Chapter 390: [390] Doctor Roman’s Breakdown, Confronting the Puppet Master Behind the Throne [1]
The little loli Anna took out a flower petal.
A surge of magical energy blossomed, forming an ethereal human figure.
It was a magical recording from Merlin, gazing at everyone with a smile—
"Everyone, I look forward to the day we establish a bond after you reclaim the future. Specifically, I recommend summoning—"
His voice abruptly cut off.
Anna casually tossed the petals aside, her expression full of disdain as she said, "That’s all there was to it. The last part was a bit nonsensical, so I took the liberty of cutting it."
At the very moment when Nameless needed help the most,
that Flower Magician had unhesitatingly chosen to flee.
Clearly afraid of being killed by some unforeseen mishap, thus becoming a true Grand Caster.
Yes, Merlin was not yet a Heroic Spirit.
As the child of an incubus, he had been holed up in the Tower at the End of Avalon, capable of living forever.
Once the magical recording ended,
"What an utterly hopeless guy. Even at a time like this, he only cares about himself..."
Dr. Roman was about to criticize Merlin when he suddenly stopped.
He stared blankly at Anna, then at Nameless and Mash,
before saying in disbelief, "Wait, hold on! Did he just casually drop a bombshell that wiped out most of my life’s joys?"
"Doctor, you need to face reality!" Nameless sighed softly.
He had known this from the start.
And had reminded the doctor more than once, but it had been utterly futile.
This poor doctor stubbornly believed that "Merry" was a kind little angel.
You call Merlin a little angel?
"Doctor, though it’s unfortunate, virtual idols aren’t self-born entities,"
Mash couldn’t help but look at him with sympathy. "They’re all designed and controlled by real people."
As an artificial human raised by the former director, she was special but still counted as a real human.
But those virtual idols? Every single one was a genuine illusion.
Their words and actions were entirely controlled by someone behind the scenes.
Those controllers had a special term—
[The Person Behind the Avatar]
Some of these "persons" might be stunningly beautiful, the perfect idol girls.
But others hid behind a facade, saying things like,
"I’m a beauty streamer, so I can’t show my face. Only at 100K subs or donations will I reveal myself!"
Only for it to turn out, upon accidental exposure, that they were actually a 58-year-old aunt.
Enough to make fans’ hearts shatter on the spot.
Right now,
the [Magical☆Merry] that the doctor was infatuated with—
the person behind her was none other than that Merlin.
Nameless, Mash, and Da Vinci had all known this for a long time.
Though they pitied the doctor for being the top donor, there was nothing they could do.
This was the doctor’s only hobby—they couldn’t just take it away from him.
Dr. Roman replied without hesitation, "Huh? No way! [Magical☆Merry] is real! It’s just that her manager is a scumbag!"
Even after Merlin’s blatant reveal, he refused to accept it.
The audience couldn’t help but laugh at the scene—
[Typical Merlin, pretending to be a white-haired, red-eyed loli virtual idol!]
[Poor Roman, played like a fiddle by Merlin yet again. Truly tragic!]
[Cao Cao was on a military campaign when they lost their way to a water source, and the troops grew thirsty. He then declared, "Ahead lies a plum grove; eating the plums will quench your thirst." The soldiers heard this and marched forward dozens of paces, where they indeed found a plum grove. They shared the plums and ate them.]
[Top-ranked stream donor Romani Archaman fled overnight by train—no, by initiating a Rayshift, escaping to before the dawn of humanity!]
[And you otakus think this guy is King Solomon?]
[Why not? When the virtual idol you obsessively pursue suddenly turns out to be Merlin, wouldn’t you want to destroy the world too?!]
In the real Chaldea.
Mash, reading this, cast a sympathetic glance at the neighboring room: "Poor Doctor... this is just too tragic."
All he ever loved was a virtual idol, spending lavishly on figurines, dakimakura, and other merchandise.
He even became the top donor in her livestream, practically handing over his entire fortune to her.
And now?
The latest video from [Alaya] outright exposed Merlin as, well, Merlin.
Even worse—Merlin himself confessed it!
Mash sighed softly. "I hope the Doctor can hold on and not break down completely."
"Hmph, don’t feel too bad for him, Mash. He brought this on himself," Da Vinci snorted.
That idiot doctor only cared about his so-called virtual idol, ignoring all the real-life beauties around him.
His tastes were so bizarre that even Da Vinci began doubting whether her [Mona Lisa] form had any charm left.
The next second.
A shrill, despairing scream erupted from the neighboring room: "Aaaah! Aaaah! Aaaah!"
It was a sound of utter devastation.
As if his wife and children had been stolen away, leaving him utterly alone.
Romani Archaman sat there, lifeless, feeling as though his entire existence had turned to gray.
