IBHJ 1407

How had it come to this?

The Root Princess couldn’t understand.

She stared at Manaka—that fake now barking orders at Arthur like she owned him.

All she had ever wanted was to fall in love with Arthur. That was it. Just to help him realize his dream.

So why… why had it ended like this?

He’d killed her twice. And now, the girl made in her image was commanding him to do it again.

Why?

Why had it turned out this way?

She truly didn’t understand.

She loved Arthur. She believed her love was pure. For his sake, she had thrown away everything—her father, her sister, her family, her friends. Everyone.

All for his dream.

So why… was this her reward?

“I don’t understand—I don’t understand—I don’t understand! Where did my love go wrong?!” she screamed.

“…You really don’t understand?” Manaka raised a hand and pointed straight at her. “I thought you were asleep. But no—you were watching the whole time, weren’t you? And even after all that… you still don’t see it?”

The Root Princess froze.

…Hadn’t she?

No. Deep down—she had.

It wasn’t Arthur’s fault.

It was her.

She was simply too twisted.

Not human—so she couldn’t feel things like a human. She thought sacrificing everything for love made it noble. But from the outside, all she’d become was a monster.

The truth was, she’d awakened long ago. Back during the South America conflict.

But Manaka had been the dominant soul. So she stayed hidden—watching, silently, from the background.

And in that quiet, third-person view… she finally saw herself clearly.

“…Then step down,” Manaka said, voice cold. “To keep going now is to keep lying to yourself.”

“NEVER—!”

The Root Princess screamed and hurled herself forward.

All restraints snapped. She went all in.

“Only you… Only YOU… must DIE!!”

But—

BOOM!

Mash intercepted the blow with her white shield. The reflected force shattered the vortex’s barrier—exposing the Root Princess’s core.

“Now, Arthur!” Manaka pointed.

Arthur didn’t speak.

He dashed ahead—his holy sword fully unsealed, all twelve restraints lifted. The blade glowed like judgment itself as it carved straight toward the heart of the vortex.

“Arthur… So in the end… it’s you again…” the Root Princess whispered.

He didn’t answer.

He ran her through.

“…Why?” she asked, shaking. “Where… did my love go wrong?”

“There was nothing wrong with your love,” Arthur said softly. “It’s just… I was never worthy of it.”

“…I see… I see… I’m sorry… I—can’t love you anymore.”

The vortex reversed—

—and erupted in a rain of light.

The backlash struck Arthur dead-on, spearing through his body like a lance.

“ARTHUR-SENPAI!!” Mash screamed.

The Root Princess hadn’t meant to kill him—

but when her core shattered, the backlash did what her heart never could.

“You should’ve done that ages ago,” Manaka said quietly. “Your love… was simply too heavy. No one could carry it.”

“I get it now,” the Root Princess replied, calm. “My love wasn’t wrong. The problem… was me.”

She looked up.

“It’s a pity. If you’d come just a few minutes earlier, maybe you could’ve killed me and stopped Father. But now… it’s too late.”

“…What do you mean?” Manaka blinked.

Suddenly—the roots of the Fusang Tree pulsed.

They reached downward, slamming into the soil.

RUMMMMMMMMMBBLLEEE—

The roots tore through Avalon itself, collapsing the entire dimension.

Only those who had escaped early—or had taken shelter beneath Mash’s shield—survived.

Manaka, eyes wide, surveyed the carnage as the dust began to settle.

And then she saw it:

The roots had impaled the vortex—piercing straight through it like fangs.

They were draining it.

“…This is—!”

“Father has already won,” the Root Princess murmured. “That’s what I meant when I said you were too late. The Fusang Tree will consume what’s left of me… and transfer my fully matured vortex into the vessel it’s been preparing.”

Manaka’s face darkened.

“And then… Father’s touch—still trapped in the Past—will incarnate in the Present through the Tree.”

“…And finish everything.”

“Mash—!”

“Yes, Senpai!”

Manaka and Mash launched a coordinated strike at the roots of the Fusang Tree—but it was useless. Even Mash’s white shield couldn’t make a dent.

Manaka gritted her teeth, eyes burning. “Are you really just going to let yourself be eaten?”

The Root Princess stood still. Then, softly—

“…In the end… I’m just like you. A puppet. Manaka Sajyou died a long time ago. You were born from Ayaka’s wish—a doll called ‘Sister.’ And me? I was born from my obsession with Arthur. That’s all I ever was. A puppet named love. That’s why Father could use me so easily.”

“All I wanted was a simple love story. Just Arthur and me. But it turned into this horror show. That’s love for you, isn’t it? Beautiful—and cruel.”

