To become a king and a magician

"Well, that's basically it—sorry, Souji, Yoshi, Angelica, I have to go out again soon, Roman, please keep an eye on things for me."

Do you think I'm your family's maid?!

92. Do you like the predecessor that had a full-map AOE attack and a built-in critical hit?

The fifth singularity.

Now, for the sake of peace and the restoration of humanity on this continent, a war has been formed on the basis of the two battlefields, spanning the entire continent.

On the southern battlefield, a large number of mechanical soldiers created by Edison clashed with a large number of Celtic soldiers created by Queen Maeve using the Holy Grail. The purpose of this part of the battlefield was not to win, but to protect territory.

The Fifth Singularity is the most difficult to observe among all the singularities Chaldea has experienced so far, and the difficulty will gradually increase as the Celtic army's occupation of North America expands. According to Leonardo da Vinci and Roman's speculation, if all of North America were occupied by the Celtic army, Chaldea would no longer be able to observe it.

Similarly, Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mashu, and Akuta Hinako, who are located within the singularity, will also be unable to return.

The southern battlefield was launched to secure a final escape route.

And now-

"What is that?! I've never heard of it before!"

In front of countless mechanical soldiers, Servant Elizabeth stared in disbelief at the enemy that had appeared not far away.

Whether by chance or coincidence, Elizabeth seems to have an inexplicable connection with Chaldea. Not only in this singularity, but she has also reappeared in previous singularities, providing great assistance to the restoration of human order at that time.

This time was no different. Although they had mechanical soldiers developed by Edison, the enemy Celts were warriors from the mythological era. In addition, the enemy also had multiple Servants. Therefore, in order to ensure the maintenance of the battle line, Elizabeth and several other Servants were assigned to this side.

"It's a nightmare! That kind of thing is completely against my aesthetic sense!"

Beside Elizabeth, Nero, a servant dressed in what appeared to be a wedding gown, also gasped in surprise.

Like the Servant Elizabeth, Nero was not the first companion Chaldea encountered. In the Second Singularity, Chaldea had already fought alongside Nero, who was then the Roman Emperor—although the Nero in this world is somewhat different.

She was one of the servants who were assigned to this side along with Elizabeth.

The reason why the two were so surprised and even showed expressions of fear was because of the enormous creature that had suddenly appeared on the battlefield just seconds before!

——【Demon Pillar】

In the past, in several singularities, the Chaldea people have faced the demons commanded by King Solomon several times. These demons were formidable enemies that could put several Servants in a difficult battle with just one of them.

Now, a total of twenty-eight have appeared in one go!

[What's going on?! What's going on?! I just went to arrange the check-in procedures for the new staff, how did this terrifying magical reaction suddenly occur?!]

Just then, Elizabeth and Nero suddenly heard Roman's voice in their ears—before the war between the north and south began, Fujimaru Ritsuka had half-forcefully handed over Chaldea's communication device to the two of them, saying that even if they could not see each other again afterward, they might still need to help each other in the war.

[Huh? Fujimaru has successfully defeated Queen Medb? That's great news... He summoned a Demon Pillar with the Holy Grail before he died! And he even incorporated the concept of the Twenty-Eight Warriors legend!]

Romande's exclamation upon receiving a series of intelligence reports from his staff made Elizabeth and Nero understand the current situation.

Twenty-eight warriors.

That was a collection of warriors born from Queen Maeve in legends; in the legends that have been passed down, it was a "monster" that was a fusion of twenty-eight warriors.

And now, Maeve has incorporated this concept into the Demon Pillars—

"Thanks for explaining, you cowardly commander of Chaldea! But you should at least provide a solution! [Ahhhhh!!]"

Elizabeth shouted and roared, piercing the demon pillar that extended to her own army. But the moment it was pierced, the entire demon pillar instantly returned to its original state as if time had reversed!

It even has self-regenerating capabilities!

"This will never end—"

It's okay, I'm almost there.

Suddenly, another voice appeared in Chaldea's communication channel—this was not Roman's voice; he could not speak with such a strong and reassuring tone.

The person who said that was...

"Sizzle—!"

Above the entire battlefield, accompanied by a sound like something being torn apart, a huge [crack] suddenly appeared in everyone's sight!

Immediately afterwards, deep within that crack, even an ordinary person with average eyesight could clearly see a golden meteor hurtling towards them at incredible speed!

Then—

"BOOM——————————!!"

A meteor fell to earth!

The impact, like a meteorite collision, swept across the battlefield in an instant. The resulting storm and shockwave blasted all the Celtic soldiers in front of them away to an unknown distance in the sky. The composite demonic pillar, which incorporated the concept of the "Twenty-Eight Warriors," was also destroyed by the impact and storm.

what happened?

Who's here?

Who launched the attack?

Such questions arose in the minds of every soldier in their own army.