He had finally used the Holy Grail to become an ordinary human and met a pure, adorable virtual idol.
Two joys combined should have brought him even greater happiness, allowing him to savor life to the fullest.
But!
Why did it have to turn out like this?
First, his true identity was about to be exposed—everyone would know his origins, robbing him of his chance to live as a normal person.
And now, even his beloved virtual idol turned out to be a puppet controlled by that bastard Merlin!
Which meant Merlin had been laughing at him all along!
Pretending to be the virtual idol "Merlin," toying with him at will.
And he, like a fool, had poured everything into pleasing and caring for her.
Just then.
Music suddenly began to play—
[Snowflakes drift, the north wind howls, the world is vast and desolate!]
Flurries of snow fell, blanketing everything in silver.
The blizzard settled over him, amplifying the desolation.
Romani Archaman sank to his knees in deepening sorrow, staring up at the infuriating image of Merlin on the screen.
And let out a heartrending roar:
"NOOOOO!!!"
Why... why did it have to be like this?
At that moment.
Gilgamesh calmly retrieved the speaker, cutting off the song.
Qin Shi Huang indifferently waved his hand, dispelling the snowflakes in the room.
Silence returned.
Both of them stared at the doctor with deeply perplexed expressions.
Even with the lowest expectations, they never imagined this man could be fooled by Merlin.
Did he think hiding behind a 2D persona gave him free rein to do as he pleased?
"So, this former King Solomon, now Doctor Roman, wants to destroy humanity because he was tricked by Merlin?"
Gilgamesh stared at the other party with great interest.
This was truly fascinating.
It delighted him to no end.
The mighty progenitor of magecraft, Solomon, had been shamelessly toyed with by Merlin, a candidate for Grand Caster.
That scoundrel of an incubus even said—
"After all, I am Merli, and Merli is me! Isn’t this surprising? Isn’t this unexpected?"
Surprising? That was putting it mildly.
Just look at Doctor Roman—his psyche instantly shattered, wanting to annihilate the world!
No one would believe this if told!
So, was this why Souma forcibly drowned Merlin in feminine waters?
It wasn’t impossible.
Souma would spare no cost to save the world.
A mere child of an incubus, making him wake up one day as a woman.
All to calm the rampaging Demon God King!
"Indeed, it’s possible," Qin Shi Huang nodded.
Earlier, Solomon’s father David had mentioned that if all ten of his son’s lovers betrayed him, it might truly drive him to destroy humanity.
But in this case, the virtual idol’s true identity being the "Merlin with No Conscience" seemed even worse than lover betrayal!
Could Merlin be the real culprit behind it all?
The video continued.
While Nameless and Mash sympathized with the doctor,
the Demon God Sabnack glared at Nameless and the others with hatred: "In the name of the [72 Demon Gods], we shall never allow such slander against this praise—"
At that moment,
a blinding pillar of light descended from the heavens, cutting off his words mid-sentence.
Even a being as powerful as a Demon God had part of its body obliterated by this terrifying attack.
Under its furious gaze,
"Hahaha, were you about to say ’beauty’? How dare a mere Demon God presume to speak of beauty!"
Ishtar made a grand entrance, mocking without hesitation: "I am the embodiment of beauty and war, harvest and Venus!"
How intolerable—a mere Demon God daring to discuss beauty.
After her taunt,
Ishtar turned her gaze to Nameless: "Bastard Nameless, how will you welcome the arrival of the most beautiful and noble goddess, me?"
This time, sensing an inexplicable summons, she had descended without hesitation.
"I—"
Just as Nameless was about to respond,
Clatter—
Behind them, countless golden chains rose into the air, their tips forming sharp spears that recklessly lashed out at the demon gods.
Even the mighty goddess was caught in the attack range.
Ishtar roared in fury, "Damn you, Enkidu! You were clearly aiming at me!"
"Oops, my hand slipped. I was planning to skewer you and the demon gods together, but you dodged," Enkidu replied with a smile.
The expression on their face screamed, I totally meant to hit you, with no intention of hiding it.
Ishtar instantly lost her temper. "Aaaah! A divine weapon daring to attack a god?! You’re definitely broken!"
"You and the demon gods are a perfect match. Why don’t you go pick up their remains and wear them as accessories?" Enkidu’s tone grew even more mocking. "After all, you’re both evil gods who oppose humanity—might as well show your true colors!"
From the very beginning, the divine weapon and this goddess had been like fire and water.
There was not a shred of courtesy between them.
Nameless quickly stepped between them. "Please focus on fighting the demon gods first! Settle your issues later!"
If he didn’t intervene, the divine weapon would’ve trussed the goddess up like a dumpling.
If they kept fighting, no one would deal with the demon gods.
