Thanks for the invitation. I'm in Type-Moon, inheriting the legacy of Zi-O.

Purple magic gathered wildly, and Mephistopheles' purple hair was also blown up by this gathering of magic. He threw all the pocket watches in front of him into the air.

"—Hehe, let's see who's faster between us!" He gazed at the dozens of pocket watches in mid-air and stretched out his hands.

“To deal with the clown…” Nian Zhuo turned the clock hands and saw the pocket watch that Mephistopheles had thrown into the air. He also took off the Decade watch face from his waist.

He placed it on the sword and Nian Zhuo turned the clock hands.

"Hey! Decade—!"

The top three pocket watches disappeared the instant Mephistopheles stretched out his hands.

Several layers of card barriers, like light screens, blocked the way between Nian Zhuo and Mephistopheles.

Colorful light shimmered on the sword as Nian Zhuo pressed the trigger.

"Dual Time Break——!"

Just as he was about to swing his sword, Nianzhuo raised his hand and saw it.

—The pocket watches that appeared on his two elbows, constantly spinning.

"When?!" He looked at Mephistopheles, who was still moving his hands on the other side, completely unaware that the other had planted these bombs on him.

"Hehehehehe! Did you notice?!" The clown waved his hands gleefully, watching Nian Zhuo's sudden stiffness. "That's right, that's right! This is my treasure!"

“Eyes—!” He moved his index finger, pointing at Nianzhuo’s head.

As if following his words, Nianzhuo saw the pocket watch bombs that suddenly appeared on both sides of his cheeks.

"Side of the abdomen—!" Moving the index finger, several bombs also appeared on Nian Zhuo's side of the abdomen.

"Knee—!" The index finger kept moving down, and with the opening and closing of the clown's lips, every time he named a part of the body, Nian Zhuo would see a pocket watch bomb appear on the corresponding part of his body.

"What on earth is this—?" The colorful blade in his hand reflected in Nian Zhuo's eyes as he looked at Mephistopheles not far away in disbelief. "Pretty capable, clown—"

"Spinal cord—!" As Nian Zhuo shouted the last part, several bombs suddenly appeared behind him. Mephistopheles looked at Nian Zhuo not far away and chuckled, "How about it! Now you feel the threat of death, huh!"

Shaking the gleaming gold pocket watch in his hand, Mephistopheles moved his index finger to the top of the watch, to the button.

"How about it? If you beg for mercy now, maybe I can spare your life~" The clown covered his lips and let out a piercing laugh. "Well, even if you surrender, I'll still detonate the bomb, hehehehe! As for whether you survive or not, that's up to you!"

"How is it?! Terrified?! Trembling?! Becoming desperate!" he roared, even the wound on his shoulder bleeding again. Pushing Nianzhuo to the brink of despair was what amused the clown. "Hurry! Hurry! Quickly perceive the beauty of this performance from life to death!"

“—I said,” however, the response he received was the knight opposite him raising the blade of his sword that emitted a colorful light. Nian Zhuo raised his head, and although he could not see the other’s eyes, Mephistopheles could sense that the other was looking at him.

"—You're very noisy." Then, Nian Zhuo swung his sword down.

"Ugh—! Then die! Die! Die, die, die, die!" Mephistopheles finally pressed the button on the top of his pocket watch in a fit of rage.

"Ticktock Bomb—!"

Meanwhile, Nian Zhuo, realizing he couldn't shake off the pocket watch bombs on his body, felt the magic gathering in the area Mephistopheles had mentioned after swinging his sword, and he closed his eyes.

A deafening explosion—along with even more intense black smoke and noise than ever before—shattered the place where Nianzhuo was located.

“Mr. Nianzhuo—!” Looking at Mash, who was about to recover in her hands, Ritsuka stared at the direction of the battlefield, and even the flow of her magic was somewhat distracted.

"Tch...that guy..." Mordred gritted his teeth in annoyance at the violent explosion. "I hope he doesn't die..."

"—Purataros, get ready to catch that guy with the net." On the other side, in Den-O's Saint Rod form, Ryotaro irritably adjusted his glasses and spoke to Urataros.

"Hehe, useless, useless!" Mephistopheles looked at the area shrouded in black smoke opposite and smiled contentedly. "That Heroic Spirit, that guy must have been blown to bits by now! A piece here, a piece there~ Hehehehehe!"

His response was a rainbow-colored sword beam that suddenly appeared before him.

"What—!" Mephistopheles cried out in surprise, staring at the multicolored light projected from the thick smoke. "How is this possible! How come this attack wasn't destroyed by my bombs!"

The answer is definitely no. The barrier standing between Mephistopheles and Nianzhuo only strengthens the sword's edge.

Each time it passes through, the power and speed of the sword's edge will increase.

