Interlude: The Witch in White and the Sovereign of the Moon

Planet "Earth", in one of the many parallel realities on the brink of destruction

Sometime after the Nao invasion, on the European continent, the mobile border shelter of the Japanese survivors exists between the border between reality and the space of imaginary numbers…

It's been quite some time since the Nao aliens invaded the unsuspecting planet Earth with the overwhelming force of their otherworldly technology, and today, humanity's population, having fought back as best it could with its most powerful combatants, has been reduced to a mere 38%.

The remnants of humanity still clinging to the fight now hide in "Mobile Border Shelters" (strange pieces of technology that seemed to hide them from any Nao detection system) located deep within the European continent.

This was the only continent with the highest number of surviving human lives thanks to these strange refuges and their hidden and powerful sorcery users, martial artists and anomalous.

In one of these Shelters, a base for the Japanese who only managed to survive thanks to their unique National Class “Anomalous,” there was a dark room, whose owner was definitely more important than any Emperor or Prime Minister in the history of their nation for the current Japanese.

She was a woman of mysterious beauty, dressed in white, with the design of a witch, too elegant and dignified for anyone to dare compare her to a mere cosplay in front of her face.

She wore a gray mask that left only her eyes and lips uncovered even in the privacy of her bedroom, her seductive right thigh crossed over the other, faintly showing the beautiful, white, immaculate skin of her leg through the slit of her elegant witch dress.

Even with the little that was revealed about her, it was clear that she was a captivating woman who would leave anyone speechless with her unique presence.

Far from being clumsily described as possessing a beauty equal to that of a model, the woman seemed extremely elegant and unapproachable; almost like a goddess resting peacefully within her sacred chambers, possessing a supernatural charm and an incomparable figure that no mortal on earth should possess.

In a normal world, she was the kind of incredible existence that would have countless men kneeling at her feet, fulfilling her every whim in the hopes of winning the heart of the “Goddess,” while in the midst of an apocalypse like the current one, her divine appearance would be a curse that would attract the attention of the worst scum humanity could produce, even outside of its darkest moments.

However, no one, not even the current nominal leader of the Japanese shelter, would dare bother, let alone covet, this extremely beautiful woman at this moment; not if they valued their miserable lives. Her reputation as the most powerful Anomal, along with her cruel and eccentric personality, were well known.

In particular, many could still remember how she conjured up what looked like a mini sun the size of a ball to casually destroy an island plagued by Naos, spreading fear of her power.

Something that would allow her to be alone inside the shelter, in peace and quiet for the moment, without anyone accompanying or disturbing her while she stared at what to others would be just the wall of her room…

Of course…there are always exceptions.

<Emergency Alert!>

<Emergency Alert!>

<Administrator "Lady Chaos", the  Laplace Observation and Simulation Subsystem  has detected the occurrence of a Large-Scale Total Alteration of Events. This is a major alteration in events that threatens the narrative causality of future episodes recorded in the  World Idea  of ​​"Britannia"!>

<There is a high probability that this event will affect the Human Order at some level and cause significant changes in the world's recent history beyond the moving borders, triggering possible counterforce reactions. It is recommended that the level of reaction be assessed for any signs of hostility or instability within the Human Order…>

<Furthermore, it is suggested that measures be taken to prevent the chaotic effects of this highly event-altering event from triggering a reaction of the world's will that would affect the two  Observation Anchors within Britannia!>

<Action orders requested to proceed...>

In the middle of the woman's silent room, a little girl appeared out of nowhere, exclaiming loudly and urgently even with her flat face.

The girl was like a ghost, her slightly transparent body floating in front of the woman as if gravity had no effect on her.

She had an inhuman appearance, the likes of which could only exist in an anime or fiction series. With short silver hair, a black gothic dress with pink ruffles, and turquoise eyes, it was almost as if a 2D character had been transported into a 3D world using holographic technology.

The girl, the visual representation of the Master System, continued to exclaim in a loud, monotonous voice, her words and tones precisely calculated to convey the importance of the situation, and the raven-haired woman finally noticed her after tearing her eyes away from the constant inputs on the screen, her exquisite lips parting.

—Wow, is such a large-scale event disturbance already occurring in Britannia so soon? Britannia must be in chaos now, try keeping your Reason  stable... Anyway, which of the two Observation Anchors caused it? And what kind of event was it originally, Alice-chan?

Her seemingly cold and emotionless voice, similar to that of an AI, echoed in that exclusive and almost completely dark room where she sat silently while questioning.

Despite the apparent urgency with which the holographic girl in front of her addressed the matter she announced, the woman simply remained completely calm, as if the matter had not exceeded her expectations from the beginning.

