Assault of the Demonic Sword (Beginning)

Report from the computer room. Report from the computer room.

So far, this Zero Sail is looking just peachy. Just kick back and enjoy this little voyage through the Sea of Time.

We've got one hundred and fifty kilometers to cross. At our current reduced speed, I think it should take us about an hour or so?

... ...

Fou?

Uh-oh, somebody's not happy about this trip. What happened to all that bluster you were spouting just a little while ago?

I know this is only our second voyage, but you should be used to this by now. Am I wrong, Goredolf?

Hm? O-oh, yes, did you need something, Technical Advisor? Is it teatime already?

It'd be better to wait until we're back in reality for that. Assuming we end up somewhere peaceful when we cross the storm wall, that is.

Given how bad Russia was, this area around Scandinavia might be an even worse kind of hell.

Stop saying stuff like that, MenialI mean Meunière! It can't possibly be worse than Russia! I refuse to believe otherwise!

Hmph, of course not. I wouldn't waste time on foolish sentiment.

...I thought I would feel better after we defeated the Servant who destroyed Chaldea, but...I don't. At all.

My poor Four Flush... They were the finest private army I ever had. They may have been a bunch of thugs and hoodlums, but they did their job damn well.

After this whole mess is sorted out, I'll need to pay out their life insurance...once I can scrape together more than a penny to my name, of course.

？！

That said... This way of getting around really is beyond the pale. I'm a man of the land, not the sea.

Not that I'd hesitate to board a submarine to save humanity, of course...

...but this? I may be better about seasickness now, but I don't think I'll ever get used to this Zero Sail nonsense.

Hmm. So you still feel bad even though you're not seasick? Are you claustrophobic or something?

Fou. Fou, fou.

No, I'm not claustrophobic! I mean that I don't care for this Void Space business. It's not something I'm just going to get used to!

Let me be clear: getting used to danger means losing sight of security.

Oversights. Betrayals. Bankruptcy. Victories getting revoked by judges. All those sorts of retribution stem from carelessness and arrogance.

You can't assume everything will be sunshine and roses just because things happened to go your way once!

Not to mention, verifying the existence of Void Space may be a great feat, I'll admit, but be honest: You still don't have a clue what it even is, do you?

？！

I make it a rule never to get on any machine I can't drive myself. And yet...

(Gulp)... Void Space is something only a tiny handful of mages have ever so much as touched...

Just thinking about floating around in there makes meOh no, I think I'm about to be sick...

You say that, and yet your complexion tells me that you're feeling just fine, Goredolfno, Mr. Goredolf. I admire your gumption.

The rest of the staff are equally versed in science and magecraft, but you, Director, are a mage's mage.

That is why traveling through Void Space puts you so ill at ease. You are keenly aware of both the benefits and risks posed by the Zero Sail.

Yet despite that, you are doing your utmost to remain calm and collected. That is truly keeping a stiff upper lip, as they say. Commendable.

You must have hit rock bottom quite a few times in your life. Perhaps you're accustomed to being in dire predicaments at this point?

I-I-I'm accustomed to nothing of the sort! I've never once crossed the finish line in last place, I'll have you know!

Crossed the finish line in last place...? I've never heard an expression like that before, Director Goredolf.

W-well of course you haven't. Once you get to be a man of my caliber, Ms. Mash, even the expressions you use take on a special life of their own.

(...! That's the first time he's ever addressed me respectfully...!)

I think so too. Mr. Holmes only ever speaks about what he is certain of, after all.

Haha, you got that right! That's a hell of a nice way to put it, Mash!

O-oh? I see. So that's what that was about?

If you both say so, you may be right...

Fou fou.

That was a compliment? Good grief, Heroic Spirits certainly are...erm, different.

Then again, he might be easier to talk to as an administrative advisor if he were a Caster...

Hahaha, I very much doubt that. My Spirit Origin may change, but I'm quite sure I would remain the same.

If you require proof, I was a Caster when I first met Mr. Fujimaru...

...and even now that I have made an official contract with Chaldea as a Ruler, nothing has changed.

Wouldn't you agree, Ms. Kyrielight?

Now that you mention it...that's true. I don't think you've changed at all, Mr. Holmes.

Hmm. Well, all right then.

