The light gradually faded.
When the sensation of standing firmly upon the ground returned through his feet, the most unstable Spiritron Transfer to date finally ended, and Rozen opened his eyes.
"Senpai!"
"Rozen!"
"Master!"
Mash, Artoria [Alter], Jeanne [Alter], and Hassan of Serenity—all of them appeared around Rozen, entering his sight.
Each Servant was already in full combat readiness: some holding up shields, some gripping swords, some raising flags, and some brandishing daggers, while their eyes swept the surroundings.
Rozen likewise looked around.
He had no choice.
From the moment he entered this Singularity, Rozen had been able to feel an abnormal flood of mana, along with an endless, suffocating oppression and weight.
That oppression and weight felt as though the sins of the entire planet itself had all gathered here, making it difficult to breathe.
And the place where Rozen and his companions now stood was the outer region of the Temple of Time.
"So this is the Temple of Time…?"
Mash, Artoria [Alter], Jeanne [Alter], and Hassan of Serenity couldn't help but murmur.
As for Rozen, he sensed something from this temple that others could not.
Thump, thump… thump, thump…
His heartbeat pounded like a drum.
Hiss…
His blood surged like it was boiling.
This sensation was not unfamiliar to Rozen.
Because in the past, the very first time he saw the light ring in a Singularity, Rozen had felt this kind of resonance with it.
Now, Rozen finally knew why he experienced such resonance.
The reason was simple: Rozen had once been the vessel for the possession of the Mage King Solomon, nearly becoming Solomon's pseudo-servant. In the end, he had absorbed all of Solomon's power as nourishment, causing his own genes and bloodline to approach Solomon's. Thus, anything related to Solomon would resonate with him.
Now that Rozen had arrived at Solomon's temple, the resonance was more intense than ever before. If he hadn't already shed his former self and sublimated into the highest tier of humanity, this resonance would likely have had a serious impact on him.
At present, it merely caught Rozen's attention and nothing more.
But beyond that, this resonance did have one benefit.
It told Rozen that the existence which had once made his very soul tremble had already appeared.
"Senpai, we—"
Mash began to speak to Rozen, but he raised his hand, cutting her off immediately.
Rozen simply gazed in one direction, his expression calm and silent.
Seeing this, the girls first froze, then their expressions changed. In unison, they turned to look in the same direction.
Boom!
At that moment, a black avalanche of smoke came surging forward—like storm clouds laden with endless lightning rushing in at astonishing speed, pressing down with overwhelming force.
"This power…!?"
Jeanne [Alter]'s expression shifted drastically. Hatred immediately welled up on her face, and she shook her banner. Torrential flames erupted, blazing into a crimson avalanche that rushed forward to meet the incoming black smoke.
BOOOOM!!
The two torrents—one red, one black—collided violently. With a thunderous roar, they shook the ground while exploding against one another.
The shockwaves surged outward, sweeping in all directions, raising storms in an instant.
Bathed in the windstorm, some raised their arms to shield their faces, while others let their clothes whip and billow as they fixed their gaze ahead.
Especially Jeanne [Alter], who cried out in fury.
"Come out! Or do you only know how to skulk in the shadows?"
Her words were immediately met with a voice of contempt and scorn.
"A mere counterfeit fabrication dares to speak so arrogantly? It seems you truly believe yourselves to be significant."
As the words fell, a figure slowly emerged from the front.
"Lev Lainur Flauros!"
Mash's eyes widened as she shouted his name.
The newcomer was indeed Lev—wearing a green overcoat, a round-brimmed top hat on his head, and holding a cane.
This professor, once affiliated with Chaldea but who had betrayed it and brought them great calamity, now appeared once again as if the past had never ended.
As everyone had suspected—he had not died.
"I must admit, I am surprised. Very surprised."
Lev looked down on everyone with disdain as he spoke.
"Though through carelessness I did stumble once at your hands, I never imagined you would be so stubborn—stubborn enough to break through seven Singularities and ultimately arrive here."
To Lev, this must have been quite an unexpected turn.
Yet his attitude, his scorn and ridicule toward humanity, had not diminished in the slightest.
"I'll admit it—I underestimated you. Even weak, insignificant ants can hurt if one ignores them and lets them bite. You did bite hard… but this is where it ends."
Lev's derision was unrestrained.
"For your reckless courage in making it this far, I offer a shred of respect. I also thank you—thank you for desperately rushing here to die, and thank you for giving me this chance for revenge."
At this, if nothing else, the two [Alter] Servants spoke up.
"Revenge? That's my line, isn't it?" Jeanne [Alter] sneered in rage. "Don't think being burned once settles our score."
"I also have debts to settle with you," Artoria [Alter] said flatly. "Though I chose to accept the Holy Grail and maintain Fuyuki's Singularity of my own will, the truth is your disdain for all living things—if not for the fact that I thought all was already over and my anger was pointless, do you really think you would have escaped unscathed?"
Both [Alter] Servants bore grudges against Lev.
But—
"What a joke. I should be the one furious," Lev scoffed. "I already gave you the Holy Grail, and yet every one of you proved useless. In the end, I had to act myself. Heroic Spirits? Trash, the lot of you. One's a forgery, the other a fallen reject."
His mockery was answered with thunderous retaliation.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Two surges of mana exploded forth—an obsidian aurora and a roaring blaze—tearing through the ground as they hurtled toward Lev.
BOOM!!
A massive explosion erupted at one corner of the temple.
Lev was consumed by the aurora and flames, seemingly obliterated on the spot.
However—
"…Is that all?"
The next second, Lev reappeared before them, an aura of malice radiating from his body.