The system's warning blared in my mind, a silent alarm more terrifying than any siren. ETA: 2 minutes.
My blood ran cold. Two minutes until what? An enemy? An ally? Another wounded knight falling out of a hole in reality? My apartment, once my shabby sanctuary, now felt like a dimensional train station with no timetable.
"What is it?" Chloe whispered, her eyes wide as she saw the color drain from my face. "Alan, you're scaring me."
"Get back to your room," I ordered, my voice low and urgent. "Lock the door and don't come out, no matter what you hear."
"But—"
"Go! Now!"
My shout propelled her into action. She gave one last terrified look at the armored woman on my bed, then scrambled out of the room, the click of her bedroom door locking echoing in the sudden silence. I was alone with one unconscious heroic spirit, one reality-breaking holy relic, and an unknown entity that was two minutes away from appearing on my doorstep. Or perhaps, in my living room.
My eyes fell to the Grail on my nightstand. It was the source of all this. The beacon. It pulsed with a soft, golden light, and as I stared, a new panel appeared in my vision.
[Artifact energy stabilizing... 42% → 46%]
[Dimensional Resonance Build-up detected.]
[Warning: Unregulated activation may trigger uncontrolled summoning event. Recommend stabilizing artifact in a contained energy matrix.]
A contained energy matrix? I thought hysterically. What, you mean like a cardboard box? The system was giving me god-tier problems with an IKEA-level instruction manual.
If the Grail was the beacon, maybe I could control it. Turn it off. My mind, a library of webnovel tropes, cycled through the possibilities. In the stories, powerful artifacts always responded to a few key things: spoken commands, willpower, or blood.
I leaned closer, my heart hammering. "Deactivate," I whispered, trying to channel every ounce of intent I possessed into the word. "Power down. Stop glowing."
Nothing. The Grail continued its gentle, inexorable pulse, completely indifferent.
Okay, plan B. Blood. It was dramatic, messy, but a classic for a reason. My hand was still scraped and raw from my fall on the pavement. I squeezed my fist, forcing a bead of blood to well up from a cut on my knuckle. With trembling fingers, I let the crimson drop fall onto the golden rim of the cup.
The instant my blood touched it, the Grail flared with light.
[Blood signature recognized. Soul-binding incomplete.]
[Requirement Mismatch. Binding Catalyst: MISSING. Synchronization Token: MISSING.]
The light died down as quickly as it had appeared. A failed attempt. It recognized me, but I didn't have the right... ingredients. A catalyst? A token? What did that even mean? I felt a flash of frustration. This was like trying to assemble a piece of cosmic furniture with half the parts missing.
My gaze drifted to Saber, lying so still on my bed. My hands were still grimy from carrying her, stained with her blood and the city filth. I should wash them. It was a mundane thought in the middle of a reality-shattering crisis, but it was an anchor. I stumbled into my small, attached bathroom, turned on the tap, and began scrubbing my hands raw. The water ran pink into the basin.
The system's countdown timer appeared in the corner of my vision. ETA: 34 seconds.
Panic seized me again. I shut off the water, shook my hands dry, and rushed back into the bedroom. In my haste, I bumped the nightstand. The Grail wobbled. A few stray droplets of water from my hand flew through the air and landed directly inside the golden cup.
It was the catalyst.
The Grail didn't just flare this time. It erupted. A column of pure golden light shot toward the ceiling, stopping just short of touching it. The air filled with a sound like a thousand tiny bells, and the light dissolved into countless motes of gold, swirling around the room like a miniature galaxy.
The 'unregulated activation' warning flashed a frantic red in my mind. The countdown timer vanished, replaced by a new message: [Summoning Event Triggered].
My accidental splash of water, still carrying the residual energy from my blood and the Omnitrix brand on my wrist, had been the key. It had completed the circuit.
The motes of light began to converge in the center of the room. They swirled faster and faster, coalescing, taking shape. First, a silhouette, then the clear outline of a person. A woman with long, flowing lime-green hair materialized out of the light, her golden eyes locking directly onto mine. She was dressed in a strange, form-fitting white garment that looked like a restraint suit, but she wore it with an air of ancient, bored royalty.
