61

Cu Chulainn felt... disgusting.

"...Wow, did I get drunk again yesterday?" - Cu Chulainn frowned as bright lights flashed through his eyes. The ringing noise also didn't help. The Hound of Ulster tried to pulp his head with his own hands hoping that the pain would make the world before him stop spinning.

Of course,Cu Chulainn did not feel much better from this, but the contact between his cold hands and throbbing head granted enough relief that he could open his eyes and figure out where he ended up.

"Gray interior... Bright lights... Inexplicable metal buzz of machinery..." - Cu Chulainn grimaced, closing his eyes again - "Yeah, I'm definitely back in Chaldea..."

"Another question..." - An unidentified voice near causes him to start questioning his situation, or more importantly... - "Why am I back in Chaldea?"

Cu Chulainn slowly tried to stand up from what he would later identify as a cot, after which he felt himself falling sideways in his disorientation. Cu Chulainn tried to grab hold of something nearby before he would fall down, but this was not required -, thin hands grabbed him before he reached the cold pristine floor.

"Thank you," Cu Chulainn muttered, trying to cope with his nausea, and then slowly turned his gaze to his savior, "Da Vinci."

Da Vinci just smiled with such a bright smile that Cu Chulainn felt himself involuntarily almost vomit.

"Uh…" - Cu Chulainn slowly rose to his feet, - "I'm back in Chaldea... Why?"

Da Vinci, staring at the phenomena in front of her, after a second shook her head, "Oh yes, the problems with the re-summoning..."

"In any case," after that the genius shrugged, "Rather than asking me that, you should be one to answer that question. We were able to reconnect with Ainz and he had said that you had died and you need to be revived."

"Oh…" - Cu Chulainn shook his head - "I... died…"

Trying to remember caused a burst of nausea to surface, causing the Caster to sway in his feet a bit.

"Let's go, poor fellow," Da Vinci sighed somewhere over his shoulder, leading Cu Chulainn to slowly move toward one of the walls, after which, she literally forced him to sit on a chair set located prudently next to him, "Water?"

Cu chulainn did not deign to answer the offer with any verbal answer, instead he simply took the offered bottle and chugged all of its content down. After a second of bliss he returned the emptied bottle to Da Vinci

"Better?" Da Vinci looked at Cu Chulainn interestedly, not sympathetically, but rather curiously, as if she was a scientist curious about the result of their experiment.

Cu Chulainn again did answer verbally but instead twisted his hand in the air indefinitely as if he was trying to tell a story with his limbs.

He was killed... Then they summoned him back ... And now he is again in Chaldea...

Cu Chulainn concentrated on recalling the events that he remembered.

Arriving at the new Singularity... Nero... Romulus... Then...

Damn it, if only the world before him would stop spinning so much!

Cu Chulainn sighed, then as if he was collecting the remnants of his will into a fist concentrated even harder.

An his Noble Phantasm… then the second one... Then...

"The bitch killed me!" Cu Chulainn shouted so sharply and so loudly that he almost regurgitated what he had just drank before by the force of the expelled air alone.

"That was to be expected," Da Vinci sighed nearby, "I don't think that you are so unlucky that you would have died by slipping on the ground and hitting your head on a stone... But still - a little specificity would not hurt. By who exactly?"

"The Dragon Witch," Cu Chulainn said more calmly, slowly getting used to the spinning world, "The Witch killed me..."

"Oh?" - Da Vinci looked at Cu Chulainn and smiled. "Was your romantic skills that bad?"

"Ugh," - Cu Chulainn frowned, - "No. We were fighting somebody. I then used my Phantasm... And then Romulus used his... I had calculated that we would most likely lose... And then the Witch suddenly attacked me from behind and most probably killed me."

"Hm?" Da Vinci lifted her head, "I don't know what your actual relationship with her was, but I don't think she would have decided to just kill you on a whim. Perhaps she had activated some kind of skill in this way?"

"What?" Cu Chulainn sighed, then covered his eyes. Scathach had taught him to calm his body and mind in all situations by meditating... He dearly hoped that this advice would help him again.

