Somewhere between dream and illusion.
Enjoying the pleasant sensation of floating within a soft cotton quilt, I carefully tried to push myself up from the bed.
"Ugh... I think I'm actually going to die."
"It's not just talk; you really almost died once."
"Oh, Romani."
The figure sitting right next to the hospital bed was none other than our very own Mr. Half-and-Half, Romani Archaman. He let out a deep sigh as he replaced the IV drip connected to my arm.
"The curse of the Age of Gods... It's a relief the Heroic Spirits stepped in to block it directly. If you'd taken that head-on, it would have been instant death. And then you went and made direct contact with the Ark of the Covenant... Do you have any idea how dangerous that object is?"
"You should know better than anyone, Romani. You're the one who's seen the 'original' Ark David used to carry around, aren't you?"
"...Don't go around saying things like that. I'm still in a position where that shouldn't be known."
When I playfully poked at Romani's grumbling face, he started sticking the IV needle in more roughly as if in retaliation.
"Ow!"
"You can even control your sense of pain through the Asura Path, so stop exaggerating... Anyway, the 3rd Singularity has been completely restored. It's been about eight hours since you lost consciousness, and the staff members who passed out from the Demon God King's Word of Power have all woken up."
"That's a relief. Honestly, if the curse had managed to spread this far, I would have had to risk my life to use Shiki's abilities."
"Sakura-san really stepped up. She used Imaginary Number Magecraft to divert the Demon God King's barrage of curses... Also, the France and Fuyuki Singularities have been resolved. Ritsuka sustained minor injuries, but they're at a treatable level, so there are no issues."
To be honest, I was surprised.
Setting aside the Fuyuki Singularity—an Easy-tier Singularity that humanity's supreme Master has cleared hundreds of times—I didn't expect them to break through that damn Sixth Ritual in France so cleanly.
"Is anyone else injured besides Ritsuka?"
"Of course not."
"Hm? Why 'of course'..."
"Because Arcueid went with them."
"Haha, fair point."
Come to think of it, that made sense.
With 'that' Arcueid accompanying them, there was no way anyone would get hurt.
"How's Altera? She intercepted my death curse at the very end."
"For now... there's no problem with her physical body. The technique you use, Reanimation jutsu, involves summoning a body that is essentially already dead anyway. Perhaps the curse was rendered meaningless because Ryougi-san severed it before it could take effect, but fundamentally, the curse has no purchase on her."
"Well, that's good to hear."
Romani continued to give me a thorough briefing on the Servants.
"Gareth, Elizabeth Bathory, and Kiyohime are all safe. Though, in the case of Kiyohime and Elizabeth, the fact that they are 'safe' is what makes me worried..."
"Ritsuka will have to deal with that situation on his own. What about Mash?"
"She's by Ritsuka's side. Ritsuka should be awake by the time the 4th Singularity is detected."
"I hope so."
Unfortunately, Da Vinci's Saint Quartz wasn't properly completed.
The moment the Demon God King appeared and spewed his Word of Power through the Chaldea communications, an all-encompassing overload had struck the system.
"It's a good thing the Magician and the 'Omnipotent' one were protecting us. If we were unlucky, Chaldea might have blown up before we could even secure your Proof of Existence."
"We have to consider the possibility of Goetia attacking Chaldea directly... and the boss battle of the 4th Singularity is also a problem."
The 4th Singularity.
The masterminds spreading the toxic mist known as Helter Skelter, and the culprits who descend upon London at the last moment to shatter everyone's sanity with their tentacles.
Paracelsus von Hohenheim, Makiri Zolgen, and Charles Babbage.
All three were first-rate heroes, or those equivalent to them. In particular, Babbage was a Servant capable of turning the difficulty into hell with his specialized attrition warfare using steam engine mass-production.
Furthermore, there was the roster of Servants Nasu had bloated without much reason—Jack the Ripper, Mephistopheles, Nursery Rhyme, Frankenstein—and the damned Mages' Association, which could leap in any unpredictable direction.
