Tokyo Singularity (13): For the Destruction of Humanity...

The figure sitting atop the wall chuckled and leaped down. He dusted off his robe and stood in the light, revealing a strikingly familiar face.

She had single eyelids and phoenix eyes; her dark purple eyes revealed a fake, superficial smile.

— He looks exactly like Xia Youjie.

Sunlight shone on the young man, casting a shadow that rendered Xia Youjie almost speechless. He clenched his fists in disbelief, then clenched them again. His face maintained a forced composure, but his mind was a jumbled mess.

Does the white mist also have hallucinogenic effects? Otherwise, why would he suddenly see someone who looks exactly like him?

Why would he dress up like this, looking like someone who doesn't seem like a good person?

Silence spread between the two.

“You can’t be me.” After a moment, Xia Youjie broke the silence first, responding to the young man’s greeting, also convincing himself.

"Why?" the young man asked, raising an eyebrow. He walked up to Xia Youjie, bending down slightly to meet his gaze. Their breaths mingled as they looked at each other.

"Do you think I'm like a bad person, like a curse caster?"

Xia Youjie didn't speak, but the disgust in his youthful face said it all. Then, he saw the black-haired youth suddenly raise the corners of his mouth, and the eerie fire that flickered calmly deep in his eyes was an endless, burning rage.

"You don't think you'll become a curse caster?"

"I became a sorcerer to uphold justice, how could I possibly..."

The young man interrupted Xia Youjie's statement as if he had heard an outdated joke, and burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, I was so stupid back then, how could I not understand? Then let me explain it more clearly."

"—Do you remember what Yuki Tsukumo once said?"

In an instant, Xia Youjie's eyes widened slightly, his blood seemingly freezing as if he anticipated the young man's next words. Whether out of anger or guilt, countless cursed spirits opened their eyes behind Xia Youjie, rushing towards the young man, trying to silence him.

It couldn't be said, he instinctively thought.

But the young man merely raised his hand, and the cursed spirit vanished without even touching the hem of his clothes. He ignored Xia Youjie's insignificant resistance and continued casually, "It seems you remember, sorcerers cannot create cursed spirits."

“If you don’t want your companions to die because of the ignorance of ordinary people,” he paused, looking at Xia Youjie with an almost pitying yet mocking gaze.

—Looking at my past self.

"Wouldn't it be better to just kill all the non-magicians?"

—

"Damn it! This thing is like an eel, constantly moving around. I've tried hitting it with over a dozen 'Cang's' but haven't hit it at all!"

Gojo Satoru had already taken off his sunglasses. Less than three minutes later, he was so agitated that there wasn't a trace of a smile left. The magical power, almost enough to flatten the entire space, condensed in his hand.

Six Eyes detected the unusual energy moving within the mist and immediately activated his spell: "Azure!"

The ground, already ravaged beyond recognition, was churned up with new earth and rocks by the massive explosion of the curse's power. Yet, Jack the Ripper remained completely unharmed.

"Eh~ I almost got caught, that's so mean." The girl's childlike voice came from the mist, as if she wasn't killing anyone, but playing hide-and-seek with everyone.

"Excessive? I think you're the one who's excessive! If you're so capable, let's have a fair fight!"

"whee."

The crisp laughter faded into the mist. Gojo Satoru grabbed his disheveled hair, veins bulging on his forehead. This wasn't the hardest thing he'd ever fought, but it was the most grueling.

He'd rather fight Fuheshel for three days than keep dodging this guy!

"Have you figured out what's going on?" Gojou Satoru said to Fujimaru Ritsuka in despair, "Think of something! If this keeps dragging on, the dessert shop I'm going to will close down!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka staggered suddenly, instinctively ducking to narrowly avoid Jack's dagger, a few strands of orange hair slipping into her palm.

Is this the time to crave dessert? Everyone says I'm oblivious, but this guy is the real oblivious one, isn't he? She thought to herself, turning her attention back to analyzing Jack the Ripper.

Thanks to Jeanne Alter and Gojo Satoru, their alternating attacks bought her enough time to analyze the situation.

So far, Jack the Ripper's fighting style has remained unchanged; her skills, Noble Phantasm, and class are exactly the same as the Jack she knows.

Apart from the mist formed by magic.

There must be a second person trying to use the magic mist to achieve some unknown purpose.

"Whoosh—!" Jack leaped from mid-air, flicking his wrist, and purple magic flashed in the mist. Six daggers hurtled down from the sky towards Fujimaru Ritsuka.

But Fujimaru Ritsuka stepped back and bent over, dodging the two daggers with an unimaginable suppleness. Jeanne Alter also arrived just in time, hoisting her up with one hand and darting aside.

After knocking the remaining daggers away with two clangs, Jeanne Alter plunged her sword into the ground, and purplish-black flames shot up, crackling and burning with mist as they rushed toward Jack the Ripper.

The flames stung her skin, causing Jack's pupils to contract slightly. She suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "This is so much fun! So much fun! You're amazing!"

"Is something the matter?" Jeanne Alter ignored the stranger Jack's words and turned to ask her Master.

