Chapter 144 – Human Order: You'd Better Really Want to Save Me
Right now, Chaldea was faced with two choices: take the risk of initiating a Rayshift, accepting a certain level of danger to proceed with repairing the third Singularity.
Or cooperate with Draco, trusting that she could eliminate the distortion and ensure their Rayshift arrived at the correct location.
Doctor Romani and Da Vinci exchanged glances, then turned to Ethan.
"Ethan, what do you think?"
"I..."
If they didn't choose to cooperate with Draco, then she would undoubtedly remain inside Chaldea.
With the current power inside Chaldea, it was simply impossible to completely restrain the actions of a Beast.
There was a real possibility that Chaldea would be destroyed before the third Singularity could even be repaired.
In truth, Ethan himself was very clear, no matter what angle he looked at it from——
He only had one option left.
"All right, you win, Draco."
Ethan was silent for a moment, then sighed. He lifted his head to speak to the screen.
"Umu, truly a smart one. Only such a person deserves to be the Master of this king."
On the other side of the screen, Draco revealed a satisfied smile.
"Senpai!!!"
Mash immediately stood in front of Ethan, trying to stop his decision.
"Senpai, please reconsider. She's a Evil of Humanity! Who knows what kind of plot she might have? Going with her could put you in danger!!!"
"Mash, I know."
Seeing Mash so tense, Ethan patted her shoulder to reassure her and said:
"I know this is very risky, but our journey has always been full of dangers. Regardless, repairing the Singularities is still our top priority."
"But even if you say that, Senpai…"
Mash still tried to stop Ethan to the end.
"Besides, isn't it true that I have you to protect me? I'll be fine."
Seeing how firm Ethan was, Mash finally relented.
"…I understand. I'll make sure to protect Senpai well!"
Mash's eyes turned toward the Draco Beast on the screen—the one who kept smiling all along.
"Even though you saved Senpai once before, if you ever intend to harm him, I will never forgive you!!!"
"You really are brave, little girl who knows nothing."
Draco Beast didn't seem to care about Mash's provocation.
"Even now, with such a feeble Saint Graph, I could still easily tear your body to pieces."
"In that case, I'll use all my strength to strike you back with my shield!"
Mash didn't show any sign of backing down.
"Now that we're allies, there's no need for such tension, is there?"
Doctor Romani appeared just in time to defuse the atmosphere.
"Beast of Sodom, as agreed, you'll help us eliminate the interference and ensure Ethan arrives at the designated location, correct?"
"Don't make me repeat such things. The petty tricks of the Human Order have meant nothing to me for a long time now."
Draco puffed out her small chest proudly.
"Good, if everything's decided, then I plan to schedule the Rayshift as soon as possible today. Is that okay with you, Ethan?"
Faced with Doctor Romani's question, Ethan gave a small nod.
He had rested long enough. If he didn't get back out there, he'd start feeling uneasy.
"All right then, get yourself ready. Thanks to the efforts of the technical department, we've finally increased the number of Servants that can Rayshift!!!"
"Oh! It's finally done?!"
Ethan showed a faint smile.
Last time, he could only bring two Servants besides Mash when transferring to Rome, so he was caught off guard from the start.
"Doctor, how many can I bring this time?"
Bring as many as possible.
The more people, the more they could accomplish.
"Umu, thanks to the tech team working overtime, you can now bring three Servants!!!"
Doctor Romani spoke with full confidence.
"What… the… hell…?"
So it's only one more than last time?!
"Hey, Doctor! You didn't tell me that before!"
He had clearly been told they'd do their best to increase the number of Spiritron Chambers.
"Haa… even if you say that."
Doctor Romani sighed.
"Because of the explosion caused by Lev, many chambers—including those of other Masters—have been sealed and frozen. Most of the remaining ones were damaged by the blast. Being able to restore even one more is the result of the tech department working non-stop."
"Ethan, don't give Romani a hard time."
Da Vinci also stepped in to help explain on Doctor Romani's behalf.