No, it would be fair to say that that could be your case.

<This particular major event alteration originates from the first [Main Story Event] related to the {Britannia: Lost Order} Game: (Earl Bavapo's Invasion of the Academy) where an Earl of Hell would be summoned within Bomenslik to cause chaos and allow Spies within the Bomenslik Imperial Academy to kidnap the Third Imperial Princess of the Lunen Imperial House, Laura Lunen Ivrin Lainervorial!>

<As a major event of a divergent timeline belonging exclusively to the game [Britannia: Lost Order], it was not guaranteed to happen, and the odds of it ending up being a theoretical event, prevented from the start by the character {Amelia Dumbardonnia}, were quite high. However, the Observation Anchor {Shigaraki Sora} made it easier for the perpetrators of the incident to capture the Third Imperial Princess, bringing her to her mansion just before they could put their original plan into motion.>

The 4th 'Alice' replied calmly and the woman, Lady Chaos, exclaimed softly, "Oh?... So Shiso-kun is the cause of this," she said, with a faint smile, "At what point in the plot did he 'awaken' as Arthur Pendragon von Draco Silva, Alice-chan?"

<Answer: During the first episode, when he was challenged by {Lars Hamilton von Laniere}>

"At the beginning of the plot, huh?... Yeah, that moment when the loser decided to humiliate himself was definitely good. Kaede-chan would have liked to see the beating live, hehe." A humorless laugh escaped the woman's lips as her blue eyes stared at several holographic screens visible only to her.

Silently pondering, he heard the girl again ask for instructions on how to proceed, and a slight hint of annoyance and cruelty crept into her voice. “...Does a supposedly high-information lifeform like you really have to ask me for instructions on everything? And what about that boring, useless personality Kaede-chan gave you? Is that really her taste? What a bad design she gave you! It’s not cute at all!”

She expressed it with complete disgust, with a somewhat exaggerated sigh as if she were lamenting her friend's silly tastes.

—Maybe it's time to "convince" Kaede-chan to improve her stupid IV's personality once and for all and give her better automation capabilities so she doesn't bother me too much... although I'd have to interrupt the transmission for that level of system upgrade, I guess...

After all, the witch reflected, "Alice-chan" was the "mind" of the Master System that she herself had created with her Magic.

Therefore, the girl who designed that "mind" modifying it would affect the system in several ways, requiring a temporary pause in transdimensional transmission between worlds.

However, he felt able to allow himself to do so.

Alice, who was spiritually connected to Lady Chaos, flinched at the sight of her seriousness and immediately fell silent, quickly disappearing as if fleeing the scene. Seeing this, Lady Chaos beamed.

"It seems she's not so empty after all. If she's afraid her current self will be destroyed... Anyway, I'll ask her 'mother.' Wouldn't you be prettier with an imouto personality?" she asked.

"Lady Chaos," I'd like to believe that if you're going to make such a capricious decision, you're doing so with full awareness of the potential consequences for the channel. It would be better if the project didn't suddenly fail because you decided to interrupt the training of those capricious users by requesting such a change.

Once again, a voice other than her own suddenly resonated in her room, questioning her in a rather matter-of-fact and artificial tone. She, without any surprise in her body language, responded while once again seriously interacting with the holographic screen that only she and her companion could see.

—I know, Eternu-chan, but I think it would be helpful if we could brush aside a minor setback like that and make it easier for me to manage the channel. Making one or two updates on the fly doesn't seem like a bad idea to me...

The system restrictions on those Reality Anchors will be significantly reduced if you perform a Master System Upgrade right now. And while you're not going to back down and stop the transmission to do so, don't you think it would be wiser to contact them and warn them of the consequences of this Altered Event before doing anything else?

On the other hand, it's foolish to ignore the space-time effects this alteration could have on this timeline; it could even attract a negative reaction from the Counterforce. Interfering with the events of a conceptual world to the point of affecting human history is something that would easily bring destruction to the perpetrator of this transgression...

The mysterious voice continued with no apparent intention of changing her mind, and the woman shook her head gently before speaking again: "It would only make them unnecessarily nervous... even with [Character Traits], it is quite possible that behaving too cautiously puts them at greater risk."

He thought for a moment, then pointed out in a mocking voice, "Besides, even if the counterforce can't help but react to this phenomenon, it would first have to track down the cause. Can that stupid defense mechanism do that during this invasion, anyway?"

In a sense, you're right. However, there's still a risk that this could create variables that threaten the foundations of narrative causality within this particular Narrative World.