？！

Ahem. By the way, Technical Advisor, what's our itinerary for this voyage look like?

Huh?

Um, Director Goredolf, Da Vinci just briefed us about that right after we arrived in Void Space...

？！

Oh.

I-I'm so sorry, Mr. Goredolf. We had no idea you had lost consciousness with your eyes op

Wh-what? C-come now, don't be absurd. I've handled the g-forces from accelerating to over two hundred and fifty kilometers per hour, I'll have you know!

I-I say, what about you, youngster? Yes, you, Fujimaru.

Your file said you frequently fall into REM sleep. I believe it even said you could do it standing up, if I'm not mistaken. Is that some special skill of yours?

That's right. We call it the "Fujimaru REM REM."

Huh? No way... I was just kidding about the skill part. Are you people...all right?

A-at any rate, it seems you doze off just as easily as I do.

Do you remember what the briefing was about? Perhaps now would be a good time to review all that you know while we are at it.

Y-yes, that's a good point. I'm sorry.

Oh, but as for Senpai, I think he went off to have lunch with Fou after we left on the Zero Sail...

Hahahaha. You heard the man, Da Vinci. Would you be so kind as to summarize our current situation for him?

Sure, if that's what he wants. Okay, let's go over our immediate itinerary again.

We've just entered the Scandinavian Peninsula, right around here. At the moment, we're still "diving" through the storm wall.

On our current route, we should then emerge here in northern Europe, at the southern part of Sweden.

It's only a ten-kilometer trip, but since we don't have any connection to Scandinavia, surfacing at our intended destination will come down to a combination of a dice roll and my navigational genius.

And since I've got my hands full making sure our coordinates don't go fluctuating all over, we have no way of knowing if there will be any hostile entities on the other side.

So be ready for an even rougher emergence than the one we went through in Russia.

Hmm, so in other words, entering one of these Lostbelts inevitably comes down to the luck of the draw, eh.

Just to make doubly sure, is there any way we could ignore the Scandinavian Lostbelt and head straight to the North Sea?

Certain conditions need to be in place for us to emerge inside a Lostbelt, right? Then why go out of our way to do that?

Even if we don't know the Wandering Sea's exact coordinates, if we can just get to the North S

I know, but I'm afraid that's just not possible. We're currently skimming riiight next to the border between Reality Space and Void Space.

It's the only way we can peek into reality from Void Space, which we have to do if we're going to emerge somewhere we lack a connection to.

In addition, the amount of power the Shadow Border consumes in this mode is directly affected by the amount of real-world distance we travel.

I mean, it would have to be, given that we're following reality so closely.

And at our current power levels, there's no way the Border can Zero Sail more than three hundred kilometers near the mirror world plane.

So we have to emerge in the Scandinavian Lostbelt if we're going to stock up for the journey to the Wandering Sea.

...I see. This Zero Sail business sounds good on paper, but it certainly has more than its share of drawbacks, doesn't it...

Basically. If we want to go diving and emerging wherever we like...

Yes?

Well, we can't. Neither the Border nor myself are up to that, at least not right now. Sorry, Gordy.

Grr, sorry and sixpence won't even get you a decent cup of tea these days! Fine, you're saying you want a real lab with full facilities, right!?

Once we make our way through Scandinavia and meet up with the Wandering Sea, then things should improve at least a little, yes?

You got it! I'm glad you're such a quick study. So, as I was saying earlier, just kick back and enjoy the last bit of our voyage.

We're currently off from real-world time by about ten days. We'll emerge from Void Space as soon as we're through the storm wall.

...So it's just like what happened in Russia. Then, that would mean one of those enormous trees really is here in Scandinavia, too...

Indeed. We could see it for ourselves before we began our journey through the storm wall.

If we just so happen to emerge near the Tree of Emptiness, we will need to choose between leaving Scandinavia behind, or investigating the tree.

Regardless, we'll no doubt need to make our way across a considerable bit of land once we reach the inside of this Lostbelt.

I encourage you all to remain calm and in control so that we may better react to whatever awaits us.

？！

Although... When the Russian Tree of Emptiness came crashing down, it did so in a rather indecipherable

Wh-what was that!?

？！

Something's pinging our omnidirectional sonar! What the? There's something with a fixed wavelength moving around!?

