Chapter 244 - 244: Singularity

...There was no reaction.

The young Saber didn't seem to have heard Saber's words at all, continuing her stride toward the Sword of Selection.

"It's useless, Artoria."

"This is Mordred's dreamscape, born from the memories of your past that she obtained by using your lineage as a medium. It is a dream-memory that exists only in the past."

Merlin, seeing that Saber was still trying to call out to her younger self, spoke up to stop this futile effort. "In other words, everything that appears here is a fact that has already occurred."

"That is why Mordred has never been able to pull the sword; in this memory, there is no record of Mordred ever drawing it."

"Even if she truly could do it, this dream-memory would simply vanish because there would be no 'aftermath' to follow."

'So that's it. That's what it was.'

Mordred, who finally understood why she could never draw the Sword of Selection every time she had this dream, and why the sword had always been like a mere phantom to her, realized the truth in a flash of clarity.

...Wait, hold on! Doesn't that explanation have something completely wrong with it!?

"Hey, there was no need to go out of your way to say that part again!" Mordred's [Instinct] seemed to have latched onto something, and she shouted: "And since you, Merlin, said this is a dreamscape, then what's the deal with you!?"

"Are you also just something I'm dreaming up in this dreamscape!?"

Mordred pointed her finger in embarrassment and anger at Merlin—the only person who clearly didn't belong in this dream.

Of course, if we're talking about people who didn't belong, Mordred and Saber were actually in the same boat. But that was only because they had both been summoned to the present world by the Holy Grail. Even Saber, who hadn't been summoned by Romania's Greater Grail, had manifested as a Servant and arrived in this parallel world, creating a magical resonance with Mordred that pulled them both into this dream. Unlike Merlin, that uninvited guest.

"Indeed, under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for me to appear in this dreamscape, even as an incubus."

Merlin first confirmed Mordred's suspicion, speaking in the tone of someone saying "the fool has finally grown up," before laughing and adding: "But besides being an incubus, I am also a Mage, you know."

"Did I not mention it? If I were to die and be summoned as a Servant, there is a very high probability that I would become an extraordinary Caster—specifically, a Grand Caster, provided the conditions were met?"

No, he had not. Merlin had never mentioned such a thing. Both Mordred and Saber, who had finally regained her composure, shook their heads. In truth, aside from acting like a riddle-maker from time to time, had the Merlin of her life ever done anything serious? Absolutely not.

"I see, I didn't mention it?" Merlin nodded, continuing to laugh without a hint of concern. "But now, you both know, Artoria."

"Thanks to the [Clairvoyance] shared by all Grand Casters, I can see what you are currently experiencing, even if I haven't died or been summoned by the Grail."

"And as long as I use certain methods to intervene in these affairs..."

"Of course, this sort of thing sounds very convenient, but the actual operation isn't quite as effortless as it is for your Master, Artoria..."

Although she didn't know what he meant, it was enough to confirm that this Merlin was the genuine Merlin, and that he had appeared here for the purpose of resolving their current predicament. Saber, who had long since grown accustomed to Merlin's character, quickly grasped the gist of his words.

But just as she thought this, she heard his follow-up:

"Eh, Shirou?"

'Why is Shirou being brought up here?' Not long after this question arose in Saber's heart, a familiar voice echoed in her ears:

[Pseudo-Death 13]!!

"As I thought, you two have appeared here."

The red-haired youth with spiky hair arrived in this dream world, accompanied by a Grim Reaper holding a scythe and wearing a clown mask. "Is it because of the magical resonance and the connection between the homunculus and the origin?"

"But the situation on your end, Saber, is truly complex."

Shirou Emiya took one look at Merlin, who was loitering in this dream world with them, and having heard Merlin's previous sentence upon arrival, realized the entity possessed self-awareness rather than being a mere hallucination. Shirou then turned to look at Saber and the nearby Mordred. "Although I am loath to interrupt your reunion with an acquaintance, if you don't get out of here quickly—"

"Kairi Shishigou, who is responsible for providing you with magical energy, is likely going to be finished."

"Even if you pre-loaded two Command Spells to serve as a power source, those two spells are far from enough to support your indefinite unleashing of Noble Phantasms."

Shirou Emiya uttered words that snapped Mordred into immediate sobriety.

"Y-You, what do you mean by that...!?"

Mordred, bombarded by the sequence of events—from having her dark history seen by Saber to having the bastard Merlin witness it as well—finally remembered why she had come to this dream world with Saber in the first place. Their physical bodies in the real world were still locked in a beam-cannon struggle between Noble Phantasms.

Now, Shirou Emiya called out the very thing Mordred feared most: "I mean exactly what you think. You didn't believe that everything happening here only lasts an instant in the outside world, did you?"

"If this were truly a dreamscape, that would be the case."

"But this is clearly not just a dream. Ever since Merlin began interfering, this place, which looks like a dreamscape, has actually linked itself with the paradise of [Avalon]."

"To put it simply, this world is probably something akin to a Singularity."

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