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

When Nian Zhuo saw Mashu break the Chaos Mech's saw blade and leave obvious wounds on it, he finally realized just how much the girl had grown.

"Really..." Before he could finish speaking, a green light suddenly shone through, magically healing the damage to Nian Zhuo's limbs. "What is this again...?!"

Nianzhuo immediately understood and turned around, and sure enough, he saw Ritsuka, who was panting heavily from exhaustion.

Running was already exhausting enough for her, and now she had been subjected to two spells in a row... Even with the help of the magic in her costume, the experience was still not pleasant for the girl.

“Mr. Nianzhuo…” Although she looked somewhat weak, Ritsuka still waved to Nianzhuo. “Mash… Mashu… I’m entrusting her to you.” Unable to resist the loss of power, she sat down on the ground.

“…Of course.” Feeling the wounds inside his body being repaired and the soreness in his muscles gradually disappearing, Nian Zhuo, who had returned to his peak condition, excitedly clenched his fist.

"Don't worry, I'll hold Mashu's hand." After a pause, Mashu took two watch faces out of her pocket. "Whether it's Mashu or you... we will definitely win."

One of them, naturally, is the Decade watch face that Nian Zhuo is extremely familiar with.

“Shi, I need to borrow your power first.” With a calm voice, Nian Zhuo pressed the button on the magenta dial, then placed it on his waist and flipped it over.

Layers of cards, accompanied by black and white phantoms, surged in from all directions, gradually staining Nian Zhuo's originally bright silver armor black.

"Armor Time! KamenRide! Wow! Deca! Deca! Decade~!"

Then, the phantom images of four cards fell from mid-air and embedded themselves into Nian Zhuo's head armor. As these four cards returned, some of the armor on Nian Zhuo's originally jet-black body turned magenta, and black and white stripes appeared on his chest.

Then, Nianzhuo slowly loosened his other tightly clenched palm, where a yellow-green dial lay—OOO.

"Eiji, it's been a long time." Turning the dial, Nianzhuo looked at the OOO face engraved on the dial and gradually became serious. "Lend me your power!" He pressed the button.

“OOO——!”

Immediately afterwards, Nianzhuo placed it next to the Decade watch face on his waist.

"---Hmm?!" At this moment, in an unknown world, Eiji suddenly seemed to sense something and looked at Ankh, who was licking an ice pop next to him.

"What—" Ankh, licking his popsicle, was about to ask him in confusion when he also sensed something and looked at the pocket at his waist. "This—!"

Their pupils contracted involuntarily, for a faint crimson light was emanating from the pocket at Ankh's waist.

“But we didn’t transform into OOO…and there aren’t any Greedy Ones or Devouring Monsters around…” Looking around in confusion, Eiji suddenly clapped his hands, looked at Ankh with a hint of excitement in his eyes, “I know! Ankh! It’s Nen-cho!”

"That guy, he can actually use the power of OOO to this extent?" Ankh put his hand in his pocket, grabbed the bright red light, and took it out to find that it was the "Eagle Core Medal", "Peacock Core Medal" and "Vulture Core Medal".

"Hmph, I hope you don't let your desires cloud your judgment..." Ankh scoffed dismissively, but still tossed the coin into the air under Eiji's gaze.

The three bright red coins flashed with light for a moment, then disappeared completely.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the OOO watch face on Nenjou's waist driver, which was placed next to the Decade watch face, also underwent some changes.

"Hmph, what will OOO's enhanced form be?" Nian Zhuo crossed his arms, waiting for something.

Suddenly, three bright red lights appeared out of nowhere in mid-air. They were the three Core Medals that Ankh had thrown out. As soon as they appeared, they quickly entered the OOO watch face on Nian Zhuo's waist.

The yellow-green dial decorations were gradually replaced by bright red, and the faint sound of a phoenix's cry could be heard from within.

The undying flames reignited, enveloping Nian Zhuo's figure within them.

"This power, so it's the TaJaDol combo!" Nian Zhuo was somewhat surprised, but then he flipped the driver at his waist.

Within the immortal flames, crimson feathers appeared, covering Nianzhuo's body.

The armor on his body gradually turned bright red. When the flames dissipated, Nian Zhuo's armor had transformed into OOO's Phoenix Combo.

"Taka·Kujaku·Condor! Ta-Ja-Dol!"

As he moved his wrists, Nianzhuo felt a faint, inextinguishable flame burning within him.

With his eyes closed, Nian Zhuo had a thought, and a pair of bright red wings unfurled from his back.

