Fate/ I Am Humanity Last Hope!?

The city was a hell. The fire roared like a hungry animal, devouring everything in its path. The buildings, once majestic, were now just charred shells, their windows shattered and their roofs collapsed. The black smoke rose like a threatening cloud, obscuring the sun and covering the city in a dense fog.

Fuyuki, once a place of life and hope, was now a scene of destruction and death. And as the flames continued to roar, the burned city was a grim reminder of the fragility of human life and the relentless power of nature.

Ryusei walked through the charred streets, recalling the time he came to Fuyuki during his travels. At that time, the lack of proper identification was becoming a problem— in his previous journeys, he used a simple memory-altering spell to erase his tracks and ensure his actions were "legal" in the eyes of the public.

During his time in Fuyuki, he managed to get a small apartment in one of the city's darker sections, located near the fish markets. His "illegal" fishing had attracted more attention than he would have liked, but it was surprisingly easy to secure temporary housing after selling his catch to a middle-aged businessman named Netero Fujitora. He was a relatively wealthy entrepreneur who rented some of the largest fishing boats, making him a central figure in the area when it came to the acquisition and distribution of rarer fish. Unsurprisingly, he was also involved in the Black Market and even had some Enforcers in the area who, according to rumors, were from the Yakuza, the most notorious gang in the region.

Since he had decided to sell one of the rarest and most expensive types of fish, he quickly caught the attention of one of Fujitora's Enforcers. After easily dealing with the scarred man and his lackeys, who tried to claim his fish for themselves without paying a single yen, he was approached directly by Fujitora.

Although Netero appeared to have come with the intention of seeking trouble, it didn't take long for Fujitora's disposition to shift to a more friendly and "reasonable" one. This was due to the "aura" that Ryusei naturally exuded, something he only noticed when dealing with clients who held extreme authority, usually over thousands of lives. As Ryusei was also extremely fit and handsome, he assumed that the latter was the son of a rich family who was just "playing at being a commoner."

Thinking he could gain some favor from the unknown foreigner, Netero quickly helped Ryusei arrange a place to stay and even assigned some people to "look after" him.

Ryusei wasn't fond of having people around watching his movements, but after making sure there were no cameras or audio devices in his room, he stopped caring. He had a few million yen inside his [Inventory Curse] and managed to get access to a computer, so it wouldn't be long before he left Fujitora's influence and moved on to bigger and better things...

With a computer in hand, he decided to try hacking Japan's records to create an identity for himself in this world. Something that took a few days—he went from having some technological knowledge due to his past life to someone who could literally do anything he wanted with his skills—took only a few hours to access the Japanese Census, fabricate a birth certificate, and establish an identity for himself. Although it wouldn't take much effort for anyone conducting an investigation to discover his identity was fake, since there were over a century of paper records stored in warehouses he couldn't access, the chances of anyone investigating him to that point were minimal...

Regarding his hacking skills, he could literally hack into the United States' computers and launch nuclear bombs at any target he wished. This immense improvement was thanks to [Memory Partition], although it hadn't reached the current level, he had thousands of rooms with parallel thought processes to help him.

Once everything was settled, he had the identity of a second-generation migrant who became an orphan after his parents died in a car accident. As for other records, such as dental, medical, insurance, taxes, and education, he completely ignored the first three since it wasn't uncommon for some adults his age not to have insurance, while the tax and educational records were important to validate his identity.

Although he hadn't filed taxes officially, meaning he would have to be audited if he wanted to "solidify" his identity, it was important that he at least existed within the system. As for his educational records, they seemed surprisingly important in Japan just as in his past life, so he created an educational profile that extended from kindergarten to high school. Although any of his supposed classmates could easily expose the truth of the matter, he wasn't particularly worried about that, since the chances of him meeting someone from his "hometown," a small fishing village called Fusha, were slim.

His fake identity proved to be perfect when used to enter Chaldea, which sought all the "false" records in the system and combined them with his data as a mage to create his identity as a Candidate for Master.

Ryusei was brought out of his thoughts when he noticed the arrival of several skeletons armed with swords, shields, and spears. Not wanting to waste time with them, he made a gesture with his two fingers up and cast [Cleave]. The skeletons paused for a moment before being split into dozens of parts and falling to the ground with a soft thud, and with his [Rikugan], he noticed that his theory about the corruption was correct; whatever happened in this Singularity, the people of this timeline were all corrupted into "bones" and some kind of energy flowed within them, transforming them into monstrous beings like the skeletons.

