Chapter 48: The Guardian
Snowfield City Police Department, Chief's Office.
The freezing air was filled with the suffocating smell of gunpowder.
In the center, two girls surrounded on all sides had several black standard-issue rifles pointed at them.
Behind the large desk, the nominal highest official of Snowfield City rested his chin on his hand.
His cold, stern expression showed no trace of unnecessary emotion.
Cold eyes quietly stared into the future.
"I understand the city is in a tense situation, but suddenly pointing so many guns at unarmed civilians is a bit excessive, isn't it?"
The orange-haired girl named Fujimaru Ritsuka raised both hands high, her smile clearly showing helplessness and hesitation.
Right after the emergency landing following spiritual transfer, she had tried her best to maintain a friendly negotiating posture, but with armed forces standing before her, maintaining that atmosphere was difficult.
"Senpai, please don't leave my side!"
Mash, standing beside her, gripped her massive cross-shaped shield with both hands and unhesitatingly stepped in front of Ritsuka.
She looked anxiously toward the man behind the desk. "Um, Chief, we didn't come with any ill intent! My Master and I—"
"I know."
Orlando interrupted her indifferently. "You claim to be from a human-rights protection organization called Chaldea, right?"
"You came to me because you want to know what's happening in Snowfield City and where the Creation Goddess that should only exist in myth came from."
Mash inwardly smiled wryly and immediately said, "Since you understand why we're here, could you please tell your subordinates to lower their guns? Let's talk—"
"Oh…"
A sarcastic smile suddenly appeared on Orlando's serious face.
"Should I say your disguise is perfect, or… are you two really that naive? You two who call yourselves saving humanity."
He leaned back deeply in his chair and stared at the orange-haired girl leading the group. "With the Holy Grail War having completely descended into madness, why would I trust a Master who was very likely sent by another faction for intelligence gathering?"
"Please believe us. The situation is far more urgent than you imagine."
Fujimaru Ritsuka took a deep breath, her expression extremely serious. "Snowfield City's space-time foundation is collapsing. It could fall into a completely uncontrollable Singularity at any moment. We need accurate information and support."
She mustered her courage and looked Orlando in the eye. "You saw that giant phantom in the sky, didn't you? If that Mother truly descends to the ground, not only Snowfield City… the entire Earth will become hell."
"Therefore, we must accurately determine how she was summoned."
Faced with words that would make any ordinary person flinch, Orlando showed not the slightest agitation. He said calmly, "If you want to know why the Creation Goddess Tiamat appeared… that is no longer a secret to the rulers of all factions today."
"She was summoned not by a god, but by a mere human magus."
Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash exchanged glances. Both saw unconcealable shock in the other's eyes.
"In other words… the cause of a Singularity-level anomaly that could destroy humanity… was a human?!" Mash muttered in disbelief.
After a moment of shock, Fujimaru Ritsuka did not falter. Instead, she ignored the densely packed gun barrels around her and took a step forward without hesitation.
Click! Click!
Almost simultaneously, the sharp sound of bullets being chambered echoed from the surrounding SWAT rifles. Terrifying killing intent was instantly directed at the girl.
Yet the orange-haired girl ignored the approaching gun muzzles.
She stared intently at Orlando and asked in a desperate voice, "Chief… please tell me. Where is that magus right now?"
"And… what is his name?"
Staring into the clear eyes of the orange-haired girl who showed no fear even of gunfire, Orlando fell silent for a moment.
This girl is either far too bold, or truly ignorant and fearless?
Countless gun muzzles that could turn her into a sieve in an instant were pointed at her, yet she still tried to advance… Was she not afraid of a misfire?
Orlando thought it absurd, yet in the orange-haired girl's eyes he saw something completely different from those selfish magus.
It was an unwavering will to stake everything on saving something.
"…I see."
After a long silence, Orlando took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
"If I must name the thing you're really looking for—the source of this crisis,—then there is only one person I can think of."
"Direct disciple of Lord El-Melloi II of the Clock Tower, and adopted son of the Matou family of Fuyuki City."
Under the sharp gazes of the two girls, Orlando spoke the name in a low voice.
