After dealing with Paracelsus, who called himself P, Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others brought Dr. Frankenstein's ancestral artificial human loli, Fran, back to Jekyll's residence.
Jekyll examined Fran and offered his analysis. "This child, Fran, is an artificial human. Her body isn't composed of spiritual essence... she's not a Heroic Spirit. She's a being from this era, or rather, an artificial human."
He rubbed his chin. "Is the novel's account mistaken? No, it's too early to conclude that."
He continued inspecting Fran, showing great interest in her as an artificial human... not out of any inappropriate fascination, but pure curiosity about a novel creation.
Fran, however, let out a sound of displeasure, though she couldn't speak, leaving Jekyll puzzled.
Mordred spoke up. "She's upset that you're poking around under the guise of investigation. Apologize, Jekyll."
The accusation made Jekyll's expression shift. "Eh? Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realize I was doing that. It's not the behavior of a proper English gentleman!"
"...Ugh." Fran made another strange noise.
Mash, observing, said, "I think she meant, 'Good, you understand.' That's probably what her sound meant."
Mordred nodded. "Yeah."
Fujimaru agreed. "Exactly."
Jekyll looked confused. "How do you all understand what she's saying?" Then a thought struck him. "Is it because you're women? No, never mind!"
Mordred warned, "Don't let it happen again, or I'll kill you."
Jekyll didn't seem angered by the threat. "Understood. I'm sorry, I won't do it again. Oh, right... my intelligence network picked up some new information.
"Something strange has appeared in Soho. It's said to be invading homes and attacking citizens."
His expression grew serious as he spoke.
Hearing that something was attacking people indoors, the group became equally grave.
Roman chimed in. "We've confirmed that artificial humans, automatons, and chaotic mechanical soldiers so far... "
Jekyll added, "Based on my network and Saber's patrols, they've never invaded homes before. This thing attacking citizens inside seems to be a book, roughly the size of a human body.
"I'm calling it a grimoire for now. I hope you can deal with it. We don't know if it's tied to the Demonic Fog plan, but there are already victims in Soho.
"Will you take on this task?"
Before Fujimaru, the group's leader, could respond, Jeanne Alter spoke up.
"Morpheus says to leave this task to him. We should keep investigating other matters."
"He's stepping in?" Fujimaru was surprised. "I thought he was going to stay out of it until the mission was over."
Jekyll grew curious. "Your companion is that capable? How many are with him?"
"Just him," Fujimaru replied honestly. Seeing Jekyll's concern, she quickly added, "Don't worry, he's incredibly strong. If he can't handle it, the rest of us together probably couldn't either."
Hearing this, Jekyll relaxed but became even more curious about this mysterious figure.
If the combined strength of this group was less than this Morpheus, just how powerful was he?
"Is he a Servant too?" Jekyll asked. With such strength, it seemed likely, especially since there were already two Servants in the group.
Mordred, being his ally, wasn't counted in this comparison.
But Fujimaru shook her head. "He's human. But don't worry... I haven't seen any Servant beat him yet." She smiled, pointing at Jeanne Alter. "Ask her if you don't believe me. They've fought before."
This shocked not only Jekyll but also Mordred.
Mordred vaguely recalled Morpheus from their initial meeting. He was the man who wasn't present now, so he must be Morpheus.
Back then, he had instantly recognized her as a Servant, which already surprised her given his perceptiveness in the fog. She'd assumed he was a formidable Servant, but to hear he was human?
Mordred looked at Jeanne Alter. The woman's strength was immense, among the top tier of Servants or Heroic Spirits. Yet Fujimaru claimed Jeanne Alter had fought Morpheus... a human... and lost!
Everyone turned to Jeanne Alter for confirmation.
Even if she denied it as a joke, it would've seemed normal. But to their shock, Jeanne Alter nodded without hesitation. "I can't beat him."
Her blunt admission of defeat, without any attempt to conceal it, stunned the group. What kind of monstrous strength could overpower such a powerful Servant?
As a scholar, Jekyll leaned toward analyzing the issue through his expertise. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Does he have some special magecraft formula that suppresses spiritual entities like Servants?"
Jeanne Alter shook her head. "No, it's pure raw strength. I just can't beat him."
Jekyll's curiosity deepened. A human defeating such a powerful Servant through sheer strength... what kind of anomaly was this?
Was he an alien posing as an Earthling?
"From what I've seen..." Mash hesitated, recounting past experiences. "In Greek mythology, both Jason and Heracles were terrified of Morpheus and didn't dare fight him."
Jekyll grew even more confused. "Greek mythology figures?!"