This time, thanks to the impact of the massive explosion, all barriers were broken through in the blink of an eye.

Trailing with specks of gold, the rainbow-like light led the sword's edge straight toward Mephistopheles—at a speed that he couldn't react to at all.

Then, the sword light swept across his body from his shoulder to his other thigh.

Blood spurted out again, and Mephistopheles himself was forced back several steps by the force of the sword's edge. He tried to cover the wound from his shoulder to the top of his thigh, but it was all in vain.

The sword light sliced ​​through Mephistopheles' body and flew unabated toward the mansion of Victor Frankenstein behind him, only dissipating after shearing off the roof as well.

As the rainbow-colored sword light flew out, a gap appeared in the place that was originally shrouded in black smoke.

A knight in a magenta color tinged with silver emerged unscathed from the smoke.

"How...is this possible...!" Mephistopheles covered the huge wound on his chest and finally stared at the unharmed Nian Zhuo with an incredulous look.

“So that’s how it is, Mephistopheles.” Planting the serrated blade of his sword into the ground, Nian Zhuo slowly walked toward the man kneeling on the ground, barely alive. “From the beginning, I said you could never beat us.”

However, Nian Zhuo's true body, hidden beneath the armor, was not as unharmed as he claimed.

His hands were trembling uncontrollably, and Nianzhuo could even hear cracking sounds coming from his spinal cord.

Although the continuous explosions could not break through the defenses of the Decade armor, the impact still put immense pressure on Nencho inside.

He didn't want to let go of the Heisei Sword, but the continuous explosions in his tiger's mouth, spinal cord, knees, and even his eyes (head) still made Nian Zhuo feel very uncomfortable.

Especially in his head and arms, Nian Zhuo felt dizzy, and his hands were trembling behind his back.

"Ahhh... Ahhhhh..." Unwillingly collapsing to the ground, countless drops of blood flowed from the cut wounds all over his body. Mephistopheles also felt that he was about to leave. "How, how regrettable...! It seems that this manifestation didn't allow me to find much fun... A Master is indeed indispensable... That's right, this is related to..." His gaze shifted to Ritsuka beside him.

“This has nothing to do with… the bond between Master and Servant… Hmm, it must be, it’s not like that.” Until his death, Mephistopheles did not believe in the so-called “bond”, and that morbid smile returned to his face.

"At least we need to get the Master, who is so focused on fulfilling his sorrowful wish, to kill one or two children." The bicorn hat on his head also lost all its horns in Nianzhuo's attack.

“Ah…if that’s not the case~” Mephistopheles looked at Mash and Nencho. “Ah, I’m so jealous of you…the Shield Servant…and Nencho…!” He straightened his bow tie, and Mephistopheles’ face darkened.

“From now on, you will have countless opportunities… to betray your Master… and plunge them into despair…!” The smile vanished, and specks of magical particles emerged from the clown’s legs. He pointed at Nianzhuo’s face. “Truly… so enviable…!”

"—Shut up!" Mordred, Mash, and Ryotaro Ritsuka appeared beside Nencho at some point, their bright silver swords severing Mephistopheles' neck.

Then, Mephistopheles' eyes darkened, and golden particles engulfed his body from above, signaling his departure from the stage.

"Phew, finally dead~ that bastard..." Even after confirming Mephistopheles' death, Mordred was still not at ease, angrily stomping on the grass as if to vent his anger.

"Congratulations, Mr. Nianzhuo..." Mashu lowered her head, looking somewhat dejected. "Not only did I fail to help in any way, but I also held everyone back..."

"Alright, alright." Nianzhu shook his head, feeling the dizziness lessen somewhat. "You've done enough, Mashu. After all, you protected Ritsuka, that's enough."

"Yeah, yeah~" Urtalus echoed, as he was constantly dealing with the artificial life forms that were rushing towards him from all sides, and he was also in a bit of a tough fight.

"Well, shield-wielding guy, I think you shouldn't take it too seriously..." With a clearly dissatisfied expression, Mordred pointed to the mansion behind her. "Look, someone has already paved the way for us at the mansion behind us, so let's go in and check it out."

“…Hmm.” Mash lowered her head and nodded.

So, Nianzhuo and his group entered the manor and walked toward the heavy wooden door that had been opened.

Frankenstein, the artificial monster girl

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, the mansion was filled with traces of magic spells cast... and many scorch marks from explosions.

"This is... such a strong smell of magical residue..." Nian Zhuo pinched his nose, completely unable to accept the pungent smell of the explosion mixed with... the smell of blood. "Ritsuka, and Mashu Ryotaro, be careful, Mordred too. -- It wouldn't be good if there were any remaining magical spells."