She looked at Manaka and Mash again. Her mouth tightened into a bitter line. “…I was always jealous of you. We’re both fakes, both just prints from a mold… but you had so much. And I had nothing.”

Manaka’s eyes narrowed. “Nothing? Nothing?! I was the one who had nothing!”

Her voice rose, sharp and shaking.

"You had people who loved you! People who mattered! And you tossed them away like trash. You still don’t get it, do you? Why Arthur came here to slay you but didn’t dodge your final strike, knowing it would kill him?"

She then shouted. “Manaka Sajyou—you were human!”

“…I… I’m human?” The Root Princess muttered. “I wasn’t empty… I just didn’t treasure what I had…?”

Manaka said, “Then live. Not as a vessel for evil. Not as a puppet. Live. As Manaka Sajyou.”

And with that—

The Fusang Tree absorbed the Vortex.

…

At the boundary of Past and Present—

Moromaya erupted in laughter.

“All conditions… met! Manaka Sajyou… you were never unloved. At the very least—your father loved you!”

She let out a triumphant laugh as her form unraveled—returning to her true body as pure information.

The seven anchors activated—forming a massive summoning array across the starfield.

The Fusang Tree, now swollen with the Inner Sea of the Planet, had become a perfect vessel.

And the moment it devoured the completed Vortex, a Golden Gate flared open in the sky.

A direct link to the Root.

The seal on the Past shattered.

From the depths of the Root, the Lord of Salvation began his descent—his essence flowing through the Gate and summoning circle, into the physical vessel atop the Tree.

“The path is open!” the vessel screamed.

“Yes… it’s open! The moment I’ve waited for!” the First Emperor shouted.

He raised his sword high, his voice thundering. “Then let me be summoned through this path! Appear—my true self!”

The array flared again—and through the heart of the Fusang Tree, a second existence surged upward.

This caused the Lord of Salvation to pause, sensing that someone else was forcing their way into the summoning.

But-

“…This is your plan?” he smiled. “You hid your true body inside the Fusang Tree’s core—waiting for the final moment to hijack the summoning path? Hah! You’re nothing but a bug, oh man of extremes. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?”

Still, even after billions of years trapped in the Root, the thrill of release was overwhelming.

The Lord of Salvation’s will surged forward—crushing the First Emperor’s main body, trying to assimilate it.

The Emperor’s breath caught. Sweat rolled down his face.

“…So this is how it ends…?” But he clenched his fists. “No… I am the one who carved stars alone! I carry the weight of a fallen world—how could I possibly give up now?!”

He roared in defiance, pushing his consciousness deeper.

He’d bet everything on this.

But the Lord of Salvation was overwhelming. Reality warped beneath him.

It was over. And his instincts never lied.

That meant—it really was over.

Originally, he had given the Fusang seed to Koyanskaya to control Proper Human History. But once he left the Solar System… and gazed into the abyss…

He understood why his world had never been chosen.

It wasn’t fate.

It was him.

A world ruled by the noble alone… had no future.

So he turned his back on that dream.

He poured every resource into saving humanity instead. Burned an entire Connection Point. Designed the perfect counter-summon.

His last, best plan was to insert himself just as the Lord descended—to replace him by taking his place and seal him in the Root once more. So instead of the Lord of Salvation, it was he who got summoned.

But—

It wasn’t enough.

The Lord of Salvation’s power dwarfed his own.

His plan had been clever. Maybe even beautiful.

But to the Lord of Salvation, it was probably just a game.

Because in the end—

Even the First Emperor was still just a man.

Just as the Emperor prepared for annihilation—

Another force surged into the summoning path.

A power nearly equal to the Lord of Salvation.

“…Another…?!” he gasped. “Another superexistence is entering the ritual!”

“Impossible!”

The Fusang Tree began to fracture—torn by three competing existences.

RRRRRAAAAAAHHHHH—!

The Golden Crow detonated.

The Tree exploded in a storm of energy.

Across the battlefield, every head turned to the sky—

Where three titans stood above the wreckage of the Clock Tower:

—One, a humanoid void of shimmering black—

The Lord of Salvation.

—One, a colossal engine of gleaming iron—

The First Emperor’s main body.

—And the last—

A humanoid being of galaxies and starlight.

The Azure Destroyer—Shirou.

“No… Impossible!” the Lord of Salvation screamed. “You were supposed to be trapped in the Past! Still fighting the Void Overlord! How were you summoned?!”

"Don’t you have a method for bringing yourself here?" the Azure Destroyer said with a smile. "I just used the same one."

The Lord’s eyes went wide. “Then the one inside the coffin—!”

“Yes.”

Before Vivian, the Eternal Coffin shuddered.

Its lid creaked open.

And Shirou climbed out.