Chapter 304

"She's probably so tough because she's young and afraid of being looked down upon. In the end, she's just relying on her dad... Ultimately, she's not strong enough herself."

Olga Marie was naturally prepared for such gossip, but hearing it still made her feel down.

"Stop talking, it's time to change shifts."

"Professor Lev Rae, I'm so sorry."

After the staff member who was discussing the matter left, Lev continued softly.

"... Actually, not all your colleagues are like that, so don't be discouraged, Olga."

"I know that as long as I produce results, the rumors will be instantly Overturning."

Olga Marie, head bowed, walked past Lev, her tone firm, "Don't worry, Professor Lev, I'll make them look at me in a new light."

The White-Haired Girl firmly believed this until six months ago, at the beginning of 2015, when something happened: the light representing humanity's survival into the Future in Chaldeas disappeared in 2016. Faced with protests from various departments and doubts from her subordinates, Olga Marie's mental pressure reached its limit, and sometimes she would even vomit involuntarily.

"Olga, I got some medicine from Romani. Drink some if you feel tired."

"... It would have been better if you Director back then. Your subordinates trust you a lot, and you have leadership qualities. You're much more suitable than me—"

"Saying such discouraging things doesn't sound like you."

"Not like me?! You talk like you know me perfectly..."

"Your father said, 'No matter what happens, do your best. This is the glory of the Animusphere House.' And haven't you followed your father's teachings, inherited his mantle, and worked hard to get to where you are now? Don't worry, everyone in Chaldea is gradually supporting you, and I am among them."

One of Lev's three personalities, the good side that has not yet chosen suicide, 'Now Flauros,' comforts Olga Marie, whose spirit has reached its limit.

However, not long after, amidst the long-standing debate about whether humanity could be saved, 'Now' finally felt utterly hopeless about Chaldea's inhuman experiments, namely Mash, and ultimately chose to commit suicide, giving her body to the two personalities 'Future' and 'Past,' which led to the Human Order Incineration.

Back to the present, facing Lev's utterly unfamiliar gaze, Olga Marie's mental pressure instantly reached its limit, making her feel like vomiting.

"Consultant to the Atlas Institute, do you know how much Wrath and despair I feel whenever I have to call you by your name?"

Lev's voice was filled with undisguised anger, "Human beings have defiled the great to this extent, and Magecraft like you who bears this name is utterly hopeless. Foolish, utterly foolish!"

Then, Lev looked coldly at the stunned Olga Marie and calmly continued.

"And you, Olga Marie, completely unaware of your own death, utterly pathetic."

"... What?"

What are you standing there for?

A calm smile appeared on Lev's lips. "Has death dulled your mind? Never mind, talking to you is still so unpleasant. Just now, that foolish Consultant was subtly telling you the truth, but you ignored him. What an idiot!"

It's strange, really. The epicenter of that explosion was right beneath your feet—I deliberately set it up—yet only you, you idiot, died, while the other idiot survived and even became Demi-Servant."

"What are you talking about? I'm clearly still alive--"

"I already told you, can't you recall what that idiot said? You know the principle of Spiritron Transfer far better than I do. How could someone without the necessary qualifications possibly perform Spiritron Transfer? If you no longer have Flesh, then that naturally makes sense."

"No..."

Overwhelmed by mental pressure, the Director, unable to hold back his tears, could only weakly refute, "No..."

"Therefore, you cannot return to Chaldea, because once you return to Chaldea, your consciousness will have no Flesh to return to! Only annihilation awaits you! But in that case, you are truly pathetic!"

Suddenly, Lev opened his arms, and above him appeared the view of Chaldea, still burning fiercely.

"You've dedicated your entire life to Chaldea, so I'll show you what Chaldea has become."

"Chaldeas... it's all turned red..."

"Take a good look, Animusphere. I specifically connected spacetime for you. The blue that represents the human survival response has vanished, leaving only a faint, blazing crimson."

Lev laughed. "Great, Marie Antoinette, this is the consequence you caused."

"No... don't joke around!"

Olga Marie was completely devastated at this moment, and she rushed towards where Lev was without thinking.

"It wasn't my fault! I didn't fail! I didn't die! Who are you?! What did you do to my Chaldeas?!"

That's not yours.

With a gentle wave of his hand, Lev caused Olga Marie's body to float up uncontrollably.