The 4th Singularity was often ranked alongside the 2nd Singularity as one of the worst in terms of story, but... the difficulty was high in a different sense.
"For now, we have to take Gareth. With the Britain fame boost, she'll be an exceptionally superior Servant... and if possible, Kiyohime will be more useful than Elizabeth this time."
"But isn't there group combat in the 4th Singularity as well?"
"When dealing with the Mages' Association, it would be better for Kiyohime, who has the 'Dragon' attribute, to take the lead. There might not be a huge difference, but it's better to leverage even a slight advantage, right?"
One small mercy was that the 'Extra Singularities' weren't appearing simultaneously.
Previously, I had to head to the 3rd Singularity alone because our forces were scattered—dealing with Mephistopheles's Ogawa-hime, the Fuyuki Singularity, and the Extra Singularity in Cannes all at once.
The Demon God King was already applying tactics against me and seeking certain means to kill us without a way out.
Overwhelming force, internal division, and the curse of instant death...
"He must have planted some kind of trap in the 4th and 5th Singularities as well."
"True. Though the 6th and 7th Singularities are the kind where you might get your hands chopped off if you try to play tricks."
The Goddess Rhongomyniad and Tiamat.
Because of those two existences, those locations had reached a point where it was difficult to even call them 'Singularities'; they were effectively closer to Lostbelts. It was lucky they were proceeding under Goetia's control. If Rhongomyniad had secured a Holy Grail and succeeded in storing humanity within the Holy Spear, even Goetia would have had a massive headache.
Originally, the 6th Singularity was titled 'Divine Realm Settlement: Jerusalem,' and the final boss was supposed to be a fake Richard I, not Artoria who had become a God.
"The problem is the 7th Singularity..."
"Still in a meeting?"
"Manaka."
Just then, the door to the infirmary opened, and those who had managed to endure the Demon God King's Word of Power without fainting began to enter one by one.
"Where's your friend?"
"She passed out~ She isn't tough enough to withstand the Demon God King's curse to begin with."
"Anyway, I'm glad you could make it. Thanks for helping to block the curse."
"Consider it a sort of rent. I'm staying in Chaldea to avoid destruction, after all... So, you were talking about something interesting?"
"We're only at the 4th Singularity, yet you're already discussing the 7th..."
As Arcueid spoke with a beaming smile, I replied with a sigh.
"Originally, if Ryougi-san's 'Boundary' hadn't been used this time, I planned to save it for facing Tiamat in the 7th Singularity. I had prepared several trump cards for the major Singularities, but if I've consumed this much just in the 3rd... My future plans will have to change in many ways."
"You think too much."
"I'd prefer if you called it the Curse of Knowledge, reserved only for those who know everything."
"I suffer from that same curse... Honestly, playing back your memories was nothing short of a shock."
Godword Mayday said as he opened the door and walked in.
Mentioning that the system stabilization for Rayshift and the Singularity search functions via chronological scans had been normalized, he sat down cautiously and tossed a bag of snacks to me.
I transformed my finger into a butter knife to slit the bag and threw a cookie to Aoko-neesan.
"So, how was the Demon God King's Word of Power?"
"Gave me the chills. Big sister just covered her ears and went inside her doll, and I ended up using True Magic without thinking. I think I finally understand, even if vaguely, what they mean by the 'Root' having poor compatibility against the Evils of Humanity."
They were all people who had reached the Root, or possessed abilities equivalent to it.
Magicians, those connected to the Root, the former King of Magecraft... and so on.
Every single one of them possessed staggering specifications, yet no new conversation regarding how to handle the Demon God King arose. As time flowed aimlessly, Olga Marie's characteristically sharp voice began to ring out from the control room.
[The location of the 4th Singularity has just been confirmed. I know you're all gathered in the infirmary, so get up here immediately. And you, Ritsuka! I explicitly put you in restraints so you'd stay in bed, yet you went and broke out of them? If you want to go on a date with Mash, come up here now and listen to the briefing first!]