IBHJ 1356

If Gaia had called Arcueid, then she was definitely working on rebuilding the Cosmic Alaya.

"If Gaia can actually pull that off, it'll be huge for all of us—not just this solar system." Shirou's smile was small but genuine. He'd seen the Cosmic Alaya in action during the Origin Era. It wasn't technically a transcendent, but it might as well have been—like some kind of universal guardian deity. Unless you were dealing with something spawned from the Root itself, or that golden emperor that even Tethys was afraid of, or an actual transcendent, Cosmic Alaya could handle pretty much anything. If that thing had been their enemy... he knew the only option would have been the Akasha Arrow. That's how ridiculously powerful it was.

"Raaawwrrr!”

A massive black shape streaked across the sky—a dragon easily three hundred meters long, with dozens of fighter jets swarming after it like angry wasps. Missiles and bullets lit up the air as they tried to bring the thing down.

Shirou activated his Clairvoyance EX, his vision expanding across the entire planet. The Gate Vortex was fully active now, and every mutated creature on Earth had gone completely insane. Cities were burning. People were screaming. Military forces were fighting pitched battles in the streets.

Skyscrapers collapsed one after another, like watching the end of civilization in real time. The world was tearing itself apart, and there was nothing he could do about it. Every ounce of strength he had left needed to be saved for stopping the Grand Summoning and whatever the Lord of Salvation had planned.

"I wonder what Origin Gaia would think if she could see what her Earth turned into."

The thought made him sigh. He hadn't known her for very long, but he'd gotten a pretty good read on her personality.

She wasn't like Moon-chan with her childlike innocence, or Venus with her hot temper. Origin Gaia had been playful and easy to talk to, but underneath all that charm was something absolutely terrifying. She'd been ready to destroy the Golden Universe without blinking. She had the vision to unite her siblings under her rule. The patience to put up with Venus's constant attitude. The foresight to plan for her own defeat. The unshakeable confidence that her territory would last forever.

He still remembered their conversation when he'd asked her, "What if your attack on the Golden Universe fails? What if they come for revenge?"

She'd just smiled and said, "What good is a universe without a great Earth?"

There was no doubt about it. Origin Gaia had definitely been the most dangerous one of them all.

Her heart could hold entire galaxies. Her judgment shaped the fate of civilizations. When she acted, it was like thunder itself, and her understanding ran deeper than anyone could fathom. She had absolute confidence without a trace of arrogance.

Next to her, the old Crimson Moon looked like a toddler playing dress-up. Even Future Gaia would bow her head in Origin Gaia's presence.

Any human who had even a fraction of her qualities would become a legend—the kind of general who conquered continents, the emperor who built dynasties that lasted centuries. That's the caliber of being Origin Gaia was. If she could see Earth now, this broken, burning mess of a world... what kind of face would she make?

Probably hilarious. Shirou almost smiled at the thought, but then something hit him like a punch to the gut. His eyes went wide with horror.

"The Summoning Circle. Don't tell me it's—"

"Shirou?" Artoria noticed him muttering under his breath like he'd lost his mind. "What's wrong?"

He looked up at her with serious expression. "Artie, if the bacteria in your body went crazy and started killing you from the inside out, what would you do?"

She blinked, clearly confused.

"That's easy," Kiara jumped in. "You'd go to a doctor. Kill off the bad bacteria, then repopulate the with the good bacteria."

Cold sweat broke out across Shirou's forehead.

"Shirou, you're scaring me. What's happening?" Artoria's voice was tight with worry.

He stared up at the massive beams of light shooting from every corner of the planet into the swirling vortex above.

"I know what it's summoning." He spun around, eyes wild with panic. "I have to go. Right now. I have to get there before—"

A voice cut through his words like ice, speaking directly into all their minds:

--"Too late, Shirou. I've already seen everything."

"Who?!" Mordred's sword was in her hand before she'd even finished speaking.

