"This guy... he'd fit right in with the Sea Born back in Iberia. If only they could meet."
Looking at the massive octopus-like creature Gilles de Rais had summoned—or more accurately, a Sea Demon—Daniel couldn't help but think of the Sea Born from Terra's Iberia. The resemblance was uncanny. Just looking at those things inflicted mental damage, and ever since encountering the Sea Born, Daniel hadn't had much appetite for takoyaki.
Now, with this grotesque tentacled monstrosity summoned by Gilles, that aversion was going to continue a while longer.
This was the ability of Gilles' Noble Phantasm: Prelati's Spellbook. A grimoire made from human skin and embedded with a powerful magical core, it could summon beings from other worlds regardless of the user's own magical capacity.
In the Nasuverse, not only did parallel worlds exist, but so did alternate realms like the Land of Fairies, the Realm of Shadows, and Avalon.
With the grimoire's core and the added boost from the Holy Grail, this Sea Demon was far beyond anything Fafnir had been. Where Saber Alter's Noble Phantasm had merely split the castle in two, this Sea Demon completely annihilated it.
"Gilles." Jeanne prepared to activate her Noble Phantasm, finally ready to fight seriously.
"I've got it. Calamity's End."
Daniel stepped in to stop Jeanne and signaled her to fall back. He rose into the sky, summoning a crimson blade in his hand. The moment it appeared, the sky turned a blazing red, and searing flames rained down from above, engulfing the Sea Demon entirely.
Gilles' summoned Sea Demon was indeed powerful, but only when facing opponents who lacked large-scale offensive capabilities—like Lancer Cú Chulainn or Rider Iskandar. Even with his Ionioi Hetairoi, Iskandar would struggle against a Sea Demon, since it could endlessly regenerate so long as Prelati's Spellbook remained intact and its magical energy continued to flow.
Heroic Spirit matchups were based heavily on compatibility. A weaker Heroic Spirit could sometimes counter a stronger one. For instance, Iskandar couldn't deal with the Sea Demon, but Saber could. However, if Saber were to face Iskandar directly, the outcome wouldn't be certain—her Excalibur was powerful but lacked the endless tide of elite soldiers Iskandar could summon to wear her down.
But Daniel had no such limitations. Against creatures like this that threatened sanity, Divine Flame of Heaven's Judgement was the perfect solution. Jeanne's La Pucelle, the Saint of the Holy Fire, would've worked too.
"You've lost, Gilles. Hand over the Grail."
With the Sea Demon incinerated, Daniel appeared in front of Gilles in an instant, his sword glowing at the man's throat. In close quarters, Gilles was helpless. Even if he tried to tap the Grail again to summon another creature, he wouldn't be fast enough.
"Gilles… was it all true?" Jeanne Alter finally regained her clarity amidst the chaos.
Gilles, who had been about to resist, fell silent at her question. The magical energy gathering in his hand faded away. If Jeanne hadn't been standing before him, he might have denied everything—but in her presence, he couldn't lie.
"Haha… so I was nothing but a fake all along."
"No—you're the perfect saint I dreamed of."
Gilles' voice trembled with sincerity as he tried to console the laughing Jeanne Alter. She, ruthless and free from divine faith, was the image of perfection in his eyes.
"You're not a fake. You're Jeanne Alter, and she's Jeanne d'Arc. You're two completely different individuals. So... do you want to start over?"
"…What do you mean by that?"
Jeanne Alter and Gilles both turned to Daniel in surprise.
"I meant exactly what I said," Daniel replied, locking eyes with Gilles. "You know as well as I do—once this Singularity is repaired, she'll vanish for good. But I can save her. I can take her somewhere she'll continue to exist. So, hand over the Grail."
"Are you pitying me?" Jeanne Alter growled, then surged toward Daniel with both blades drawn, not caring that Gilles was still within his reach.
"Wood Dragon Binding."
Daniel sighed and stepped back, using a wood dragon technique to bind her in place. Someone like Jeanne Alter wasn't going to be reasoned with easily. Time and consistent interaction were the only ways to change her.
"I'm not pitying you. Even if you have the same memories, your different choices prove that you're not the same person. You're both unique."
Just as there are no two identical leaves in the world, humans—even given the same memories and environment—would never become exactly the same. That individuality was key.
"Let me go!" Jeanne Alter struggled, her eyes burning with rage. Gilles hesitated, but perhaps recalling Daniel's words, he didn't act to stop him.
"I'll take her back to Chaldea. She can continue living there. So? Will you give me the Grail?"
"…Fine."
After a brief pause, Gilles nodded. For him, saving Jeanne—any version of her—was worth far more than humanity's survival. Without further hesitation, he reached into his chest and pulled out the Holy Grail.
"This is the Grail, huh… So many people have spent their entire lives chasing it."
As he took the Grail, Daniel marveled at its concentrated magical power. That one certain Hero of Justice had chased the Grail his whole life, hoping it could fulfill his impossible wish.
But even the Grail couldn't bring about world peace. Not even the full set of Infinity Stones could do that. The only way to achieve that would be the extinction of humanity.
In Daniel's eyes, the Holy Grail was comparable to the Infinity Stones—only differing in the scope of their power.
"Transfer the Command Spells."
That was the true reason Daniel hadn't killed Gilles immediately. In a way, Gilles was Jeanne Alter's Master. And even if he never used a Command Spell to control her, they were bound. By having Gilles willingly transfer the Command Seals, everything would proceed smoothly.
