"Ugh..."
A soft groan drew the attention of everyone in the room. On the sofa, Olga Marie's fingers twitched. She slowly opened her eyes. For a few agonizing seconds, sheer panic flashed in her pupils the phantom flames of CHALDEAS and Lev's sadistic laughter still haunted her mind. Her breath hitched, and her body trembled violently.
"Director! You're awake?!" Mash rushed to her side, her face radiating indescribable relief.
Hearing Mash's voice and realizing she was in the safety of a conference room, Olga squeezed her eyes shut. She took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing all her terror and despair into the deepest, darkest corner of her heart. When she opened her eyes again, the fragile look was gone. The Director forced herself to sit up straight, smoothing out the wrinkles in her uniform collar. The pride of the Animusphere family and her duty as the leader of Chaldea completely overtook her trauma.
It seemed she had regained consciousness a few moments prior and had silently listened to the end of their conversation.
"Ritsuka Fujimaru," Olga called out. Her voice was slightly raspy, yet she forced it to be as cold as ice, slipping perfectly back into her strict, impenetrable professional persona.
Fujimaru turned his head, meeting the Director's sharp gaze with unwavering calmness. "Yes, Director?"
Olga stared straight into the young man's eyes—eyes she now knew belonged not to an ordinary human, but to a majestic existence from the past. "As a Ruler... why do you want to help humanity? What is your objective, and what do you stand to gain by preserving this history?" she asked, her tone entirely investigative. As a leader, she could not allow an entity of such immense power to operate without knowing its true motives.
The corners of Fujimaru's lips curled into a faint, melancholic smile. He looked down for a moment, staring at his intact left arm as if speaking to the soul of the young man slumbering within.
"My first reason is simple. It is a form of redemption and a debt of gratitude to the original owner of this body," Fujimaru answered, his voice soft yet echoing with profound weight. "I have unintentionally taken his future. Because of that, I will shoulder his responsibilities and fulfill his wish to protect the world he loved."
Then, Fujimaru looked back at Olga. This time, his aura no longer felt like that of a teenage boy, but rather an eternal observer who had watched the rise and fall of civilizations from a divine throne.
"And my second reason... is because humanity itself is an incredibly precious existence," he continued.
Fujimaru's golden eyes shone with genuine admiration. "You are incredibly fragile beings, yet you are gifted with absolute free will. You can choose to commit the most heinous of evils, or create the noblest of goods. You murder, yet you also love. You destroy, yet you also build. Humanity is the evolution of an ideal being, brimming with beautiful contradictions. To save an existence such as yours... to me, is not a chore, but an absolute honor."
Total silence blanketed the conference room. Those words were so deeply sincere and profound that they silenced every lingering doubt in the hearts of Dr. Roman, Da Vinci, Mash, and even Olga Marie herself.
Fujimaru leaned back in his chair slowly, crossing his legs with a natural elegance that couldn't be hidden by his standard Chaldea recruit uniform. A mysterious gleam crossed his golden eyes an ancient gaze that looked as though it had witnessed, stored, and cataloged millions of stars across the galaxy.
"Besides that..." Fujimaru's smile widened slightly. It was not a smile of arrogance, but rather the quiet, satisfied smile of an art connoisseur standing before a magnum opus. "...at my very core, I am a collector."
He raised his left hand with a slow, graceful movement, staring into the empty air as if he could see the invisible threads of history weaving the world together. "The primary and most fundamental instinct of a true collector is to preserve. To maintain and protect what has been gathered so that it is not destroyed, rotted, or lost to the cruelty of time. To me, the history, the culture, and every single footprint of humanity on this planet is the most precious collection in existence."
His voice dropped, emitting a subtle magical resonance that made the hairs on the back of their necks stand up. Fujimaru lowered his hand and shifted his gaze across the stunned faces surrounding him: Mash, who looked at him with sheer admiration; Da Vinci, who smiled with profound interest; Dr. Roman, who sat perfectly still; and Olga, who listened with unwavering focus.
