Chapter 138 – Not Kouhai-chan but Kouhai-kun?!
When she heard Beast of Sodom call her that through the screen, Merlin tilted her head.
"Aiya, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Stop joking around, you're just like me, using a false class, aren't you?"
"I'm properly a Caster, you know."
Merlin puffed out her chest and said that with a proud expression.
"Caster, huh? Pretending to be summoned and then brazenly appearing here—Human Master over there, this one might actually be more dangerous than me~~~"
Beast of Sodom turned her gaze toward Ethan.
"If you dare say any more strange things to Master-kun, if you keep that up, I'll make you regret it."
Merlin was still smiling as she uttered those frightening words.
"Ahahaha, now that's the proper attitude for an ugly Beast. But it's fine if you won't admit it. Anyway, now we're all on the same boat, and we can slowly witness the downfall of the Human Order together."
"Fou fou~~~"
The fluffy Fou suddenly appeared, jumping onto Merlin's shoulder.
"Huh, Cath Palug, why are you here?"
When she saw Fou appear, Beast of Sodom's expression changed slightly.
"Oh? No wonder I sensed the scent of another Beast earlier, but it was so weak I didn't bother. I didn't expect it to be here as well. Looks like the Human Order has already realized these things, so rejecting this place is only a matter of time now, huh? No…"
A smug smile appeared on her face.
"Maybe it's already been rejected, ahahahaha~~~!!!"
"Fou, fou!!!"
Fou let out a threatening cry toward Beast of Sodom on the screen.
"Beast of Sodom, what exactly is your purpose in coming with me to Chaldea?"
Ethan raised his head to look at the screen, questioning the blonde girl who was laughing loudly behind it.
"You don't have to be so wary, final Master of humanity. I'm your friend now. Although I don't intend to help the Human Order, I absolutely won't allow you to be defeated by other weak Beasts."
She paused for a moment.
"If you believe my words, then have that doctor release me. After all, a petty barrier like this can't possibly confine me."
Immediately after, she maintained her silent smile, staring intently at Ethan.
"Snap!"
Suddenly, the screen went black without any warning, as if the connection had been forcibly cut off.
"Master Ethan, please head to the control room."
"Repeating: Master Ethan, please head to the control room."
A broadcast suddenly echoed in the hallway.
Ethan turned his gaze toward the livestream room behind him.
"Damn it, why did that guy summon Father? Wait a second, no matter how I look at it, that guy looks just like Assassin!"
"Gilles, Gilles, what the hell are you doing!!!"
"Ahahaha, so that's how I treated you back then, huh? What a nostalgic feeling."
"My Onii-sama was just a tiny little thing, but pretty cute though~~~"
"Indeed, Ojou-sama."
"Enough already! Let me out!!!"
"Ah ah ah, everyone, please don't touch anything! This is just a recording!!!"
The room behind remained in chaos, with even explosions echoing out—Ethan let out a long sigh.
As long as the room doesn't explode, it's considered a success.
"Well then, Master-kun, I'll be taking my leave. Looks like Onii-chan's Cath Palug over there has a lot to say to me."
Merlin nodded to Ethan and was about to leave with Fou.
"Merlin."
Ethan called her back.
"What is it, Master-kun?"
"What Beast of Sodom just said… is it all true?"
"She can use Authority to alter her own Saint Graph, and using her Independent Manifestation ability, she followed us to Chaldea. While we can still temporarily confine her for now, if Chaldea ever faces danger, she can easily break free."
Merlin explained with a serious expression.
"No, I mean what she just said… that the Human Order will reject us."
Ethan stared intently at Merlin, hoping for an answer.
"Nah-ah, who knows?"
Merlin tilted her head and smiled adorably.
"But regardless, Master-kun's journey to save the Human Order must go on, right? When the water reaches your feet, the path will naturally appear. So then, sayonara~~~"
Throwing back a line that had nothing to do with anything, Merlin hugged Fou and immediately vanished from Ethan's sight.
It was already bad enough that Fou is Beast IV, but now even Merlin is Beast of the Star—what the hell???
