Everything went as usual after that. Being normal humans, Mashiro and Bocchi-chan were the first ones to recede to their respective rooms.
Some of the knights chose to have a beer night. Though, it mostly entailed the male knights. Thus, it left some on their own.
"I hate to admit it, but it has been a long time since we had something like this."
"It was hectic back then. The Roman Empire alone is a huge trouble." Bors replied to Mordred. The latter stuffed a portion of her cheesecake on her mouth.
"You don't want these, Galahad? They're pretty good."
"I think everything will taste good for you… But thanks for the offer. I'm good."
"If you say so."
As if used to my jabs, she shrugged them off with ease. That's a huge development for someone who got ticked off by it in the past.
"Ah, that's right. I met another version of you."
"Yeah? Wait, come again?!"
"She was having fun driving a Mustang GT without any license. I think she'll do good over there."
Perhaps due to the difference in experience, the Mordred with us is slightly more mature compared to the one in the other world.
"So… that's the 'parallel worlds' you mentioned? It feels strange."
"That's completely normal."
That was my reaction back when I met Galahad for the first time. It's completely understandable.
The screen in which we connected the consoles let out a sound of victory. For the tenth time, I defeated Bors in Nekket 9. That's the price of overconfidence. He might've done nothing but play it during the entire vacation, but he still wouldn't be able to defeat me. Not here, and definitely not in the future.
"You sure you don't want to fight Mordred? You'll stand a chance with her."
"Hey!"
Before she could reply, I went ahead her and said:
"If you will talk about your skills, you do have some. In breaking consoles, that is."
What would happen if someone with anger issues played annoying games?
The answer to that is self-explanatory.
"You..! Tsk, since you have the guts, come and fight me, then!"
"...Alright."
The rest of the midnight was spent with me absolutely thrashing Mordred using only Panda. In the end, she and Bors fell asleep on the sofa.
I was thinking whether to carry them to their bedrooms or leave a blanket here until someone approached me.
"It seems like you didn't drink much, Sir Lancelot."
Unlike Sir Tristan who drank the most, he didn't have much alcohol. I could tell it by the smell of alcohol on his body.
"That was something I left long ago."
Deadly silence occurred between us for a while.
"Back when you… when Sir Percival told the news about you, I couldn't hear the rest of his words."
This time, I chose to face him straight up. I could see the complex look he held towards me.
"If… If I had been at least responsible… Looking back at it, I had truly been an irresponsible person."
Being the spark for Camelot's demise.
Irresponsibility towards his own son.
I didn't know why, but I accepted his invitation to the Round Table back then. I had been an unfeeling person out-and-out, yet I might've held a sliver of expectation that he could've compensated for all the shitty things he did.
Unexpectedly, he did. However, that was until making it clear that his allegiance towards his King and his responsibility to defend Camelot were his higher priorities.
That should've been the turning point in our connection.
"It was already in the past. I, for once, don't think about it as much as I do now."
"...I understand. This time… I'll do things right."
I remained silent until he went back to his room.
To be honest…
I don't know.
I am satisfied with my current life. I have a good brother and loving parents. I didn't lack any care when I was a child. In that sense I had been truly fortunate.
There's something in me that couldn't simply disregard every single shitty thing Sir Lancelot did. It might've been my original intention as Galahad. We have our bottom lines, and mine wouldn't allow me to forgive him that easily.
However…
'Should it be better now?'
As long as he does things correctly now, I don't have much qualms.
Just as I left a pair of blankets for the two kids asleep on the sofa, I met someone along the way.
"Bocchi-chan?"
"Ah… I thought it was someone else…"
She is currently wearing a white hoodie with pajama pants. I don't know where she got this combination, but she seems to like it.
"On the way to the restroom?" I asked.
"Yes… I drank a lot of lemon juice earlier…"
After she joined as the guitarist, one of the things we did together was to teach her how to swim.
"How was the seawater?"
"Nobu… It sucks, yeah."
Not only did she experience sinking into the seawater with her eyes open, she also drowned several times and drank it.
"It was thanks to you that I could float now."
"Unlike back then when I saved you from drowning, no?"
A slight tinge of blush appeared on her cheeks. That was her embarrassment showing up.
That was quite an old memory. When we went to a resort, she nearly drowned after being overconfident. I panicked a bit back then, but I was able to bring her back with the help of magicka.
"Well, I won't bother you much. Catch on with your sleep, Bocchi-chan."
*****
Parallel worlds.
Akin to a tree, they are the infinite branches spawned forth by it. However, in the case of Nobu's world, it is more of 'virtual branches', something that isn't truly 'real'. The world itself conserved energy by making these possibilities as 'something that didn't happen', thus removing any expenditure it may cause.
Meaning to say, there is only a single [reality] of the world itself.
Although, this was something changed upon by Nobu's arrival. The Holy Grail made these possibilities 'real', turning them into legitimate worlds that truly occurred;history that has been left behind.
Tick.
Tock.
Time has always been moving forward.
'I am…'
Nobu looked around his surroundings and felt a sense of deja vu.
'The… Akashic Records..?'
He was in a space filled with glittering stars. It is a strange place that gave a renewed sense of solemnity.
Behind him, a huge black hole that 'devoured everything' remained static. It represented the 'singularity', the center of a black hole that is theoretically said to have infinite density. In this case, what is contained within the black hole are endless knowledge.