"You annoying little brat, even on your deathbed, I'll take pity on you and die with 'your treasure.' Chaldeas is a high-density intelligence entity, no different from a black hole. Humans who touch it will be broken down to the molecular level, as if falling into Hell!"

Lev's voice brought Olga Marie back to her senses as she reached high into the air, and she stretched out her hand toward the ground.

"Don't want..."

No, I don't want this! Why is this happening? I don't want to die here! Finally, someone praised me! Someone truly acknowledged me! I don't want to die in a place like this!! Why did everything I tried turn out like this?! I've always tried my best to Protection humanity to fulfill my father's wish!

"Someone please save me!"

However, something happened that puzzled Lev: when Olga Marie's body arrived in Chaldeas, it did not disintegrate but remained firmly attached to the surface.

How could this be? How is it possible that someone touched Chaldeas's still intact?

However, this confusion was quickly resolved when Novia had been silent for a long time, spoke up.

"Lev, the completion of Chaldeas was aided by the Atlas Institute. It truly is a 'black hole' that destroys the Flesh once touched. Even I need to rely on Sion's Aether Lines to dare to maintain it."

The silver-haired youth calmly uttered these words, and then, as if nothing had happened, he said something that sounded utterly absurd to Lev.

"However, when I became Demi-Servant, an ability of an unknown Servant within me reacted miraculously with the Aether Lines, transforming into an incredibly powerful defensive ability, which means—"

At this moment, a blank Cards floated again in front of Novia, rapidly drawing Aether Lines threads resembling silk threads above it. Once completed, light emanated from this 'Aether Lines' Cards, linking Olga Marie, Ritsuka Fujimaru Mash.

"There are Aether Lines on the outer side of Director Olga Marie's body that prevent contact, so it cannot be completely destroyed without complete contact."

"Absurd, utterly absurd! How could there possibly be an ability to isolate the tearing force of a black hole, especially since you're just Servant?"

Lev couldn't help but retort.

That's the truth.

Novia said calmly.

In fact, the reason Chaldeas did not choose to directly destroy Olga Marie was not because of the Aether Lines he mentioned, but because Novia was still there, so Chaldeas chose to 'ignore' her. Of course, if you have to say something, it could also be because Favia's Spirit Origin level reached the EX skill Legendary Defense.

However, Novia still keenly noticed Chaldeas's little trick. Taking advantage of Olga Marie's moment of contact, it analyzed Chaldea's soul and spirit. As for the Flesh, Chaldea naturally had information about the Director, and Chaldeas could naturally use that information to create an artificial body.

Novia was no exception to Chaldeas tactics. After all, even it probably hadn't expected the Human Order Incineration to happen. But since it was unharmed, it didn't care. It could even use this opportunity to help with its future plans.

After Novia's response, Lev fell silent for a few seconds before laughing wildly again.

"Even so, so what? Chaldea is useless now. You can't see the Future, can you? You can't contact the outside Chaldea anymore. At this moment, you humans are already extinct. Hmm, what a pity. Even if you really escaped Fuyuki, it doesn't matter."

Humanity is extinct. This is a denial of human history and of humanity itself. It's not because you reached the end of your evolution and began to decline, nor because you perished in wars with other races, but because you were meaningless! Because you were incompetent! Because you lost—"

In an instant, the entire Fuyuki began to shake violently, as the Singularity began to crumble after the Saber disappeared.

"The favor of my king!"

Outside the circle of Chaldeas's scenery appearing in the air, Lev remained as imposing as ever.

"You are like worthless scraps of paper, to be burned to ashes!!!"

Afterwards, as he was about to leave, Lev bowed gracefully to the people below.

"I, Lev Lainur Flauros, am the person in charge of 2015, sent to destroy humanity. Farewell—"

"It's a bit early to say goodbye now."

As Novia spoke again, a flash of light pierced straight through Lev's body, right before his eyes.

Lev instantly felt his body uncontrollably hurtling towards the rocks below, crashing straight to the ground with a sound no less than that of a collapse.

"This, this is--"

"Didn't I tell you? After my Aether Lines fused with the Servant's skill within me, they produced some amazing abilities. Why don't you try and see if you can still... change anything?"

Novia smiled and said to Lev was lying on the ground.

"..."

A look of surprise appeared on Lev's face. He thought the Consultant was joking, but his body's reaction told him that he was not joking. He was now like an ordinary person who was bound, unable to even change the posture of the Demon God Pillar.

