A flash of insight struck Adam, and he suddenly froze, no longer hearing Ritsuka's voice.
He remembered now.
At the very end of her life, Artoria had chosen to form a contract with Alaya—the Counter Force. Even if it meant falling into an endless cycle of reincarnation, she had wished upon the Holy Grail to save her kingdom.
From beginning to end, she had always been an agent of the Counter Force.
And in this Singularity, Artoria Alter didn't appear to have a Master, even though she had already been blackened.
Looking at it now, there had always been a "boss" standing behind her.
No wonder Emiya had deliberately let Artoria Alter kill him. The two of them had been on the same side all along.
The realization only made Adam more curious.
If his guess was correct, then this entire Singularity had been created directly by the Counter Force.
But why?
Why would Alaya go through all this trouble to form this Singularity and keep it in existence?
Adam figured Emiya might have the answers.
——————————
In a pitch-black space.
A man dressed entirely in green, complete with a green hat, stood with his hands behind his back, looking as if he had fulfilled his life's greatest dream.
It was Lev—the man known as the Grand Bomber.
Just as he was reveling in his success, something seemed to occur to him. He turned his gaze toward Singularity F.
"Tch."
Lev clicked his tongue in clear disgust, as though he had seen something utterly repulsive.
"Still struggling pointlessly, Counter Force?"
"How nauseating."
"Can't you just die already?"
Lev's eyes opened impossibly wide, to a degree no normal person could achieve. His eyelids seemed to have vanished entirely, leaving his bloodshot eyeballs completely exposed.
Then, in the next instant, he calmed down completely, as if the previous outburst had never happened.
"It doesn't matter."
"It's just one Singularity. If I have to, I'll deal with it personally."
"Once this annoying little obstacle is removed, the King's ideal will soon be realized!"
"Hahaha—"
His laughter stopped as abruptly and unnaturally as it had begun.
Lev suddenly recalled his crowning achievement—bombing Chaldea.
"Without their Director, the organization is leaderless."
"Chaldea must be in complete chaos right now!"
Then he thought of Roman, the man who had deceived him.
"What a shame. We're still missing Roman."
Back then, Lev had called Roman to the Command Room. He had assumed the doctor was in his office, never imagining that Roman had been slacking off in Ritsuka Fujimaru's room instead.
The distance from Roman's actual office to the Command Room was completely different from the distance between Ritsuka's room and the Command Room.
The time it took Roman to arrive had thrown off Lev's calculations. The bomb had detonated before Roman could reach the room.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter."
"Even if that useless Roman had taken command of Chaldea, what could he possibly do?"
"He'd only add to the confusion."
Lev's voice carried clear contempt whenever he mentioned Roman.
One could only wonder what kind of expression he would make if he ever learned Roman's true identity.
Still basking in the memory of destroying Chaldea, Lev's thoughts turned to the forty-seven Masters who had perished in the explosion.
"With all the Masters gone…"
"Chaldea must be completely helpless by now."
Then his mind drifted to Ritsuka Fujimaru.
"That lucky girl."
Originally, Ritsuka had also been inside the Command Room, well within the blast radius.
But because she had been dozing off during class and couldn't answer when Olga Marie questioned her, the Director had thrown her out of the lecture hall.
That scolding had inadvertently saved her life.
Hail the legendary survivor queen.
Lev knew that Ritsuka was now the only remaining Master in Chaldea. Although he had missed her…
"It doesn't matter. The most troublesome ones have already been taken care of."
"She's nothing more than a lucky good-for-nothing."
"A Master with no magical talent, only rayshift compatibility? What can she possibly accomplish?"
"She's just barely clinging to life."
With that thought, Lev became thoroughly convinced that Chaldea no longer posed any threat.
All that remained was to clean up Singularity F, and everything would be perfect.
——————————
Meanwhile.
In Singularity F.
The Chaldea group was currently taking a break and preparing their equipment.
The so-called "useless Master" Lev had written off—Ritsuka Fujimaru—was sitting beside Mash, happily eating and filling her stomach.
If Adam had never become involved in this world, Ritsuka's future achievements would have been…
And the Director who Lev believed was long dead—Olga Marie—was currently discussing Chaldea's current situation with none other than Dr. Roman (Solomon, the true king that the Demon God Pillar Lev served).
Adam had now fully integrated into this world's Chaldea.
The very same Chaldea that Lev considered completely harmless.
At this moment, Adam was deep in thought, pondering the nature of this Singularity.
Meanwhile, the 5★ Mash was quietly brewing tea for him.
The Lostbelt King, Scáthach-Skadi, was eating ice cream to cool herself down.
After all, the burning city of Singularity F was far too hot for someone who had spent countless years in a frozen wasteland.
Sweat beaded on Scáthach-Skadi's face, trickling down her skin and disappearing into the deep valley of her cleavage.
The intense heat was clearly making her uncomfortable.
She glanced around. Seeing no one watching, she set down her ice cream and fanned her flushed face with both hands.
She closed her eyes, savoring the slight breeze, but it still wasn't enough.
With a helpless little voice that sounded far more girlish than her usual stern tone, she murmured,
"It's so hot…"
The moment she opened her eyes, she caught Adam staring at her from the corner of her vision.
***
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