command center was a cathedral of cold steel and flickering holographic displays. In the center sat the Coffin—a high-tech sarcophagus designed to digitize a human soul and beam it across time.Julian stood on the observation deck, looking down at the preparations.
He wore a scaled-down version of the Chaldea uniform—white with black accents—but he had refused the standard boots, preferring to remain barefoot. He claimed he could "feel the vibrations of the threads" better through his skin."He looks like a ghost," Olga Marie Animusphere muttered, tapping her foot impatiently. The Director of Chaldea was a whirlwind of nerves and high-born arrogance, though Julian could see the golden threads of her fate fraying at the edges.
It made his stomach churn. "Romani, are you absolutely certain about this? He's a child. A child from another reality, no less.""His presence acts as a stabilizer, Director," Romani Archaman explained via comms, his voice steady despite the chaos.
"In every simulation we ran, adding Julian to the party increased the success rate of the Rayshift by 40%. He doesn't just survive; he makes the environment permit survival.
"Julian tuned them out. He was focused on Mash Kyrielight, who was currently strapped into a chair, her face pale. She was a Demi-Servant who hadn't yet realized the name of the hero bonded to her soul.
To Julian's eyes, she was surrounded by a thick, shimmering silver mist—the weight of a shield that had yet to manifest.
"Don't be scared," Julian said, his voice echoing in the quiet moments between the hum of the turbines.Mash looked up, a weak smile touching her lips.
"I'm not scared, Julian. I'm just... worried about Ritsuka."Beside her, Ritsuka Fujimaru, the last-minute recruit and the only other "Master" candidate left after the sabotage, gave a shaky thumbs-up.
"I'm mostly just worried about throwing up in the Coffin."
Julian walked over to Ritsuka and placed a small hand on the man's arm.[Skill Activation: Probability Nudge — "The Path of Least Resistance"]To Ritsuka, it felt like a static shock.
To Julian, it was a conscious effort to grab a thread where the Rayshift went perfectly and pull it into the present."System Start," the AI voice of TRISMEGISTUS announced.
"Commencing Soul Extraction. All values confirmed. Rayshift in three... two... one..."Singularity F: The Burning CityThe transition wasn't a fade-to-black; it was a violent tear.
Julian felt his body atomize and reconstruct a thousand times a second. His Healing Factor worked overtime, knitting his spirit together as the sheer friction of time travel tried to peel it apart.
When his feet finally hit solid ground, he wasn't in a sterile lab or a snowy base. He was in hell.Fuyuki City was a skeleton of concrete and fire. The sky was a bruised purple, choked by smoke, and the air tasted of sulfur and ancient mana."Ugh..." Ritsuka groaned, collapsing to his knees.
"I... I didn't throw up. That's a win.
""Status check!" Mash yelled, already standing, her massive shield planted in the cracked asphalt.
"Director? Romani? Can you hear us?""Static... loud and clear... mostly," Romani's voice crackled through their communicators.
"You've arrived. But the mana readings are off the charts. Be careful, something is—"The sound of clanking metal interrupted the transmission.
From the shadows of a collapsed convenience store, figures began to emerge. They were skeletons clad in rusted armor, their eye sockets glowing with a hateful red light.
"Dragon-tooth warriors," Julian whispered. He didn't know how he knew the name; it was as if the knowledge was being fed to him by the very air of this world.
"Mash, get ready!" Ritsuka commanded, his instinct for survival finally kicking in.As the skeletons lunged, Julian didn't hide. He stepped forward.
One skeleton swung a jagged blade at his head. Julian didn't flinch. He didn't even move to dodge.Clang!The rusted blade snapped in mid-air, a victim of a microscopic flaw in the metal that shouldn't have caused a break—but today, it did.
Julian reached out and touched the skeleton's ribcage."Collapse," he commanded.The probability of the magical energy sustaining the construct suddenly plummeted to zero. The skeleton didn't just fall; it turned to fine white dust instantly.
