Before the next Singularity (186) (Patreon)

Ainz would really like to say that he had sorted out all the problems he’s currently facing, other than the Singularities, that is. And, in a sense, he actually did…

In fact, the only thing that could count as an issue was the question of the books he was going to give to Olga-Marie… In which case, he was absolutely stuck.

Neither the books, nor his intention to give them to Olga, had gone anywhere. His original plan was to figure out which books were appropriate as a gift and which weren't – and that had gone down the drain.

That is, Ainz, having met Sita, only realized the fact that he was originally supposed to visit Da Vinci for this very purpose, and not to solve Sita's problems. The fact that he had only remembered that after he returned to his room, grinning like a polished little copper from the fact that he had solved Sita's problem… Only to discover that he had failed to do the thing he was going to do in the first place.

Going back to Da Vinci's study under such circumstances… would be counterproductive.

Considering just how strange it would look for him to visit Da Vinci in short succession, the risk of him running into yet another Servant with one problem or another was too great… The concern would still be there, but he would like some time in between, please!

So after a few minutes of doubt and thinking, Ainz finally came to a conclusion that he was satisfied with – and decided to just give Olga all the books he had stol… I mean, borrowed from the library of the magical association.

Even if there were books in that archive that Olga would not like – most likely, because of the vastness of the archive itself, there would be books there that she would like as well. Of course, to find them Olga might have to wade her way through a dozen books that did not suit her, and Ainz's gift could have been much better if he had sorted out all those books beforehand. But Ainz could not make a gift that perfect, and the prospect of reading so many dry books with words he didn’t understand definitely didn’t appeal to him.

So in the end, he could only hope that this was enough, and he could make Olga happy with at least the number of books…

A voice on the loudspeaker snapped Ainz out of his musings, informing all listeners – but most of all, of course, himself – that his presence at this moment was needed in the Chaldea command post.

It seems that it is already time.

His brief vacation in Chaldea flew by so quickly that it had passed in a blink of an eye – a week and some change and that was it, a new Singularity awaited him.

Ainz sighed, rising from his bed, then got to his feet.

The sixth Singularity.

To think, how long had it been since he first woke up in the corridors of Chaldea?

A little over two months, no more than two and a half.

Ainz had spent twelve years in YGGDRASIL – a full dozen even…

In other words, the difference in time spent in YGGDRASIL and in this crazy, ever-changing, bright world was… About seventy-fold?

He had spent almost seventy times as much time in YGGDRASIL as in Chaldea. How many stories from his playing times had he accumulated? How many pleasant memories had he retained, and how many artifacts of the past he still kept with him?

Ainz moved to the exit, opening the door easily, before stepping onto the already so painfully familiar route leading to the painfully familiar people who were sending him on a painfully familiar mission.

He had spent a magnitude more time in YGGDRASIL than in Chaldea, so why…

Why are his memories of his YGGDRASIL now seemed so distant to him?

***

The path was familiar to Ainz – he'd walked through it six times before, after all, and in quick successions too. And so, after only a couple of minutes of walking, Ainz had arrived at the threshold of the command center. Glancing momentarily at everyone who was supposed to be present at this little war council – Roman, Olga, Da Vinci, Scáthach, Medb, and Sita?

Ainz blinked, then tried to figure out exactly what he didn't like about observing the current situation.

Roman? He was doing surveillance and gathering preliminary information for the Singularities – makes perfect sense…

Da Vinci – additional background information and analysis… and she probably wouldn’t be caught dead missing the event.

Olga? Perfectly logical, she was the official leader of the ongoing operations and also the one that formulated the tasks.

Ainz's gaze then stumbled over to the three Servants who were also present in the command center at the moment – and whose presence Ainz definitely didn’t expect.

To Ainz's prolonged scrutiny, though, Scáthach reacted first – throwing back at him a look that was something between irritation and aggression… with mistrust mixed in there, perhaps, too.

Sita's gaze, on the other hand, expressed absolute determination – a glimmer of steel in her eyes and in her posture. Her fingers were intertwined with her hands resting calmly on her lap, but Ainz had no doubt that, at this moment, Sita’s attention surpassed even Da Vinci, scanning every slightest speck of dust swirling in the monitor…

Medb's situation was much simpler and more complicated at the same time.

Medb was just trying to pretend that she was incredibly engrossed in reading the reports in front of her, so immersed in her own world that she barely noticed Ainz's presence… which failed completely to anyone with eyes.