He didn't pay much attention to this, pausing to look in a specific direction to his right. His eyes sharpened slightly as he saw what was happening miles away.

The solitary figure of the boy vanished as if he were a ghost, leaving the flames burning everything around...

...

A man with light hair and dull golden eyes was sitting in a reclining chair while looking through a large telescope that dominated the space inside his observatory. With the New Year only a few days away, it was one of the best times to read the stars, as the hopes and dreams of humanity made these forms of Thaumaturgy more powerful during the holiday season. He had a perpetual smile on his face as he recorded his findings on his terminal while, a little away from the main telescope setup, a young woman with similarly colored hair sat drinking a cup of hot chocolate while watching her father work. She had a peculiar side braid hairstyle, with the left side of her hair tied while her bangs partially covered her right eye. Most would consider her a very beautiful woman, but in stark contrast to her father, she had a perpetual scowl, as being the next Head of the Animusphere family, she knew the terrible situation they were in...

After completing his measurements, the man in the chair of the telescope began to scratch his chin thoughtfully while murmuring, "This is the tenth time I confirm the same things. If the events proceed as planned, there is a good chance the world will face a cataclysm in the next ten years... how curious that the signs of great fortune seem to accompany it..." In response to this murmur, the young woman beside him let out a tired sigh while complaining, "Knowing the future doesn't help if we can't do anything about the present. Father, have you reconsidered trying to ally with the Edelfelt family? The Barthomeloi family has been increasingly pressuring our creditors since you defended Lord El-Melloi II. We're already burdened with over seven million pounds in debt... we can't continue like this..."

Although he knew the matter was even more serious than his daughter realized, Marisbury didn't let it show on his face as he looked at her and said, "Olga... Madame Edelfelt is still a member of the Aristocratic Faction. Although she may be willing to help us because of our defense of Lord El-Melloi II, our opposition would not hesitate to point out a conflict of interest to destabilize our position within the Democratic Faction. Unless we had proper guarantees to trade, there would be no way to survive under such scrutiny. Don't worry, as the readings still show that our family is on the path to Great Fortune. For now, we should just do our best to overcome these matters and trust that our methods are not the farce other members of the Mage Association consider..."

Having grown up hearing the mockery of her peers and contemporaries, Olga shared her father's determination to prove that Astronomy and Divination were still as relevant today as they were during the Age of Gods. However, some things in life couldn't simply be solved by sitting idle and relying on prophecies. As it had been her own field of study since she was young, she knew that any significant event started by someone with enough power could drastically alter the accuracy of predictions based on the stars.

The reason her Animusphere family was in such a terrible situation was due to her grandfather insisting on the accuracy of his own prediction. As a result, their family became burdened with a phenomenal debt that, through her father's efforts, was largely reduced. Now, however, as their creditors grew impatient, time was quickly running out for their family while, instead of taking any proactive action, her father was repeating the same mistakes he had made...

With a tired sigh, Olga looked into her father's eyes with a determined expression, saying, "I've been in contact with the Trambellio family. They—." Before she could continue, her father made a rare grimace and declared clearly, "Olgamally Marie Asmleit Animusphere, I won't listen to you talk about this matter a second time. While I do my best to respect your decisions, I won't let my daughter become the toy of that despot just to gain protection from the Barthomeloi family. You will be the next head of the family, and you seriously believe that marrying this man would provide us with any significant benefit? Our entire family would become a branch of the Trambellio family, while you would effectively be nothing more than a pet of a man who is nearly twice your age. If you intend to try and go through with this, I won't hesitate to remove your right of succession..."

As she didn't like the idea of becoming the wife of a middle-aged man any more than her father did, Olga's face turned into a sour and angry expression as she shouted, "I'm trying to prevent our family from being ruined! We can't just sit here 'waiting' for things to go well for us while the Barthomeloi family is breathing down our necks! The Trambellio family is one of the Three Great Mage Families, so even that arrogant Queen will have to hesitate if she wants to act against us in the future! It's better to be a secondary family than to watch our entire lineage and hundreds of years of research be destroyed just because you saw a pattern in the stars...!"

When she finished shouting, Olga had tears in her eyes, as there were few things more painful for a Magus than essentially admitting that their research was unreliable.

