IBHJ 1333

"Come to think of it, you were all created by Gaia, right?" Shirou asked, tilting his head. "So why doesn't she just make a new system of material organisms herself?"

Tethys placed a hand on her chin, eyes drifting upward in thought. "Hmm. Gaia said this is supposed to be a test for us. Since she handed the responsibility to me, I have to see it through properly."

Then she suddenly perked up, like remembering something fun. "Oh, right. Let me show you one of the systems I built earlier!"

Light shimmered in front of them, gradually forming the shape of a girl. She had a frame about the same size as Mordred's, her entire body glowing softly.

But Shirou's gaze wasn’t on the girl at all. What caught his attention was the biological system panel Tethys had summoned beside her.

They were indescribable creatures, nothing like any modern lifeform. Each one looked monstrous—towering bodies, grotesque clusters of mouthparts, and sheer size that felt more myth than biology. Even the smallest among them loomed at fifty meters tall. They were titans in every sense.

"Not bad," Shirou said.

"Not even close." The girl shook her head and flicked her wrist, summoning a glowing panel beside her. "Based on my timeline analysis, if I release them on Earth, the entire system goes extinct in just three hundred and seventeen years."

What she showed wasn't a simulation or prediction. It was a retrieved result—pulled straight from the timeline where she had already deployed them. And now, she was simply showing Shirou how that future had played out.

For anyone else, such a thing would’ve been unthinkable. But for her, it was nothing. After all, this wasn’t just a girl. This was Tethys. Or more precisely, a quantum projection she’d created to speak with Shirou directly.

He studied the data without saying a word. According to the records, the titan organisms never fought among themselves. They lived peacefully, matured, and eventually reached the end of their natural lifespan. Then, just like that, the system faded away. Gone in three hundred and seventeen years.

"It's strange. If you're from the future, then that should mean my material organism system eventually worked." Tethys sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly. "But I've already made three hundred seventy-two different biological systems, and not a single one has lasted over a thousand years."

She looked genuinely puzzled, her tone drifting toward disappointment. "What am I missing? Should I try adding an immortality setting? But Gaia said we’re not allowed to create immortal lifeforms..."

"Maybe the problem is that you're making them too peaceful," Shirou said suddenly.

Tethys blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Let them fight each other. Just give it a try and see what happens."

Her expression changed. "You really are a spy sent by the Golden Emperor!"

Shirou gave a tired shrug. "You asked for my opinion. Just run the test."

Still doubtful, she modified the titan organisms, giving them more aggressive traits and enabling internal conflict. Then she pulled the timeline result again.

Their survival time had increased—from three hundred seventeen years to one thousand three hundred.

"...That's weird," she murmured. "Why did they live longer after I made them fight?"

"Probably because of competition," Shirou said.

"Competition?" She tilted her head, clearly not understanding.

"In our era, it's common sense. Well, sort of." He scratched his cheek. "To put it simply, competition keeps them on their toes. Struggling to survive makes them stronger. And that drive to outlast each other is what gives a system life."

"Such barbaric behavior... Isn't that exactly what the Golden Emperor believes in?" Tethys muttered, brows furrowing. "Could it be... our descendants chose a different path from us after all?"

"I don’t think so," Shirou replied. "We haven’t even reached the interstellar age yet. Compared to you, we’re still far behind. And this Golden Emperor you keep mentioning—what exactly is he?"

Tethys gave him a strange look, then explained, "The Golden Emperor is a being from the Golden Universe. He believes in shaping universal order through destruction. Because of that, he calls himself the God of Universal Destruction. Weaker civilizations across the stars are terrified of him."

Shirou's expression shifted slightly. "Is that the same civilization that left the Mooncell observation system on the moon?"

"Eh?" Tethys tilted her head, surprised. "Didn’t you already know that?"

"Heaven's Corpse and Tiamat mentioned it. Gaia too, though the one from my future. But they didn’t tell me much."

"That's odd," Tethys said, frowning. "If Gaia told you about it, why didn’t she just explain everything?"

Shirou shook his head. “I don’t know. But from how she acted, it seemed as though she only knew bits and pieces. Besides, there seemed to be a taboo preventing her from explaining it to others.”

"Unable to express it? A break in the information transmission medium?" Tethys muttered, her brows knitting together. "Is that even possible? Could someone actually disrupt that? And Gaia only has fragmented knowledge? No... don't tell me... did the Star Tower collapse?"

"Star Tower? Was that the structure I saw earlier?" Shirou asked.

Tethys nodded. "Yes. That was built during our material era. It allowed Star Senses to converge, forming thoughts and storing memories, almost like how biological brains work. With it, planets gain intelligence. Souls, even."

Her tone grew serious. "If the Star Tower fails, Star Senses would scatter back into pure information streams. They’d stop thinking. They wouldn’t even know how to communicate. But something like that shouldn’t happen. This is the core star system. Even the Golden Emperor couldn’t reach it without tearing through the outer defenses first."

She paused, then turned to Shirou with a curious look. "By the way, little Shirou. What are Tiamat and Heaven’s Corpse?"

"One’s your starship," he said. "The other is the Ultimate One of Venus."

"Our starship?" Tethys looked genuinely confused. "That's odd. We stopped using those long ago. Traveling through the stars with thought alone is far safer than relying on machines. Starships should’ve been retired and dismantled ages ago."

She tapped her cheek thoughtfully. "And the UO... oh, I see. That must be Venus’s little garden, right?"

"But if you don’t have starships," Shirou said, frowning, "then how did you fight the Golden Emperor?"

"Fight him? Why would we do that?" Tethys blinked at him.

"Didn’t he attack you?"

"Well, during the material era, he used to cause trouble," she said with a small shrug. "We built all kinds of weapons and ships back then just to keep him in check. But once we transcended matter and became information lifeforms, he couldn’t push us around anymore. He signed a ceasefire. If he doesn’t attack us, then there’s no reason to go to war, right?"

"Well..."

Shirou's thoughts churned as he realized just how different this place was from everything Gaia, Tiamat, and Heaven’s Corpse had told him.

Nothing lined up. The flow of time, the beings he encountered, the state of the universe itself—it all felt off.

Could this be a false timeline? A fabricated world created by the Lord of Salvation to mislead him? That would explain the contradictions. But no, the people here… these existences felt too real. Their memories, reactions, even their confusion—it was too vivid to be fake.

More importantly, the timeline itself was different.

Which raised the question: where was the answer? The true way to eliminate the Lord of Salvation?

Could all of this have been part of the Lord’s scheme from the start?

No. Shirou clenched his fists. That didn’t make sense.

The Lord of Salvation needed him. He needed Shirou’s Vortex, the Arrow of Akasha, and the Beasts to force open the Gate of Truth. That gate wasn’t just a metaphor. It was the only path to bring the real him—the true Root of Evil—into reality.

And that meant something else.

The Origin Era wasn’t just a remnant of the past.

This place, this point in time, held the key to unlocking the Gate of Truth.

And hidden within it was also the answer.

The one and only way to completely erase the Lord of Salvation.