It was just that this illusion might still have had some effect on the previously sleeping Tiamat, but for the current Tiamat, it was only a delaying tactic.
"Lancer, now!"
Reines suddenly shouted. The Volumen Hydrargyrum behind her turned into precise gears and embedded itself into the ground. Scathach's red spear traced a Rune symbol in midair. Crimson light trails and silver metal intertwined into a massive six-pointed magic circle that slowly rose toward the Imaginary Number crack.
The chaotic torrent constantly poured out from the crack temporarily settled down.
"To think things would get this out of hand... No wonder they say Beasts are obstacles to human order."
At that moment, Morgan quietly opened her eyes as well. Her tone carried a hint of mockery.
"But after things reached this point, even this goddess of love probably didn't expect it, right?"
Alvin suddenly turned to look at Morgan, "The chaos tide can't be blocked for long. Sis, do you have a way to redirect it somewhere else?"
"Knew you wouldn't just stand by and watch..."
Morgan snorted proudly and raised her right hand.
A staff quietly formed in her palm.
Morgan slowly lifted the staff and stabbed it hard into the ground.
Blue light spread out like ripples. Everywhere it passed, the black mud froze into dazzling star sand.
"The Inner Sea of the Planet?"
Alvin almost blurted it out.
The distant utopia, the Inner Sea of the Planet, or rather Avalon, that place existed on the reverse side of the world. Back during the conflict between Morgan and Artoria, Merlin had no choice but to send Artoria into Avalon.
And at the time, Merlin had said Morgan also had a way to enter "Avalon."
The chaos tide slammed into the barrier of the Inner Sea of the Planet and burst apart like waves striking rocks, scattering into countless streams of light.
"Sis's Noble Phantasm can even be used like this? That's a lot of tricks..."
Alvin stared in disbelief.
"Quit talking nonsense! I can't maintain this much longer. Think of something else."
Morgan glared at him, though the tips of her ears had turned faintly red.
'Sis really is as tsundere as ever,' Alvin smiled slightly, then looked toward Rin Tohsaka in his arms.
"Rin, stay here and watch over Sakura."
Rin Tohsaka blankly caught her unconscious younger sister and subconsciously asked, "What are you planning to do?"
For some reason, she had a bad feeling about this.
———
The sky over Fuyuki City had turned into a strange amber color. The two Chaldea members who had just arrived in Fuyuki through Rayshift were currently looking up at the streams of chaotic light moving through the clouds.
"This is weird. Why are the streets so quiet? There's not even a single person around..."
Fujimaru Ritsuka looked around the empty streets and frowned slightly.
Mash showed a helpless expression.
"Senpai, maybe don't say things that raise flags. Honestly, I've felt uneasy since we arrived."
They had already traveled through several Singularities before, but from the past until now, Mash had never experienced this kind of pounding feeling in her chest immediately after arriving somewhere, even though the city currently looked so peaceful and quiet.
At that moment, Fujimaru Ritsuka's body suddenly swayed. Mash quickly caught her and hurriedly asked, "Senpai, what's wrong?"
"The magical energy in the air feels strange...", Fujimaru Ritsuka said.
"The density of magical energy in the air... doesn't feel like something the modern world should have."
A flicker passed through Mash's eyes.
"Is this Beast affecting reality itself?"
At that moment, Doctor Roman's low and serious warning suddenly came through the communication channel.
["You two be careful. Multiple Servant reactions have been detected not far ahead."]
["If nothing unexpected happens, the Beast's 'nest' should be just ahead."]
Mash and Ritsuka exchanged a glance. Mash immediately raised her round shield in front of Ritsuka and carefully moved forward.
The metal around the edge of the shield grew slightly hot under the abnormal magical radiation. At the same time, the image on Chaldea's control console shook as the two approached, while the crimson mark symbolizing "Beast" flashed wildly at the edge of the screen.
Whoosh!
The moment the two stepped closer again, tentacles formed from black mud wrapped around their ankles almost at the same time.
"Senpai, watch out!"
Mash hurriedly grabbed Fujimaru Ritsuka's hand.
The next moment, the black mud tentacles dragged both of them into the Imaginary Number vortex.
After finally recovering a little from the dizziness in her head, Fujimaru Ritsuka slowly raised her head.
Then her pupils suddenly shrank.
What appeared before them was no longer the street from before, but an ancient temple filled with countless tides of chaos.
"Where is this place?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka immediately tried contacting Doctor Roman, but quickly discovered the holographic image had been distorted into an abstract painting by the chaos tide.
A crisp sound like porcelain shattering echoed from deep inside the temple.
Fujimaru Ritsuka instinctively looked up, and her breathing nearly stopped.
At the distant end, Kama was leaning against Rin Tohsaka's chest. Her silver hair cascaded down like a waterfall, and the dress resembling a starry night had long since been torn apart.
It was obvious a defeat CG had been triggered.
"What exactly happened here?"
Her voice was full of shock.
"Senpai... look over there!"
At that moment, Mash suddenly pointed somewhere not far beside them.
Fujimaru Ritsuka looked over, and her body froze.
Under the hole in the temple ceiling, twisted starlight flickered, while an enormous creature coiled in the center of the temple like an ancient constellation forgotten by the universe.
Her dragon tail wound around twelve broken pillars. The starlight scales brightened and dimmed with each breath, and every flicker sent ripples through the magical energy like waves on water.
The most suffocating thing was not her size, but the form of existence itself that surpassed understanding.
