I am a Peerless Hero without equal! (WC/Currently in FGO Part 1)

"What do you mean you can't Rayshift them in? You found the Singularity yes?"

Olga couldn't help but yell. The technician's words were completely unbelievable like someone saying the real color of the sky was green or making an equally ridiculous statement.

"Director, we found the Singularity over London. But there's something blocking insertion."

Olga's eyes twitched, and her mouth thinned into a line as she considered what the technicians said. This London Singularity was definitely something of interest. It was definitely something to watch out for, given that, although located, Rayshifting into it was currently impossible.

How annoying! Olga cursed internally. "Keep trying. There has to be something about this Singularity that prevents rayshifting. In fact, ignore everything else. Put all your effort into trying to enter this Singularity."

______

When Ritsuka heard the news from Olga, he was a bit ashamed to say how relieved he felt. The teen was relieved at how his next Singularity—his next increase in the chance of dying—was being postponed until they could actually enter into the Singularity.

Just as Ritsuka was dreading his next chance at dying, the teen realized a mage stood before him. A scion of one of the greatest mage families in the whole Moonlit World, if what Doctor Romani had taught him was correct.

"Director Olga…" Ritsuka started but paused when memories of Romani telling him how mages jealously guarded their secrets came to mind.

"What is it?" Seeing how Ritsuka still appeared uncertain, like a child standing on the precipice of confessing a bad deed to their parents, Olga physically nudged the teen, a very informal act from the normally professional Director, "Come on, I won't get mad."

Olga was much calmer after the intervention and less twitchy. According to Da Vinci, she began regularly sleeping, getting six hours of rest every night. It wasn't ideal, but it was much better than before—a drastic improvement, all things considered.

"I… I wish to learn magecraft!" Ritsuka declared, "I wish to no longer be a burden on the others. I want to be able to stand on my two legs!"

Olga tilted her head in confusion, wondering where this was coming from before figuring that Ritsuka must also have his insecurities.

"Ritsuka, your 'others' are Gods and Servants. Even if you become as powerful as Lorelei Barthomeloi, you still can barely defeat a weak Servant."

Ritsuka placed a fist over his chest, "Still! I want to contribute at least something more than what I am right now. If only to ease other's worry."

Olga stared into Ritsuka's eyes. Gold met blue. She took a measure of his will, to determine if this was a fluke or not. And Olga saw only determination. She saw a reflection of herself, back when she was trying her best to earn her father's love.

"So be it. Every day at three sharp, after Romani finishes teaching you about human history, I expect you to be already in Room D-31. If you're not there, this magecraft lesson is over."

A bright smile appeared on Ritsuka's face. He bowed, "Thank you, Director Olga!"

He then added, "I will make sure to make you proud!"

Olga had to turn away lest she let how much Ritsuka's honesty got to her.

_____

Zvezdnyy yawned. Her face leaned on her arms as she struggled to keep her eyelids open. They weighed as much as mountains, yet nonetheless, even faced with such heavyweights, Zvezdnyy never backed down and kept them open.

She was like Atlas, only instead of holding up the world, she was holding up her consciousness, since if she fails she'll inevitably fall asleep.

"Zvezdnyy, can you write down and show me what is the quadratic formula?" The woman in front of her said. Miss Elron. Miss… what's her first name again?

Zvezdnyy stared at the young woman in front of her. She had vibrant, prismatic hair and wore the orange Chaldean uniform. Though she always taught her lessons, making sure her education never fell behind, Zvezdnyy always called her 'teacher' or 'Miss Elron', never by her first name.

"Zvezdnyy, what's the quadratic formula?" Miss Elron repeated herself and looked expectantly.

Zvezdnyy finished writing down the whole formula x = (-b +/- square-root of b^2 - 4ac) / 2a. It was a simple enough formula to remember, especially with her intelligence.

"Very good!" Miss Elron praised her, but the praise felt empty. Compared to the praise given to Zvezdnyy by her Polkovodets, any praises from Miss Elron felt meaningless. It was as though her praises were fake in a sense.

Well, it's just like the praise coming from those Foundation researchers.