In fact, she was stealing a look towards Ainz so frequently and quickly that he worried that she would sprain her eyes…

“Um.” Seeing nothing to it, Ainz was the first to draw attention to himself.

Medb twitched in response, her awkward movement tearing the papers in her hand to pieces, the sheets scattering across the room, the noise almost deafening in the otherwise silent room – a smattering of pieces landing on Ainz's feet.

“I meant to do it. Yes, the report was so shocking…" Medb blurted out instantly, almost reflexively, obviously not quite knowing what she was saying or what she was supposed to say under the circumstances.

But by the look in her eyes when she looked rounded momentarily, and the way she had already opened her mouth to make some sort of excuse – which probably meant another incredibly awkward dialogue – Ainz had unleashed his greatest power!

To pretend that what was happening was perfectly normal and exactly as he had originally intended.

So, without changing his expression at all, Ainz closed the door behind him, the air currents disturbing the scraps of paper that had fallen to the ground before. Ignoring that spectacle as well, Ainz quickly made their way to the lone chair, apparently left especially for him, opposite Roman and Olga. The both of them, carrying an expression of surprise, made it clear that this situation did not fit into their understanding of normality at all. Da Vinci, on the contrary, was almost humming a song under her nose, looking at everything that was happening before her with undisguised glee, her hands writing notes at a blistering pace.

“So…” Still, if Ainz had allowed any environment to influence him, he would never have become an absolute master of the greatest ability in his arsenal.

The ability to ‘pretend that everything is absolutely within the norm, and in fact was predicted even before it happened – who knows, maybe even Ainz himself had a hand in the incident!’… He can't imagine the situation he would’ve been in if he had not mastered that technique.

“What's the next Singularity?”

Hearing Ainz, Roman started looking around as if the situation was indeed normal, and it was just him that’s overreacting… When one of the scraps of paper landed on his face, Roman decided that he had other things to worry about, cleaning the scrap off as he coughed awkwardly. “The Singularity, yes…”

At that, Sita and Scáthach’s eyes were focused on Roman – Medb too. But considering that she still managed to glance at Ainz about three times a second anyway, making the observer think that she was following some invisible and extremely fast object flying before her eyes, her situation hadn't changed much.

“Ahem,” As if trying to find some confidence in his actions, Roman coughed distinctly once more before continuing. “Yes, of course, Singularity…”

Coughing once more, clearing his throat, then another after Olga surreptitiously elbowed him, Roman finally began speaking.“Yes – the Singularity… We have established that the time coordinates of the Singularity are found at the time of the Crusades, to be exact… in the Holy Land of Jerusalem in the thirteenth century… Most likely.”

"Hmm, the Crusades…?" Ainz sighed, what’s that?

‘No, of course, I've heard of such things once happening, religious wars… what a novelty. Fighting and killing another human being because of a difference in opinion? In my world, religion played almost no role whatsoever in people’s lives – after the Third World War, which practically destroyed humanity, you could say that the Apocalypse in its various variations from all the holy books really happened…

Although, it doesn’t mean that people are not just as ideological, one always needs to believe in something – even if it is the power of science and not religion…  Hmm, who exactly said that - Tabula Smaragdina? Or was it Punitto Moe?’

After trying for a few seconds to remember which of his friends specifically said it, Ainz sighed, brushing those thoughts aside before glancing at Roman, catching another, equally unimportant thought. “Most likely?”

“Yes," Da Vinci put her notebook aside for a moment, stepping into the conversation, causing Ainz to look away and Roman to exhale. “We're seeing very strong temporal distortions, so pinpointing when the Singularity is… difficult to say the least. But we've encountered something similar in the past, haven’t we?”

Ainz thought about it for a second before nodding. “The Third Singularity, Okeanos?”

“That's right," Da Vinci nodded before sighing. "But this time the distortion is incomparably greater. In Okeanos, the problem existed in the fact that Drake had driven Poseidon mad – and in the existence of two Holy Grails, at the same time. The Grail that was supposed to be in that world – and the Grail that had been brought by the Demon Kings. Their existence, along with the interference brought upon by the maddened Poseidon, had created the distortion in the Singularity, confusing geography of places and violating laws of reality. In this new Singularity, however, there was more than one distortion…  As if within this Singularity, already a distortion of the world, several smaller distortions, Singularities, had appeared that distorted the already distorted fabric of reality even further.”

“Hmm," Ainz replied with a moment's thoughtfulness, "And what you suppose are causing these…  Distortions?

