"This is bad. That new Singularity Belt is already very close to Chaldea. Ritsuka, Mash, prepare to depart. Mister Wu Ling, I am counting on you to protect them."
"Yes," Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash answered together.
They hurried off to prepare their equipment. Wu Ling stayed relaxed, eating pastries while he waited for them to finish.
After several previous explorations, Mash and Fujimaru Ritsuka were already used to the process. In less than five minutes, both had finished preparing.
The three of them arrived at the Rayshift device. Standing behind the two girls, Wu Ling casually said, "Right. You can eat the pastries and drink the tea on that table. I do not like setting flags like, 'I will eat it when I get back.' As for these two, do not worry. Unless seven Grand Servants or an Evil of Humanity jump us together, I am confident I can bring them back."
In front of the Rayshift device, Doctor Roman set aside his gentle expression. After hearing Wu Ling, he nodded seriously.
"I leave them to you, Mister Wu Ling."
"Rayshift system stable."
"Spiritron pathway stable."
"Coordinates confirmed. Master existence verification confirmed."
After every check was complete, Doctor Roman gave the order.
"Begin transfer."
A haze and faint dizziness passed through Wu Ling. Then he arrived on a stretch of land with Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash.
"So that was a Rayshift."
Wu Ling slowly examined the sensation he had just experienced while Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash contacted Chaldea.
"Hello, hello. Ritsuka, Ritsuka, can you hear me?"
Doctor Roman's voice came through. Something like a virtual screen appeared beside Fujimaru Ritsuka, with Doctor Roman visible on it.
"Yes, Doctor. I can hear you."
Once she confirmed the link to Chaldea worked normally, Wu Ling could feel Fujimaru Ritsuka relax. That was normal. She was only seventeen or eighteen. Even after the tempering of the earlier Singularity Belts, even after growing enough, she was still a child deep down. In a place where death could arrive at any moment, knowing she could still contact an older supporter would naturally reassure her.
But Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash soon noticed Doctor Roman's grave expression.
"Ritsuka, I have bad news. While you were transferring, we scanned that Singularity Belt. The results are alarming.
"The number of overlapping worlds in that Singularity Belt is higher than the previous several Singularity Belts combined. On top of that, the magical energy in that world is both abundant and high quality. That means extremely powerful Servants may appear there."
Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash understood the severity at once. If this had happened before, they could only proceed with greater caution and force themselves to investigate. This time, they had another helper to rely on.
Fujimaru Ritsuka turned and saw Wu Ling staring into the distance.
"Mister Wu Ling, is there something far away? Did you discover something?"
Wu Ling's movement answered faster than his voice. Before Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others could react, golden armor covered his body.
"Mister Wu Ling?" Mash immediately entered a battle stance and tested the situation with that question.
"Doctor Roman is right. There are powerful Servants here. More than one."
Wu Ling's interested voice reached them. Fujimaru Ritsuka was about to continue asking, but Doctor Roman's expression changed sharply on the screen.
"There is an ultra high concentration magical energy reaction. A Noble Phantasm. Dodge, Ritsuka!"
Doctor Roman reacted quickly, but the Noble Phantasm was faster. A black beam cannon shot toward the place where Wu Ling and the others stood at terrifying speed.
Mash reacted at once. She raised her shield and stepped in front of Wu Ling and Fujimaru Ritsuka.
Then Wu Ling's voice sounded.
"Good reflexes. But for this kind of casual attack, we should not waste extra stamina defending."
Wu Ling tucked Mash and Fujimaru Ritsuka under his arms and left the spot at high speed.
In a few breaths, he carried the two to a low hill more than ten kilometers away. After setting them down, he waved his hand and arranged several Magecraft formations that concealed their bodies, erased their presence, and masked their magical energy. Then he stood and looked back toward their original position.
Only then did the black beam finally strike the ground. A black pillar of light rose between heaven and earth before their eyes.
Fujimaru Ritsuka froze for a few seconds before speaking.
"I remember now. I have seen that kind of attack. Back in Fuyuki, the Knight King's Noble Phantasm looked exactly like that."
With Ritsuka's reminder, Mash remembered as well.
"Mister Wu Ling, I remember too. That was the legendary King of Knights, King Arthur, ruler of Britain."
Wu Ling looked at the black silhouette barely visible in the distance and nodded.
"Understood. I know her too. Still, that Saint Graph scale is terrifying. If I did not already know who she was, I might think I had seen a Grand Servant."
"What? A Grand Servant?"
Doctor Roman's voice rang out again, and the screen reappeared beside Fujimaru Ritsuka.
"Mister Wu Ling, are you certain? There is a Grand Servant in that world?"
"What is a Grand Servant?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked from the side.
Mash pulled her aside to explain the basics, leaving Wu Ling and Doctor Roman to continue.
"No, no. You misunderstood me. That Knight King is not a Grand Servant. Her magical energy is merely comparable to one. Only comparable. In terms of quality, she still falls short. But that is not the real issue."
Before Fujimaru Ritsuka could ask, Doctor Roman hurriedly said, "Mister Wu Ling, if being enemies with something comparable to a Grand Servant is not the real issue, what is?"
"Roughly speaking, being enemies with a whole group of them."
Doctor Roman drew in a sharp breath. He wanted to object, but Wu Ling had no reason to lie. And if the issue was only magical energy comparable to Grand level, then under conditions with enough magical energy, a group of Servants like that was not impossible.
Before Doctor Roman could ask more, his expression changed again.
"Mister Wu Ling, another huge magical energy reaction!"
"Yes. I see it."
In Wu Ling's eyes, a blue beam cannon was fired again. This time, its target was not them. It shot toward the distant Knight King, Artoria.
Seeing that, Wu Ling smiled with sudden excitement.
"Roman, I understand. This world is a struggle between dragons. It is an arena made to decide the strongest dragon. In that case, let us call it the Dragon Battlefield."