Great Detective Work

...Here we are. Now, to reestablish contact.

Master! Are you all right!?

You okay there!?

Master! Thank goodness you're safe!

I mean, I could tell you were okay because I was monitoring your status, but...

We haven't been able to contact you this whole time!

Hey there. Everyone in one piece? ...Wait, Sherlock Holmes!?

...Ah!

It really is you!

Good to see you again, Ms. Kyrielight.

You too, Mr. Holmes. I'm glad you're in good Wait, what are you doing there with Master!?

Is that so. How wonderful.

Then you could have contacted us at any point up till now, instead of showing up unannounced.

So, you were with this suspicious man all this time. ...I see.

Well good! Great! Isn't that just fan-freaking-tastic!

So who's this guy? Holmes? What good's a detective gonna do here?

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Allow me to introduce myself once again. My name is Sherlock Holmes.

I'm technically a Caster, but I'm afraid I can't be of much help in battle. Please do forgive me.

So you're dead weight, huh. Whatever. Anyway, thanks for saving our dumbass Master.

Now... Get lost!

I'm afraid I can't do that. All right, Archer of Shinjuku... I think it's time you came out now.

Hi there, Holmes. It's been a while, hasn't it old boy? Wonderful to see you again! Well, bye then!

...What do you think you're doing?

Well... When you were taken, I had planned out what I thought to be the best course of action.

But with the benefit of hindsight, I suppose it really was rather dangerous, having me involved...

I feel awful about it. You must have been very scared. I guess what I'm trying to say is...

Well, uh... I'm sorry.

You are right, of course.

I truly am sorry, though.

For what it's worth, those two gave me quite the thrashing for it.

My face and chest are still smarting from it.

Hmm, I suppose you're right. Very well then, seeing as we're in Japan...

I suppose I must atone with seppuku! It is, I hear, quite excruciating.

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Hahahaha! What a funny criminal gentleman you are!

Not to worry. It seems Mr. Fujimaru has already forgiven you.

He has!?

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Oh thank you, thank you! You are too kind!

He's right, Master. You are being too kind.

The more you let this evil bastard get away with, the further he'll try to take things.

Heh. Jealous? Green REALLY isn't your color, you know.

My my, this little kitten certainly likes to mew. But she still needs to be housebroken.

This kitty has claws, bitch, so watch out.

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...I wasn't overly concerned.

...Huh? Worried? About what!?

At any rate... Archer of Shinjuku, it seems your memory remains incomplete.

Nonetheless, you must have some idea of who you are, and what you were, by now.

Well, yes.

Considering all these hints that have been dropped, and given how wary I am towards you, there's only one person in the world I could be.

You're wary of Mr. Holmes? You don't mean you're...!

Please refrain from saying anything further, Ms. Kyrielight.

Let's wait for him to say it of his own accord.

Yes, well...

As you have deduced, I do indeed know your True Name, and have already told Mr. Fujimaru as well.

At this point, he is just waiting for you to come clean and tell him yourself.

...I see. So you really know who I am?

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Very well then, FujimaruI mean, Master.

If you will forgive my transgressions, I shall entrust you with my True Name.

...Of course, there may not be much point now that Holmes has told you what it is, but no matter.

After all, I'm told this ritual is still quite necessary!

...All right then.

My name is James Moriarty. I materialized here as a Phantom Spirit composite fusion.

I wish to form a contract with you, as your Servant, that I may devote to you my full power!

Anyway, that's me, Moriarty. A pleasure to be here.

...Just when I thought he couldn't get any more suspicious. Master, you should banish him for good.

Yeah, he reminds me of one of those cunning foxes that show up in morality tales.

If only. He is far worse than any fox.

He never risks his own life. He only makes plans, leaving the dirty work to his subordinates.

What an absolutely despicable villain.

That's right. Even in Dr. Watson's books, Moriarty was renowned for his villainy.

And at the Reichenbach Falls, he and Mr. Holmes faced off against one another directly!

Which ended with both plunging down the waterfall.