And this is only after just finishing Chapter 2, yet inside Chaldea right now there are already three Beasts.
If Alaya could speak through his livestream, it would probably just type out two words: "Good luck."
Being rejected is just a matter of time.
But what Merlin said was also true—either way, the immediate focus has to be on repairing the remaining Singularities.
Because if the Singularities can't be fixed, then the whole world—and himself included—is finished.
"Haa…"
Thinking that far, Ethan sighed lightly, then realigned the camera back toward the room behind him, and walked alone toward the control room.
"Fou…"
Suddenly, Fou, who was lying on Merlin's shoulder, turned its head around to look back.
"Ya, Cath Palug, you noticed too huh."
Merlin also turned her head, looking after Ethan's retreating back as he walked ahead.
"But whether or not he can overcome those obstacles… depends on him alone."
...
"I remember it was this way, right?"
Ethan followed the pipe-lined hallway forward, taking a detour through the storage sector for convenience.
"If I just go straight ahead, I should get there…"
The direction was clearly correct—he should've arrived a long time ago—but he still hadn't found the path to the control room.
Ethan looked around, and everything looked the same wherever he turned.
Seriously, they should've at least put some landmarks or signboards in Chaldea—he'd have to complain to the doctor about that later.
Ethan opened up his bracelet, intending to pull up Chaldea's internal map to locate his position.
Now that he thought about it, he'd never actually used the navigation function before.
Just as Ethan was fumbling with the bracelet, someone unexpectedly walked past him.
Instinctively, Ethan looked up—and saw that it was a white-haired girl in Chaldea's uniform.
"Director——————?!"
Wasn't that Director Olga Marie?!
"Director, what are you doing here?!"
Olga Marie didn't respond to Ethan's voice at all; she just kept walking straight into the darkness at the end of the hallway.
But… the Director already died a long time ago, didn't she?
How could she be here…?
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness surged through him—Ethan could only brace himself against the wall, gritting his teeth to endure it.
Something's wrong!!!
He could only feel the scene around him shift violently—his whole body felt like it was inside an elevator plummeting at high speed, as if he were thrown into zero gravity!!!
"Ugh…"
When that strange sensation finally passed, Ethan clutched his throbbing forehead, trying to endure the pain as he started to observe his surroundings again.
"——————————?!"
What lay before him was a devastated wasteland—roaring flames devouring the ruins of a city.
Wasn't this… Fuyuki from the previous Singularity?
Just moments ago he was still inside Chaldea, and yet now he was suddenly here.
Could it be an unexpected Rayshift had occurred???
Where were the others?
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh——————————!!!"
Suddenly, something let out a sharp screech as it shot toward him!
Ethan instinctively dove into a pile of rubble beside him to dodge, and a massive explosion rang out right next to his ears.
"BOOM————————!!!"
The ruins he was using for cover were instantly blown apart, and Ethan—who had been hiding behind them—was also thrown by the shockwave of the explosion.
"Ugh…"
Blasted away by the impact, Ethan rolled several times along the ground, the world spinning around him.
His limbs were nearly paralyzed, but within his field of vision—beneath the crimson sky reflected by the flames—several glowing objects were rushing toward him!
Damn it… I have to retreat… fast…
Ethan forced himself up through the pain, but those glittering objects were already right in front of him.
I'm done for…
Suddenly, a black silhouette stepped in front of him.
"Haa!!!"
A familiar shield was raised right before his eyes.
"Clang! Clang! Clang——————!!!"
After a series of sharp crashing sounds, a violent explosion erupted outside the shield.
But thanks to that shield, Ethan remained unharmed.
"Thanks, Mash."
Ethan reflexively blurted it out.
Thank goodness Mash had been transported here too—otherwise, he really wouldn't have known what to do.
But "Mash" didn't respond, and instead turned around to look at Ethan.
What appeared before Ethan was a young man with white hair, wearing purple armor.
"Sorry, I'm not that girl, Master from a different historical line."
"Galahad?!"
Ethan immediately called out the other's name.
Wasn't this Galahad!!!
