Type-Moon, What Do You Mean You summoned Tiamat?! Chapter 49: Alaya — So, Are You All Acquaintances?

Snowfield City Police Station – Office

The encrypted call ended. Orlando's previously cold expression twisted into sothing unpredictable. Barely concealed irritation flickered in his eyes.

Francesca… What the hell has that girl done this ti?

"Um… Chief, did you receive so bad news?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka sensed the strange atmosphere and asked cautiously.

Orlando snapped out of his thoughts and replied icily, "This matter has nothing to do with you. Regarding the Singularity you ntioned, Chaldea has already received all the information it requires. If you have no further business, the two of you may leave."

The two girls exchanged glances. They understood they had been dismissed.

They bowed lightly and saluted with respect. "Thank you for the information, Chief Orlando."

Just as they turned to leave—

Smack!

Orlando slamd a docunt bearing a top-secret seal onto the desk.

"Let make one thing clear," he said calmly. "The Mother Goddess of Creation is indeed imnsely powerful, but she depends heavily on Matou Yuu. If you truly wish to repair this Singularity, Matou Yuu is the key."

He paused, then softened his tone slightly. "If you really want to et him… I can arrange a police vehicle to take you there directly."

Ritsuka's eyes lit up as though she had seized a lifeline. "Really?! Thank you so much!"

Orlando gave an ambiguous nod and pressed the intercom button on his desk.

Mash, standing beside her, gazed at him with unrestrained curiosity in her beautiful violet eyes.

Is it truly possible to make a mythological Goddess of Creation obey a re human and beco dependent on him…?

"What kind of person is Mr. Matou, I wonder?"

"Co to think of it, Mash, the Matou family is based in Fuyuki City, right?"

Ritsuka, finally regaining her composure, stroked her chin thoughtfully. "That reminds —Emiya-san from Chaldea used to live in Fuyuki City…"

She turned to Mash with bright, curious eyes. "Could it be… that Emiya-san knows this Matou Yuu?"

…

Deep Underground.

Bang!

A blinding flash and the crack of a gunshot echoed through the sealed room.

Faldeus's lifeless body, a crimson flower blooming between his brows, toppled backward and crashed heavily into the large executive chair.

The man once known as Emiya Shirou—or rather, the man who had long since discarded that na—slowly lowered the jet-black barrel of the gun he had reforged from Kanshou.

He turned, intending to vanish.

But the instant he took his first step, he froze.

An aura of death that could freeze the soul itself descended without warning upon the secret chamber.

EMIYA Alter gripped both pistols tightly, drew a deep breath of the frigid air, and slowly exhaled.

"I never imagined you would personally manifest… all for the sake of a single human magus."

EMIYA Alter turned. His eyes, still as dead water, stared at the imposing elder in heavy black armor who had appeared from the shadows.

"…The First Hassan."

Two faint blue soul-flas flickered upon the mountain-dwelling elder's body. His hollow gaze rested quietly upon the man before him.

A low voice, like an echo rising from the bottom of a valley, slowly reverberated through the deathly silent command center.

"Naless Archer. I was summoned to this world as a Servant to walk the path of a broken contract."

The elder glanced at the corpse slumped in the chair and spoke without emotion. "However… your shot was far too hasty. This man's life has ended, yet his Evening Bell has not yet tolled."

EMIYA Alter fell silent for a mont, then shrugged with a self-deprecating smile.

"My apologies. In matters of suppression, only efficiency and erasure are permitted."

"Humanity's survival cannot afford to entertain so many tragedies. The malignant tumors that have endlessly multiplied throughout human history are simply too nurous. As a cleaner, I have no ti to wait for each target's evening bell before pulling the trigger."

The Old Man of the Mountain remained silent, watching the blood drip slowly from the desk onto Faldeus's face. The corpse looked almost peaceful in death.

A faint sigh escaped the elder's lips beneath his mask—as though he already knew everything.

Realizing the old man would not stop him, EMIYA Alter holstered his pistols.

"Anything else? If not, I'm leaving. The situation outside is extrely tense. That monster we released is far more troubleso than this fool lying on the floor."

The elder's blue soul-flas flickered faintly as he turned his gaze back to EMIYA Alter.

"Where will you point your gun next? At that foreign youth who contracted with the Mother of the Abyss?"

"Yes. In the end, whether this Singularity can be repaired… that man holds the greatest key."

EMIYA Alter's voice remained calm, yet a faint, complicated emotion surfaced in his usually cold eyes the mont the man was ntioned.

It really has been a long ti since I last saw him…

Ever since he despaired and chose to beco Hero of Justice, contracting with Alaya, he had existed in this non-human, ghostly state.

But in the distant mories of Fuyuki City… that seemingly lazy boy from the Matou family had looked after him like a real older brother.

If he saw now—this blood-stained ghost—would he even recognize ?

EMIYA Alter shook his head with a bitter smile and forcibly banished the chaotic thoughts. He pulled up the collar of his black trench coat. With a flash of spiritual light, his body dissolved into a phantom and vanished into the underground abyss.

Once both n had disappeared, the command center sank into an eerie, suffocating silence. Only the bloodstains on the floor remained.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

A little later…

Faldeus's head-shot corpse lay in a pool of blood—yet his right index finger suddenly twitched, defying all reason.

Upon closer inspection, the liquid flowing from the bullet hole between his brows was not warm red brain matter… but a faintly glowing, rcury-like mass of liquid magic circuits.

…

Beneath the Dark Bridge Arch

The reconstructed Flat narrowed his black eyes and secretly observed Tiamat standing on the bridge above.

