IBHJ 1252

"What happened to the actual Arrow of Akasha?"

"I'm not sure. It disappeared the moment it struck me. But I did gain a new skill from it."

"A new skill?" Tiamat and Gaia both looked stunned.

Shirou nodded and showed his skill panel to them.

Next to the Mortal Series, a new A-level mortal skill had appeared. —[Savior of Mortal A: ???]

"Shirou... isn't that the same skill you obtained when Gilgamesh was hunting you?"

A voice spoke from behind him. He turned to see Scathach standing in the doorway, looking at his ability panel with surprise.

She had noticed his worried expression earlier on the battlefield and had become concerned. Thinking he might be hiding some danger from the Arrow of Akasha for the sake of everyone else, she had come to check on him and happened to see his ability panel.

"Not exactly," he replied. "The skills I gained from being hunted by Gil during the Fourth Holy Grail War were [Wisdom of Mortal] and [Heroic Mortal]. [Leader of Mortal] actually developed later, during my time in the Eternal Kingdom."

"Those kinds of skills are pretty problematic from a Caster's perspective," commented Merlin, who had followed right behind Scathach.

It wasn't just him standing outside the door. Gilgamesh, Mordred, Skadi, Kama, and Ritsuka were all there too. Their concerned expressions made it clear they were worried about whether the arrow had affected him.

Shirou sighed to himself. What he had hoped would be a private conversation had somehow turned into family gathering.

"I remember that Holy Grail War well," Gilgamesh said, thoughtfully stroking his chin. "But didn't you mention before that all these skills of yours came from a Personal Skill called [Mortal Awakening]?"

"Yes, all these skills come from the Noble Phantasm [Mortal Awakening], which is actually the vortex I received from Tethys," Shirou confirmed with a nod. "Manaka seems to know about it as well."

"So the answer is obvious then. This new skill must also come from that vortex of yours."

"No," Shirou said, shaking his head. "[Mortal Awakening] only creates new skills when I accomplish great deeds. I have to admit, I haven't been focused on achieving anything remarkable lately. My recent journeys have just involved minor conflicts—nothing that [Mortal Awakening] would consider noteworthy. That's why it's been a long time since I've developed any new Mortal skills."

"But considering what this skill actually means..." Skadi said thoughtfully. "Shirou, you are currently doing the work of a savior. Your current path is leading you to save the world. Shouldn't that qualify as the kind of significant deed that would be recognized by [Mortal Awakening]?"

"No," he replied. "I can't sense the vortex at all, and I'm convinced this skill comes from somewhere else."

"So where does it come from then?" several voices asked at once.

"The Arrow of Akasha," Shirou said gravely. "Look at my other skills—[Wisdom of Mortal] lets me enhance or reduce people's abilities through fame bonuses. [Heroic Mortal] gives me the ability to copy skills from others. [Leader of Mortal] allows me to pass those copied skills to other people..."

He paused, his expression troubled. "But with this new skill, [Savior of Mortal], I can't sense anything at all. It's like it isn't even there. Everything about it—how it appeared, what it does—it's completely different from my previous awakenings. That's why I need to ask: what exactly is the Arrow of Akasha?"

He turned his gaze directly toward Gaia and Tiamat. Everyone else followed his lead, looking expectantly at the two of them.

Gaia glanced at Tiamat first. Seeing her reluctance to speak, she sighed and turned back to him. "How much do you know about the Lord of Salvation?"

"I'm familiar with most of what's been shared about him."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "You don't know anything about him—and to be honest, neither do we."

After a heavy pause, she continued, "He goes by a different true name, but only Tethys knows what it is, and it's become forbidden knowledge. Even information itself can't properly transmit this true name. That's why Tethys couldn't tell you, and couldn't tell us either. We just call him the monster of the Root. As for how this monster came to exist? Based on what we've discovered, it all traces back to the Arrow of Akasha."

"When we were preparing to end the cosmic war, we took extensive measures," Gaia explained. "For dealing with the cosmic environment, they created the Cosmic Type-Alaya. For their physical forms, they transformed themselves into information life forms—an advanced version of Eternity that went beyond what the Eternal Empire ever achieved. And for power, they used what we now refer to as the Second Magic, combined with the Throne of Heroes technology. They created countless worlds only to burn them, harvesting unlimited energy from the process. Those Connection Points you see now are what's left from all that burning... But even with everything we did, we only managed to gain enough strength to barely hold our position. We still didn't have the ultimate weapon we needed to end the war."

