IBHJ 1138

"Greetings, friends across all worldlines. I am the Heavenly Emperor, ruler of a modest nation, and like you, I have suffered greatly from invaders and chaos brought by enemies from hostile worlds. I offer you my sincere and friendly greetings."

"Is that... the Emperor?" Guinevere stared up in wonder at the ethereal girl with white hair and red eyes floating in space.

Morgan stood with her arms crossed. "Indeed. The Emperor is broadcasting this message to every worldline."

"But how?" Ector's brow furrowed. "If His Majesty has connected with Pan-Human History, shouldn't the other territories have appeared by now?"

"Not necessarily. His Majesty is likely channeling the planet's power to project his will and voice across worldlines."

Ector narrowed his eyes.

"But why is the Emperor doing this?" Guinevere asked with a puzzled look.

"Shh," Morgan raised her hand. "His Majesty has his reasons. We should hear what he has to say."

Guinevere nodded quickly, pressing her small hands to her mouth.

Above them, the Emperor continued speaking through Gaia’s body: "Among our enemies from hostile worlds, two forces stand against us. First are the 'Council,' who seek to gather the seven Beasts and aim to destroy all worlds. Second is the hypocritical 'Chaldea,' who claim to save the world while meddling with and disrupting the natural course of various worldlines."

The Emperor's crimson eyes flashed. "These two groups are the true villains of the universe! Their selfish desires and narrow views lead them to interfere with even our internal affairs, causing countless victims. I have mostly destroyed them for now, but their remnants still hide in both my world and yours, plotting their schemes."

"In my defense against them, I've managed to destroy the headquarters of these two villains. I share this happy news with all of you, hoping to spread this joy, and more importantly, hoping we can work together to protect our worlds from invasion and destruction."

"Let me be clear: I am not an invader, but your friend. I will never meddle with other worlds' affairs. I ask that anyone who can travel between worlds follow this rule. Never interfere with other worlds, never invade them, never destroy their way of life. Those who respect this are friends; those who don't are enemies. I am eternal, and I will share this eternal law with my friends. Justice is eternal, peace endures, and life goes on."

"To the remnants of these two villains, I say this: your headquarters are gone, the long night is over, and justice's dawn has come. If you choose to surrender, I will welcome you as citizens, treating you like any other."

"If friends across the universe can hear my voice, I would consider it my greatest blessing. I want to be friends with all people, all beings. Whether Outer Gods, the Pure Lands, or even Wandering Stars... I am a Holy Spirit, and all who reject invasion are friends to me and to the Empire. May our enemies grow fewer and our friends grow many. The Empire welcomes all friends. May peace last forever!"

Hearing the Emperor's speech, Shirou's expression changed dramatically.

Until now, he'd stayed calm no matter what he heard about the Emperor's power, or how incredible the Apostles and Imperial Armor were supposed to be. But this declaration from the Emperor made it impossible for him to maintain his composure.

"How cruel..." Mordred's face went pale.

"What's cruel?" Xuanzang asked, looking confused. "This Emperor sounds like such a kind and friendly ruler."

"He just painted us as enemies of the world, and you're still praising him?" Mordred let out a heavy sigh. "Master Xuanzang, even as a monk, you should be able to see what's happening here. How did you ever make it to India?"

Xuanzang just looked lost.

Mordred stared up at the Emperor broadcasting his message to every world and sighed again. "He's killing us by destroying our reputation... what a ruthless person."

Maybe someone like Xuanzang, being a monk, couldn't see the scary truth behind it. But both Shirou and Mordred understood exactly how terrifying this move by the Emperor really was!

They had completely stolen the moral high ground, making their invasion of Pan-Human History look right and justified, while turning Shirou's group into public enemies.

This meant that not just them, but all Chaldea and Council members spread across different worlds would be hunted down by the local forces once word got out!

And worst of all, the Emperor had openly offered friendship!

Not just to the local forces in each world, but to Chaldea and the Council too, and even to powers beyond the universe!

The Emperor had already invaded Pan-Human History, trapped Gaia and the other planets outside the solar system, and held the Imperial Armor, Holy Grail, and Holy Spirit's power. They already had every advantage. Yet they still reached out in friendship to everyone!

This clever move not only made their invasion of Pan-Human History seem less harsh, but it also pushed many neutral parties to consider accepting their rule as legitimate.

Checkmate!

A total, perfect checkmate!

The Emperor had them cornered on every front: power, position, ideology, outside support... they were trapped!

Just by showing up, the Emperor had completely outmaneuvered Shirou and his allies!

"As expected of His Majesty the Emperor," Ambrosius said with an admiring sigh.

"Huh? What side are you on anyway?" Mordred shot her a glare.

"Well. I was on Pan-Human History's side before, since you can't just change it unless something like the Lord of Salvation comes along and destroys it... but now, I'm almost tempted to switch sides."

Mordred glared at her fiercely, and Merlin turned to look at her through narrowed eyes.

"Oh, stop with those looks, I'm just kidding. The Emperor's world has no Gaia, and we fairies stick with Gaia, so we're not going anywhere."

"That's more like it!" Mordred lowered her sword.

"You really can't take a joke." Ambrosius let out a sigh.

Shirou stared intensely at the Emperor in the sky. "Making announcements to other worlds while acting as Pan-Human History's sovereign... you're really something else."

He shook his head. "Now we're in serious trouble."

And he was right. This was serious trouble!

Unlike their small fights with the Council that only occurred in a single world at a time, this would affect every single worldline!

…

"What was that?"

"What's going on?"

"The Heavenly Emperor... can we trust them?"

"Chaldea and the Council? They're behind all the evil in every world?"

"These invaders... are they also in our world?"

"Those wars in our world... were they caused by these villains all along?"

"Search everywhere! Don't let them escape!"

"Find them! Kill them all!"

The Emperor's words had thrown every worldline into total chaos!

Since ancient times when Gaia's civilization first started manipulating worldlines, countless new ones had grown and sprouted from Pan-Human History's main timeline. Most were incomplete, like the Nordic connection point. Some were a bit more complete, like the South American connection point with its solar system. Others, like the Romanian point, reached as far as their galaxy.

Now, across all these connections points and worldlines, every local power was thrown into chaos.

Some saw it as a grand conspiracy. Others thought it was a gate to a new world. Some took it as a divine revelation...

But every single worldline now knew about Chaldea and the Council.

They were instantly labeled as invaders. Every worldline began searching for any sign of them.

But the Emperor's words caused even bigger waves than that!

In Pan-Human History's main universe, even the mighty cosmic powers who had been watching Earth from the Pure Land as a special planet started arguing among themselves.

"This Holy Spirit has made quite a statement. Will their empire join us in watching over and protecting the universe, like Gaia's civilization did at the beginning of time?" one Bodhisattva asked.

"We don't know," another Bodhisattva replied, shaking their head.

"Should we reach out to them now?" the first Bodhisattva asked.

"The Monster of Origin has taken over the future. Although we enlightened beings from all civilizations can see all things and move freely through time to the future, we can no longer see anything now. We don't know if this Emperor can change our destiny and stop the future where everything is destined to become one."

The Bodhisattva paused before going on. "That place is the civilization and planet that gave birth to Shakyamuni and helped him grow. Let Shakyamuni decide what happens there. We are managers, watchers, neutral observers. We just need to do our duties as Bodhisattvas, keep meditating, and stop evil from outside the universe from getting in. Surely that's also what the Holy Spirit wants."

"Very well," the first Bodhisattva nodded and went back to meditation.