Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

"This is far too quiet, just like Chaldea just now..."

This is London in 1888, so in theory, the security of the London police force should be very tight.

"Indeed, they are the same, because they have all disappeared."

After reviewing the remaining documents, Novia crossed his hands behind his back and walked towards the only windowless door in the room. He stretched out his right hand, pressed the switch on the door, and a completely different atmosphere from the room immediately appeared before Ritsuka's eyes.

If a police station is supposed to have serious and formal lighting, then this room is like the colorful, provocative crimson light of the street. It's hard to imagine that a serious police station would have such a subversive room.

Of course, Ritsuka didn't immediately assume it was a case of Scotland Yard keeping a mistress, because the room's interior decoration had nothing to do with Western style at all; instead, it was a Japanese-style room arrangement that she was very familiar with.

Before arriving, Ritsuka had been secretly researching London in 1888, and naturally understood that it would be impossible for a London police station at that time to have such a Japanese-style room layout.

Ultimately, England at the end of the 19th century was still in the Victorian era.

London, the foggy city, was undoubtedly one of the most dazzling, bustling, magnificent, and terrifying cities on the Western European continent at that time.

It is a place of ever-expanding dreams and hopes, full of vitality and energy, but also a place where desires and karma endlessly multiply, and where many sufferings converge.

Even though she understood, Ritsuka still blurted it out unconsciously:

"What...what's going on..."

"The Great Palace has become one with this city called London, and has transformed into a deep labyrinth that leads to the depths of the earth."

The voice did not come from Novia's mouth, but from behind one of the four doors of the room decorated in Japanese style. At the same time, a woman slowly walked out and looked at Novia and Ritsuka, who seemed to be in another world, from a distance of dozens of meters.

She has a Japanese-style face and long purple hair that looks like it's been dyed with paint. Her body is wrapped in a white kimono, and she exudes a stern and imposing aura without any pretense. Her slightly sharp purple eyes seem to be staring at everything she has created in this eerie room.

"Also, listen carefully. Even though I don't know who you are, I still need to state my name. That's what you call etiquette, etiquette."

The woman placed her hands in front of her abdomen and nodded. "I am a lady-in-waiting in the inner palace of Edo Castle, and the wet nurse of the third shogun, Iemitsu. You may call me Kasuga no Tsubone."

"Hello, Kasuga no Tsubone, I am Fujimaru Ritsuka."

Generally speaking, the name Kasuga no Tsubone is quite famous among the Japanese, but it's a different story for Ritsuka.

"The man next to me is named Novie—"

Before Ritsuka could finish her introduction, Kasuga no Tsubone, who had come over and seen Novia's face clearly, suddenly burst into tears and staggered to Novia's side like a seriously injured person.

Kasuga no Tsubone stared into the silver-haired youth's eyes.

The shimmering light, like the reflection of the ocean, unexpectedly contained the serene image of a person—not her, but the Indian goddess Parvati within her.

Parvati felt as if she were being called by something.

Various existences overlapped... It seemed that this was how it was in the distant past. Even though she had no memory of it at all, even though she had no sense of the young man in front of her in any of her memories as a goddess, wife of a great god, servant, possessor, summoned person, and helper in protecting the world, she still had an impulse to do it, to have to do it.

It feels like it's located in the "distant" place, not the "present," and in the "past," not the "here." Nevertheless, we cannot ignore its existence as the distorted end of the 'Indian universe.'

This is a completely different emotion from that towards one's lover, Shiva; it is respect, remembrance, and longing, like a young child seeking its father.

Even Parvati had a feeling that any Hindu god, including her husband Shiva, would think the same way.

Kasuga no Tsubone's attire, which was originally a kimono, was instantly transformed into an Indian style.

"……Father?"

Oh, I accidentally blurted it out.

Ritsuka paused for a moment, looking at the two people staring at each other.

"……what?"

"I'm sorry, it was my fault."

However, Parvati quickly shook her head. "I am very sorry. I am now the Indian goddess Parvati. I must have misread it just now. Please forgive me. My father is the impersonal Himalayas and will never appear as a servant or in any other way."

