Your Excellency Is Strong, but My Art Style Is Above Yours!

"Ahahaha, sorry, sorry. I kept everyone waiting. It took some effort to wake up the 'former Master,' after all. As everyone knows, she's quite dangerous when she's asleep..."

Whoosh!

The wooden door slid open, and the Magus of Flowers walked in. He wore a magnificent white robe, his long hair fluffy and disheveled, and his handsome features were almost inhuman. Yet he always carried an air of frivolity and laziness.

"Good morning, everyone. I'm your favorite big brother Merlin~

Sorry for calling you all here from Chaldea this time, but if we want 'Master's story' to continue, please keep up the good work.

All right, everyone, together now—

Let's happily destroy Human Order today as well!"

"..."

Merlin was in high spirits, but aside from Professor Moriarty, who applauded, everyone else merely stared coldly at him without saying a word.

"How cold, everyone... Fine, I'll keep it short. This time, our target is... Hm? Is this a new Servant?

Hello, I'm Merlin, the Magus of Flowers. What land does this hero hail from?" Merlin looked at Iori, seeming slightly puzzled.

He was quite unfamiliar with Iori and could not identify which Heroic Spirit from Human History he was. For someone with Clairvoyance EX, that was rare.

"Well... My name is Iori. As for where I'm from..." Iori considered it for a moment and decided not to make up a story. He would never be able to fool a sly old fox like Merlin.

"I am indeed one of the 'dead,' and I did accomplish deeds such as slaying demons and eliminating evil. But I appeared here for no apparent reason, and I don't even know whether I count as a Servant."

"Oh, that happens sometimes." Merlin said it casually. "The Heroic Spirit Summoning System is basically a pile of spaghetti code, after all. It's perfectly normal for all kinds of bugs to crop up. We've seen plenty of strange Servants."

At those words, the Servants in the room nodded in agreement.

They had not merely seen such things. Some of them had even been victims themselves...

"But as long as you've appeared here, you're one of our companions~

Let's happily create Singularities together!"

"Wait! Don't say something like that so casually!"

Iori really could not hold it in anymore. "Heroic Spirits... or rather, Servants, aren't they supposed to protect the world?"

"What an upright hero. But you're mistaken. We are protecting the world."

At that moment, a mature and gentle voice rang out. Merlin deftly moved aside on his own, and a long-haired figure overflowing with enchanting charm walked in.

"Because the only way to save Human Order is to 'destroy' it!"

Her orange hair reached all the way to her ankles. She wore a simple black-and-white student uniform, and her appearance was very similar to the person in Iori's memories, though far more glamorous. She had gone from a young girl to a mature beauty.

When she entered, the Servants all nodded in greeting, seemingly holding her in great respect. Even though Iori kept his expression under control, his pupils still contracted.

—Ritsuka Fujimaru!

Or rather, Gudako, the female protagonist from the game... But why had she become like this?

Just what kind of Worldline had he crossed into?

"You seem to know me... but I can't remember who you are. I'm sorry."

Ritsuka adjusted her long hair and knelt beside the fireplace. She also gestured for Iori to sit, a trace of apology showing in her gentle expression.

"Large portions of my memories are missing. I've forgotten many of the bonds I had with Heroic Spirits... But it's not too late to start now.

Hello, Iori. I'm Ritsuka Fujimaru, humanity's last... no, the 'former Master.'

The knowledge instilled by the summoning system is limited, and your method of summoning was abnormal. You must have many questions, right?"

"...Yes."

Iori drew a deep breath and cautiously surveyed everyone in the room. "Too many..."

"Then let's start from the beginning."

Ritsuka did not mind, as though she had long grown accustomed to this sort of thing.

"I once saved the world as Chaldea's Master and became the 'Savior of Human Order'... It feels embarrassing to say it myself, but that is an undeniable fact.

However, even after I defeated Goetia, the world was not allowed to continue. A new crisis still emerged, and my companions and I once again set out to save the world. We endured many sacrifices and witnessed countless tragedies... In the end, we paid an enormous price to claim victory.

