"...."
'That person is weak. Has no fighting spirit at all, a rookie soldier would be better. No, a peasant father fighting bandits would be more courageous. Just... what nerve does he have to stand before me? Trusting in other Servants? From the start, why would they follow such an ordinary person?'
'What is that guy? Weak. A mage? No, my intuition is certain he's a feeble human. Then how can he stand before me? He doesn't have some big scheme like a clever monkey... Is he just trusting in his subordinates? Why on earth would they follow someone who seems to have no ambition? A powerless human, daring to stand in my way...'
Kenshin and Nobunaga analyze Humpty before them in their own ways, but...
From the eyes of the God of War and the Demon King, he was nothing more than an ordinary person. A man who didn't look at all like the monster who annihilated 20,000 troops and Servants in an instant. That's why they couldn't comprehend it.
The Warring States era they were active in was an era where only those with power, charisma, wisdom, and lineage could reign as lords. Both she, Uesugi Kenshin, and she, Oda Nobunaga, were such. But...
Humpty before their eyes didn't look like that at all. Even if he were of high lineage... great people wouldn't follow him for just that one thing. To lead great people, not mere foot soldiers, requires commensurate ability and charisma.
So Kenshin wanted to test him once. To see if... the man before her eyes was truly just incompetent.
Whoosh...
And then, as a Lancer, she thrust with a serious, full-powered strike at supersonic speed. Humpty naturally couldn't react to it, and Kenshin, noticing that, lost steam but didn't pull back her strength, thrusting anyway...
Crack!!!
"... Oh my?"
"I saw the line, you see. Cut it without thinking."
The line of life. All things have a line of life. Birth and end. Between them is lifespan, and weapons also have a lifespan. That too is a line of life. The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception that allow one to see the lines of life of all things and cut them.
The mystic eyes that the Celtic god Balor had in only one eye could bestow death just by looking, not cutting. And the eyes she possesses allow her to see and cut them.
Shiki, whose very origin is the Root, is an omnipotent existence, not an exaggeration to call her a god. She was fundamentally different from Uesugi Kenshin, an inhuman spirit worshipped as a god among humans.
Her spear, its line of life cut, turns into miserable ashes...
Crumblecrumblecrunch!!!
"Don't be insolent, God of War."
Uesugi Kenshin, who was praised as the God of War in the Warring States era and sublimated into the Buddha Bishamonten, meets her death, sliced into 17 pieces upon facing a real monster. Still, it was a better death compared to her lifetime.
"What the...?"
For a moment, Nobunaga couldn't comprehend it. Seemingly ignoring physical laws, the sight of cutting the line of life to slice something into 17 pieces was a scene even she, accustomed to heretics, couldn't understand.
"Demon King, what a pretentious name. Humans, no, tiny creatures truly give such pompous epithets to sentient beings, inflating their arrogance."
"What are you..."
Wham!!!
Instantly, a white palm appears and strikes Nobunaga's abdomen. Nobunaga, hit by the powerful palm strike, is sent flying back. Then, countless white hands and black tentacles appear from the void of darkness, capturing her.
"Let go, I said let me go!!!"
She tries to struggle, deploying her Noble Phantasm, but... her power doesn't work at all.
"What is this, what on earth is this! My ambition...!?"
"Oda Nobunaga's ambition ultimately failed in her lifetime, didn't it? You are, after all, just a loser in history. So... in the Pure Land, please rest in peace... Amitabha, Amitabha..."
Being sucked into Kiara's belly, Oda Nobunaga meets a futile end.
Though she was worshipped as the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven and was the foremost great person in Japan during the Warring States era... she was still within the realm of humanity. Before a Buddha who transcended the human realm and attained enlightenment, a Bodhisattva of a Mara nature, she was merely a tiny creature among sentient beings.
"... Is everyone alright?"
"Humpty... you came quickly?"
"Well, I flew here physically to find you. Shiki, please."
Shiki uses the power of 「 」 to heal everyone. For her, it was a simple task.
"Sigh... When events come rushing like this, how can a newbie hold out? Even if it's reality, they don't even give time to grow. Too harsh."
"... Sorry. We're still weak, so we keep receiving help like this."
"No no, you could say our side is like having cheats... You've done nothing wrong, okay? Don't say that. No need to be sorry. Isn't it the role of veterans to guide newbies~? Anyway... Kiara, the Grail?"
"Unfortunately, it's not here. They were using the Grail's power, but it seems the real culprit is someone else."
"Hmm... Not a Demon God Pillar, right?"
