Chapter 158: The Tenth Simulation
[Please select a tag (choose one of four)]
[Anomaly (Rare): Your behavior will become abnormal]
[Artist (Rare): Makes you more artistically inclined]
[Migraine (Common): You will experience headaches from time to time]
[Singer (Epic): Grants you mastery of singing ability and greatly enhances the poet's communication with all things (Star Performer exclusive talent)]
Seeing this familiar selection screen again brought Noah a certain sense of relief.
Compared to the constant progression in reality, even he couldn't help but feel that the act of simulation itself was reassuring.
Then there were the system updates over the past year, from Volume One to Volume Two.
First, the choices had become four instead of one. The so-called "richer options" likely meant more exclusive talents like this fourth one... though he wasn't sure if these exclusive talents were enhancements for his existing abilities or randomly drawn enhancement-type talents.
Finally, after the update, he could retrieve one item from each volume's simulation.
Although choosing one item per volume still required careful consideration, it definitely added more color to the Simulation System.
At the very least, it seemed there were more choices, more random elements... it just felt a bit more interesting.
"This really feels like playing a Roguelike game in a past life."
Thinking this, Noah shook his head and directly chose the fourth option.
If this were truly a game, he might have chosen the first or third to see what happened, especially that migraine with its counter. He really wanted to see what would happen when the count reached a certain level.
But this wasn't a game, so Noah chose the exclusive talent—the most useful among the four.
Simulation, begin!
[The next day, after waking up, you implemented several countermeasures regarding the White Titan, as Mary had told you.]
[Then, during this period entering autumn, you also dispatched people to search for Manaka Sajyou's traces. But this time, you were particularly laid-back about the search, because you knew Manaka Sajyou was the Root Princess. Her deliberate departure when you took Rome was proof she didn't want to see you at this moment.]
[After autumn began, the 'City of the Huns' crashed towards the border.]
[Singer, activated]
[You discovered that as long as you focused, you could hear the voices of those puppets.]
[They kept shouting 'Civilization, destroy'. Even though you could understand their voices and they could understand yours, communication was still impossible under these circumstances.]
[They were like cells divided from an even greater existence, lacking so-called intelligence, and thus unable to communicate.]
[But when you focused even more, even entering the state of the Will of Britain, you found you could hear more subtle and detailed sounds.]
[Those puppets couldn't communicate with you, but you could glean some information from them.]
[Their existence was just as Mary had conceived: the core of the White Titan's revival plan, civilization collection devices.]
[But they were different from the White Titan. They appeared with a specific purpose: they could only absorb the power of contemporary civilization. If the power they absorbed was not a product of contemporary civilization...]
They would get stuck in a bug and become unable to absorb it.
[As a god, when you intervened, they couldn't absorb the Age of Gods civilization power from you, so they were completely erased without absorbing anything.]
[After that, just as many veterans had feared, the Great King of the Huns appeared.]
[She raised the Sword of Mars high, causing the magical energy in the entire atmosphere to tremble and converge toward her location. "The terrifying heat was like igniting a second sun on the ground."]
[Her attack frightened the soldiers, turning their faces pale, but because you were there, no one retreated.]
[At the same time, this attack was useless against you.]
[You had gathered the power of the entire Mediterranean Pantheon, allowing you to wield various Authorities through the Authority of Protection. The Holy Spear of Mars was useless against you, so how could the Sword of Mars possibly be effective?]
[As soon as you released your aura, the Sword of Mars in the hands of Attila, the Great King of the Huns, flew straight toward you. Then, both the spear and sword of Mars were reclaimed by you.]
[After you reclaimed the Sword of Mars, the Great King of the Huns stood far away, staring at you with a blank expression.]
[Although you knew she probably wouldn't act like this, for some reason, you felt as if you were looking at a little girl whose beloved toy had been taken away, puffing her cheeks in anger.]
[After reclaiming the Sword of Mars, you originally intended to capture Attila directly. But at that moment, a beam of light descended from the sky, and black mist rose from the ground. You used your power to protect the soldiers around you. By the time the light and black mist dissipated together, Attila's figure had also vanished.]
Wow!
Noah read this part and thought about Altera's reaction when her sword was taken away... It actually made sense?
Although he felt, after learning about her identity and deeds, that she probably wouldn't act like that, if he remembered correctly, he seemed to have seen such a setting in his previous life.
It was that although Altera never hesitated in her actions, had weak emotions, and called herself a "weapon of slaughter," this seemed to be because she had been severely wounded by Excalibur, to the point where she couldn't even fully understand what she truly was.
However, in Fate/Grand Order, in the storyline of Artoria (Alter), also known as "Black Saber," Altera could still remember Excalibur, which showed that she was still influenced by her past.
Perhaps because of this, in the Type-Moon setting, she seemed unexpectedly girlish in some ways.
For example, when she heard that she was called "Etzel" in legends, she instinctively said it was a good name because it sounded like a girl's name.
Ah, right!
When Noah saw that the simulation consistently referred to her as "Attila," he suddenly remembered.
Altera... no, Attila seemed to really dislike others calling her "Altera."
Noah had mainly been influenced because he was first in Britain and later in Rome, where he heard her name referred to in the local way.
In these regions, the Scourge of God was always described as savage and fearsome, so she was consistently called "Altera." Over time, even Noah was influenced by this.
It seems that if it truly becomes necessary to communicate with the other party, the first thing to pay attention to would be the name.
Otherwise, if I directly call her Altera and she gets upset, then things that could have been accomplished might become impossible.
And then there are those Magic Puppets...
If they can only absorb the power of contemporary civilizations, could we try summoning Heroic Spirits to deal with these Magic Puppets?
Noah thought it was worth a try.
If all else fails, he could always take action himself. But in any case, whether it's the Heroic Spirits or himself handling it, if it solves the problem more effectively, then there's no need to send soldiers to fend off these...
mindless beings.
Hmm...
Noah noted these two points first and then continued reading.
He (the one reading) thought that the simulated version of himself shouldn't have much trouble considering the idea of Heroic Spirits, so he wanted to see which Heroic Spirits the simulated version would choose and how he would use them.
[To deal with these Magic Puppets, thereby eliminating the consumption of soldiers and freeing himself to search for the Root of the White Titan—whether such an approach would be feasible or not.
Hmm...
Although the Noah observing the simulation thought this way, the Noah within the simulation began to focus on another matter.
[After that incident, your people praised your power and greatness, but you remained deeply concerned about the light that seemed to have rescued Attila.]
[As the Will of Britan, as the Mediterranean Pantheon itself, your perception range is incredibly vast, and your knowledge far surpasses that of ordinary people.]
[Thus, you could sense that the light did not originate from the sky itself, nor from the stars, but... seemed to come from beyond the heavens, from outside the stars, and not from those celestial bodies.]
[Such light reminded you of something even more terrifying than the White Titan, a Umbral Star Vanguard or Starship—the Umbral Star Velber.]