Fate: How About a New Savior?

It was too cruel—so much so that Shiomi couldn't fully grasp the meaning behind that Noble Phantasm. He covered his face with one hand, his

It was too cruel—so much so that Shiomi couldn't fully grasp the meaning behind that Noble Phantasm.

He covered his face with one hand, his expression somber.

"Keep the ring safe. It's best not to use it..." Shiomi paused, a sudden thought striking him. "No—there's another way. Can you give it to me?"

"Eh?" Romani blinked, confused.

"If you willingly pass it to me, the right to use it transfers to me. But I'm not the King of Magecraft—I can't activate that cruel Noble Phantasm," Shiomi explained. "However, it might be the key to seizing control of the remaining nine rings. With it, I could pull the Ten Rings out from under that man's control and use them myself."

The idea stemmed from his previous experience using Avalon.

Still, Shiomi wasn't certain he could truly master the power of all Ten Rings.

"Why would you do that? You've got some secret tactic?" Romani asked, deeply concerned. He was human—he feared death. He didn't want to see this ring used at all.

But if another path existed, he couldn't ignore it either.

"It's not a hidden tactic," Shiomi replied. "It's a hidden truth—about me." He raised his hand. The wand he'd obtained from Singularity F slowly materialized, floating in the center of the round table.

"This came from Cú Chulainn. He handed it over after retreating from Singularity F, badly injured."

"This is—!" Romani stood up in shock.

Morgan's eyes widened. "That's not ordinary ash tree wood... it's made from part of the World Tree? Why would Cú Chulainn have something like that?"

"Most likely the work of Odin," Shiomi said, voicing his suspicion. "He must've interfered with the Throne of Heroes and arranged for my senior to appear in Singularity F with this wand..."

Once the initial surprise wore off, Romani slowly sat back down.

"Odin—the chief god of Norse mythology... Why would he do something like that for you?"

"I think it's tied to the secret I'm carrying," Shiomi answered.

"Killed, and yet revived... I see," Morgan lowered her eyes. "Then it all makes sense."

Shiomi paused, exchanging a glance with Romani before turning to Morgan again.

"Originally, this was a truth your master should have revealed," Morgan said with a gentle smile. "But this time, I'll reveal my husband's secret before you get the chance to ask her."

Then, with a sly tone, she teased, "Doctor, what's your take on my husband's condition during the London Singularity?"

"If I had to say... it was definitely within the domain of Age of Gods Magecraft, but even that doesn't quite cover it. Even back at Singularity F, his recovery rate was already abnormal," Romani replied.

Morgan gave a slow nod. "You're the one who helped define Magecraft as the manipulation of phenomena. Do you still remember the general classifications of miracles?"

"Magecraft, rituals, sacraments, and curses," Shiomi answered quickly. "My master taught me that... Wait—"

As he said it, he suddenly remembered the rest of that long-past lesson.

There was a category above those four. A higher tier.

"Would you mind, for once, telling someone other than me what you studied in the Land of Shadows?" Morgan asked with a knowing smile. "You can skip the martial training part."

Now sensing where this was going, Shiomi slowly began recounting what had happened during his time in the Land of Shadows.

Romani's face twisted in disbelief, as though Shiomi were telling an outright lie.

"Magecraft that creates life... in a place where life doesn't exist? That's impossible. Maybe if it were in the outside world—but the Land of Shadows is a realm of pure death. A place devoid of the very concept of life. Even your master shouldn't be able to overcome that."

Morgan, for once, acted as a calm mediator. She raised a hand to quiet him.

"That's the brilliance of my husband's accidental genius," she said. "By sheer chance, he crossed the threshold of miracle—leaving behind Magecraft and stepping into a domain only gods can reach. A domain of authority."

"Authority..." Shiomi finally gave voice to the truth.

Because once he left that place, leaving behind a realm ruled solely by the concept of death, he'd mistaken his new grasp over life itself as a manifestation of Primordial Rune Magecraft.

"But authority over life—that's something only a creator god, or perhaps a Mother Goddess, would possess," Romani said with a sigh, rubbing his forehead.

No matter how you looked at it, the King of Magecraft had only ever performed a single miracle in life. He never delved deeper, never crossed into the domain of divinity through study.

Still, it was now clear why the man calling himself the King of Magecraft had appeared in London to kill Shiomi with his own hands instead of sending someone else.

"So he showed up because he sensed Shiomi's power and decided he had to eliminate him personally?"

"No. If that were true, then after killing my husband, he would've taken the body and sealed it away instead of simply leaving," Morgan said with a mocking smile. "The King of Magecraft's clairvoyance couldn't pierce through my husband's true nature—could it?"

Romani let out a dry, embarrassed laugh. "...That's true."

Even though he no longer held Solomon's name, fragments of those memories remained.

It was precisely because not even his clairvoyance could fully see through Shiomi's potential that he had asked the King of Heroes to stall the others—just so he could face Shiomi and Morgan one-on-one.

"Even if my husband has touched upon the realm of Authority, neither I, the doctor, nor even the King of Magecraft could give you guidance," Morgan said with a wry smile. "That's a place we Magi have never reached."

But Romani had another thought. He looked down at the gloves he had taken off—and the last ring.

"The power to step through the gate of Authority. A wand made from the World Tree, gifted by Odin. The Age of Gods Magecraft and martial arts you learned in the Land of Shadows..." he listed. "If it's you... maybe..."

"It was just a flash of inspiration," Shiomi said, raising a hand to stop him. "As for what to do... maybe the answer won't come until I stand before that 'Solomon' again."

Romani shook his head.

"I'm just a man now, living life as a human. So I want to gamble, like a human would. I'll entrust this ring—the one King Solomon sent to the future—to you, who belong to this era."

"Or maybe," Morgan said lightly, eyes on the ring now lying in front of Shiomi, "it's more like a prayer to the gods."

"Don't put me on that kind of pedestal—it's not doing me any favors..." Shiomi couldn't even smile. He understood the weight behind Romani entrusting the ring to him.

If he failed to act... then the ring's true owner might—

He carefully picked up the ring and placed it in his palm.

"That's enough talk about Solomon and my own situation for now. What I want to do next is propose a revision to our Singularity restoration plans."

Closing his fingers around the ring, Shiomi passed the folder beside him to Romani, who was just finishing putting on his gloves.