Crazy Britain:They’re All Raising Me

"What happened?"

As Guinevere came running over, Ritsuka Fujimaru poked her head out from behind Mash's shield and asked quickly.

She had been observing Guinevere's side of the battlefield earlier, but the continuous explosions had obscured her view with smoke and fire. All she knew was that the enemy—who should have already been slain by Guinevere—had somehow revived in an extremely bizarre fashion. Beyond that, she had no clue what was going on.

"That guy's not dead yet,"

Guinevere said curtly.

"He's split into hundreds of self-destructing clock-centipedes, crawling through the cracks and pipes of the mansion. I can't locate his true body, and although those exploding centipedes can't harm me, the battle's been dragged into a tug-of-war."

"Huh?" Ritsuka was dumbfounded. "That's a Noble Phantasm now?"

"It's not a Noble Phantasm—more likely just a unique ability from being Nightmare-Manifested," Guinevere replied. "In this dream world, Servants can apparently undergo Nightmare Transformation, and judging from that guy's form, they seem to gain some bizarre abilities after transforming."

As if to confirm Guinevere's words, a clock-centipede suddenly dropped from a crack in the ceiling above, lunging toward Mash and Ritsuka as blue fire spewed from its body.

In the next instant, Guinevere stepped in front of them and casually swung her sword, cleaving through the flames and the explosive force.

"Mash, stay alert. Don't let yourself get ambushed. I won't always be around to save you."

Leaving those words behind, Guinevere turned and continued deeper into the mansion.

Fortunately, though the security passwords for Victor Frankenstein's magical wards had changed, the layout of the mansion itself remained the same. Using Jekyll's memories from his time as a student here, Will quickly mapped a route and led the group deeper inside.

Along the way, he suffered several more ambushes by Mephistopheles's clock-centipedes. But thanks to Guinevere's prior warning, Mash remained on high alert and raised her shield in time to protect herself and Ritsuka every time.

Soon enough, Guinevere reached the deepest part of the mansion—the laboratory.

"As I thought… no matter how much changes outside, a magus's workshop always remains as they've grown accustomed to over the years."

Looking at the setup, identical to what he remembered, Will took a deep breath.

According to the memories Guinevere inherited from Jekyll, he had spent many days and nights in this very room, learning to integrate the alchemy of magecraft with modern science.

As a villain, he bore no real affection for Victor. Their relationship had been purely transactional. Still, the old man had indeed taught him the knowledge he needed without reservation. That time as a student hadn't been meaningless. In a way, Victor could be considered half a mentor to him.

"Consider this a repayment for the knowledge I took from you. I'll deal with the bastard who killed you."

Pulling out Victor's research notes from a familiar corner of the room, Will stepped back two paces and said to Mash,

"Keep watch for me. I need to focus. Don't let that bastard Mephisto ambush us."

With that, he immediately flipped open the notebook and skimmed past the parts he already knew, turning quickly to the final chapters of newly added knowledge.

Skipping the gradual exploration and experimentation, he soon found the conclusion of Victor's latest research:

"Upon completing practical studies in electrophysiology and achieving free conversion between biological current and magical energy, a specific device can be used to preset the current parameters. This allows pure magical energy to be transformed into bioelectricity capable of reviving corpses—thus achieving resurrection."

"As for the location of the bioelectric converter…"

As he murmured, Guinevere shifted his gaze and quickly locked onto a large, bulky mechanical device in the corner of the lab.

But just as he took a step toward it, his eyes suddenly widened.

Clinging to the device was a clock-centipede. And at that moment, Mephistopheles's voice rang out once more:

"Ehehehe—no idea what you were planning to do with this thing, but I'm guessing it's important to you, right?"

"Shit—!"

Guinevere's expression twitched, and he immediately lunged for the centipede, hoping to remove it. But the moment he reached out, it detonated.

Blue flames surged toward Guinevere—not enough to injure a top-tier Servant, but the device beneath it was blown to pieces.

"Wahahahaha! That expression! That mix of despair and fury! Oh, how I've longed to see that look on your face! Magnificent—hahaha!"

"…Fine."

Slowly storing Victor's notebook into his system space, Guinevere shook his head.

"I was going to deal with my own issues first before taking care of you… but since you're in such a hurry, let's start with your execution."

He turned and shouted to Mash and Ritsuka:

"Mash! Deploy your Noble Phantasm directly above us and protect Ritsuka! Brace for impact! I'm about to activate my first Noble Phantasm!"

"Eh?" Mash and Ritsuka exchanged a glance. Though still a bit confused, once Ritsuka nodded, Mash obediently activated "Lord Camelot: The Wall of Snowflakes Yet to Melt."