"Due to the battle with Beast VI earlier, the number of damaged Sheba lenses far exceeded our expectations. Just repairing those alone cost a lot of manpower. Even I had to help out just to barely get it to this level."
"All right, I understand…"
There's always a way to overcome difficulties.
Looks like he'd have to summon Servants on site again.
"Hahahaha, truly pathetic beyond belief! Chaldea has defeated me, yet you're in such a miserable state—what an eyesore! So much so that I can't help but laugh out loud!!!"
Draco on the screen burst into loud laughter.
"Seriously now, aren't you laughing your damn head off already?!"
Da Vinci complained, then abruptly cut the screen off.
"All right, I'll handle the rest. Ethan, go prepare yourself first and decide who those three slots will go to."
"Three people, huh…"
Since Draco could manifest herself, she wouldn't need to take up a slot.
"Understood. I'll think it through carefully."
Ethan nodded and left the control room with Mash.
As soon as the two stepped out of the command room, they found Merlin already waiting outside.
"Yaa, isn't it Master-kun? What a coincidence, huh."
"Lady Avalon, truly a chance encounter!"
Naive little Kouhai-chan immediately went up to greet the succubus.
Clearly, she'd been standing here waiting—how the hell is that a "coincidence"...
"Fou~!"
Fou followed behind Merlin and jumped onto Mash's shoulder, rubbing its cheek against hers.
"Ahaha, that tickles, Fou."
Mash smiled and spoke to Fou.
"I didn't expect you to be so close with Lady Avalon, Fou."
"Well, Cath Palug was taken care of by onii-chan, after all."
Merlin said that to Mash.
"Mash, may I speak with Master-kun privately for a moment?"
"Yes, then I won't intrude."
Mash had always placed great trust in Merlin, who constantly wore a gentle smile.
"In that case, Senpai, I'll go make some preparations. Let's meet back here later!"
"Umu."
After bowing toward them, Mash turned and walked away.
Ethan didn't bother exposing Merlin's little scheme—he went straight to the point:
"You want to talk about Draco, don't you?"
"How sharp, sasuga Master-kun!!!"
Merlin immediately smiled and stepped in closer.
"Listen, Master-kun, have you really never considered becoming a 'king'? Not even a little?"
"No. Absolutely not!!!"
Ethan took a step back, putting distance between him and Merlin.
This damn succubus Merlin—tormenting Arthur wasn't enough, now she's aiming for him too?!
"What a shame~~~"
Merlin looked disappointed, but quickly recovered.
"Oh right, I heard Master-kun is going to bring that Beast of Sodom to the new Singularity, right?"
"That news clearly wasn't just something you 'heard'…"
He had literally made that decision in the command room a few minutes ago.
But well, Merlin is Merlin—no point worrying about it.
"Mama~, don't sweat the small stuff. The important thing is that I came to give you a little warning."
Here we go again with Merlin's "benevolent Onee-san" routine…
"If you plan to cooperate with a Beast, then while you might be able to avoid rejection by the Human Order, some strange things could still happen."
"Strange things?"
At that moment, Merlin's usual smile seemed to carry a deeper, more enigmatic tone.
"If a 'foreign object' evolves into a 'threat,' there's a chance the Human Order will trigger an automatic reaction. In the worst-case scenario, you might end up facing a Grand Servant."
"You're saying… Grand Servant?!"
Ethan was shaken.
Back when they confronted Beast VI, the Human Order hadn't summoned a Grand Servant to deal with her.
And now that Draco was cooperating with him, the Human Order would intervene?!
They'd use a Grand Servant… against Chaldea?!
FUCK YOU, ALAYA!!!
"Master-kun doesn't need to worry too much. I only said it's a possibility. To be precise, I just came to remind you—don't get too deeply entangled with a Beast~~~"
If possible, he'd like to avoid it too.
But clearly, it was already too late. Without Draco, he'd still be trapped in that Time Fracture with no way out.
"Oh, right. Merlin, you have 'Independent Manifestation' too, right? Why don't you—"
"Aiyaa, now that you mention it, I think I forgot to unplug something in my room. Gotta go!"
