Fate: How About a New Savior?

When Shiomi opened his eyes, he found himself lying in a burning wasteland.

It must've been a massive fire. As he lay there, he looked around—the streets and buildings in every direction were engulfed in flames.

He sat up, rubbed his forehead, and gradually his thoughts began to clear.

Then he noticed his outfit.

A close-fitting suit in black and white—Chaldea's standard combat gear, specially prepared for Master candidates participating in the restoration of humanity. It fit snugly, designed to optimize movement and combat efficiency.

And then, Shiomi remembered why he was here.

Just a few hours ago, Chaldeas had observed the disappearance of Earth's civilization. Singularity F had been detected. Director Olga Marie acted immediately, summoning all Master candidates to the control room. After a briefing, they launched the First Order operation.

As a member of Group A, Shiomi entered the pod used for Spiritron Transfer.

After that...

"...There was an explosion, huh." Shiomi stood, recalling the final sensation before losing consciousness.

Spiritron Transfer converts the body into spiritrons and sends it to designated coordinates. With Atlas Institute's technological assistance, the method had even reached the level of practical time-travel rituals.

Once inside the pod, the system would analyze and define the Master's entire parameters, turning the device into a "box of life and death," where the Master's life status became indeterminate.

This process must not be disrupted by outside interference—or the Master would truly die.

Even so, despite what happened, Shiomi's first full Spiritron Transfer was a success.

"This is... Fuyuki."

Honestly, when he first heard that Singularity F was located in Fuyuki, Shiomi had been shocked.

And it was the year 2004.

He knew better than anyone what had happened in Fuyuki that year.

Looking around, he saw that the roads ahead were shattered and blocked by collapsed buildings. All conventional modes of travel were rendered useless—flight was the only option.

But he couldn't sense the presence of any other Masters nearby.

Not just that—there wasn't a single living soul left in the entire city of Fuyuki, dead or alive.

"Don't tell me I'm the only one left alive..."

With that thought, Shiomi expanded his Magecraft detection radius and sensed a faint life signature several kilometers away.

Whether it was someone native to this Singularity or another Master, he needed to find them first.

He clenched his fists, let his Magic Circuits circulate Mana through his entire body, then crouched slightly—launching himself like a cannonball.

Flying Magecraft.

It was one of the spells he had used during his battle against the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh.

He rarely had reason to use it, but now it was just right.

In the blink of an eye, he was soaring over the area where the life signal had originated.

"Olga Marie?"

Recognizing the figure walking through the ruins searching for others, Shiomi couldn't hide his shock.

She wasn't even compatible with Spiritron Transfer. Back when she was appointed director of Chaldea, she'd been visibly depressed over that fact.

Hearing someone call out to her, Olga Marie looked up—and her expression lit up with surprise.

"Shiomi-sensei!" She ran up to him. "You're safe too!"

"For now, I guess." Shiomi still wasn't entirely sure. After all, he had no idea what the control room looked like after the explosion. "But I didn't expect to see you here..."

"I'm just as confused." Olga Marie shook her head. "When I came to, I was already in Fuyuki—kya!"

She was about to vent when Shiomi suddenly pulled her behind him.

"Save it for later. We've got company."

"Huh? That many...?"

Peeking past Shiomi, she saw dozens of skeleton soldiers armed with weapons crawling out of the ruins. In an instant, they were surrounded.

"There's a lot of them, and they're pretty spread out. It'll take at least a minute to clear them." Shiomi assessed quickly.

Worse still, ever since the skeletons appeared, he'd felt several eyes watching them from the shadows.

"Can you handle this? We don't even have a Servant..." Olga Marie felt safer with Shiomi present. Even if they couldn't win, they could still retreat. But she hadn't expected him to declare he'd take them all down.

"Won't know until I try, right?"

Shiomi reached out and, as usual, grasped at the air. Gae Bolg Alternative materialized in his hand.

A satisfied smile crossed his face.

As expected—it still worked. Spiritron Transfer hadn't dulled any of his abilities.

"That's...!" Olga Marie gasped and covered her mouth.

As a noble of the Clock Tower, she had more than enough knowledge to recognize what she was seeing.

What Shiomi held wasn't some Mystic Code—it was a true Noble Phantasm.

She had never heard any intel suggesting he was a "Carrier."

"I figured I wouldn't need it, what with all the other Masters around." Shiomi sighed, casually swinging the spear and drawing a circle around them. "Don't step out of this ring. I guarantee nothing will touch you inside it. Whether you back me up with Magecraft or just stand there, it's fine either way."

Before she could reply, Shiomi darted forward, kicking up a powerful gust that forced her to shield her eyes.

Spear in hand, Shiomi streaked through the ruins. Wherever the red, icy gleam of his spear passed, skeleton soldiers were torn to shreds, shattered across the rubble, utterly disabled.

Just as he'd promised Olga Marie—not a single skeleton got close to the circle.

Within half a minute, the last one crumbled. Shiomi exhaled.

A sudden chill ran through him—out of the corner of his eye, he saw a storm of glowing red arrows flying toward him.

"That technique—!"

Half guessing the attack's source, Shiomi hurled his red spear. It spun through the air and morphed into a circular shield, knocking the incoming arrows away.

But the archer didn't stop. A second volley, even more deadly, was already in flight.

Catching the spear as it returned to his hand, Shiomi threw it again, this time releasing its True Name. The spinning spear collided with the oncoming arrow mid-air.

The impact triggered a massive explosion above, and the nearby ruins collapsed again, a cloud of dust rising more than ten meters high.

A Servant.

Whether it was the archer or the one flinging fireballs—they were all Servants.

Shiomi understood immediately. Catching his returning spear, he turned around to check on Olga Marie—only to see two more figures approaching.

"You two... you're okay?"

Olga Marie turned and saw Ritsuka Fujimaru—the Master who had been dozing off during the briefing—approaching with Mash Kyrielight, her large shield in hand.