The dim kerosene lamp on the wall was lit, and finally, some light appeared in the room.

After passing through the cluttered living room, I arrived at the study with its towering bookshelves.

Nianzhuo and his group immediately noticed... the dim yellow desk lamp lying on the table... and the bloodstains all around it.

Mashu quickly stepped forward and carefully moved the desk lamp aside. Sure enough... a thick book that looked like a notebook appeared under the lamp, and a quill pen stained with black ink fell to the ground.

"...Did you find anything?" Mordred knew he wasn't suited for such delicate movements, so he didn't speak until Mash had carefully finished flipping through the entire book.

“Yes, I found the notes left behind by the Doctor.” Mashu carefully picked up the book, and as she turned the pages, her fingertips lingered on the bloodstains on the pages. “...It seems he was attacked while writing the notes.”

The bright red bloodstains covering the pages suggest the old man suffered horrific torment before his death.

Even so, Mashu could clearly see the sentence at the very top of the page.

"I hope my futile struggle can become a source of strength for those who come after me—" The remaining words were stained with blood and were difficult to decipher, but judging from words like 'hope' and 'conjecture'... this old man was still recording things even on his deathbed.

"..." Nian Zhuo clasped his hands together and bowed slightly in homage to the departed pioneers.

"May your soul rest in peace. We will bet this notebook that we will eliminate the singularity..." he said softly.

The old man, using magic techniques that Mary now considers outdated, wrote down all the information he could gather in his notebook, hoping to provide some help to anyone who might obtain it.

“…Is that so?” Mordred turned her head away sadly, saying with a hint of disappointment, “That old man, he was so unhappy even in death…really.”

“Then…” Mashu respectfully picked up the notebook, coughed lightly, and said, “I will read it aloud…”

Gradually, Mashu's clear voice blended with the unfamiliar, deep male voice.

"[I've discovered a plan called {Project Mist}, the details of which are currently unknown. The plan is spearheaded by three individuals: (P), (B), and (M), all of whom possess magic surpassing human intelligence; they are likely Heroic Spirits.]"

"The so-called (M), is that guy from earlier?" Mordred shuddered at the thought of the clown's disgusting face, and gestured to Mash to stop reading. "Never mind, take this notebook back with you, let Jekyll take a look too." At the same time, Mordred proudly blocked the door and waved to Ritsuka and the others.

"By the way, I've found something interesting too." Then, she turned around and knocked on the heavy door in a calm tone. "Hey, come here."

"Hmm...?" Then, a girl in a white dress appeared in front of Nianzhuo and the others.

However, when Nianzhuo and the others saw the girl's figure, they all gasped in shock.

The girl's face was obscured by her long, dark brown hair. Surprisingly, she had a long, golden horn on her forehead and two golden cylindrical devices around her ears.

With slender arms, she carried a round hammer that seemed completely out of place with her appearance. The girl hesitated, as if she was afraid to come in.

"Eh...?!" Mashu looked the little girl in the white dress up and down. "A... a girl?!" She was somewhat incredulous.

"Hey~ she has horns!" Ritsuka's attention was drawn to the long golden horns on the girl's forehead, and she looked at her with a hint of curiosity. "Is she human? Or a Servant?"

“I don’t know.” Mashu shook her head and pointed to the silent girl. “Let’s ask her directly.” Slowly walking up to the girl, Mashu looked into her eyes, which were hidden by her hair, and gently asked, “Are you human? Or are you a Servant like us?” Her fingers moved over Mordred, Nenju, and herself.

“…Mmm.” The girl raised her head, opened her mouth but only made a mmm sound, but she still nodded.

“…Eh?” Mashu looked at the girl in front of her with some confusion.

"Hmm... I can't judge it either..." Mary shook her head, looking at the equally complex reaction on the screen in front of her. "We only detected biological reactions and reactions from moving objects. The influence of the magic mist on the sensor-related systems seems to have spread indoors as well. Mash, how are you feeling?"

“I can’t tell either…” Mashu shook her head and looked at Nianzhuo and Mordred beside her. “Then, what about Mr. Nianzhuo and Mordred?”

"I feel great right now~" Nian Zhuo suddenly said with a gloomy face, then shook his head violently, "Sorry, I made a mistake—well, I'm in a bit of a predicament now."

“Me too.” Scratching his head in frustration, Mordred looked at the girl in front of him with some difficulty. “I can’t determine what it is just by its aura. It’s probably because of the magical mist outside. But do you want to know what this person is?” Patting the girl’s waist, Mordred said matter-of-factly, “She’s definitely a Servant—I really want to say that…” Then, as if afraid of revealing something, he blushed and scratched his head.

"—In my memory, it should be like this..." she muttered softly, then placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "But, well, this guy seems to be a cyborg."