At first, I thought that was humanity's final trial, bestowed by fate. But clearly, I was wrong... Even after that, all sorts of crises continued to emerge. To protect the continuation of Human Order, we rose up and fought again and again...

It was practically a Möbius cycle, with no end in sight.

And during that time, many people we knew... Sorry, I don't want to talk about that part."

"It's all right. I can understand how you feel." Iori frowned slightly, his emotions complicated. After all, he had once been Chaldea's Master too—albeit in a game.

"We overcame every difficulty. In fact, by the end, threats such as Beasts and Alien Gods truly stopped appearing.

But unfortunately, even so, Human Order inevitably declined. The world reached an irreversible, genuine end..."

Ritsuka clenched her fists. "And after that, I 'woke up' in another world!"

"Another world?!" Iori was startled by this absurd turn of events. "What do you mean?"

"It was another Chaldea. I had returned to how I was when I first arrived there. Mash, the doctor, Da Vinci—my companions were all still alive, as though everything before had been a dream... But I understood that it absolutely had not been an illusion. It had truly happened."

Ritsuka Fujimaru paused, organizing her thoughts before continuing. "After that, I experienced another Incineration of Humanity, followed, as expected, by a Freezing of Humanity... It was like a replay of the previous world.

This time, I was more skilled and had an advantage in information, so I changed many tragedies and allowed more companions to survive—but the ending was still the same!

Even without enemies threatening us, Human Order still weakened and came to an end. It even happened earlier than in the previous world!

I had made every possible preparation, yet the outcome was somehow even worse. I nearly broke down... Then, after who knew how long in that blank world, I 'woke up' for the third time."

"Ugh!" Iori stared at the orange-haired Master in shock, a terrifying guess surfacing in his mind.

"This cycle... How many times have you gone through it?"

"I stopped counting after a hundred times. Or rather, even if I wanted to remember, I couldn't."

Ritsuka smiled faintly, as though she did not care, but Iori had already been frightened by that number. The other Servants in the room also wore grim expressions.

The orange-haired Master continued as though nothing were wrong. "Then I discovered a pattern:

Human Order... The story always reaches its end when there are no 'enemies.'"

"A story?"

"Yes. It's easy to understand if you compare Human Order to a manga or game.

A manga, Human History, will only be serialized by the Cosmic Editorial Department if it is full of potential and interesting developments. Once it becomes stale and loses its possibilities, its popularity will decline. If things get bad enough, it will be canceled midway—this is the Lostbelt Pruning Phenomenon.

Only manga that remain consistently interesting, with imaginative plots, will continue serialization and become pillars of the Cosmic Editorial Department. That is Pan-Human History.

But that creates a problem:

No story can remain unfinished forever. Elementary school students grow up, young boys become One Piece, and no matter how many wonderful plotlines there are, as time passes, they will inevitably converge upon a predetermined timeline... the 'Grand Finale.'

For the story itself, a happy ending where every enemy is defeated is wonderful. But to the Cosmic Editorial Department, once a story's direction has been set, it loses its appeal and becomes worthless.

So it will try to extend it... For instance, by adding a Freezing of Humanity after the Incineration of Humanity.

However, even that cannot reverse the inevitable convergence of the timeline. In the end, the story must still reach its conclusion.

At that point, the Cosmic Editorial Department will mercilessly classify it as a 'Pruning Matter.' In other words, it changes from Pan-Human History into an abandoned Lostbelt, and ultimately becomes a blank void.

—Now do you understand? Why, no matter how many times I repeated the cycle, I could never change the tragedy of the world ending."

Ritsuka wore an expression of helpless self-mockery. "Because this is fate."

"...What a heavy story."

Iori let out a long breath. Though he had not experienced it himself, he still felt suffocated.

"So what are you now?"

"I haven't given up~!"

Despite everything she had endured, Ritsuka's smile was still full of energy.

"At some point, I gained the ability to observe other Worldlines and see other versions of myself.

