Chapter 48: A Place to Return To
“This is an unforeseen element of the project, one that goes beyond what my tolerance allows,” Lev continued mockingly, his hands clasped behind his back as he looked down on us arrogantly.
“Professor Lev?” Mash asked in confusion.
Knowing things could turn ugly at any moment, I subtly stepped in front of everyone, only for Artoria to do the same beside me. We exchanged a silent glance and immediately understood what the other was thinking, likely helped by the Shroud, before nodding faintly and preparing ourselves for anything.
“Lev… Lev!” Olga muttered, relief visibly spreading across her face as she looked at the man before trying to move toward him.
Before she could, I blocked her path with my arm.
She looked up at me with shock before anger quickly followed.
“W-What are you—”
“Stay behind me, Olga,” I said firmly, my expression serious. “He’s dangerous.”
“W-What do you mean!? That’s Lev!” Olga exclaimed in confusion, her frustration only growing.
“I don’t know what relationship you had with that ‘man,’ but Sieg is telling the truth. What stands before us now is nothing more than a monster,” Artoria said coldly, backing up my claim.
Her words made the others stiffen in surprise before Mash and Fran immediately tightened their grips on their weapons, their expressions turning serious.
“So you intend to remain defiant until the end then, Saber?” Lev asked mockingly, only to receive a cold glare from the black knight in return.
“…Lev?” Olga turned back toward him with confused, hopeful eyes, silently begging him to deny what we were implying.
Unfortunately for her, his next words only shattered her further.
“All of these unexpected events have made me quite furious,” Lev muttered, his expression twisting unpleasantly. “Romani, I told you to come to the control room immediately. Why didn’t you?”
Romani, who had been silently listening this whole time, finally spoke up.
“Lev?” he asked in confusion.
Lev ignored him completely and shifted his attention toward Olga.
“And you, Olga… I planted the bomb directly beneath your feet. Yet somehow, you survived and even managed to Rayshift successfully.”
Those cruel words hit Olga like a physical blow.
“…N-No… T-That’s not true…” she stuttered weakly before collapsing to her knees, staring at Lev with utter despair and betrayal written across her face.
“All of these setbacks do seem to have something in common, though…” Lev continued before finally turning his gaze toward me, his expression darkening.
“Or rather… someone.”
His harsh glare locked onto mine.
And I returned it without hesitation.
“Candidate 48, Sieg Schneider…” Lev muttered my name as if it were poison. “From the moment I first met you, I knew there was something off about you. I simply never expected you to be this strong, or I would have prepared proper countermeasures.”
“I owe you no answers, abomination,” I declared coldly, my grip on Balmung tightening. I didn’t miss the way his eyes briefly lingered on my sword.
“That sword… I can only think of one possible explanation for how you possess it while wielding the same abilities as its previous owner.” Lev narrowed his eyes. “Siegfried gave you his heart, didn’t he? The only mystery left is when this came to pass.”
Well, he wasn’t entirely wrong.
He just didn’t know the full story.
The others—Mash and Olga in particular—looked at me with surprise when I didn’t deny his accusation.
“Artoria, it’s me. Listen carefully,” I spoke privately through Conjunction, taking advantage of Lev’s continued monologuing.
Artoria stiffened slightly but otherwise gave no outward reaction. A moment later, I felt her respond through the connection.
“…I’m listening.”
“When I give the signal, I want you to release your Noble Phantasm at full power. I’ll do the same. It’s the only way I can see us getting out of here.”
“…Very well. I’ll follow your lead.”
A sent her a small wave of gratitude through our connection, and I shifted my focus toward Mash and Fran next.
“Mash, in a moment Artoria and I are going to unleash our Noble Phantasms. When we do, I want you to grab the Director and have Romani Rayshift us back immediately. Understood?”
“Senpai!?” Mash responded in shock before the seriousness of the situation settled in. Her expression immediately sharpened and she switched back to Servant mode. “Understood, Senpai. Please be careful.”
“Fran, help Mash.”
“Y-Yes.”
Turning my attention back to the present, Lev was now arrogantly revealing that Chaldeas had turned completely red, proof that humanity had already been wiped from existence.
Olga had completely fallen into despair, silently crying while muttering that it had to be a lie or a nightmare.
I wanted to help her.
But this wasn’t the time.
The moment the image of Chaldeas vanished, I moved.
“Now!” I shouted.
An instant later, torrents of magical energy exploded from both Balmung and Excalibur Morgan.
In the background, Mash and Fran sprang into action, with Mash lifting Olga into her arms while shouting instructions toward Romani.