Wait, why is Galahad here?
"That's right. In this world, that girl was never born."
Galahad looked directly at Ethan.
"Whoosh————————!!!"
From atop a collapsed skyscraper in the distance, another arrow came flying toward them at high speed—Galahad quickly turned around and blocked the attack with his shield.
"This place isn't safe for conversation. Let's move."
Galahad checked Ethan's condition.
"Can you still walk?"
"Yeah, more or less."
Ethan stood up and brushed the dust off himself.
"Follow me!!!"
Galahad immediately led Ethan toward the Mifune River in the distance.
All around them were the same familiar flames and the ruins of collapsed buildings—confirming that Ethan had indeed returned to the Singularity in Fuyuki.
Along the way, Galahad swiftly took down several Dragon Tooth Warriors chasing after them. Eventually, they arrived safely at a broken bridge next to the riverbank.
"This spot should be safe."
Galahad sat down immediately.
Ethan looked around cautiously. Not sensing any Servant presence, he finally sat down too.
To be honest, he still didn't understand what the hell was going on.
"System, system, can you hear me?"
Ethan immediately tried calling out to the system in his mind.
But the familiar voice never responded.
This caused a wave of unease to rise in Ethan's heart.
"Looks like you have a lot of questions."
Sitting opposite him, Galahad could clearly see the anxious look on Ethan's face.
"Where is this? Why am I here???"
Although he had a mountain of questions, Ethan restrained himself and only asked the two most important ones.
"This is Singularity F, the place where everything began. As for why you're here…"
Galahad shook his head slightly.
"I'm not entirely sure either, but I can say for certain that you drifted here from another timeline."
"Drifted..."
Ethan suddenly recalled what Medusa had once said in this Singularity — that he and Mash were "drifters."
Could it be that he had become so accustomed to Spiritron Transfer that it triggered some strange kind of passive effect?
"Then why did you save me?"
Ethan eyed Galahad warily, staying on guard.
"You're wearing Chaldea's uniform, so you must be from there, right?"
Galahad replied calmly.
"You know Chaldea?!"
Ethan asked, uncertain.
Because once a Heroic Spirit is summoned as a Servant, they lose all their prior memories.
Yet this "male version of Kouhai" in front of him clearly knew about Chaldea's existence.
"Ah, of course."
Galahad looked out toward the edge of the bridge.
"I was once summoned to Chaldea and resided within the body of the girl you know. I used her eyes to observe Chaldea for many years. After that, I entrusted her with my Noble Phantasm and Saint Graph. It seems your journey is still continuing. Is that girl doing well?"
In response to Galahad's question, Ethan replied quietly.
"I don't know if you'd call it 'well,' but up until now, she's still fighting by my side to save the Human Order."
"I see."
Galahad nodded, then continued speaking.
"After losing my Saint Graph and Noble Phantasm, I should have vanished and returned to the Throne of Heroes. But for some reason, I ended up in this timeline."
"Instead of returning to the Throne of Heroes, you appeared in this Singularity?"
That really was strange.
But thinking about it, he himself had just been randomly thrown here in some unclear way, so… maybe it wasn't so strange after all.
Ethan looked down at his palm, scratched and bloodied from the explosion earlier. Fresh red blood seeped out of the wound, and the burning pain made it clear—this was definitely not a dream.
"If that's the case, then all we need to do is repair this Singularity again, right?"
As long as it's a Singularity, once it's repaired, the correct history should be restored.
And maybe, he'd be able to go back.
"Repair it?"
Galahad calmly looked at Ethan.
"No, Master from another world—you don't understand the true reason for this Singularity's existence."
"The reason for Fuyuki Singularity's existence?"
This version of Kouhai felt off… wasn't he usually a cheerful, lively type? Why did he suddenly start talking in riddles like a Sphinx?
"This Fuyuki is a save point intentionally set up by the Human Order."
"——————?!"
Galahad's words left Ethan completely stunned.
"From the look on your face, I understand now—in your world, this save point was destroyed—and it was Chaldea who destroyed it with their own hands."