His aura shifted once more. The warmth of a guardian was seamlessly replaced by the absolute strictness of a supreme judge.
"And most importantly, I believe in balance," he stated in a tone that brooked no argument. "The absolute incineration of humanity in the year 2017 is not a natural cycle, but rather a forced anomaly that has shattered the scales of the world's order. The fundamental laws of the universe have been unilaterally violated."
Fujimaru stared straight into Director Olga Marie's eyes with unshakeable conviction, as if declaring war upon the very entity that had destroyed the world. "Because the order of this world has been broken, someone must correct it. This... is perhaps the main reason why the will of the world summoned me as a Ruler."
"I see..."
Olga Marie murmured softly, lowering her gaze to the steel table before her. The phantom of destruction was slowly sinking into her reality. "The outside world is completely unreachable. And the staff who tried to leave this facility... not a single one of them has ever returned. There also a report regarding emerging of seven Singularity across the era."
The silver-haired girl clenched her hands tightly in her lap, trying to bear the crushing weight of that cruel truth.
"It seems Chaldea is truly all that remains. We are the absolute last bastion of humanity, like a sinking ship waiting in silence until the moment of our inevitable destruction arrives." Her voice trembled momentarily with despair, but within seconds, that tremor was replaced by a sharp, unyielding resolve. "However, I refuse to succumb to that fate. If doing nothing means death, then we must act immediately."
Slowly but firmly, Olga Marie stood up from the sofa. The pain and shock that had paralyzed her moments ago were now completely suppressed by her overwhelming sense of duty. She smoothed the collar of her uniform, held her chin high, and stared straight at the Ruler-Class young man sitting before her.
In that very second, she was no longer a girl terrified of death, but the supreme leader of the facility dedicated to protecting humanity's future.
"In our current critical condition, Chaldea is in no position to reject a helping hand from anyone, much less an extraordinary existence such as yourself," Olga stated, her voice loud and ringing with absolute authority, echoing throughout the conference room.
She placed her right hand over her heart, offering a formal gesture of respect, like a commander to a hero.
"Ruler, Ritsuka Fujimaru. On behalf of what little remains of humanity, I, Olga Marie Animusphere, Director of Chaldea, formally request your assistance. Lend us your power to resolve and destroy the Singularities threatening our history!"
The solemn silence did not last long.
"Even so, we still need to do something about that right arm of yours," Dr. Roman interjected. His instincts as the head of the medical division took over once again; his eyes stared with concern at Fujimaru's empty sleeve, which fluttered lightly in the room's air circulation. "You can't shoulder the burden of saving the world with just one arm."
"There is no need to worry, Doctor. This is my body now; I know exactly how to take care of it," Fujimaru replied with a faint smile.
Once again, he raised his left hand and touched the empty air. The space rippled, opening a gateway to his dimensional storage. From the void, he drew out a small, 15-centimeter glass vial. Despite its small size, the item radiated an overwhelmingly dense magical aura. The liquid inside was a deep, thick blood-red, swirling gently as if it possessed its own pulse. The vial did not look like ordinary medical equipment; it resembled a holy artifact, adorned with majestic red and gold engravings.
It was a Mid-Tier Healing Potion.
Without a single moment of hesitation, Fujimaru unstoppered the vial and poured the ruby-red liquid directly over his severed right shoulder.
An absolute miracle unfolded right before their eyes.
Instead of spilling onto the floor, the crimson liquid glowed brightly and absorbed into the stump of his shoulder. Thin white steam rose into the air, accompanied by a soft sizzling sound. Within a matter of seconds, muscle fibers, blood vessels, and bone tissue began weaving themselves together out of thin air. The regeneration process occurred at a terrifying yet awe-inspiring speed extending downwards from the upper arm, forming the elbow, constructing the wrist, and finally completing five perfectly flawless fingers.
His previously empty uniform sleeve was now completely filled. Fujimaru rolled his shoulder, then opened and closed the newly formed fingers of his right hand to test the nerve responses.
