IBHJ 1366

He stared at her in disbelief.

Did she just say... the Lord of Salvation don't exist?

His heart skipped a beat, a sharp jolt of unease rising in his chest. He tried to steady himself, but his voice came out shaky. "If that's true... then what the hell have I been fighting all this time?"

Gaia's words didn't just shake a foundation—they threatened to erase it.

"I brought these doubts with me when I traveled to the present," she said. "I couldn't understand what kind of monster could possibly destroy Alaya. But once I got there... a different question formed."

"Which was?"

"Why was I able to go to the present at all?"

"Because of the Grand Summoning." Shirou's answer came quickly, like he was clinging to certainty. "The Lord of Salvation cast it."

"Then explain this to me—why were they able to summon me in the first place?"

Shirou's frown deepened. "What are you getting at?"

He didn't understand where she was going with this, but something in his gut was fighting it—like his mind was trying to reject an idea too dangerous to face.

Gaia's red eyes bore into him. "We're from the beginning of time. The present is our future—a future where we should be extinct. But we've never had any connection to that timeline. We were never meant to overlap with it."

"He's a being of the Root," he shot back. "He can break those rules."

"You know that's not how it works. Deep down, you know the truth. In real history, we and the Golden Universe destroyed each other. Barely. That's how your era was born. But when you showed up here, you changed that outcome. What if we win this time? What if we crush the Golden Universe? No need to draw power from the Root. No Arrow of Akasha. No Lord of Salvation."

She paused, letting it sink in. "Then how would your era come to exist? How could you even exist?"

"It would just branch off as a parallel world—" Shirou's response was automatic, desperate.

"Would it?" Gaia cut him off. "You've been through connection points. You've seen Moromaya. Are you still sure about that?"

He stumbled backward, dread clawing at him from the inside.

"If we survive and change the outcome... how could you still exist?" Gaia's voice was unnervingly calm. "I'll tell you the answer."

She held out the Arrow of Akasha toward him again. "You destroy me. That's how."

Shirou stumbled back.

That terrible, unthinkable question—the one he'd been avoiding since the moment he arrived in this era—was finally out in the open. He hadn't needed Gaia to say it. That paradox had been lurking in the back of his mind the entire time. He just... hadn't wanted to face it. Because thinking too hard about it was terrifying. Because if she was right—if the Lord of Salvation never existed here—then the true "Lord of Salvation" was...

Shirou clenched his teeth. He couldn't bring himself to say it.

But when he looked up, Gaia's face was twisted in the biggest, most mischievous grin he'd ever seen.

He stared. "You were screwing with me!?"

"I couldn't help myself!" Gaia burst into laughter, doubling over. "You looked so serious! Now I understand why my future self spoils you so much!"

Shirou's face burned with embarrassment and anger. He wanted to punch something. If this wasn't her territory—and if she didn't have the Arrow of Akasha—he would've tackled her and wiped that smug look off her face.

But then Gaia's expression grew more serious.

"There. Now that I've gotten that out of my system, you should be able to move forward without hesitation, right?"

Shirou was quiet for a long moment. Then, quietly said. "No. Because when you line everything up... all the clues point to one possibility. That the so-called Lord of Salvation... might actually be me."

She crossed her arms. "If that's what you think... then you've already taken the bait, Shirou."

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

"What if, we don't even exist?"

Shirou's mind instantly flashed back to something the Lord of Salvation had once said to him—

--“Let's play a game.”--

"If we're not real—if all of this is just some phantom echo of what really happened—then everything makes sense," Gaia continued, watching his face carefully.

"But what if that's not true?"

Gaia's smile was almost gentle. "If that were the case... do you really think you'd still be standing here in my territory?"

Shirou paused. Then, for the first time in what felt like forever, his shoulders relaxed. The knot in his chest finally loosened. He got it now. Gaia had put him through all of that to shake loose his fears—to make him face his doubts head-on so he could move forward without them weighing him down.

“…Thanks, Gaia,” he said simply.

"Well, of course you're thankful!" She puffed up again, hands on her hips. "I am the greatest Gaia!"

But then her expression shifted, becoming serious again.

"Just remember, Shirou—this is still a game. And if you can't figure out where the board is... or who else is playing..." She looked directly into his eyes. "You’ll never win.”

"I get it now."

"So I don't need to spell out what the Lord of Salvation really is, do I?" Origin Gaia asked with a knowing smile.

Shirou shook his head. "No wonder future Tethys couldn't say its real name. That thing isn't the Root at all—it's a consciousness. Some selfish bastard who corrupted the Root for his own purposes." His voice hardened. "The Lord of Salvation isn't a natural disaster. It's a man-made calamity.”

"Well, you're not completely hopeless," Gaia said, looking pleased.

"So why drag me down here?" he gestured around them. "Don't tell me that thing is hiding in this ship."

"No." She shook her head. "I want you to destroy it."

He stared at her. "You're serious?"

She nodded. "I'm attached to this thing—it did create me, after all. But it's still Golden Universe tech. What if the Golden Emperor figures out how to transfer himself here? Better to cut off that possibility now."

"Right."

The two of them left the golden vessel. Shirou drew Caliburn, switched to the Record of Shiki, and with one clean slash, severed the death-line anchoring the ship. With a sharp crack, the massive golden craft crumbled into glittering dust and disappeared.

"Let’s go," Gaia said, already walking away.

No hesitation. No looking back.

But if she really didn't care, why had she kept it intact all this time? Shirou watched her retreating figure. This Gaia was sharp, decisive, wise. She'd make a good ally.

Too bad the real one was already gone.