IBHJ 1392

A booming voice crackled through the air, transmitted across open channels from the largest vessel among the golden fleet.

“Welcome, distinguished guests from Gaia Star Domain.”

The central aircraft carrier’s massive deck split open with a hiss of shifting alloy, and a towering golden giant emerged.

“The Gaia Star Domain contains our genetic factors,” the giant declared. “In a way, you could say it’s our branch line. A pleasure to meet you. I am—”

Before he could finish, a blinding beam of energy lanced from Tiamat’s side. A full-powered planet-killer cannon.

The blast tore through the space.

The golden giant jerked back, startled, but the barrier surrounding the carrier flared to life and absorbed the attack.

The golden giant snarled, smoke swirling off the barrier. “Is everyone from Gaia system this savage? I hadn’t even finished my introduction!”

Tiamat scratched the back of her head, expression sheepish. “Sorry. Your opening was just too big—I couldn’t help myself.”

“Well done,” Shirou said with a smile, giving her a firm pat on the shoulder.

The golden figure exhaled through his nose, annoyed. “I am Axia, Chief Commander of the Golden Universe. Our systems have a treaty with the Gaia Star Domain. We have no desire to break it—nor provoke a larger war. You may return safely… under one condition.”

Shirou arched an eyebrow. “That generous?”

“His Imperial Majesty was furious at your intrusion,” Axia said, voice hardening. “But I calmed him. I persuaded him to allow your return. However, you must surrender the First Cause—and the Door.”

Shirou let out a short laugh. “Return? We haven’t taken anything. On the contrary, your fleet attacked us. We didn’t steal anything. How do you return what you never had?”

“Don’t insult our intelligence,” Axia snapped. “His Majesty personally detected the aura of the First Cause radiating from you. The Door is with you—return it, now!”

“I told you, we don’t have a door.” Shirou shrugged. “We don’t even know what the hell it is you’re referring to.”

“The Door at the End,” Axia growled, “the gateway that leads to the First Cause! You carry its trace—you have it. And if you don’t return it…” His voice dropped. “When His Majesty is enraged, the consequences are—unpleasant.”

Shirou gave a tired smile. “This conversation’s going nowhere.”

He reached into his cloak and withdrew the Arrow of Akasha.

“This,” he said, holding it up, “might be what you’re calling the First Cause. But as for the Door? We’re just as lost as you.”

Axia’s eyes gleamed as they locked onto the arrow. “Very well. Then start by returning the arrow.”

Shirou scanned the fleet surrounding them—golden hulls glinting in formation, ether cannons charging together. His gaze shifted back to Axia. “So if I don’t give you the arrow, you’ll kill us. That’s the idea, right?”

Axia smirked. “Naturally. We’d prefer to avoid breaking our treaty with the Gaia Star Domain. But if you hand it over peacefully, no one needs to get hurt. I assume you’re not complete fools?”

Shirou gave a slow nod. “Right. That makes sense…”

Then his expression sharpened.

“…daga kotowaru!”

He shouted it like a battle cry straight out of a shonen manga.

Tiamat blinked. “…That delivery was weirdly dramatic.”

It didn’t matter. The truth was unshakable!

Shirou couldn’t give it up—not now, not ever.

The Arrow of Akasha wasn’t just any artifact. It was a relic of the Origin Civilization. It had once passed through the hands of the Lord of Salvation. And now, it was the key to fighting him on equal footing.

Even Shirou himself didn’t dare use it casually. How could he hand it over to someone else?

Axia sneered. "Fools. You really think you can oppose us? Look around—we have the advantage and superior numbers. Very well… we’ll just reclaim the First Cause from your corpses!"

He raised his arm.

But before he could issue the order—

BOOM!

A streak of blinding light screamed in from the void, and a golden warship exploded in flames.

The entire battlefield fell silent.

A new signal pulsed through the air, clear and commanding:

“Who was it that said they had the superior numbers?”

Dozens—no, hundreds—of hyperspace passages flared open all around them, tearing rifts in space.

One after another, starships emerged—each gleaming with Gaia Star Domain markings, each armed and ready for war. The sky filled with them, like a meteor storm set loose.

At the heart of the fleet loomed a colossal Spiritron Giant, her eyes glowing like suns.

And standing on her shoulder—high above the battlefield—was a woman.

Silver hair. Crimson eyes. A faint, confident smile tugging at her lips as she stared down at Axia like a goddess descending from myth.

“Who,” she repeated, “said they had the numbers?”

Tiamat gasped. “Lady Gaia!”

Even Shirou’s brows lifted. He hadn’t expected her to come personally.

She’d said she’d retrieve them—but this?

Crossing into the Golden Universe herself? Bringing the full weight of the Gaia Star Domain behind her?

That wasn’t rescue.

That was war.

“You… you’re the Star Lord of the Gaia Star Domain?” Axia was stunned, his booming voice had lost its earlier smugness.

“That’s right—the great me,” Origin Gaia said with a nod,. Then she looked toward Shirou, voice bright. “I’ve come to pick you up, Shirou!”

Shirou blinked slowly. “…Right.”

Axia gawked at her, disbelief etched across his golden features. “You—you actually came to the Golden Universe yourself? Is Gaia Star Domain declaring war on us?!”

She tilted her head. “And if I said yes… what would you do?”

“You—” he stammered.

He’d conquered countless star domains, crushed rebellions, and razed civilizations. But this—this was the first time he’d ever encountered a Star Lord this reckless.

“I came to retrieve my people,” Gaia said calmly. “Try and stop me, and see how long you last.”

Behind her, Cosmic Alaya expanded her astral body. The scale of her data form distorted the space around her, bending the laws of the star system like melted steel.

…

Gaia Star Domain – Royal Throne Chamber

Origin Gaia reclined on her throne, legs crossed, fingers tapping the crystalline armrest. Before her, a shimmering projection hovered in the air—Tiamat’s feed of the golden stone tablet Shirou had recovered.

“This,” she mused, “is what you uncovered in the Golden Universe?”

Shirou nodded. “It is.”

Once she’d confirmed Shirou’s coordinates, Gaia had wasted no time. She opened hyperspace herself and led a fleet in personally. The scale and speed had overwhelmed the Golden Universe's forces.

And Axia, for all his bluster, wasn’t a fool.

Facing the full weight of the Gaia Star Domain’s military and the terrifying partial manifestation of Cosmic Alaya, he backed off.

And now, Shirou had returned with her safely to the Gaia Star Domain.

Gaia leaned forward slightly, her crimson eyes locked on the projection. “Judging by the inscriptions, this myth appears to describe the origin of the Golden Universe itself.”

Her fingers twitched, and the throne room’s quantum lattice pulsed softly.

“Let me borrow the star domain’s computational lattice for this. We’ll crack it.”

Shirou gave a small nod. He remembered her once saying: her total computational capacity was the sum of all quantum processors in the Gaia Star Domain. In other words—a literal star-domain-scale supercomputer. If anyone could decode this tablet, it was her.

“By the way,” he added, glancing up, “did you solve the energy supply problem?”

Tiamat’s starship was a physical relic—a pre-information age warship with just enough fuel for a one-way trip into the Golden Universe. But Gaia’s fleet had made a full round-trip and fought through a blockade.

“Oh, that?” Gaia smirked. “Solved it a while ago with a shortcut. I just didn’t tell you because I knew you’d go charging off anyway. Honestly, you’re worse than I was at your age.”