When viewed from atop the Nue, it had appeared to be a mere speck, but accounting for the perspective of altitude, it was a remarkably large island.
On the sandbars where the blood-stained sea met the shore, several ships seemed to be anchored. Seeing the plumes of smoke rising, there were undoubtedly survivors… or perhaps, even Servants.
[Are you planning to enter directly?]
"With Altera by my side, we can handle most Servants… if a fight breaks out, we can just hop on the Nue and bail. If push comes to shove, I can always just sink the island (physically)."
[What a cruel method… I'll begin scanning for magical energy signatures originating from the island first.]
As the Nue drew closer to the island, its detailed silhouette and the flow of prana began to be caught within the sight of the Rinnegan.
Based on the presence of several radiant figures, the existence of Servants was certain, but I could not detect the unique magical reactor response of a Holy Grail—the Artgraph. Neither the signature of a 'Holy Grail' that had purified a Beast of Humanity nor the nauseating color characteristic of the Artgraphs manufactured by Goetia were present.
[Scan complete. There are approximately six Servants remaining… Keep in mind that Assassin or Caster classes might be masking their presence, so exercise caution.]
"Copy that… I think I'm starting to see them too."
Utilizing the extraordinary vision of the Rinnegan, the first Servant I identified was… none other than the scruffy, middle-aged Lancer, Hector.
Following him were the cat-eared Archer, Atalante; the Lancer Caeneus, clad in revealing armor; the blonde Saber, Jason, sipping wine in a corner; Medea, the Caster, fiddling with something at a distance from him… and finally, Rider Francis Drake, a pink-haired woman meticulously maintaining her two pistols.
"…It seems things have changed once again."
Jason, who should have been the mastermind of this Singularity, was sharing a drink with Drake, his primary supporter?
This was patently bizarre…
[The absence of Hercules is also unsettling. Don't tell me the situation in this Singularity has shifted into something like a Lostbelt?]
"Considering how depressed the Argonauts look, that might be the case…"
Just as I was about to respond to Godword's voice, which I hadn't heard in a while, a massive beam of light was suddenly fired toward us.
However, before the beam could connect, Altera, who had been perched near the Nue's head, swiftly whipped her sword, cleaving the light in two.
"…Enemies."
After a brief glance at them, Altera lunged powerfully from the Nue's head, letting out a cry.
"I shall crush you!"
"Are you insane? Wait a second, Altera!"
In that instant, over a hundred Magic Bullets manifested and swarmed toward her…
"…Absolute madness."
Altera sliced through every single one of those Magic Bullets and landed dead center on the island.
*
Perhaps having understood the order I'd shouted in the heat of the moment, Altera held her sword and maintained a combat stance, but she refrained from actually swinging.
However, the other Servants, wary of Altera's sudden appearance, had each drawn their weapons or prepared for battle… with the exception of Jason.
"…Oi, isn't it time to get up? Even this old man is awake, Captain."
"Hic!"
After a slight hiccup, he let out a chuckle and spoke.
"Oi, old-timer, that one is just an errand-runner—a Servant, right? Though, technically, I suppose we're all Alaya's errand-runners."
"…What?"
"There must be someone else commanding that one. Is there really a need to fight? Look at the situation calmly~ That one looks like she could even trade blows with Hercules."
"He certainly has a sharp head for those kinds of things."
As I descended amidst the Servants who were surrounding Altera (excluding Jason, of course), they began pointing their respective weapons at me.
"…Who are you?"
"A Master of Chaldea… To be more precise, the leader? Or something close to it, of a group of fixers handling this god-awful situation."
"A Pioneer of the Stars traversing history, a human from the observatory."
Medea said with a smirk.
"You seem to know about us?"
"There were humans in our age who read the stars to divine the future… though their accuracy was low."
"That's because constellations are tools meant to guide ships. Trying to read the future that humanity is meant to write leads to such folly… Hic!"
"How grand of you."