You should already know well that such a distortion in the narrative causality of plot events—which the [Ideal of a World] requires to be followed as exactly as possible—would not be possible to ignore under any circumstances, especially for a conceptual world with a world will conscious enough not to require a Daemonic Master operating toward the reinforcement of its Idea.

—Didn't we expect this from the beginning?

A fleeting smile appeared on the woman's masked head as she turned to look back.

—Anyway, this was never going to be easy to complete, much less in such a short time, and even more so with the Nao spreading across almost every possible world in panshuman history like a plague... But as long as I make sure those idiots in the other parallel worlds have fun and make more noise online, getting enough viewers so that the girls and I can continue this project long enough... we'll finally be able to carry out the final stage, and you, my dear Sister Eva, will be able to be reborn outside of the limitations imposed on you by your creator... Besides, even if we last many years in this, it's only an instant for you, right, Eternu-chan?

There, wherever I looked, was the faint, translucent figure of a slightly androgynous woman with red hair and faintly luminous green eyes. Like "Alice," she seemed artificially created from every angle, and her voice sounded electronic yet ethereal as she nodded slightly to the smiling Grand High Witch of Humanity.

That's true... but I already mentioned that you should stop calling me that. As an advanced information lifeform belonging to the Eternius Interdimensional Network, my unit designation isn't something like Eternu-chan, but Sister Eva No. 14537893577373832822...

Hearing once again that useless and monotonous complaint from her other "electronic ally" who kept saying her long name without expression on his beautiful data face, the woman just laughed in amusement.

 The Sovereign of the Moon...

Suddenly, the virtual woman murmured, and then the door to the room opened, causing Lady Chaos to abandon that annoying smile on her face and frown; with the so-called Sister Eve quickly disappearing into particles of emerald light with crimson highlights.

The person who entered the room without asking permission was a young woman of rather… peculiar appearance.

Each of her physical features, individually, could only be described as "what would be found in the average Japanese girl" according to common sense. Which was extremely unusual; after all, what real human being could so perfectly fit everything considered average in a person, whether female or not?

It was so unusual, in fact, that it was surprisingly attention-grabbing rather than as inconspicuous as most would assume of an average person.

She was more like a doll created by a divine artisan than a real person; perfectly symmetrical in every way, although, like Lady Chaos, no real flaws, such as pimples or other marks, could be seen on her skin.

However, that was the only thing that could be said about her that didn't fit the idea of ​​average. Even her height, if you looked closely, matched the average height of young Japanese women, something completely disconcerting.

She was just... completely unnatural; like an overly well-designed android Maid in the form of a seemingly normal but impossible human... but instead of provoking psychological repulsion due to her perfect symmetry—verging on, if not bordering on, synthetic—there was a mysterious, strange charm about her that seemed to allow her to easily win people's affections if she put her mind to it.

Was it because the more you looked at her, the more your mind ignored the seemingly normal features of her face and you came to somehow appreciate the unique beauty that gave her that perfect symmetry between features that would be perfectly normal in isolation?

Or was it just something he was born with?

The answer would easily elude most people, or maybe not... but one thing was a fact; if Lady Chaos gave the impression of being such a beautiful woman that made you think she was a goddess despite her obvious eccentricities, the rude girl was such a perfectly "normal" child that it was hard to believe she was actually a real human being.

So much so, that it would be more believable if he were an NPC in some game.

That girl, so ordinary-looking yet contradictorily striking and charming, had wavy dark brown hair, long eyes with pupils of the same color, and a white uniform that looked like a strange mix of a school and military uniform, with red lines.

A white hat, with a design that looked like something out of a World War II movie, matched her outfit. And she looked absolutely adorable in it.

Her gentle voice, which didn't sound particularly emotional, echoed in Lady Chaos's room with a timbre that could certainly be described as "very tender" as she bowed slightly to the room's owner. "I apologize for my impoliteness in entering your room without permission, Chaos-sama, but I have an important matter to report to you."

—What's up, Hakunon¹?

Lady Chaos asked the young woman calmly, although she was actually a little annoyed.

This girl, Alice-chan, and Eternu-chan might have similar origins, but she was less bothered by a clearly digital being entering her room than by someone who was now flesh and blood.

Especially when they do it without your permission, using those pesky Codecasts. He's had enough of Kaede doing the same thing like a naughty little girl.

It wasn't that she couldn't guess why Hakunon did what she did; with her personality, Lady Chaos would have undoubtedly ignored her if she had knocked on the door normally and focused on matters related to her "Shiso-kun." Hakunon already knew that from experience.

Still... annoying is annoying.

With those complaints in mind, she waited for a response, while the girl watched her silently for a few seconds before speaking.

