IBHJ 1404

“…That’s—!”

Shirou’s brow tightened.

Far ahead, at the center of the Solar System, the sun was being swallowed by an invisible vortex. It twisted space inward like a black hole—reversing gravity, pulling reality itself into a spiraling collapse.

One of Gaia’s children brushed the edge—just barely—

—and was gone. No trace. Not even data remained.

“Moromaya!” Origin Gaia snarled through clenched teeth.

A voice echoed from deep within the vortex, smooth and amused. “Returned already, Gaia?”

Shirou narrowed his eyes. “Are you… the Lord of Salvation?”

Moromaya chuckled. “I’m honestly surprised. I expected you to jump straight to the obvious.”

“What would’ve happened if I had?”

“Oh? You're actually asking? Didn’t Gaia already walk you through it? You complete the Gate, step into the Root just like I did, kill the ‘me’ waiting there—and then Gaia overwrites the future, bringing the Star Domain back to life.”

“You make it sound so clean.”

“Naturally. Because Gaia’s precious ‘script’—was mine to begin with.” A grin rippled in her voice. “The moment you stepped into the Root, your body would’ve become my vessel. That’s what all of this was for—to descend fully into the real world. Still… the illusion of rebellion—it's a charming little lie, isn't it, Gaia?”

“Kh…!” Origin Gaia’s jaw clenched.

Shirou stared into the churning dark. “Why don’t you introduce yourself properly this time?”

“Hmm. Fair. You made it this far. You even dodged the fate I wrote for you—that deserves some recognition.”

The void pulsed.

“I am the Fool.

I am the Golden Universe itself.

If you need a definition… then I am its refusal to die.

Its instinct. Its desperation, given shape. I am its Root.”

Moromaya’s voice thickened, omnidirectional, vibrating across stars.

“I created Gaia—and her siblings.

I seeded the Gaia Star Domain’s evolution into a civilization of data and thought.

I orchestrated the war between Gaia and Gold.

I penned the fate of the stars.

I drove the Umbral Star to devour as its fate.

I am Moromaya.”

…

Long ago, fearing annihilation by the Void, the Golden Universe launched the First Cause War—an event much like the Holy Grail War, but on a cosmic scale.

They used their entire universe as a spiritual leyline, selected seven Cosmic Masters from major star systems, and summoned Cosmic Heroic Spirits to fight in their stead.

But there was an eighth.

Moromaya—the Fool.

Not a Master. A vessel.

Akin to a Lesser Grail, yes—but different in one crucial way.

He wasn’t born of ritual. He was born of instinct—the Golden Universe’s raw, desperate will to survive. A suppressive impulse, weaponized through First Cause technology.

To ensure survival, Moromaya summoned the Golden Destroyer and entered the war himself.

And since he was the Golden Universe, he won. Easily.

He claimed the Golden Gate, seized the First Cause, and repelled a wave of the Void.

But only one.

It wasn’t enough.

He saw then: the Void Overlord’s power eclipsed his own. So he tried to merge with the First Cause itself—to become something greater.

But at the brink of success…

The Golden Destroyer turned on him.

Struck him down.

Erased every trace of the First Cause War.

But Moromaya didn’t die.

He couldn’t.

As the suppressive instinct of a universe, he had no true form to destroy.

He entered the Root through the Gate—and corrupted it.

He became the Evil of the Root.

But as Root Evil, he lost his agency. He couldn’t act directly.

So he manipulated.

He arranged for the Golden Gate to be stolen—triggering a new First Cause War, this time in the Solar System.

Why such a small domain?

Because it lay outside the Golden Destroyer’s reach.

But to fight a First Cause War, only conceptual entities could participate—only beings on par with Cosmic Spirits.

In the original war, the Masters were spirits born from nebulae themselves.

So Moromaya recreated the ancient systems.

He forged Gaia and her siblings.

He restarted the war.

Then came the division. The bloodshed. The rebellion.

He lured Origin Gaia into leading her siblings in slaughtering the others.

Next, he pushed them to create the Gaia Star Domain, to develop the Star Armaments, to evolve into information-based life.

Why?

Because the Root is the origin—the law behind all laws, the reason matter is matter.

Material beings can’t perceive it.

Only pure information can.

To see the Root is to let it see you.

Observation and counter-observation.

So Moromaya digitized Gaia.

Forced a war with Gold.

Reopened the channel for his influence.

He lured magi into the Root again and again.

Enticed them into the Akasha hole—into the Root.

And once they observed him, he reached back.

And consumed them.

No one who truly reached the Root ever came back.

Because he devoured them.

Their knowledge.

Their truths.

Their very selves.

Every answer…

Every cause…

Every myth…

All of it led here.

…

“…Moromaya…” Tethys whispered.

“No matter the era—material, digital, or post-singular—I always admired you, Tethys,” Moromaya said. “So stop struggling. Once salvation is complete, you’ll all live in a beautiful world.”

Shirou’s fists trembled. “Your ‘salvation’… is just merging all life into yourself, isn’t it? What kind of salvation is that?”

Moromaya’s voice was calm. Almost kind. “You saw the Golden Universe fall, Shirou. Did it not teach you? Everything ends. Once a universe nears collapse, any life born at its edge dies before it has a chance to live.”

He paused. “The only thing eternal… is the transcendent. Cruel, isn’t it? Unfair? That’s why I offer salvation—by fusing all things into one. Every universe, every being. All unified inside me. Returned to the Root.”

“Beyond birth. Beyond death.

Neither existence… nor nonexistence.”

“That is eternity.

That is true good.

True justice.”

“…That’s not good,” Shirou growled. “That’s not justice. That’s pure, unfiltered evil!”

“You may have shaped the Vortex,” said Moromoya, “but you still don’t understand the cosmos. That’s to be expected—an individual’s perspective can only grasp a mere grain of the vast ocean. You see only yourself and those around you. But it’s fine. You, too, are within the scope of my salvation.”

“The Seven Anchors are the foundation of the Black Box sealing the Past. From the moment Gaia began to burn for them, the Anchors of this era became linked to those of the modern era. History and time have been re-fused. Everything is now connected. The Past and the Present have been bridged.”

As Moromoya finished speaking, a surge of boundless golden light erupted from Earth, spreading outward through the Solar System. Venus, Mars, Saturn… one after another, the planets were lit and joined—except for Mercury and the Moon. Eight planets became bound in golden brilliance.

A colossal gate of stars formed:

—The Golden Gate.

“The moment the Past and Present reconnected, my victory was assured. When the modern vessel reaches maturity, the Golden Gate will open here, and my essence will emerge from the Root. The moment of salvation has arrived!”

“Don’t even think about it!”

Shirou unleashed his Noble Phatasm toward the vortex, but the swirling void was intangible. The attack passed through it and vanished into the star sea.

“You may not have stepped into the Root, but it doesn’t matter. From the moment the war between the Golden Universe and Gaia began—from the moment the anchors ignited—you had already lost.”

“The vessel in the present is nearly complete. The Akasha Arrow—the key—has vanished along with that meddlesome Golden Heroic Spirit. Now all I need is for that vessel to mature. When it does, I will emerge from the First Cause!”

At the mention of escaping the First Cause, even Moromaya couldn’t suppress her excitement.

It had been too long.

Though she had corrupted the First Cause, she’d also been trapped within it—for far, far too long.

How many billions of years had it been?

She didn’t know.

Only that one universe had fallen… then another was born…

“You can all become part of the Void. Don’t worry. In the end, the Void itself will become part of my salvation.”

With those words, Moromaya disappeared—along with the Golden Gate.