The chaos tide formed whirlpools around her body. Shattered crystals of desire were swept up by the tide and condensed into fresh magical energy for her use.
Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash both held their breath almost instantly. Their eyes were filled with disbelief and shock.
'This thing... Is actually a Beast?'
It was completely different from any Servant or Beast they had encountered before.
At least, at this moment, Mash had no way of judging just how massive the opponent's Saint Graph was.
Just breathing alone stirred the magical energy throughout the entire space.
If a creature like this awakened, what exactly would happen?
Just thinking about it made both of them feel cold all over.
Fujimaru Ritsuka gathered her courage and tried approaching the giant sleeping star beast inside the temple.
At that moment, they suddenly saw Alvin walk out from the shadows of a broken pillar, the white reverse scales at his neck glowing faintly.
"Hoh... so Chaldea really was alerted?"
Alvin kicked away the chaos tide crawling toward his feet.
"But right now, it's best not to act recklessly. Merlin just exhausted himself. Only because Mother was holding back did he barely manage to make her temporarily fall asleep again."
"If she senses outsiders entering right now... she might wake up."
"Who are you?"
Mash lowered her cross shield slightly. That was her usual defensive posture.
"If I have to say it, you should probably call me uncle... though I'd rather you call me big brother," Alvin smiled.
"Your Saint Graph should be using Galahad's, right? I'm going to approach Mother's body in a bit. Find a way to block the chaos tide outside."
"With the shield in your hands, you should be able to do it."
Mash revealed a surprised look.
"You know me?"
"We can chat after this. Merlin and the others can't hold on much longer."
After speaking, Alvin burst toward the "sleeping" Tiamat.
As if sensing the boy's approach, the previously calm chaos tide instantly erupted and surged toward Alvin from all directions.
Alvin threw out a punch. The force of the punch blasted apart the surging tide, but almost at the same moment, chaos tides rushed toward him from every direction, seemingly refusing to let him approach the Mother Goddess of Creation.
["Mash, help him get close to Tiamat! If nothing unexpected happens, I think I know who this guy is!"]
At that moment, Doctor Roman's broken voice came through the communication channel again. There even seemed to be excitement mixed into it.
["Alvin, he's the White Dragon of ancient Britain. No wonder I sensed Merlin earlier... I didn't expect this Holy Grail War to gather three British Heroic Spirits at once."]
Mash and Ritsuka immediately felt their spirits lift, their eyes lighting up.
The White Dragon?
So he was part of this Holy Grail War too?
Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash had learned about ancient Britain long ago, so naturally they were familiar with the White Dragon as well.
With him as an ally... the pressure suddenly didn't feel as heavy anymore.
"Mash, hurry!", Alvin shouted.
"Understood!"
Mash snapped back to her senses and slammed the cross shield heavily into the ground.
The power of her Noble Phantasm surged upward from below.
The Distant Utopia (Lord Camelot)!
Just as the overwhelming chaos tide rushed toward Alvin, the expanded Noble Phantasm immediately split the chaos tide apart.
This was the only method Alvin could think of.
He had approached Tiamat's true body once before. At the time, after awakening, the woman had used a "spiritual body" to communicate with him.
At this moment, Tiamat's "true body" was actually still in a "sleeping" state. If he wanted her to regain her sanity, the only method was to enter deep into her soul and wake up the "spiritual body."
But too much chaos tide surrounded Tiamat.
Even he wasn't confident whether his body would undergo changes after enduring such a massive baptism of chaos tide.
But in this situation, Merlin couldn't be relied on. Kama, that reckless idiot, was unconscious again. The only person left who could do anything was him.
"Wake up from your dream, Mother!"
As Alvin drew closer to Tiamat's massive body, the reverse scales on his body gradually became stained by the power of the chaos tide. The magical energy from the White Dragon furnace core formed golden patterns beneath his skin.
[Warning! Host Saint Graph contamination level 39%...]
[Warning! Host Saint Graph contamination level 68%... Critical threshold exceeded!]
As Alvin continued deeper, system notifications kept appearing.
Then, in the next moment, Tiamat suddenly opened her eyes.
Starlight lit up deep within her irises, reflecting the figure of the boy before her.
At nearly the same time, a system notification quietly appeared before Alvin's eyes.
[Tiamat's remaining "sanity" sensed your existence and pulled you into her consciousness space.]
[Your Saint Graph has been completely contaminated after receiving deep exposure to the chaos tide. However, demonic dragons are naturally "corrupted" creatures, so the chaos tide cannot affect your sanity. Your Saint Graph has evolved once again.]
[You have obtained special CG: Sleeping Tiamat]
[2% remaining until all CGs are unlocked. Next... please aim to unlock all CGs.]
Tiamat's chaos tide surged wildly. Alvin's White Dragon reverse scales intertwined continuously with the black mud that polluted everything.
———
At the same time, scenes from the outside world were reflected through the crystal fragments inside the temple, Fujimaru Ritsuka unconsciously clenched her fist and stared blankly into the sky.
"Has he gone crazy? That's creation-level spiritron pollution..."
Strings of rapidly changing data reflected before Mash's eyes.
"Senpai, Mister Alvin's Saint Graph waveform is... reconstructing?"
The girl's voice rarely sounded this shaken.
"The nature of his Saint Graph is shifting toward the Beast side."
In just one Fuyuki, was a third Beast really about to be born?
Fujimaru Ritsuka's heartbeat suddenly slowed for a moment. Before she could think further, Avalon's starlight suddenly bloomed across the temple ceiling.