Leaning on her shoulder, Fujimaru Ritsuka shook her head and looked up at the blurry sky, the white mist obscuring her vision.

We can't figure out what's going on in the short term, let's deal with Jack the Ripper first. Fujimaru Ritsuka took a deep breath, "Alter, Mr. Gojo, from now on, follow my orders!"

Jeanne Alter put Ritsuka down, a smirk playing on her lips. "Heh, leave it to me. She must be punished for her hatred."

Gojo Satoru scoffed and moved closer to Fujimaru Ritsuka. Although he was usually the one in charge, he understood the principle of leaving professional matters to professionals.

—

"That's what we said, right?" Fearing Xia Youjie hadn't heard clearly, the Xia You Sect Leader repeated, "Then wouldn't it be better to just slaughter all the non-magicians?"

Xia Youjie: "..."

This was a statement known only to Tsukumo Yuki and himself. Although he didn't want to admit it, this young cult leader truly would be his future.

He really embarked on that path of no return.

Despite knowing his future in advance, Xia Youjie felt no sense of reality and continued to analyze everything as an observer, as if looking at flowers through a fog.

Why?

He was acutely aware of his situation. Despite his confusion about the meaning of reason, Haibara was right: do everything within your power. Therefore, he wouldn't abandon the weak, nor would he become a curse caster. But why would his future self walk down this path?

"Hmm, the reason?" Xia You, the cult leader, seemed to have come just to have a heart-to-heart talk with his past self, and readily said, "Because when I was completing a certain mission, I killed monkeys in a village, about a hundred people? And then I defected."

"……Why?!"

"They're abusing a pair of sorcerer sisters, locking them in cages and beating them. Do you think I did something wrong?"

Xia Youjie was speechless, staring blankly at the face that resembled his own. The man was laughing, laughing indifferently, as if the more than one hundred lives he had killed were not his own kind.

"Oh, right, you don't need to worry about that village now." Xia Youjie's cult leader seemed to read his mind, knowing exactly what he was thinking. Or perhaps it wasn't entirely true, since they were supposed to be one person after all?

"You've already been there."

"Yes, I've killed everyone in that village again, even more thoroughly, including those two sisters who probably disappeared into thin air as well."

As expected... wait?

"Including those two little sorcerers?!"

Xia Youjiaozhu raised an eyebrow, ignoring Xia Youjie's suddenly wide eyes, and said cheerfully, "Well, after all, I came back this time to destroy humanity, so it might be easier for me to die now."

Xia Youjie: "Huh?"

—

At the corner of the wooden house, two figures, hidden in the white mist, crouched behind, observing the battlefield ahead.

Gojo Satoru rested his chin on his hand, looking at the lone girl under the eaves. Even with the white mist obscuring everything, her dazzling orange-red hair remained as clear as ever.

"Leave her alone like this?" he said doubtfully. "Shouldn't we be the ones using bait? She's so weak, what if she gets stabbed in the throat?"

To defeat Jack the Ripper, you first need to see her movement trajectory and counter her dodges. This will ensure that all attacks actually land on her.

Fujimaru Ritsuka said she had a plan; the remaining two just needed to inflict damage. And that's how the situation turned out—she acted as bait, while Gojo Satoru and Jeanne Alter hid in the shadows awaiting orders.

"Tch, shut up!" Jeanne Alter muttered irritably, shoving the flag in front of Gojo Satoru to block his incessant chatter. "Of course I know this is dangerous!"

She was definitely more concerned about Fujimaru Ritsuka's safety than Gojo Satoru, whose concern was tinged with arrogance.

Although Joan of Arc Alter would never admit this verbally, her grip on her longsword and her almost white knuckles betrayed the inconsistency between her words and actions.

Why can't you rely on me a little more? Why can't you care more about yourself?

But, but, it was this unwavering persistence, this heavy trust placed in the heroic spirit behind her, that made the flame that should have hated everything and burned away everything pulsate in order to protect her Master.

Jeanne Alter also entrusted her absolute trust to Fujimaru Ritsuka, and would accompany him even to the end, even if it meant going to hell.

“Don’t underestimate her,” Joan of Arc said. “Trust her decisions and carry out the task she has given me; that is what I must do.”

Gojo Satoru tilted his head, displaying an expression of incomprehension. He had been curious ever since their last encounter, even when he and Jet were acting together. They cooperated, unlike Fujimaru Ritsuka and Jeanne Alter, who were completely led by one side.

Is it really possible for a strong person to accept orders from someone weaker than her?

But the next second, he could no longer ponder such a question; instead, his eyes widened in utter astonishment.

A howling wind whipped up the flowing white mist, and Fujimaru Ritsuka stood alone in the spacious front yard, appearing exceptionally small.

"Heh, there's only one left, let's dismantle him!" Jack the Ripper's voice, sticky and lingering, crept into Fujimaru Ritsuka's ears through the flowing mist.

Faced with the inability to find anyone else and having no choice but to deal with Jack the Ripper first, Fujimaru Ritsuka remained completely calm. She placed the back of her hand across her chest and calmly spoke:

"Assassin".

A note from the author:

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I'm drafting... Now that I'm brainstorming the singularities later on, are there any Servants you'd like to see featured?