Something with a fixed wavelength... Do you mean there's something else here besides the Shadow Border?

Wait, what? Hold on. Just...hold on! Y-you mean to tell me there's something alive out there? In Void Space!?

Fou fou...!

Indeed. Under normal circumstances, nothing could possibly exist in Void Space, unless it were itself composed of void. There are exceptions, though...

Namely, the All-Terrain Void-Transporter Shadow Border, its crew, and the Paper Moon.

And that can only mean...

There's someone or something else that can travel via Zero Sail...?

If there were, it would require technology that surpasses Atlas's. I wish I could say that were entirely impossible, but we can't rule it out...

Da Vinci, are you seeing anything on your end? Your eyes should be a good deal sharper than ours.

I'm sorry, but I've got my hands full keeping track of the real world's terrain. I can't spare any cameras to see what might be near us.

Oh, but I have noticed one thing that's strange: the Shadow Border's been running reeeally smoothly for a while now.

So there's definitely something out there in our vicinity. I just couldn't tell you what it is.

The Border's also got magecraft and spirit radars in addition to the sonar, but they're not turning anything up either.

Since I can't imagine there could be anything living in Void Space, I'm guessing it's using soliton-like wave conduction, but...

We... We... We...

Director Goredolf...?

We're under attack!!!

Oh for...! Who was it that was saying the old man had gotten used to this stuff?

It must be some sort of monster or Servant with the ability to Zero Sail! They could be anywhere!

Hmm, yes, that's a distinct possibility. Rasputin mentioned something along those lines too.

As I recall, he said that while he was unable to freely move between Lostbelts, Koyanskaya could do so.

It's difficult to imagine she employs the same method that we do, but she may well have her own means of crossing dimensions.

There, you see!?

You all saw Ivan the Terrible for yourselves! These Lostbelts are obviously full of monsters!

It wouldn't surprise me at all if one of them was a Rider with just that sort of skill!

Do you even hear yourself!? This is VOID Space! This whole dimension shouldn't even exist! There's no way there could be anything here besides the Border!

(...A creature or Heroic Spirit with the ability to conduct a Zero Sail, hmm.)

(I know Ms. Miyamoto wanders between parallel worlds...but only in that she tumbles from one to another.)

(She's only a drifter who keeps falling through realities because all other possibilities have abandoned her.)

(There is no being in all of Reality Space besides us who can freely travel between dimensions.)

(That, at least, was what Atlas Institute's Trismegistus said as of 2018...)

Still, it's not something we can rule out entirely.

That we are here ourselves means it must be possible for someone else to be as well.

Couldn't you have kept that to yourself, Holmes!? You're just gonna work the old man up even more!

Fou?

Did it just get even closer!?

Please calm down, Director. I, um...I know this may not help put your mind at ease, but...

...I think I sense something. Something close...

？！

But, strangely enough, I also don't think it's malicious, whatever it is...

In fact, I think...it might even be kind of warm and comforting...

Oh come now! That's standard demon operating procedure! They bait their hook with kindness!

Well, I'm not falling for it! I'm going to listen to my own instincts!

Listen up, all of you! I have no desire to become an adventure-crazed nut like the rest of you, but even I can see that making an emergency exit out of Void Space is our best option here!

Therefore, as the director of Chaldea, I am ordering the Shadow Border to make an immediate emergency exit into Reality Space!

An emergency exit...!?

Hmm... I want to take Mash's side here, but I have to admit Goredolf has a point.

One thing's for sure: there's something out there that even I can't see. We shouldn't take that lightly.

So my vote is for the emergency exit. And as luck would have it, we're very close to the end of the storm wall.

That said, there's one thing I want to go over first.

We've already crossed the border. We're currently in what used to be southern Sweden, somewhere inside the Scandinavian Lostbelt.

But when we emerge, the risks will be even greater than they were back in Russia.

Cutting out the future predictions in order to force our way back to reality could result in the entire Shadow Border coming apart.

And it's not just the Border. All of you could end up seriously hurt as well.

If your selves from ten days ago happen to overlap with your selves from now, just having your bodies catch up with their own regulatory functions will be enough to make you vomit.

Are you okay if that ends up happening? Of course, as this vehicle's central processing unit, I'll be doing my best to avoid that.

