IBHJ 1243

Yet ironically, because of all the work Shirou and his generation put in to keep it alive, the Eternal Kingdom didn't completely disappear. Instead, this fragment that had been cut off from the Age of Men gave birth to something unexpected—a hazy, independent Counter Force with a will of its own.

That era was filled with Phantasmal Species and leftover elements from the Age of Gods, making it fundamentally incompatible with the human-dominated Age of Men. This incompatibility is exactly what caused this Counter Force to develop completely independently from the rest.

This explains why the Clock Tower's magical mysteries could continue existing in modern times, why the spiritual tomb underneath the Clock Tower could survive into our era, and even why fairies occasionally appear in today's world where True Ether has vanished.

It's because Britain still maintained that era's Counter Force—the one that belonged exclusively to the Eternal Kingdom. The protective mythical umbrella never fully disappeared.

This was a Counter Force that technically belonged to the Alaya System but stood completely apart from it—and that was the Emperor!

Normally, a Counter Force is just pure reason—an instinctive collective consciousness. It has no physical body and no individual thoughts—only instincts born from the collective thoughts and awareness of many beings.

But the Emperor—or rather, the Counter Force [Eternal Kingdom]—was something extraordinarily unique.

It was a Counter Force born in direct opposition to the will of the Age of Men, like cancer cells that refuse the DNA's command to die.

Though it existed, this Counter Force didn't have the same powers as Gaia, nor could it function normally like Alaya. It couldn't even run its own protective mechanisms—it was just this vague presence lingering in the world.

Initially, the Counter Force [Eternal Kingdom] was spread throughout the entire kingdom like some kind of quantum consciousness. But everything changed at the Eternal King's coronation. Shirou, wanting to make it clear that his royal authority stood above divine authority, specifically instructed the Pope to kneel before him when presenting the crown.

While this move successfully kept divine influences from growing too powerful within the kingdom, it also had an unexpected side effect, and as a result, the Counter Force became concentrated and manifested itself within the [Eternal Crown].

This is exactly why Eternal King's second Noble Phantasm—[The Time for Coronation Has Come, I Am the Eternal King]—had such an absolute suppressive effect.

It was even powerful enough to suppress and absorb the horrific abomination that had invaded Shirou's body in Fuyuki. This was possible because the crown represented both the Counter Force and the absolute authority of the King!

After all, the King IS the nation!

So when enemies eventually destroyed the Eternal Kingdom, even though the Counter Force desperately wanted to protect it, it had no actual way to operate or intervene. It could only watch helplessly as the Eternal Kingdom fell apart.

As Counter Forces go, it was without a doubt the most useless and ineffective one ever created.

In a last-ditch effort to save the Eternal Kingdom, Mordred led what was called the Hope alliance across the world searching for the Holy Grail. They eventually found what they were looking for—the Holy Grail of the Holy Spirit, which had been guarded by Ambrosius, the guardian of Tír na nÓg.

People prayed desperately to the Holy Grail, but it couldn't directly respond to their prayers. However, it did recognize Mordred's weakness, and through that recognition, a limited timeline where the Eternal Kingdom continued to exist was born.

And that alternative reality became known as the Eternal Empire—with the Emperor as its ruler!

But the Holy Grail didn't just respond to Mordred—it also answered all the people's prayers. This allowed the Counter Force [Eternal Kingdom] to break free from the typical Counter Force instincts and start developing its own consciousness. It used humanity's collective awareness as its foundation, just like Gaia and Alaya, but with one key difference—it transformed collective consciousness into individual consciousness.

As a result, the thoughts of every single person in the Eternal Kingdom—all their contradictions and agreements, their hopes and fears—became Its thoughts, forming Its logical core and decision-making center.

And that's how the Emperor came to be.

Before leaving, Xuanzang had said that no one was better suited to be an Emperor than It.

Now it all makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

Because It literally IS the Empire itself.

The final King of this forgotten era—the physical embodiment of the Empire—awakened in response to its subjects' prayers, despair, and hope!

Born from these powerful emotions, the Empire's incarnation naturally acted to ensure its people's survival. Its entire purpose was to rebel against everything that wanted the [Eternal Kingdom] to disappear—the planet itself, the Age of Men, the "correct" history, the [Origin] and everything!

Its goal was nothing less than to revive the long-extinct kingdom within this land, within this stream of history!