“The evil dragon shall fall—”
“Vortigern, Hammer of the Vile King—”
Artoria and I spoke our Arias in unison as our swords released even greater amounts of mana, the cavern itself beginning to tremble under the pressure.
Lev sneered in anger and seemed to shout something back at us, but his words were swallowed by the violent winds and overwhelming magical energy flooding the area.
“And the world shall reach its twilight.”
“Reverse the rising sun.”
Together, we raised our swords as our mana reached its peak, both blades aimed directly at our enemy.
Please let this work.
“I will bring you down—”
“Swallow the light—”
“Balmung!”
“Excalibur Morgan!”
Artoria and I held our attacks for as long as we could, watching with grim expressions as everything in front of us was reduced to nothing.
My attack suddenly wavered as a strange sensation washed over me, one I immediately recognized as the same feeling from my first Rayshift. Realizing what was happening, I finally allowed myself to relax slightly.
Before I completely disappeared, though, I still had one final instruction to give.
“Teacher, they’re teleporting now!”
Like I said earlier, with Chaldea barely functioning, I couldn’t be sure whether Artoria and Fran would successfully Rayshift back with us.
That was why, before ever coming to Chaldea, I had already discussed the possibility with the girls back home and together we had come up with a simple solution.
With a bit of effort, I mentally exerted control over Artoria and Fran’s Shrouds before activating Apportation and teleporting them back into our personal dimension.
“It’s about time.”
Her response came instantly, which didn’t surprise me considering I had felt them watching everything through Conjunction ever since I arrived at Chaldea.
Seeing Artoria disappear safely, I finally relaxed completely, withdrawing my attack as my vision began to darken.
Before consciousness fully left me, however, Lev’s ominous voice echoed throughout the cavern.
“Don’t think this is over, humans. The Grand Order has only just begun.”
The next moment, everything went dark.
=====
Sometime Later
As consciousness slowly returned, I silently inspected my surroundings and quickly realized I was lying in a bed.
Not one as comfortable as the one back home, of course, but comparing normal furniture to something made by an omniversal Company probably wasn’t fair to begin with.
Still, simply realizing I was in a bed brought me immediate relief since it meant we had somehow succeeded and resolved Singularity F.
As I attempted to sit up, however, I quickly discovered that I couldn’t.
Opening my eyes fully, I immediately realized why.
Or rather… who.
I was apparently back in my room within Chaldea, and Mash was seated beside my bed, fast asleep while hugging one of my arms and softly snoring in an almost criminally cute manner.
Feeling another weight against my shoulder, I slowly turned my head and blinked in surprise as I found a head of silver-white hair resting against me.
Olga.
The usually strict and prideful Director was currently asleep on my shoulder, using me as a personal pillow as she hugged me tightly, almost as if I would disappear if she didn’t.
‘…Am I still dreaming?’ I wondered in disbelief.
Looking a little closer, though, my expression softened as I noticed the obvious signs that she had been crying.
I couldn’t blame her.
Ever since we Rayshifted into Fuyuki, Olga had been dragged through an emotional nightmare. In the end, it made sense that she had unconsciously sought comfort from me.
I had saved her life multiple times within the Singularity and given her a new body that allowed her to return after learning the horrifying truth, that the person she trusted most had betrayed her and orchestrated the disaster within Chaldea.
Then there was the Shroud.
Even unconsciously, it let her know that she could trust me completely and that I would never betray her. In such a fragile emotional state, it wasn’t surprising that Olga had latched onto that reassurance with everything she had.
“Hah… looks like it’s finally time to come clean with them,” I muttered quietly to myself.
Before I had a chance to wake them, the door to my room suddenly slid open and a beautiful brown-haired woman with blue eyes walked in wearing an excited grin.
I didn’t recognize her immediately, but several things about her stood out enough for me to quickly piece together her identity.
The first and most obvious thing was that she was a Servant, and considering there was only supposed to be one Servant currently within Chaldea, there was only one possible answer.
Leonardo da Vinci.
And yes, despite appearances, Da Vinci was originally a man. Unlike many other heroes and historical figures in the Nasuverse who somehow ended up as women, Da Vinci had simply modified her own Saint Graph because she believed the Mona Lisa represented the peak of beauty.
In other words, she was a complete weirdo.
“My, my~ Who would have thought our dear Director would act so scandalously? Sneaking into the bed of someone younger than her, and her subordinate, no less,” Da Vinci teased as she walked into the room and stopped near the center.
Glancing toward Olga and Mash, I was relieved to see that both were still asleep and completely unaware of Da Vinci’s presence. Something told me Olga wouldn’t react very kindly to being teased in her current position.
