Olga Marie gritted her teeth, a fierce headache pounding at her temples from the sheer chaos of the situation.
Whatever happened, their first priority was keeping everyone alive.
She was about to speak when Adam cut in first.
"Roman, can you tell who's inside each of the coffins?"
Roman paused, then glanced at Olga Marie.
She looked at Adam and nodded without hesitation, placing her full trust in him.
With the Director's approval, Roman answered, "The explosion scrambled the order of every coffin. It's impossible to tell who's who anymore."
"I see…"
From what Adam remembered of the A-Team's strength, they might have survived without even needing to be frozen. But with no way to identify them individually, there was no other choice.
Aside from those elite Masters, no one else was expected to endure that violent blast—let alone the interrupted Rayshift it caused.
All forty-seven of them were now trapped in a Schrödinger-like state, existing and not existing at the same time.
The only solution was…
"Freeze them in the Spiritron Coffins for now," Adam said. "Make sure they all survive."
Roman stared at him, stunned by the sheer resolve in his voice.
Seeing that Roman still hadn't moved, Olga Marie snapped, "What are you waiting for? Get on it!"
Roman jumped to his feet. "I'll arrange everything right away." He hurried off to handle the preparations and ended the call.
Suddenly, Olga Marie remembered Lev—the man who had been like a father to her.
"Wait! Roman!"
"What about Lev? How is he?!"
But the line was already dead.
The moment she mentioned his name, Adam and Mash exchanged a knowing glance.
Lev Lainur Flauros
A truly complicated figure.
Goetia's subordinate, deeply tied to the Demon God Pillars.
He possessed three distinct personalities:
The one governing the past—Lev Uvall.
The one governing the future—Lainur Gusion.
The one governing the present, the mediator—Flauros.
In other timelines, the present personality, Flauros, would take his own life. The research conducted by his past and future selves would bring catastrophic harm to the world if left unchecked.
The present personality cared only for the here and now; the past and future meant nothing to him.
So he chose suicide.
Yet in the world after his death, the Incineration of Humanity never occurred.
In this timeline, however, he hadn't killed himself. Instead, he had become a Demon God Pillar and chosen to help Goetia carry out the Incineration.
And so it happened.
Lev's suicide was therefore a critical turning point—one of the major factors deciding whether Humanity would be incinerated.
But what had stopped him from taking that path here?
The reason was simple.
It was because of Mash.
Born as a test-tube baby, Mash's lifespan was limited to just eighteen years. Her entire purpose had been to serve as an experimental subject for fusion with a Heroic Spirit.
Shocked by such inhuman experiments, Lev had lost all faith in humanity's future.
Thus, in this timeline, he chose to become a Demon God Pillar and assist Goetia in completing the Incineration of Humanity.
Tasked by Goetia with destroying Chaldea, Lev had triggered the bombing that led to their current crisis.
Adam laid out every detail for Olga Marie, Mash, and Ritsuka Fujimaru.
Ritsuka took it fairly well, simply feeling a pang of melancholy that the seemingly kind professor had carried such a dark past.
Mash's emotions were far more turbulent. She had never imagined Professor Lev had walked the path toward destroying Humanity because of her.
Of course, none of this was her fault. She had been a victim from the very beginning.
Olga Marie's reaction was the strongest of all.
"You mean to tell me—!"
"Lev, who helped me so much…!"
"Has been lying to me this entire time?!"
"His only purpose in Chaldea was to destroy it!"
"It was him who bombed Chaldea! Who blew up the command room!"
"Who reduced my physical body to ashes!"
"And left those forty-seven Masters critically injured!"
Adam and Mash nodded.
"You really got all of that out in one breath."
[Ritsuka Fujimaru Emotion Value +10]
[Mash Emotion Value +10]
[Olga Marie Emotion Value +10]
…
Olga Marie rubbed her temples.
One crisis after another. She felt her head spinning.
Could things possibly get any worse?
And yet…
She turned her gaze to Adam.
With him by her side, she suddenly felt like there was nothing left to fear.
As long as Adam is here, I have everything I need. A mere Singularity? With him on our side, Goetia doesn't stand a chance.
"What do we do next, Adam?" she asked.
Adam shifted his attention to Ritsuka Fujimaru. She was still very much a rookie Master.
"Start by giving her a quick briefing."
"Wasn't she asleep during the strategy meeting anyway?"
"Besides, for me this Singularity happened ten years ago."
"I'll catch her up."
Adam's casual remark sent another wave of shock through the group.
"Ten years?! What do you mean this happened ten years ago?!"
"Adam! Just what has your Chaldea been through in your world?!"
"Don't tell me the Singularities still weren't resolved even after a full decade?"
Adam answered calmly.
"No. By that point, every Singularity tied to the Incineration of Humanity had already been resolved."
"After that was taken care of, we faced some new problems."
"As for what I experienced during those ten years…"
His eyes grew distant, as if thousands of scenes were flashing through his mind in an instant—the entire journey replaying itself.
So many words rose in his throat, all the hardships he had endured.
But when he thought about everything he had fought to protect, only one sentence left his lips.
"Just some rough roads, that's all."
To the people of this Chaldea, the weight behind those simple words felt immense.
They couldn't begin to imagine how much they truly carried.
With a soft sigh from Adam,
Mash started to step forward, wanting to offer her senior some comfort and ease the exhaustion in his heart.
But before she could—
Ritsuka Fujimaru moved first. She reached out and patted Adam firmly on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, Adam. In this world, you're not the only Master Number 48!"
"You've got me too!"
Adam looked at her, momentarily stunned, then broke into a warm, heartfelt smile—like he had found a kindred spirit.
He reached over and playfully ruffled her hair.
"What are you even saying?"
"With the power you have right now, how exactly are you planning to help me?"
Ritsuka quickly smoothed down her now-messy hair, puffing her cheeks as she glared at him.
"I might not be able to right now, but that doesn't mean I won't be able to later~"
Mash watched the exchange, unsure who exactly she should feel jealous of.
Maybe both.
Still, her objective was clear. She eyed Ritsuka with quiet vigilance.
This girl… She's a serious rival!
"Ahem!"
Olga Marie cleared her throat loudly, cutting through the moment and drawing everyone's attention back to her.
"Since we're giving a briefing anyway…"
***
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