IBHJ 1405

Shirou clenched his fists.

He knew, the true signal of the so-called Lord of Salvation was still trapped in the Root. But the conscious projection guiding the Gaia Star Domain had already achieved victory.

He lured the Golden Destroyer into attacking the Gaia Domain. Had Shirou not used the Akasha Arrow, the Destroyer would have annihilated everything—including him.

But even if he had waited for all the planets besides Origin Gaia to die, completed the Gate, and entered the Root, the true body of the Lord of Salvation would have instantly consumed him and used him as a vessel.

Using the Arrow led to this outcome instead: the Void Overlord, unrestrained by the Arrow, descended—and Moromaya had claimed total victory in the Past.

Now, all she needed was for the vessel in the Present—the body nurtured by the Fusang Tree—to mature. Then, using Manaka Sajyou’s vortex, she would incarnate into that body.

Once that happens, she’d open the Golden Gate in the Present—and release her true self.

At that moment, it would all be over.

And Shirou—he had no way to stop it.

Because his opponent was the cosmos itself. The Evil of the Root. The weaver of fate. No matter what choices were made, Moromaya always emerged victorious.

That was the Lord of Salvation. The Fool. The first and final victor of the First Cause War.

A being who missed nothing. A guaranteed winner.

Anyone born within this universe—any being whose record was part of the First Cause—could never defeat him.

Because he could rewrite the script—and observe every action.

But there was one thing he couldn’t observe. One script he couldn’t edit.

Shirou—the transmigrator from beyond the First Cause.

He couldn’t read Shirou’s moves.

And that—was Shirou’s chance.

In the war of the Past, Shirou wasn’t the protagonist. Gaia Star Domain was.

And Gaia had already lost.

But the Present—would be different.

Now, the one leading the fight would be Shirou.

This was the final battle between the next generation and the Lord of Salvation.

The situation was dire. Moromaya controlled everything. But the Present wasn’t lost yet!

She had taken the entire Solar System. Shirou had no way to return to the Present. On the surface, it was a total defeat.

But no one knew—

Shirou had entered the Past fully prepared to lose!

—Good thing I’m a transmigrator from beyond.

—Good thing I went all-in on that one card!

He clenched his fists.

He didn’t have many cards left. And all the ones he had—including the Akasha Arrow—were already known to Moromaya.

Except for one.

Only one card remained—conceived through the nature of a transmigrator. The one card Moromaya couldn’t see!

Vivian… that coffin… I’m counting on you.

Until the time comes, you must protect it—no matter what.

Shirou clenched his fists.

By now, the Void Overlord had devoured the outer edge of Gaia’s realm—and was surging toward the heart.

…

“…It’s over.”

Staring at the vanished Solar System, then at the Void Overlord consuming the Azure Universe, Origin Gaia let out a long sigh.

A war that had lasted for tens of billions of years… had finally ended with Gaia’s defeat.

There was no hope left.

The moment the Golden Universe sensed the Gate’s presence in Gaia—the outcome was sealed.

She had even tried rewriting the script once in the Present. But it turned out—it was Moromaya guiding her all along.

So much for defying fate. Even her defiance… had been part of the plan.

“…We haven’t lost yet.” Shirou said

“I want to believe that too, Shirou… but we’ve already lost.”

“Maybe you’ve lost. But I haven’t!”

Gaia Star Domain had played all its cards.

But he—he still had one left.

The only card Moromaya hadn’t seen.

“You still don’t understand the situation, do you?” Origin Gaia sighed. “You have no way back to the Present. You’ll be swallowed by the Void Overlord—along with the rest of us. It’s over, Shirou!”

“…Not until the very last second,” he said quietly, “I haven’t lost yet.”

Origin Gaia looked at Shirou with a complicated expression. Why was this child so stubborn?

The Mortal Vortex was the foundation of the Azure Gate.

And the Lord of Salvation had set up this entire ordeal just to mature Shirou’s Vortex—solely to use him to open the Gate of the Past, so that He Himself could descend into the physical world.

Everything—every step—had always been in the Lord of Salvation’s hands from the very beginning.

“Stand against the Void Overlord!” Shirou said firmly. “Don’t tell me you pioneers of the Azure Universe have given up completely! Don’t make me look down on you!”

“…Shirou…” Tethys’s voice wavered as she looked at him, eyes full of emotion.

Everyone exchanged uneasy glances.

Anyone could see it—this was already a complete defeat, wasn’t it?