He smiled in satisfaction, leaving Dr. Roman and the others frozen in mute astonishment as they watched the laws of biology be effortlessly shattered.
Da Vinci clapped her hands enthusiastically, her eyes sparkling with profound interest like an artist discovering a brand-new color. "Fufu! From the analysis earlier, I already knew in theory that your existence defies human logic. But witnessing a miracle like this with my own two eyes... ah, it truly is a spectacular sight!"
However, in stark contrast to Da Vinci's excitement and Dr. Roman's jaw-dropping disbelief, Olga Marie and Mash's reactions were the exact opposite. They simply sat in silence. Their gazes blankly stared at Fujimaru's fully restored arm, almost entirely expressionless.
It wasn't that they didn't care. It was just that far too much madness had crashed down upon them in the span of less than twenty-four hours.
Their minds had been brutally battered time and time again: Lev Lainur's vicious betrayal that shattered the foundation of their trust, the deadly explosion that incinerated Chaldea's command room along with their colleagues, the bloody battles in the burning city of the Fuyuki Singularity, right up to the literal miracle of resurrection from death that defied the boundaries of the universe.
The mental and emotional capacities of the two girls who had been by Fujimaru's side on the front lines had reached their absolute limits. They were simply too exhausted both physically and psychologically to even muster a look of surprise or gasp in awe. When an endless string of senseless impossibilities happens back-to-back right before your eyes, eventually, even miracles start to feel like mundane, numbing routines.
Letting out a long, heavy sigh laden with pure exhaustion, Olga Marie slowly massaged her temples, bracing herself to face a new reality where the impossible was now their primary ally.
Amidst the heavy, exhaustion-filled silence, a soft yet urgent knock broke the atmosphere.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Da Vinci swiftly stood up and opened the conference room door. Standing in the doorway was one of Chaldea's remaining technical staff members. He was a plump man wearing thick, square-rimmed glasses—Jingle Abel Meunière. He was panting slightly, as if he had just sprinted down the long corridors, but there was an overwhelming joy that he simply could not hide on his sweating face.
"Reporting, Director!" Meunière exclaimed with a passionate, cheerful voice, as if delivering the sole piece of good news in the middle of an apocalypse. "We did it! We have completely successfully stabilized the FATE System!"
Hearing that report, Olga Marie's previously dull eyes immediately sparked back to life. The enthusiasm of a leader who had just found a way out reignited within her. "Excellent!" she responded firmly, glancing toward Dr. Roman and Da Vinci with immense hope.
Fujimaru raised an eyebrow, reacting to the unfamiliar term he had just heard. "The FATE System? What is that?"
As the Head of the Technology Development Division directly overseeing the project, Da Vinci took over the explanation.
"It is the Heroic Spirit Summoning System Chaldea's primary system for summoning Servants," Da Vinci explained, crossing her arms over her chest. "This system has always possessed an incredibly high level of instability, making the summoning probability heavily prone to failure. As proof, up until now, Chaldea has only managed to successfully summon three Servants, myself included."
Olga Marie's forehead creased with questioning curiosity. She knew all too well just how difficult it was to perfect that system. "Then how did you suddenly manage to stabilize and complete the system in the middle of all this chaos?"
The smile on Da Vinci's lips widened into a proud grin, brimming with the intellectual satisfaction of a true genius. She pointed toward the massive, cross-shaped shield resting beside Mash's chair.
"We used Mash's shield as the foundation," Da Vinci revealed, her eyes sparkling. "That shield is an extraordinary conceptual relic a gathering place for heroes. By utilizing it as the ultimate catalyst for the summoning system, the stability has increased to ninety percent!"
Da Vinci turned toward Fujimaru, giving him a theatrical wink. "Therefore, I offer my congratulations to you, Mr. Fujimaru! Because starting from this very second, with the perfected FATE system, you can begin summoning Servants to fight by our side!"
Fujimaru immediately furrowed his brow. Instead of getting swept up in the joyful atmosphere, he maintained his analytical mindset and asked with careful deliberation.