O-of course! At this point a little nausea is nothing! Just get us the hell out of here, Da Vinci!

I don't want to spend another second with this unknown...thing if I can help it!

I'm responsible for all of your lives here! A-as such, I refuse to continue a voyage in such close proximity to an unknown entity!

Get the Shadow Border to the surface right now! Don't make me repeat myself again. Just hurry!

All righty☆ If you're ready to face the music, I'll do my best to make sure it's a pleasant tune!

Meunière, I'm going to switch over to manual. We don't want the safety functions putting on the brakes on autopilot.

Are you serious!? Doesn't that completely go against the manufacturer's recommendation!?

Initiating high-speed calculations. Preparing to emerge in

Aaah! An emergency alert!? Everyone, strap in! Take deep breaths while you still can!

Don't worry about that alert. We're just putting a little more strain on the hull than it's designed for!

Isn't that incredibly dangerous...!?

R-right!

Right... You're right. I believe in her, Senpai.

？！

Phew. I really didn't want to resort to this, since it gives me a bad fever. This new, smaller body just isn't as resilient as my old one.

I'll do whatever I can to help. Patch me in to the console, if you would.

I'll help too!

Thank you. I'm afraid I am relegated to learning by observation myself, but the more hands the better. If only Mr. Babbage were here to assist us.

I hear you. But I'm afraid the Spirit Origin briefcase alone just isn't enough to summon him outside of short battles. We'll just have to make do.

Man, wouldn't it be great if another Salieri dropped into our laps right now? Like, say...now!

...Damn, it didn't work. Ah, well, worth a shot. Guess we're on our own after all! All right then, let's do this thing!

Activating Paper Moon. Initiating planet navigational chart plus/minus convergence. Commencing Shadow Border's docking sequence into reality boundary.

Disengaging mirror world plane voyage... Though the stratum may dissolve, I continue to exist. Reapplying timeflow attraction from Reality Space.

0.4 second difference between target coordinates and current recognition, confirmed! That's well within tolerances, so we are good to gooo!

Khh...!

Emerging from Void Space. Thirty seconds until arrival at Reality Space.

Zero Sail, complete. Emerging into Reality Space.

The Ortinax exoskeleton is operating within expected parameters. Internal pressure regulation, combustion, and weaponry are all good to go.

Armored Shielder is cleared to deploy. Well? Feeling up to this, Mash?

Yes. All of my readings and transformations are working well. Although...

What's up?

I thought you'd be ejecting me again, but this chamber and model both seem very different.

Well sure. Last time, we were sending you into the thick of an ongoing battle, but this time, we're just having you check out our surroundings.

Besides, Master's coming along with you, and we can't go shooting you both out, can we?

Ah.

Right... Good point. I forgot that Senpai will be joining me...

All right, let's try this again. Are you all set?

Yes. ...Armored Shielder, ready to deploy.

You got it. Shadow Border, open the hatch! We are go for our recon mission!

...Senpai.

Don't worry, I'm feeling fine. And the Ortinax is in great shape, too.

Da Vinci really is a genius. Even after all that intense fighting we did in Russia, it's still in perfect working order.

Thanks to that, I should be able to use all of my power at any time.

No, not a bit.

I know we can see our breath out here, like this... (Blows) But that's the worst of it. Don't worry, I'm fine.

My cold-resistant gear helps a lot. Besides, it's not as bad here as it was in Russia. It does make sense that Scandinavia would still be freezing, though.

？！

All that aside, this place is very...snowy, isn't it, Senpai?

It's three degrees Celsius, but the wind isn't cold at all, and the air feels crisp and clean.

It feels like a real winter wonderland compared to Russia!

I'm sure the temperature will drop to well below zero once night falls, but right now, I'm just enjoying how peaceful it is...

？！

I agree. I was just thinking the same thing.

We still don't know exactly what this Lostbelt is like, but at least this place seems quite peaceful.

It's enough to make me hope that maybe...not every Lostbelt is dangerous.

...But this really isn't the time to wax philosophical. Let's get started, Master.

Right! Let's start by looking for some sort of hill, so we can get a better view of our surroundings!

？！

The Border is recharging for now while it stays camouflaged in the snow.

Da Vinci said it would take about three hours for it to charge up completely, so let's do our best to explore as much as we can in that time!