Even they, the lingering souls of a bygone era, had long given up. So why hadn’t this man?

But Shirou—he couldn’t give up.

Not just because he still held one last card.

But because the moment he gave up, everything—his fate, the fate of those he loved, everything he cared for—would be lost.

That—was something he could never allow.

Origin Gaia was silent for a long moment.

Then, quietly, “Even if we’ve all given up… are you truly going to fight the Lord of Salvation to the end?”

Shirou didn’t answer.

He just looked at her—with eyes that held no hesitation.

“…I see,” she said softly. “Then we, the predecessors, would be remiss not to offer this final help to our successor.”

She exhaled. “I give up… on overwriting the future. Not for the sake of the future itself—but for you. I’ll give you everything I have.”

“Then let’s fight the Void Overlord together—!”

“No.” Gaia shook her head. “If Alaya were still with us—maybe. But now… it’s impossible. Even if we all threw ourselves at it, we’d be swallowed whole. So, Shirou—”

Her expression hardened. “Become the Cosmic Destroyer.”

“…Cosmic Destroyer?” Shirou frowned. “Like a Cosmic Heroic Spirit?”

“No. Something greater. Not like the Heroic Spirits Gaia intended to create in the distant future. I mean a true cosmic existence—on par with the Golden Destroyer. On par with Alaya herself.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Can that even be done?”

Gaia looked straight at him. “What do you think Alaya was? We wield technology equivalent to that of the Golden Universe. They mastered matter and forged the Golden Destroyer—an absolute physical god. We pursued information—and created Alaya, guardian of data-born life. But creating such a being… and becoming one—are very different things. Even for you, it could be fatal.”

Shirou didn’t hesitate. “Let’s do it.”

“…Good.” Gaia nodded solemnly. “Let’s begin.”

“You’re a good kid, Shirou.” Tethys smiled softly, reaching out and placing a hand on his head.

Then she vanished—her entire being dissolving into light and sinking into his chest.

Shirou gasped. “Wait—what was that just now?!”

Gaia answered, her voice resolute. “What else? We’re giving you everything—every last particle, every ounce of data, every unit of cosmic overquantum. The entire Gaia Domain… is becoming part of you.”

“But if you do that, you’ll—!”

He stopped.

He saw their faces.

Every one of them bore the same expression: acceptance. Determination.

They weren’t afraid.

They were ready.

“Shirou,” Gaia said. “You must win.”

And then—

She turned, and with her, countless lights surged forward—stars, beings, memories—all diving into Shirou’s chest, into the Mortal Vortex.

As the Void Overlord struck, the entire Gaia Domain—its people, its knowledge, its soul—was drawn into him.

“AAAHHHHHHHHHHH—!!”

His body twisted. Soul unraveled. Cells, spiritrons, thought itself—all collapsing under the pressure.

Simultaneously, the cosmic energy outside surged inward—compressing into his core.

A new universe was being born within him.

The Mortal Vortex reached its limit.

And from that singularity… it emerged.

—The Azure Gate.

Not a gate to be opened.

A gate within.

A gate become.

His soul dissolved—replaced by a sea of stellar consciousness.

His body vanished—leaving behind a frame of raw, radiant starlight.

Shirou was no longer Shirou.

What stood now in the void was a humanoid universe—shining against the black.

He had resisted the Lord of Salvation.

But now—under Gaia’s guidance—he had done more.

He had become the Gaia Domain.

Not merely a cosmic being…

But their last, greatest wish.

The Azure Destroyer—First God of the Azure Universe.

Because the Mortal Vortex had matured completely—and because he alone bore the title Savior of Mortal—Shirou held the form together.

Just barely.

Now fully aware of what he had become—

—he moved.

With a single thought, space itself warped.

In the next moment, he stood at the edge of the starfield.

Face-to-face with the Void Overlord.

His voice echoed across space. “This is not your domain. Leave.”

The Void Overlord surged.

A black tide—wave after wave of endless void—crashed toward him.

Shirou raised his hand.

A sea of stars erupted in answer—an unstoppable torrent of burning galaxies, slicing the darkness apart.

Unlike Alaya—pure data.

Unlike the Golden Destroyer—pure matter.

Shirou was both.

Not a single extreme—

—but a fusion.

A hybrid Transcendent.

The Void Overlord and the Azure Destroyer clashed in the cold silence of space.

Each breath, each pulse, each clash—

—shaped the cosmos.

Even the faintest leak of power from either side birthed floods that could drown entire nebulae.

The final war had begun.