—Kaede-san finally managed to finish creating the new software update that would allow the Master System to more stably summon more Superior-level Servants like Ikaros at any time and in a short amount of time, without overloading the  System's functionality too much… Kaede-san also asked me to inform you about this to ask for your help in implementing the Master System update.

—Wow… are you serious?

Behind her mask, Lady Chaos raised an eyebrow as she placed a hand on her chin, muttering loudly.

—That was... pretty fast... I must admit it's really ridiculous if she really recreated such technology using what she learned in all those incomprehensible planes that created those IVs, and in just one year... What a monstrous Wizard I have as a friend... - The witch in white showed her admiration — Well, Kaede-chan has already proven herself to be a genius on par with historical figures like Da Vinci by being able to improve the performance of the PIRFM limits in just one month; truly capable of being another Pioneer of the Stars...

His tone seemed to slightly regret something, before he spoke again.

—Well…I guess I'll help you with that.

Standing as silent as a soldier as Lady Chaos pondered, the young woman known as Hakunon seemed to hesitate for a moment (though it was hard to tell from her expressionless state) before politely asking, "If I may..."

-What's happening?

The black-haired girl asked, to which Hakunon looked at her silently for a second or two before continuing.

—As you know, I've been watching you closely, and I'm curious about something... Why are you concentrating on expending the enormous amounts of magical energy from this synthetic Servant...the  Master System , on this project?

—He  failed to fully grasp the benefits of using Maxwell's and Laplace's NPs  to bring the souls of beings from these simulated worlds into reality and literally create artificial Saint Graphs for them...only to turn them into Heroic Spirits that, from what I see, they will only summon in another Daemonic World, rather than using them to directly defend the earth.

—I don't expect you to tell me everything you're planning. I'm not that naive. It's just that all of this is just...it's confusing.

The witch looked at the girl speechless after she finished her torrent of words as if to take a breath.

Did you catch that chatterbox disease everyone seems to have or something, Moon Sovereign?

For Lady Chaos, Hakunon's long interrogation was shocking as she knew that Hakunon was a girl of few words unlike her, so she felt strangely worried... and that was rare for her as she only really cared about one person.

But the girl, the ruler of SE.RA.PH, did not stop there with her questioning.

—Furthermore...I understand that the current Human Order is too weak to achieve the summoning of truly powerful Heroic Spirits due to Prometheus's interference, and even if it could, I doubt Alaya would allow the summoning of real Servants to aid in whatever Chaos-sama is planning to do to prevent human extinction, even so... Isn't all of this still too complicated compared to the original Holy Grail ritual?

Lady Chaos was silent for a few seconds, somewhat uncomfortable, and finally nodded, a fleeting smile appearing again on her face as she answered.

—I'm not going to deny how complex this whole plan of mine regarding the "Master System" is...

-So….

—But it's more necessary than you might think. Through the Simulated Parallel Worlds within the Determinism Simulation  and the near-infinite Magical Energy of  Maxwell's NP  , we'll be able to extract and gather a large group of objects, beings of great strength, and powerful Noble Phantasms, all from those story worlds being simulated and observed by Alice-chan at every moment…

Hakunon's expression underwent a subtle change upon hearing the name of that supposed  NP  she heard so much about from Kaede coming out of the witch's mouth, but Lady Chaos paid no attention to that as she continued.

—Each of these elements will be completely unique, unpredictable, and useful, to ultimately use them against our enemies, who, as you know, will not stop even if they were to try to invade a reality texture even stronger than the current one we live in...although of course, finally achieving our goal would give us a nice respite against the Nao.

-I see

—But that will be difficult to achieve, as you already know; not to mention that "She" knows all the powers and weaknesses of not only the strongest registered and unregistered anomalous martial artists, but also of top-level sorcerers… and even of the Heroic Spirits and Counter-Guardians themselves, who can't even be properly summoned in our current state anyway since, as you mentioned, the Human Order is severely restricted by Prometheus, who fears that humanity's heroes will fall under enemy control…

The “Lands” invaded by the Nao could currently only support the existence of the weakest Servants in Hakunon’s repertoire because of this, something the other party should already know, but no one would bother to point out the obvious, at least not her, she thought.

—Hmm, I think everyone knows that facing a Great Ship, a Lord of the Horde, would be no piece of cake even for a Mage. Even a machine-type Ship of that level, if it weren't for  Absolute Reality , would have the ability to warp the laws of our texture with ease... and if these bastards are designed to face specific enemies, and control them with a spiritual infection, such as the Heroic Spirits that already exist in the Throne of Heroes...

Although that wouldn't be a problem. If Shiso-kun manages to use the girl's shield, which can act as a "place where heroes gather," for himself... then summoning Servants more powerful than those famous historical figures is even easier. 

