IBHJ 1391

Suddenly, Tiamat stiffened like she’d been struck by lightning. Her whole body buzzed with a visible hum, twitching as if someone had turned her into a human tuning fork.

Shirou blinked. “Uh… what’s wrong with you?”

She was vibrating so hard he half expected her to start levitating. Honestly, this version of Tiamat was way too ridiculous. He just prayed the future her would never see this—otherwise, it was definitely going in her black history book.

“Connected!” she cried, eyes wide with joy, practically sparkling. “Alaya-sama! I’ve established a connection with her!”

“…What?” Shirou gave her a look. He hadn’t expected that. The Golden Universe had natural cosmic interference so dense that not even high-tier signals could pass through. Tiamat had been cut off from Alaya since they arrived. But now, inside this planet… she’d made contact?

“W-wait a second, Master! A message is coming through!” she announced, then suddenly—

Twin beams of light shot from her eyes, projecting a shimmering virtual screen into the air.

On the screen, a familiar figure waved frantically.

“Hello, anyone there? Can you hear me?”

“Gaia?” he muttered, raising an eyebrow.

Origin Gaia turned mid-wave, eyes locking onto him. Her flawless face broke into a smile, amused. “Ah, so you’re alive, Shirou. And here I was thinking I’d have to drag you out of another mess.”

“You know I’m in the Golden Universe?”

“I tracked the hyperspace rift you fell into,” she said, spinning theatrically in her seat. “Turns out, it leads straight to the Golden Universe.”

She grinned. “I wasn’t even planning to invade that place yet, and you went ahead of me? How thoughtful. I never expected you to respect me so much. I’ve decided—when you get back, I’m promoting you to general.”

Shirou stared at the screen, deadpan.

Yeah. This woman was professionally ridiculous.

No wonder the Venus of this era wanted to punch her.

Even he was tempted to do it. Just one clean blow to knock her down, maybe pin her to the floor and admire the way her eyes teared up in protest—

...Okay, that was a little evil.

But not undeserved.

Origin Gaia’s tone shifted. “All jokes aside—what happened? One moment you were in-range, then poof—you vanished into hyperspace and reappeared halfway across the cosmos.”

“We’re still figuring it out,” he said. “But during the transmission, we encountered something beyond logic.”

Shirou told Gaia everything about their recent encounters.

Gaia listened, her face growing more serious.

“Void Worms,” she murmured. “I’ve read reports from Pioneer ships that managed to return. Those things are native to the Golden Universe—Outer God lifeforms, entirely alien. But that Darkness you mentioned…”

She frowned. “I don’t know what that is.”

“Neither do I,” he admitted. “It didn’t even have Root Lines. Even the Ideal King—after becoming a Transcendent—still had Root Lines. But this thing…”

He trailed off. Even now, just remembering it made him frown.

After a long silence, he spoke. “Based on what we heard from the living planets, that thing… might be the god of the Golden Universe. A figure from their primitive worship.”

Origin Gaia tilted her head, brows drawing together. “Strange cosmic structure,” she murmured, then shifted topics. "Have you found your opponent and the playing field?"

He knew who she meant. The Lord of Salvation.

Shirou shook his head. “No. I’ve uncovered fragments. But the more I learn, the deeper the confusion gets. Honestly… I’m a bit scared.”

“That’s natural. The universe, life, all of it—they’re like that. The more you uncover, the more questions you find. Fear comes with understanding. It pushes you forward. That loop never ends.” She smiled faintly. “Which is why a little ignorance now and then isn’t such a bad thing. But in your case… you don’t get that luxury. Until the Lord of Salvation falls, your path doesn’t allow for rest.”

Shirou sighed and nodded.

She was right. He didn’t have the option of stopping. Not with everything he carried—Tethys’s hope, the legacy of the ancient age, the rage of the Eternal Kingdom. And then… his own dreams. His friends. His loved ones. The future they all deserved.

There was no turning back.

“I’ve locked on to your phase coordinates,” Gaia said briskly. “Alaya will open a hyperspace tunnel shortly. Once it stabilizes, return immediately. You’re fortunate to still be alive—this universe isn’t somewhere you can wander freely.”

Shirou nodded—but his eyes lingered on the platform behind him.

The rhomboid stone. The vanished door. The invisible gravity pulling at his soul.

“…Gaia,” he said quietly. “Take Tiamat back with you.”

“Tiamat?” she repeated. “You mean the starship that brought you there?” Then her eyes narrowed. “Wait. You’re staying?”

He gave a single, silent nod.

Gaia’s expression turned sharp. “Fujimaru Shirou, I respect your judgment. I trust your instincts. But understand—right now, you’re the only one capable of defeating the Lord of Salvation. You’re not expendable. I need you to act like it.”

Her tone softened. “I’ll support you fully. Not because I care about protecting my future self… but because I want to redeem what I lost. The shame of our failure. The destruction of everything we couldn’t save.”

She met his eyes. “Do you understand me?”

“I do, but I’ve already—”

The words barely left Shirou’s mouth before the ground lurched beneath him.

A violent tremor surged through the mountain.

Crack. Crack. Crack—

Massive slabs of stone sheared off the cliffsides, thundering down like hammers.

“Wait—signal… Fujimaru Shirou… safe…” Origin Gaia’s voice cut in, fragmented and distant. Her projection stuttered, warping into digital static.

Then the screen went dark.

Tiamat jolted. “The connection to Alaya has been severed!” she cried, alarmed.

Boom!

The entire cavern groaned as another quake struck, stronger this time. Debris rained from above, and the ceiling of the planetary interior began to crack wide open.

“This is bad, Master! Something’s attacking the planet!”

“You think?!” he shouted, ducking instinctively as a boulder the size of a truck smashed down beside him.

Rumble—

The overhead crust gave way entirely, splitting like the shell of a shattered egg. Light streamed in through the jagged fissures—and with it, the bounded field that had been anchoring them was torn apart. The weight pressing on his flight system vanished.

“The crust’s collapsing,” she yelled. “This whole place is coming down—we need to move!”

She shot upward, cutting a path toward the breach in the crust.

Halfway up, she turned—only to find Shirou still rooted in place, eyes locked on the rhomboid platform below. It now looked more like an altar than ever, bathed in trembling red light.

“Master!” she shouted.

Snapped from his trance, Shirou grit his teeth. “I know!”

With a burst of mana, he launched himself into the air.

Behind him, the earth roared.

A volcanic surge exploded from below—searing heat and molten rock surged up in a geyser of fire. The altar vanished beneath a tide of magma as if the planet itself had moved to erase it.

“Tch.” Shirou clicked his tongue.

He gave the altar one last glance, then turned and ascended through the breach.

As they burst out of the collapsing planet’s crust, they stopped.

The sky was already full.

A fleet of golden airships hovered above, hundreds of them, forming a vast and coordinated web of blockade. Their hulls shimmered in formation, casting long shadows over the planet.

They were surrounded.