"I don't quite understand what you're saying..."

Upon hearing Ritsuka's doubtful tone, Parvati hummed in response and fell into thought.

In the silence, Novia waved her hand, seemingly unconcerned.

"It's not a big problem, Parvati just mistook someone else for someone else."

Upon hearing this, Parvati sighed, no longer dwelling on what had just happened, and began to explain to Ritsuka:

"Originally, the Great Inner Palace began to be eroded in 1643. In a short time, the entire Great Inner Palace fell. In order to save Kasuga no Tsubone's soul, I shared my spirit origin with her. After that, for some unknown reason, the Great Inner Palace began to cross time and arrive here in 1888, starting from the local police station and merging with the whole of London."

Then, under my observation, the city, a fusion of London and the Great Palace, had become flattened; in other words, it consisted of endless rooms, like a maze. It was difficult to discern where the end or the beginning was. Each room had four doors leading to similar or different rooms. It was through this process of exploration that Kasuga no Tsubone and I met you.”

"OK! Let's not delay, is that right? We should prepare ourselves!"

Whether or not she actually listened, Ritsuka immediately threw a punch with one hand after she finished speaking.

"Since Parvati, you share the same goal as us, then come and explore this labyrinth with us!"

“That’s no problem at all, but I’ll come out later to discuss the battle situation. Although it’s become a labyrinthine complex integrated with London, Kasuga Tsubone still knows a thing or two about how to set things up…”

As Parvati spoke, she couldn't help but glance at Novia beside her before switching back to Kasuga, where the purple-haired woman smiled slightly.

"So the goddess of India and her companions will also be traveling with me. Now I can rest assured. No matter what kind of thugs occupy the inner palace, there is nothing to fear."

Afterwards, under Kasuga's leadership, the three of them achieved a successful start.

It means that the enemy was encountered in the next room.

It was a spacious room decorated in a dim red, Japanese style, lined up on both sides, with Western-style armed men in police uniforms.

Characterized by the equipment worn on their waists, the officers, a random mix of men and women, consist of about ten people. They are covered by a strict uniform that exudes a sense of authority in modern society, each holding a different type of firearm, and they still wear handcuffs and pistols on their waists.

Meanwhile, behind her were an equal number of bizarre female officials. They were bizarre because their limbs were as clearly defined as those of dolls, yet they wore wide, almost splitting smiles, creating a stark contrast with the expressionless police officers.

It was such a bizarre sight, it even had the atmosphere of an indescribable horror show performed by the entire police force.

However, even ordinary magicians, upon witnessing this scene, would not only be excited but would also faint like normal people.

Because there were many long strips of flesh on the ceiling of the room swinging back and forth like fans, making a 'clapping' sound like clapping, and the puppet officials seemed to take out pieces of flesh that should not exist from their stomachs and stick them to the strips of flesh that had fallen to the ground.

Crushing and crushing, repeated over and over again, like a mechanical process, followed by the stench of meat, the stench of internal organs, and the stench of vomit.

The police officers with vacant eyes and the dolls with extremely twisted smiles exuded a power that fused with the magic emanating from their flesh and blood, almost eroding the atmosphere that filled the room itself. It was dark and suffocating, filled with a suffocating dark emotion, and at the same time, it was a place where one could feel as if they were being choked by some kind of existence that was as sweet as nectar...

So when the door was opened, the atmosphere among the police officers and female officers changed abruptly. They all turned to stare at the door and the three visitors, their expressions a mixture of laughter and tears.

Such a scene was barely acceptable for Novia and Parvati, but it was somewhat terrifying for Ritsuka.

"Unauthorized entry into a police station compound will result in a three-day penalty for cleaning up the filth in the London River."

It's unclear which of the police officers spoke up, but in the next instant, the officers raised their guns and pointed them at the three people, while the puppet female officials pounced on all fours as if they had gone mad.

