Fate: How About a New Savior?

"Who are you?"

Shiomi asked again.

"Are you the one who threw me into the Land of Shadows and brought me before my master?"

The girl let out a soft laugh.

"Oh my~~, I'm terribly sorry, but I can't answer that just yet. It's classified under a higher level of encryption. So don't even think about using something like the Holy Grail to solve the mystery."

She knew things Shiomi had never spoken aloud, and it was hard not to suspect his thoughts were being completely monitored.

"Ah, don't get the wrong idea—I'm not spying on your brain." The girl leaned in. Her face remained hidden in the darkness, and Shiomi couldn't make out her features—just the mischievous smile at her lips. "Your thoughts are just too predictable. Anyone who knows your background could easily deduce them with a little calculation, don't you think?"

It was true. For someone aware of Shiomi's circumstances, figuring out what he planned to do with the Holy Grail wasn't exactly a mystery.

"Now, back to your question," the girl said as she turned around. "Unfortunately, it's still not time for introductions. So, you don't need to know who I am—"

Suddenly, she spun around and said to Shiomi, "But since you've taken in two girls, I suppose I could call you 'Daddy' if you'd like?"

"What kind of joke is that..." Shiomi clenched his fists, clearly unimpressed.

The girl looked like her pride had been wounded and lightly tapped him on the head with her pointer.

"Honestly! Ignoring a girl's attempt to be affectionate—is that how you take care of kids?"

"I've never seen any girl hit an adult on the head," Shiomi muttered, the corner of his eye twitching.

Realizing she might've gone a bit far, the girl cleared her throat.

"Ahem... right then. Back to the main topic. The Magus is in deep trouble."

Shiomi, still unable to move in the space that felt locked in place, could only move his mouth.

"I'm starting to suspect you're the one who killed the Princess of Gold."

"Pfft—completely wrong." The girl crossed her arms. "I'm just a delicate young lady who couldn't hurt a fly. How could I do something so horrifying?"

Shiomi couldn't help scoffing inwardly.

A weak little girl, huh? So you just use your Authority to mess with people instead?

"But the Princess of Gold's death is only the beginning," the girl suddenly said, her tone turning cold. "More blood will be on your hands. Struggle as hard as you want—if this minor crisis is enough to stop you, then your journey ends here."

"What does that mean—"

Shiomi's heart jumped. He remembered something Gilgamesh had said before being defeated in the final battle of the Holy Grail War. A question he still had no answer to. He hurried to press the girl for more.

"Alright, let's stop here." The girl's tone became sweet and innocent again. "But just separating you from the puppeteer like this feels a bit boring. So, I've prepared a little gift for you. Enjoy it."

Before Shiomi could ask anything else, the sensation of being paralyzed and trapped in that space vanished all at once. The sudden freedom made him feel as if he'd come back from the dead.

The darkness faded.

He was back in the forest, shrouded in thick fog. The girl was nowhere to be seen.

Shiomi turned around and saw Touko. She was holding her head, clearly also caught up in that mysterious girl's domain just moments ago.

"What was that just now...?" Touko looked at Shiomi, as if about to ask something.

But Shiomi moved first, flipping the dagger in his hand and throwing it at her.

Touko had no time to dodge. For a moment, she thought Shiomi was attacking her—

But the dagger whistled past her cheek.

Behind her ear came the sound of something being pierced, followed by a mechanical whine of something breaking.

She turned slightly, and saw the Automata's head impaled by the golden dagger, its body collapsing backward in defeat.

Shiomi walked over and pulled the dagger free.

"Isn't it three-headed and six-armed?" Touko also noticed something was off.

The three-headed, six-armed Automata was still standing in the woods about ten meters away, its shape obscured by the thick fog.

Then came the creaking and groaning of metal from deeper in the forest.

Figures identical to that Automata emerged from the mist.

All of them were built to the same specifications, and they quickly encircled Shiomi and Touko.

Not only that, each Automata began vibrating at the same frequency. Their limbs split apart, revealing sharpened blades.

In the end, more than a dozen three-headed, six-armed Automata had surrounded them.

Shiomi spun the Erosion in his hand.

"Oh dear, oh dear. Looks like I won't be able to leave the rest of the fight to you after all," Touko said coldly as she took stock of each Automata's position.

She had helped Iselma repair her dolls before, but as far as she knew, Iselma didn't have this many Automata.

Just the sheer number of them exceeded the financial capacity of a Magus Family branch like hers.

Each of these ancient Automata was worth a fortune. Considering Iselma had invested everything into the pursuit of aesthetic perfection, it was hard to imagine they could afford this many.

"So this is what she meant by a 'little gift,' huh," Shiomi murmured.

He stood back to back with Touko.

Iselma must have detected them as soon as they entered the forest. Shiomi hadn't planned to make much of a scene—but given how things were playing out, he couldn't confidently say how over-spec the Automata left behind by that girl truly were.

"Who is that girl?" Touko asked.

"I wish I knew," Shiomi said with a bitter smile. "Probably someone who holds a grudge against me. I'll handle the first wave. You take the offensive?"

"No problem."

Even if it meant dying, Touko had no intention of letting a body go to waste—especially not when they still had a way to cleanly resolve the crisis at hand.

"Then let's go!"

As if signaling the start of the battle, Shiomi's voice dropped—and the Automata surged in from all directions, moving with an eerie, coordinated rhythm as they closed in on the two.

The Eleventh of the Primordial Runes: the Rune of the Shield.

Unlike the Thirteen that governed protection, this Rune granted warriors safe return from the battlefield. If the wielder was powerful enough, it could even overturn certain death.

Shiomi activated his Magecraft.

The Automata came rushing in like a net closing from all sides.

They tightened the encirclement.

Beams of light burst from between their shifting forms as crystal mayflies materialized around Touko. They assembled into several cannon-like structures and fired powerful magic bullets at the advancing Automata.

The dolls were bombarded in a blast of explosions, flung apart uncontrollably. Several were struck head-on, pierced through, and crashed lifelessly to the ground.

With an opening torn through their ranks, Shiomi dashed out, charging straight at the nearest Automata.

...

(90 Chapters Ahead)

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