After It awakened, It discovered Its era had already completely vanished. With nowhere else to turn, It sought help from Vivian. It assumed Vivian would agree immediately, but surprisingly, she hesitated.

By this point, Vivian had already been partially assimilated by the Grail. Worried that her corrupted self might damage the world and disrupt the timeline that was already moving forward—and afraid she wouldn't be able to face Shirou who had already left—Vivian made a difficult choice. She sealed herself in Avalon and also locked away the [Eternal Crown] that contained the Counter Force.

Back then, the Empire's Incarnation wasn't nearly as powerful as it is now—it was barely more than a spiritual entity. It simply couldn't stand against Vivian's power and ended up being sealed within the Eternal King's cenotaph.

After all this, Morgan decided Vivian had completely lost her mind. She apologized to everyone involved, left behind a ritual for Artoria's revival in the small village where Gray's ancestors lived, and then made a deal with Altrouge to become a Dead Apostle so she could wander the world freely.

After many twists and turns in her journey, she eventually ran into Hinako in the Middle East, who was on the run from Daji at the time. Then in 2003, Morgan stumbled upon some massive secret that forced her to scatter her existence just to survive. This fragmentation is what led to the birth of her other versions, like Morrigan.

Meanwhile, the Empire's Incarnation remained sealed in the Eternal King's cenotaph. Far from calming down over time, its anger only grew worse as it endured constant torture day after day, year after year, from all the hatred and resentment contained in the public consciousness that made up its being.

What made things even worse was the statue of the Eternal King in Tintagel. The statue kept channeling people's feelings—their hopes, their longings, their regrets, and their hatred directly into Its consciousness. This went on relentlessly, year after year, day after day.

It was trapped in endless suffering and self-contradiction. But ironically, it was exactly this endless suffering that gradually made Its consciousness and purpose become clearer than ever before.

But the fact remained that It was still trapped in the Eternal King's cenotaph, seemingly unable to ever manifest in the world again. This was undoubtedly true.

After all, in modern times, what magus could possibly enter [Avalon]?

And even if some magus did manage to enter [Avalon], who could defeat the nine Fairy Queens led by Vivian and then dig up the Eternal King's grave?

Such a person simply didn't exist anymore.

The Empire's Incarnation was absolutely certain of this—until such a person actually appeared. That person was the Emperor from the Eternal Empire, who shared the same origin as It.

The Emperor was a Holy Spirit who had understood from the beginning the relationship between Pan-Human History and the Eternal Empire. She came to Pan-Human History searching for an answer to a question that no one seemed willing to address.

The answer itself was simple, but nobody would tell her. The true Holy Spirits completely avoided her, and even the Enlightened One and the others would cover their faces and walk away whenever they saw her approaching.

Eventually, she placed her hopes on finding the King who had created the Eternal Kingdom. But this was her fatal mistake. As soon as she arrived in Pan-Human History, she believed the rumor that "Eternal King was asleep in Avalon and will only awaken when Britain faces a life-or-death crisis." This led her to Avalon, where she dug up the Eternal King's grave and removed the [Eternal Crown].

That's when the Empire's Incarnation finally gained its freedom. The altered Vivian chased the Emperor for thousands of miles in rage for desecrating Eternal King's grave, but in the end, she was captured by the Emperor and taken to the Eternal Empire.

And it was at that critical moment that the Empire's Incarnation turned the tables and killed the Emperor while her guard was down.

They shared the same origin—both coming from the Holy Grail—but there was a crucial difference between them. The Emperor could see through everything yet remained innocent and naive. The Empire's Incarnation, on the other hand, had become increasingly cold and decisive after enduring more than 1,500 years of torture.

It managed to kill the Emperor, taking away her power of the Holy Grail and the Holy Spirit.

But that wasn't exactly right either. When the Incarnation gave it thought, it couldn't exactly be called taking. It was more like the Emperor had given these powers away.

The Empire's Incarnation remembers that night perfectly. If the Emperor—if that person—had truly wanted to resist, the outcome could have gone differently. But she didn't fight back at all. She just calmly accepted everything that was happening.

That unusually peaceful look in her eyes—almost like she was relieved—still haunts the Empire's Incarnation to this day. The image comes back whenever It closes Its eyes.

But that's all in the past now. Having absorbed the other half of the Holy Grail's power, the Empire's Incarnation has completely transformed into a Holy Spirit—a Holy Spirit with unlimited power—the Absolute Ruler!