Meanwhile, Guinevere raised his head and addressed the empty air around him:

"I'll admit—you're good at hiding. I imagine you're still lurking somewhere nearby, spying on me from the shadows, aren't you?"

"Oh?" Mephistopheles's voice echoed from all directions. "I'm surprised! I thought you were the arrogant type who'd never take someone like me seriously… Did that contraption really matter that much to you? Did blowing it up make you angry? Wahahahaha!"

"Hmph. Be that as it may, you're simultaneously controlling all those clones. And you're not exactly a master of magical energy manipulation. That must mean…"

"You're still inside this mansion, aren't you?"

"—"

This time, Mephistopheles fell silent. Then he replied with a question of his own:

"—So what?"

But Guinevere knew him well. If Mephistopheles had escaped already, he would've gleefully bragged about it. Silence, in this case, was as good as confirmation.

"Excellent answer."

Guinevere raised his hand skyward, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes.

"In a Servant battle, the most crucial element is knowledge of your opponent's true nature… Your Nightmare-Manifested abilities are annoying, but you know absolutely nothing about mine, do you?"

"…Huh?" Mephistopheles sounded confused. "What do you mean?"

"If you were really good at hiding, you should've run far, far away the moment you saw me."

"I can't pinpoint your exact location… but why should I bother?"

"Why not just blow up the whole place instead?"

"What the—"

Ignoring Mephistopheles's startled response, Guinevere opened his raised hand. Crimson magical energy surged around him.

"All your sins shall be accounted for."

"And now, the countdown for the sinner's demise begins."

"—First Noble Phantasm Release: Proclamation—The Descent of the Demon."

Then, with his words complete, crimson thunder flashed across the sky.

Without warning—before the roar of the thunder even arrived—a bolt of red lightning descended from the heavens, striking the mansion and everything around it.

Centered on Guinevere's location, the bolt pierced through the mansion's roof and detonated in a thunderous crash.

By the time the deafening sound reached them, the mansion that once stood tall in the London fog—along with the surrounding buildings—was already gone, as if wiped from existence. In their place was a massive crater, meters deep, scarring the land.

—First Noble Phantasm of the Crimson Blood Demon: Proclamation—The Descent of the Demon.

Though primarily a setup move to accumulate Fear Points for his second Noble Phantasm—Demonic Form—it also doubled as a wide-area AOE attack, reaching anti-army levels. Not ideal for single, high-strength targets, but perfect for pests like Mephistopheles.

Before, he hadn't used it due to the need to retrieve the revival device from Victor's mansion. But now that it was destroyed, it no longer mattered.

According to the notes, aside from the bulky converter inside the mansion, there was one other compact version of the device—a completed model:

—The heart of the artificial lifeform, Frankenstein.

All he had to do now was kill this cackling clown and track down Frankenstein.

…

Meanwhile, that bolt of crimson thunder had been so massive and blinding that it was visible even from miles away.

Naturally, it caught the attention of many who were trapped in the dream world.

"—Ah."

Thousands of meters away, a patrolling girl turned her head, drawn by the light. Her emerald-green eyes lit up, and her lips parted slightly.

"Found you at last."

"What is it, Princess Tyre?" asked the pink-haired girl beside her, a golden horn jutting from her forehead. She turned to follow Tyre's gaze.

"That lightning… it looks ominous. Could it be a new monster's appearance?"

"Nope, not a monster at all…"

The golden-crowned girl shook her head gently. Her unruly tuft of hair swayed with the motion. But halfway through speaking, she paused and corrected herself:

"…Actually, now that I think about it, maybe you're right. That guy might be scarier than any monster."

"That sounds serious." The pink-haired girl, Ella, immediately grew anxious. "Princess Tyre, please allow me to lead the guards to investigate."

"No no, I'll go myself," Tyre said with a soft smile. "You've fought enough battles for today, Ella. Time for you to rest."

"That won't do! How could we let a noble princess like you take the risk herself?!"

Ella shook her head vehemently.

"Besides, you should know how I feel about you. Whether in duty or in devotion, I will not let you face danger alone."

"Ugh… it's really not that big a deal. And I'm not even a real prince…"

"You're talking nonsense again," Ella frowned. "Before saying that, perhaps you should feel the crown on your head."

"Ugh… this tiny crown really has nothing to do with any 'Prince Tyre' nonsense…"

Sighing, Tyre rubbed the golden flower emblem composed of four diamonds on her forehead, then reached out and gently patted Ella's head.

"Don't worry. The one over there is… um, my boyfr—" She caught herself, remembering Ella's history with the real Prince Tyre. To avoid stirring trouble, she corrected herself.

"—Just a very important friend. It's safe, I promise."

"But even so—"

Before Ella could protest further, Tyre had already vanished, turning into a streak of light and flying toward the site of the thunder strike.