"What exactly are the strict conditions for summoning through this system? And realistically, how many Servants can be summoned at one time?"
Da Vinci placed a finger on her chin, weighing her thoughts for a moment before answering with the straightforward, knowledgeable tone of a scholar.
"Theoretically, as long as we have a sufficient supply of Mana and the right catalyst, we can summon a Servant," Da Vinci explained. Her smile faded slightly, replaced by a serious demeanor. "The system is indeed ninty percent stable for the ritual, but unfortunately, the probability of a successful summoning remains quite low."
Da Vinci crossed her arms over her chest. "The main issue lies in the power output. The Mana supplied to the FATE system has to be strictly limited, because a large portion of Chaldea's reactor energy is currently being forcefully diverted to maintain our facility shielding and life-support systems. Furthermore, the catalyst itself must be an artifact or relic that shares a deeply rooted conceptual tie to the Servant you wish to summon."
Hearing the constraints outlined by the Caster, Fujimaru's expression didn't show the slightest hint of worry.
"If the main problem is simply the Mana supply, there is no need to worry, i can cover that energy deficit. " Fujimaru stated with a faint smile, brimming with absolute confidence.
Olga Marie stood tall, radiating an aura of authority that had previously dimmed due to her trauma. Her decision was final; there was no more time for hesitation or prolonged debates.
"In that case, there is no reason to delay any further. We will conduct the summoning ritual right now," Olga declared firmly, her voice echoing in the conference room with an undeniable tone. "Only by reinforcing our lineup of Servants do we have a real chance of exploring and securing the next Singularity."
The Director then turned to Meunière with a sharp gaze that demanded utmost professionalism. "Meunière, coordinate with the rest of the technical staff. Prepare the Rayshift system immediately and recalibrate all the machines. I want Chaldea ready for departure to the Singularity within 48 hours from now. There is not to be a single second of delay!"
"Yes, Director! I will get on it right away!" Meunière answered promptly. He gave a formal salute before turning around and rushing out of the room to execute the order.
Olga Marie then glanced at Fujimaru, Mash, and Da Vinci in turn. Although a heavy burden still weighed on her shoulders, a glimmer of hope was beginning to shine in her eyes. She walked toward the exit with steady steps, accompanied by the rhythmic tapping of her shoes against the metal floor.
"Let's go," Olga said, glancing back slightly from the doorway. "Let us head to the summoning room and test our luck. Let us see if human history still holds enough miracles to aid us."
They arrived at Chaldea's main summoning chamber an incredibly vast and grand circular room. The metal floor was engraved with intricate, large-scale magic circles, coursing with lines of bluish Mana that faintly glowed like the breath of life. In the center of the room, Mash's massive shield was carefully placed, acting as the altar and the core catalyst for the FATE system.
They stepped into Chaldea's Grand Summoning Chamber—a circular room vast enough to rival a cathedral. The metal floor was etched with overlapping, massive magic circle formations. Veins of bluish Mana circuits pulsed steadily beneath their feet, as if the room itself were breathing.
At the very center of the formation, Mash's massive shield was placed with absolute precision, acting as the ultimate altar and the heart of the FATE System.
Dr. Roman stood tall behind the main monitoring console. His usual laid-back demeanor had completely evaporated, replaced by the intense seriousness of a Head of Medicine now holding the reins of the world's fate.
"All circuits are stable. We will commence the Servant summoning process now," he announced, his voice bouncing off the vast steel walls, accompanied by the heavy, warming hum of the reactor engines.
Fujimaru stepped forward, radiating a calm composure that sharply contrasted with the room's tension. He extended his left hand forward. In the next second, the fabric of reality at his fingertips tore open. A spatial distortion, as pitch-black as the void of space, silently unzipped.
From within the rift of that Pocket Dimension, Fujimaru pulled out several data crystals that radiated a captivating prismatic glow. There were six in total.
"Just place your catalyst or summoning energy directly on top of Mash's shield. The system will automatically trigger the ritual."
Nodding slightly, Fujimaru approached the altar. He placed one small data crystal on the shield's surface, then took a few steps back.
