Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mash, and Kadoc Zemlupus stared wide eyed at the sight before them.
The scene in front of them was both expected and impossible to accept.
Kadoc Zemlupus had always lived as a magus. Mash Kyrielight and Chaldea's Master had fought through all kinds of Singularities and Lostbelts to reach this point. Because of that, all of them had seen many incomprehensible things.
Some deserved alarm. Some did not. But it was extremely rare for something that should have been obvious to become impossible to understand.
"This... where is this?" Kadoc asked in surprise.
Moriarty was quite satisfied with the expressions on their faces. With a pleased smile, he explained, "As you can see. I suppose you could call it an operating room, a treatment room, or perhaps a laboratory. The equipment on the walls appears to be the newest model, but I would advise against touching it."
No. That was not the problem.
The problem was not there at all.
Their sight rejected what it saw. It screamed that it did not want to look at the thing inside that room.
Moriarty's body gradually began to release golden light. He understood that he was about to disappear. Because of that, he spoke, giving Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others one final explanation.
"I am about to vanish, so allow me to introduce it before I go."
"This is the beginning of everything in this Singularity. A life form believed to have fallen to Earth one hundred years ago. For one hundred years, it has been subjected to all kinds of experiments here, and its hatred for humanity has only grown stronger."
"Subject E."
At the end, Moriarty smiled faintly. To see expressions like these from Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others before his exit made it worth forcing himself to bring them here.
But while Fujimaru Ritsuka's group was still shaken by the entity before them, and while Moriarty was about to leave the stage, Moriarty's body suddenly trembled.
"Hm? This is..."
Under his own gaze, the parts of his body that had already turned into Spiritrons returned to him as if time had been reversed. More importantly, he discovered that his contract with the Alien God had disappeared. The one newly contracted with him was actually the Counter Force.
Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mash, and Kadoc also noticed Moriarty's recovery.
The thing before them was alarming enough, but after everything Moriarty had done, Mash still raised her shield slightly, ready to block at any time.
"Moriarty, did you not say your time was up? Why have you recovered? Was everything just now another lie?" Kadoc asked. Compared with Fujimaru Ritsuka, he was far more cautious.
Moriarty looked at Subject E, then turned toward Fujimaru Ritsuka and explained, "I do not know what happened either. The moment before I left the stage, my contract with the Alien God was severed. Then, seizing that opportunity, the Counter Force suddenly contracted with me."
Kadoc's expression grew serious. As a proper magus, he naturally knew of the Counter Force.
"The Counter Force? That Counter Force?"
Moriarty nodded, then smiled at Fujimaru Ritsuka. "Yes. It seems I will be your ally from now on."
"Really? In that case, please take care of us from now on, Mister Moriarty."
Unlike Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash, who accepted it easily, Kadoc remained suspicious. Moriarty did not look as if he was lying, and they had detected his damaged Saint Graph before, but Kadoc had grown up in the world of Magecraft. He could not trust so quickly.
"Could this be because Holmes left the stage? Did the Counter Force, wanting to resolve the Lostbelts, make Moriarty his replacement?" Kadoc guessed silently.
Moriarty turned back toward Subject E and said, "Still, that thing alone should not be enough for the Counter Force to act personally."
"Ritsuka, Mash, can you hear me?" Little Da Vinci's voice rang out, startling everyone present, Moriarty included.
Mash reacted at once. "Da Vinci, I can hear you. But why can we communicate now? Did the signal return?"
"No time for that. Listen to me. Ritsuka, Mash, leave that place now!" Director Goredolf's voice came through the screen, his tone filled with urgency he could not hide.
His words drew everyone's attention. From just now, it felt as if the world itself had begun to change.
"What happened, Director?" Fujimaru Ritsuka leaned closer and asked.
Then Da Vinci pushed Goredolf aside on the screen.
"Ritsuka, an extremely high Saint Graph reaction is heading toward your location. If the detector is correct, it is probably a Beast."
"A Beast!" all four shouted at once.
Compared with Subject E in front of them, an Evil of Humanity suddenly arriving in their faces was obviously much more terrifying.
"Run... no, it is too late. Be careful, Ritsuka. It is here!"
As Little Da Vinci's voice rang out, the space deep within the room shattered.
Mash and Moriarty stepped forward, blocking Fujimaru Ritsuka and Kadoc. Wu Ling did not attack. Instead, he slowly walked out from the broken space.
The first person Wu Ling saw was the male Fujimaru Ritsuka. Then came Mash, Kadoc, and Moriarty. After that, his gaze moved to the mechanical bed nearby. Lying there was a humanoid figure with almost no skin or flesh, only nerves and a brain. It was Subject E, the entity Kadoc had spoken of.
"So the main world's timeline has reached Chapter 2.65," Wu Ling confirmed inwardly. By coincidence, the story he had played in his previous life had also reached this point. He only knew a little about Chapter 2.7 afterward.
Wu Ling ignored the group's vigilance. The unusual Subject E interested him more, but that interest vanished after only a few seconds.
"I see. It is rather pitiful, but it has nothing to do with me."
With a light wave of Wu Ling's hand, the surrounding space shattered. The turbulence inside the broken space ground Subject E away until not even a trace remained.
Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others were confused by Wu Ling's action, but none of them moved recklessly. They feared that one wrong move would make them share Subject E's fate.
Moriarty seemed to understand something.
"Good grief. No wonder the Counter Force contracted with me. It wanted someone else to die in its place."
Wu Ling glanced at Moriarty. At this distance, he had heard his words clearly. As for the Counter Force's interference, he had expected it long ago.
Then his gaze returned to Fujimaru Ritsuka.
"Very well. This is our first meeting, so allow me to introduce myself. I am the King of Heroic Spirits, and also the Beast who holds the principle of Rebellion."