Replying casually to their remarks, I motioned Altera to step behind me. Hector and Caeneus also lowered their spears. Breaking their encirclement, they sat down comfortably and began basking in the warmth of the rising campfire.
"So, having come from the future to resolve this impossible situation… I assume that means you roughly know what the source of all this is?"
"Somewhat. Some psychopath decided they wanted to destroy the world and shattered the major Foundations of Human Order."
"Then I suppose that guy's actions weren't entirely wrong after all. I saved him because he looked important, but…"
Caeneus said, patting Drake on the back.
Jason, apparently displeased by that statement, simply downed more wine, while the others watched me in silence.
"Fine… Then could you tell me exactly what happened in this Singularity?"
"Well… nothing much happened at first. I was just sailing around looking for treasure with my crew as usual. I tried to escape a whirlpool and ended up reaching an underground city that was supposed to be beneath the sea."
"Atlantis…"
She nodded at Medea, who had muttered the name, and continued her explanation.
"Anyway, there was this massive pile of scrap metal? It had a golden cup. After a fight to the death, I managed to smash what seemed like its heart and thought I had secured the golden cup, but…"
"…What happened?"
Drake shook her head slowly as she spoke.
"Suddenly, another golden cup appeared. Tentacles burst out of it and swallowed the heart of that scrap pile. After that, this ominous energy started spewing out of the cup. I tried to flee with my men, but…"
"She failed."
A man's voice, thick and heavy, interrupted Drake.
"Failed?"
"Drake was the only one who entered, but once she did, we also managed to manifest in this Singularity. Our Argonauts intervened to rescue her as she fled, but…"
The rest didn't require an explanation from Jason for me to understand.
"Well, the rest is simple. The strongest among us insisted that we had to save that woman, and in the end, we barely managed to rescue her."
"…Hercules."
Having deduced who the 'strongest' in the Argonauts was, I tossed out the name casually, causing Jason to shout in surprise.
"Wait... You know Hercules…!"
As Jason spoke, his eyes sparkled as if he'd discovered something precious, regaining a bit of his former lucidity.
...Ah, right. I forgot this guy was the ultimate Hercules fanboy.
'...Perfect.'
Finding common ground, I began to slowly weave a narrative related to him.
"A little. I met him once in a Holy Grail War, and once in a Singularity."
"Oh… how was he? No, that's a foolish question. He must have been strong, of course!"
"His skill was immense. He protected his Master to the very end against an ancient King of Heroes, even forcibly breaking the chains meant to bind gods. Despite being burdened by the restriction of God Hand, which grants twelve lives, and having his heart pierced, he threw himself forward for his Master's sake..."
"Indeed... No, it's not surprising at all. That is exactly what Hercules would do."
Regardless of how the other members of the Argonauts looked at him, he was nodding repeatedly, genuinely delighted that his friend had achieved such feats.
"And how was he in the Singularity?"
"In that case, I didn't see him properly, but he realized the mastermind had summoned him. He resisted the commands as much as possible and stayed in a place where others wouldn't come. Fighting him was too high a risk for us, so we bypassed him to attack the enemy headquarters."
"Mhm, a wise choice…"
Now that the conversation had opened up, I began to release information from my side to steer the dialogue further.
"I know who you are. The captain of the Argonauts, Jason, right?"
"Oh! You recognize me?"
"Who else could it be but Jason if he's the 'Captain' leading a single ship and the 'Best Friend' of Hercules?"
"You're really painting his face in gold, aren't you?"
When Medea spoke, Jason winced, looking truly pained.
"As for you, we've met before, Miss Medea."
"…You know me?"
"No memories of it? That's a shame. You were quite kind to a younger brother figure I know. He even tried hard to imitate your Noble Phantasm."
"Were you my Master? No… otherwise, how could you know about my Noble Phantasm?"
As she cast a wary gaze toward me, I spoke with a smile.
"I know because Medea was the one who first suggested we terminate the contract."
"…You just let her go?"
"If a Servant says they want to leave, should I not let them? What era do you think this is? Holding someone against their will gets you sent to prison, lady."