So—with the help of birds’ high-speed vision, Nian Zhuo easily located the Chaos Machine Soldier and Mash.

Its figure transformed into a crimson ball of light, hurtling straight toward the Chaos Machine Soldier at supersonic speed.

—Shifting perspective back to the present—

"Mr. Nianzhuo." Mashu greeted Nianzhuo with some difficulty. After relaxing, she, who had greatly exhausted her strength, found herself in a similar situation to Nianzhuo.

"Don't worry, Mashu." With his back to Mashu, Nianzhuo slowly retracted the bright red wings on his back. "You've done enough. Leave the rest to me."

With a whoosh, the massive body of the Chaos Mechanical Soldier reappeared from the rubble under Nian Zhuo's impact. This time, it abandoned the hilt of its sword, steam spewing from the armor on its arms as it attacked Nian Zhuo.

"Hmph, a desperate struggle." Nian Zhuo gently raised his hand and collided with the fist that the Chaos Mechanical Soldier had swung with all its might. The sound produced was so loud that it slightly distorted the surroundings.

Drip, drip—the molten iron fell to the ground, scorching a small pit.

The flames of the phoenix ignited on Nian Zhuo's palm, easily melting the Chaos Mechanical Soldier's fist.

Sensing danger, the mechanical warriors behind the Chaos Mech Soldier quickly emitted a sound, releasing snow-white steam, and with a crack, the Chaos Mech Soldier was sent flying backward.

All that remained in Nianzhuo's hands was an arm that was still melting.

“Perfect, consider it a farewell gift.” Nian Zhuo tossed his arm aside, watching the occasional sparks of electricity flashing across the cross-section of the Chaos Mechanic’s severed arm, and pressed a button on the dial at his waist.

“Finish Time——!” Nian Zhuo removed the round object from his chest.

"Eagle Sparrow Revolving Shield... It's all up to you." Stroking the patterns on it, Nian Zhuo flipped the driver at his waist.

The shield in his hand was gradually enveloped in red light, and he flew into the air, transforming into a bright red bird.

"Magna Blaze—!"

Immediately afterwards, the bright red firebird flapped its wings and charged toward the Chaos Mech with blazing flames.

A faint phoenix cry could be heard, mingling with the crackling sound as the bird collided with the Chaos Mechanical Soldier.

Like a spider web, one link after another.

In the crimson flames, the Chaos Machine Soldier's body gradually turned red, and even its metallic armor began to melt.

The crimson eye armor gleamed, and amidst the flames of the phoenix, the Chaos Mech raised its arm once more.

"Could it be... that it can still move...?" Mash gripped the shield, her previously depleted magic power slowly recovering, giving her some mobility.

With another dull thud, the Chaos Mech Soldier's raised arm snapped off at the joint and fell to the ground.

Finally, even its eyes, which had originally radiated a scarlet light, dimmed, and it collapsed to the ground, accompanied by faint white smoke and the smell of burning.

The blackened shell, scorched by the flames of the phoenix, shattered instantly upon hitting the ground, just like simple plastic.

"Phew..." Seeing the enemy finally fall, Nian Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief, then shook his slightly numb hands. "But, as expected of the Phoenix... this power... truly surprises me." He looked at the bright red dial on his waist.

"—Yes, it's been confirmed with Director Mary that the large enemy's reaction has disappeared." Mashu also breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the enemy lying on the ground, now a pile of black, tattered remains... with some confusion.

"This... doesn't seem to be a Servant..." Just as she said, although the enemy lying on the ground possessed magical power that moved Nian Zhuo and the others, it didn't have the aura of a Servant. "Could this be the true form of a Noble Phantasm that manipulates other individuals?"

"...Ugh, ugh." Fran frowned, walked up to the enemy reduced to rubble, and sniffed, "Ugh, ugh..."

Seeing Fran's increasingly furrowed brows, not only Ritsuka and Mashu, but even Nencho became unusually tense.

Finally, Fran's brow relaxed, and he nodded to everyone... then immediately moved far away from the pile of rubble.

"It seems so..." After deciphering Fran's words, Mordred stroked his chin and looked at the shards on the ground. "Well, let's not think too much about it. This time, we've finally solved a troublesome problem."

Turning around, Mordred touched Fran's brown hair and spoke in a very familiar tone, which seemed very friendly to outsiders.

"Good job, Fran. You've done us a great job.

"...Ugh, ugh. Ah..." Fran muttered softly, glancing at Mordred and then at everyone else, before lowering his head.

