Typemoon [451-452] (Patreon)

Chapter 451: Time

Because she was under Mash's protection and came away unscathed, Ritsuka Fujimaru immediately sensed that the magical energy surging from Alaric was dropping at a rapid pace, and soon the conduit returned to a normal flow.

Noticing this, Ritsuka understood the battle was just about over.

As the relay supplying mana for Cú Chulainn and Mash to fight, Ritsuka knew exactly how much had been spent in this stretch. Not to mention the outside clash between Alaric and Sigurd was even more staggering.

That last strike, although a Noble Phantasm Ritsuka had never seen before, had clearly pushed mana consumption to the bottom. And then there was Alaric's own condition.

That was obviously not a good sign.

"Oh?"

Likewise left unharmed thanks to Mash, Cú Chulainn saw Alaric was covered in cracks and raised a brow with a grin. "We really are fated to meet this time."

It wasn't just Chaldea's side. Skadi, who had shielded Ophelia within the storm of lightning, could only shake her head. Not far away, the three Valkyries lay amidst the wreckage and didn't rise for a long while.

This castle was a condensation of Skadi's mana—more like a full citadel. Divine mana—or rather, divinity itself—couldn't fully defend against that bolt. While most of the thunder was offset, the remaining power was still astonishing. No blood was shed, but the Valkyries were inevitably wounded.

And those who faced the lightning head-on—Caenis and Sigurd—both received sizable injuries.

Before Caenis, fuming at that strike, could act, Skadi spoke to stop her. "Enough. It's about time we bring the curtain down. If you keep fighting, the hall will be stained with blood, Ophelia.

"If this continues, the girl named Mash will end up in a pool of blood. Just look at her—her gasping is heartbreaking."

As Skadi's words fell, the ice castle ravaged by the lightning began restoring as if time were rewinding. In less than a few dozen seconds, it was back to its original state.

Though Skadi's power was far less than before, restoring the castle was still within her means.

When the castle reappeared and cut off Ritsuka's retreat, they knew they couldn't force a fight now.

Even with Cú Chulainn and Mash, the other side had Sigurd, three Valkyries, and on top of that a divine Servant, Caenis.

The difference in strength was too large.

Most importantly, Mash was already at her limit.

"I—I… still—haa… haa… still, still haven't—haa—"

Mash's voice was hoarse with constant gasps. After her initial shock at Alaric's state, the aftereffects of the intense battle roared in and crushed down on her organs, forcing her to pant for breath.

A fight of this intensity—even unleashing her Noble Phantasm—was still too heavy a burden on Mash.

Even so, she refused to give up.

"I cannot bear to watch my children slaughter one another, Mash."

With motherly gentleness and sadness in her eyes, Skadi spoke words that quietly decided everything. Not even the Demonic Sword or the godlike Caenis could defy them.

"At your command."

Ophelia nodded slightly. "—Saber."

"Hmph."

Sigurd, who did not continue attacking, gave a cold snort, sheathed his sword, and dissolved into spirit form, disappearing from everyone's sight.

"Well then, it may be unnecessary, but just in case, I'll be the one to tidy them up."

Skadi produced a wand-like implement from who knows where and made a light stroke through the air. Runes took shape in an instant, making Cú Chulainn's expression change as he shouted, "Young lady, careful! That rune is—"

Almost simultaneously, the rune master Cú reversed his hand and flung a pebble engraved with runes, trying to neutralize Skadi's attack.

"Ah, don't worry. I won't kill you, and there'll be no pain."

Skadi kept turning the wand and smiled. "Mm, mm. Your runes are well learned—seems your Shisou is very skilled. But it's still not enough."

Bzz, bzz. 

A stronger, older Mystery blossomed here and, in a blink, unraveled the temporary rune-stone Cú had made.

"You'll live in the dungeon for a while. If I meet with your resistance, we won't be able to dance happily, will we?"

As Skadi's words fell, Primordial Runes swept over the three—Ritsuka, Mash, and Cú. Having spent all his mana to unleash his Noble Phantasm, Cú could do nothing but submit.

"These runes are as strong as my Shisou's… which is why I don't like dealing with this stuff," Cú grumbled inwardly, unable to move.

Ritsuka and Mash, likewise immobilized by the runes, both showed shock. Ritsuka aside, Mash at least got the best chance to catch her breath by being unable to move.

"Kneel. To personally feel a god's power is the highest honor. Kneel. This is the light of Runes inherited from the great god."

Skadi said softly, "There will be no pain, nor will your mana be taken. I'll simply make your whole body like an empty shell for a time. Be still, and savor for a while my divine might and my love."