“Great question!” Da Vinci shouted with glee at Ainz’s words, as if she'd just been waiting for an opportunity to explain something… Though, knowing Da Vinci, it's quite likely that that's exactly what happened.

“And the answer is… " Da Vinci held up a suitably dramatic pause, "We don't know!”

Her enthusiasm combined with the non-answer caused a sweat drop to fall from Ainz’s head.

“The original Singularity was most likely created by the Grail – but if a second Grail had affected it, as in Okeanos, we wouldn't have seen the phenomena of a Singularity within the Singularity. Instead, the first Singularity would have just been further distorted even more.” Da Vinci bent her finger, then touched it to her chin thoughtfully and rolled her eyes.

"But even if the Singularity inside is smaller in scale than the original Singularity, that doesn't mean anything. The very fact that a Singularity was created inside another Singularity means that something really incredible – and extremely powerful – exists inside that Singularity itself capable of distorting the world even without a Holy Grail, and thus, obviously, extremely dangerous.”

“If the distortions were created by Servants, then they would be Servants whose level exceeds all supposed limits – perhaps they are Servants that are close to, or even equal to, Divine Spirits. In other words, the very top of the Servant power pyramid.” Da Vinci answered, simultaneously sounding serious, conveying in her tone some concern with the development of this situation. And yet at the same time maintaining a lightness in her tone, clearly confident that whatever might happen, no insurmountable problem would arise before Ainz.

“Either that or they were Servants with special abilities ideally suited to this situation and these actions…”

Da Vinci thought for a moment after that, before smiling slightly. “I suppose Servants like Baal, Cainabel, Angrboda, or Medb would be capable of such a thing…”

At this point Medb, who had finally convinced herself that no one was paying attention to her, and was therefore quite shamelessly ogling Ainz while blushing slightly, flinched and abruptly shifted her gaze to Da Vinci.

“Perhaps I could also create a similar Singularity within a Singularity? The fabric of the world is distorted enough in a Singularity, that it would be magnitudes easier than normal.” Da Vinci smiled shamelessly after her claim.

“But such a thing is obvious, I am a genius among geniuses, after all, for me there is nothing impossible!”

Roman waited for a few seconds, after Da Vinci's grandstanding, before adding his own two cents in. “But what if it isn't the work of the Servants? That possibility scares me, perhaps even more than the possibility of meeting an unlikely Servant…”

“Yes, indeed," Da Vinci switched easily from her ‘glory-seeker mode’ to ‘professional mode’ and sat back down. "Other possibilities? It may not be the action of the Servants themselves or other creatures, but the action of some particular magic. Or maybe some special artifact, or maybe the area was already with powerful magic lurking in it, or just a strange phenomenon of nature. There are, in fact, many possibilities…”

“So we don't know exactly why such a phenomenon has occurred, but it's probably a disturbing sign, a troubling sign of things to come.” Ainz nodded, then thought for a second.

“But what exactly are these ‘Singularities within Singularity?’”

“And another great question!” Da Vinci glanced at Ainz, continuing to shine her smile. “And the answer is…”

“We don't know,” This time, finally overcoming her embarrassment for being in the presence of the other Servants, especially Medb, Olga decided to follow Ainz's example and pretend that what was happening now was completely normal.

“Or rather, we know that it’s still a part of the Singularity – something that follows the original principle that was embedded in the Singularity." Olga sighed, trying her best to distance herself from the watching Servants.

"But given that this is a Singularity within another Singularity? The principles within these additional Singularities might be even more different than in the original Singularity – in other words…”

Ains nodded, finally understanding what Da Vinci was saying. “I understand…”

‘So, an extra dungeon inside another dungeon? How rare…’ Ainz frowned a little.

There weren't many instances – at least one that are known, verified, and documented, of such a thing happening in Yggdrasil. But, as one would expect from the sadistic developers, there were ‘hidden quests’ or even ‘hidden dungeons’ even within other quests and dungeons in YGGDRASIL.

Personally, Ainz had only found one such instance, with three others reported by his friends at Ainz Ooal Gown… Though in one case, he wasn't entirely sure – it was very likely that Peroroncino had simply decided to embellish his story the day he went to do the Succubus Queen's quest…

He probably embellished it. Technically speaking, the hundreds of half-naked women described in the quest were not fully against the rule for distribution of pornographic material. But it was Peroroncino, he could very well make up such a thing…

Never mind, it was more important that each Singularity, and each dungeon, was always a headache. So now, with hidden dungeons and unknown Singularities within each other? Ainz could feel a phantom headache forming.

