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

A conjecture from Hans Christian Andersen

Immediately afterward, his pen stopped, and a long string of characters appeared on the blackboard.

"On the other hand, Servants are a little different for us." He patted the blackboard, and Andersen's gaze lingered on Nencho, Mordred, and Mash for a moment. "They... no, we are the manifestation of Heroic Spirits 'existing' in this world... The originally ethereal Heroic Spirits have been given the vessel of class and have become familiars that 'actually exist'."

Yes—that's how it should be.

“But…” Andersen suddenly shook his head in confusion, and said softly, “Jegil, and the magician named Mary far away in Chaldea. With the power of you human magicians, can you really do such a thing?” He looked at Ritsuka’s hand, where there were three scarlet markings… Command Seals.

“Turning Heroic Spirits into familiars—indeed, that would be a powerful force. It's probably the strongest summoning technique in the world.” He glanced at Nian Zhuo and Mordred, whose expressions remained unchanged, but his tone grew increasingly doubtful. “But that's definitely not a technique that a human could manipulate single-handedly. If anyone could do it, it could only be—”

Before he could finish speaking, Mary, who was in Chaldea, interrupted him.

"—You mean to say that only beings beyond humanity, that is, supernatural beings such as the world or gods, can exercise such powers?" Stroking her silver hair, Mary pondered Andersen's question seriously.

“That’s right, it’s absolutely impossible for a human to summon a Heroic Spirit.” Looking at the densely written conjectures on his blackboard, Andersen himself was somewhat curious. “There must be some other factor involved—”

Finally, his gaze fell upon his conclusion, which consisted of only a few words.

"I think there must be other driving forces involved."

“...The world, or God?” Nian Zhuo naturally knew the truth, after all, he had seen the two girls named Gaia and Alaya when he first arrived here.

But Nian Zhuo also knew that he couldn't tell his companions this information... because it might be too shocking? After all, he was summoned to this world by the Counter Force.

Shaking his head, Nianzhuo dismissed the strange thoughts in his mind and continued to listen silently to Andersen's reasoning.

“…Um…” Suddenly, Mashu raised her hand, staring curiously at Andersen’s final conclusion. “The so-called other aids, aren’t they just the Holy Grail?”

Having experienced three singularities, Mash and her companions encountered many Servants, whether enemies or allies, all of whom were summoned by something called the Holy Grail.

“That’s right. Just now when we met, you mentioned seven singularities.” Adjusting his glasses, Andersen flipped through the book in his hands. “According to you, seven Holy Grails have disrupted spacetime. So, I consulted Miss Marie about the Holy Grails. What exactly is the Holy Grail War, which enables the summoning of Heroic Spirits? And how was this system created?”

“Hmm, although there isn’t detailed information, according to the records left in Chaldea…” Mary tapped the screen with her fingers, and then a slightly yellowed report photo appeared in her view. “Hmm, its origin is in a certain city in Japan… Hmm? Ritsuka, that’s the Burning City we visited!!”

“That’s right. The Holy Grail was formed in that city, and the people there used the power of the Holy Grail to summon Heroic Spirits, making them fight each other as Servants.” Suddenly, his voice stopped, and he looked at Nian Zhuo and the others. “This is what I find strange. There’s a flaw in the concept of Heroic Spirits fighting each other. There must be a deeper secret behind this, and it was with this thought in mind that I went to the Mage’s Association to look for information.”

"...So, what was the result?" Ritsuka asked weakly, feeling a bit dizzy as the information she had just received was beyond her capacity to process.

"..." Surprisingly, this time Andersen did not give a direct answer, but instead carefully observed each person.

*Gulp*—the sound of swallowing saliva… Everyone waited anxiously for the blue-haired boy's reply.

"Nonsense, the result was exactly as I expected~" Unexpectedly, Andersen puffed out his chest and revealed a mischievous smile. Then, seeing everyone in front of him relax, he continued reading from the notes in his book, "The so-called Spirit Summoning Ritual, the Heroic Spirit Summoning, originally seemed to be a ritual that combined seven powers into one. It was definitely not about summoning seven heroic spirits to compete with each other." Immediately afterward, he turned around, stood on tiptoe, and erased the words on the blackboard.

