<h4>Chapter 437: Chapter 396</h4>


    Yasaka POV


    "Send these reports to Nurarihyon." I handed a clipped bundle of papers over and I didn''t even see who took them. "What''s my next appointment?"


    "Uh.....you have a Two-O''clock with the Druids, Lady Yasaka."


    I also had another bundle of papers pushed into my hands, and I looked up and furrowed my brow, trying to recall who this girl was. Three Tails...ah, right, she''s the Granddaughter of Granny Sufu....she started earlier this week.


    Where has my head been? It feels like I''ve just been dealing with one issue after another. Adding on to the Indra fiasco which has just been running me wild. If I didn''t know that Wilhelm was perhaps dealing with something even worse, I would have dragged him by his ear to help me settle many of these issues.


    "What are these, dear?" I barely nced at the documents she handed me.


    "We had another merchante over and offer their inventory." She replied.


    "And why am I hearing about this?" I gave explicit orders on what to purchase and what not to.


    "T-the merchant was offering his wares for an exorbitant fee, I –"


    "And my orders were to ept things within 50% of their inted prices, did I not?"


    "They are 55%, Lady Yasaka. Going by the proper costs elsewhere, that is."


    I resisted the urge to p my forehead. "That''s good enough, take them." I tossed the papers back to her with a sigh. We weren''t exactly hurting on money at the moment. Sure, we weren''t flush with it either, but it could certainly have been much worse. "Send word that this is the absolute limit." Give them an inch and they''d take a mile.


    Next I''ll hear about them raising prices by another one or two percent.


    "Walk and talk." I told her as we began walking through the hallways. "Have we received that next shipment of iron?"


    "I...um..." She fumbled through some papers. "Here it is, Lady Yasaka." She handed it over.


    I skimmed it and scowled, crumpling it up and tossing it to the ground. "Of course they mess up the order. Because simple iron is apparently difficult to get right." Calm yourself, Yasaka, no point in getting angry, still a million more things to do today. "Send it back and demand a refund. If they refuse, then cklist them and make sure you publicly shame them." I''m not going to y these games.


    They probably thought they could just unload some of their stock.


    If I wanted an iron of mixedposition, then I would have asked for that.


    We turned the corner, and nearly ran into someone who was in just as much of a hurry as we were.


    His clothing would have looked utterly out of ce in different circumstances, but we had weed these foreigners into our home per Hades'' goodwill, and Wilhelm''s bargaining.


    "I apologize, Lady Yasaka, I didn''t mean to startle you." The man apologized good-naturedly for the near collision.


    "Odysseus, you seem to be in a hurry. Are you looking for me?" One of the people that Hades sent over to help train up my people.


    His eyes brightened. "Yes, I''m d to have caught you. I wished to inform you that my time here has ended and my recement has arrived."


    "Right, that was today." I clicked my tongue in annoyance.


    "No need to fret, my Lady." He said with a rather charming smile. If I wasn''t taken, I may have entertained him. "While my recement is not exactly the most....charming and polite, he is without a doubt, a master of warfare."


    "And who receives such a glowing approval from the great Odysseus?" I questioned.


    "That would be King Agamemnon."


    "Ah....yes, I know of him." I said curtly.


    "Despite his reputation, I give my word that he will teach what needs to be taught." The Ghost of the Greek Hero promised. "In matters of true warfare, I would say that he is a better teacher than I am."


    "Excuse me if I find that hard to believe."


    Odysseus chuckled. "It''s true. I was praised and remembered for my cunning mind, which I will not deny. But Agamemnon conquered across all of Greece not by ident. I did what I could to instill tactics that may be beneficial to your unique variety of uing war, but he will teach them the steps that one must take as soldiers in arms."


    "I will be skeptically optimistic." His reputation still left a bit to be desired. "Thank you for the warning and reminder."


    "It was my pleasure to be of service." He politely bowed. "My time here has been pleasant and I thank you for your hospitality."


    "Truly, the pleasure was all mine. Your assistance has been extremely helpful. As per our agreement, please enjoy the day and have fun before departing. My only word of warning is that everything be consensual." I emphasized.


    "I will keep everyone in line, Lady Yasaka." He smiled again.


    Good.


    "Unfortunately, I have another meeting to attend to. Thank you for everything, Odysseus. I will pass on my praise to Hades."


    He bowed again and departed.


    "Druids then?" I verbally nudged my assistant who was looking rather star struck.