In other words, it was a situation that was extremely difficult to prepare for. In that Matryoshka doll-like Dungeon, Ainz went from an ordinary dungeon that required immunity to poisons, protection against acids, fire magic and powerful AOE attacks to a hidden dungeon that required exactly the opposite. It needed one to have protection against fire, immunity to light, ice magic and powerful single attacks with high defense penetration… basically a death sentence to the ordinary Player.

The only reason Ainz made it through that dungeon was because Ainz never unpacked his inventory. Unlike a lot of other, more optimized players, who kept their inventory absolutely clean except for the essentials of the mission, either so they wouldn't have to give up the contents of their equipment when they died – or so that they can urgently collect it if they died in a dungeon before their equipment was destroyed - Ainz carried around an absurd number of different equipment and consumables ‘just in case’.

That time, Ainz was able to quickly change his equipment and get through the dungeon, gaining a fairly high-level loot at the end and getting a new quest line – but that was not the point of the story.

If this Singularity really was like a hidden dungeon – and Ainz couldn't find another, more appropriate analogy at this point – it meant that his plans and prepared strategy for the standard Singularity might need some changing.

Ainz wasn't worried about himself – not letting his pride get the better of him, Ainz was quite confident in his strength and tactical flexibility, but as for the other Servants…

Besides, as the past Singularity had already proved to Ainz – properly selected Servants could solve a Singularity almost on their own efforts, even without his intervention. An enviable quality, especially since Ainz was not exactly confident in his ‘interventions’, even if he has been quite lucky so far, relying on luck is a fool’s errand…

But, if the Singularity before him was going to be even more confusing than usual – then selecting the right Servant would be even more difficult than before… So, rather than making some optimized composition of Servants, Ainz was better off taking Servants with him that could fill many vacancies at once. Or, alternatively, to step away from qualities altogether, from finding specific abilities among Servants entirely and take those who ‘just proved themselves well’.

“I get it." Ainz nodded before looking away.

So, then, the composition of Servants for the mission…

Himself, though perhaps that’s not needed to be said, he would serve as the main fighting force, support, tactics, and an arsenal of abilities in case of a sudden surprise

Hmm, next is Mashu, definitely. Of all the Servants, she was the only one suitable for the role of a pure ‘tank’, and so were essential in any dungeon in any case.

Then, someone suitable for the role of Damage Dealer was needed – Archer seemed like a good enough option for Ainz, he's certainly not lacking in attacking options.

However, Archer was a ‘glass cannon’ like many other DDs and Servants that came to Ainz's mind. And with Mashu not having a Hate attracting ability, a certain amount of durability is needed for a DD. Not to mention that if for some reason the enemy would split, and the probability of that was not that low as previous Singularities had shown him – then that meant that the DD would become easy prey.

In other words, he required a DD capable of acting as a ‘backup tank’ like Yamaiko.

Frowning slightly when no other Servant came to mind, Ainz focused on his connection with the other Servants mentally before delving into learning their abilities.

Certainly, Scáthach could be the right Servant for the job… Arthuria as well…

True, Scáthach wanted to kill him – but Arthuria had already died in the previous Singularity…

Ainz frowned, after which he concluded on which Servant to pick. Arthuria had died because of his stupidity and neglect, he won't let that happen this time again. And while Scáthach wanted to kill him… Well, that's just additional reasons not to leave her in Chaldea. Ainz believed that the other Servants would have time to capture her or deal with her if she decided to do something to sabotage Ainz.

But no one but Ainz knew how to use resurrection, and so it was at least necessary to assess her up close before leaving her alone in Chaldea entirely without his own supervision.

So, a tank, a DD, and a ‘reserve tank/DD’ along with Ainz. It’s a small group…

There was still the option of adding a rogue – someone who could detect traps, whatever appearance they took in Singularity, and in general someone smart who could correctly counteract the plans of the opponents and detect them if necessary…

The most ideal options in this case were clearly Baal and Da Vinci – they were both clever and had a lot of diverse powers, but…

Hmm, when you think about it, Medb could probably fill that niche as well. Another plus, unlike Da Vinci she would be unlikely to keep demanding explanations from him, and unlike Baal she would be unlikely to create any grandiose plan out of his misunderstandings.

Even better, Medb also had tremendous tactical flexibility! She wasn't too strong in one-on-one combat, but she had a huge range of different abilities in case of changing circumstances.

Yes, Medb wasn't a bad option – her arsenal of abilities was surpassed only by Ainz – but as for her intelligence…

Ainz shifted his gaze slightly, immediately finding Medb's eyes as she tried to stare at Ainz’s secretly, causing her to freeze like a small animal caught in the light of the car lights, seemingly not even breathing.