"His name is… Matou Yuu."
Matou… Yuu?
The two girls exchanged glances. Then Fujimaru Ritsuka spoke first, looking impatient and about to ask more.
Ring ring!
Just then, the loud ringing of a telephone on the desk suddenly broke the silence.
Orlando frowned and pulled out a top-level encrypted communicator from his inner pocket.
"What is it?"
["Oh my~ Don't be so cold, Chief! I never thought the Holy Grail War would be this exciting. Honestly, even I—who've lived this long—am getting goosebumps right now!"]
From the other end of the line came Francesca's incredibly cheerful, slightly nervous voice. ["From your breathing… it sounds like you have two new guests who fell from the sky beside you?"]
Orlando looked at the two girls still looking somewhat bewildered in front of him and replied in a cold, disgusted voice. "Your sense of smell is enviable even to hunting dogs."
["Hahaha… Don't compare people to dogs."]
Francesca let out a beautiful, clear silver laugh.
["I don't need you to praise my sense of smell. It's just that Faldeus' small military drones happened to capture the amazing sight of two shooting stars falling from the sky."]
…
At this very moment, on the opposite side of the city, in a high-rise building.
Francesca stood barefoot and gracefully before a large floor-to-ceiling window.
She tilted her head slightly and stared at the "Mother" phantom standing in the sky outside the glass.
"Not only is there a flower magus who loves hitting on people wherever he goes… Now even the official Humanity Preservation and Protection Organization has joined in. Ah… the cast of this show is so luxurious it takes your breath away!"
Orlando said calmly and steadily, "Did Faldeus send you to probe?"
"No no, it has nothing to do with that inflexible bureaucrat. I'm just interested in these two women from Chaldea."
Francesca stretched, then suddenly seemed to remember something very interesting.
She tilted her head, and the smile on her lips gradually widened into a larger arc.
"Ah… come to think of it, I forgot Faldeus asked me for a favor a little while ago."
Orlando gripped the phone a little tighter. For some reason, he suddenly had a bad premonition.
"What is it?" His voice was extremely low.
From the other end, Francesca's tone became mysterious and sweet.
"Well… you'll find out soon enough."
"Faldeus always uses an intimidating tone, but this time he personally wants to settle something."
Francesca chuckled and turned her gaze toward the elevated road in the city center. "Last time, thanks to Merlin-san's handiwork, François and I learned a good lesson. So this time, I'm going to give Merlin-san a return gift he'll never forget for the rest of his life."
"I hope they enjoy the fireworks."
…
The night spent on the overpass was a unique experience in Snowfield City. Cold wind howled through, bringing a cutting chill.
Matou Yuu kept his eyes closed, as if still savoring the sweet kiss from earlier.
How could he express that wonderful feeling?
It was like being temporarily freed from gravity and gently drifting into the depths of extremely soft clouds.
What surprised him even more was that even though the contact had been awkward, the moment their lips touched, the magical energy in his circuits was instantly replenished—as if it might overflow in the next instant.
Was Tiamat truly worthy of her name?
Even if what had appeared in this world was still only a juvenile clone, the total amount of magical energy it possessed was like a bottomless swamp beyond common sense.
Matou Yuu sighed inwardly, calmed his emotions, then opened his eyes and turned his gaze to Tiamat beside him.
She was leaning against the overpass railing, facing the wind, quietly gazing at the brightly lit, lively night scene in the distance.
She was different from the gentle, cute girl he had first met, and also different from the mature, calm woman in his memories.
At this moment, she had transformed into an elegant and beautiful young woman.
Her deep-blue dress fluttered in the night wind. Several strands of her sea-dark hair gently touched her pure white, innocent face.
With her high, straight nose bridge and ruby-clear eyes, she exuded the pure innocence of a deep-sea fairy from ancient myth. She had shed her unapproachable divine oppressiveness and gained the simplicity and innocence of a human girl.
A person could perfectly combine the three forms of childhood, girlhood, and maturity, switching between them at will according to mood or magecraft. In a sense, Tiamat was truly "invincible," wasn't she?
