IBHJ 1087

For now, at least, this dark blessing had given Altera back her life, sparing those who loved her from grief.

Shirou and Altera greeted each other warmly. She bowed to Gaia, promising to serve faithfully as her Guardian.

Gaia beamed at having her own powerful Guardian at last. Shirou could only shake his head.

Altera lived, and she kept both her powers - the White Titan's ability to end the Age of Gods and the War God's Sword, Star of Tears, now enhanced with Velber's planet-destroying force. Gaia had just gained a formidable new ally.

When human order returned and Alaya awakened with her simulated personality, she'd be livid to see Gaia copying her gigs.

Still, given their situation, this was the best outcome they could hope for. The Throne of Heroes and the planet shared a common enemy in the Lord of Salvation.

The black tree, consumed by Velber's flames, crashed to the ground.

Everyone tensed as they felt an unfamiliar presence among the ruins.

"Wait..." Arcueid's eyes widened. "The AI survived?"

They all turned to see a badly burned humanoid figure crawling from the ruins.

"Is this the starship that tried to harvest Gaia?"

Ort's eyes turned cold as she stepped forward, but Altera raised her hand. "Let me handle this. We need a proper goodbye."

Ort looked to Gaia, who nodded, and stepped back.

Altera approached the burned figure. "Velber..."

The figure went still and lifted its head. Where eyes should have been, there was only scorched flesh.

"Altera." Though blind, it knew who stood before it.

"I destroyed the starship," Altera said.

"I know. Only you could have bypassed its security."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. The starship, my existence - we existed because of you. But why? Why turn against Umbral Star when it was all you had?"

"Our home planet - that distant world whose image we've lost - was as beautiful as this place. I'm sorry, but I fell in love with this world."

"Is that so?" It paused. "I'll never understand. I'll always be just a part of Umbral Star. Your mind is made up, and my mission is complete. But let me warn you one last time, Altera. This planet, this universe faces a threat beyond words. Stay here, and you'll know true despair. Only by returning to Umbral Star, completing our harvest mission, will you have a chance to live."

"Thank you for caring about me, even now. But I've chosen to stay with this world - the one I've come to love - until the end."

"Then I hope your world survives, and that you'll never be alone again. Thank you for everything. System Velber 02, shutting down—"

The voice changed mid-sentence. The charred figure convulsed. "Why—why did you kill me, soldier? Don't you know who I am? I am Archimedes of Syracuse! I had so much left to discover, so many answers to find. I'm a great scholar! I'm one of humanity's greatest minds... I don't want to die..."

The raised hand fell. The figure crumbled to sand and scattered in the wind.

With it vanished the hatred of ages past, the savagery from civilization's dawn, the grudges time had buried.

"Was he Archimedes, or was he Velber?" Arcueid's voice was quiet.

Shirou looked at the empty space where the figure had been. "It doesn't matter. He was a cornerstone of history, even if stained with blood."

Altera walked over to Ayaka and gently lifted her head onto her lap. She looked up at the others. "Please, don't tell Ayaka about what I did - about my destruction."

"But Altera," Heaven's Corpse frowned. "You're Gaia's Guardian now. Your contract—"

Gaia raised her hand, cutting her off. "It's fine."

"Gaia..." Heaven's Corpse stared at her in disbelief.

"My conflict with Alaya—with humans—won't disappear. But the divide between planet and humanity is still young. I won't lower my guard, but I can try trusting humans. Just this once." She turned to look at Shirou.

"Fujimaru Shirou!" Heaven's Corpse shot him a venomous look.

Shirou blinked, caught off guard by the intensity of her hostility. Why was she looking at him like he'd personally stolen her wife and kicked her dog for good measure?

"Thank you for understanding, Gaia-sama." Altera bowed her head.

But Shirou knew this wasn't just Gaia being kind - it was her simulated personality understanding human nature.

Curious, he asked, "Whose personality did you copy?"

