Era of Heroic Spirits: I Was Exposed by Alaya

At the same time King Arthur, Jeanne d'Arc, and others arrived in Fuyuki City.

Avalon, the Tower at the End.

In front of a magically constructed computer, a 178 cm tall, handsome Magus of Flowers was wearing a motion capture suit, dancing energetically.

While dancing, he puckered his lips in a cute pose, singing an adorable song.

And to his fans, he said, "Thank you for the superchat, onii-chan! Mari loves you so much, mwah~"

-[Merlin is so cute, I love you!]

-[Ahhh, I'm dead! The dancing is too adorable!]

-[That voice is so sweet and cute, it melts my heart!]

-[Wait, don't tell me—just like Dawei behind Lumi, Mari is actually a guy too?]

-[Shut up! First, kill the Imagine Breaker! Mari is a cute little l0l!]

...

In just over a week, [Magi☆Mari] had already amassed millions of fans.

For a virtual idol, this was an unrepeatable miracle.

But it made sense.

A Grand Candidate, a child of a nightmare who fed on human dreams and knew exactly what otakus wanted—of course, it was child's play.

It was practically using a nuke to kill a mosquito!

"Thank you for the superchat, Doctor onii-chan! You're the best! That's all for today's stream—see you next time!"

Merlin turned off the livestream and expertly removed the motion capture suit.

The order couldn't be wrong—otherwise, disaster would strike.

He crossed his legs on the chair, grinning as he opened a news livestream—

[The Three Kings' Visit!]

The King of Heroes, King Arthur, and the Emperor of France, Jeanne d'Arc—who had made a sudden trip to Fuyuki City—three top-tier heroic spirits gathered in one city.

It had been ages since such a grand spectacle occurred, with the live stream viewership already surpassing a hundred million.

Countless people gathered before TVs, computers, and phones to watch the broadcast, each one frenzied with excitement.

Yet not a single soul knew that he was the true mastermind behind it all!

"Nameless, let's see how you'll survive this round!"

Merlin watched the live stream with a beaming smile.

As a child of the Nightmare, he wasn't one to fall in love with humans.

Feeding on human dreams while never dreaming himself, he craved nothing more than to plunder those very dreams.

Now, he had personally orchestrated an unprecedented grand performance.

The cast—

Jeanne d'Arc, King Arthur, and Mordred—were all in position.

The audience—

Him and Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, were also ready.

All that remained was that Nameless hiding in some unknown corner.

"Nameless, I've put my heart into preparing this grand welcome-back gift for you. How will you thank me?"

Merlin scrutinized everyone present.

This was his meticulously crafted spectacle, and he eagerly anticipated its unfolding as scripted.

When he first learned that Nameless was in Fuyuki City, he immediately notified Mordred, instructing her to shadow her father, who sought to secretly meet Nameless there.

Subsequently, he informed the King of Heroes, inviting the fellow seeker of amusement to join him in enjoying the show.

A grand performance of this magnitude naturally required a worthy audience.

And who could be more fitting than the King of Heroes himself?

The only slight hiccup was that the King of Heroes hadn't watched Unlimited Blade Works beforehand, nearly getting himself caught and thrown into the Nyodimizu Spring before being dragged in front of Nameless.

Fortunately, everything turned out fine in the end.

Unlimited Blade Works became the King of Heroes' greatest humiliation, subjected to public execution—broadcast for the entire world to see.

After watching the video, the King of Heroes predictably wanted to kill that Nameless bastard who dared to stab him.

Everything was going exactly as planned!

Preparations were complete—the show was about to begin.

As the mastermind behind it all, the director naturally reserved the best VIP seat to enjoy the spectacle.

"Hurry up! I can't wait to see the look of despair on Nameless' face!"

Merlin grinned with unparalleled delight.

Such an entertaining plot—he couldn't wait any longer!

Nameless, all I want now is to see you suffer!

Standing atop the Tower at the End of Avalon, Merlin began channeling the world's essence of Avalon, pouring energy into that long-vanished Noble Phantasm…

——

Fuyuki Grand Hotel.

Luxury cars lined up at the entrance.

The Emperor of France, clad in a black formal dress, strode into the grand hall amidst a sea of admirers.

Her golden amber eyes swept over the faces of countless fervent fans, cold and aloof.

Yet—

It was precisely this expression that sent her fans into a frenzy, their excitement boiling over as they gazed at her in rapture.

What could they do? The Dark Saint's persona was just like that—most of her fans were masochists to the core.

That [Jeanne's Contempt] look? For them, it was the highest reward.

Gilgamesh watched her with amusement. "You came?"

"I came."

Jeanne d'Arc regarded him coldly.

Originally, the Knights of the French Holy Order had tried to stop her from coming to Fuyuki.

But under Merlin's persuasion, she had come without hesitation.

And she'd even brought along the most unruly pink-haired knight, Astolfo!

"You shouldn't have come," Gilgamesh shook his head.

The Emperor of France, traveling thousands of miles to Fuyuki—just to chase after that man.

And competing with King Arthur for him, no less.

Was it really worth it?

"But I'm already here."

Jeanne walked past him without another glance.

He was just another spectator like Merlin.

The two of them seemed to treat her and King Arthur as actors on a stage.

But it didn't matter.

Ever since she had cast aside her saintly identity and descended upon the world as the Avenger Witch, she had embraced her life to the fullest.

Veni, Vidi, Vici.

No one would take what was hers!

As the Emperor of France stepped into the hotel, countless eyes widened in shock, and the livestream exploded—

-[Oh my god, Jeanne actually came!]

-[The terrifying Nameless—you really have EX-rank misfortune with women!]

-[What do we do, what do we do? If they start fighting, will Fuyuki get nuked like in Unlimited Blade Works?]

-[So… where the hell is Nameless anyway?]

...

"He's right fucking here!"

Souma had no time to watch any of this.

Another Servant's appearance had completely unsettled him.

Just Artoria and Mordred alone had him worried Fuyuki might get flattened.

With Mordred's temper and the Lion King's domineering nature, neither would back down.

And now, the even more unpredictable Dark Saint had arrived.

Just who the hell was the bastard behind the scenes orchestrating all this? Did they really have nothing better to do than stir up chaos?

The only consolation was that Gilgamesh had gifted Roya the Hades's Cap of invisibility, capable of concealing all abnormal auras emanating from her.

Steady now, don't panic—I can still win!

Souma took a deep breath.

The enemy was in the open while he remained hidden. Strictly speaking, the odds were heavily in his favor.

As long as he could adjust his mindset and summon the regal might to take on five opponents alone, he could effortlessly turn the tables against all odds!

As for teammates—

Hmm, my teammates seem to be Illya, Gilgamesh, and the like.

Gilgamesh needs no explanation. Gifting the Hades's Cap of Invisibility was probably the biggest concession that guy could make.

That bastard, much like Merlin, was a pleasure-seeking freak who just loved watching the show.

As for Illya, she probably wouldn't be much help either.

Unless she could directly summon Berserker in his ultimate form, she wouldn't even qualify to be taken seriously by heroic spirits.

As for the others—

Seems like I really don't have any teammates.

Whoosh!

The commotion erupted once more.

Countless reporters raised their cameras, frantically pressing their shutters.

Because the British delegation, who had previously retreated to rest, reappeared the moment Jeanne d'Arc arrived.

This was the juiciest news of all.

The idolization of heroic spirits had turned each one into a top-tier celebrity.

At this moment, even official media outlets fully transformed into paparazzi, eager to see what the two national leaders would do in public.

"Every single one of them just loves stirring the pot without caring about the consequences!"

***

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