Tap. Ta.

Crisp footsteps approached—steady, yet tinged with a touch of frivolity.

The footsteps drew everyone's attention. When Skadi turned her gaze slightly, she saw Alaric as fragile as porcelain.

Alaric slowly raised his hand. "I surrender. We won't resist."

It wasn't even the release of a Noble Phantasm—just a casual strike—yet it had pushed Alaric to his limit in an instant.

If he kept fighting, his Saint Graph would collapse.

At this point, Alaric had no strength to keep going. If he tried to flee alone, he might even be killed by giant-kind. Better to walk back.

"People of Proper Human History; my new child."

Skadi's gaze fell on Alaric. "You're not of Proper Human History, are you? But you are also my child. You are unlike them; you have extremely great power. So why choose to walk this path?"

"What is there to ask about that?"

Impatient, Caenis cut Skadi off. "Does this castle have some no-blood rule? You're just not going to fight anymore?"

"That's correct."

Ophelia said, "Divine spirit Caenis, the battle is over."

"Don't talk to me, Ophelia."

Caenis looked at her with open disgust. "Shut up. Don't speak. Don't look at me. You're the kind of woman I despise most. If not for the Crypter, I'd have killed you already."

"What a coincidence."

Ophelia wasn't angry. "We see eye to eye on that."

Just as Caenis loathed her, Ophelia likewise loathed the Caenis standing at that lord's side.

"But that has nothing to do with carrying out the mission."

Ophelia said flatly, "Do your duty, divine spirit Caenis. You were sent to monitor Russia, weren't you? But there must be another reason you came here."

"Oh? So you've got some nerve after all. Someone who answers hostility with hostility—I don't dislike that."

Caenis grinned. "Next up—just this once—I'll relay my master's message—"

With that, a pale-blue screen rose up before Alaric and Ritsuka. It was a recording of Kirschtaria Wodime.

Chapter 452: Move-In Ready

A gentleman's white suit. Long golden hair left loosely draped. A youth whose composure seemed to carry an unusual allure—the so-called charisma of a leader. Even without words, a simple meeting of eyes let one feel a powerful self that drew in the surrounding primates.

This was Kirschtaria Wodime, the leader of the seven Crypters.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Queen of the Scandinavian Lostbelt."

Kirschtaria began. "Please forgive the discourtesy of paying my respects by recorded image. I am Kirschtaria Wodime, the one in charge of the largest Lostbelt—the Greek world—and the leader of the Crypters.

"And to the people of Chaldea: welcome to the bleached world. As your senpai, I welcome you."

"!"

Ritsuka and Mash—who had relaxed upon realizing it was only a recording—stiffened at his words. They didn't expect Kirschtaria's message to address them.

Ritsuka, who didn't know Kirschtaria, was simply on guard. Mash, who had worked with him for a year, wore a complicated expression, the same tangled feelings as when she saw Ophelia.

"Though this is only a supposition, I'll proceed on the premise that you're present. I have something to tell the queen of the Norse."

Kirschtaria smiled faintly. "I believe you've already defeated Russia by now and reached the adjacent Scandinavian Lostbelt. Mm. I don't know whether that knight is with you, but I'll assume he is."

Watching the recording, Alaric raised a brow. This was his first time seeing Kirschtaria Wodime.

He had to admit—this was indeed someone with the charisma of a leader.

That the Alien God chose him was only natural.

Only he had the right.

"Our goal is to recompile human history. Put simply, to recreate the soil in which gods exist."

Kirschtaria declared, "Proper Human History isn't wrong, but it's not the correct answer either. Gains and losses don't offset each other; they each increase their own weights. There's far too much redundancy—things that cannot cycle, attempting to cycle. The Alien God lamented the current unsolvable state of this planet and chose to descend.

"Our mission as Crypters is to fix the Lostbelts in place and raise their strength above Proper Human History.

"The King of Magus intended to use magecraft—to conduct the Incineration of the Human Order via humanity.

"I am different. I choose to compile the Human Order by means of gods."

"Since antiquity, humanity has seen gods in the planet's operations. The god is the planet; the god is the law of nature."

Kirschtaria's gaze was sharp, his tone filled with power and conviction. "Yet humans are oblivious—believing that systems should be used rather than obeyed. Because they misunderstood this, man and god parted ways.

"Humanity did not forget the gods. It lost the ability to utilize them—lost that possibility."

"..."

As a god, Skadi could not remain unmoved by Kirschtaria's words, but she listened in silence.

"O Queen of the Norse."