The voice had cut straight through the Grail's defenses like they weren't even there—speaking directly into her mind. Mordred wasn't the only one affected. Kiara looked just as shaken. Even with the Demon King's blessing protecting her soul, something had still gotten through. That should have been impossible.

Then it hit them—a massive wave of information that felt like reality itself was crashing down on their heads. Every muscle in their bodies went stiff like stone.

"What... what the hell is this?" Mordred could barely get the words out through chattering teeth. Sweat poured down her face. "I can't move..."

She'd faced the Ideal King before—Brigid in all her terrifying glory—but nothing like this had ever happened.

The Star's Blessing inside Shirou suddenly blazed to life. Light poured out of him, gathering and shaping itself into a tall figure—a girl with silver hair and crimson eyes.

"Gaia?" Mordred's eyes went wide. This looked like Gaia, sure, but older. Like seeing a child's drawing come to life as an adult. "Wait, that's not right..."

Her expression sharpened as the overwhelming presence hit her. "No way regular Gaia could feel this terrifying. Who are you?"

"She is Gaia. Just not our Gaia." he sighed. "This is Origin Gaia. The Grand Summoning isn't what brought her here—she used the Star's Blessing that Future Gaia left in me to project herself to this era."

"Correct." Origin Gaia nodded, then looked up at the chaotic sky above them. She closed her eyes and reached out with her senses, scanning the entire planet in seconds. When she opened them again, her face was twisted with disgust.

"No flowers. No poetry. Just the mindless scrambling of bacteria across my skin. They've carved me up, poisoned me, turned me into a wasteland. The others fled long ago—only their broken weapons still cling to my surface. The outer domains are gone. Moon and Alaya abandoned me. And I..." Her voice cracked slightly. "I've been reduced to feeding off parasites from other worlds just to survive?"

She turned on Shirou, eyes blazing with betrayal and rage. "This isn't beautiful! This isn't noble! The future you showed me was nothing but lies! If that guiding light hadn't pulled me here, I'd still be wandering blind in the darkness. How delightful! The mighty Gaia, tricked by her own creation!"

Shirou's stomach dropped. He had painted that rosy picture for her, back when they first met. She'd been so excited about it, so hopeful. Now there was no way to spin this mess into something positive.

"Purge! I'll tear this whole rotten world down and start over!"

"Gaia, wait—!" he shouted, but Origin Gaia was beyond reasoning. She shot into the sky like a rocket, fury radiating from every inch of her being.

The air above them suddenly twisted. Something massive pressed down from above—the Counter Force itself was descending, like the weight of the world. Origin Gaia froze mid-flight, trapped in place by invisible chains. At the same time, the crushing pressure on everyone below lifted and they could breathe again.

"That's the Counter Force," Mordred said, surprise creeping into her voice.

"Alaya actually turned against Gaia?" Kiara stared up at the sky in disbelief. "Maybe that's good. Alaya might be able to keep her contained for—"

"No." Shirou's hands clenched into fists. "We might have been able to talk her down before. But now… Now we're screwed."

He was right. Alaya had sensed the apocalyptic threat Origin Gaia represented and deployed its ultimate correction protocol—trying to erase her completely. That was the last straw.

"Oh, I see how it is." Origin Gaia's voice carried across the sky, cold as the void between stars. "Even Alaya wants to delete me now. This is your idea of a bright future? There's nothing worth saving here!" Her eyes blazed as she glared up at the massive orb trying to contain her. "You think you can fix me just because I'm only projecting through the Star's Blessing? How naive!"

She raised her hand toward the Counter Force.

"Alaya! Correct your own damn heresy!"

The air around her warped. Then—boom. Power surged out of her like a dying star going supernova, blinding and unstoppable. A rainbow of energy erupted into the sky, crackling with raw force—

CRACK!

The massive orb didn’t just break. It shattered like glass under a sledgehammer, the shards dissolving into nothing before they even touched the earth.

Mordred stared, slack-jawed. “The Counter Force… just like that?”