Medb was an extremely vicious but efficient and intelligent queen… Even if she now looked like a love struck teenager.

Ainz involuntarily looked away, remembering several quests with particularly elaborate traps embedded in them.

At least she was supposed to be some kind of Machiavellian schemer according to the lore – and given her quests – she definitely is… However…

However, Ainz was still unsure of Medb's reaction to his surroundings – especially his… Ahem, girls.

Whale Medb is an excellent choice, what was needed was someone who could act as an observer for Medb – the original idea had been to use Baal… Which didn't really seem like a bad idea to Ainz even now, but Baal… Baal was not someone Ainz could trust with complete certainty.

No, Ainz didn't think that Baal would betray him, but his tendency to create his own plans out of Ainz's random remarks, was too great. Worse, he would then implement those relying on the thought ‘surely this is exactly what Ainz told me to do with that random coincidence three weeks ago’ might play a particularly cruel joke on Ainz… Especially when it came to his relationship.

‘Right!’ Ainz suddenly felt a metaphysical light bulb go off over his head. ‘We could do… A controlled experiment!’

Ainz could conduct a little experiment as to how Medb could react to his interactions with others while under his personal supervision! With the result, he could then plan accordingly!

However, leaving Medb alone with Mashu or Olga was impossible – he needed someone strong enough who could also neutralize her as a last resort, at least until Ainz arrived. Someone who could withstand Medb's numerous arsenal who is also in a relationship with him, which meant…

‘Medusa!’ Ainz snapped his fingers uncontrollably, as he had arrived at the correct answer, which caused everyone present to immediately turn their attention to him.

Ainz, who suddenly found himself in the center of attention, again used his most magical ability – he pretended that everything was normal, and then, without paying attention to it, turned to Olga. “Well, everything is clear to me…”

“Everything?!” Olga responded by looking at him with a considerable amount of surprise and respect, causing Ainz to suppress an impulse to rub the back of his head with embarrassment.

‘All that you explained to me, I meant!’ Is what Ainz wanted to reply with, but realizing that would have made him look stupid and Olga to ask more question. Questions like ‘Then why did you snap your fingers?’ and that would have led to another awkward dialogue, so instead Ainz chose to just change the subject.

“I understand everything except one thing…”

After that, Ainz shifted his gaze to Sita. “Why are you here?”

“Because I want to know everything about the Singularity I'm going into." Sita replied with such conviction and surety, as if the very thought of not going to the next Singularity, for whatever reason, was in itself a transgression against the laws of the universe.

“Oh, ahem, I see…” Ainz, slightly surprised by such words, thought for a moment before nodding.

Sita doesn’t really fit well in any of the suitable niches that Ainz could think of. She wasn't a tank, wasn't very strong as a DD, and didn't really impress with the abundance of abilities available to her – but… there is one thing.

Ainz thought for a moment, then looked at Sita carefully. "You know how to heal, don't you?”

“A bit," Sita answered as if it were self-evident. "Also to break curses – I learned that… in pursuit of my goals.”

Ainz, on the other hand, only smiled slightly upon hearing this.

‘Well, now we've found a healer! It’s all coming together!’

***

Wake-Up News Channel's online broadcast:

Q: I mean, don't get me wrong, but there's a possibility of that happening, right?!

S: Of course not! This theory has been disproven hundreds of times – and still every time there is someone who supports it!

Q: But we have no proof that it couldn't have happened that way, could we discount it so easily?!

S: What proof can there be of the absence of something! We have evidence, measurements, studies-!

Q: (interrupts) But what if that evidence is fake?!

S: (sighs defeatedly) Do you seriously believe that someone set up an atomic war on American soil? Do you seriously believe that the civil war was fought with nuclear weapons?!

Q: I'm not saying that, but…

S: Scientists have proven, repeatedly, that the Hawaiian volcanic eruption, which threw out many tons of deep volcanic rock – also included a geyser of radon water, which triggered the radioactive fallout!

Q: (interrupts again) But no one else has done a follow-up study about that possibility, have they?!

S: (sighs again defeatedly) Because scientists have better things to do than to check whether or not nuclear weapons were used in the U.S. Civil War…

(end of quote)

Note: Q. was neutralized a little later. Enforcer S. was recalled a little later to perform the next mission by the Holy Church. Information about Q.'s remaining disciples are currently being vetted for non-compliance with the non-disclosure directive.