"Hey!!!"
"If you see Arthur, tell him to stop looking for me. Well then, Master-kun, best of luck on your journey~~~"
Leaving those words behind, Merlin quickly disappeared from sight.
…Seriously, the kind of person you can never rely on when it actually matters.
Ethan let out a deep sigh, thought for a moment, and then made his way toward the training area.
...
"Ha aaaaaaaaaahhh!!!"
A sharp slash tore through the air, flying straight toward the oncoming Earth Golem!
"Puh!!"
A dull thud rang out as the Golem's body blocked the sword's attack.
"Boom!"
The massive Earth Golem raised its solid fist and slammed it downward!
"Tch, you think that's enough to give me trouble?"
Mordred instantly let go of Clarent, clenched her fist, and launched a direct punch at the Earth Golem!
"BOOOOM!!!"
A deafening explosion— the Golem's punch stopped just inches above Mordred's head.
Upon closer look, a massive hole had been blown through the Golem's chest.
Moments later, its entire body collapsed completely.
"BOOM————!!"
Another Earth Golem charged in from behind. Mordred quickly drew Clarent and threw it backward—it flew straight into the Golem's head.
The Earth Golem crumpled on the spot, and both Golem bodies swiftly disappeared from the training ground.
"This time you were fifteen seconds faster."
Waver called out from a distance after checking the data.
"Hey, can't you get me something stronger next time?"
"At present, the combat simulation data collected by Chaldea is still insufficient. Creating stronger magical beasts requires more power and computational resources."
"Just leave that crap to that weak-ass doctor, right?"
Mordred grumbled, slinging Clarent over her shoulder.
"Chaldea's severely understaffed right now—even I got dragged into calibrating data. You'd better quit complaining."
Right then, the elevator door above opened. The two turned around to see Ethan stepping out.
"Oh! Master, the sortie plan got approved, didn't it?!"
Mordred immediately ran over excitedly.
"Umu, preparations have already begun."
Ethan nodded slightly.
"Hell yeah! Just saying—this time I'm going no matter what!"
Mordred beamed with excitement.
"Umu, that's what I came here to talk about."
"Then I'll head up and wait!"
Hearing that she'd finally get to head out, Mordred cheerfully stepped into the elevator and rode it up.
Ethan then turned his gaze toward Waver, who was still frowning while fine-tuning the data, and walked over.
"Lord El-Melloi II."
"Just call me Waver. What's up?"
"Do you have a moment? I'd like to get your opinion on something."
Well, having a top-tier tactician around and not exploiting him would be a waste.
"It's about the Rayshift personnel slots, isn't it? I heard the doctor and Da Vinci mention it."
Waver sighed.
"Sorry to trouble you."
"I didn't expect to still be this busy after leaving the Clock Tower… then again, I guess I'm used to it."
Waver casually shut off the data terminal.
"There are three slots. If allocated wisely, I personally suggest bringing that 'rebellious knight' along first."
Waver shared his assessment.
"Her personality is a bit hard to handle, but no one can deny her overwhelming combat power. Sometimes I wonder if she's actually a Berserker disguised as a Saber."
"Ahaha, pretty much."
Mordred's combat style relied on brute strength—amplified mana output and inherited combat instincts made her almost fearless.
Back when they faced the Familiars of Beast VI, she had already performed far beyond expectations.
"Next, I recommend bringing a support-type Servant. Overall, the Popess is the most suitable candidate."
"Oh? You've interacted with Johanna already?"
"Reines is very interested in those kinds of mythical, borderline-fictitious Heroic Spirits. Apparently she dragged the Popess into her afternoon tea circle. As for what the girls talk about—hell if I know."
Mentioning his younger sister caused Waver's brow to furrow another notch.
"Hahaha, fair enough."
After all, noble ladies come in all types—even ones into wrestling and mixed martial arts. No one could ever really understand them.
"The final person I'd recommend… is her."
Waver's eyes shifted toward the far side of the training area.
There, a young woman in black armor was locked in battle against several Golems.