"Alright. Time for me to go."
"Farewell, my Jeanne…"
Gilles whispered to both Jeannes and let himself dissolve into golden light.
"Mash."
With Gilles gone, Daniel called to Mash, who was still engaged in combat with Saber Alter. Upon seeing the Holy Grail in his hands, Saber Alter stopped attacking.
"Here."
Mash received the Grail. Restoring a Singularity usually required her to place the Grail into her shield, and once she did, the bodies of all the other Servants began to glow with golden light.
"What the heck?! I was supposed to go to Chaldea! Hey, Master! Don't forget to summon me again!" Elizabeth and Kiyohime protested bitterly as they began to fade away.
Their plan had been to visit Chaldea after the Singularity's restoration—but the process gave them no such opportunity.
"Thank you, Mash, Ritsuka. You made our wish come true. Until next time." Marie and Mozart disappeared. During their lifetimes, Marie had wanted to hear Mozart play, and he had wanted to play for her. In Chaldea yesterday, that wish had finally been granted.
"I believe in you. You will save humanity." Siegfried and Saint George said their goodbyes and vanished as well.
"Are you… really Jeanne d'Arc?" the local Gilles de Rais ran up to Jeanne with eyes full of hope.
"Just think of this as a dream, Gilles."
Jeanne sighed. She knew all too well what would become of him. As a Heroic Spirit, she couldn't change his fate.
Even if she warned him now, once the Singularity ended, he would forget everything—her words, the Dragon Witch, all of it. Everyone who died in this Singularity would be restored.
"Alright. Singularity restoration complete. Mash, Ritsuka, Daniel—good work." Roman's voice came through, and the Rayshift began.
"Time to go home." Daniel returned to Chaldea with the bound Jeanne Alter.
"Stop sulking. You're still alive, aren't you? That's something. And who knows, you might bump into Jeanne at Chaldea. Don't you want to see her face when that happens?"
To help Jeanne Alter let go, Daniel threw Jeanne d'Arc under the metaphorical bus for a moment.
She was definitely a tsundere.
"Sorry, but I'll have to seal your magical energy for now. You're too powerful, and Mash can't be watching you 24/7. This way, you can safely stay at Chaldea and get used to things."
Daniel didn't want to baby-sit her either. He had things to do—like exploring parallel worlds in the Nasuverse. Taking someone like Jeanne Alter into unknown worlds with that attitude was just asking for trouble.
Once he was done, he'd have time for her.
"Here's a third of the Fafnir materials. Should be enough, right?"
After entrusting Jeanne Alter to Mash and Ritsuka, Daniel went to see Da Vinci and handed over a portion of Fafnir's materials. Some were for Chaldea's supply; the rest were for Da Vinci to help him craft Mystic Codes.
"You used Projection Magecraft earlier, didn't you?"
"It looked like Projection, but it's not."
Da Vinci had mistaken his summoning of the Divine Flame Sword as a Projection. Naturally, she was surprised—Projection Magecraft was considered worthless in the current magecraft world.
"I see. Well, we wouldn't have finished the Singularity without your help. I do have a few more favors to ask."
Da Vinci didn't pry into his abilities. Instead, she shifted the conversation to something practical.
"Running out of resources, huh? Got it."
Now that the Holy Grail had been brought back, Chaldea's energy issues were temporarily solved. Da Vinci used the Grail as a power source. But materials were still a problem.
Located at the top of a six-thousand-meter snow-capped mountain in Antarctica, Chaldea normally received regular shipments from the Mage's Association. But with humanity incinerated, there was no one left to deliver supplies. That was Chaldea's biggest problem right now.
Fortunately, due to the explosion, most of the staff had perished. The few survivors and the frozen Masters had enough rations to hold out for a while.
If Daniel hadn't been here, Roman and Da Vinci would still be forced to pinch every penny. But with him around, there was no need to be stingy.
"No supplies? So that guy didn't send any this time? Is it because I'm here? That tightwad! He better hope I don't find him!"
Daniel knew how Chaldea had managed to stay afloat for a year with so few supplies—thanks to someone's secret support. That someone was Merlin, safely tucked away in Avalon.
"Alright, I'm counting on you to look after Jeanne Alter."
Thankfully, Chaldea had researched how to supply magical energy to Servants without their Masters. Daniel could now leave Jeanne Alter in their care while he went off to other parallel worlds.
"This is… a house? So the portal landed me in a residence this time?"
Back in his room at Chaldea, after securing Jeanne Alter and picking up Da Vinci's shopping list, Daniel opened a portal—and emerged in a large, empty, but tidy villa.
"Which parallel world is this?"
Just as he thought this, the door opened and in walked a girl he recognized immediately. Black twin tails. Red jacket. Wet from rain and muttering to herself.
"Ugh, why'd it have to start pouring out of nowhere?"
She set down her soaked umbrella, shrugged off her wet jacket, and grabbed a towel to dry her hair. The entire time, she hadn't noticed someone else was in the room.
"Ahem."
Just as she began unbuttoning her shirt, Daniel cleared his throat. If he didn't say something now, she might start undressing, and while that might be a treat for the average man, Daniel wasn't about to take advantage of the situation.
The sudden sound startled the girl. Like a frightened rabbit, she spun around and locked eyes with him.
"Who are you?!" she demanded, cheeks flushed red—whether from anger or embarrassment, it was hard to tell.
"Um… if I said I came in to escape the rain… would you believe me?"
"You think I'm an idiot?!"
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