Gilgamesh, Merlin, and the others listened with serious expressions. Mordred, however, who already knew about these past events, listened intently, her eyes gleaming with interest.

"This weapon—is it the Arrow of Akasha?" Shirou asked.

He understood the logic behind it; what truly brings victory and peace isn't just talk, but overwhelming force like nuclear weapons. The Arrow of Akasha was exactly that—the equivalent of a nuclear deterrent, a weapon of the cosmic war.

"That is..."

Before Gaia could finish her sentence, Tiamat spoke up. "That is the weapon we obtained by deceiving the Akashic Records. So it's hardly surprising that the Lord of Salvation would come seeking to destroy us."

"You deceived the Akashic Records?" Shirou frowned. "Does that mean... the Root has some kind of consciousness?"

"Whether the Root has consciousness or not—even we don't know for certain," Gaia replied. "The true nature of the Root cannot be fully understood. We can only make 'educated guesses' based on our own limited understanding. If you believe it has consciousness, then for you, it does. If you don't, then it doesn't."

Shirou nodded as he processed this information. It was essentially about different perspectives on the same concept. What magi called the Root, others might call by different names. Everyone was simply trying to perceive and understand something beyond complete comprehension.

And apparently, the ancient civilization, the planets, and the Ultimate Ones had chosen to interpret the Root as having consciousness.

"We believe that Akashic Records, as the first cause, created the universe and everything in it—not out of necessity or to be a creator—but simply to observe itself," Gaia explained.

"Observe itself?"

"Think of how humans need mirrors or other people's perspectives to truly see themselves," she continued. "We theorize that Akashic Records creates all things to use their collective perception as a way to understand its own existence. Based on this theory, we managed to deceive Akashic Records, convincing it to open its gate to us. That's how we used Akashic Records to create the Arrow of Akasha."

Tiamat nodded solemnly. "The Arrow of Akasha helped us win the war, but it also attracted the attention of the Lord of Salvation. In the end, we had to sacrifice our entire civilization to use the Arrow of Akasha to seal that gate, preventing the Lord of Salvation from escaping Akashic Records."

He asked, “So what's the connection between the arrow and the Vortex?"

"The Vortex is actually something created using a fragment of the Akashic Records. And this Vortex is also necessary for using the Arrow of Akasha. Without it, not even a true Holy Spirit or transcendent being would be able to wield the Arrow of Akasha."

Gaia paused, her expression growing puzzled. "That's why we find this so confusing. You are clearly the one who inherited the Vortex, so how did that insignificant Counter Force gain the ability to use the Arrow of Akasha? And then there's your new skill, [Savior of Mortal]..."

Shirou frowned, considering the possibilities. Could his Vortex have been stolen by the Incarnation somehow? But that didn't make sense either. When the Incarnation brought out the Arrow of Akasha, Shirou distinctly felt the Vortex fluctuate within his own body, not within the Incarnation.

"Could the Incarnation and the Lord of Salvation be working together?" he wondered aloud.

"That's impossible," Mordred said firmly, shaking her head. "That guy's only goal is to bring back the Eternal Kingdom. She doesn't even accept our existence, so how could she possibly tolerate the Lord of Salvation?"

Everyone nodded in agreement. Mordred was right. The Incarnation represented the collective will of the Eternal Kingdom. It would surely understand that working with the Lord of Salvation would only result in its own destruction. Even the Arrow of Akasha couldn't truly threaten the Lord of Salvation, since from a certain perspective, the Lord of Salvation was essentially the Root itself.

The mystery remained unsolved. It should have been a positive development that [Mortal Awakening], which had been dormant for so long, had finally activated again and granted him a new skill. But the connection to the Arrow of Akasha cast a shadow of uncertainty over what should have been good news. Most troubling was the fact that Shirou couldn't sense or understand what [Savior of Mortal] actually did.

"At least I've gained another skill," he thought, trying to reassure himself. "Maybe it will prove crucial somewhere down the line."