Okay, we've reached the top of that hill. ...!

It's nothing but snowy fields as far as I can see... And then there's... Senpai, look!

Look at that...

It's a white mountain range stretching on forever... And I think...they're made of ice and snow...?

There's some sort of blue haze to the north, about halfway along the range. Wait, is that...

？！

Yes. There's fire burning in the parts without trees!

I can't see such a thing happening naturally, so it must be some sort of magecraft at work.

So that's what this Lostbelt is... A world of mountains, white ice, and blue flame...

And then there's the...sun? It's much too big to be the sun, though...

This doesn't add up. I've heard parts of Scandinavia can get almost no sunlight for months at a time...

...but I've never seen anything about the sun being this size. I doubt any such records even exist.

？！

... ...

...And another thing. I don't see the Tree of Emptiness anywhere.

？！

Mmm. It was clearly visible from outside the Lostbelt.

I can't imagine it was suddenly wiped from existence, so maybe it's being hidden with magecraft...

Well done on the reconnaissance, you two. We've finally had a moment to catch our breath here.

Holmes!

It seems you're about five hundred meters away. Well chosen.

That's just about the perfect distance, since we're still unable to detect hostile entities.

Thankfully, our emergency exit didn't strain the Border as much as we anticipated, but I'm afraid it's still not going anywhere for the time being.

Still, we cannot afford to waste any time, which is of course why we sent the pair of you out to investigate.

...A land of fire and ice, hm? It seems that this Lostbelt will present its own challenges, as I feared.

？！

Thank you just the same. We have a faint visual here as well.

The sun does indeed appear to be far larger than is normal... But it should be tens of billions of years before it reaches this size.

We still don't understand how drastically a Lostbelt can change its environment, but if this one has transformed our sun into a red giant...

Were that the case, forget the ice and snow. The whole world would be a scorched desert.

Ms. Kyrielight may be able to survive such an environment, but Mr. Fujimaru most assuredly would not.

Yes. Which means...that may not actually be our sun.

So it may well be something that looks like the sun, but in fact is not. Hmm...

I don't recall anything along those lines in Scandinavian or Germanic folklore, but I'll take another look just in case.

I have a theory about that.

First, take a closer look.

That would be because they aren't. Take a look.

？！

Nothing is actually burning. I'm not sure how it works, but the fire appears to be something entirely separate and floating above the mountains.

Mysterious, to be sure, but there is little cause to doubt this phenomenon is the result of some form of magecraft.

Whatever it is, it must be the work of a Crypter or a Lostbelt Servant. That, I can say for certain.

？！

M-Mr. Holmes really hit the nail on the head, Senpai!

Well, of course he did. He's famous for always finding the truth of any situation right away!

And of course, for captivating readers with his brilliant and elegant deductions!

Hahaha. Thank you, Ms. Kyrielight. Though I must admit it is a touch embarrassing to be so effusively praised for the novelizations of my cases.

But...perhaps that's not so bad every once in a while.

I am not usually one to skip right to the conclusion, but yes, I am quite certain that the one who created those flames is

Hm? What is it? Do calm yourself, Fou.

Fou fou, kyuuu!!!

Fou? What is it? Is something wro

...!

Master, get behind me!

...!

We've just discovered an enormous...humanoid creature...!

!!!

An enormous humanoid creature, you say!? I see. That is...troubling. Most troubling indeed.

He appears to be about five meters tall! His arms are also very long, and he's wearing some sort of mask!

I think he's speaking a language of some kind, but...

!!!

...I can't make out what he's saying! It sounds more like an animal howling than any language I know of...

... ...

Uh... H-hello? Bonjour? Guten Tag? ...Ni hao? Konnichiwa?

Please listen to me. We are not your enemy. We don't mean you any harm.

We...are

...!!!

？！

...Master. I'm afraid he's coming right for us.

He's about to attack!

？！

...Understood. Moving to intercept the hostile!

...(Huff, huff)... ...!

...The battle is over. We've neutralized the threat.

？！

...Thank you for your concern, Master...but I'm all right.

The sudden attack just had me a little out of breath is all. It's nothing to worry about.

All my vital signs are fine. I'm still good to go.

I'm doing my best to analyze the recording and battle data now, but...at this point, I can only say that the creature you fought is like nothing we've seen.