Memories of being in a sterile room rushed into the forefront of Zvezdnyy's mind like a flood. It was unpleasant how lifeless everything was. Even as she tried to breathe life into this sterile room by coloring the white walls and black floors with crayons, she was suddenly halted.

The researchers stopped her midway through. The girl was confused. Like any four-year-old, she wanted to continue but was told to stop. So she did. Even now, Zvezdnyy could still remember being led out of the room, looking back, wanting to go back in to complete her Creation, to bring life to an otherwise lifeless place.

"Zvezdnyy, can you now tell me…" Miss Elron must've sensed how Zvezdnyy was dying inside, so she switched to a different topic, "How about I teach you what to expect in the next Singularity? Would you like to know more about the Victorian Era?"

That caught Zvezdnyy's attention. She bolted up, and a shot of pure focus went through her veins, "Yes please!"

History was always fascinating. Zvezdnyy wondered what her old World was like now. Eventually, she'd like to go back and see how everything had progressed. But those are future talks; now, it's time to focus on the past.

Miss Elron chuckled, but it felt empty. "Alright. Let me just try to find the book on the Victorian Era."

The woman left and disappeared among the many shelves that filled the room like fillets inside a bee hive box. After no more than a minute, she returned holding her tablet.

"The Victorian Era represents the moment where the Old transforms into the New. It is an era of great change, where the Industrial Revolution uproots millennium-old traditions…"

______

A bag of chips remained untouched as Artoria fiddled with the projector in front of her, trying to connect it to a tablet using the numerous wires.

Despite her being the King of Knights, she wasn't a master of electronics, not like those technicians who offered to help her with this stuff, before she rejected their aid. She thought it would be more fun to learn on her own.

Artoria glanced at the instruction manual resting beside the projector, its pages unfolded revealing the information within.

Modern electronics are almost as arcane as Merlin's sorcery.

Artoria froze when she heard a knock on her door. Facing it, the King of Knights rested the many wires and cords gently next to the projector as if to appease a beast with a volatile temper. She then walked over to her door and opened it, finding that Goddess on the other end.

"Can I help you, Kukulkan?"

"I want to ask you some questions. I want your wisdom on something."

She wasn't the first to ask for Artoria's advice. Many of her own knights have asked for her advice. Thus, Artoria moved to the side to let Kukulkan in.

"Do you need any help with this projector?"

Closing the door, Artoria turned around and found Kukulkan standing next to the projector, the various wires lying next to the arcane machine like an artist's brushes beside a half-completed painting.

Artoria's pride demanded that she reject Kukulkan's help, and her stubbornness won out, "No, it's fine. Please, sit."

Kukulkan sat down on a chair as Artoria continued plugging the wires into every port. Surely, by chance, she could successfully connect the tablet to the projector.

"What is Avalon like?"

Such a question surprised Artoria. Out of all the questions Kukulkan could've asked, one about Avalon was the most unexpected. And it must've shown on Artoria's face as Kukulkan elaborated, "I want to know what an eternal paradise looks like. What is a proper eternity?"

Artoria thought long about Kukulkan's question. She tried her best to put into words the Utopia that was cut off from the World itself.

"Avalon… is difficult to put into words. Avalon is a true paradise out of reach for beasts who possess wisdom." As Artoria spoke, her hands displayed a swaying motion. "It is a realm where the daytime sky is filled with spring's sunshine and the smell of summer, and the night you're wrapped in autumn air as stars of winter fill the firmament above."

The swaying stopped. "In that place, flowers of all colors from red to pink, magenta, and even black bloom on gently sloping hills. It is a place where those fairies without sin dance. The density of magical energy in that place is beyond the tolerance of normal humans."

Kukulkan's lips thinned, "Is it unchanging?"

Artoria nodded as her hand went up, grasping into a fist to replicate what it's like to be still, "It is a world separated from the decay and destruction of everywhere else. It is not connected even if it's nestled in the Reverse Side of the World."

Kukulkan appeared unsettled by what Artoria said. Her mouth opened to speak but no sounds came out. It was as though the Goddess was about to reveal taboo information.

"How… how can it be a paradise if there's no change? Can people leave whenever they want?"