Mash nodded. "Yes, Jason was too scared to fight, and Heracles clearly didn't want to either. I also heard Morpheus joined Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece and slew the Mother of Monsters along the way."
Jekyll gasped. As a scholar, he had studied these myths thoroughly. Greek records mentioned the Mother of Monsters, Echidna, spawning countless creatures to attack the Argonauts' ship. It took multiple heroes, including the moon goddess, to defeat her.
But now, it seemed Morpheus was the one who defeated Echidna?!
"Wait, I recall some obscure accounts... less popular records... mentioning an unnamed man on the ship who was the primary force in slaying Echidna, though details about him were scarce..."
Jekyll's eyes shifted as he spoke.
"Could that man in the records be Morpheus?!"
"From what we've heard, it's him. The moon goddess Artemis confirmed it," Mash said, nodding. "They were all together, and Morpheus was the one who killed Echidna."
"That's impressive, but there's something odd about that myth. There's never been an explanation for why Echidna attacked the ship," Jekyll noted.
Fujimaru gave a wry smile. "Because Morpheus killed her husband, Typhon, earlier. Typhon fell to Morpheus's hands."
Jekyll was floored.
What had he just heard? The greatest crisis on the Argo's voyage was Echidna, and myth scholars had long puzzled over why she appeared. Now there was an explanation: a human named Morpheus killed Typhon, the Father of Monsters, prompting Echidna to seek revenge. It made sense!
But this sense only gave Jekyll a bigger headache.
Typhon's strength was absurdly formidable, even defeating Zeus once. Yet this monstrously powerful Typhon was defeated by a human!
It was like saying a human's strength surpassed the Greek god-king!
Wait... those events were in the Age of Gods, so why was Morpheus still alive and human? Had he discovered some secret to immortality?
Jekyll shook his head, suppressing his curiosity.
The secret to immortality might be Morpheus's closely guarded mystery, perhaps tied to one of the Five True Magics. It was best not to pry, lest he invite trouble.
...
Morpheus had left the Clock Tower and was now speeding toward Soho.
Thinking about what the others had said, he felt a spark of excitement.
"A book that can harm people and clearly has its own consciousness!
"Could it be a grimoire? I didn't expect the Nasuverse to have grimoires. If I can get my hands on it, I might gain even more magical knowledge!
"Besides, if Ritsuka and the others tackle this, and it really is a grimoire, their minds and sanity could be corrupted. I'd better handle it... my resistance is far stronger."
Grimoires were books imbued with magical knowledge, serving as both vast repositories of arcane lore and powerful tools for studying magic.
The divine armament Morpheus had forged with the help of the fire god was a semi-finished grimoire. As he added more magical knowledge to it, its power would grow.
Grimoires weren't always books. They could be made of human skin, beast hide, leaf, or even stone tablets. Morpheus knew of such grimoires.
When inscribed with magical knowledge, these became magical artifacts... grimoires.
For instance, De Rerum Natura by Lucretius, if imbued with magical knowledge, could be considered a grimoire, containing methods for achieving longevity through alchemical means.
However, the knowledge in grimoires was inherently toxic, capable of shattering one's worldview. A mere glance could cause bleeding from all orifices, and prolonged exposure could be fatal.
This made studying magic in ancient times incredibly difficult, as one had to constantly resist the toxic effects of magical knowledge. Modern magic, thanks to the Golden Dawn's research, lowered the barrier, making it safer and easier to learn.
Moreover, as books, grimoires existed to spread knowledge. Once their seals were broken, they would frantically seek people to share their knowledge with, aiding those who helped spread it, as they possessed their own consciousness.
So when Morpheus heard about a book harming people, he immediately considered the possibility.
This could very well be a grimoire!
"Well, it's not a person this time... just a book. Nasuverse wouldn't go as far as creating a bunch of non-human card-selling characters like in 1999, right?"
With that thought, he quickened his pace.
Soon, Morpheus arrived in London's Soho district. Observing the houses, he sensed many people had fallen into a deep sleep.
This puzzled him.
"No deaths, just sleep? And they're clearly dreaming..."
Only sleep, no fatalities, no bleeding or madness... it didn't seem like a case of sanity loss from toxic knowledge.
Morpheus pondered for a moment, then raised his right hand, swiftly writing a series of symbols in the air.
The symbols floated, and he softly chanted a spell.
"With the power of Remiel, guard the tranquility of dreams."
If the target was putting people to sleep, it likely had the ability to manipulate dreams, draw power from them, or even kill through them. In that case, protecting the dreams of those asleep would suffice.
He didn't believe the culprit could stay hidden after his interference. It might already have noticed the disruption and was rushing over to confront him.
***
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