Guinevere wasn't the least bit surprised by Adonis's sudden nightmare transformation. If anything, it gave him a sense of "Perfect timing, my friend."
There had never been solid evidence, but Adonis's various traits—especially his mastery of mechanical invention—had long pointed toward the "B" in the PBM trio: Dr. Babbage.
"So, what exactly are the characteristics of his nightmare transformation?" Guinevere called out. "Do we know what special abilities he gains after transforming?"
Information on their enemies' abilities was crucial. Take that Blood Lord, for instance—utterly overpowered, and he could crush Hohenheim with a snap of his fingers. Yet, he still ended up trapped in the real world, unable to unleash his bugged-out skillset, simply because he hadn't understood Hohenheim's powers well enough. A textbook case of losing due to lack of intel.
Unfortunately, the officer before them had no time to answer... or perhaps, he gave his answer through his own tragic example:
Just a few steps away from them, the officer's body suddenly locked in place. His eyes darted around in fear, trying to understand what was restraining him—only to realize that it was his very own exoskeleton, built from nightmare-infused materials, now turning against him.
A red light flashed from the energy core embedded in the suit. Slowly, a crimson crystal rose from the machinery, exuding an ominous glow.
The gem closely resembled the Philosopher's Stone frequently used by Hohenheim.
Bathed in that light, the exoskeleton armor twitched—then, as if alive, it began to grow. Scarlet steam hissed from its vents as the suit sprouted like fleshy metal, expanding and reshaping itself with terrifying speed.
Within moments, under the officer's horrified screams, the armor had swallowed him whole—morphing him into a full-blown Chaos Mech Soldier.
Just as the helmet clamped shut over his head, his scream abruptly cut off.
Everyone watching stood frozen in shock, the same look of stunned horror mirrored on their faces.
Then the soldier raised its weapon—and opened fire.
"Go easy on him! There's still a human inside—we might be able to save him!"
Guinevere quickly barked at Mordred, who was already gearing up to charge in.
"Got it!"
With a shout, Mordred kicked off, her body turning into a flash of red lightning as she launched herself at the enemy.
The Chaos Mech Soldier turned to her, weapon drawn—but its bullets ricocheted harmlessly off her armor.
As she closed in, the creature ditched its gun and swung down a jagged saw-blade arm with ferocious force.
Too bad for it—Mordred caught the blade with a single hand, halting it mid-swing.
With a flick of her wrist, she tore the weapon away like it was made of paper and flung it aside. The soldier tried to throw a punch, but she blocked it just as easily.
Then, with a swift hand-thrust, she pierced its metal shell, and moments later, peeled open its outer armor like a tin can, revealing the unconscious officer within.
"No way, she's too strong," Guinevere muttered, giving her a thumbs-up. "Hand-ripping ghosts? Meh. Mordred's over here hand-ripping steel."
"…What are you even talking about?" Mordred blinked at him, confused.
She hadn't quite followed what he said, but judging from the tone and the thumbs-up, it had to be praise. Her mood visibly improved.
Meanwhile, Andersen stepped up, picking up a shard of the torn armor and inspecting it thoughtfully.
"I see now… These chaos mech soldiers, birthed from mechanized exoskeletons, lack internal support systems. Their defenses are far weaker than standard mech units… So getting torn apart by hand? Understandable."
"Makes sense," Guinevere nodded, then turned to Mordred. "How's the officer?"
"Alive. Just unconscious." She dropped the man on the ground. "More importantly, I hear metal grinding up ahead. Sounds like more of them waiting for us."
She pointed toward the entrance of Scotland Yard.
"Do we head in?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't we?" Guinevere glanced at Ritsuka Fujimaru. "I assume you're with me on this?"
"Don't worry about me, Mr. Jekyll," Ritsuka smiled. "So far, you and Mr. Hyde have handled most of the nightmare entities—so I'll trust your judgment. Got any plans?"
"Hell yeah!" Guinevere's eyes lit up. "Then it's simple. We go full F2A! We've got seven Servants—we just charge in and wreck house! I don't even know how we could lose! Come on!"
With that, he swaggered up to the door and kicked it open heroically.
Only to be greeted by an army—hundreds, maybe a thousand—of chaos mech soldiers packed wall to wall inside the building.
As the mechanical horde slowly turned their heads toward him, countless searchlights focused directly on Guinevere, lighting him up like a stage performer mid-spotlight.
"Uh… hey there?" His confident smile froze.
And then, he remembered something rather important.
If Babbage's ability let him convert officers into chaos mech soldiers… well… weren't there over a thousand officers stationed in Scotland Yard?
Face twitching, Guinevere scratched his head and said sheepishly:
"Looks like you're all super busy. I'll just… leave you to it, yeah?"
He shut the door quietly—then turned and sprinted like hell.
A second later, a barrage of bullets blew the doors to shreds.
If he hadn't already vaulted down the stairs, he'd be full of holes by now.
"Holy crap! I'm not even kidding—there's at least a thousand of those things in there!"
He shouted over his shoulder as he ran, "Screw this—retreat!"
"Huh? What are you even scared of?" Kinue Hino grumbled. "They're just chaos mech mobs. Let me at them—two suicide bombs, and they're toast!"
She struck a pose like a terrorist about to detonate in glory.
"Wait, Hino-senpai!"
Ritsuka quickly stopped her.
"I know a thousand of them mean nothing to you, and that you could easily take them all down. But… those soldiers? There are still people inside. They're honorable officers who fought to protect London."
"So?" Hino frowned. "That's got nothing to do with me. They're enemies now."
Ritsuka sighed.
Hino wasn't human. And in her long life, she'd experienced plenty of cruelty from humanity. She didn't hunt humans for fun—but expecting mercy from her was… optimistic.
"True, but… this is a dream, Senpai." Ritsuka explained. "Your current form isn't your immortal real-world body. It's more like a spiritual projection."
"Which means, if this world decides you've 'died,' you'll be forcibly terminated when the dream ends. That almost happened to Mr. Hyde—he was fine, but the dream world decided he was a 'walking corpse' and nearly deleted him on the spot."
"Didn't you say you had a Servant you must summon someday?"
Hino paused mid-step.
She thought for a moment.
Then bolted in the other direction.
By then, the rest of the party had already joined the grand retreat. Hino's last to flee.
The army of chaos mech soldiers soon flooded out, trampling over the footprints they'd left behind.
Later, in an alley near Scotland Yard, Guinevere, Mordred, and Bavanzi peeked out cautiously.
"…Can't believe you came back," Mordred muttered. "You got a death wish?"
"Wrong," Guinevere shook his head. "The mobs are gone. That means it's the perfect time to go for the boss."
"Then why not alert Chaldea's group?" Bavanzi asked. "More people means a higher chance of success, right?"
"But if no one's up front to distract them," Guinevere replied, "they'll come back the moment they lose their targets."
He sighed.
"Chaldea has the numbers, but their Servants aren't particularly strong. This is a high-risk strike mission. Better we handle it. Even Andersen should be able to stay alive if he hides properly."
He paused, looking serious.
"All right. Then let's do this. Is everyone ready?"