    "Y-yes, Lady Yasaka, right this way." She gestured and I continued walking.


    It wasn''t hard to find them, they had a rather unique scent. Very earthy, not in a bad way, but their presence invigorated any area they stayed in long enough.


    As I opened the door to the room I presumed I would be meeting them in, I saw the wrinkled face of their leader, sitting cross legged, meditating.


    "Archdruid Rhalhaidldh." I did my best to pronounce his name, but winced even as the sybles left my mouth.


    One of his eyes cracked open and the corners of his lips raised ordingly. "Lady Yasaka." He greeted with a gentle and weathered tone, but there was an obvious hint of amusement there.


    "I mispronounced it again, didn''t I?"


    "You were closer." He stated with a small chuckle.


    "Would you believe me if I said I was practicing in front of the mirror yesterday?"


    Hisughter only increased. "I take no offense. I am aware that different cultures have difficulty with certain names and such." He pulled himself to his feet, slowly and steadily, using an old staff as support. "I''m far too old to care about those trifling matters." He waved it off politely. "Shall we get down to business?"


    "Please." I said with full sincerity. The quicker I finished here, the quicker I could move on to my next task for the day. "How is the traininging along?"


    "Ah, it is most peculiar. I admit I did not have much interest in this side of the world and was content to stay at home among the hills of my forefathers. However, after seeing the culture woven around your use of Touki and Senjutsu, I have this feeling in my chest that I have missed out on an opportunity in my youth." He specifically used the words we were used to. "I would almost call it an inherent talent amongst those you presented to me. Their progress....I would not quitebel it as genius, but there is a notable and steady progress every day, and that is for the majority of those who learn under my Druids."


    "Some good news then, I''m shocked."


    He chuckled in clear humor. "Then you will be pleased that I bring further good news."


    "You''re going to spoil me. Please tell me something that I can ride through the next few days of utter exhaustion and fatigue."


    "The project you requested, with those unique nts you presented, they have bore fruit." He paused for a moment. "Figuratively, of course. They are not fruit bearing nts."


    "You managed something already?" I couldn''t help my eyes widen in shock. "Wilhelm wasn''t confident in getting something set up before the war started."


    "The notes provided allowed us to skip much experimentation on our part." He nodded. "I fear it would have taken us several more months if there was not such in depth notation on failures and sesses in growing these exotic nts."


    "And what about elerating their growth?" I asked again, as it was one of our points of desire. All those nts from Skyrim taking hold in the soil here was huge, but getting them to grow quicker through magical means...that would be a league or two above in potential.


    "We had some failures." He rubbed his chin. "But we finally seeded once I enlisted the help of the Rune Witch."


    Scáthach?


    Did she help as well? Why didn''t she say anything?


    "Once we established the needs, we merely required the help of more traditional Magicians. The youngdy from Albion that keeps her ancestor''s name sake was more than happy to assist."


    Ah, Le Fay Pendragon.


    She had been staying around here much longer since everything happened and Arthur was here as well.


    "Only good news? Nothing you''re going to spring on me that makes this all pointless?" I asked skeptically.


    Again, he just chuckled, like an elder humoring a youngling. "I merely wished to ry the good news. I will be returning to my duties." He unceremoniously said his goodbyes and returned to wherever I presumed his Druids were at the moment.


    But I didn''t care, because this was news worth celebrating!


    "Lady Yasaka." Soma appeared from the mist of his Sacred Gear. "I bring word that Sir Mordred has returned."


    "....I know that tone, what happened?"


    "She has gotten into an argument with King Agamemnon."


    Of course, it''s always something.


    [***]


    Wilhelm POV


    "Wilhelm!?"


    "Dragon Witch!?"


    "Mash!?!?"


    "I don''t know what happened!?" Another shrill cry from the cute eggnt.


    "Jeanne!"


    "Gilles!?"


    More shouting and screaming, but I sort of tuned that out as I just stood back and pet my familiar for the first time in quite a while. Sir Wiggles deserved all the pets after doing such a good job keeping them all safe.


    But there seemed to be a lot to unpack all of the sudden.


    However, I was happy to see them.


    Yup, everything seemed good, until a white-haired missile shot out of the group. Someone I certainly did not expect came rocketing into me.


    "You idiot!" Olga''s voice raised above everyone else''s as tiny fists began to rain down on me. "Do you have any idea how worried we were!?"


    "I''m sorry?" I flinched as her fists didn''t stop.


