Chapter 101: Fairy Knight

Three years… This is my longest stay so far. Even my time in Gekai didn’t surpass it. I admit, I feel lonely every now and then, but I chose to push forward since it is something I am determined to do.

Still, their company is something I always miss.

I shrugged that thought as I returned to my mobile base. It moves continuously within the airspace and could immediately transfer to the ground through teleportation. It is the product of searching for resources in this singularity for three years.

Of course, I didn’t excessively do things. The resources and drops from my week-long expedition contributed to its creation.

As for the inspiration behind it…

During those three iterations, I went to the abandoned research laboratory of an organization known as Atlas. Their security measures are extremely strong. I took some inspiration from them and created this mobile base.

“{Coordinates locked. Magical energy is starting to fluctuate within these points.}”

In the control room (hangar), five big points glowed red on the screen. Unsurprisingly, all of them could be located in Jerusalem. The rest of the world remained silent.

“Looking at them… It’ll take at least half a day.” I said. “Let’s settle this grail first. We’ll act according to the plans we have previously discussed.”

“{Understood.}”

As I left the hangar, a long pathway made of silver and blue steel greeted my sight.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Every now and then, I heard metallic footsteps. Those came from the autonomous workers that Miku manages. They are responsible for resupplying and organizing things in the inventory. Having a mobile base isn’t exactly as easy as it sounds. Refueling, perimeter checks, production line…

Fortunately, it is Miku who did most of the automated things.

As to how I made them, the [Miracle Maker • Creation Forge] has a huge part in that. It allowed me to virtually summon every tool that I know of and use them to create new things. Then, my creations would receive a buff in accordance to their purposes.

“I have this many stored…”

An itching feeling on my chest appeared. Several lines of thought followed after it.

‘Charge: Fifteen’

‘Miracle: Two Available | Charging…’

‘Summoning: Not yet full’

These were the new functions from three years ago. Aside from my charges to manipulate time, there are the Miracle and Summoning parts. The former allows me to accomplish an impossible deed out of nowhere while the latter has something on what I presume to be summoning.

I am not certain if it would involve Heroic Spirits, though.

Nevertheless, I used more than half of those charges developing this base as well as myself. Even if I used a charge to learn the Infinite Conversion of Mana Furnace inside this singularity, I would be able to learn it within these three years—and so I did.

That was when I found out that the less ‘direct’ the things I see, the fewer chances I would be noticed by Solomon. From the fully charged miracle I used before, it is able to severely injure and even kill the Black Dragon, yet that was what it took to evade Solomon’s gaze.

After that, I managed to find some pieces of information through the supercomputer stored inside the Atlas base, Tri-Hermes. It seems to contain everything from Heroic Spirits’ data to the deduction about King Solomon and his goal.

Swoosh-!

The special containment room opened. From here, I saw the thousands of magic circles inscribed within it.

“This is really my work…”

I came to accept my current position after three years. I am no longer the me of the past. I would no longer struggle with clearing Orario’s one hundred floors. This was it.

I reached a new height.

Hum-!

A singular square pillar rose up in the middle. When I got closer, I saw that it had a gemstone embedded on its top. It is protected by a layer of glass.

I took out the golden grail. The moment it was out, it attempted to do something.

Fuzz-!

Hum-!

More than a thousand magic circles lit up the entire room. They were all compressed on several dozen huge magic circles.

Upon their activation, the grail’s reaction stopped.

‘I am playing with fire… huh.’

That would be my previous thought if I didn’t become stronger.

Sometimes, dangerous things could be made to turn against their creators.

In this case, it is Solomon.

Tap.

The corrupted Holy Grail was placed on top of the glass. The gemstone immediately shone brilliantly. A golden ring of light scanned it from top to bottom before a hologram appeared within the room.

[Confirmed.]

[The ‘Holy Grail’ shows a similar reaction as ‘Demi-spirits’.]