Artoria appeared confused, as if the Goddess's question was ridiculous, like her questioning whether the sky was blue or if Earth was a sphere.

"Avalon is paradise." Artoria tried to recall what the 'heaven' of Mayan Mythology was. Xibalba, that's what it was called, the Mayan underworld. That Mesoamerican civilization didn't have a heaven equivalent. "It is a tranquil realm where injury does not exist. A place of peace devoid of corruption. It is the unreachable utopia that I sought to achieve here on Earth in life. The perfect utopia."

That seems to terrify Kukulkan. It was extremely strange, as no one before who'd heard of Avalon had ever been terrified of it.

"Then, what comes after? Isn't it eternal stagnancy if you cannot change?"

"Change means the previous state was imperfect. Perfection does not need to change since any change would only lead to a degradation of that absolute. As for stagnancy, perfection should persist."

Kukulka's gaze grew in distance. She was deep in thought. Artoria wondered what would cause someone to fear Avalon, but the mention of 'eternity' made the blonde think it was not Avalon that she feared, but rather something else. Something… stagnancy? Kukulkan fears stagnancy.

This fear reminded Artoria of a knight who was the strongest in his village. With no one to challenge him, his skill stagnated, and when he rode out to join as a member of the Round, he failed on the first trial. After that day, that knight trained like never before. He always trained, never resting, never stopping to move forward.

Did Kukulkan have a similar experience?

______

Iskander cupped his chin as he studied the board. It wasn't a real board, but rather a large tablet featuring one, a computer chess board. Tapping on the rook, Iskander moved it up by five spaces. Afterward, he waited for his opponent to move.

It took the best chess AI of Chaldea far longer than what it took for Iskander to make a move. When it did, Iskander let out a grin full of teeth. He was pleased.

"My victory."

Iskander moved his queen forward until it almost reached the other side of the board. With both the rook and queen in place, the enemy king was caught in an unavoidable crossfire. The king piece had nowhere to go, and so victory was Iskander's.

"Hehe."

The Chaldean staff said that this was the strongest chess AI they had. Yet it could barely last 30 minutes against Iskander's tactical genius. The King of Conquerors hummed to himself, thinking that even so, to have a creation that could challenge him of all people in areas of tactics is certainly amazing.

Placing his hands on his knees, Iskander then stood up from the table that held the tablet, the chair he sat on creaking as it was shoved further back. "That was a fun distraction. You there! Technician Albert!"

"Yes, Lord Iskander?" The technician and his companion stood at attention beside the wall. Their backs were straight as a ruler, and Albert raised his head and puffed out his chest.

"I've defeated this chess AI of yours on its hardest difficulty nine times already. Do you have any other games like it? A conquest simulator perhaps?"

Albert thought about Iskander's request, and then promptly diverted the Servant's attention toward his companion, "Evan might have something. He's more in tune with the modern world."

Evan flashed a look of betrayal at Albert, only to look reluctant as Iskander's attention turned to the guy. "My— my lord. I… my laptop… it has…"

Evan silenced himself as Iskander placed a hand on the technician's shoulder. The sheer size of Iskander meant his hands were like gaudy pauldrons a medieval king might include in his armor, impractical, heavy, and unfit for war.

"Take pride in granting me more avenues of entertainment," Iskander announced, his Charisma on full force as confidence filled Evan's body.

"Um, yes. My laptop has a game called Hearts of Iron IV where you can play as a nation during World War II and…"

As Evan rambled on about this game and what you can do in it, Iskander found himself intrigued. Controlling a nation during the grandest war for the past 500 years? Now that was certainly something he'd look forward to.

He spent a lot of time learning about World War II. There were so many conquests, and of course, with conquest comes blood. It was simply human nature that blood and empires go together like day and night, both inescapable.

Even if he held a positive view of the Jews, them being one of his most loyal subjects and he, a most lenient overlord, their plight during that grand war of conquest incited little sympathy. Iskander was the one who wrote the original guide on building empires. He was most familiar with blood as he spilled plenty during his conquest.

"Show me this game," Iskander said, cutting off Evan.

"Yes, my Lord! But, fair warning, the game has just been released so it's pretty bare-bone—"

"Bah!" Iskander waved Evan's concern off, "let me be the judge of that myself."