    "You better be!" She huffed, finally relenting. She trembled slightly before regaining herposure. "...wee back."


    "B-Team leader, Reporting for duty." I smiled warmly. "And that hat looks good on you." I admired my former hat sitting atop her head.


    "....idiot." She whispered again.


    "Boss!" Samuel was next, running up with the entire group this time. Funny enough, everyone seemed to ignore the fact that Lancelot was punched just moments prior, except for an embarrassed and blushing Mash.


    Ritsuka was right behind her, looking rather happy as well. Not to mention both Pierre and Hinako were at their side. Hinako tried to look distant, but I could see her mouth twitch upwards, trying to hold back a smile.


    There were some other familiar faces, but they weren''t the ones I knew from my time a Chaldea. Medea, for instance, was standing nearby, looking at me with trepidation.


    Cu Chinn gave me a smirk and a nod.


    And....


    She was standing behind Mash, ncing at me.


    "....Artoria." I said softly.


    The same Artoria from before....


    Her skin was paler, her hair was also a shade lighter, and her eyes were not the same vibrant green. It was precisely the Artoria I was forced to fight in Fuyuki in the previous Singrity.


    Suddenly, many feelings I had previously gotten over hade flowing to the surface. There were....many things I wanted to say.


    "Don''t speak my name as if we are familiar." She scoffed, crossing her arms.


    .....ouch.


    "Don''t listen to her." Cu Chinn chimed in. "She''d been wanting to see you again ever since she was summoned. Anyone just needs to mention you and she gets weak in the knee – "


    The distinct malevolent energy I remembered tore through the spot that Cu was in a moment before as he hopped out of the way with a bark ofughter. A furious Artoria was holding her ckened Excalibur, threatening him with it.


    "Stop messing around!" Olga barked at them in anger.


    Artoria huffed, dismissing her weapon while Cu just chuckled, and casually threw his arms up behind his head as if nothing happened.


    ....if this is how they normally act, I feel bad for Olga having to deal with it.


    "Jeanne, is that you?" A man I didn''t know approached, donned in armor that was obviously well used if the scorch marks were anything to go by.


    Jeanne, who had quietly been at my side, retreated behind me. Literally hiding behind me so as to not be seen by the man.


    "I''m sorry, you are?" I asked.


    He blinked, looking at me, somewhat confused but also on guard. The...soldiers all around were also staring our way, as if waiting for him to make a move. They were all worried, scared, and exhausted from the looks of it, but they were ready to fight if the need arose.


    "I am Gilles De Rais, Baron and Knight serving as Companion-in-Arms to Jeanne D''Arc." He stood proud, but refocused on the head of blonde hair that was having a difficult time hiding her entire silhouette behind me. "It must be God''s will." He took a few steps forward, looking ecstatic. "The True Saintess has returned, and with her by our side, we will retake France from this....Witch."


    I could feel her grabbing at the cloth on my back. I felt bad, I truly did, but I couldn''t just literally stand between them. Jeanne knew it, I knew it, and she was going to have to confront Gilles.


    He was herrade and dear friend in life, he must be over the moon that she''s ''alive'' apparently, but now she has to crush his hopes and happiness.


    "G-Gilles..." Jeanne strained a smile as she peeked over my shoulder.


    She grabbed my hand for emotional support, and I didn''t tease her despite the ease in the situation.


    I gave her a reassuring squeeze and she hesitantly stepped out, looking at her friend.


    Progress, atleast.


    I was fairly sure I was going to have to get the rope again.


    "We should give them some space. Do you have somewhere we can talk privately?" I whispered to Olga.


    "S-sure." She nodded as we slipped away amongst the awkwardness of the reunion.


    [***]


    "Bounded Fields active. Mash, you''re up." Olga stated.


    "Yes, Director!" Mash nodded, her shield apparently connecting to a Leyline below us as a projection appeared.


    "Director, do you read us?" Roman''s familiar voice rang out as his face became clearer.


    "We read you, Roman." Olga nodded.


    "Great! Link is established, we can see you too. I''m getting some strange readings? Lots of Servants are around you that we didn''t detect before. Are there any –


    "Roman." Olga sighed. "Stop, and look."


    Roman blinked, then looked around the tent we were set up in. Finally, his eyesnded on me and I gave him a little wave.


    "Hey Roman."


    "Wilhelm!?" He blurted out. "Director!"


    "Roman, if you''re going to point out to me that our B-Team leader is back, I know."