[Its weakness is confirmed to be Holy Magicka.]

Several texts appeared mid-air.

“{Goshujin-sama, what should I do?}”

“Start an enhancement ritual.”

“{Understood.}”

For this strike, I won’t hold back anything. It is necessary to remove the demon—the Demon God Pillar—that Solomon planted on this Holy Grail. It is necessary to use it to create a miracle to return to my world. The miracles that I stored will have their uses within the next few days.

“Come to think of it… wouldn’t humanity’s final Master come here?”

I don’t know if they still have to fix this singularity as I am planning to do everything within a week or two... Perhaps a day or two if I'm lucky enough.

If he does…

I’ll have to talk with the other Galahad who gave her power.

Taking out Sora, I held its sheath in a diagonal position.

“Veritas Lux.” (The truth enlightens me.)

A heavy aura started to press on my surroundings. The magic circles engraved on its walls activated at their fullest capacity.

At the same time, the enhancement ritual started to take effect.

“Complevitque Deus die septimo opus suum quod fecerat: et requievit die septimo ab universo opere quod patrarat.” (And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.)

Miku’s solemn voice resounded within the room; her voice becoming more humane than ever. The bright golden magic circle beneath my feet corresponded to its strength

“Etiam daemon ruina.” (Even demons fall.)

SHIING-!

A sharp whistling sound. The strike which broke the speed of sound several-fold struck the demon down. It didn’t harm anything else; only it.

Screech-!

A phantom image of a fleshly pillar appeared behind the grail. It was vague as it was cut into half. Soon, it disappeared. The Holy Grail on top of the pillar started to glow with sanctimony as the demon inhibiting it was obliterated.

Shiing.

Sora was back to its sheath. I could feel the two connections I have from it.

‘I owe them a lot…’

That was the only way to vaguely communicate with Artemis and Hephaestus. Their Arcanum spanned over worlds and still reached me through the sword. Since it is outside of Gekai, their full capabilities were displayed.

I moved closer to the grail before touching it.

Suddenly, a thought cemented itself in my mind.

‘Currently fully-powered.’

“As expected of a Singularity’s core…”

In actuality, the main role of the Holy Grail is to maintain these Singularities as batteries. It empowered his servants, the Demon Gods, to interfere with history.

It is the reason why history started going sideways. Just like the entire city of Jerusalem that I saved earlier. An Arab army was about to conquer it using the grail. If I didn’t leave the illusions there, thousands would’ve been massacred.

As soon as it formed a connection with the grail within me, I found out that I could use its stored energy to manifest miracles through the real holy grail.

‘Servant Summoning… Should I..?’

To be honest, I thought of making several allies through it. That was how I lived years ago, and I wouldn’t change it now. The stronger your allies, the less pressure I would receive.

It’s like gacha…

Of course, I know about the conventions on how to summon a Heroic Spirit. They could either be summoned during a grail war or by the holy grail itself.

In the end, I decided to go for it.

Knowing the chant for Servant Summoning, I cut it down with liturgy. I didn’t need to do many complex gestures due to the mysteries that I possess. It worked in tandem with [Lord of Machines] that enabled me to turn them on and off at will.

In the midst of the process, I came to the part where the catalyst could be added. I didn’t have anything on me that could serve as one… except for this.

“Praeteritium, Ostendo tu Ipse.” (Bygone events, show yourselves.)

The evolution of [Memoir Manifest], [Historia Emendatus (History Correction)]. It has the same effects as the previous spell, but one of its new functions is the fact I could ‘use’ it to summon ‘something’ specifically.

In this case, I would be summoning a familiar item.

A huge circle was formed by the magic spell. Once it disappeared, it revealed a familiar round shield. It is none other than my partner for years.

“If it's my father… I’ll need to ask for compensation. If it’s the others… it’s good.”