"I'm not sure," Da Vinci shook her head, "Servants are always a box of surprises in terms of skills and abilities. Although - isn't she from the Avenger class?.. Surely this is somehow connected with her actions. But so far I do not have enough information to fully compose the whole picture."

"So far?" Cu Chulainn picked up on the implication, calming his breath, "Do you think that she will kill someone else?"

"I'm not sure, but I will not deny that the possibility exists," Da Vinci shrugged her shoulders at the question, as if speaking about something trivial.

Cu Chulainn winced at this, "Could at least warn me about it..."

Da Vinci shrugged. "Maybe she didn't have the time, didn't consider it necessary, or maybe she needed your reaction. As I said before- Servants are always full of surprises."

Cu Chulainn did not say anything more, instead focusing on regaining control of his breath.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

When he opened his eyes again, the world revolved around him much more slowly, not optimal.

"Mm, Da Vinci," feeling himself gradually regaining control of his faculties, he glanced at the girl. "Why was it you that summoned me? Isn't it usually done by the chief and Roman?"

Da Vinci shook her head at the question, and then nodded. "Yes, but I personally volunteered to do it myself."

"Any particular reasons?" Cu Chulainn looked at the girl suspiciously.

"Aren't you glad to see me?" Da Vinci looked at Cu Chulainn in a faux offended maner, "I even brought you water!"

"Yeah, sure, thanks for that," Cu Chulainn frowned. No, the world had not yet stopped spinning, - "And?"

"I wanted to take a look at the process of re-summoning a deceased Servant in person," Da Vinci smiled. "Of course, at the same time, also to check your condition and check something that I'm curious about."

"Check what?" Cuc Chulain sighed.

"As expected - you got a couple of scratches on your spiritual core," Da Vinci sighed, "But nothing serious. Although for a couple of days there would definitely be some kind of side effect… like that debilitating headache that you're feeling right now."

"Great...," Cu Chulainn was able to simultaneously express both irony and joy with these words. Yes, two days in such a condition is not good at all, but it's a better outcome than actually getting any permanent damage.

"So, if everything fits into my theory. You can die once more without any particular consequences," Da Vinci nodded to herself, muttering something under her breath, "Although the damaged core... I wonder if it can withstand something like that..."

"Hey doc," Cu Chulainn raised his voice, drawing Da Vinci's attention, "What about what you're 'curious' about?"

Cu Chulainn was not particularly interested in the answer. If he received "nothing special" in response, he would be completely satisfied with leaving it at that and then stumble back into his room to try and relieve his killer headache. But instead... Da Vinci only sent him a big smile.

"Oh, I was checking about some of the information I learned about Ainz," Da Vinci smirked slyly.

And suddenly this topic became more interesting to Cu Chulainn.

Gently leaning his head against the cold wall, he glanced at the girl, - "Would you care to elaborate please?"

Da Vinci smirked, - "It seems... I managed to unravel some of the mystery of who Ainz is and this led me to one possibility…"

"Could you start from the beginning?" Cu Chulainn sighed at the somewhat non-sequitur answer, covering his eyes.

"Hm," Da Vinci pursed her lips. "Do you know about Pseudo-Servants?"

"A Divine or particular Heroic Spirits, which was summoned then shoved into a human body so that they can be summoned as a Servant, using the human as a vessel," Cu Chulainn sighed, then suddenly frowned, "So you think that Ainz..."

"No, he is definitely not human," Da Vinci shook her head, "His body, more precisely is not human. I just thought... What if the process of "possession" can be applied in a broader sense? For example - to put a person inside the Divine Spirit, just as the Divine Spirit is to be placed inside a person?"

"Hm," Cu Chulainn sighed, considering the theory. There was definitely a grain of rationality in it, but there were also conflicting factors - "Divine Spirits can easily suppress the personality of the vessel it inhabits. That is the principle of creating the Pseudo-Servant is based on. To suppress the will of a Divine Spirit... I'm not sure how strong a being needs to be then."

Da Vinci, hearing this, lifted a finger up, like a teacher, opening his pupil the veil of secrets over this world - "Humanity!"

"I'm not sure that there would be anyone capable…" - Cu Chulainn began to object, but after a second, the girl's finger was suddenly pressed to his lips.