Seeing the sadness in his daughter's eyes, Marisbury showed a complex expression before closing his eyes in deep thought. When he finally looked back at his daughter, there was a slightly defeated look in his opaque golden irises as he smiled and said, "Alright... I'll try to contact the Edelfelt family and reach an agreement. I would rather lose my status as the leader of the Democratic faction than see my daughter forced to suffer indignation at the hands of a despot."

With that said, Marisbury gently caressed the right side of Olga's face as he added, "I want you to be happy. I still believe my prophecy is true, but I won't stake your happiness on that fact..."

Then, using his thumb, Marisbury wiped away a stray tear from his daughter's eye before heading to his office to make a phone call...

The next few days were hectic. The following morning, Marisbury arranged a meeting with the current head of the Edelfelt family, Luvia, during which he mentioned his findings about the calamity the world would face in the future.

Knowing that the world was at stake, Luvia gave the man a chance and chose to ally with him. Although she did not directly assume the debts of the Animusphere family, she decided to act as their new creditor, financing them with a total of three hundred million pounds with little to no interest.

The only thing she asked in return was for Lord Animusphere to be the voice of reason calling for unity between the various factions of the Mage Association. She didn't have hopes that they would see reason and try to work together, as this was a great opportunity for shifts in power, but having a representative to confuse the waters was beneficial for her own plans. Even if there were pessimists trying to twist the facts to make Lord Animusphere look like a pawn, the truth would eventually come out, as Mage families all over the world made their own predictions. At this point, the Animusphere family could be credited for attempting to circumvent the danger from the beginning, gaining a little prestige that her family could benefit from greatly.

Since this was a better arrangement than he had expected, Lord Animusphere didn't hesitate to announce his findings after publishing the data through the appropriate channels. Fortunately, as the Head of the Department of Astronomy, he had the authority to publish his findings without needing them to be reviewed by others. As he had already "verified" the same prophecy ten times, leaving only the information regarding the Animusphere family's fortune without documentation, there were few who had the status to question his findings. As a result, there was a huge wave within the Clock Tower, as all Departments, including those who were skeptical of the situation, moved to verify the information by their own means.

Before any attempt to censor his findings could be made, Lord Animusphere escalated things further by bringing them directly to the attention of the student body. He had scheduled a meeting of the Democratic faction, the largest collection of students in the entire Clock Tower, explaining that they had just as much right as the established Mage families to prepare for the approaching threat. As he had always been a calm voice of reason, earning the respect of many students, his words had a devastating effect on the entire student body. Like an unstoppable wave, most of the students contacted their families, while some, fearing what action the Clock Tower might take if the fate of the world was at stake, immediately left the campus. Commoners were already required to do things like donate their blood periodically, so to prepare for the approaching threat, there were no limits to what superiors at the Clock Tower could do to secure victory with the least cost to themselves...

In response to the actions taken by Lord Animusphere, the Aristocratic faction immediately moved to try and block the information. Bathomeloi Lorelei had recently left London to hunt a Vampire that had appeared in eastern Germany, so it fell upon Lord Sophia-Ri, a first-class instructor and one of the most prominent members of the Aristocratic faction active in the Clock Tower. He was a tall man with medium-length red hair, an aloof gaze that looked down on everyone else, and refined features that made him the second most sought-after instructor in the annual popularity survey among female students. He wasn't just the Head of the Evocation Department, but also one of the most prodigious Lords of the current generation of Aristocratic Mage families. Although he was already engaged, reluctantly for the second time, many students wouldn't mind being lovers of such a handsome man.

While he did not openly deny Lord Animusphere's claims, Lord Sophia-Ri condemned the methods he used to spread the information. He didn't try to argue that the students didn't have the right to know the truth, but with the resulting chaos, it was clear to everyone that this could have been handled in a less direct way. Unfortunately, his attempts to have the Execution Division act ended in failure, and since even the students from the Aristocratic faction had already begun to contact their families, the best he could do was criticize Lord Animusphere while attempting to twist the information to benefit his own faction until Bathomeloi Lorelei returned. This was not the type of thing that could simply be swept under the rug, as with the massive division that always existed within the Clock Tower, any important news like this could cause an immediate rift that could take months to control...

It was with this knowledge that Lord Animusphere used such methods, even going as far as detonating magical explosions in several facilities belonging to his family to make it appear as though the other families were trying to silence him.