'I'm in a phantom? No, this is real—'
"I'm currently in a pinch. Can I borrow your help?"
Suddenly, a voice rang out not far away from him. It sounded weaker compared to a normal voice.
Looking at its direction, Nobu saw a peculiar scene.
"Hey. Time must have been so messed up for our meeting to occur like this."
Another version of him stood straight, with blood dripping from nearly his entire body. His black coat stuck closely to his body due to the amount of blood he was letting out. Even his entire face was covered by it. Nevertheless, he didn't seem too bothered.
Rather, he was too inhuman to be bothered by it.
Drip.
From the initial state of surprise, Nobu showed a look of understanding.
"You are from the fifteenth iteration."
"Exactly."
Although Nobu doesn't have any omniscience and his [Revelation] skill became dormant after leaving that world, his own [Revelation] skill that didn't come from his class is still with him. It is the same skill that enabled him to permanently materialize the Lapis Judaicus.
Wiping the blood in his eyes, the other Nobu began explaining:
"Its domain was a strange one. It represented the "end" of everything. One wrong move and you'll reach your 'end'. Although Suguru-san and Tsukumo-san survived after their contact, they lost all their potential as sorcerers."
"My missing memories…"
"I apologize. That was something caused by my actions." He replied. "I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the completed power of the Philosopher's Stone alone. It was the peak of mysticism after all."
Each of the Philosopher's Stone fragments held insane abilities. That was resulted by its concept as the 'peak technology' of mysticism; the strongest divine item of a world itself.
In a sense, it was just as strong as the Holy Grail I am currently holding.
"Through it, I was able to manifest a miracle and create this opportunity."
As he spoke, a clear jewel with three colors appeared on top of his hand: Blue, Red, and Silver.
The blue portion represents infinite energy.
The red portion represents infinite knowledge.
The silver portion represents infinite life.
"Though…"
His words were interrupted by another burst of energy. He spewed out blood from his body. As a result, his countenance became paler.
"Not just the body…" Nobu muttered. "You are collapsing."
"Things weren't that easy without the holy grail. That's why… can you help me?"
Nobu fell silent. Thoughts flew in his mind.
'The cause and effect… We only met now, but I already saw the ending of the fifteenth iteration.'
That could only mean one thing: helping my other self already became a certainty.
'I make a wish.'
'Miracle: To enable another version of yourself to handle the power of the strongest [Sacrament]'
'Purpose: To save the world'
'A great purpose has been detected. Minimizing costs…'
'Confirm?'
Although Nobu was bewildered, he swiftly entered confirm. He had a vague feeling that his other self wouldn't last long.
As expected, the other Nobu's countenance became better with this miracle.
"That… it wasn't enough?"
The other Nobu sported an even more mature look than the current Nobu. He was someone who witnessed the death of hundreds of millions. Although he had the mentality of only protecting his loved ones at first, seeing the death of many people still had quite the toll on everyone—including him.
"I never relied on the grail since the beginning. I knew it wouldn't be enough to handle the stone's full power… unless it is the grail itself. You'll need it yourself."
The other Nobu took back the three-colored jewel back.
"If you have any questions, ask it now. Since time itself has been messed up, we should still have enough time for a small talk."
"The characteristics of the Twilight Syndrome."
"I thought you'd ask this."
The other Nobu explained the "End".
"There are thirteen calamities that would appear on Earth."
Nearly all of the legends classified the number "thirteen" as an ominous number. In Norse mythology, Loki killed Baldur on the thirteenth day. In the Abrahamic Bible, Jesus Christ was betrayed by his thirteenth guest on the last supper. Most importantly, the thirteenth day was classified sa the day of the apocalypse.
"You'd think these thirteen were all, but there'll be a fourteenth calamity. That would be the concept of "end" itself."
Each of the calamities highlighted a certain something that was feared by humans—mostly in apocalyptic texts. The four horsemen, the seven suns, the reappearance of biblical monsters such as the Leviathan…
Each of them represent a certain "end" mankind might reach.
As for the fourteenth calamity, it is the embodiment of the end itself. It is basically the "end of all things", serving as a counter to everything that "exists".
Simply put, its rawest form of power is to grant the end to something that hasn't reached it yet.
"The entire spirit realm was sacrificed by its sudden appearance. The responsibility of defeating it was left onto us… partly because of the spirit realm's efforts to actually defeat it. It has been a collaboration between two realms."
"..."
As expected, the gaps of knowledge that Nobu could only predict are presented to him.
"Suimei could actually do it, but he'll lose nearly everyone. As the one with the strongest fate of our world, he had several anchors to keep him in his current state. If he wasn't held like that, he might've turned into a singularity himself."
"...Truly… So you chose this just because of that?"
"Well? I'm not that selfish when it comes to my friends… and even if I do die in this attempt, I still have final insurance."
Despite the other Nobu not mentioning his final insurance, Nobu knew that he was talking to himself.
"Lord Nettesheim is still trapped in that precarious state, right… These are the coordinates to his location. Also, you should treat Miku better. Lord Nettesheim did see it coming… her being another great miracle compared to us."
"Miku..?"
The other Nobu flashed a smile as he said:
"She… She has the power to merge all parallel worlds into one."