After running far enough and making sure the enemy was no longer attacking, Ritsuka finally stopped. He set Olga and Rikka down, while Mash stood alert beside them. For now, they decided to hide inside an empty, abandoned house.
In another dimension, the onlookers in the group grew noisy again.
"Ritsuka! What kind of attack was that just now?!" Koko shouted from the mass of water, his voice sounding both excited and horrified.
"That was like a machine gun, but way stronger! That was clearly not a normal firearm! Its destructive power was already on par with an RPG fired in rapid succession! And that girl's shield… insane. She blocked all of it!"
"Was that a magical attack? Was that thing also the cause of Fuyuki's destruction? Something like that is clearly impossible for a normal human,"
"You two, calm down," Kagaya's gentle voice intervened.
"Ritsuka can't answer us right now. He's with other people. It would be better to find the right time later for him to explain."
Ritsuka heard all those comments through the connection. He thought about stepping away for a moment, but Mash's voice stopped him.
"It seems we're outside the enemy's range now, Senpai," Mash reported. She glanced at Rikka and Olga, who were sitting on the dusty floor, exhausted.
"Director… could that attack earlier have been…?"
Olga steadied her breathing and stood up straight, trying to regain her authority.
"Yes. That was clearly an attack from a Servant. And judging by the way he fired projectiles, his class is Archer."
"So the one who attacked Ritsuka was a Servant…" Kagaya murmured.
Rikka, still panting, asked in confusion,
"What? The one who attacked us was a Servant? Is he as strong as Mash?"
"Idiot!" Olga snapped.
"Obviously he's stronger than Mash! That's because you're a useless Master and Mash is only a Demi-Servant! In general, a pure Servant is far stronger than a Demi-Servant, got it?!"
"What did you say?!" Rikka shot up, her face flushing red with anger at being called useless.
"What?! You really are terrible at being a Master, you know!" Olga snapped back.
On the spectators' side, Koko frowned.
"So that girl really is a Servant… but 'Demi-Servant'? What's that?"
"Ritsuka, could she be…?" L asked, his mind racing.
"A fusion between a human and a Servant," Ritsuka murmured softly—too quiet for Olga to hear, but perfectly clear to the members of the group.
L's eyes widened in understanding.
"I see. Now it makes sense."
"What do you mean, L?" Kagaya asked.
"That girl, Mash… she's like a modified human created through Chaldea's experiments," L explained quickly.
"She's quite familiar with the Director, so her connection to the organization is obviously close. The term 'Demi' here means she's the result of a fusion between a Servant and a human vessel."
"So this is the embodiment of a biological weapon, huh…" Koko whistled in awe.
"She's incredibly strong. Ordinary gunfire wouldn't work on her, and even standard fighter jet missiles probably wouldn't have much effect."
Ritsuka ignored the discussion and looked at the argument that was about to explode between Olga and Rikka. Mash looked panicked as she tried to stop the two of them. Ritsuka sighed and stepped forward to intervene.
"Director," Ritsuka called firmly, cutting through their bickering.
"Could you explain the current state of Fuyuki City? Its condition is very different from the Fuyuki described in my sensei's records. Director, what do you think actually happened here?"
Olga stopped glaring at Rikka and turned to Ritsuka.
"That's right. History has clearly been altered. However, I don't think that's the only problem."
Rikka still glared sharply at Olga, but Mash gently held her back.
"You two, stop asking questions and listen carefully," Olga said in a lecturing tone.
"I'll explain the situation. Chaldea observes the future through an Earth model called CHALDEAS. At the same time, we collect records of the past through a function called Laplace. It's easier to think of Laplace as a collector of 'history outside public knowledge'—events that were quietly buried. According to Laplace's survey, a unique HGW was held in this city in 2004."
"HGW? What's that now? The number of unfamiliar terms just keeps increasing," Koko complained.
Mash slightly raised her hand.
"HGW… do you mean the legendary Holy Grail? The omnipotent power that grants its owner's wishes? A sacred vessel said to be the root of all magecraft?"
Crash!
L, who had been sitting in his usual position, suddenly fell over in shock.
"The Holy Grail? Could that mean the Holy Grail from Christian mythology?" Kagaya's voice rose slightly.
"I've read about it in Western books. Does such a powerful artifact really exist in Ritsuka's world?"
"Hahahaha! Now this is something truly interesting! A wish-granting artifact, huh?" Koko burst out laughing.
Olga nodded at Mash.
"Yes, that Holy Grail. For the magi living in Fuyuki City, in order to fill the Holy Grail, they summoned seven Heroic Spirits. That was the beginning of the Holy Grail War. Hidden from public view, Servants were summoned to this city. The Fuyuki HGW system was simple: seven Masters competed against one another, and the last one standing was granted the Holy Grail."