Kirschtaria said mildly, "Caretaker of a mythos that ended not because its people forgot it—as in the Greek world—but because it brought down the curtain by its own self-destruction. Guard your Fantasy Tree. As long as that tree stands, your Lostbelt will not perish.

"Please deny your destined doom and choose the path of survival. And then, I hope you will let your tree challenge mine.

"My Fantasy Tree is complete.

"If the World Tree in the Norse serves as the world's cornerstone, then the Greek Fantasy Tree is the tree that supports the firmament—

"Hence the name my ally, the great god Zeus, bestowed upon it—Atlas's World Tree.

"And to you in Chaldea: your greatest target for elimination is this Fantasy Tree. The roots of my Lostbelt's Fantasy Tree already cover eighty percent of the Earth's surface.

"Even if you cut down the other Lostbelts' trees, as long as Atlas's World Tree remains, Proper Human History cannot be restored."

"Norse Queen, I look forward to the choice you make as a god."

Kirschtaria paused, then spoke coldly. "Yes—call it the vengeance of the gods. The vengeance of the deities whom humans drove from the throne of rulers.

"And I am prepared to let humanity fully utilize the gods. A complete Age of Gods. The proud history of weak humanity abolished.

"I will build a world that no fervor of human will can overturn—a sphere of life without any lack or deficiency.

"If anyone dares to obstruct me, I will show no mercy.

"Please, together with Ophelia, choose a beautiful future."

The transmission ended, but Kirschtaria's words lingered on.

Such bold declarations laid bare his purpose.

"A man who could be a sage…"

Alaric sighed. Now he'd seen Kirschtaria's caliber. It was a pity he hadn't been present when Koyanskaya unsealed them; he'd have liked to trade a few lines.

Beyond that regret, Alaric was very interested in the world Kirschtaria described. If the Alien God's aims conflicted with his, Alaric wanted to see how far it could go.

A complete Age of Gods—a world of gods?

 Not only that; a world for humans as well—a world where humans fully wield the power of gods. Perhaps humans themselves could be called gods.

"This sounds like… a declaration of war, doesn't it?" Ritsuka murmured.

"No."

Ophelia corrected, "It's a victory declaration. You can take it this way: under Lord Kirschtaria's leadership, we Crypters have already begun the new compilation of Human Order."

At this moment Kirschtaria, like the King of Magus, already stood at the desk of victory, planning his next move.

Ophelia and the others' Lostbelts were mere foils.

Even so, Ophelia was willing. After all, this was how it should be.

"Mmm. So that was the Crypters' leader."

Skadi nodded with a light laugh. "I see, I see. The revived Age of Gods, the gods' revenge—you certainly said something interesting.

"So my existence is closer to that fellow's ideal? If the Norse Fantasy Tree under my care keeps growing like this, it'll surely drain that man's Lostbelt dry in time—"

"Of course—Lord Kirschtaria says that's fine."

At the mention of Kirschtaria, Ophelia unconsciously straightened, eyes shimmering with a silent light. "He even thinks that's better. He said the Greek Lostbelt isn't necessarily the best."

"Heh heh—how bold. A man worthy of respect."

Skadi's eyes widened slightly, and she laughed. "And to say he wants to fully utilize the gods—hahahaha."

Even Skadi was amused by Kirschtaria's words.

It wasn't ridicule, but an admiring astonishment.

"Indeed, within my Norse, there isn't the sort who dares to wear their ambition on their tongue."

Skadi nodded, openly praising Kirschtaria.

"Right? Very human—shallow and arrogant."

Caenis said proudly, "He must see eye-to-eye with Zeus." Not letting her continue, Ophelia spoke: "We should leave. Divine spirit Caenis, your mission in this Lostbelt is over. There's no need for you to go to any other Lostbelts.

"I hear that, on seas without a sea god, several Servants of Proper Human History have appeared. No more detours. Return to Lord Kirschtaria as soon as you can."

"...True. I still need to clean up the mess that useless Artemis left behind."

Caenis didn't object. She grinned. "I'll head straight back—one step ahead of you—return to your beloved Lord Kirschtaria, hmm?"

Without a trace of hesitation, Caenis, ready to depart, glanced at the Ritsuka group bound by runes. "That's that. Goodbye, Chaldea.

"Whether you rot in prison or get killed by that magic sword—your road ahead is pitch-dark. But try to swallow it all and make it through.

"And you, knight—you're not actually here in person, are you?

 "If you make it to that ocean, next time we meet it'll be for real."

"Then I'll look forward to it. Our next meeting won't be far off."