BZZZZT!
The FATE System activated. The giant magic circles on the floor flared with a blinding light. Three massive rings of light suddenly manifested in the air, spinning at high speed around Mash's shield. A localized gale-force wind whipped through the room, blowing their hair and clothes amidst an incredible surge of Mana.
However, their expectations were shattered in an instant.
The white light dimmed, leaving behind only a thin wisp of Mana smoke that slowly evaporated into the air. The data crystal had crumbled into dust without a trace, and above the shield altar, no one was standing. The room fell silent once more.
The first summoning ended in an absolute failure.
"Sigh..." Dr. Roman exhaled deeply, his shoulders slumping. "So, this is our first failure. As I suspected, the probability is still incredibly fragile. I think we need to pause this for a moment to dissect the algorithm."
Yet, Fujimaru only raised an eyebrow. As a Ruler, his mind operated on pure logic and absolute calculation.
"Halt the trials because of a single failure? Isn't that inefficient?" Fujimaru countered with a sharp, analytical tone. "One failure is not a conclusion, Doctor; it is data. The more I attempt this, the more empirical data the system can gather. That way, you can map out the errors with exact precision."
That undeniably cold logic made Dr. Roman's eyes light up. His scientific spirit was reignited. "Ah...! You're one hundred percent right! In that case, go right ahead! Summon as many times as you want! Da Vinci will record every anomaly that occurs!"
Wasting no time, Fujimaru stepped forward and placed the second small data crystal onto the shield.
The ritual resonated once more. The three rings of light spun with a deafening roar, the magical winds raged again. Yet, when the storm of light subsided, the stage of the altar remained completely empty.
A second failure was imprinted right before their eyes.
Fujimaru showed no signs of frustration. To him, failure was merely a logical step toward success. With a steady motion, he reached into the spatial rift again and pulled out a medium-sized data crystal. This crystal was dimmer but possessed a significantly denser and heavier energy vibration.
"Third attempt. Escalating energy scale," Fujimaru stated calmly.
He placed the crystal at the center of Mash's shield. The moment the crystal touched the metal surface, the entire room trembled violently. This time, the Mana circuits on the floor were no longer blue; they turned into a blinding gold. The three spinning rings of light roared like jet engines, creating a storm of air pressure that forced Dr. Roman, Da Vinci, Olga and Mash to shield their eyes with their arms.
BOOM!
A pillar of pure light struck the ceiling. But instead of vanishing, the light began to solidify, forming a human silhouette atop the shield. The scent of ancient forests and the faint smell of woodsmoke filled their senses.
As the glow subsided, a man stood there casually. He wore a blue cloak adorned with thick fur on the shoulders, giving off a wild yet majestic impression. In his right hand, he gripped a large wooden staff engraved with Rune symbols that pulsed with a dim red light. His sharp red eyes scanned the room before finally settling on Fujimaru.
"Heh... So I've been summoned as a Caster this time, have I?" the man muttered. His voice was deep, brimming with confidence, and carried a thick tone of curiosity. He leaned his wooden staff against his shoulder with an incredibly fluid motion.
The man hopped down from Mash's shield, stepping forward until he was only a few paces away from Fujimaru. A faint smirk appeared on his face, which was marked with subtle war tattoos.
"I ask you... are you my Master?"
Dr. Roman nearly choked at the sight of the figure. "T-that... a Servant! We actually did it! And this aura... he's no ordinary Servant!"
Fujimaru stared back at the Servant with his calm golden eyes. He could feel an invisible thread a magical contract beginning to weave between them. As a Ruler, he could recognize the essence of the hero before him: The Hound of Cú Chulainn, now wielding ancient magic.
"Correct," Fujimaru replied with an authoritative tone. "I am the Master who summoned you. Welcome to Chaldea, Wise One of Ireland."
Name: Cú Chulainn
Class: Caster
Attribute: Heaven
Gender: Male
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Class Skills:
Territory Creation (B Rank): Ability to form a territory matching his teacher's Noble Phantasm, a "gate."