Olga paused, her expression darkening.
"Chaldea only learned about this event in 2010. My apologies—my predecessor, my father, used this data as the basis to create Chaldea's summoning ritual. That became the Chaldea Heroic Spirit Summoning System: FATE. And Laplace was Chaldea's third major discovery."
"So seven Masters summon legendary figures as Servants and kill each other over the Grail… that's basically a battle royale," L concluded.
"I can't believe there are people like that," Kagaya sighed sadly.
"They don't respect legendary heroes at all. They only exploit them for personal greed."
"Human greed knows no limits, and Ritsuka's world is proof of that," Koko added cynically.
Ritsuka merely smiled faintly at their comments.
"The third discovery? Different from CHALDEAS, which observes the near future?" Mash asked curiously.
"That was Professor Lev's invention. Well, I created it together with him," Olga replied, her voice tinged with both pride and sorrow.
"Anyway, that's where the Servants came from. Previously, seven Servants fought here. The war ended with Saber's victory. Not only was the city not destroyed, but Servant activity should have already ceased by now."
Olga looked out through a shattered window at the burning sky.
"…And yet, the city is in this state. Completely different. It seems the outcome changed because of the Singularity. This abnormality in 2004 affected human history, and as a result, we can no longer see the future clearly. Our mission is to resolve this abnormality. Whatever caused history to change is here. Once we resolve it, you and I will be able to return."
Rikka raised her hand.
"Have you ever summoned Heroic Spirits in Chaldea before?"
"Of course we have," Olga replied immediately.
"But it didn't go well, and the success rate wasn't very high. There were supposedly three successful summons, but I only know about two. The first was during the previous Director's era. The second and third happened after I took office."
Olga glanced briefly at Mash.
"…The second was Mash's fusion with a Heroic Spirit. And the third? An eccentric individual currently in Chaldea. Leonardo da Vinci."
Koko's eyes widened.
"Ritsuka! Did you hear that?! Leonardo da Vinci is in Chaldea?! You have to meet him! I want to see the man who painted the legendary Mona Lisa!" Koko shouted hysterically with excitement.
"I never imagined the 'Renaissance Man' could be summoned as well. Did he create all these incredible machines with Chaldea's support?" L asked curiously.
"I've heard of him," Kagaya added.
"If I remember correctly, he was a painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, engineer, scientist, writer, and musician. Someone extraordinarily talented in many fields."
"You'll be disappointed," Ritsuka muttered quietly.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Koko asked, confused.
Ritsuka didn't answer. He walked up to Olga.
"Director, I want to try summoning a Servant now."
"Oh, I see. You want to try—Wait, WHAT?! You want to perform a summoning here?!" Olga yelled in shock.
"Yes. Is that a problem?" Ritsuka asked calmly.
Olga thought hard.
'This boy… he has both the quantity and quality of magic circuits. It should be fine, and the FATE Summoning System connected through Mash's shield will support him,' she reasoned.
She looked at Ritsuka seriously.
"Alright. Do it. But do you have a catalyst?"
"No need, Director. I'll try summoning my first Servant—someone with a compatible affinity with me," Ritsuka replied confidently.
"Big Brother, what are you going to do?" Rikka asked in confusion.
Ritsuka smiled and patted Rikka's head.
"Watch carefully. You'll be doing this a lot in the future."
Ritsuka then signaled to Mash. Mash understood and placed her shield on the ground as a temporary magic circle.
"Mash, protect Rikka and Olga. If what I summon turns out to be an evil Servant or an out-of-control Berserker, restrain him. Understood?" Ritsuka ordered.
Mash nodded firmly.
"Yes, Senpai!"
"Oh! We're finally going to see a Heroic Spirit summoning in person! I've been curious about how it works this whole time," Koko said impatiently.
"Ritsuka, who are you going to summon?" L asked.
"I don't know," Ritsuka murmured.
"But whoever it is… they'll suit me very well."
"If it's you, Ritsuka… then it should be a good person. Maybe a virtuous hero," Kagaya predicted.
"We'll see."
Ritsuka extended his right hand. The Command Spells on the back of his hand glowed red. Mana surged, focusing into Mash's shield. Wind howled inside the enclosed space, and slowly, a figure began to form from particles of light.
A thunderous laugh shattered the silence.
"WAHAHAHAHA!"
The figure fully materialized. The aura it emitted was overwhelming and oppressive.
Ritsuka widened his eyes for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
"I didn't expect you to be my first Servant. Is it because this is Japan?"
Ritsuka rubbed his temples.
"And your class… Avenger. This is going to be troublesome… I was hoping you'd be summoned as an Archer."
Then Ritsuka shouted at Mash,
"MASH! Get ready!" he yelled.
"It looks like I summoned something extremely troublesome."