"Tsk!" Da Vinci scolded, after which she removed her finger and blurred into a smile, "I'm not talking about a man, but about Humanity, as in a whole."

It took Cu Chulainn a few seconds to realize what Da Vinci meant.

"You mean that Ainz is an embodiment of Alaya?" Cu Chulainn blinked. That thought was... new to him.

"Not really," Da Vinci answered evasively, "But something like that. Someone who can take control of the body of a Divine Spirit must have at least a similar level of strength... But this is a question for another time…. long story."

Cu Chulainn blinked at the revelation that was just revealed to him.

Ainz is an embodiment of Alaya. The collective unconscious of all of humanity in all forms that have ever existed throughout history?

It sounded... Not as crazy as it should have been.

Cu Chulainn shook his head.

It sounded even... Reasonable, to some extent.

This would explain Ainz's quirks in his perceptions on certain things.

His definite humanity while at the same time his exuded alien-ness? Alaya, the embodiment of humanity possessed both of these qualities. Who knows humanity better than its collective embodiment - and who, at the same time, can be so alien to humanity as its own eternal alter ego?

His appearance and his motivation? Alaya has always existed alongside humanity - this is humanity itself embodied. And he always has a reason to fight for humanity.

His strength and his passivity at the same time? Alaya embodied something immeasurably more powerful than any of their Divine Spirits or Servants. But at the same time, as an abstract super-essence is supposed to be, she rarely acted directly. Fearing to upset the fragile balance of forces that sustained it also of its inability to calculate the proportionate strength of any retaliatory strike. Possibly destroying not only the threat , but also part of it as well.

This would also explain why he relied on Servants instead. Heroic Spirits, even when they were still living Heroes, carried a part of Alaya within themselves, she could not simply ignore something like her own children. And the use of Servants in this case was more than enough to solve any problem or threats. Ainz used the Servants to solve his problems because his direct intervention was simply too dangerous for this world.

Cu Chulainn shook his head, casting such thoughts away from himself, after which he looked at Da Vinci.

"It fits quite well, doesn't it?" Da Vinci smiled but immediately frowned "But no, as I said before, Ainz is not Alaya. Rather, it is something that fulfilled its function... In another world, in another universe and, if at all possible to say, in another Root entirely…"

Cu Chulainn blinked.

Another Root? How was that even possible? The Root was... The Root. The basis of the existence of all things, the infinite number of worlds, the infinite number of variants of all worlds. The Root embodied everything - how was it even possible in this case to have a "different everything"?!

"Oh, there's no need for such surprise," Da Vinci, noting the confusion on Cu Chulainn's face, smiled at him, "Not every infinity is infinite enough to contain another infinity."

Cu Chulainn looked at Da Vinci in a blank stare.

"Oh... how should I put it..." - Da Vinci thought for a moment, and then snapped her fingers, reaching a conclusion, "Look, I have a paperclip on my possession. And this clip can be anywhere in this world. On my desk, in the drawer of the Chief's desk, wallow in an ancient temple, lie on the surface of Jupiter or fly somewhere in space in the Andromeda galaxy. In other words, there is an infinite number of positions of this paper clip can be. And that means - there is an infinite number of parallel worlds, where in each parallel world this clip is in its own unique place in space and time. Not to mention the fact that there is an infinite number of duplicate worlds."

"So with everything," Da Vinci sighed, "There are an infinite number of worlds that differ by only one indicator - the position of the paper clip in space. There is another infinite number of worlds that differ in one other indicator - for example, the amount of hair on the head of a Tibetan old man in a distant mountain village that is not even on the maps. What will happen if we combine these two indicators?"

Cu Chulainn closed his eyes and groaned. Ughh riddles...

"Two infinities?" Cu Chulainn looked at Da Vinci.

She sent him a sarcastic smile.

"Hey, I'm a sage, not a philosopher!" Cu Chulainn replied to Da Vinci.

"Strictly speaking, this is impossible, but in essence - you're right," Da Vinci sighed. "What I am leading to is that infinity is a rather relative concept. Infinity can be compiled by comparing only one indicator. And in the Root is stored more than enough of such indicators. But what if some of them are... Immutable?"