"Alright, now's the perfect opportunity, Director, use your fists on Lev."

As the Director had long been unable to contain his Wrath, swung his fist at Lev's face, he gritted his teeth and reached out to Novia, asking her this question.

"Who... who are you?!"

"Just a Demi-Servant whose real name is unknown."

In the end, the Director, enhanced by Novia's abilities, gradually rendered Lev helpless and caused him to dissipate into specks of light. If Mash and Ritsuka hadn't held him back, the fight would probably have continued, continuing even as the blows landed on the rocks.

Looking at Olga Marie, who was panting heavily, Novia smiled gently and then said to the others.

"We can't stay here any longer. The Singularity has reached its limit. We should leave, or the collapsing Singularity will devour us."

Upon hearing this, Olga Marie's face turned pale, and she staggered back two steps. But then she seemed to remember something, and suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Novia's sleeve.

But then, as if remembering something, the White-Haired Girl forced a smile.

"You may leave."

She released her grip on Novia's sleeve and said this with her head down.

"The future of Chaldea rests on your shoulders. This is my entrustment to you, the Director of Chaldea. You must... live well..."

Actually, she had a lot more to say, but she no longer had the time.

To be honest, Olga Marie really wanted to leave with them, but she knew it was useless, because since she was dead, she couldn't leave even if she held onto them. Therefore, rather than making them feel guilty, she decided to be more open-minded and accept her death.

Giving Lev a good beating in the end was enough, but... it's still a bit hard to accept.

Just as Olga Marie lowered her head, Novia reached out and grabbed her loosened hand, handing her a Cards.

"Director, the Servant within me has the ability to preserve your soul and return to Chaldea. However, without a physical body, you can only remain within a ten-meter radius of this Cards, like a bound spirit. How about it, are you able to accept this situation?"

Of course! I'd love to!

The Director was so excited that he couldn't speak, and could only nod frantically to show his willingness.

So, just as she nodded, she transformed into a ray of light and entered the Cards.

Thus, Singularity F was successfully resolved, and the four returned to Chaldea unharmed.

Ritsuka, upon returning to Chaldea, naturally collapsed from exhaustion once more, while Mash went to take care of her. Meanwhile, the Little Da Vinci, and Romani, under the command of Olga Marie, who was trapped inside the Cards, began the restart of Chaldea.

Of course, the question of who the Servant possessing Novia and Mash was during this period was a hot topic, mainly because Novia's abilities were described as too mysterious by the returning group.

For example, the merging of several Heroic Spirit's shadows, combined with the fusion of the Atlas Institute's Spiritron Analyst abilities, allows them to replicate a Perfection, multicolored Holy Sword; rain that can devour Od; and the ability to fuse with Aether Lines and possess powerful defensive capabilities...

Is "Spiritron Analyst" a title for a special ability within the Atlas Institute? I've never heard of that.

Da Vinci, having consulted all the information he had gathered about the Demi-Servant Novia, was unusually perplexed.

However, she probably couldn't figure it out no matter how hard she tried, because even if she asked Novia, she would only get a similar answer, which was—

"I have no idea."

Ritsuka Fujimaru had a dream in which she woke up in her familiar bed at home.

Am I dreaming...?

Were all those things before— Chaldea, Novia, the destruction of humanity—just dreams?

Holding the confused girl, he got out of bed, walked into the hallway, went to the kitchen on the first floor, and sat down at the dining table. Everything seemed as if nothing had happened, utterly uneventful.

After reaching the window, the girl gently drew back the curtains.

I'm so stupid, how could I have such a dream, dreaming about going home...

As the curtains were half-drawn, Ritsuka's face was suddenly shrouded in shadow. All the familiar scenery outside the window was engulfed in flames. Turning around, she saw that her house was already ablaze.

The mother standing in the kitchen was engulfed in flames, the father sitting at the dining table was engulfed in flames, and everything was being mercilessly burned.

So this is what it feels like to have the whole world burned to the ground.

"Hahaha..."

In her room at Chaldea, Ritsuka, drenched in sweat upon waking again, clutched her chest and groaned in pain.

"I came in because I heard you sounding like you were in pain, Ritsuka."

Novia, who had entered after hearing the earlier cries of pain, spoke in a comforting tone.

"I'm fine..."