"Although 【Ritual: Summoning of Heroic Spirits】 and 【Ritual: Holy Grail War】 are the same system, they can be considered different types of existences." Andersen's finger traced the Holy Grail War, and he turned to explain, "【Holy Grail War】 is a product of humans modifying existing magic for their own selfish purposes."

Then, Andersen moved his finger to the right and landed below the text "[Summoning of Heroic Spirits]".

"However, on the other hand, its basic [Heroic Spirit Summoning] is a lottery ritual used to draw lots to bring in the 'seven strongest humans' in order to defeat a 'great enemy.' And this is the twisted part of the Fuyuki Holy Grail War."

"...So, you guys are also Andersen?" After processing the information provided earlier, Ritsuka sized up the blue-haired boy in front of her.

“That’s right.” Hans Christian Andersen nodded. “We were also summoned as successors to the original seven Heroic Spirits—meaning we are cheap, easy to use, and versatile familiars.”

“Hmm, I see, I see…” Mary picked up the paper with Andersen’s conclusion printed on it and carefully read through it. “Hmm, this is quite a meaningful investigation.”

"Well, besides, even Chaldea couldn't create a completely new Heroic Spirit Summoning System from scratch." Thinking of this, Mary herself felt a little embarrassed. "Although we deciphered Fuyuki's ritual, modified it, and stabilized it, we didn't consider the root cause."

"Fu!" Suddenly, Fufu jumped out and shook her pair of ears on her head.

“Yes… Director.” Mash was somewhat stunned, but quickly recovered. “This opinion is an unprecedented new perspective. It questions the very nature of the Holy Grail War, this magical ritual. We think we know everything about the existence of Heroic Spirits, but ultimately, that’s just theoretical knowledge—” Mash chuckled, glancing a little longer at Andersen, who was nodding in satisfaction. “It’s nothing compared to the previous viewpoint. Truly worthy of Mr. Andersen. This is the keen observation possessed by a world-renowned writer, isn’t it?”

"Hmm, that should be it." Ritsuka patted Mash on the shoulder and whispered to her, "Well... besides, this is what they call an overhead view, right?"

"Hmm? Is it really as powerful as you say?" Mordred was somewhat surprised, his gaze sweeping over Andersen before he finally shrugged. "But... never mind, I don't think these ideas can solve the problem of the large-scale emergence of Chaos Mechs."

"Well... this..." Similarly, Mash, who was initially surprised by the other party's guess, gradually regained her composure.

"Well... well, that's what I mean." Mary's slightly timid voice came from the communication device.

"Haha, of course." To everyone's surprise, Andersen agreed readily, waving the book in his hand as he spoke. "I just have a few questions about the Heroic Spirit Summoning System. Suppose we are ordinary spirit origins summoned by a system—then just how powerful would the seven 'origins' that form the foundation of this system be endowed with?" Suddenly, he changed the subject, pointing to himself and shaking his head.

“…I’m not the only one thinking about this.” He looked at the notes in his hand. “Because this information, along with those scattered bits, has been neatly organized, I don’t think it’s a coincidence.” His expression grew increasingly serious, and Andersen gritted his teeth. “It seems someone anticipated our visit and did this on purpose.”

"Who...?" Mashu had absolutely no related memories. She thought carefully about whether it was someone who might be an enemy... Well, no.

"Who could it be?" Even Mary couldn't help but wonder. "A surviving magician from the Clock Tower? Or... a summoned Servant?"

"Of course, I don't think it's a magician, but Servants don't seem to be able to command like that, right? So let's put this question aside for now."

"...Hmm...the microphone seems to have static." A hissing sound came from the headset. Mary raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Could it be that you just spoke of the devil? There's been a lot of magical activity around you. There are more enemies lurking near the apartment...and the magical distortion is so severe that it's even affecting communications."

The familiar rumbling of machinery came from outside the window, causing Mordred, Nian Zhuo, Mash, and Ritsuka to suddenly change their expressions and look out the window in unison.

“The sound of these machines operating—it must be… the Chaos Mechanical Legion.” Nodding, she looked at Nian Zhuo and Ritsuka with a questioning gaze.

"They certainly won't just barge into the house, but the noise is really loud, so let's get rid of it as soon as possible."

“Yes, I understand.” Ritsuka nodded, then turned to look at Nencho and Mordred. “Then, let’s do it.”

"Yes, I understand, senior!" He picked up the shield. Although he hadn't recovered to his best condition yet, it was more than enough to deal with a few Chaos mechanical soldiers.