Cu Chulainn sighed.

"Okay, okay, you win," he waved languidly. "I will consider the possibility that there is something even greater than the Root and the existence of other Roots..."

"Good," Da Vinci smiled easily at these words, after which she nodded, "But still, I'm not here to make you question your worldview."

"Really?" Cu Chulainn sighed.

"Yes," Da Vinci unexpectedly answered him, "I do it on Thursdays, and today is Tuesday. By the way, you can have a cup of tea with me on a Thursday."

Cu Chulainn stared at Da Vinci, but he couldn't determine whether or not she was joking, as a result of which he rolled his eyes.

"Well, okay," Da Vinci smiled, and then nodded to herself, "I originally came here to talk with you about something."

"Yes, you did say something like that…" - Cu Chulainn sighed, after awhile he steeled himself enough to lift his head from the cold wall. His vision finally stopped doubling and only a dull aching pain remained that reminded him that he had died in the Singularity.

Da Vinci just smirked at him.

Cu Chulainn stared at the girl.

She stared back at him in response.

Cu Chulainn continued to watch.

Ten seconds, twenty, a minute... Cu Chulainn fianlly understood why Da Vinci was silent.

"You cannot be serious..." the guy shook his head.

"What?" Da Vinci grinned. "I just love it when people say it."

"Oh…" - Cu Chulainn exhaled, and then looked at Da Vinci - "Oh great genius, share with me your brilliant thoughts!"

"Hm," Da Vinci shook her head a little, "Too much sarcasm for my taste, but as you ask, so be it..."

After that, Da Vinci took a step back with her hands on her hips, and then announced, "What if we take Ainz's method and apply it to the Servants?"

Cu Chulainn blinked. Then again. Then, just in case, a third time.

"What exactly are you suggesting?" Cu Chulainn looked at Da Vinci with a blank stare. A Divine Spirit... Even if there was some Servant capable of competing with them by skill or force... But Cu Chulainn didn't think there is any Servant capable of overpowering one. Except Cainabel, of course, but making Cainabel even stronger? Even more? What for?!

"Not that long ago I became interested in one interesting little object from Ainz," Da Vinci smiled, "Data-crystals."

Cu Chulainn blinked. Again, a change of subject...

"Are these the things used to summon Servants?" Cu Chulainn closed his eyes, then leaned back on the wall. The cold helped him withstand Da Vinci's inane chatter.

"Yes, but in what way?" Da Vinci smiled, "I studied their structure and, in essence, they are... Hm, okay, we can talk about that later."

Da Vinci shook her head, returning to the subject at hand, "Essentially, the Servant already exists in the Throne of Heroes. The pseudo-Throne of Chaldea is capable of summoning this Servant. The data-crystal is then used to create its "body", its Graph. Data-crystals come in various forms - however, they essentially work the same way. The crystal is transformed into pure mana, then the mana is used to create the Saint Graph according to the characteristics of the summoned Servant. And so… what will happen if in that process we used not a data crystal… But something more?"

"For example…" - Cu Chulainn tightened his fist, as if preparing for a threat before awareness pierced him. He opened his eyes wide, looking at Da Vinci, "You cannot..."

Da Vinci just smirked, "Well, do we need to use the Pseudo-Grail for something else?"

Cu Chulainn looked at Da Vinci angrily, "This is just insanity! What will happen to the Servant if you use this method on them?!"

"They will become much stronger," Da Vinci shrugged. "The only question is in what way?."

Da Vinci shook her head, - "Servants are not the Heroic Spirit and the Heroic Spirits are not Servants. Servants is the idea of a Hero, of a myth, of a legend, of history and of an event. Servants, incarnating under the influence of data-crystals, take the form which was laid by people's belief in them. But what if you give them an unreasonable source of power, do not let them make a wish and simply use it as a supply of mana to create a new body? Oh, the new Servant will be much stronger... But that is the problem. A New Servant. What a Servant will look like, incarnating not in the form of a Servant, but in the form of a certain prototype of this Servant. As an example, you."

Cu Chulainn glanced at Da Vinci, demanding clarification.