Tired of standing, Alaric simply sat on the ground, relaxed and smiling. "We'll let our hands decide it then."

"Arrogant punk."

Without looking back, Caenis strode away.

After Caenis left, Alaric and the others were amicably invited into freshly made ice cells.

Fishing winter clothes out of the storage space in Mash's shield, Alaric breathed white fog, looked at Ritsuka and Cú sitting not far away, and chuckled. "No big deal. We'll be out soon."

"But this is a dungeon, Sir Alaric."

Mash said helplessly, "We've become prisoners."

Mash had recovered from the fatigue of battle in this short time, but that didn't help much with breaking out of the cell.

Skadi's ice cells were condensed from the same mana as the castle itself—chill seeped into the bones.

"We've got Cú Chulainn."

Alaric jerked his chin. "Cú knows rune magecraft. A few tricks and we're out."

"Leaving won't be a problem. That goddess who looks like my Shisou didn't put any extra restrictions on it."

Cú scratched his head, exasperated. "Leaving isn't the issue. What I don't get is—Knight, why did you gamble your Saint Graph to fire that shot back there?"

If not for Alaric's earlier lightning that left him powerless, escaping now would be easy.

"Hm?"

Noticing that Cú seemed to know him, Alaric couldn't help being curious. "Cú—we've met?"

"Of course. The memory's a little fuzzy, but we met in a Holy Grail War."

Cú summed it up. "You pulled off something incredible that time—more outrageous than that guy talking about a complete Age of Gods. Mm, let's leave it there.

"You owe me an explanation for what you did just now. Otherwise I can't act at ease either."

As a Servant—especially one summoned by Chaldea's system—he had properties very different from the Holy Grail Wars Alaric had experienced.

Namely, the vessel of memory.

Servants summoned by Chaldea often carry memories from different eras, even from their current manifestation. That far surpasses the standard Grail Wars.

Alaric wasn't surprised by that. He was more curious which period Cú had seen him in.

As of now, in the Grail Wars he'd experienced, he hadn't met Cú at all—so it could only be a future encounter.

But Alaric couldn't figure out how he could have traveled to another world before completing his plan.

And judging by Cú's demeanor, he'd done something incredible.

That made Alaric even more curious, but Cú seemed unwilling to explain, which left Alaric a bit disappointed.

He didn't dwell on it, and soon turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

"A whim, mostly to buy time."

After a moment's thought, Alaric said, "If I didn't end it in one strike and let it continue, there was a very high chance I'd fight Sigurd and Caenis until my Saint Graph collapsed.

"It's true those two wouldn't team up—but even separately, it'd be difficult.

"The only bet was that Skadi would step in to end it.

"Second is time. From the looks of it, Skadi can observe by relying on the snowfall formed from her mana. If so, Da Vinci-chan and the others' actions would very likely be noticed.

"I had to disrupt Skadi's attention."

As for Sigurd, after meeting him the second time—and meeting Skadi—Alaric was sure that with Skadi stepping in, the degree of danger wouldn't be a problem.

That sort of love-or-kill approach is probably meant for Goredolf.

The alliance between Ophelia and Skadi wasn't absolutely solid—initiative still lay with Skadi.

And Ophelia's targets were only Ritsuka and Mash. As long as those two were confined, Ophelia wouldn't actively go looking for the Shadow Border.

Simply put, although they had become prisoners, Alaric had already achieved his goal.

Next, they just needed to wait a while, then leave.

Leaving would be somewhat difficult, but Alaric wasn't worried—he still had a backup, hidden energy source.

After Alaric laid out the plan to leave, Cú set about inscribing rune sigils. He didn't like it, but he did it anyway.

Clang.

Under Cú's lead, Alaric and the rest slipped out of the ice castle's bounds with ease. In the end, Skadi hadn't intended to intensify their confinement—she'd tossed them into ice cells quite casually.

Ophelia even more so—perhaps she had no reason to meddle in Skadi's methods.

"Really now. Looks like you won't be needing me."

Koyanskaya stamped her foot, eager to snipe Alaric from this distance, but at the thought of their earlier deal, she only pouted.

"Forget it. Chaldea and the Crypters are both human. Just being near them makes me sick."

Koyanskaya seemed to recall something and showed a subtle smile. "I won't side with either of them. Only you are a bit of an exception, Ophelia—your wish for ruin is worth watching. An unconscious aggressor—a pitiful victim who, without the least awareness, trashes everything.

"I don't like it, but observing that sort is quite interesting."

Koyanskaya had observed the entire battle. Though parts of it were very dull, once Alaric unveiled that streak of lightning, she couldn't stop laughing.