IBHJ 1293

Now, after all these years, this secret that history had buried has emerged as the source of the world's chaos. At last, all the mysteries have come to light.

"No...there's still one more secret!"

"That Beast—who exactly is he?" Shirou stared at Ambrosius, demanding an answer.

This Fairy Lord, this ancient incubus, knew too many things, too many secrets, yet never revealed more than necessary. He needed to pursue every lead, follow every clue to its end.

Faced with this question, Ambrosius smiled and asked, "Do you know why the Holy Spirit chose to walk among humans, and why it placed the Holy Grail in Tír na nÓg?"

"Could it be—"

"That Beast is the Holy Grail," Ambrosius said.

Everyone was stunned!

"Wait! Hold on!" Mordred said in confusion. "But the Ideal King used the Holy Grail to become a false Holy Spirit!"

Ambrosius explained, "The Holy Spirit chose to become human and walk among us to let that Beast experience humanity's goodness. Unfortunately, the Beast only witnessed humanity's sins, which led the Holy Spirit's human form to acknowledge these sins and tempted Satan to fall. In the end, neither could convince the other, so the Holy Spirit made a bet with the Beast through Judas. But as you all have seen, the Holy Spirit was betrayed by Judas who had encountered Satan. And afterward, people began chasing after the phantom of the Beast."

"So when the Holy Spirit fulfilled its promise to leave this planet forever, to prevent Earth from becoming the Beast's hell, it separated the Beast into spirit and flesh. The flesh—the Holy Grail—was entrusted to someone to be brought to Tír na nÓg. And the spirit eventually entered John's dream, finally being recorded as the Revelation."

"But even though the Holy Spirit separated the Beast into spirit and flesh to keep Earth from becoming its hell, people still chased after the Beast for their own selfish reasons," Ambrosius continued. "They tried to use the Holy Grail to fulfill their wishes, and that's how the Holy Grail War began."

"So the real reason Sixth Seat was rushing to reach the connection point of the Eternal Empire was to get its own power back?" Shiki asked.

"That's right," Ambrosius nodded. "But the Ideal King was too powerful, and Sixth Seat was defeated instead. Still, with the Evil of the Root backing it, even the Ideal King can't completely destroy it."

"Is that why she wanted me to take out the Arrow of Akasha?" Shiki said quietly.

"Wait!" Tiamat and Gaia both turned to Shiki, their expressions shocked. "You're the one who took out the Arrow of Akasha?"

Shiki nodded. "That arrow was on the Hollow Shrine leading to the Root. I saw it when I woke up as a child. She asked me to retrieve that arrow as payment for sealing me, and I agreed."

"The Arrow of Akasha... so she was planning to use it to destroy the Beast?" Shirou raised an eyebrow. He realized now why the Incarnation had remained so calm when they mentioned the Beast destroying villagers.

She already knew that after Shirou absorbed the Arrow of Akasha, she had lost her only means of completely destroying that Beast!

"Sixth Seat is the Holy Grail," Ambrosius explained. "It has joined forces with the Evil of the Root to get revenge on the Holy Spirit. It wants to reclaim its power, but right now the Ideal King is too strong, so it can't make a move. But as soon as the Ideal King grows weaker, it will steal her power and fully resurrect. When that happens, you'll all be wiped out. Then it will use this planet as a stepping stone to bring forth the Lord of Salvation and finally take revenge on the Holy Spirit."

"Then why don't we just keep her from getting weaker?" Saber asked. "Wouldn't that solve everything?"

"If she doesn't weaken, if you stop attacking her... her synchronization will be completed," Ambrosius said. "You'll be overwritten by the new history, erased and replaced by your new selves."

Saber fell silent.

Damned if they did, damned if they didn't.

…

Imperial Palace.

The Incarnation sat alone on the imperial throne. The massive palace was dark and silent, without another soul present. A gentle breeze whispered through the empty halls.

The silence was almost unnerving.

"You're back! Come on—play with me, Brigid!"

Arcueid ran up to the throne, grabbed the Incarnation's hand, and tried to pull her outside. But she found she couldn't move the Incarnation's hand at all.

"What's wrong?" Arcueid looked at her with confusion. "Don't you want to play with me?"

"Go away," the Incarnation said. "I have no interest in playing with you."

But Arcueid didn't leave. Instead, she crouched down in front of the throne and looked directly into the Incarnation's eyes. "Brigid, did something happen that made you sad?"

"Sad? I'm the Counter Force. I don't have a heart. How could I feel sadness?"

"You're lying," Arcueid said, pointing at her face. "If you aren't sad, why are there tears in your eyes?"

The Incarnation touched the corner of her eye and felt moisture there. She stared at the wetness on her fingertips, completely stunned. Could she really cry?

"What happened? What made you so sad?" Arcueid asked gently.

But the Incarnation pushed her away.

Arcueid fell to the floor, looked up with anger in her eyes, and demanded, "What was that for?!"

"I don't have a heart, and I don't need your pity," the Incarnation said coldly. "Let's be clear about who's the prisoner here."

"You jerk! It wasn't pity! I was just worried about you!"

"Worried about me? Please. Just like the King of Knights, you're actually trying to weaken my resolve, aren't you? Well, it won't work. I'm the Counter Force. I don't have a heart—only duty," she said.

"Ugh! You're impossible! I thought we were friends, but you're so suspicious of everyone! Fine, stay by yourself in this dark, gloomy room! I'm done trying to help!" Arcueid stuck her tongue out and stormed away in frustration.

The Incarnation watched Arcueid leave. After sitting in silence for a moment, she stood up and made her way to the highest point of the imperial palace.

There was a special room there with nothing inside except a golden cup floating in the center. The cup was slowly disintegrating like sand, with only a small base remaining. The process continued steadily.

This was the Holy Grail. Its power had almost completely vanished. Above it, a beam of light shone down from somewhere beyond the galaxy, like a sacred pathway made of pure radiance.

A voice spoke continuously.

—Come, child. Your time grows short. This is where you truly belong.

The Incarnation knew the source of this voice. It came from the transcendent realm. Ever since she had taken the Emperor's power and become a false Holy Spirit, this light had appeared, constantly inviting her.

But even now—

"I'm sorry, but my answer is still no," she replied.

The same rejection as always. Yet the light remained, unmoving. It would stay there until the Holy Grail completely disappeared, waiting for her to make the right choice.