"Someone who tells nothing but lies, yet is the most sincere person I know." Gaia smiled softly. "Though quite annoying."

"Is it me?" Shirou pointed to himself.

Gaia was about to nod, but he quickly waved his hands. "No, wait, that can't be right. I'm completely straightforward - honest inside and out." He placed a hand on his chest dramatically. "Plus, I'm Chaldea's favorite, Britain's heartthrob... no, the world's heartthrob. I couldn't possibly be annoying."

Gaia: "..."

She stared at him silently. This man clearly had no self-awareness.

A cough broke the moment. Ayaka stirred, her eyes fluttering open.

"Ayaka!"

"Altera..."

Ayaka wrapped her arms around her.

At last, it was over. Altera had broken free from her fate with Umbral Star. She could live as she chose, and Ayaka's heart swelled with joy for her.

"Oh—thank you for saving me from that mud in Velber, Altera. I would have died without you," Ayaka smiled, assuming Altera had saved her when the Lord of Salvation's mud appeared.

"That... wasn't me." Altera looked away.

"No? Was it you, Shirou?" Ayaka turned to him.

He shook his head. "No."

"Then who—"

"It was Manaka." His words fell like stones into still water. "When she saw you in danger, she abandoned our battle to save you."

"You're joking, right?" Ayaka forced a laugh. "She only wants me dead..."

"It was your sister," Altera said quietly.

"Not you too, Altera." Ayaka's smile wavered.

She thought they were joking and trying to lighten the mood, but their serious faces made her voice turn hard. "I don't have a sister. I have an enemy who destroyed everything I had! She's not my sister! And if she did save me, it's only because her black mud is still inside me - because I'm still useful..."

Her hands trembled as she spoke. Father, friends, Arthur, her home, her world... that monster who called herself "sister" had taken everything. How could she stay calm? How could she not hate?

"The real Manaka Sajyou would have rejoiced at your death," Gaia said. "But this Manaka was different."

"What do you mean?" Ayaka looked up.

Shirou turned to Gaia with a frown. "You know why she was different?"

"Yes. The Manaka you saw, like me, Ort, and Heaven's Corpse, was using a simulated personality."

Gaia looked at Ayaka. "And you, Ayaka Sajyou, were the one who created her."

In the original timeline, the Holy Grail War played out in Shinjuku as it had before. Fujimaru Shirou, pulled into the conflict through transmigration, summoned Archer Gilgamesh as his Servant. He crossed paths with Ayaka Sajyou and her Saber, and Misaya Reiroukan with her Lancer. The three formed an alliance as they faced their common enemy: Manaka Sajyou, who orchestrated everything from the shadows.

But Manaka was too powerful. After defeating both Saber and Gilgamesh, she completed the Holy Grail ritual. Shirou managed to kill her with some tricks, but it was too late. Manaka had already summoned the Beast of Revelation.

Desperate to stop the Beast, Shirou sacrificed everything to summon the Enlightened One. Yet this was only the beginning. To fight both the Beast of Revelation and the Lord of Salvation working through Manaka, Shirou found himself trapped in an endless cycle of resets.

"Before she fell, Manaka had already completed the Holy Grail. Misaya died from the curse, and Shirou became trapped in endless resets. You alone survived as the winner of the Holy Grail War."

"When the Enlightened One prepared to reset reality, you made your wish to the Grail: 'Let everything return to the beginning.' But the Grail wasn't truly omnipotent - it was just a vessel of the Third Magic. It couldn't reverse reality or challenge the Lord of Salvation and the Enlightened One. What it could do was create a personality. It created the perfect older sister you'd dreamed of as a child - this new Manaka Sajyou," Gaia said.

"That's why you survived being assimilated in the Fuyuki Invasion, why Zeus couldn't destroy you in Pandora's Box. This Manaka you created has been protecting you all along."

"That's... that's impossible..." Ayaka's voice shook.