"Anyway, let's go into the alley to fight now and take down a few." With that, everyone dashed out the door.

The closer they got to the source of the rumbling sound, the stranger their expressions became.

Those mechanical soldiers didn't have the green armor that Nian Zhuo and the others had seen before; instead, they were all dressed in red.

Whether it's the steam they exhale or the overall feeling they give Nian Zhuo... these Chaos Mechanical Soldiers are definitely not that weak.

Sure enough, upon seeing Nian Zhuo and his group, the mechanical soldiers emitted even more white steam from their backs and charged straight towards them.

"Hmph! Perfect, I want to relax after resting!" Crimson Lightning's sword slashed down from the sky, colliding with the oncoming saw blade. Mordred, now completely unharmed, grinned as he looked at the Chaos mechanical soldiers in front of him, licking his lips.

The arms of the two men, locked in a stalemate, trembled slightly, and golden sparks could be clearly seen erupting from the blades of their swords and saws.

However, to her surprise, the Chaos Machine Soldier in front of her was not at all at a disadvantage. Even when her magic power was exhausted before, it would not have been difficult for her to defeat a Chaos Machine Soldier with her strength. However, this time she not only failed to break through its defense, but she also failed to harm it.

"Hmm, Mordred!" Mash raised her shield and charged forward, engaging another Chaos Mech in battle. "...Please, please be careful! The magical energy fluctuations emanating from these Chaos Mechs are much stronger than the other ones!"

"...Really? Haha, isn't that even better!" Upon learning that the enemy's strength had increased, Mordred excitedly stroked the blade in her hand, and along her palm, crimson lightning gradually flickered on the blade.

Immediately afterwards, she charged towards the oncoming mechanical soldier, and the battle resumed.

"Yare yare." Nian Zhuo naturally sensed the difference in these mechanical soldiers, but this was, after all, a form of training for them. "Looking at it now, is one special one per person... the limit?"

Seeing the two different colored Chaos Machine Soldiers charging towards him, Nian Zhuo shook his head, but he had already grasped the Time-Space Driver in his hand.

"Well, it's part of the job anyway, let's finish it as soon as possible." Nian Zhuo put the watch on his waist, took out the silver dial, and turned it.

A silver spacetime ring unfolded, enveloping Nian Zhuo's figure layer by layer.

At the same time, the two Chaos Machine Soldiers arrived and swung their saw blades at the Time Ring.

A few sparks flashed, and then the Chaos Mechanic's powerful slashing saw blade was deflected by Nian Zhuo's Time Ring.

"Don't rush—" In a few breaths, the time ring disappeared from its original spot, but the Chaos Machine Soldiers remained where they were before, their saw blades gripped by hands covered in silver armor.

With his purple eyes flashing, Nian Zhuo, equipped with the Zi-O basic armor, grabbed the saw blade of the mechanical soldier in front of him, while the two mechanical soldiers were struggling to pull it out by stretching their arms.

"—Your opponent is me. Let's have a proper 'exchange' first." With steam billowing from the backs of the two Chaos Machine Soldiers filling his ears, Nian Zhuo raised an eyebrow.

Then, he gripped the two saw blades tightly with both hands, causing many cracks to quickly appear on the blades.

With a crisp thud, Nian Zhuo crushed the two saw blades in his grasp.

He stood up with a snap, very quickly.

With ease, Nian Zhuo shattered the Chaos Mechs, and then used W's Cyclone Memory ability to move the scattered fragments away, gather them up, and throw them into the alley.

"Hmm! W's ability is really useful!" Nian Zhuo nodded in agreement, quite satisfied with the power of the Gale Memory.

"Okay, let's go back! The fog outside is really unpleasant..." Ritsuka glanced at the fog in the air with disgust, then turned and ran towards the wooden door of the apartment.

“Mr. Nianzhuo, let’s go back too.” Mashu moved closer to Nianzhuo, noticing that he was frowning and staring at a corner. “Hmm…? Is there something there, Mr. Nianzhuo?”

"...No, it's nothing, I must have been mistaken." Shaking his head, Nian Zhuo smiled at Mashu. "Let's go, we should go back too."

"Hmm." Mashu nodded gently. Before leaving, she looked in the direction Nian Zhuo was looking, but there was still nothing there. So she put down her gaze for the time being and followed Nian Zhuo's footsteps.