Please be careful, Master. Are you sure there are no waterfalls nearby!?

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Ahh... It pains me to see you so wary of me, Mash. (Sniff)

Oh, uh... Th-that was just my impression of you from Dr. Watson's writings, so...

I do think you're, uh...not too bad? Or at least, I think I do...

Pay him no heed, Ms. Kyrielight. He's only pretending to cry.

You cad! Have you no mercy!?

Hahaha. For you, Moriarty...

I will never show mercy when it comes to foiling your plans.

Well, can't blame you for that!

Now then, I believe you have some information for us, Holmes?

Ah yes, about destroying this planet. In brief... It is entirely possible.

Wait, what!? How can that actually be possible!?

Earth has a number of safety provisions in place. He can't possibly circumvent all of them.

Right you are.

During the course of this planet's unbroken history, it has withstood numerous crises.

Barring the sudden appearance of alien visitors...

...it is extremely unlikely that those of us who were born here could manage to truly destroy it.

Thus, in order to do so, one must completely overturn one's most basic preconceptions.

In other words...what the Lion King attempted to do in the Holy City, and what Edison attempted to accomplish using the Holy Grail's power.

The Lion King...and Edison!?

...Aha, now I see! So that's what foolish nonsense I'm up to!

Ugh, that's just like me!

I understand! I understand all too well what I'm thinking!

Then how 'bout letting the rest of us in on it!? What'd this Lion King and Edison person try to do!?

Well...

The Lion King made his sacred lance into a tower, and planned to use it to wipe out all of humanity save for a select few.

However, even if he had succeeded in wiping them out, the Incineration of Humanity was happening at the time, so he expected that their salvation would soon be forthcoming.

It was a shallow, ill-conceived plan, but it was also the result of much agonizing.

What an idiot. In that case, he should've just let himself die along with everyone else.

This is why I hate kings who charge ahead trying to solve everything by themselves. Of course, I hate kings who just roll over without putting up a fight even more.

As for Mr. Edison...

He didn't actually end up doing anything, but he did come up with an idea.

He said that once he won the Holy Grail, he planned to cut America out of history altogether.

So we have the Lion King, who was trying to save a handful of people... even if it meant the destruction of the outside world...

And Edison, who tried to cut his country off from the outside world in order to preserve it forever.

Hmm. Hmm? Hang on. That would mean... Aha! Now I see!

So that's his plan!

Da Vinci!?

Figured it out already, eh? I see your reputation as a genius artist is well deserved.

Hang on just a moment! I need to look something up!

Quick! All staff, gather round! We need to begin an emergency investigation!

So what is this plan already?

...It's not possible to destroy the world.

Goetia's objective may have been different, but his plan still took 3,000 years to come to fruition.

However, it IS possible to remove the world from history. In other words...

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Well done!

Yes! That's exactly it! This is terrible! That world is already devoid of meaning!

Wh-what do you mean, Da Vinci!?

I mean that world is already cut off from history!

No matter what happens there in Shinjuku, it won't have any effect on humanity whatsoever!

I mean, of course it can make things a bit unstable, but no more than the tiniest of tremors.

No matter how unstable humanity gets, at this level, there will never be any adverse effects.

In the worst case, that Shinjuku could be destroyed without issue... It wouldn't even affect Chaldea!

...Unless we can find a way to avert it.

Naturally, if the world is destroyed, they'll disappear along with it. However...

Since their Spirit Origin information won't be lost, we'll still be able to resummon them.

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Wait, we're forgetting the most important thing: what will happen to Master?

...That's the crux of it.

Basically, everything else hangs on exactly how we bring Fujimaru home.

However!

If that world is already cut off from history, we may be able to force a Rayshift!

If we can, that would solve everything!

...Yes, that all sounds right, but...

...Hm.

Yes, that IS how it would play out, isn't it.

Shinjuku would remain a hellpit, and be destroyed alongside this planet by my other self.

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Now now, hear me out. Yes, Shinjuku, the world, we Servants... That would all be gone.