"You are the embodiment of the Celtic sage, merged with Cu Chulainn, as the most famous representative of the Celtic heroes," Da Vinci smiled, "And you are the embodiment of Druidism and the priest of the Celtic gods. If I give you the power of the Grail... There are many options. Maybe you just get a lot stronger. Perhaps you will come closer to that part of the legend that spoke of the "gods" - and the spirit of some Celtic god will awaken in you. Also another way to get stronger."

"Or," Da Vinci shook her head thoughtfully, "Just maybe, the most important part will be of "Celtic" origin. Perhaps you will turn into a kind of prefabricated image of the "Celtic magician". As an example, in this case, you will have access to all the magic of all the heroes that ever existed that are considered to be "Celts" … in the minds of people at least."

"But in return — "I" will have to disappear, giving way to the "new" Servant," Cu Chulainn shook his head.

"Don't worry, we can keep your identity," Da Vinci smiled. "For the most part."

"For the most part?" Cu Chulainn looked at Da Vinci inquiringly.

"I cannot make any definite promises," Da Vinci shook her head. "Such a change will definitely leave its mark on the personality of any altered Servant. But Dr. Roman and I are sure that we can reduce such changes to a minimum... And of course there is the possibility that nothing will happen and there will be no personality changes. It will be you just with better Parameters, maybe even more or better ranked skills. In the extreme you may even get a new Noble Phantasm due to the influx of power."

Cu Chulainn unimpressively looked at Da Vinci, - "Since when did you turn into a devil offering people such dubious deals?"

"Immediately, if I got the opportunity," Da Vinci smiled.

Cu Chulainn shook his head, "If there is an order for it... I will obey. But to just jump into it for the sake of satisfying your irrepressible curiosity - no, thank you."

"Oh, I expected the refusal," Da Vinci smiled. "In any case, I don't have any Pseudo-Grails yet."

"But!" Da Vinci suddenly raised her finger in the air. "In that case, we need to figure out the name before Ainz returns! A good name is half the requirement for success of any project!"

"Half the success..." Cu Chulainn sighed. "Do you really want Ainz to acquiesce to your offer?"

Da Vinci just smiled at it, - "Better think about the name, and not over such frivolous things."

"Why are you even worried about this?" Cu Chulainn shook his head, "Ainz probably would be stuck in this Singularity for a long time."

Da Vinci only mysteriously smiled, mirroring the visage of her famous painting, the Mona Lisa, her most famous creation, - "Oh, in this, my friend, you are mistaken…"

"Ainz wanted to listen to the proposal of all the camps, to engage in peaceful negotiations to resolve the conflict - now after the attack he still needs to start building bridges again…" - Cu Chulainn began to list, - "This would take a long time."

"The things you described - yes, that would indeed take time," Da Vinci smiled, "But, it seems to me, you are confusing Ainz's thoroughness with passivity. He really tried a peaceful resolution to the conflict - and, as the chief said, this did not work out. I think that after that debacle Ainz will instead go on a very... decisive action."

"That's why!" Da Vinci raised her finger up, "Hmm... What do you think of "palingenesis "?

Skill: Pioneer of the Stars

Skill Strength Level: 100

Another one of Da Vinci's many unique skills. The description of the skill's capabilities is quite simple - "a skill that allows the accomplishing of the impossible." However, from the point of view of Yggdrasil's game mechanics, this skill is much more complicated.

This skill allows the possessor to use any inaccessible game mechanics for a player. In other words - although the ability to create food from recipes that restore health or improve parameters one must have the class of "cook", the owner of this skill is able to use the mechanics that is inaccessible to any other player to do so. Another example is that of analysis of the level and classes of opponents. There exist a myriad number of spells or even class specific skills that allow the player to accomplish this task, but the owner of this skill is able to automatically determine the level of his opponent and even part of his classes without any specialized method or classes. This ability to use the "impossible" from the point of view of an ordinary player explains the overpoweredness of this skill.

Of course, there is a certain threshold of the "power" of the abilities that cannot surpass a specialized player - but the very ability to use abilities "blocked" for a player gives this player a huge advantage in almost any situation. In the end, it's "a skill that allows you to accomplish the impossible."