has been enhanced. It can now convert wishes within a limited scope into reality by harnessing its stored magical energy and computational power. Even non-magi can operate it by inputting their wish directly—functioning as a one-time miniature Holy Grail.]
[If used for Heroic Spirit summoning, it enables a temporary summoning using the summoner's own body as a catalyst, automatically summoning the one with whom they share the deepest bond.]
So that's it... The reward Will transferred earlier for defeating Paracelsus was this?
Guinevere finally put it together.
And that wasn't all—wasn't there another reward along with this sword?
He opened his personal interface again and quickly found it:
[Rune – Unity]
[A rune bearing the name of an unknown god from the distant stars—an embodiment of forbidden power. Only usable by those with deep resonance with their "self on the other side of the Gate."]
[Allows the merging of two objects of identical origin into one. The merged entity inherits traits from both. Applicable only to objects of shared origin.]
[This rune is single-use and vanishes upon activation.]
[—From One came All. To One shall All return.]
Ehhhh... another weird rune?
Just like Multibirth, this Unity rune was single-use, strangely worded, and highly situational. It only worked on "identical origin" objects.
The only practical use Guinevere could think of... was to summon his Saint Graph version of himself with the Philosopher's Stone, then use this rune like a Dragon Ball fusion ring to stitch himself and Will back together—creating a Saint-Saber-Demon hybrid boss.
But that was assuming he could even use this rune on Will...
As twin souls within a single body, they were like the sun and moon—never meeting face-to-face. So how could they merge?
As Guinevere was still pondering this, he suddenly heard footsteps rushing toward him from behind.
Turning around, he found himself face to face with a familiar figure—Prince Adonis.
"I received a report that that bastard Nauthoba dared to invade Scotland Yard so brazenly," Adonis said, panting slightly. "Mr. Hyde, you fought him earlier, right? Do you know where he went?"