But if you make it back to Chaldea, in effect, nothing would be lost.

I mean, yes, we will lose our lives! But in the end, this Shinjuku would simply revert to oblivion.

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I knew you would say that, Mr. Fujimaru. What do you think, Ms. Kyrielight?

...As a Servant, I would like to place the highest importance on my Master's life.

That said...and this may be rather impudent of me, but...

If Master were to return here to safety, and abandon Shinjuku to its doom... Well...

It just wouldn't be like him.

N-not at all! Please, just forget I said anything.

I can't bear to have you in danger, so I'll look for a way to Rayshift you home.

I... Thank you, Master. I'm glad you still think of me that way.

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...Hm.

Hmm.

...Jealous?

Now now, don't go kicking another beehive.

Yes, good point. For a moment, I was deathly afraid for my life.

Now then... As a representative of Chaldea, I can't just let Fujimaru share Shinjuku's fate.

He has fought alongside us for a full year now. We won't let him throw his life away.

However, as a Master, we also wish to respect his wish to save Shinjuku.

So I'll ask you just one more time, Fujimaru.

...There is no point in saving this Shinjuku.

Doing so would help neither humanity nor the people here still worth protecting, if any even exist.

It wouldn't even be a problem if the Servants you have met here were to vanish.

This may sound callous, but abandoning Shinjuku would not endanger the restoration of humanity in the slightest.

The Servants who are there with you now would never blame you for making such a choice.

So, even taking all of that into consideration...

Do you still believe this Shinjuku is worth saving?

...I see. Well, that does indeed sound like you.

You don't know, but you want to save it anyway. Ugh... What a headache, but it's very you!

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Anyway, that's a relief!

Even though you've now saved a world or two, you're still just as caring, optimistic, and possessed of an indomitable fighting spirit as ever!

All right then, I guess that settles it. You'll have Chaldea's full support!

Of course, that doesn't mean we won't also lay the groundwork for a forced Rayshift to bring you home.

All right then, now that you've made your decision, I suppose I had better tell you something else!

Does this new thing you have to tell us have anything to do with why you've been so nervous?

Well, if Mr. Fujimaru had decided to go home, there wouldn't have been any point in sharing this other truth.

I shall now tell you how the culpritthe evil Moriartyplans on destroying the planet.

It is true that with the world divided, Earth's safeguards would fail to work.

Nonetheless, destroying the entire planet should remain utterly unfathomable.

No matter how great his control over Shinjuku may be, it is not enough to destroy the world.

In which case, Moriarty...what do you think you would need to make such destruction possible?

Hmm.

To destroy the planet...one would need enough energy to match that scale.

That energy would then need to be focused toward the earth's core...a central destruction point.

Naturally, this is far easier said than done. The sheer amount of energy required for such a task is incomprehensibly massive.

For example...

A meteor. A meteor falling to Earth would easily meet such energy requirements.

But of course, there is no reliable way to predict such an occurrence.

Such a thing may generate the requisite energy, but it would not be possible for it to hit the necessary target.

In which case, the next thing one would need is a device designed to draw in a passing meteor and direct its impact to the desired coordinates.

...A gun barrel.

So...you mean something that could load and fire a meteor like a bullet?

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Indeed. Remember, Master? That mysterious tower that stands on Shinjuku's western edge.

The one growing taller by the day, as if it were trying to pierce the heavens themselves.

That is the device Moriarty will need to complete his plan.

Wait... What!? That building is an actual gun barrel!?

But...it doesn't even move! How could something like that possibly load a meteor like a bullet!?

A Phantom Spirit...

A Phantom Spirit...? What does a spirit that failed to become a Heroic Spirit have to do with this?

Indeed. I too was puzzled by why Moriarty was so focused on Phantom Spirits.

But upon re-reading his book, "The Dynamics of an Asteroid," I finally understood.

He plans to control a meteor using his Servant abilities.

That is why he needs a Phantom Spirit's power. The power to hit a target, no matter the circumstances.