As Servants, Elizabeth and Nero were the first to see the situation at the center of the crash—there was a person standing there.

"Human...human beings?"

"Is that my reinforcement? The person who just spoke?"

Whether it was because it heard the two talking to themselves, the person in the crater turned in their direction and nodded slightly, as if confirming their statement.

Did you make it in time, Natsukawa?

Inside the communication device, Roman's voice clearly showed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness you made it in time, that puts my mind at ease—this must be the unusual situation you were talking about, right?"

"I guess so, but it really surprised me that Nero is still alive this time."

[Thanks to the assistance of your mage, the assassination attempt on the Mad King Cú Chulainn, although ultimately unsuccessful and resulting in the loss of several Servants, was at least spared total annihilation thanks to Lord Aozaki's magic.]

Is Aoko also at this singularity?

That makes sense; it's likely that when Nero was severely injured by the Mad King, he put the fact of his "serious injury" into the distant future.

"Has Aoko been helping you all along?"

[Besides the Fourth Singularity, there's one more thing I need to explain about it...]

"Let's talk about it when I get back. I have more important things to do right now."

After cutting off the communication, Natsukawa Torama looked at the fully restored Composite Demon Pillar before him and raised his hands high into the sky—

Buzz—!

A heavy, muffled sound suddenly erupted from the atmosphere, and an unexpected pressure made everyone subconsciously feel their bodies sink. Then, their vision suddenly darkened, as if the sky had been suddenly obscured by something.

Following their instincts, everyone looked up at the sky.

A crimson moon falling suddenly came into everyone's view.

93. The golden light never arrives late.

It is undoubtedly daytime now, when the sun hangs high in the sky, its blazing and dazzling rays obscuring all the remaining light in the sky.

This is a fact that everyone acknowledges.

But at this moment, a light other than sunlight appeared in the sky.

In a different place from the South—the North—on the battlefield at the White House in Washington, Aoko Aozaki, looking somewhat disheveled and bearing many injuries, was the first to recognize the source of the crimson moon that suddenly appeared in the sky.

"That heartless bastard... he's finally back?"

"came back?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't understand the meaning of those words at first, but in the next instant, she understood, and an expression of relief involuntarily appeared on her blood-stained and dust-covered face.

Like her, Mashu and Hinako Akuta also quickly came to understand Aozaki Aoko's meaning.

The "savior" who disappeared for more than five months, who had vowed to help them but then suddenly vanished without a trace, has now returned in the most flamboyant and attention-grabbing way!

"You're back...?"

The Mad King, leaning on his Deaththorn Spear, was also drawn to the crimson moon. His warrior's instincts told him—it was extraordinary! There, where the crimson moon had landed, lay a truly formidable warrior!

"Interesting... This is truly unexpected—to have such an opponent even now."

I want to laugh, I want to laugh because there are such interesting opponents.

But the Mad King couldn't laugh.

Because he is a [King], a [King] born from Maeve's wish, not a [Warrior], not [Cú Chulainn], but merely an [Evil King (System)] named [Cú Chulainn].

"I feel like we're not quite there yet—but we still have some reserves."

As the Mad King's voice reached Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others, a chilling surge of magical energy swept outwards. They quickly looked back at the Mad King, and Akuta Hinako's expression changed slightly: "The Holy Grail—!"

The Mad King buried the Holy Grail forcefully into his chest and shouted, "The Holy Grail, the ultimate weapon capable of granting wishes!"

"[Show it, remember it, reverse it!]"

"[The being that has descended here is none other than one of the seventy-two demon gods.]"

An even more terrifying surge of magic erupted, and the light emanating from the Holy Grail rapidly engulfed and devoured the Mad King's entire body, causing it to continuously expand and grow larger. Then—

Within that light, one, two... dozens of scarlet cross-shaped eyes opened one after another.

A beast covered in jet-black armor, with crimson star-like eyes scattered throughout, and surrounded by an aura of death, appeared on the earth.

"【One of the seventy-two demon gods, Harpas... no, it should be called a demon god—the Beast that Devours Death Fangs (CurruidCoinchenn)!】"

"【Just die, you Chaldea!"

The Mad King made this declaration.

In terms of magical power, the Mad King is undoubtedly at the level of a top-tier Servant, or even above that. Even with Mash, Hinako Akuta, Aoko Aozaki, and Rama and Nightingale attacking him from the other side, they could only fight him to a standstill.

And now, if the already powerful Mad King were to fuse with the Demon God Pillar...

"It's really like when it rains, it pours... I'm almost completely exhausted." Aozaki Aoko gave a bitter smile. "Ritsuka, what about you? Can you still keep playing?"

"Hmm...no problem...uh..."

Fujimaru Ritsuka wanted to show that she was alright, but since arriving at this singularity, she had been using magic quite frequently. Given her untrained magic circuits, it would be quite dangerous for her to continue converting her life force into magical energy to fight.