“I’m sorry, Scotland Yard has no right to arrest us. As a United Nations organization, Chaldea should be subject to the unified supervision of all countries and the Clock Tower.”

In the next instant, several sword-like objects appeared around Novia. Then, all the sword hilts materialized into silver blades and clashed with the magical bullets rushing towards them. This was the Black Key Armor commonly used by the Church's agents.

Then, Novia stomped on the floor, and Parvati confronted the puppet lady-in-waiting head-on, who resembled a rushing torrent of animals.

The two figures swayed and shimmered like a mirage, and the female puppet official's journey was intercepted one after another. Her head was cut off, and her body spread like dust throughout the room. As for the police, they were all killed by the unstoppable black keys.

Just how fast would it take, and what kind of power would be required to achieve that?

Ritsuka managed to catch the two's movements thanks to her enhanced vision from the magic she had only recently learned, but if asked if she could keep up with their movements, the answer would be no; she would probably need to learn for a while longer.

After finally defeating the enemies in the room, Parvati and Novia silently picked up the heads of all the police officers and puppets that had just been defeated. Although she didn't know why, Ritsuka followed suit and organized them neatly.

Afterwards, Parvati arranged them neatly and offered prayers.

"She has the air of a goddess..."

Ritsuka murmured as she watched Parvati do this.

"Don't you think it's strange?"

Novia countered.

"No, it's not surprising at all."

Despite her confusion, the girl answered firmly, “Even though I know they are just enemies, automaton-type familiars and people who have been controlled to the point of losing their minds, if you, Advisor, tell me they have no life and therefore there is no need to do this, I cannot refute it… But I always feel that I, like Parvati, cannot… sit idly by… Is that strange?”

"No, it's not strange at all."

Novia laughed when she heard the girl say this in the room filled with chunks of flesh.

"There is a saying in Buddhism that plants, trees, and lands can all become Buddhas. In other words, even inorganic things contain Buddha-nature, right?"

As Parvati uttered those words, perhaps her prayers had some effect, for instantly the bloody chunks of flesh scattered on the floor vanished, leaving only a gloomy room.

"It's not because of Buddhism..."

Parvati stood up after praying. "While I don't deny its existence, the fact that its head was chopped off reminded me of my daughter Ganesh. So I think even if it's an enemy, it's not good to let it remain in this state... If it were my mother, she would probably choose to trample everything indiscriminately. Sigh, really, my mother is prone to doing strange things for no reason."

After saying this, Kasuga no Tsubone, who had regained control of the body, looked at Novia with a curious expression.

"By the way, Lord Novia, are you someone who is similar to Lord Pal yet somewhat different, and quite extraordinary?"

"Hmm, why do you say that? I'm just an ordinary sub-Servant."

"Well, although you, Lord Novia, don't have a Dharma name or anything like that, I've had close relationships with several people whose Dharma names are 'So-and-so Temple.' You, Lord Novia, are completely different from them. So, the reason you are a Sub-Servant must be because you have a very famous high monk within you, right?"

Kasuga no Tsubone then continued, as if suddenly realizing something.

"After all, even the goddess of India is here. Even if you say you are the incarnation of Buddha, I wouldn't be surprised!"

"Oh?"

Hearing Kasuga no Tsubone say this, Novia became interested. "Why do you think that way?"

"Although you did not use any Buddhist power or similar strength, I just inexplicably made that connection."

"Actually, the power used by Novia's advisor... was completely different from that of Buddhism in retrospect."

Before Novia could reply, Ritsuka went up to Kasuga and explained.

"Is it really?"

Kasuga muttered to herself, then subconsciously stared in Novia's direction, as if to confirm Ritsuka's statement. Novia nodded in agreement.

Later, in the center of the room, Novia saw a document on the floor that seemed to belong to the same type as the one she had seen on the table earlier, so she picked it up and started looking through it.

Of course, Ritsuka and Kasuga no Tsubone also went over, but the moment Kasuga no Tsubone saw the contents of the document, she felt every cell in her body tremble.