_____

Archer… EMIYA stood alone in the kitchen. Everyone had fallen asleep, so only the lowest-power lights were turned on. Half of him basked in darkness, and the other half stayed in the light. He stared at the plate in front of him.

It was full of Japanese sweets. Wagashi to be exact. The kind of deserts that only the aristocrats would eat in days long past. Now it's something eaten during a tea ceremony. It was something a fellow Counter Guardian had taught him.

Some of the sweets were shaped like inflated sakura flowers, some were white and coated in potato starch and filled with sweet bean paste, and a few were shaped like animals like fish or rabbits. All were beautiful, but all were very time-consuming to make.

EMIYA reached out and grabbed a wagashi shaped like a blooming red flower. It was brittle and dry, like a cookie that'd been left out for too long. Yet as EMIYA bit into the sweet, he found the softer, marshmallow-like core, and he enjoyed it immensely.

He wondered why. Sweets were something frivolous. Unnecessary. These sweets weren't even for others, solely for himself. EMIYA then used his free hand to take a sip of a bitter tea, contrasting it with the sweets.

How peculiar for him to change like this.

"You want some, Mash?"

The girl squeaked. Steadily, Mash walked out in her pajamas.

"Did I wake you up? I made sure I wasn't too loud when making these sweets."

Mash shook her head, "No, I brushed my teeth already, I can't eat sweets."

It was almost adorable how innocent Mash was. She was the very opposite of people like him. So then, why does he enjoy her company so much? Was it because she reminded EMIYA of a simpler time?

_______

"Alright!" Olga yelled out as she strutted around the giant CHALDEAS. Her arms were crossed, but on her face was a small smile. "It's been six months, but we can finally Rayshift you all into this Singularity."

She turned around and faced Ritsuka, Kukulkan, Mash, Artoria, Iskander, Archer, and Zvezdnyy. Ritsuka was dressed in his skin-tight ray-shifting suit.

The confident smile left Olga's face, leaving only seriousness behind. "Listen. Given how long it took for us to find a way to Rayshift into this Singularity, it's highly likely that it'll be drastically different from all the previous ones you've encountered. Be very careful. In fact, take as much care as you can. I am dead serious. It will be a Singularity unlike any you've encountered."

"Yes, Director Olga! We'll take as much care as we can, and solve this Singularity in no time flat." Ritsuka said.

Iskander was the first to join in, chuckling, "Whatever strangeness that can be found in this Singularity is no match for me. I will conquer it, as I have with everything before."

Archer nodded along while Artoria smiled confidently, "Have no fear, Director, we shall brave against whatever threat that may come our way."

"Yes, yes! None shall dare defy the boundless might of my cosmic dominion! Watch as I bend the very stars to my will and gather countless souls beneath my ever-glorious banners!" That prompted Kukulkan to put a hand on Zvezdnyy's head.

Not a minute later, everyone got into their Coffins and were flung across spacetime. Ritsuka found boundless colors dancing across his vision. It was almost like looking into a kaleidoscope except the colors were more chaotic as they phased in and out of existence with no order at all.

Once the color stopped, Ritsuka had to blind and then took in a breath— "Ufff!"

A powerful unpleasant smell assaulted Ritsuka's nose, prompting him to cover up his nostrils instantly. He recoiled, the teen's back hitting the wall behind him.

"Senpai?" Mash's voice was distorted thanks to the fact that she too was covering her nose. The girl was dressed in armor, wielding a shield, "Where is everyone?"

That was when Ritsuka noticed that no one else was there except for him and Mash. They appeared inside an alleyway of sorts. Tall brick walls sandwiched them in upon roads of tiny pebbles conjoined together—gravel. More stone bricks were layered between the foundation of the wall and the gravel.

The sky above was dull grey, like a cloudy sky about to rain. Or perhaps a sky filled with waste.

The horrible scent was coming from… it was a dead cat. A rotting corpse that had multiple rats chittering around. The rats were eating the dead rotten cat.

____

AN: And so, London begins. With an ominous opening.

Gimme some more comments pls. It is my prime motivation to write out this monster of a Singularity.