IBHJ 1194

"Indeed. His Majesty was a guest in Avalon then. He saw my desperation, my refusal to accept things as they were, and granted me his mercy." Dr. Heartless nodded, making no attempt to deny it.

Shirou felt his heart sink. The Emperor had been in Avalon. Right here in Pan-Human History's Avalon!

Abigail had said the Emperor discovered Pan-Human History through the Council's Black Grail, but Bedivere had already proven that wrong. The Emperor had prepared invasion weapons and Imperial Armor long before the Council, before Sixth Seat opened the door to the Eternal Empire.

It seemed the Emperor had known about the connection points and Pan-Human History from the beginning. As a Holy Spirit, invading parallel worlds would have been simple for the Emperor - even Surtr, the King of Giants, had found ways to cross between worlds. But to think the Emperor had been a guest in Pan-Human History's Avalon back in 2003.

This was beyond anything he could have imagined!

"And why come to Avalon then?" he asked.

"Well, he came looking for the coffin Vivian had hidden," Nerissa said. "Actually, I think it was the same one you used to fake your death."

"What?" The memory suddenly hit him, that staged death scene he'd orchestrated to escape during the Eternal Kingdom era.

But wait...

The Emperor had come to Pan-Human History to dig up his coffin?

What in the world?

Shirou was completely bewildered.

"I understand going to Avalon, but why dig up my grave?" he was baffled.

Back in the Eternal Kingdom era, he'd arranged for the coffin from his staged death to sink into the sea. But in reality, the fairies had carried it to Avalon according to their agreement. After that, Vivian had kept his empty tomb.

It was just a cenotaph, so why would the Emperor want to dig it up?

Something wasn't adding up.

"Nobody knows," Tiamat shrugged. "But when he found no body inside, he looked pretty disappointed."

Shirou's mouth twitched. What was this all about? Had the Emperor wanted to destroy his remains? They hadn't been on such bad terms back then, had they? Or maybe the Emperor had foreseen Shirou's opposition to the empire and came to Pan-Human History to eliminate him before it could happen?

"But he did take your Crown that Vivian was guarding inside."

Irritation flickered across Shirou’s face. "And why did he want my Crown?"

"I don't know," Tiamat shook her head, then gestured toward Dr. Heartless. "After that, he showed up."

Shirou turned to face him. Dr. Heartless responded with a smile. "Indeed. I was lucky enough to meet his Majesty in Avalon when I was attacked by some villains. Thanks to him, I survived."

Adashino Kurou, who would later become Dr. Heartless, grew up near the Mining City of the Spiritual Tomb Albion. After his father's term ended, they left the Spiritual Tomb behind for good. As he got older, Kurou formed a team with four others and began working as excavators.

Years of exposure to the Spiritual Tomb changed his eyes, granting him the power to see unstable rifts leading to the outside world. In 1993, during the Fourth Holy Grail War, he got caught up in Clock Tower politics. One of his teammates betrayed him, leading him into the Spiritual Tomb to kill him and dumping his body in a pit.

As he lay dying in that pit, a fairy from another world appeared before him. Taking pity, the fairy saved his life.

When Kurou finally made it back to the surface, he discovered he'd been thrown thirty years into the past.

Over those thirty years, he worked his way up to become head of Modern Magecraft Theory. People started whispering that the fairies had stolen his heart, and the name stuck. This was why people began to call him Dr. Heartless.

Thirty years passed, and Kurou, now Dr. Heartless, watched his own betrayal play out again. His hatred for the current magecraft system grew until he finally resigned as department head, determined to tear down the modern magecraft world.

What he needed was supreme power.

So when the Emperor came to Avalon, Dr. Heartless pledged his loyalty. The Emperor seemed less interested in conquering this world and more focused on following Eternal King's trail.

Although he didn't understand the Emperor's obsession with Eternal King, Dr. Heartless decided to help by gathering information about him.

After the Fourth Holy Grail War, Dr. Heartless chose his target carefully. He joined forces with Marisbury and orchestrated a string of murders targeting Mystic Eye users. Through these acts, he collected various Mystic Eyes and uncovered the truth about the Holy Grail War and the location of the Night of Wallachia and Forest of Einnashe.

Finally in 2002, Dr. Heartless found a lead on Eternal King when Fujimaru Shirou returned from the past. Known as the Savior of Light, Shirou had emerged as the victor of the Fourth Holy Grail War.

During this time, the Night of Wallachia saw the Emperor's true form and convinced himself in his madness that the Emperor was the Sixth Law. He stole the Seven Superweapons from the Atlas Institute, hoping to imprison the Emperor and create a synthetic Sixth Law through forbidden alchemy. But the Emperor's gentle, merciful light washed away the final traces of his madness.

So in 2003, when Fujimaru Shirou came to visit Zelretch and Waver invited him to the Castle of Separation Adra, Dr. Heartless saw his chance. He disguised himself as the Night of Wallachia to get close to Shirou, determined to uncover the truth about Eternal King.

When Shirou exposed his true identity, Dr. Heartless escaped using the power the Emperor had given him. He rushed back to Avalon and told the Emperor what he'd discovered - that Shirou was the legendary King he'd been searching for all along.

Dr. Heartless could still remember the Emperor's reaction. The sacred light that surrounded him, already brighter than the sun, grew even more radiant with joy.

"But meeting him like this could lead to conflicts and misunderstandings. We come from such different worlds," the Emperor had said. "It would be tragic if we clashed because of our differences. First, I need to understand how people in this world think and live. Dr. Heartless, would you help me learn this world's customs?"

Dr. Heartless accepted. Not only had the Emperor given him a second chance at life, but he saw an opportunity to use the Emperor to destroy the modern magecraft world. Still, he wasn't putting all his eggs in one basket. He had another plan in motion and it was to bring back the Age of Gods Magecraft!

After Fujimaru Shirou left England with Gray and Miyu, Dr. Heartless stole Waver's Iskandar cape and left behind an invitation to the Rail Zeppelin. Then he snuck aboard the train disguised as Waver's student, Caules.

But things didn't go as planned. The Mystic Eye Collection Train was also carrying some unexpected passengers. Among them were the retired first Lord El-Melloi, Kayneth and his wife, along with Marisbury and his daughter. Even their puppet, Grand Caster Solomon, was there.

Worse still, Waver saw his disguise right away, and Marisbury wanted him dead to keep their secret dealings hidden.

Lucky for him, he'd brought the Emperor along on the Rail Zeppelin, disguised as a regular human. The Emperor made quick work of Grand Caster Solomon before they slipped away together.

With both the Mystic Eyes and Iskandar's cape in hand, Dr. Heartless set off for the ancient heart of the Spiritual Tomb Albion. He planned to enact the first step of his plan there, but before he could, something world-shattering happened.

The invasion of Fuyuki!

The invasion triggered a worldwide revival of Age of Gods elements. Just like that, Dr. Heartless achieved his goal without even needing to do anything.