Medea wore a bewildered expression.
[You're quite the liar, aren't you?]
'I have no choice, right? In this situation, I have to use limited information to extract information from them.'
[It shouldn't matter if you draw them in as allies. Is there really a need to deceive them?]
'I have to guard against the slim possibilities. I'll give them a rough explanation later... and besides, who knows? There might be a spy of the King of Demon Gods among these Servants.'
Even if there were a spy, I couldn't recklessly use the Preta Path for screening. A being with the capability of the King of Demon Gods might have already prepared countermeasures for my Preta Path… for instance, brainwashing the target to believe it as truth, or making them forget they are a spy entirely.
While I was conversing with Roman, Hector, who had stood up at some point, began approaching me.
"Ho~ho~ This is one bold lad… So, do you happen to know this old man's name as well?"
"…Hmm, no. I've never met you before. Won't you give me a hint?"
"Hmm… I'm not exactly a famous commander, so you might not know me!"
'Actually, you're incredibly famous. Especially that conquest-obsessed guy; if he could meet you, he'd probably do anything.'
Thinking of Iskandar and Kadoc, both massive fans of Homer… I mused that his name value might actually be the greatest here. After all, he was the man who single-handedly maintained a siege for nearly ten years against the Greek army, which included Achilles.
"…Do you know me as well?"
"There are records of you appearing in the Third Holy Grail War. Archer Atalante, right?"
"So you knew…"
The introductions of the Argonauts concluded with Drake's jovial introduction of herself, and the others identifying as Caeneus and Hector.
"So, what's your name?"
Asked Jason, whose eyes had transitioned from those of a fanboy back to those of a drunkard—or rather, a captain.
"My name… well, call me whatever's comfortable. I'm Karma Kirigaya."
"Karma Kirigaya… which one is the surname?"
"Call me however you like. In Chaldea, they call me Master, or 'You', 'Hey', or even 'This bastard'."
"Fine, then 'Master of Chaldea' it is."
"…Giving you my name was a waste of time, wasn't it?"
At any rate, with the introductions finished, I began to ask questions to properly assess the situation.
"Are there any other Servants?"
"Who knows? But one thing's for sure… there aren't many people with enough guts to go sailing around this insane ocean."
"…What?"
"Can't you tell? In a sea filled with curses that even Medea over there can't dispel, do you think there are any fish to catch? It's a miracle that Medea can use her Noble Phantasm to purify a small spring. Navigating this cursed sea without being able to resupply water is a suicide mission."
"Wait a second, what do you mean?"
When I asked, Jason spoke as if he were frustrated.
"Have you never been on a ship? It's common sense everywhere that supplies are the most important—"
"No, I know that. In fact, in the future, there's an adage… 'A well-fed army marches well'—no, that's not it. Anyway, what do you mean by Medea purifying a spring?"
"…Didn't you say you knew about my Noble Phantasm?"
"I do. Pain Breaker and Rule Breaker. A Noble Phantasm that nullifies all thaumaturgical and cursed phenomena, as well as pain and damage."
I spoke while manifesting the Preta Path.
"I have something similar. I can't show it, though."
"It is only right to hide one's trump cards. So, what is so strange about it?"
"…Is the spring cursed too?"
At that, Caeneus nodded.
"We've searched the entire island, and there isn't a single drop of clean water. Springs, groundwater, rivers, the sea… everything is contaminated with a curse that has turned it red."
"…Just checking, but roughly when did the water become cursed?"
"Not long after the Holy Grail appeared and wreaked havoc, and Hercules sacrificed himself… It's been about a day now."
"No, not yet, Caeneus. Scorpius has not quite reached its zenith... There is about one hour left before the full 24 hours pass."
As Jason spoke calmly, Caeneus nodded.
"So it seems."
[Oh no... Is it the Ten Plagues of Tetragrammaton?!]
Romani cried out in a terrified voice, and my face stiffened likewise.
...It felt as if I could hear the sound of frogs croaking from somewhere.