At that moment—
The underworld goddess Ereshkigal smiled and spoke up. "Nameless, I’m here too. Let me repay the favor I owe you."
In the previous Singularity, she had joined the Three Goddess Alliance, hoping to protect more human souls by participating.
But when she acknowledged Nameless and faced the primordial mother goddess Tiamat, she recklessly exhausted her own essence to aid him.
It cost her life and soul, only for Nameless to revive her using power borrowed from the primordial mother goddess.
After all the twists and turns, even Ereshkigal herself wasn’t sure how much she owed him anymore.
"I knew you’d come to help. Thank you," Nameless said with a grateful smile.
The bonds formed in the Seventh Singularity had brought forth heroes and gods alike, all willing to lend their strength without hesitation.
"Just so we’re clear, I’m only here to answer the requests of the heroic spirits who once fell into the underworld. I’m just bringing them along," Ereshkigal replied, feigning composure.
Inside, she was frantically reminding herself—
"Stay calm! Act composed! Rebuild my image as the cold, aloof goddess—appear more dignified and graceful in front of him..."
This inner monologue was even highlighted.
Displayed in speech bubbles beside her, it gave the audience the feeling of watching an anime.
Unfortunately—
No matter how much she mentally scolded herself, her heart still raced wildly the moment she saw his smile.
Her cheeks flushed bright red, her hands unconsciously fidgeting with the hem of her clothes as she lowered her gaze slightly.
The mighty, ruthless goddess of the underworld was now displaying the bashful demeanor of a young girl.
Her voice grew softer as she turned her head away. "I’m only helping you a little. Just a little! It’s not like I came here specifically to see you or anything!"
The audience was utterly stunned—
["Help! Ereshkigal is too adorable! My heart can’t take this cuteness!"]
["Ereshkigal, dear, tsunderes aren’t in style anymore. If you keep this up, Nameless is gonna get split five ways!"]
["A domineering little sister vs. a sweet, gentle older sister... It’s obvious who Nameless would pick!"]
["Tch, why not both? Enkidu can turn into chains for some extra spice—now that’s the good stuff!"]
["Hey, I have a friend who wants to ask if there are any doujins like this?"]
Outside the video.
Rin Tohsaka stared at the screen in astonishment, addressing the two goddesses in her mind: "Even deities can be summoned?"
The sheer number of Heroic Spirits appearing was already extraordinary enough.
But she never imagined that even gods could descend!
Wasn’t this supposed to be about humanity’s shining stars?
"Deities are restricted by the Counter Force and cannot descend freely, so they naturally can’t respond to summons," Ishtar explained. "But the Crown Singularity of the Time Temple exists outside human history."
"It’s an independent, special world—similar to imaginary number space—that allows gods to descend effortlessly."
This vast and magnificent Reality Marble existed within the gaps of time itself.
Connected to every timeline yet belonging to none, its nature was so unique it might as well be True Magic.
Ereshkigal added, "As for the Heroic Spirits in the Babylonia Singularity, they were essentially brought along by me."
Heroic Spirits were legends of great deeds, heroes immortalized in song, descending in spiritual form.
In the previous Singularity, these spirits had united against Tiamat within the Underworld.
And the Underworld represented the destination of death.
In a way, this meant everyone had "died" once, allowing her to facilitate their manifestation.
But none of that mattered now.
The real question was:
Why had this been exposed?!
Ereshkigal felt her face burning with embarrassment.
This was utterly humiliating!
That damned Alaya had even revealed her innermost thoughts for countless people to see.
It was practically a public execution!
Ishtar gaped at her. "My dear elder sister... are you really a goddess? Have you been influenced by Rin Tohsaka?"
Where was the dignified pride befitting a deity?
She acted like an ordinary, flustered girl instead.
How bizarre!
"Hey, why bring me into this?" Rin protested.
She’d never embarrass herself like that!
At school, she was the refined and admired Miss Tohsaka.
If not for these two goddesses derailing her image, people wouldn’t be giving her such strange looks lately.
This was entirely their fault!
"Ahem, perhaps I was influenced after all..."
Ereshkigal’s blush intensified until her face felt scalding.
The majestic goddess of cold death now wished she could burrow into the ground.
So she did—producing a tiny shovel and digging without hesitation.
Hummm
A tunnel instantly formed, connecting the conceptual space anchored through Rin directly back to the Reverse Side of the World!
"..."
"..."
Rin and Ishtar exchanged glances.
Their resident goddess had literally dug her way out of embarrassment.
Meanwhile, in reality.
Sakura Matou glanced at her sister, a thoughtful expression forming.
The comments kept mentioning how the divine sisters were competing for Nameless.
Now it seemed Big Sister also shared her feelings for him.
Senpai truly was a man of sinful charm...