Matou Yuu gazed at the giant, breathtaking creature floating high in the distant sky while recalling the memory of that incredibly soft kiss, his emotions swirling.
Chomp!
Just then, light-blue system text quietly appeared before his retina, interrupting his thoughts.
[Mission: Crazy Fan! You have reached the best viewpoint in Snowfield City and completed the photo challenge using the holographic projection!]
[Reward: Attribute Points +1 (Free)]
Based on the principle that perception was extremely important in the Holy Grail War, Matou Yuu unhesitatingly allocated the points directly to magical energy.
[Magical Energy: 3/10 (C)] → [Magical Energy: 4/10 (C)]
[It has been detected that your Magical Energy attribute has reached the upgrade threshold] → [The level of the unique item "Portable Hot Spring" has changed]
[Effect: Can open an independent space of 100 square meters] → [Effect: Can open an independent space of 200 square meters with increased internal magical-energy concentration and basic life-recovery barrier removed]
Although his attribute value had only risen slightly, Matou Yuu felt as if the world before him had changed in an instant.
The sensation was hard to put into words, but if he had to, it was like glass that had been cloudy for years suddenly becoming crystal clear.
The magical energy flowing in the surrounding air now appeared in his vision as visible colored trails.
He could even easily distinguish the attributes of the magical remnants carried by the wind.
Perhaps my current magical-energy perception level has already reached the threshold of a Caster-class Servant, Matou Yuu thought to himself.
"Hey, Yuu-kun! Over here! Over here!"
Just as Matou Yuu was beginning to get used to his new senses, a magically enhanced shout suddenly rang in his ears.
He was startled at first, then leaned forward and looked down from the overpass.
A blond young man stood on the concrete stairs, waving vigorously at Matou Yuu on the bridge.
"Flat…?" Matou Yuu blurted out.
Before him stood Flat Escardos, a friend he had met at the Clock Tower.
"Ah, I finally found you. Finding people in this chaotic city was really tough."
As soon as Flat finished speaking, his large, curiosity-filled eyes turned toward the blue-haired girl beside Matou Yuu.
"Wow! Is this Tiamat-san? Amazing! She looks like a very cute girl, but I heard all the Masters have been very wary of her lately."
Matou Yuu finally came back to his senses and couldn't help asking, "What are you doing here?"
"Um… it's a long story."
Flat scratched his head and said with a smile. "When I heard there was an explosion at the hospital you were staying in, I was really worried. Luckily, I hacked into Snowfield City Hall's internal network and found your location, so I rushed over to check on you right away."
After he finished speaking, he clearly let out a sigh of relief and said with a laugh, "Anyway, I'm glad you're safe! Honestly, that thing in the sky is really creepy. Lately I've had this feeling that something outrageous is about to happen in Snowfield City!"
Looking at the blond young man standing alone under the dark bridge arch, Matou Yuu suddenly felt uneasy and asked hesitantly, "Come to think of it… why isn't your Servant anywhere to be seen?"
Flat looked surprised at first, then quickly realized. "Ah, you mean Jack-san."
He took an old-fashioned black communicator from his pocket and waved it toward the other side of the bridge. "I didn't want to stand out too much, so I had him make it portable like this."
"Jack-san, please come out now."
However, there was no response.
Flat blinked and shook the black cube in his hand with a puzzled expression. "That's strange… Why isn't he paying attention to me? Does Jack-san need a nap too?"
Drop—
Just then, in the middle of the night, Matou Yuu keenly sensed an extremely faint but chilling electronic buzzer sound.
He looked in the direction of the sound and was shocked to see the communicator in the blond young man's hand.
Its surface suddenly rippled like water with illusory waves.
Immediately after, the illusory shell gradually peeled away, revealing its true terrifying form.
The cold metal exterior of the object had a bright red indicator light flashing violently, its faint red glow reflecting on Flat's defenseless smiling face.
"Huh… Is this some kind of magic trick?" Flat muttered hesitantly, lifting the object to examine it. "It seems to have a GPS tracking function…"
Shhii—!
Another sharp, piercing sound.