—….

—Well, you understand. Hakunon has access to the Moon Cell's resources and she's quite the intelligent girl, right? So I suppose you should have tried to understand my intentions through her before asking this, right?

Hakunon nodded straightforwardly, causing him to laugh at her sincerity. “Although it’s normal to have doubts after hearing a plan that, frankly, seems totally ridiculous and incomprehensible, but…”

—No, I understand. From the beginning, I understood the importance of this plan in its objective, Chaos-sama. It's just that now I have a concrete idea of ​​how it could contribute to the survival of the human species, especially with all these Arks you plan to use for it.

Hakunon shook his head, his voice serious, and Lady Chaos smiled kindly at him.

—Well, if that's all, then...

“Actually… there’s something else I’d like to ask you, Chaos-sama.” Hakunon hesitated for a moment, and seeing Lady Chaos nod, he quickly expressed his curiosity. “Why do those IVs who call themselves Eva Sisters always leave when I appear? They don’t do that to others, especially since they can decide who sees them and who doesn’t…”

"Oh... that..." Lady Chaos blinked, before smiling mischievously. "Well, I suppose I wouldn't want to share the same space with the being closest to the entity, who would likely try to eliminate its creator if they encountered him, keeping as much distance as possible. Not that I don't understand; they could destroy it in the worst case scenario if they decided to act against it..."

—What does that mean…?

Hakunon tilted her head in confusion, looking... really cute while doing so.

Lady Chaos, seeing this, laughed sweetly, not really responding as she thought that the Moon Cell really is hiding a lot from its “supposed” sovereign. “Don’t worry~ Oh, by the way, Hakunon…”

—You don’t have to force yourself to call me with honorifics like “-sama” when we’re alone, Hakunon… That hysterical Barthomeloi-san isn’t here to get mad at you for supposedly showing disrespect to an equal or whatever that means,” The Witch said casually as she smoothed down her hair. —If you want, you could even call me Xianpai…

In response, the Sovereign of the Moon grimaced on her previously expressionless face. “…I will think about it, Chaos-sama.”

♦♦♦♦

How am I supposed to use casual honorifics with someone who, behind that mask, has a disturbing temperament, comparable to that of the most perverse Servants…?

If it weren't for Kaede promising to give me some really valuable information, I wouldn't have done any of this!

The Moon Sovereign grumbled to herself in her heart as she walked, having bid farewell to the troublesome Lady Chaos .

Not to mention that the damn Moon Cell seriously suspects that Chaos is one of the Five True Wizards….

It may be true that the girl named Kishinami Hakunon can be quite reckless, as her Servant Archer claims... but she wasn't stupid. Meddling with an existence that the Moon Cell claimed had escaped its exhaustive, divine oversight of the planet throughout the ages was beyond her control.

It wasn't something she wanted to do unless absolutely necessary, even as someone who accomplished the impossible in the Moon Grail War as a mere NPC and the weakest Master at the time.

After all… The Moon Cell can record and affect even Gods — Divine Spirits — and yet the woman who called herself “Lady Chaos” supposedly eluded its near-omnipotent surveillance until now, and even currently hid many secrets that the Automaton cannot see at all.

It was simply absurd to get on the wrong side of such an existence, especially having witnessed her brutal personality, which dwarfs most Magus. You didn't even know when she might explode if provoked in the wrong place; it was fortunate that she didn't mind the intrusion into her room that much.

And of course, those were one of the few things to consider that made Kishinami Hakunon hate his current situation, where the Moon Cell actually sent his so-called Sovereign to do the work of an observer and occasional helper as if he were nothing more than a subordinate….

Thinking like this, she held back the urge to sigh.

I just pray that Chaos really isn't that legendary Witch, that Barthomeloi-san makes an error in judgment just like that stupid Eye in the Sky...

He didn't know who he was praying to for this, but anyway, Hakunon cast a prayer to no one in particular that the ridiculous speculations of the Moon Cell and the absurd claims of a certain Magus Noble about Lady Chaos really were wrong.

Knowing the history of that “Witch” throughout the millennia and what she was capable of doing, it was only natural.

Once again…she sighed as she walked down the halls, thinking to herself, “It’s useless, isn’t it?”

He could only prepare for what could be a revelation that would be almost as shocking as a full-blown alien invasion of the Human Order.

—

¹- For the sake of plot convenience, this Hakunon is different from the Kishinami Hakuno from the Moon Cell-related games, belonging to this particular timeline. Specifically, I don't have the confidence to portray any Typemoon characters well, and so I'll use that excuse, instead of trying to achieve the impossible 😝