Most of these facilities desperately needed renovation, so with the great contribution from the Edelfelt family, he figured now was a good opportunity to do it. Money would lose its meaning if the world ended, so in preparation for what was to come, he had few qualms about using his family's finances to buy new and updated equipment. Since these actions also made him a kind of "Martyr" in the eyes of the student body, even though he wasn't dead, it was an extremely advantageous position, as long as none of the major families took drastic measures...

These drastic measures were followed during the following days.

Then something that confirmed his theory happened—the appearance of the Holy Grail Ritual ahead of schedule, an incident that involved almost all of Japan!

As the winner, Lord Animusphere wished for money and obtained funds to rebuild his family from scratch and continue his research, creating Chaldea. Due to everything that happened that year, the Clock Tower and various Mage organizations gave him all the support necessary for the secret organization to truly serve its purpose and prevent human extinction.

Olga Marie looked around with a bitter expression on her face. She took pride in the legacy her father had left her, but that had happened... Her mind kept recalling the explosion in the Command Room, cursing herself for being so careless. She should have suspected an attack from some organization opposed to Chaldea's politics.

"I hope everyone is okay..." she murmured softly as she looked around at the burning city. Although she was in a hellish environment, she was used to walking close to death, as any magus would be. What bothered her was that she couldn't figure out what had happened to Chaldea.

She didn't have any communicator with her.

All she could guess from the situation was that she was in Singularity F, and hopefully someone had come with her, because she didn't trust herself to handle this mess alone. The worst part was the fear she felt at the thought that her life could end up bringing the destruction of her prestigious family of magi, who, thanks to her father, had branched out into monetary wealth. If that hadn't happened, she couldn't even imagine what her life would be like now...

A few hundred years ago, the heads of various families relied on her family to predict their future. They spent small fortunes to know what the future held, a practice that had disappeared over time due to the diminishing Mystery contained in the stars.

Now that there were powerful telescopes, to the point where even ordinary people could discover new planetary bodies with equipment funded personally, the way people viewed the night sky had fundamentally changed.

Although humans had always looked to the night sky for answers, the very sentiment that gave meaning to the thaumaturgical study of Astronomy had significantly faded as Science continued to "reveal" the secrets of the Universe.

Even though most of her theories were extremely foolish, often far from the truth, people were easily deceived by those with authority in the scientific community. Now, it was enough for some famous physicist to say something completely unfounded, sometimes even bordering on the metaphysical, for people to swallow it as if it were freshly baked sweets. Then, a few months later, they would immediately latch onto some new idea randomly thrown out by some celebrity who was trending on Twitter.

Thus, although they truly had no idea what secrets the Universe really held, there was an "common sense" established among people who considered themselves informed.

This greatly weakened all Magecraft related to Astronomy, with the only exceptions being techniques passed down through the main family lineage of various Magus families, including hers. Her family truly had the rare ability to see not only the future, but also the past. While this might seem useless to most people, there were some truths that could only be uncovered by looking directly at events that had already happened.

The founding members of the Animusphere family made their name and fortune using an advanced form of Psychometry, the ability to check the past of objects through touch, to discover the location of various lost treasures. This skill was later modified to allow a projection of past locations to be seen in the present, a technique that only she and her father had access to. Unfortunately, executing it required an incredible amount of wealth and resources, two things her family lacked after the failures of her Grandfather...

Her mind wandered to the time when she didn't have many options as the future head of her family and almost accepted the arrangement with the Trambellio family, the second most powerful family, just below the Bathomeloi. Specifically, she imagined the image of Allard Trambellio, the second son of the former head of the Trambellio family.

He was a tall man, almost 190 cm in height, with a robust build and short hair styled in a fashionable way. Unfortunately, his face was a kind of tragedy, as when he was young, Allard had been involved in dozens of drunken brawls and fought over a hundred duels against other Magi. Although he obviously made an effort with his appearance, he did nothing to cover his "proof of honor," resulting in his face being covered in scars, while his left ear resembled a cauliflower.

Instead of trying to oppose his older brother's right to succession, Allard supported him since they were boys. Now, even though he wasn't the head of the family, he had a lot of influence in internal matters and was considered the "fixer" of his brother, Alexander Trambellio. In the past, Olga Marie had met him at a dinner, and although she was only thirteen at the time, Allard went directly to her father to try to arrange the marriage, a case that would make her his third wife. Now, she was twenty-four, while Allard had just celebrated his forty-seventh birthday two months before. By the time the Bathomeloi family started pressuring hers, before even the trial was over, he had already contacted her to try to make arrangements, this time not going directly through her father...