“…Thank you for your hard work.” Unexpectedly, as soon as Nian Zhuo entered the room, he saw Ryotaro, who was also sitting in a chair, waving at him…and Momotaros, who was yawning on the side.

"Ah, you're awake!" Nian Zhuo was a little surprised, after all, they had only been fighting for less than ten minutes, and they had just missed the time when the other party woke up. "Well, that's just right, we just 'cleaned up' the mechanical soldiers outside the mansion."

"...Yes, the battle has just ended, and the Chaos Machine Soldiers have been completely repelled." Mash, who was the last to enter, slowly closed the door and nodded to everyone present.

"Hmm, well done... Hmm?!" First came the usual praise, but then Mary suddenly seemed to remember something and stood up with a snap.

—Soon.

"Wait...wait a minute, um...so, that means..." Mary's words were a little jumbled, but she couldn't care less now. Suddenly, she stopped flipping through the report and looked at the screen with a puzzled expression. "Um...Chaos Mech Soldier?"

"Fu?" Fufu tilted her head, completely missing the point.

"Oh, yes, yes, it's the Chaos Mech! I see, I see!" As if just realizing what had happened, Mary put the report aside and picked up another board. "Actually, there's been progress in the analysis of the Chaos Mech!"

Mary flipped through the report jointly submitted by Leonardo da Vinci and Roman, but her furrowed brows did not relax at all.

"Just as you guessed, they are indeed machines made with an unknown technology, perhaps—machines made with magic."

"So..." Mashu looked at Ritsuka, who was full of question marks, and thought for a moment before speaking, "Is it a machine that combines magic and science?"

“Slightly different.” Sure enough, the two of them wrote down this conjecture in their report, but denied it. So Mary read out the reason for the denial: “Although they are made of magic, they are indeed mechanical. Although we still don’t know what technology system was used, the structure itself is definitely mechanical, but it is made of magic.”

"So you mean... that..." Jekyll seemed a little embarrassed, after all, he was still somewhat unfamiliar with that kind of inexplicable technology.

"Eh... what... what does this mean?" Just then, there was another curious child over there, Ritsuka blinking her curious eyes. "Is it something like a Noble Phantasm?"

"That's right! It seems your tutoring is having some effect." Mary clapped her hands in satisfaction.

"So... it's like a Servant's Noble Phantasm, a kind of weapon made of magical energy, right?" Mary nodded in understanding, but then became curious, "But if that's the case, as a Noble Phantasm... how can we destroy those mechanical soldiers?"

Logically speaking, a Noble Phantasm, as a Servant's trump card and the crystallization of human imagination, shouldn't be easily destroyed... But from the very first encounter with the mechanical soldiers until now... Mash, Mordred, and Nenju have defeated more than twenty mechanical soldiers... and without exception, they have all been shattered...

“That’s exactly what I’m going to talk about next.” Mary turned a page of the report and cleared her throat. “Because they are machines with only a half-baked structure, we’ve been overly searching for similarities between them and magically formed puppets. To put it bluntly, it’s a Noble Phantasm. It relies on magic to unleash its power.”

"Just like sword-type Noble Phantasms are [sharp blades], those Chaos Mech Soldiers are [combat machine]-type Noble Phantasms. They appear to operate autonomously, but in reality, they are controlled from behind by their Noble Phantasm wielders." Seeing Ritsuka's slightly dizzy appearance, Mary stroked her chin, pondering how to explain it in simple terms.

“…I’ll handle this.” Suddenly, Nian Zhuo’s voice came over. He smiled and patted Ritsuka’s head. “Simply put, just think of them as a remotely controlled robot army. As long as you destroy those remote control-like things inside their bodies, they should all stop operating.”

“That’s right, that’s exactly how it works.” Mary nodded in satisfaction, and then waved her little fist.

“But in that case, unless there are extremely exceptional cases, as long as the Servant who defeats the Noble Phantasm holder—” Mash seemed to have figured it out, and her eyes gradually shone.

"—Those guys will all disappear, right?" Mordred picked up the conversation. She, who had initially said she didn't want to think, was surprisingly listening attentively. Having learned how to make those annoying mechanical soldiers disappear, Mordred happily patted the sofa. "What! Suddenly everything makes sense~"