At that moment, Matou Yuu felt a chill run from his spine to the top of his head. Goosebumps covered his entire body.
His expression changed drastically. He said in a desperate voice, "No—Flat, throw it away right now, that's—"
Beep beep beep beep—
But no one was given a chance to object.
The intense buzzing from the bomb reached its limit.
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion rang out beneath the overpass. The blond young man's figure was instantly swallowed by the blast.
Matou Yuu's heart skipped a beat. Almost instinctively, he tried to vault over the guardrail and jump down from the overpass.
But at that moment, a small cold hand tightly grabbed his clothes.
"Wait a second, Yuu… That child's condition is really strange."
Matou Yuu unconsciously turned around, and to his surprise, Tiamat was standing beside him. For some reason, Tiamat had lost her usual girlish innocence.
She was frowning as she stared at the blond young man beneath the bridge—who should have been blown to pieces.
The Creation Goddess, who possessed absolute recognition of life, clearly sensed an incredibly twisted and terrifying aura from the explosion beneath the bridge.
In her view, all things in this world—even the ugliest and most evil life forms—ultimately originated from her children.
However, she could not sense any trace of life from the Flat below… What had appeared beneath the overpass was unmistakably a monster that completely ignored the laws of nature.
At that moment, Matou Yuu also suddenly sensed an extremely ominous and cold aura.
His heart skipped a beat. Following Tiamat's gaze, he looked down.
And his breath caught for an instant.
Mist.
In the center of the charred ruins beneath the bridge, an endless black mist was rising. Gas was spewing out.
The black mist, as if possessing its own will, spread violently in all directions, greedily absorbing the free magical energy in the air.
In the center of that black mist, the Flat whose original form was no longer recognizable slowly revealed itself in a strange posture.
"Haa… Has the dream of 1800 finally come to an end?"
From the depths of the jet-black mist, a cold voice slowly echoed.
A cutting night wind blew through, dispersing some of the smoke and black mist beneath the bridge. Everything finally became clearly visible before Matou Yuu's eyes.
It had a face identical to Flat's, but not a trace of innocence or life remained.
The reborn Flat slowly raised his head and, with an emotionless gaze, first swept over Matou Yuu on the bridge, then immediately turned his eyes to Tiamat.
"You are… a Servant?"
Flat tilted his head and said quietly. "No… This aura is very unique… You don't seem to be a Servant, are you?"
The moment he heard that completely unfamiliar voice, Matou Yuu's expression froze. He could only mutter in a faint voice.
"What… is this…?"
…
Meanwhile, in the command center hundreds of meters underground…
Faldeus was walking down a cold corridor. His female secretary in a business suit followed closely behind him, carrying a thick stack of top-secret documents.
"Lord Faldeus, the special forces in charge of the assassination have reported that the detonation of the small high-performance bomb disguised as a communicator was successful. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the young man named Flat should… already be out of the game."
The electronic door opened. Faldeus entered the operations room filled with surveillance screens.
He showed no surprise and said calmly, "Actually, that kid was a once-in-a-generation genius from the Clock Tower. He should have been able to survive… It's just a pity he liked running around too much."
The female secretary lowered her eyelids and fell silent.
As a trusted confidant, she fully understood why her superior was so ruthless toward underage magus.
From the first night of the Holy Grail War, Flat had directly hacked into Snowfield City's military security system.
His actions were completely unpredictable. Even the infamous Heroic Spirit Jack the Ripper was treated like a clay toy, freely changing form.
For someone with Faldeus' strong desire for control, Flat was like a virus that could recklessly cause death right before his eyes and threaten his plan to control the Holy Grail War at any moment.
After all, this fake Holy Grail War was nothing less than a de facto declaration of war by the U.S. government and the organization behind it against the Clock Tower.
They wanted to prove to the world that the combination of modern technology and magecraft was more than enough to defeat the outdated mages of the old era.
Swiftly and decisively eliminating the Clock Tower Lord's most cherished disciple was in itself an extremely insulting and intimidating act.
"Furthermore, regarding the previous attack on the central hospital, it has been confirmed to be the work of Bazdilot Cordelion, the mad dog of the Scladio family."