Neither a Heroic Spirit, nor a Demonic Beast.

He was simply an enormous humanoid creature native to Scandinavia. One that could not possibly exist in the twenty-first century.

...A giant...

...Yes...

Correct. I'm pleased you're already familiar with them.

？！

I read that...a number of powerful giants used to live in Scandinavia.

Of course, this was all a long time ago.

In the modern era, there have barely been any giant sightings in Sweden, Denmark, or Norway.

I believe most of them were during the Age of Gods...back when the old Mystics still existed.

I'm sure there are some exceptions, but even so, to encounter one out of nowhere like this...

Both Goredolf and Mr. Meunière are in something of a tizzy about this impossible encounter, but yes, in the year 2020, giants have long since ceased to exist.

And yet, you've obviously just met one. Albeit one that tried to kill you even after you attempted to communicate with him, but still.

...

I caught a glimpse of his eyes behind the mask and he seemed...consumed by bloodlust.

？！

So in this version of Scandinavia, creatures from the Age of Gods still live. That is most troubling. I had considered the possibility, but I didn't think it would prove to be true so soon.

Damn you, Crypters! Damn you for throwing something like this at us in only the second Lostbelt! Have you no sense of restraint!?

That said, we are far from completely helpless. Ms. Kyrielight. Mr. Fujimaru.

To begin, I've updated our database with everything I could determine about this creature.

We were unable to detect it from the Border because Chaldea had no information about ancient giants.

Furthermore, I also learned something rather unexpected about the ice and snow surrounding us...

What about them...?

They are imbued with a faint magical energy. The trace is so minute that only an expert mage would even be able to detect it at all!

This small amount of magical energy created enough interference in our equipment that we were unable to detect the giant's approach.

Da Vinci is still quite upset about it. She says being plugged in to function as a bio unit dulls her senses.

Nonetheless, I'll do my best to update our data immediately. I'm also sending an update for the Ortinax's firmware.

R-right. Confirming update now

Master!

I'm picking up new hostiles in our periphery...! There's at least one...two...no, several ice beasts traveling alongside another giant!

？！

Understood!

I can see them up ahead! Master!

？！

That should wrap things up for now.

We've defeated another giant and several ice beasts.

I no longer detect any hostiles or magical energy signals in our vicinity.

Ah...

Wait. You're right, Mr. Holmes. I can sense faint magical energy around us... Coming from the snow...

I'm not sure, but that certainly seems possible.

Good question. I don't recall any giant like that from Norse mythology offhand...

？！

Let's hash that stuff out later, you two. For now, you should hurry back to the Border!

Holmes, from now on, maybe start waiting until people are in a safe location before you start with your long-winded explanations?

There's no guarantee there aren't other giants still lying in wait out there. Both of you, get your butts back here! And be careful!

Anyway, great job collecting all this data right after we emerged! This should be a big help!

Oh good, you're back. Welcome home, you two!

It's good to be back. The Ortinax is working wonderfully. Thank you again for that.

Glad to hear it!

Goredolf's having a little rest; said he was having a nervous breakdown or something. I guess the emergency exit WAS pretty hard on him.

Guess all that worrying he did about scouting out our surroundings after we emerged was for nothing...

I wouldn't say that. He's trying to keep us safe, in his own way.

Naturally, his primary concern is his own survival, but that's still an important part of being a leader.

When things get dangerous, you snap to attention. When things get dicey, you get right the hell out.

That's how things are supposed to go, but the further removed the higher-ups get from the action, the softer they get when it comes to making those calls.

So in that sense, Director Goredolf is exceedingly good at his job.

I'm not sure why, but he seems to treat any danger his field operatives are in as danger to his own life.

I wonder what that's all about. Maybe he had a really strict tutor growing up or something.

You know, like someone teaching him to think about war from the perspective of the people he's sending out onto the battlefield?

Oh, yeah... I see what you mean. That would definitely explain some things.

Now that you mention it, he always looked like he was in a lot of pain whenever Fujimaru was in a tight spot back in Russia. Talk about empathy.

No wonder he was always kicking up such a fuss...

At any rate.

Make sure you write up the recon findings in a nice report template when you hand it off to him, if you don't mind. That oughta be more than enough to keep ol' Gordy in the loop.