"Ah...cough cough, Mashu, and Ritsuka." The communication device on her wrist beeped. Mashu, in the control room, looked at the enemy's remains in the corner of the screen. "Just to be on the safe side, could you send us the images of the enemy's remains? We'll analyze them here...no, to be more precise, we'll ask Romani and Da Vinci for their opinions."

“Okay, I understand.” Mashu nodded, then walked to the enemy’s huge remains, squatted down and took out her camera. Just as she was about to take a picture, she suddenly noticed a strange part inside the enemy’s body that was still shining brightly after being scorched by the flames of the phoenix.

"...Director Mary, I found something strange." Mashu carefully reached into the monster's body and held the object in her hand. "I haven't found it on any other Chaos Machine Soldiers." After taking the small object out, Mashu opened her palm.

A small nameplate, still gleaming with a metallic silver sheen, had something engraved on it in English, which remained clearly visible even after being scorched by flames.

"It seems to be the maker's name... and it's written in English." Mashu said with some surprise as she carefully examined the metal nameplate in her hand.

“…[Charles Babbage, AD. 1888].” The English characters engraved on it were then translated.

“…Huh!!?” However, upon hearing the name Charles Babbage, Fran, who had been silent all along, suddenly exclaimed in surprise, and his whole body even trembled slightly.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Fran?" Sensing Fran's change, Mordred grabbed Fran's hand and looked at her with concern.

"……………………" All that responded to her was Fran's long silence, and he even turned his head slightly away, seemingly unwilling to say anything more.

"...Sigh, alright, alright, Mordred, let's stop here for now." Nian Zhuo saw Fran biting her lip hard and finally stepped in to defuse the situation. "We've had enough this time, let's go back first. Ritsuka and Mash are probably exhausted, right?" He winked at Mash and Ritsuka.

"Ah...ahhh, yes, yes!" Ritsuka immediately nodded in understanding, then clutched her waist and exaggeratedly said, "Ah~ I'm so tired, so tired~ I want to go back~ Let's go back!"

“…Ah…” Mash fell silent as she watched Ritsuka’s somewhat exaggerated performance.

"...Alright, that's enough for today." Mordred stopped pressing for answers, and seeing Fran's pained expression, her tone softened. "Okay, okay, Fran, if you don't want to talk about it, then don't."

"Let's go!" He then turned and left first, taking Nianzhuo and the others with him, and the group set off on the road back to the apartment.

However, there was some silence along the way.

Back at the apartment, he briefly reported the operation to Jekyll and Ryotaro. Although the two were surprised by Fran's reaction, they didn't ask any further questions.

It wasn't until I lay down in bed that all the fatigue of the day came rushing back to me.

Although I don't know how the others are, at least Nianzhuo fell asleep as soon as he touched the bed.

Then came the morning of the second day.

Upon opening the door, I encountered Mashu, who had gotten up early, and Ritsuka, as always!

"...Oh! You're angry so early, Ritsuka and Mashu." Rubbing her eyes, Mashu greeted the two girls in front of her.

"Good morning, Mr. Nianzhuo." Mashu saw Nianzhuo rubbing his eyes and asked with some concern, "How are you? Did you sleep well last night?"

"Well... I think if Mr. Nianzhuo hasn't rested well, he can go back to the rest room for a while~" With a slightly sleepy look in her eyes, Ritsuka pointed in a direction, "After all, I just went there by myself..."

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Ritsuka waved her hand at Nencho with a face full of cold sweat.

"No! I absolutely can't go!" Even her sleepiness had vanished, it seemed this sudden turn of events had startled Ritsuka awake.

"What's wrong?" Nianzhuo looked curiously in the direction Ritsuka had pointed earlier and touched his chin.

"No! Mr. Nianzhuo! You can't go!" Standing in front of Nianzhuo, Lixiang shook her head like a rattle drum. "Um... at least not now."

"So what happened that made you so scared?" Nianzhuo was even more puzzled as he could clearly hear the trembling in Ritsuka's voice.

"...Sigh, to tell you the truth, Mr. Nianzhuo, I didn't actually sleep much just now." He glanced back at the rest room with lingering fear, then patted his chest. "Mainly because the writer spirits are in that room...!"

"Ah... Ah... I see..." After a moment of surprise, Mashu and Nianzhuo both realized what was going on and nodded with expressions of understanding. "I see, I see. That room was occupied by the two writer Servants... In that case, it's understandable that you couldn't get a proper rest, senpai." Then, turning around, Mashu lowered her head slightly towards Ritsuka, who was still yawning.