Thus! The Phantom Spirit he has summoned is none other than Der Freischütz: Max, the Freeshooter.

A hunter who made a deal with the devil for seven magical bullets. That is who Moriarty has absorbed!

Six of his seven bullets will always hit their mark, regardless of the obstacles in their path.

In other words, he has no control over the seventh and final bullet.

And that's not all.

This ability is more about hitting targets than actually hurting them.

Thus, this Phantom Spirit is usually relegated to nothing more than a character in an opera.

That is what Moriarty is taking advantage of.

Now I see...

That explains why I was summoned as an Archer, and not a Caster...

And why I'm able to fire bullets and missiles from this coffin I never used when I was alive...

And you couldn't have figured that out sooner!?

Jeanne Alter makes an excellent point.

Hahaha, sorry about that!

I imagine that must be some of the knowledge I lost during the split.

Remember the time limit I mentioned earlier, Mr. Fujimaru?

Once the tower is complete, it won't be long before a meteor comes our way.

Once it does, it will jump into the Barrel...and be fired into the planet. Voilà! A magical bullet.

Which, if Moriarty's theory is correct, will result in the murder of Earth itself.

The most heinous crime committed throughout all of history... A massacre on an unprecedented scale.

Ah, you flatter me...

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Idiot.

...At any rate, regardless of whether this plan is feasible, we are certain it is what the League of Phantom Fiends is working towards, correct?

Indubitably.

...I know it's filthy rich coming from me, seeing as I tried to destroy France and all, but...yikes.

I mean, that'd kill all of them too.

Indeed it would. Though of course, thinking logically, a Servant can never truly die.

Nonetheless, if they are still aiding in the world's destruction, they are likely doing so for pleasure, revenge, or some other unknown purpose.

Thus, their role is to build an enormous wall, overrun Shinjuku, and guard the Barrel.

So, if we wish to save Shinjuku, our first step must be to neutralize the Assassin of Shinjuku.

Indeed. That transformation ability is quite formidable.

If left unchecked, I may well end up cutting down Jeanne Alter by mistake.

Try it, ice bitch queen. I dare you. But yeah, I agree; that guy pisses me off, and we should kill him. Soon.

So, how do we do that?

Now then, Moriarty.

Yes, Holmes? What do you want from me, now that you've robbed me of my job of explaining things?

That's what you're upset about?

At any rate, I want you to come up with a plan. That is what you excel at, isn't it? Scheming?

I may excel at foiling plans, but when it comes to crafting them, you are no doubt my better.

So that's how it is. In that case, I'll need information.

Give me everything you have on the enemy, including their dealings with external entities.

Very well. Here you are.

Aha, interesting... Now I see...

Hmm, if we do this, followed by that... Although...

Hmm... What we really need is sexiness.

But of course! It's absolutely crucial!

Hm? It must be your imagination! My plan is foolproof!

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...Are you certain about this?

Moriarty's plans may appear nonsensical, but in hindsight, they nearly always work out well.

I understand your concerns, but I think it's worth rolling the dice on.

All right then, everyone, we're off to the city to buy clothes! And by buy, I of course mean steal.

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What!?

...Are you sure this will work?

Oh yes, without a doubt. As for you, Holmes, I shall let you land the final blow.

Good grief. I know this was my idea, but your plan is exceptionally reckless...

Master, just to make sure, is it all right with you to proceed with my plan?

Naturally, the particulars will need to be adjusted on the fly. But the crucial will not change.

We must assassinate the Assassin of Shinjuku.

Indubitably.

I agree it's rather reckless, but it also makes full use of everything we bring to the table.

I trust it will work out.

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Okay, let's get started. It's dress-up time!

But first, go ahead and clear out those ruffians and brainwashed Coloraturas.

What's that? They refuse to leave? Makes sense! In that case, it's battle time!

Right then, everyone! What say we get changed, go out there, and raise hell!?

Changed, eh...

Changed, huh...

...

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Ah, ah, ah, Master. Not so fast. Your outfit...is right here.

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Huh!?