On a different note... You guys really had a rough time out there, didn't you, hm?

...Yes, we did.

Giants are beings from the Age of Gods. Not even mages have seen more than the occasional fossil of them.

Any survivors in areas where Mystics were still in full force were probably seen as threats, and taken out by the heroes of their respective ages.

They're certainly not something you'd run into every day!

I mean, you guys didn't see hide nor hair of them in any of the seven eras you Rayshifted to, right? Not even in the actual Age of Gods.

And now we just happen to run into not one, but two, in modern-day Scandinavia!?

I believe those giants you encountered were Jötnarmembers of the Jötunn race of giants.

In the Age of Gods, the Norse world was composed of nine realms.

One such realm was Muspelheim, the land of flame. Another was Niflheim, the land of ice, through which an icy river of poison flowed.

When these two realms collided, the poisonous frost melted. Then, when it was exposed to Muspelheim's heat, grew into a tremendous giant.

This was Ymir, said to be the ancestor of all Norse giants.

The race of giants that went on to spring forth from Ymir's body were called Jötunn, the frost giants.

These giants were truly beings belonging to the era when gods walked the earth.

At times, the Jötnar would mix with the Norse gods, giving birth to new gods and giants alike.

It's said that the surviving Jötnar eventually fell out of mythology and went on to become trolls...

...but what you two saw today were no trolls. They were most definitely Jötnar.

... ...

... ...

Fooou...

？！

Hahaha. Well, I am Sherlock Holmes, you realize.

I am the one who finds the truth, regardless of my Spirit Origin. I believe I said as much when I introduced myself.

...No, sorry, I'm just having you on a bit. You see, the Paper Moon is not the only thing I picked up while I was visiting the Atlas Institute.

Tri-Hermes!

Precisely. While there, I came in contact with the Pseudo-Spiritron Calculation Engine, Tri-Hermes. When I did so, I happened to peruse some secret medical data pertaining to giants.

？！

Hahaha.

I don't see what's so funny...?

Don't you "hahaha" me, buster. You're supposed to tell me these things before I need to know them!

It's not fair that you get to do all the fun exposition! Besides, we're a team. You know we should be pooling our knowledge and stuff!

I shall take that under advisement, especially considering it comes from none other than the great Leonardo da Vinci herself.

All that said...I could certainly use a bit more information myself.

Is this simply a Norse Lostbelt where a once-lost race of giants still runs amok? No, I very much doubt that is all there is to it.

Right. The ones you saw today were powerful beings of Mystics, but...

...But they were still living creatures.

If nothing else, I can say for sure that the beings we encountered weren't Servants.

Correct. They were indeed absolutely not Servants.

Based on what we know from Russia, we can assume there is a being here who rules over this Lostbelt, and a Crypter who tends to the Tree of Emptiness.

While our primary concern is with the latter, there remains a strong possibility that we will come into conflict with the former as well.

That said, our goal this time does not include engaging them in battle. Our intent is to cross Scandinavia without them ever knowing we were here.

Yup, exactly. Still, we should really take a little break first, don't you think?

Thankfully, there's a lot more magical energy concentrated here than there was in Russia, so the Border shouldn't have any problem recharging.

We'll set off again in a little while, so make sure you two rest up while you can.

Hiking across snowy mountains does a real number on your legs and back, you know? I very much recommend getting those kinks ironed out while you can.

Right. Oh, but first, I almost forgot. Mr. Holmes!

Yes, Ms. Kyrielight?

I'm sorry, but, back when we had just looked over the mountain range, remember how you and Senpai were talking?

At the time, there was something else we wanted to ask about...

？！

Yes! The strange fire that kept burning without spreading! Do you know what it is, Mr. Holmes?

I can't say I know for certain. I only have a hypothesis, albeit one in which I am quite confident.

I suppose that would make this more of an induction than a deduction. At any rate, yes, that fire is none other than

Another alert...!?

Fou, fou! Fooou!

What the hell? Are our sensors busted!? Crap, no, it's worse. They're working perfectly!

Fujimaru! Holmes! A freakin' enormous magical energy signal just popped up near us out of nowhere!

It's like a Magical Reactor Core! This monster's on par with the Angrboda powered by the Greater Grail we saw in London...!