In the memories of Galahad—my other life—I came to know that Lancelot is not as good as I expected to be. In one word, he is a deadbeat. Add to that fact he did that to Gareth…

It wouldn’t be unjust if I took it out of him—my anger, that is.

With the [Around Round Shield] serving as the central catalyst, I ended the summoning through a chant.

“Consosius quid requaero. Respondere vocatus promptus est.” (An ally is what I seek. Answer my call, o’ willing one.)

Hum-!

At that moment, a strange connection appeared within my soul. My senses were elevated as the holy grail acted as my arm. It became completely subservient after ‘connecting’ with the Holy Grail inside me.

My astral body separated from my body. The next moment, a familiar distortion showed up. It is time itself being manipulated.

‘Servant summoning… Is this a call from the Throne of Heroes?’

That is one of the terms I learned from Trimesgistus. Similar to the Spirit Realm, the Throne of Heroes is where servants stay. After passing away in reality, they would be recorded in the said place.

A second later, I found myself in a dark place. The connection served as my guiding light. ]

Instinctively, I knew what I had to do.

“Mana Archiatius, Overload.” I muttered before adding, “Infinitus Commuto.” (Infinite conversion.)

A brilliant light engulfed my entire being. The dream organs that are fully activated went beyond their limits, in turn allowing me to surpass my limits.

Infinite Conversion…

This deserves to be called the Magisters' trump card.

Buzz-!

Hum-!

The distortion of time grew stronger. I am now affecting metaphysical concepts. Under this state, the intangible became tangible.

‘It’s time.’

I pulled the ‘intangible line’ towards me once I got the other side’s consent. In a blink of an eye, I found myself back in the room. The magicka defense started fluctuating due to the Infinite Conversion.

At the same time, I sensed the 'creation' of the so-called Command Seals, but I chose to turn it into energy for the grail instead. I didn't have the intention of forcibly ordering them in the first place. Enhancements could also be directly done through the grail.

As I calmed the fluctuations down, I saw the person on the other side.

“...Ah.”

It was a young girl. She wore a blue dress with white embroideries. Her waist-length white hair distracted me for a moment.

“Huh…”

I couldn’t recall a young girl being on the Round Table, though?

“You are my Master…”

‘She…’

Upon looking at her, I immediately knew the specifics about her.

‘Fairy Knight Lancelot’

‘Class: Lancer’

HUH?!

Did I just…

“You’re not him…” I muttered. “...it’s not…”

“..?”

Wait a moment…

I didn’t summon my father.

Fairy Knight Lancelot…

Did she come from a Camelot that I don’t know of? A different version of Lancelot that existed somewhere in the parallel worlds?

Nevertheless, I saw her true nature in a single glance. My confusion didn’t cloud my mind.

She is a Dragon.

For some reason, she feels familiar... Was it that dragon on that magi organization?

“I apologize for the impoliteness. I am Akasaka Nobu. You are…”

“Lancelot. You can call me Lancelot.”

“...alright.”

I paused for a few seconds. I couldn’t relate this girl to my father. It made me wonder if I summoned the wrong person.

But then, she seems more fitting as a knight than anything.

“Galahad.”

“...Yes?”

I was startled when she called me that out of nowhere.

“You… are not the Galahad I know. Is this the wonders of being summoned?”

“...Perhaps. Countless things could happen in the world.” I replied. “If I may, what is a fairy knight?”

When I saw that title, I had a feeling that it is the cause behind this problem. It’d explain why she is not the Lancelot I know—that is, my father.

“Fairy Knights are the retainers of Camelot’s Ruler. We are gifted by our king to serve better.” She said. “It will be helpful in following your orders, Master.”

“It’s better not to call me that. Haven’t we agreed upon being allies through the summoning?”

“I… don’t understand.”

“Well, you’d understand this someday. For now, it’s nice meeting you, Lancelot.”

I offered my hand as a gesture of handshake. In return, she did the same but with visible confusion.

On this day, I summoned a strange heroic spirit.