Chaldea, Central Control Room.
When Rozen and Mash arrived here, all the apparition for the Spiritron Transfer had already gathered. They were sitting quietly in rows of seats, waiting for the commencement of the battle briefing.
In front of them stood Olga Marie, the Director of Chaldea.
"Too slow!" As usual, Olga Marie scolded Rozen and Mash loudly. "Hurry up and take your seats! Don't waste time!"
Her voice, more anxious than usual, told everyone that Olga Marie's anxiety had reached a new peak. In the past, if they had arrived late like this, Olga Marie wouldn't have let Rozen off so easily, especially with her strong dislike towards him. But now, she seemed to be too preoccupied to even have the energy to argue with him.
Observing Olga Marie, who was scolding them with her arms crossed, Rozen couldn't help but sigh. "She's been getting so angry every day; I wonder if she's going through early menopause..."
"Sen... Senpai...." Mash whispered, looking worried. "What's wrong?"
"...Nothing." Rozen shook his head and tried to sound casual. "Let's take our seats."
"Yes." Although Mash was still puzzled, she didn't ask further.
The two of them took their seats in the front row. There were fewer than ten seats in this row, reserved for the candidates who had been in Chaldea for over a month.
These nine candidates naturally attracted the attention of everyone present.
"Welcome to Chaldea, the special agency. I am the Director, Olga Marie Animusphere."
As the other candidates gave curious glances at Rozen and Mash sitting in the front row, Olga Marie's voice began.
"I assume you already have some understanding of our current situation since you came to Chaldea, right?"
This statement made all the master candidates look at each other. While the information about the impending apocalypse might be a top-secret that couldn't be revealed to the outside world, it was obvious that everyone in Chaldea knew about it.
Hence, Olga Marie continued, "I don't care whether you heard about it from someone else or learned about it through other channels. But now that you are here, you must understand the seriousness of our situation."
"And if you're still unsure, let me repeat it for you."
She made an announcement without any mercy, "Your upcoming battle will determine whether humanity can survive."
Her words resonated throughout the room, filling it with silence. Olga Marie continued in her cold and serious tone.
"If you succeed in this battle, humanity's history will be repaired, and its future will be secured."
"But if you fail, humanity will be completely annihilated."
"There are only these two outcomes, and there is no third option."
"Now, do you understand the weight of the mission you carry?"
With Olga Marie's words, tension spread throughout the room.
Next to Rozen, Mash's body tightened, and her composed face changed. Rozen couldn't help but curse in his mind.
(I finally managed to make Mash relax a bit, but this woman just loves to stir up trouble.)
Forgetting that just a month ago, he was the one causing all the trouble in Chaldea, Rozen found himself irritated by Olga Marie's actions.
Nevertheless, Olga Marie seemed satisfied with the current tense atmosphere.
"Now that you have a sense of responsibility, let's proceed with the real battle briefing."
Her expression turned serious as she started the explanation.
"After observing and investigating for some time, Chaldea has finally confirmed the location of the Space Singularity F."
Saying that, Olga Marie snapped her fingers.
The Chaldeas Axis in front of them turned to face everyone, and a screen in front of it enlarged, showing a planet model with one of its points magnified, displayed to all the candidates.
Rozen looked up and gazed in the direction Olga Marie was pointing. There appeared a small island nation located in the far east.
"Here is a city called Fuyuki," Olga Marie said while pointing at one of the locations on the island.
"Fuyuki City."
As the name was mentioned, the expressions of some Master candidates from prestigious mage families subtly changed. Even Rozen narrowed his eyes and received a whisper from Mash beside him.
"Sen... Senpai, isn't Fuyuki City..."
"...Yes, let's keep listening."
After a brief exchange of opinions, they continued to listen to the explanation. Olga Marie seemed to anticipate this reaction and continued with her explanation.
"After Chaldea's observation, the Space Singularity F appeared in Fuyuki City in the year 2004. It stuck to that era, just like a stain, and became a singularity."
"From 2004 until 2018, history in that place no longer exists."
"In other words, Fuyuki City at that particular point in time has detached from the stream of history and become an empty space, a singularity."
"Your mission is to transfer your Spiritrons to Fuyuki City in 2004, investigate the cause of humanity's disappearance in the future, make a judgment, and destroy the singularity."
Olga Marie withdrew her hand from the map and looked at all the candidates.
"This will be Chaldea's first Spiritron transfer operation since its establishment."
"For this mission, we have no clue about the difficulties and predicaments you may encounter."
"However, if you fail to pass this trial, humanity will have no future."
"Therefore, your mission must succeed; failure is not an option."
After giving such an unequivocal order, Olga Marie continued with a loud voice.
"Now, as the current Director of Chaldea, I command you to proceed with the first Spiritron transfer experiment in one hour."
"For safety reasons, we will select eight candidates with top rankings from the simulation battles held so far to form Team A. They will be the first to be sent to the singularity."
"Team A members have received thorough training in Chaldea over the past month and are capable of handling any situation."
"They will depart first to ensure the safety of subsequent team members in the singularity."
"While Team A is in action, members from Teams B and below must be ready to depart after the second experiment."
After her announcement, Olga Marie clapped her hands.
"Now, proceed to the terminals for landing and prepare for the Spiritron transfer."