“…Hello. I assume you already know my name, but regardless, I’m Sieg. Excuse me, Miss, but how long have I been asleep?” I asked politely.
“Huhuhu~ There’s no need to be so formal, Sieg-kun. You can just call me Da Vinci or Da Vinci-chan~” she replied with a playful wink before suddenly striking a pose straight out of a magical girl show—legs apart, one hand making a peace sign near her eye while she winked dramatically at me.
The only thing missing was a shower of sparkles, and considering she was both a genius and a Caster, I had no doubt she could somehow make that happen too.
‘…I should probably never let her discover magical girl anime,’ I thought silently, already feeling a slight headache coming on.
Still, after dealing with more than enough eccentric people in my life, I quickly composed myself as Da Vinci continued speaking.
“As for your question, you’ve only been unconscious for a few hours. Mash-chan and the Director have barely left your side the entire time,” Da Vinci explained.
“I see. Thank you,” I replied with a grateful nod.
The next second, I instinctively leaned back in surprise as Da Vinci suddenly appeared only inches away from my face, studying me with sharp, curious eyes.
“Fascinating~ Even standing this close and trying my absolute hardest, I still can’t tell whether you’re truly here or just some kind of illusion,” she said with an excited gleam in her eyes as she shamelessly continued poking me, her expression becoming more alarming by the second.
“And then there’s that Mystery of yours that somehow managed to do the impossible. It fully restored Mash-chan and even created a brand-new body for our Director out of practically nothing. I tried asking both Mash-chan and the Director for details, but neither of them would tell me anything and insisted I wait patiently until you woke up,” she rambled excitedly without pause, continuing to poke me the entire time.
“Ne, ne~ Won’t you tell me, Sieg-kun? Pretty please? I’m absolutely dying to know~” she asked as she leaned in even closer until our noses were almost touching.
Feeling more than a little uncomfortable under her intense stare, I awkwardly coughed into my hand while leaning back further.
“Umm… would you mind backing up a little? You’re a bit too close,” I said awkwardly, feeling my cheeks heat slightly. Regardless of who Da Vinci originally was, the person in front of me undeniably looked like a beautiful woman.
“Nope~” she replied shamelessly, shaking her head and making me sweat nervously. “I’ll only agree if you answer my questions. Or better yet, you can grant that Mystery of yours to others, right? Well, you just so happen to have a very willing participant standing right in front of you~”
She grinned at me expectantly before continuing without giving me any room to respond.
“I can’t wait to study it! The tests I ran on Mash-chan and the Director before and after receiving your Mystery are nothing short of miraculous~ Their readings are completely off the charts, and that’s not even mentioning how the Director went from having almost no compatibility with Servants to suddenly showing extremely high compatibility. Even both the quality and quantity of her Magic Circuits increased massively!”
And on and on she went, speaking so quickly that she was beginning to give me a headache.
Letting out a tired sigh, I finally raised my hand and covered her mouth, successfully silencing her for the first time since entering the room. It didn’t stop the excited sparkle in her eyes, though.
“Fine, I’ll tell you. But please back up first,” I said tiredly despite having only recently woken up.
Da Vinci immediately nodded.
Seeing that, I removed my hand and she obediently stepped back, finally allowing me to sit up properly in bed.
Unfortunately, all the movement and talking had finally disturbed the sleeping girls beside me.
Mash let out a cute yawn as she slowly sat up, only for her eyes to immediately lock onto me before widening in excitement.
“Senpai! You’re awake~” Mash exclaimed happily, looking like she wanted to throw herself into a hug if not for the other occupant currently attached to me.
“Hey Mash. I’m glad you’re alright,” I replied with a smile.
“Ugh… Mash, Sieg, keep it down. I didn’t get much sleep,” Olga groggily muttered as she rubbed her eyes while still leaning comfortably against my shoulder, seemingly completely unaware of how close we currently were.
Unfortunately for her, Da Vinci noticed immediately.
A massive grin spread across the Servant’s face.
“Fufufu~ How bold of you, Director. Snuggling up to your subordinate right in front of me… could it be that someone finally managed to melt your icy heart?” Da Vinci teased mercilessly while trying—and failing—to hide her giant grin behind one hand.
I felt Olga freeze beside me.
Slowly, she opened her eyes fully and spotted Da Vinci staring at us in amusement.
For one brief second, she paled.
Then her entire face exploded red.
“DA VIIINCIII!!”
Several Gandr curses immediately shot across the room toward the laughing Servant, who effortlessly dodged them while bursting into even louder laughter.
Looking over at Mash, who was blinking blankly at the chaos unfolding before us, we shared a silent look before sighing in unison.
…Why do I get the feeling this is going to become a regular occurrence?