IBHJ Chapter 943

"Of course, because Tethys is also a survivor of that cosmic war era," Venus clarified.

"Please, let's not joke about things like that. Lady Tethys is a fairy." Artoria frowned, finally experiencing the same cognitive dissonance Illya had.

British culture and Irish culture share many similarities, but when it comes to fairy tales, Britain's are richer than any other region in the world. It truly deserves its reputation as the land of fairies. In ancient Britain, the Primordial Fairy Tethys held a status similar to Ishtar in the Middle East. Of course, with the passage of time and a human-centric worldview, modern Britain is more famous for the legend of King Arthur, in both its Eternal King and King of Knights versions.

"Tethys is indeed a fairy, at least for now. But why do you think fairies, more than humans or even gods, have the ability to enter and exit the Root? Why are they capable of creating Heroic Spirits Records, and why are fairies immortal, yet unable to survive in environments without True Ether?" Venus asked.

"That's..." she was at a loss for words.

Venus glanced at Tiamat, "But if we want to talk about this, we have to start from her children."

Tiamat sighed, "Those children... they inherited fragments of my technology, but they didn't form a coherent system. Even so, they defeated me, splitting my body and creating the concepts of 'Heaven' and 'Earth'. This gave them control over the planet's environmental changes, allowing nature to regulate the planet, and thus granting them power over the life and death of all things. To further their power and strengthen their hold over humanity, they bestowed magical energy upon the priests who worshipped them."

"That's why Gaia has always been wary of those children. Though they could be considered extensions of her - the continuation of her civilization - they lacked the rationality of her civilization. They possessed the power of gods, but not the heart of gods. They were gods, divine beings, but not true gods. However, after the White Titan ravaged the Age of Gods, Gaia had no choice but to turn to the humans created by those children, ushering in the Age of Man. This decision led to significant changes in the planet's environment."

"Yet, you humans, in some ways, exploit and utilize the Earth even more excessively than the gods. Gaia foresaw that when humanity advanced to the point of interstellar civilization, she would inevitably be destroyed by them. So, before that catastrophe arrived, she reached out to her other siblings."

Venus laughed beside them. "We all answered the call, but Mercury was especially devoted to Gaia. He came directly after she reached out and has been sleeping in South America ever since. Crimson Moon also responded to Gaia's call. She truly believed in him, but perhaps she never anticipated that he had his eyes on Earth from the very beginning."

"Because of the Sword of the Planet, he had to hide. He tried to destroy the Sword first, then deal with Gaia. But in the end, he was defeated by you," Venus said with a smile.

Artoria looked down at the Sword of Promised Victory in her hand. Shirou had given it to her earlier from his Inventory, and she hadn't returned it yet. Of course, this sword originally belonged to her.

"What about you then?" Shirou looked at Venus. "Mercury stands with Gaia, Crimson Moon wants Gaia, so what about you?"

"Me?" Venus pointed at herself and smiled. "I also have my sights set on Gaia. I said, although Venus is very similar to Earth, it wants to replace Earth, to take everything from Earth as its surface sister. Of course, I also have my sights on Gaia, but before that, I decided to repay Gaia's favor first."

Venus looked up at the ceiling. "In the end, the only ones Gaia could truly trust were Mercury and Tethys' fairies. However, the fairies are a next-generation civilization created by Tethys based on herself. Though perfect, they can't adapt to environments without True Ether, and they don't have the drive for struggle and development. That's why humans became the spiritual leaders of this planet."

"And Tethys had to protect the Invisible Vortex, so she couldn't manifest in this world. But now that the Invisible Vortex is in your soul, it means Tethys has probably been harmed."

"Harmed? You mean someone was trying to kill Lady Tethys?" Artoria looked at her in shock.

"Isn't that obvious? How could the sealed Lord of Salvation remain so obedient without taking action? Haven't you encountered the Council? That's its minion, and their purpose is probably to free and manifest the Lord of Salvation," Venus said.

Shirou recalled Surtr's dying words, and he wasn't wrong. The Council's purpose was indeed the ancient civilization. However, it wasn't the civilization itself, but the vortex that annihilated it - the Lord of Salvation!

He frowned, "Fairies are survivors of an ancient civilization, immortal and capable of creating Heroic Spirits' records... In other words, the true nature of the Throne of Heroes is..."

"Hmm, not bad." Venus looked at him and said, "The Throne of Heroes, like the Rune of Wisdom and Tiamat, is a relic from ancient civilization."

"So it really is like that..." he muttered. Although he had a vague sense of it, the truth was still somewhat difficult to accept.

"How can this be... The Throne of Heroes is a relic from an ancient civilization, then what exactly are Heroic Spirits? What are we?" Mordred shouted, also unable to accept this. Because among those present, only she was a true Heroic Spirit with her original form remaining in the Throne of Heroes!

"What exactly are Heroic Spirits? That I don't know. I only know that space travel is impossible with a human body," Venus said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Mordred frowned.

"You mean our lifespan and bodies can't keep up, right?" Shirou said.

"Correct," Venus nodded. "The time required for interstellar travel, as well as the enormous potential energy generated by acceleration, are not something your weak bodies can withstand. Even those beings worshipped as gods by humans are too small for the universe. Therefore, to wage cosmic wars against that interstellar empire and to develop space, abandoning the physical body is necessary, and becoming an immortal spiritual information body is essential."

"In other words," Venus's lips curled upwards, "the materialization of the soul."

"The Third Magic..."

Everyone was stunned.

"Tiamat mentioned it earlier, right? After the White Titan ravaged the Age of Gods, Gaia chose to let that era fade and allow humans to take center stage. But how could the gods, the dominant species at the time, willingly step down? That's where Tethys came in. She stood with Gaia and helped her do two things. First, she restarted Alaya system to ensure humanity's dominance. Second, she modified the Throne of Heroes to allow humanity to give birth to Heroic Spirits, ensuring humanity's survival. And since the Throne of Heroes was a modified relic, Gaia couldn't interfere with it, and Alaya could only use Heroic Spirits but not control the Throne itself. Of course, I think Tethys did this partly for Gaia's sake, and partly to prevent the Lord of Salvation from breaking free."

Venus continued, "This resulted in Earth having two major Counter Forces. What's even more terrifying is that when the Age of Gods disappeared and its magi left the stage of history, a group of modern magi emerged. Unlike the magi of the Age of Gods, they don't have great destructive power, but they are obsessed with the Root. They believe the Akashic Records are their ultimate goal and constantly research and challenge it. Even Gaia's beasts and Alaya's Heroic Spirits can't effectively deter them."

"This has caused cracks to appear in the once impenetrable seal, and the power of the Lord of Salvation has begun to manifest in reality, interfering with humans."

The Lord of Salvation... Shirou's thoughts drifted back to the Beast of Revelation in Shinjuku. Without a doubt, the Dark Vortex that summoned that Beast was a manifestation of the Lord of Salvation's power, the same power that destroyed the ancient civilization. And that power initially resided within Manaka Sajyou.

For some reason, he thought of the Enlightened One again. That transcendent being probably knew the truth about the Dark Vortex from the beginning but chose not to intervene.

No. Now that he understood the scale of the Lord of Salvation's existence, Enlightened One's stance seemed very ambiguous. Was it non-involvement out of principle, or a reluctance to participate in this high-stakes gamble?