Divinity (B Rank): High Divine Spirit aptitude as the son of Lugh.
Personal Skills:
Primordial Rune (— Rank): Possession of ancient North European runes. Can master powerful and diverse magical effects.
Protection from Arrows (A Rank): Absolute protection against projectiles.
Disengage (C Rank): Ability to flee from battle and reset disadvantageous conditions.
Stats:
Strength E | Endurance D | Agility C | Mana B | Luck D | NP B
Noble Phantasm:
Wicker Man: Cage of Scorching, Consuming Flames (Anti-Unit (Self) A+): Summons a giant wicker man made of countless branches, engulfed in intense flames to burn everything in its path.
Fujimaru smiled faintly, radiating a warm composure. He wasn't surprised in the slightest to see who had answered his call.
"Yes, I am your Master. We meet again, Cú Chulainn," Fujimaru said.
Cú Chulainn narrowed his red eyes, scrutinizing the young man's face closely before a wide grin spread across his face. He recognized Fujimaru's spiritual footprint from their battle in Fuyuki.
"I see, so we meet again on this side," Cú Chulainn said, nodding slowly as he casually shouldered his wooden staff. "In that case, I accept this contract as your Servant. So, this is the Chaldea headquarters you all kept talking about, huh!" his voice echoed with vibrant energy.
"I will explain the full situation later," Fujimaru answered patiently.
Cú Chulainn's gaze then shifted to the other people in the room. His eyes gleamed mischievously as he recognized two very familiar faces.
"Oh! Aren't you the highly competent Miss Director who has absolutely no talent for being a Master? And over there is the Shield Girl. Well, that was quite a fast reunion," Cú Chulainn teased, smirking broadly at Olga and Mash.
Hearing that jab, a vein of irritation instantly popped on Olga Marie's forehead. However, she held her chin high with a proud expression. "Take that back, Caster! The current me now possesses the full qualifications to be a Master!"
"Hoo! Really?" Cú Chulainn laughed dismissively, thoroughly enjoying the Director's reaction. "Heh! Well then, congratulations on finally breaking free from that pathetic curse."
"What did you just say?!" Olga's face flushed red with provoked anger. She was about to stomp forward to teach the Irish hero a lesson, but Mash swiftly held her back. The marshmallow-haired girl locked her arms around Olga's waist from behind.
"That's enough, Director! Please calm down, fighting in the middle of a ritual is not a good idea!" Mash pleaded as she struggled to hold back the slightly flailing Olga.
Cú Chulainn laughed in satisfaction, then turned toward the control room. "And this voice... You're the noisy mage who kept talking from behind those blue holograms, right? So this is what you actually look like." He looked Dr. Roman up and down.
"A pleasure to meet you in person, Cú Chulainn," Dr. Roman replied with a polite smile, already used to the Caster's blunt nature.
However, the hero's eyes shifted to the elegantly dressed woman standing not far from the doctor. "And... there's one face here that's completely unfamiliar to me. Who is this beautiful woman?"
Da Vinci stepped forward gracefully, flashing her most captivating smile. "Hello, Cú Chulainn. My name is Leonardo Da Vinci. You may call me Da Vinci. I am very much looking forward to our future cooperation, oh Son of Light of Ireland."
Cú Chulainn froze for a few seconds. His brain tried to process the name of a famous historical figure who was supposed to be a bearded, middle-aged man, yet the entity standing before him was a breathtakingly beautiful woman.
"So you're Da Vinci... ah, whatever. Nice to meet you too," he said, scratching the back of his head, giving up on questioning the logic of the mage's world.
Watching the ice-breaking interaction, Dr. Roman smiled in relief. "Congratulations, Fujimaru. You have successfully stabilized a contract and summoned your first Servant in Chaldea."
"Thank you, Doctor. But we aren't finished yet," Fujimaru said, his gaze turning serious once more. He looked at Cú Chulainn, who consciously began stepping away from the summoning circle to make room. "We will continue right now."