"...Tokugawa, how could he have met such an end in a foreign land centuries later...? Could it be that the curse of Toyotomi and Lady Yodo, and Lord Sanada's resentment, still linger in Osaka..."

The text written at the top of the document is:

'The fifth Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, was guilty of heinous crimes and imprisoned in a single-story prison, where he was sentenced to death as an atonement to the people of the world.'

At that time, the Great Palace was able to transcend the barrier of 'time' by means of what can be described as a mysterious and unpredictable power, and was able to integrate with London based on Scotland Yard.

However, the location of the Fourth Singularity is on the island of Britain, in 1888 AD, in England, the British Empire.

In terms of global fame, Scotland Yard far surpasses the Ooku, which is considered the harem of the Tokugawa Shogun. Moreover, 15 years after the Black Ships attack, in 1868, the Tokugawa Shogunate faced collapse and had to surrender Edo without bloodshed. This allowed the strict rules that had prohibited men other than the Shogun from entering Edo Castle for a century and prohibited entry after 6 p.m. to be completely abolished.

Therefore, in the inner palace, which was already integrated with London centered on Scotland Yard, the Tokugawa Shogun was not the supreme ruler. On the contrary, given the concept of opening the country to the West, at that time the governor of Scotland Yard was definitely higher than the Tokugawa Shogun.

This is why Kasuga no Tsubone, who survived thanks to Parvati's power, said this.

After all, times have changed. This is no longer a closed-off island, but a completely new one. Therefore, the Tokugawa shogun's authority is useless here, let alone her, the shogun's wet nurse.

Of course, unlike the grief-stricken Kasuga no Tsubone, Novia seemed thoughtful about this. He remembered that these Tokugawa shoguns would appear in the form of an inro, using the body of Matsudaira Nobutsuna who backstabbed Kama. In short, they would use the "anti-Tokugawa special attack" to defeat Kama, who possessed extremely high "Tokugawa" attributes.

However, the situation has changed dramatically. The Ooku and London have become one, and the Ooku, which was originally the shogun's harem, will turn everyone into Tokugawa if they become addicted to it. Each layer of the labyrinth corresponds to one of the five precepts of Buddhism, and one cannot move forward without breaking them.

However, once the Ooku and London are integrated, the Ooku, Tokugawa's harem, will no longer be the dominant concept. At least based on the information Novia has gathered so far, Kama doesn't seem to be using the Tokugawa Shogun's soul as the binding force of the labyrinth; on the contrary, it seems to be...

Is the connection maintained by using the souls of the Tokugawa shoguns as the culprits in a 'specific case' like Yusune?

Is he planning to build his resume as a police chief at Scotland Yard, the highest-ranking officer in the English police force?

I wonder if the Home Secretary, the Lord Mayor of London, and the British Royal Family would recognize this in this era...

After all, the so-called Ooku (Great Palace) gives people the impression of a harem where men and women engage in illicit affairs day and night. Being dominated by love and desire is a kind of proof of life, although from a normal perspective this is only part of its function. The more important aspect is its political significance.

Ultimately, however, Kama could have chosen any harem as her path to becoming Mara, and she only happened to fall for the Ooku (inner palace) because of Kasuga no Tsubone's intense love for Tokugawa...

In other words, what strong obsession drew Kama, who chose to merge Ooku and London, to London? Or was it just a pure coincidence?

In an instant, Novia, who had been deep in thought, seemed to have caught something. She squinted and looked into the distance, sensing an aura that seemed to come from somewhere in the labyrinth, sometimes near, sometimes far.

……

At the same time, deep within the labyrinth, in a room where the attire of the Scotland Yard Chief and the Tokugawa Shogun was a stark contrast, Kama, sitting in a chair, simultaneously squinted her eyes at the same time as Novia and suddenly inexplicably extended her slender fingers.

Kama ran his fingers through his hair and stared intently at the files laid out on the table with cold eyes.

I had finally managed to escape Durga's control while they were fighting, and I should have been able to ascend smoothly, but this strange feeling... Have I ever had it before?