"Julian, stay back!" Mash shouted, slamming her shield into another warrior, senting it flying. "You aren't a combatant!""I'm a catalyst," Julian corrected. He looked at the field of battle. There were dozens of them. Mash was strong, but she was being overwhelmed.
He closed his eyes and reached for the threads of the world.
He felt the "Luck" of the enemy—the statistical likelihood of them landing a hit. He began to twist.
The Miracle on the StreetsWhat happened next was a choreographed nightmare for the skeletons.
A warrior tried to lunge at Ritsuka, only to have its foot catch in a pothole, snapping its own leg.
Another swung at Mash, but a piece of falling debris from a nearby building crushed its skull seconds before impact.
The wind shifted violently, blowing thick smoke into the path of the archers, causing their arrows to veer wildly off course.
Julian stood in the center of the chaos, his white hair flowing in the heat-shimmer.
Every time he "pulled" a thread, a sharp pain lanced through his head, but his brain simply repaired the neural damage as fast as it occurred.
"Target Confirmed: Unknown Servant approaching!" Romani's voice screamed through the comm.
A streak of black and red light descended from the sky. The impact shattered the pavement, sending a shockwave that knocked Ritsuka off his feet.Standing in the crater was a tall, lithe figure in shadow-covered armor. A long, twisted lance hummed with dark energy.
Cú Chulainn (Caster)—or at least, the version of him that haunted this burning city.He looked at the group, his eyes landing on Julian.
"Well, now," the Servant drawled, his voice like grinding stones.
"I felt a ripple in the ley lines. I thought it was a magus, but it's just a brat with the eyes of a god and the smell of a mutant."
"Protect the Master!" Mash stepped in front of Julian and Ritsuka, her shield glowing.The Caster raised his staff, fire beginning to coalesce around the tip.
"Let's see how your 'luck' holds up against a rune that guarantees a hit, kid."Julian felt it—the Wicker Man spell.
It wasn't a possibility; it was a destined strike. A "Sure-Hit" effect.Can I overwrite a destiny? Julian wondered.
He didn't just look at the threads this time. He reached deep into his own biology. His X-Gene pulsed, and his Magic Circuits flared blue-white. He didn't try to make the fire miss. He shifted the probability of the flame itself being cold.
"Ansuz!" the Caster roared.A torrent of fire engulfed them. Mash braced for the heat, but it never came.
Instead, the flames washed over them like a cool, refreshing breeze.
The fire was bright, it was visual, but it possessed zero thermal energy.The Caster froze, his jaw dropping.
"What? That's... that's impossible. My runes are absolute!""Nothing is absolute," Julian said, his nose beginning to bleed—a sign that even his regeneration was struggling with the paradox he'd just created.
"Everything is a roll of the dice. You just happened to roll a zero."
A New AllyBefore the Caster could launch another attack, a flurry of black daggers rained down from a nearby rooftop. He leapt back, snarling.
"Hmph. Ruining the fun as usual, Assassin?" Cú Chulainn glanced up.A shadow flickered, and a woman in tight purple leather appeared beside Julian.
She had long, flowing hair and a mask covering her eyes. Medusa (Lancer)—or perhaps something else in this timeline."The boy," she said, her voice a silk-wrapped blade.
"He is the singularity within the singularity."
Julian looked at her and saw something different. Her threads weren't golden or silver. They were dark, intertwined with his own future.
"You're not here to kill us," Julian said, wiping the blood from his nose.
"No," she replied, looking at the Caster who was already retreating into the shadows, sensing the tide had turned.
"I am here because the world told me that if I didn't help you, I would cease to exist in ten minutes. A very... persuasive bit of luck.
"Julian smiled. It was a tired, small smile."Welcome to the team," Ritsuka said, breathless, looking from the child to the legendary hero.
"I have a feeling things are going to get weird.""Weird is just a word for things you haven't seen yet," Julian replied, as his wounds finished closing.
"We need to find the Grail. And I know exactly which way to go.
"He pointed toward the center of the fire. He could see one thread that was brighter than all the rest—a golden path leading straight to the heart of the mystery.