The female secretary paused, then lowered her voice. "However, his life signs disappeared just recently… And the monstrous Servant he commanded, Alcides, is currently missing."
Faldeus leaned deeply into the large leather office chair. On the main screen before him, a live broadcast showed the breathtaking phantom of Tiamat floating in the sky.
"Who killed him?" he asked expressionlessly, in a voice calmer than usual.
"…According to information, after the hospital was destroyed, Matou Yuu teamed up with the Kuruoka family's Pale Rider, infiltrated the abandoned factory where Bazdilot was hiding, and destroyed the magical supply equipment buried deep underground," the female secretary reported.
"Matou Yuu…"
Faldeus repeated the name in a low voice and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Him again?"
If Faldeus had tried to kill Flat because of his unpredictable actions… then Matou Yuu should have been someone he wanted to eliminate as soon as possible from the moment he summoned Tiamat.
However, even with U.S. government support, he had been somewhat wary of the current situation.
After all, the Creation Goddess Tiamat was beside that young man.
Should he use Command Spells to force that completely disobedient assassin to carry out the assassination?
No… If he truly wanted the Assassins to act, Command Spells alone might not be enough…
"Stand down for now. I need a little more time to think," Faldeus instructed.
After the female secretary bowed and left, the command center fell silent, leaving only the low hum of machinery.
Faldeus leaned tiredly against the backrest and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep while trying to sort out the complex game in his mind.
"If I were you, the moment I saw that Mother on the first day of the Holy Grail War, I would have immediately stopped this ridiculous farce and tucked my tail between my legs and fled the city."
At that moment, a voice devoid of any emotion suddenly echoed from behind Faldeus.
"Unfortunately, not only did you fail to seize your only chance to survive, you cleverly used a bomb to open another Pandora's box that could destroy the Earth."
Faldeus felt as if he had been electrocuted. He suddenly opened his eyes and turned around.
At that moment, his heart seemed to stop for an instant.
In this top-secret command center equipped with the U.S. military's highest-level dual magical and physical defense matrix, a man stood quietly—unnoticed by anyone.
The man had deep bronze skin and short, pale-colored hair slicked back.
He wore a black trench coat and stared silently at Faldeus behind the desk with abyss-like vacant eyes.
Faldeus' pupils contracted slightly, but he quickly regained composure. "You are… a Heroic Spirit?"
"If I had to define it, that would not be a proper Heroic Spirit. Once upon a time he dreamed of becoming a hero of justice, but in the end he became nothing more than a rotting, foul-smelling corpse."
The white-haired, crew-cut man lightly shrugged. His tone carried an emotionless, cold indifference.
He never exuded killing intent, yet for some reason Faldeus felt a chill run down his spine when stared at by those lifeless eyes.
"In this Holy Grail War, which faction's Servant are you…?"
He asked instinctively. His mind raced at full speed, trying to find the true name of the Servant before him from his vast information network. Meanwhile, his right hand secretly reached for a hidden button beneath the table.
"Holy Grail War…?"
The moment he heard those words, the bronze-skinned man's lips curled into a mocking smile, as if he had heard an utterly ridiculous joke.
"Faldeus, it seems you still haven't realized the irreversible foolishness you have committed."
"Fine. Considering your ignorance before you die, I'll let you die knowing the truth."
The man sighed and raised a black pistol and mercilessly pressed the muzzle against Faldeus' forehead.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Faldeus' body suddenly stiffened. A flash of terror appeared in the depths of his eyes.
This was the first time in his life he had come so close to death.
He was shocked to realize that beneath the darkness of the gun muzzle, his proud magical circuits had become completely unusable.
Ignoring Faldeus, the bronze-skinned man continued. "Name? I did have a name once, and I harbored ridiculous ideals. But now, along with my memories, they were long ago thrown into the garbage heap."
"So if I really have to say it…"
"I'm a cleaner hired by Alaya Consciousness, just here to clean up the 'Singularity trash.' My name is…"
Bang!
A flower of blood suddenly bloomed on Faldeus' forehead.
"No Name."
…
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