"No. There was none of that Goetia-someone's magical energy. It seems to be the Grail that was originally in this Singularity, not his Grail."
"I see... Then the culprit is only that guy. Okay, the direction is set. If we're the opponents, they might not let their guard down... That's a bit bothersome. No, indeed, this might be dangerous for the first time. What do you think, Shiki?"
"If he gets serious, we could certainly have some fun."
"Yeah? I see... Okay. Let's rest a bit first and then go."
Humpty predicts who is behind this incident and decides to rest briefly for the stability of Ritsuka's party.
"I didn't do anything, you know..."
"It's okay, Taiga. There's next time."
Humpty consoles Taiga, promising a next time. Ritsuka looks at Humpty, so overflowing with composure, with envy, and thinks deeply about how she could become a Master like that.
============================
The culprit can only be AUO.
So... Toyotomi Giyagoshu? There was definitely a GUDAGUDA Servant like that.
Other than Gilgamesh, I can't imagine the mastermind. If the Singularity persists even now that the evil Nobu is gone, it must be that side. I don't know what they're thinking, but...
"Master..."
"Hmm? Why?"
Then Nemo spoke to me.
"I didn't get to shine either..."
"Ah, that's right. Nemo's Noble Phantasm is the Nautilus, and the Nemos don't have combat power."
"You only comfort others..."
"..."
Why does she seem to be acting spoiled like this...?
... Why is she so cute.
Surely Bunyan should be in this position, why did Nemo-kun end up in this position...? Something, something is going wrong...!
But well, she's cute so let's move on... As long as it doesn't go that way. Yeah...
"By the way..."
This time I defeated about 10 Servants, so Saint Quartz total... 14. Ooh, nice nice. With this, it should be okay...?
Since there's no interference... I proceeded with the summon right away.
Fwoosh!
"Huh? Uhm, so... Master? Did you really summon me?"
"Ahh... Finally meeting you, Manbun-kun...!"
"Eh!?"
Finally! I summoned a same-sex friend I can relax with! In my joy, I hugged him instantly. Internal intimacy, you see!
"Welcome~ I was in trouble not having a same-sex friend~"
"... What about me?"
"Ahem, Captain is of course a friend too. Yeah... sure, sure."
How should I put it, you're just too short, you know?
"Is that so...? It wasn't a mistake, you summoned me on purpose?"
"Yeah yeah, right."
"I see... That makes me happy."
Ahh, this is the FGO representative My Friend...! Unlike that Paracelsus-someone who said he wanted friends but betrays you...!
"Hey, Humpty. I've been curious for a while now..."
"Hmm?"
"Servant summoning, how are you doing that...?"
"Ahh... this? It's a special case possible because I'm a Root Connector."
"Honestly, I've been watching for a while, and... how should I say, it looks like you're touching something in mid-air."
Hmm... Ritsuka is persistent today. Well, it wouldn't be strange to get caught once. Maybe I'm being too careless? If so, let's go with Holmes meta.
"You're sharp? Noticing that. As expected of Ritsuka. But, it's not yet time to reveal this, Ritsuka. Someday, the time to reveal it to you will come. Until then, it's a secret."
"... I understand."
Well... let's keep the reincarnator thing hidden for now. It's stranger than being a Root Connector. Unlike a changeling, I got a status window, you see. By any chance, Ritsuka isn't a reincarnator or something, is she? Or... this isn't leading to a route where I'm misunderstood and we drift apart, is it? I don't want that.
In Type-Moon works, it's common to fail due to lack of communication, not talking. So... I'm worried about how to say it.
Ritsuka was walking alone around the building where she had been imprisoned by Nobunaga, organizing her thoughts.
"... He said veteran. And... the Servants all seem to already know each other. They talk as if they know the future... by any chance..."
Gulp...
"Is Humpty something like a regressor?"
Strictly speaking, no. Ritsuka thought that if he were a regressor, everything would make sense, and considered Humpty a regressor.
"But if so, why...? By someone? That doesn't seem to be the case... Or, perhaps... a failure, maybe?"
And so, misunderstandings gradually piled up. Being a current high school girl and quite interested in subculture, Ritsuka's delusions knew no end, and she considered various possibilities.
While muttering like that and wandering around...
Thud.
"Huh...? What's this... a, a person?"
Something tripped at her feet. When Ritsuka looked down, there was a person there. A woman with an obviously strange appearance. Ritsuka observed her condition and asked.
"Her clothing looks Japanese...? Is she, alive...?"