    "R-right." He awkwardly shrunk back even behind the screen. "It''s good to see you again, Wilhelm!" He changed tunes quickly. "We thought the worst after what happened. You were so angry after Saber died, and then you went after Lev!"


    "...thank you, Roman." I unconsciously nced at Saber and....was she blushing? I quickly looked away because I felt like I would follow suit if I continued. "I have some questions of my own..." I paused, looking at Olga. "Like...if you''re a soul again, I''m going to be pissed off because I''m not entirely sure how to save you again."


    "Don''t be an idiot." Olga huffed with a tinge of embarrassment. "Whatever you did to me, it made it so I could survive a Rayshift."


    "...really?" I raised an eyebrow. "That was unintentional, I was just focused on saving you. But now that I think about it, with your Aura awakened, it would provide the correct shielding for the process, but even that – "


    "Spare us your Magic Talk, we already got enough of it from Da Vinci back in Chaldea." Hinako crossed her arms.


    "She''s right, it''s not important right now." Olga agreed. "We need to debrief each other. You''ve been gone awhile."


    "Introductions then." I held a hand up to Raikou. "This is my Servant, Minamoto-no-Raikou, I brought her from my home."


    "Hello." Raikou smiled politely.


    "I''m not even surprised anymore." Hinako sighed. "Who were the other Servants you brought with you, besides...the obvious."


    "Well, obviously Jeanne D Arc was present – "


    "The Dragon Witch!?" Roman cut in.


    "Dammit, Roman wait for the entire exnation before you freak out!" Olga growled.


    "S-sorry."


    "That''s interesting, actually. I found her because I was checking up on her mom, thinking things may have been bad that way. When I found her, she was in a pitiable state. Her Saint Graph was all messed up and even her memories were distorted. From what we were able to piece together after fixing her was that someone summoned her then cannibalized part of her Saint Graph. Presumedly, this ''Dragon Witch'' is running around with pieces of Jeanne."


    "Wait, you healed her Saint Graph?" The distinct voice of Da Vinci reached our ears.


    "Stop hacking the signal!" Olga nearly screamed.


    "In a manner of speaking." I nodded.


    "But....Saint Graph alteration, the sheer power needed,bined with the tools." She nearly went off on a tangent, so I stepped in.


    "It''s not what you''re thinking. And it wasn''t technically me who did it."


    "But –"


    "Later, Caster." Olga cut her off. "We have more important things to deal with in the immediate time frame. Like getting everyone up to speed."


    I took that as a cue to keep going. "I brought Jeanne with me, Ruler ss. She can sense the location of other Servants, thoughrge distances makes it a bit less urate. The knight waiting outside is Siegfried, he was being held secretly in Lyon. We just got back from there, Saint Martha and a couple other Servants were walking among the destroyed remains of the town."


    "Lyon?" Pierre spoke up. "The soldiers were marching to Lyon before we arrived. If not for the attack of the dragons –"


    "Wyverns." I corrected. "Huge difference."


    He nodded. "Wyverns, we would have followed. You say Lyon is free?"


    "Free....rubble, burned to the ground nearly. Jeanne is probably rying the news herself, but yeah, the Servants there were taken care of."


    "That''ll save us an annoying walk." Cu mused. "Now we can focus on the actual threat. This Dragon Witch, yeah?"


    "Wait, there''s one more Servant you brought." Olga pointed out.


    "You mean the one that Mash punched in the face?"


    "I-I didn''t mean to!" She squeaked out, ring up red in embarrassment.


    "Uh.....yeah, why did you do that, Mash?" Ritsuka asked.


    "Didn''t know thess had it in her. More fire than I''ve seen in her normal training." Cu added.


    "Mash did what!?" Roman squawked in surprise.


    "I''m sorry!" She was nearly in tears.


    Good thing he was still outside. "I''m notining." I shrugged. "He''s – "


    "Lancelot." Saber said curtly, drawing everyone''s eyes her way. "Mash carries the Spirit of Ghad. The conflict is understandable."


    "How does that make sense to randomly attack him?" Roman questioned.


    "Ah.....that does answer quite a few questions." Especially about the adorable cinnamon roll over there.


    "It does?" Roman blinked.


    "Artoria told me – " I scratched my head awkwardly. "My Artoria told me about her time ruling. Ghad and Lancelot had a very....strained...rtionship." I nced at Saber, but she simply closed her eyes, not reacting.


    I didn''t know how to act around her and it was eating at me.


