-920- Can you help me?

— "Enemy."

The moment the word emerged from Altera's lips and reached Rozen's ears, he felt a chill running down his spine. Just like when he first saw Altera, Rozen's human instincts seemed to tremble, and now, that instinctive fear resurfaced upon hearing this word.

It told Rozen...

(Altera wasn't lying.)

This colossal girl was his enemy.

No, she should be considered an enemy to humanity.

No, even that phrasing wasn't accurate.

Altera, the Giant God.

This girl, she should be...

"I am the enemy of civilization, the destroyer of all civilizations."

Altera declared this with a calm and rational tone.

"Enemy of civilization..."

Rozen fell into a stunned silence.

Although he still didn't understand what was happening, Rozen thought that continuing to ask might not be a good idea.

So, wisely, he chose to change the topic.

"Why were you sleeping here?"

Rozen continued to question Altera.

This made Altera pause, and her ruby-like eyes focused on Rozen once again.

"Aren't you... afraid of me?"

Altera couldn't help but ask this question.

In her tone, the earlier calmness and rationality were replaced by the cautious and vulnerable demeanor she had when they first met. On Altera's face, an uneasy emotion appeared.

Looking at Altera like this...

"I don't know why, but I just can't feel afraid."

Rozen expressed his feelings with a bitter smile.

"Is... that so?"

Altera fell into silence.

However, the giant girl's gaze at Rozen clearly showed a sense of relief and joy that wasn't there before.

"Thank you, Master from Chaldea."

Altera revealed a gentle and compassionate smile to Rozen.

"Perhaps, your arrival here from Chaldea is not a mistake but an inevitable result."

Altera said so.

And Altera was right.

Rozen coming here was definitely not a coincidence but a necessity.

"My stone chamber is not a place that anyone can reach. I haven't received complete information about the outside world yet, but I can confidently tell you that this is not Earth; it's the Moon."

Altera analyzed it for Rozen.

"You can instantly project your consciousness from Earth to the Moon, even infiltrating my stone chamber. Moreover, you have even jumped through time, traveling from the distant Fifth Singularity to here. However, there is no sign of any abnormal state affecting you. It seems you have adapted well to this kind of travel. Or should I say, the manipulation of time and space does not have a significant impact on you?"

Altera believed so.

And indeed, that was the case.

From Altera's words, it was evident that, although she was not on Earth, she understood human history and the existence of Heroic Spirits. Clearly, this was still the world where Rozen belonged, not like the otherworlds of automatan, SAO, and tokyo ravens.

And if it wasn't a transference to another world, without the arrival of his physical body, Rozen wouldn't have experienced significant effects.

"This nature is somewhat similar to mine."

Altera stated.

"I also traveled from a very distant place to here, becoming the enemy of civilization."

Altera keenly observed this similarity.

Yes, Rozen and Altera were quite alike.

Throughout his journey, Rozen traveled between different worlds, while Altera traversed through the vast universe, eventually arriving here.

For the world, Rozen and Altera were both travelers, wanderers, and outsiders.

The difference lay in the fact that, unlike Rozen, a defender of human order, Altera was a destroyer of civilizations.

So, when Rozen miraculously performed the Heroic Spirit Summoning ritual, restricted to an incredibly powerful existence, Altera was indeed the most compatible match for the current Rozen.

As for why Altera, not an Heroic Spirit, responded to Rozen's Heroic Spirit Summoning ritual, Altera also provided an explanation.

"Perhaps it's because I once operated on Earth, and there are records of me in the Throne of Heroes on the outer edge of the world during that time."

Altera explained with an intellectual tone different from her gentle personality.

"You operated on Earth too? And there are records in the Throne?"

Rozen was astonished.

Altera smiled slightly.

It was a smile with a touch of sadness and nostalgia.

"That was a dream I once had."

Altera murmured.

"A very beautiful, wonderful dream."

Altera simply said.

Seeing this, Rozen couldn't help but sigh.

If that were the case, perhaps Rozen's summoning ritual wasn't targeting the current Altera but the records of her on the Throne.

However, due to the high compatibility, Rozen's overwhelming power, and the influence of the Miracle that could open a passage to other worlds, Rozen ended up connecting with the Giant God Altera instead.

Previously, Rozen's summoning had continuously failed, and the reason behind it was now clear.

In other words, since the summoning target unconsciously kept shifting towards the Giant Altera, Rozen's Heroic Spirit Summoning ritual kept failing, informing Rozen that he was not summoning a Heroic Spirit but a mysterious Giant God.

This summoning was also like that because Rozen was still summoning not the Heroic Spirit Altera but the Giant God Altera. Both the Heroic Spirit Summoning and the Holy Grail couldn't replicate the soul of this enemy of civilization into a Servant and bring it into the present.

Ultimately, when the Miracle stabilized the passage, and the Holy Grail, in order to fulfill Rozen's wish, brought his consciousness out, Rozen ended up here, meeting Altera.

Of course, it could also be that Rozen's wish, made with the Holy Grail, led to the summoning of Altera.

After all, at that time, Rozen wished for the power to destroy myths.

And Altera was the enemy of all myths.

Understanding this, Rozen looked at Altera.

"Altera."

Rozen straightforwardly spoke.

"Can you help me?"

The meaning behind these words, Altera wouldn't fail to understand.

"If it's you, perhaps you can help me repel Solomon."

Rozen sincerely and earnestly spoke.

"Are you willing to help me?"

That was Rozen's request.

Unfortunately...

"...I'm sorry, I can't."

Altera remained silent, then softly made this refusal.

It was an unavoidable situation.

"All I can do is destroy."

Altera returned to her earlier calm and rational tone, confirming it.

"With these hands, I can't save anyone."

This much, Altera was clear about and had long given up.