Fate: How About a New Savior?

Control Room.

"Nervous?"

Shiomi asked as he watched Sakura check her combat suit.

"A little... something did go wrong during the last Spiritron Transfer experiment." Sakura still felt a lingering fear. She wasn't worried about herself—she was afraid something might happen to him again.

"That's why I'm going with you this time." Shiomi patted her on the head.

"Dad, you're being way too reckless." After he took his hand away, Sakura rubbed her head with both hands. "I'm not even close to the level where I can use Imaginary Space to jump through time and space."

Shiomi chuckled. "By the time you can do that on your own, maybe you'll be on par with a Magician. Or would that only get you a Grand designation?"

"Whatever, that kind of stuff doesn't matter!" Sakura puffed her cheeks in protest.

As they chatted, the coffins finished their preparations, and the three teams entered their respective units.

"Counter-Summoning System, activate. Initiating Spiritron Conversion—"

"First Singularity Team: Olga Marie Animusphere, Ritsuka Fujimaru, Mash Kyrielight—Spiritron Conversion complete."

"Second Singularity Team: Caren Shiomi, Gray—Spiritron Conversion complete."

"Fourth Singularity Team: Tenkei Shiomi, Sakura Shiomi—Spiritron Conversion complete."

Staff members in the control room reported the status of each conversion in turn. The Singularities were designated from the First to the Fourth, based on confirmed coordinates and time periods.

"Begin formal verification of designated priority levels: First, Second, and Fourth." Romani issued the command.

The Spiritron Transfer system then activated.

Within the coffins, the Masters and Servants were separated and transferred to different destinations. The coffins were completely sealed off from the outside, their interiors reduced to nothingness. Inside, their bodies converted into Spiritrons and traveled to their respective eras.

For those inside, the entire process took only an instant.

When Sakura opened her eyes again, she felt the wind howling around her. Looking up, she saw a sky blanketed with dark clouds. Below, hundreds of meters down, a city cloaked in thick fog stretched out.

"What... what is this..." Her heart leapt into her throat.

The moment the transfer completed, she and Shiomi had materialized in midair—only to be immediately pulled downward by gravity.

"So this is what a proper Spiritron Transfer feels like!" Shiomi shouted, then reached toward her. "Grab my hand, Sakura!"

"Okay!"

Locking fingers with her father brought Sakura instant relief.

"Steady your breathing. Activate Anti-Gravity Magecraft!" Shiomi instructed.

Amid the roaring wind, Sakura followed his guidance and initiated the spell. In an instant, their fall slowed.

Then, she noticed Shiomi activating a second spell.

"This is..." Sakura immediately realized his intent.

As they descended, she began to sense the poisonous nature of the fog. Any living being would be at risk after inhaling too much of it.

Shiomi had deployed a protective Rune spell, shielding them from all harmful toxins. With this, they could move safely within the fog.

Sakura could've done it herself, but Shiomi cast it for both of them, saving a bit of her Mana.

"I'd heard that London was called the 'City of Fog' in the 18th and 19th centuries."

After landing lightly, Shiomi frowned as he scanned the fog-shrouded city. "But I never imagined it'd be like this..."

The fog's toxicity wasn't just from industrial pollution—it also contained a notable concentration of Mana. It definitely wasn't something that should exist in the air as part of the Greater Source.

"I can't sense any other people nearby..."

Sakura crouched down and pressed her palm to the stone-paved ground, linking herself with London's Leylines. This was one of the skills she had learned at the Clock Tower—standard knowledge for all students there. A poor resonance with London's land and Leylines could hinder any progress in Magecraft studies and research.

Though such incompatibility was extremely rare among Magus, it wasn't unheard of.

Shiomi activated the communicator and contacted Chaldea.

"This is the London Singularity. Spiritron Transfer complete—we've arrived safely."

After a brief burst of static, the connection came through clearly.

"The other two teams have also arrived at their destinations, but Olga Marie's team ran into a squad of French soldiers. Caren and Gray have already encountered a girl leading an army," came Morgan's voice. "Only my husband's team hasn't encountered any enemies yet."

"Yes."

Shiomi glanced around and confirmed it.

He sharpened his focus, listening for the slightest sound. Nothing—no signs of enemies or anything else nearby.

"Dad, look!"

Sakura suddenly stood and pointed toward the sky through the dense fog.

He looked up. Even with the heavy fog and thick cloud cover, he could vaguely make out an enormous circular halo overhead, like some kind of ornament suspended above the entire city.

"A massive... halo? Or is it a band of light?" Shiomi murmured.

"I cross-referenced the data—similar objects were spotted in the skies above Orléans and Rome too."

This time it was Romani, managing operations from the control room, who chimed in.

"There are others in the Singularities too..."

Shiomi stared solemnly at the barely visible ring.

"If it was only seen in one place, we might have dismissed it as a coincidence."

"Maybe it's some underlying trait all Singularities share," Morgan offered.

Shiomi pressed further. "What kind of trait?"

"Hard to say. It might have to do with the Holy Grail, or maybe it's tied to whoever created the Singularities in the first place." Morgan's answer was vague, almost evasive, like she knew more than she was willing to share.

Shiomi nodded quietly. He got the hint.

"Either way, let's mark this as an important observation."

"It gives me the creeps," Sakura muttered, still staring upward with a frown.

"Well, it is a Singularity. Late 19th-century London already feels eerie enough, just from how deserted it is—"

Shiomi stopped mid-sentence as a sudden chill raced down his spine.

The nature of the fog shifted drastically in mere seconds.

"Sakura!"

"Eh?"

Before she could react, Shiomi pulled her into his arms. A screeching clash of blades rang out behind them, making her flinch.

Twisting around from within Shiomi's embrace, she saw him fending off an attacker with a pistol in his left hand.

"...Huh? That's weird. How'd they find us? And the fog's not affecting them at all—even though they're human..."

A white-haired girl emerged slowly from the mist, cloaked in black and holding a pair of daggers longer than her forearms. Her expression was one of annoyed confusion.

"A Servant? Class... Assassin? Is there a Holy Grail War happening here too?"

Shiomi helped Sakura to her feet, leveling his spear at the Assassin girl with wary precision.