"Unbelievable… An aura that feels as though it has reached the very source of life… yet it resides within a Servant's Saint Graph."

Anxiety laced his voice.

Flat Escardos—or more precisely, the true monster that had seized this body at this mont: Thia Escardos.

She was neither a Heroic Spirit, nor a Dead Apostle, nor a traditional Phantasmal Beast. She was a devised created by the Escardos family 1,800 years ago—one capable of resonating with the will of the planet itself.

The usual Flat was innocent, carefree, and cheerful. But that personality was rely a lid ant to seal the monster lurking inside.

When Flat suffered a fatal wound, the being called Thia would awaken. Like a black hole, she would indiscriminately devour magic, matter, and even space around her, growing larger with each feast.

Thia was a calamity born purely for destruction.

Faldeus, who had been commanding from underground, could never have imagined the monster he had unleashed in this Holy Grail War.

Or perhaps he had simply been extraordinarily unlucky.

In a Holy Grail War, eliminating the Master is usually the most efficient thod.

The result? When Flat died, the calamity sealed within him awakened.

As for Matou Yuu… there was even less to say.

And by coincidence… both of them hailed from the Clock Tower—the Traditional Mage's Association that the governnt was currently targeting.

"Are you Flat…?"

Matou Yuu frowned at the blond boy before him. "No… You're not him."

They looked identical, yet the current Flat possessed a completely different temperant and voice.

Whatever had happened, the fool who had hidden in the shadows and dropped the bomb had not only failed to solve the problem—he had created a catastrophe capable of shaking the heavens.

"I am no re vessel that openly displays boredom… Do not compare that worthless lid to ."

Flat's voice was chillingly dark and cold, yet his gaze lingered long on Matou Yuu, as though calculating whether violence was necessary.

Even after 1,800 years of sealing, Thia remained an extrely rational existence. Her intelligence had not deteriorated. If anything, she understood profit and loss far better than any magus.

The blue-haired goddess beside the boy looked troubleso, but killing her master was not impossible.

However… success was not guaranteed.

After observing the black-haired youth from the shadows for a few seconds, Thia reached her conclusion almost instantly.

He was skilled—his magical energy output far exceeded that of an ordinary magus.

If drawn into a prolonged battle… for soone who had only just awakened and needed to absorb environntal mana to recover, it would be an extrely inefficient choice.

The decision was made in an instant.

"Priority readjustnt… temporarily postponed."

Without another word, Flat turned away. A pair of wings wreathed in black mist sprouted from his back. A violent gust howled. The calamity plunged into the night sky and vanished into the dark abyss beneath the overpass.

They chose to retreat without even fighting?

Matou Yuu stared at the now-empty arch in mild surprise.

While lost in thought, the bizarre scene he had just witnessed replayed in his mind.

Despite taking a direct bomb blast, the person who should have been dead was completely unhard…

What exactly is that thing possessing Flat's body?

Matou Yuu's thoughts raced.

Suddenly, the piercing wail of police sirens erupted from the overpass behind them.

In the darkness, flashing red-and-blue lights approached rapidly.

"They even called in the Snowfield City police…"

Matou Yuu frowned and whispered to Tiamat, "We need to leave. Now."

The blue-haired girl nodded obediently and began to activate her magecraft.

But at that mont, a clear, anxious girl's voice rang out from an open car window.

"Excuse —Mr. Matou Yuu! Please wait!"

An orange-haired head popped out from the passenger-side window. Her delicate, beautiful face was filled with panic, as though she feared Matou Yuu would disappear at any second.

Matou Yuu froze in shock upon recognizing her.

A mont later, through the windshield, he saw a purple-haired girl gripping an enormous cross-shaped shield in the driver's seat.

"These two are…"

"Chaldeans."

A low, cold voice descended from the top of the overpass. "Because this era is sliding toward a Singularity that even human reason cannot endure."

The instant the voice rang out, Matou Yuu spun around.

Tiamat reacted even more violently.

The blue-haired goddess who had remained unshaken even before the calamity of Flat now wore an expression of extre vigilance, as though facing a mortal enemy.

She stepped forward without hesitation, shielding Matou Yuu with open hostility.

Although Tiamat had never t him before, she could clearly sense the killing intent radiating from him.

The temperature plumted below freezing.

Yet when Matou Yuu's gaze passed over Tiamat's shoulder and fell upon the white-haired, crew-cut man with bronze skin standing in the shadows, he suddenly stopped.

Unconsciously, he spoke a single na.

"…Shirou?"

"…"

Hearing that warm, familiar greeting that existed only in distant mories, the naless assassin—who had long discarded both na and emotion—showed a faint ripple of disturbance on his indifferent face.

He parted his lips slightly, as if to deny it. "I'm not—"

But the boy rely gently patted Tiamat's shoulder, signaling her to calm down.

Then he stepped forward with a friendly smile and lightly clapped the man's shoulder.

"I never expected to run into you in Snowfield City… By the way, Shirou—why is your skin so dark? You used to be much more tanned when we were kids…"

At the sa mont, the man's body stiffened slightly.

The distant police car had already pulled up beside the overpass.

The two Chaldea girls stepped out.

Feeling the shock radiating from the Chaldea Master, the man looked at the black-haired boy before him—the sa gentle, familiar smile he had worn back in Fuyuki City.

His fingers, still gripping the black mystic gun, trembled faintly.

Then, as though surrendering, a rare, gentle smile appeared on his lips.

"Yuu… you really haven't changed at all."

…

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