"Round Table, King Arthur's Sayings, Number Eight! Even the meat of monstrous creatures retains its nutritional value! Mash, please repeat after me!"
"Huh? Y-Yes... Even the meat of monstrous creatures retains its nutritional value!"
After the communication with Dr. Romani ended, the journey to East Village continued. Several hours later, food and water became the group's most pressing problem.
But just as the desert had its Sea Demons, so too did this scorched wasteland. With these tall, anemone-like monsters available, the group wouldn't lack for food.
"That's right, Mash Kyrielight! Time to eat! Sometimes, survival is truly cruel..."
"Guh, Mash, what are you talking about? This is actually pretty good! It just oozes a bit of black, gelatinous fat."
Guinevere handled starting the fire, while Da Vinci-chan was in charge of finding skewers for grilling.
When seared by Guinevere's golden flames, more of the harmful substances in the Sea Demon tentacles were burned away, resulting in a much better texture.
Not only did Bedivere, Mash, Ritsuka, and the refugees eat with delighted smiles, but even the two Assassins reached for a second helping.
During the several hours of travel, Da Vinci-chan had already crafted a pair of wooden prosthetic limbs for Hassan of Intoxicated Smoke. Though their quality was far inferior to Bedivere's Silver Arm.
"When I get back to Chaldea, I'll definitely run some experiments with Dr. Romani! I'm going to create something that can rival the Silver Arm!"
Despite being a puppet herself, Da Vinci-chan ate with genuine enjoyment.
Watching her, Guinevere also felt a sense of joy, remembering that in the original timeline, Da Vinci-chan would have been defeated during Lancelot's pursuit.
The Lion King's side had already lost Tristan, while Chaldea's side had managed to keep Da Vinci-chan. With this shift in their favor, and knowing more Servants awaited them in the East Village, Guinevere was confident of victory. She felt it wouldn't take much longer.
With this in mind, she picked up a skewer of grilled Sea Demon Tentacles and walked to the outermost edge of the group. Then, she took out the Rainbow Gem that allowed her to speak with her other self.
The Servant contract had been transferred, and now Ritsuka was supplying the Mana. Consequently, Guinevere redirected the Mana she had instinctively been drawing from the Rainbow Gem and began storing it in her Replica Holy Sword. She intended to use it as a reserve Mana supply or to unleash an even more devastating Noble Phantasm Release in the near future.
In a clash between Noble Phantasms of the same rank, the wielder's Mana capacity was crucial.
"Other me," she began, "do you think our Replica Holy Sword can defeat that Holy Lance?"
"We fought Lia with it during our lifetime, didn't we? You already know the answer."
"Yes... we can't win, not after the Holy Lance's restraints are released. But..."
"Are you thinking that the Lion King's Holy Lance doesn't even need its restraints released? After all, she's practically a Storm Goddess now, completely fused with the Lance."
In the other world, with Merlin's help and some tools left behind by the Old Man of the Jewels, they had finally managed to intermittently observe this Singularity.
This was only possible because Guinevere possessed the Rainbow Gem, which served as an anchor for their observation.
While Guinevere worried about her insufficient combat strength, her other self shared the same concern. However, they couldn't send any more aid for the time being, nor could they afford to make Guinevere wait any longer.
Guinevere could wait, but the Lion King certainly would not.
"Other me, go have a heart-to-heart with Bedivere. I just tried holding Lia's Excalibur, and it didn't reject me.
"You should know that the Excalibur in your Singularity is housed within Bedivere's Silver Arm.
"I believe that Excalibur won't reject you either. The only trouble is, if you want to use its Holy Sword of the Planet form, you'll need the approval of the Round Table Knights from that world. Without their recognition, it'll be no different from our Replica Holy Sword."
The wind howled across the wasteland. After a long pause, the other Guinevere sent back a lengthy message.
After reading it, Guinevere fell silent and took the last bite of her roasted Sea Demon Tentacle.
The tentacle actually tasted quite good, sending a strange, electrifying tingle through Guinevere—a sensation she'd never experienced before.
"I understand," the other Guinevere's message concluded. "I'll try to gain their approval. Once I'm confident, I'll ask Bedivere for the Holy Sword."
Guinevere put away the Rainbow Gem, letting it continue to charge the Replica Holy Sword. With another snap of her fingers, she conjured flames, incinerating a new wave of Sea Demons swarming their party.
The bandits were gone, and the Living Corpses had become scarce, but monsters of all kinds continued to pour in relentlessly.
After finishing their meal, the group resumed their journey toward the mountains, where the Old Man of the Mountain's East Village was nestled among the sprawling peaks.
As they ascended to higher ground, their view expanded, revealing a series of massive craters dotting the landscape. Each pit was perfectly circular, over a kilometer in diameter, and uniformly sized—clearly the work of a single, immense power.
"Is this the power of the Holy Lance? The Lion King's Divine Punishment in this world?"
Upon seeing the craters, the Chaldea members asked the refugees what had happened. The refugees' explanation confirmed what Guinevere already knew.
Each crater on this land represented a village. It wasn't just the desolate wilderness that drove the refugees toward New Camelot for survival; it was also the ever-present threat of the Lion King's Divine Punishment, which could strike at any moment.
Even if they had nothing to eat and faced starvation, gathering in one place was a death sentence. Any such gathering would soon become the site of a new crater.
The Lion King wanted to gather more people who could pass the Holy Selection. To achieve this, she deliberately created an environment where everyone was forced to seek refuge in New Camelot City.
"Ritsuka, little sister," one of the refugees said, "so you didn't know before? No wonder you couldn't understand why we wouldn't listen to anything unless it came from someone who'd passed the Holy Selection. Passing it and entering Camelot City... that's truly our only hope."
"But what about the Old Man of the Mountain's village...?" Ritsuka asked.
"Do you know? The chances of encountering the Old Man of the Mountain and being rescued by them are about the same as entering Camelot City. Besides, their movements are unpredictable. Without a guide, you'd never find their hidden village. But Camelot City... it just stands there, waiting."
"How could the chances be..."
"Ritsuka, little sister, how many people do you think lived around the original Holy City of Jerusalem? And how many do you think the Old Man of the Mountain's village can shelter?"
The refugees were rationalizing their choices, but what they said was also the truth. The Old Man of the Mountain had only decided to act—to begin rescuing the few remaining refugees—after the situation had become irreversible. They, who had always remained aloof from worldly affairs, were finally forced to intervene.
Hearing this, Hundred Faces and Hassan of Intoxicated Smoke felt a pang of shame. Their own power was so limited. The hope of saving these people and repairing this Singularity...
As the refugees trudged onward, heads bowed, Hundred Faces and Intoxicated Smoke exchanged a glance. They were willing to stake their lives to vouch for the Chaldea party, to trade their lives for the First Hassan's intervention.
But first, they had to convince the man standing before them at the head of the column: Hassan of the Cursed Arm, the leader of the East Village.
Their eyes met, and Hundred Faces and Intoxicated Smoke hurried forward.