    "If she is the Demi-Servant of Ghad, it makes sense that some of his anger would bleed over if he really hates him that much." Hinako shrugged.


    "Speaking of, I hope she''s not just learning about this now?" I asked.


    "No, Senpai. Saber has been helping me train!" Mash smiled brightly. "I learned the name of my Noble Phantasm too."


    That''s good then.


    "There''s something you should know about him, and by extension, the other enemy Servant I encountered. Thanks to Jeanne, we were able to find out that their Saint Graphs were meddled with. Martha''s ss was Rider-Berserker, and Lancelot is a Berserker-Berserker."


    "How is that possible?" Olga scowled.


    "I can tell you from personal experience that a Grail can alter a Servant''s Saint graph. We''re currently working under the theory that this Dragon Witch is forcing the Berserker status over the servants she summons and it also acts as a sort of leash, forcing them to obey her."


    "That makes sense if you said that Saint Martha was listening to her orders." Da Vinci chimed in. "How curious, I want to see for myself."


    "You can get readings from Lancelot, we were able to either seal away or remove the additional Madness, but he''s still pretty messed up."


    "How were you able to remove Mad Enhancement?" Roman''s eyes widened. "That''s the defining characteristic of the Berserker ss!"


    "I would also like to know." Olga added.


    "Luck, and thebination of plenty of factors. And the fact that Lancelot''s madness behaved more like a Curse." I replied. "One of theponents I used was Avalon, which is inside of him at the moment, suppressing his normal Mad Enhancement. But I feel like it''s just a stop gap measure." I turned to Hinako. "That being said, you don''t have a Servant yet, right?"


    "You want me to form a contract with him?" She raised an eyebrow.


    "Temporary, for now. He''ll disappear after the singrity is finished. But he''s going to be a heavy drain, and you can probably handle it better than everyone else here, even if the systems in Chaldea are handling most of the burden."


    "Fine, I''ll do it." She shrugged.


    "Speaking of systems, how is Chaldea doing?"


    "Manageable." Olga slumped her shoulders. "The resources you left behind were invaluable. Our food supplies would have run out, and we wouldn''t have been able to perform any Servant Summonings due to the Generators having been destroyed previously."


    "I brought some more with me, so I''ll be able to help out there."


    "As expect from the person I appointed to B-Team leader." Olga nodded with a hint of pride.


    I really wanted to pat her head, but I feel like she would react aggressively if I did.


    "Don''t forget ourtest Servant as well." Roman spoke up.


    "Am I supposed to introduce myself?" Medea was in the back, looking a bit bored with this whole talk.


    "There''s no need." I held a hand up, politely declining. "You guys sure lucked out. A Caster Servant was perhaps the second worst ss to summon considering your currentposition, but Medea is one of the most reliable you could have managed."


    Any kind of wind she had was immediately taken out of her sails. She nearly fumbled over herself as I ''guessed'' her name. "Do you know me?"


    "I''m not native to this World-line, I have a Medea back home that I''m good friends with."


    Seeing her mouth open from beneath her cowl, only to close again in confusion. "I find that hard to believe."


    "I can show you picturester. She even made the clothes I''m wearing..." I looked down at the thing covering my body. "Not the Holy Shroud. But anyways, she''s getting married soon and I am invited, so do with that what you will."


    Medea just stared at me with mouth open, seemingly unable to formte a response.


    "Enough with the polite chit chat, we need to get down to business." Olga finally asserted her Authority to end the conversation and steer it towards the main issue. "What happened to you?"


    "That''s...a long story, I''ll try to summarize it." I took a deep breath. "I was stupid and angry so I blindly chased after Lev after..." I nced at Artoria again who peeked an eye open, only to scowl and turn away when ours met. "I stepped into a ce outside of Time and space. After talking to Gramps, he told me that it was most likely Solomon''s Workshop."


    "Solomon!?"


    "The one from the Bible?"


    "The King of Magecraft?"


    Several of them blurted out at once.


    "Yes, yes, and yes. " I swatted at the projected image of both Da Vinci and Roman to get them to calm down. "Lev was subservient to someone there iming to be Solomon, but we''re highly doubtful that it''s actually him. It''s most likely one of the famous Demons associated with him. Regardless, I fought him and –"


    "You fought....''Solomon'' in his Workshop?" Olga cut me off. "Of all the idiotic things you could have done! Even if you''re a Magician, you walked into his Workshop!"