Then I realized that Pan-Human History had countless parallel Worldlines. Every Worldline had a Chaldea, and every one had a 'Ritsuka Fujimaru.'

They also went through those events, but their choices at critical moments differed. Some succeeded, and some failed. As a result, the Pan-Human Histories they belonged to either continued or perished.

I, who kept repeating the cycle, was merely an anomaly. Most 'Ritsuka Fujimarus' would not get another chance to start over.

So I had an idea:

Let me become their 'enemy'!

I'll continuously create Singularities and Lostbelts, keeping their Human Order in perpetual crisis so that their stories can continue forever!

That is the only way I could think of to save the world... It's such a crazy thing, yet the Heroic Spirits were willing to support me. I truly feel sorry for them..."

"..."

After a long silence, Iori suddenly stared directly into Ritsuka's eyes and asked a question that seemed to come out of nowhere. "What exactly are you now...?"

"I am Ritsuka Fujimaru, Chaldea's former Master."

The orange-haired woman revealed a mysterious, gentle smile. "At the same time, I am an unofficial Beast, the first and last Human Evil, Love—

The Beast of Continuation."

"That really is... an identity that was unexpected, yet perfectly reasonable." Iori spoke with deep feeling, though his eyes could not help revealing a trace of regret.

Then he saw a slender arm covered in Command Spells, as though wrapped in karmic flames, reach toward him.

"Will you destroy Human Order with me, a Human Evil, Iori?"

"I..."

Iori hesitated for a moment, then slowly raised his hand—

Release Announcement (Dear Readers, I Beg You for a First-Day Subscription~ Please Support Me)

Hehe, what was coming had finally come. This book would be released tomorrow~

Honestly, Chef was rather caught off guard. Still, it didn't seem appropriate to dampen the mood at a time like this, so there would definitely be the promised mass release.

After all, how could this book have made it this far without the support of all you dear readers? Just like how Chef's writing would not have gone so smoothly without Big Sis Nanxi's help, you are all my benefactors!

Since that's the case, Chef naturally has to repay all you readers!

Mass release, mass release, mass release, mass release, mass release—anyway, I'll grind as hard as I can! I'll write as much as I possibly can!

This is only tomorrow's release-day bonus for all you readers. After tomorrow, Chef will check the first-day subscriptions on Saturday. For every five hundred first-day subscriptions, I'll add one extra chapter. One thousand means two chapters, two thousand means four chapters, and so on.

If I can't finish paying it all back at once, Chef won't welch on the debt. I'll keep adding chapters until everything is paid off. Old readers should know this already.

Chef won't play any tricks, so please rest assured!

Anyway... Big shots, may I timidly ask: could you please give me a first-day subscription? o(*≧▽≦)ツ

Go Tell Him I Love Him!

Iori agreed—but not completely.

On a personal level, he wanted to stand by Ritsuka's side and lend her a hand. Besides, causing trouble everywhere would let him unlock more CGs, which aligned quite well with his actual interests.

But aside from occasionally getting carried away in battle, Iori had always been someone who planned before acting. Faced with the current situation, he had to remember his original purpose:

He had come to conduct reconnaissance by fire! This trip across worlds had never been meant for deep exploration!

And why was he being so cautious?

Because the waters of Type-Moon ran too deep for him to handle!

The worlds next door, Akame ga Kill! and Bleach, both had very clear power ceilings and plot directions. When dealing with those known villains, Iori felt somewhat confident. But Type-Moon... There were simply too many uncontrollable factors!

With Iori's current strength, he still had to treat an ordinary Holy Grail War with caution, let alone the multiversal scenario involving the Beast of Continuation before him...

Unlike those Servants who could repeatedly get back up after dying, he had never entered the Throne of Heroes. If he died, he would truly die!

So Iori remained restrained in his words. He was willing to cooperate with Gudako and offer whatever help he could, but he was a "Phantom Spirit," with no official place on the Throne of Heroes and no chance to start over. Therefore, he would not go to any Worldlines that were too outrageous.