My system, faster than my own conscious thought, had already done its work.
🌌 DNA SCAN COMPLETE 🌌
➤ Target: Witch-Entity – Codename: C.C. (Undying Class)
➤ Acquired:
- Immortality Seed (Dormant)
- Contract Binding Authority (Basic)
➤ Potential Evolution: Eternal Domain Sovereign
🎖️ Rank: Epic
🔱 Tier: Dimensional Hybrid
Cooldown Remaining: 12h 00m
Integration Progress: 6%
I stared, my mind struggling to process the impossible fusion before me. Saber from Fate/Stay Night was on my bed. And C.C. from Code Geass was floating in my bedroom. And my system was telling me that this wasn't just a fan theory crossover; it was a real, dangerous, and now quantifiable phenomenon. The multiverse was bleeding.
The woman—C.C.—drifted down until her bare feet rested silently on my floor. She glanced at the Grail, then at Saber, and finally, her gaze settled on me, a faint, knowing smirk playing on her lips.
"So, you're the one who rang the dinner bell," she said, her voice a smooth, melodic alto. "You've gathered quite the collection of curiosities in this little box of a room. A Heroic Spirit, a Holy Grail… and a human who reeks of something far older and more interesting than either."
She took a step closer, her golden eyes examining the glowing brand on my wrist. "You have a problem, Alan."
Her using my name didn't even surprise me at this point. "I'm starting to get that," I managed to say, my voice hoarse.
"Your power is a beacon, but it's unlocked. Unfocused. You're broadcasting an invitation across dimensions, and not everyone who answers will be as polite as she is," she said, nodding toward the sleeping Saber. "Or as willing to negotiate as I am."
She held out a slender hand. "I can help you. I can grant you the power to control your new acquisition, to focus its potential. But in return, you must do something for me."
A classic deal-with-the-devil offer. Or in this case, a deal with an immortal witch. A quest. My webnovel-addled brain lit up with recognition.
"What do you want?" I asked, my own internal systems coming back online.
"There was another artifact caught in the dimensional turbulence that brought me here," she explained, her expression turning serious. "A weapon of immense destructive power. The Spear of Longinus. It shattered upon entry, its fragments scattering across this world and others connected to it. I want you to retrieve them for me."
As she spoke, a formal quest log materialized in my mind.
[Questline Initiated: Shards of the Longinus Spear]
[Difficulty: Variable (Tier scaling by shard location)]
[Reward: Skill Unlock – Dimensional Traversal (2D World Access)]
[Penalty for Failure: Contract Seal Break → Loss of Acquired Abilities from C.C.]
Dimensional Traversal. The ability to travel to other worlds. The ultimate dream of every isekai fan. It was the key to unlocking the true potential of my Omnitrix, to finding new DNA, new powers, new realms. The penalty was steep—losing the 'Immortality Seed' and 'Contract Authority' I'd just acquired—but the reward was everything I could ever want.
"I accept," I said, the words leaving my lips before I had a chance to second-guess them.
C.C. smiled, a genuine, radiant smile this time. "A wise choice." She closed the distance between us until she was standing directly in front of me. "Then let us seal our contract."
She leaned in and kissed me.
It wasn't passionate or romantic. It was a transfer of energy, of information, of will. A cool, minty sensation spread from my lips through my entire body. For a single, breathtaking moment, I felt the sheer weight of her immortality, an endless ocean of time and memory. The brand on my wrist blazed with golden light, and I saw its intricate pattern overlay with a glowing, bird-like symbol—her Geass sigil—on her forehead. They fused for a heartbeat, a perfect union of alien tech and mystic contract, sealing our deal on a fundamental, conceptual level.
When she pulled back, her golden eyes held a new depth, a flicker of a genuine connection. "The contract is made," she murmured. "The Spear is a weapon that can wound even concepts, even gods. In the wrong hands, it could unmake a world. Find the shards, Alan. Our fate depends on it."
The moment the words left her mouth, my system pinged with one final, world-altering notification.
[Contract Sealed. Dimensional Travel Module Unlocked: Standby Mode]
[Current accessible coordinates: 1 | Lock Status: Sealed]