Although the idea of marrying a man older than her father left a bad taste in her mouth, the "contract" that Allard gave her meant that she would only need to marry him for ten years. As temporary marriages weren't that rare among Magus families, usually as a means to secure an heir and establish familial ties between two families, Olga Marie had seriously considered the idea as a way to raise her family from the ashes. Ten years didn't seem like an unbearable amount of time, and since Allard's genes would undoubtedly be very beneficial for their future descendants, there were countless benefits she could gain.

Although it was nearly impossible to escape the shadow of the Trambellio family from that point onward, it was infinitely better than being taken to ruin and cannibalized by the other families within the Mage Association when they went bankrupt.

In retrospect, now older, she realized that her future children would have suffered as a result of her decision to marry Allard, even if temporarily. This would make the next head of the family a direct descendant of the second son of the Trambellio family, meaning they would have reasons to potentially absorb the entire Animusphere family if they really started to rise again.

Instead of managing to hold their heads high among their peers, they would have been forced to lower them to the younger members of the Trambellio family, potentially becoming nothing more than lapdogs for the ruffians that often appeared in powerful Magus families. Her father had enough sense to understand that this was the case, and as he would rather see his family ruined by his own hands than allow his daughter to go through that kind of tragedy, he had fortunately managed to resolve the entire situation.

How naïve she had been, any man who tried to arrange a marriage with a thirteen-year-old girl when they were already forty clearly wasn't someone one could trust. He treated her as nothing more than a prize to be savored for a few years, while his older brother, Alexander, had probably tasked him with it just to seize the Animusphere family's assets before the other families could get their hands on them...

She shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. The foundation of Chaldea had saved her from a horrible fate and saved her family in many ways. This was why she cared so much about the organization left by her father and worried about her family that had risen over the years. She didn't want it to end with her... Olga Marie could imagine how it would be if her death reached the ears of the Mage Association. Her family would be cannibalized by others, and nothing would remain. Her organization would also be taken by the Clock Tower, and all the research and achievements her father had made over the years would be finished, all because of her failure as director and head of her family.

Strange noises echoed between the destroyed buildings, and thick smoke hung in the air, filled with a pungent smell of burning and metal.

Olga Marie realized that now wasn't the time to get lost in thoughts. She couldn't be subdued by her mania. With her heart racing, she entered the city. The streets, once vibrant, were now deserted and silent, except for the crackling of flames still consuming some buildings.

With every step, the feeling of being watched began to bring an unsettling feeling.

Suddenly, a metallic sound scraping on the ground made her freeze. She turned slowly, her eyes wide. There, in front of her, an army of skeletons, armed to the teeth, was marching toward her. Their empty, black eyes fixed on her with a chilling intensity. The rusted armor gleamed in the light of the flames, and the sound of their dry bones clashing echoed through the deserted city.

"What...?" Olga Marie murmured in shock before quickly pointing her hand at the skeletons. Mana gathered in her hand, forming a red mist, which she launched at one of the skeletons. In mid-air, it solidified into a magical energy sphere, which hit the armed skeleton squarely and destroyed it.

That was her most powerful spell, [Gandr], one of the runic magics passed down in northern Europe. A type of curse that can reduce the physical abilities of the target. If the magical energy is highly condensed, it can have the same firepower as a bullet.

This angered the others, who began running toward her.

A scream caught in her throat, she turned and ran as fast as she could, her feet pounding against the debris.

With every step, she heard the skeletons getting closer, their heavy steps echoing behind her. Panic began to consume her, and at every corner, she hoped to find an exit, a place to hide.

But the city seemed endless, and with every street, the same sight met her eyes.

"Why the hell does this only happen to me!?" she shouted as she paused and shot another spell at the nearest skeleton before continuing to run desperately.

And then, something changed. Before her eyes appeared one of the most powerful magi of Chaldea, someone who was part of Team A, a young man incredibly handsome with white hair and eyes of an unreal blue. He seemed casually standing on a collapsed building ahead.

With a lump in her throat, Olga Marie stumbled a few steps forward until she could see him fully, shaded by the light from the flames.

And before she could say anything, the pale figure spoke calmly.

"It's okay. I'll help you..."

His words felt absolute, like strong chimes of hope in the heart of despair.