    "Master has been fully aware of how foolish he was." Raikou responded in my stead, making me want to slump back in embarrassment. "However, he was consumed by grief and anger and his decision reflected this."


    Olga scowled, crossing her arms. "Did you atleast take care of that traitor?" She asked, seething.


    "I hit him with an attack that forced the concept of Destruction onto him. But ''Solomon'' – " I added air quotes. "Was able to undo it."


    "....I guess I can''t fault you then." Olga said quietly.


    "And you lost?" Hinako asked. "Even with everything?" She emphasized thatst word.


    "I used my Authority even." I nodded.


    "Wait, Authority?" Da Vinci asked.


    "What''s an Authority?" Ritsuka asked, the others around him sharing the same sentiment.


    "You''re a Divine Spirit!?" Olga blurted out.


    "That''s what I''ve been assuming." Hinako stated.


    "How is a Divine Spirit alive in this era?" Roman asked.


    "Not a Divine Spirit!" I quickly cut off that train of thought. "And to share with the rest of the ss since their tutge most likely hasn''t reached that point. An Authority, in this case, is the ability of a Divine Spirit to alter the world. You can think of Zeus and his ability tomand Lightning."


    "You had something like that and you still lost, Boss?" Samuel asked.


    "Yeah." I didn''t hide it. "You saw that ring of light in the sky?"


    "Hard to miss." Olga snorted. "Our systems were unable to scan it."


    "That''s all the Magical Energy that''s being gathered by burning away the Human Order." I dropped that big bombshell on them.


    "....that makes sense." Da Vinci was the first toment. "We were only able to tell that it was something unfathomable in power, and that it was too massive to truly scan at the moment.


    "Yeah, it''s made up of beams of light, each one of them equal to a High-Level Noble Phantasm in output, more or less. When I was fighting him, he pulled on it, hitting me with a fraction of a fraction of its power and I nearly died. If it wasn''t for several lucky coincidences, and having Avalon with me, I would be dead."


    Strangely, the most abrupt response was a nearly palpable feeling of anger filling the tent. And it was from Saber of all people. The outward expression of emotion ceased nearly as quickly as it had descended, but the Servant merely scowled again. "I care not for this meeting. Call me when there is a fight to be had." She didn''t wait for anyone to respond and marched right out of the tent.


    ".....that was weird." Roman seemingly spoke the thoughts on everyone''s minds.


    "Thatss..." Cu sighed. "She''s going to have a difficult time."


    "Master, I will go make sure that she does not cause any fights." Raikou stated. "Lancelot is still outside."


    "That would probably be best, thank you, Raikou." I have no idea how this Artoria would react to Lancelot. She''spletely different from what I''vee to know about my own Artoria.


    She quickly followed after the ckened Artoria.


    "....is that why you haven''te back until now?" Olga whispered. "You''ve been recovering?"


    "I recovered in a few days, but no. I was worried that if I popped back over, he would simply destroy Chaldea. I''m currently hiding from his sight." I pulled on my Holy Shroud. "This is helping a bit. And I even had help from Gramps and the Blue to sneak back into this World-Line undetected."


    I''d double check with Cuter, see if he can''t divine if I am actually unnoticed right now. His Odin parts might be able to look into that without causing any issues.


    "At least we know who''s responsible now, right?" Ritsuka asked. "It would have been worse if we didn''t find out untilter."


    "...usually this kind of naive optimism would be annoying, but I agree with the kid." Medea was the one who spoke up. "I don''t know much about Solomon, my foundation doesn''te from your Modern Magecraft. But now we actually have time to think of proper counter measures. I''m assuming that your Magecraft was utterly useless, boyo?" She nced at me.


    "He broke down everything I did with just a nce and countered it." I nodded.


    "What about your Runes?" Cu asked.


    "Didn''t have a chance to really use them. It''s not like I revealed all my cards in that short exchange. I still have a few tricks, and in the time I was away, I picked up a few more things that will be extremely useful."


    "We can work with this." Roman looked uncharacteristically resolved. "This fake Solomon, whoever it really is, now that we know, we can fight him."


    "Hoho, I get to test my genius against the most exalted Magus in history?" Da Vinci sounded rather amused.


    Olga, who looked rather defeated as I kept dropping bombs, did perk up a little. Even adopting a little smile. "We need more information. For now, however, we should focus on solving this Singrity. You obviously have more information than us."


    "Alright, I''ll start from the very beginning." I nodded, and everyone leaned in as I began from when I first arrived in the singrity in full detail.


    [***]


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