Chapter 305: Disasters of the Heart are Multiplicative
"It's too monotonous here; let's change to a landscape with some style."
At this moment, Shirou and Merlin were within the mental world. Following Merlin's words, a portion of the vast white space was partitioned off for the entity that had been summoned.
Thus, Merlin opened up a vista of his most comfortable scenery: a boundless prairie covered in vibrant flowers, with a high tower topped by a slender spire standing at its center.
This was the place where the silver-haired man had lived for a thousand years.
"Avalon," Shirou remarked, looking around.
"Well, it's that kind of place. Though called a paradise far removed from the mortal world, it's really just an unchanging, ancient spot. The best part is the natural scenery, and the magical energy is so thick it practically smothers the oxygen. Other than that, there is nothing. A human probably couldn't last a single day here," Merlin said, spreading his hands.
"Don't say that. While I agree it's better to be with family and partners, for a magus, this is a sacred land beyond ideal," Shirou said, curiously observing the surrounding scenery.
"Family, eh... Speaking of which, it's been a while. You're living with the King now, right?" Merlin said with a smile.
"She's also inside this world right now," Shirou reminded him, wanting Merlin to find a solution quickly.
Merlin activated his Clairvoyance, taking in everything in this world. Seeing Artoria in the midst of battle, he grinned mischievously. "Ah, it's the pitch-black one. If the knights of the Round Table saw her, it would likely be quite amusing. Those stubborn fellows might start a fight over the slightest disagreement."
"Indeed, it's the black Alter. I don't know how you or the Round Table view her, but to me, no matter her state, Artoria is family," Shirou said seriously.
Hearing the boy's words, Merlin smiled with satisfaction, nodded, and continued.
"To me, the King is the same regardless of which side is showing. Whether she's the Eternal King mythologized in the legends of King Arthur, sleeping in the Garden of Avalon and destined to wake one day to save the world, or the King who entered the Throne of Heroes by her own will."
"Ultimately, any Artoria manifested through a Saint Graph is but one facet of the living King Arthur. Even that ideal monarch of her lifetime—there will always be those who cannot understand her."
The things that had to be faced in that era seem like a human tragedy by modern standards, but at the time, they were simply common sense.
Even if I told you these things, Shirou, you probably wouldn't be able to understand them.
In that era, humanity had not yet discovered the New World. There was no corn, no potatoes, no sweet potatoes, no hybrid rice. The land was so barren and desolate that even wild beasts migrated away.
The meager food grown from the parched earth was nowhere near enough for the island's people; every year, people starved to death. When disease struck, there were no cures, so people died of illness. In winter, there was no way to keep warm, so people froze to death.
This wasn't just during years of famine; these were events that happened every year, following the four seasons.
The environment of Britain back then was that harsh, necessitating cruel choices to abandon certain things. The living Artoria was a saint deeply yearned for by some, yet seen as untouchable.
But others felt she was too perfect and upright, making following her feel like an unbearable burden. At the very least, the feudal lords of that time found her eyesore; some likely viewed her as a tyrant or a faint-hearted ruler."
"So, Shirou! I express my deepest gratitude to you," Merlin said, placing one hand over his chest and giving the boy a gentleman's bow.
"No, no! I've never done anything that deserves a bow like that!" Shirou said in surprise, waving his hands at the suddenly formal Merlin.
"No, you didn't just resolve Artoria's inner conflict and help her avoid Alaya's deception. In fact, I have been saved by you as well," Merlin said, dropping his flippant smile and looking at the boy seriously.
"Eh?" Shirou looked at the silver-haired man in confusion. His impression of Merlin was the type who would smile lightheartedly even at the end of the world; he hadn't expected him to have such serious thoughts.
"I truly was saved by you... If not for that, I might never have allowed myself to leave the tower," Merlin said with a sigh, looking at the tower created in the mental world.
Merlin had stayed far from Camelot and the Battle of Camlann. He only used his Clairvoyance to watch the girl slay the knight who led the rebellion, and then stand alone, gazing at the wasteland covered in corpses and rivers of blood. Both sides were the subjects she wanted to protect, her compatriots she had toiled on the battlefield for, now all lying on the ground.
The country she had spent her life's blood to protect, and the city of Camelot built with the Knights of the Round Table, were destroyed in an instant. The girl cried for the first time, letting out a wail more desperate and sorrowful than anyone else's.
The girl who loved Britain more than anyone did not hate anyone even at that moment; she only felt a deep despair toward her own powerlessness.
Because she wasn't a "qualified" King, knights chose to leave, and a knight betrayed her; thus, Britain could not escape its fate of ruin.
If the one who became King hadn't been her, but a stronger and wiser King, would there have been a better solution?
Something that could grant such a wish had appeared: the Great Holy Grail, which Galahad of the Round Table had obtained and taken from this world.
The King Arthur who had no desires or needs craved the Holy Grail for the first time at that moment.
At that very instant, the Counter Force appeared...
As the collective unconscious of humanity, the Counter Force has its limits. For humans without power, it grants power as a price; for humans yearning for salvation, it saves them and then forms a contract.
But for an individual like King Arthur, who was already extremely powerful while alive, the desired wish is often even greater. What the girl wanted to do was not save thousands of living people, but to change the past and rewrite history. Even the Counter Force could only use a roundabout way to settle a contract with her.
However, Merlin knew that the Counter Force—for non-humans and even individual humans—is essentially a liar with no bottom line and no scruples in order to protect humanity as a whole.
The Counter Force said to the girl: "I will help you obtain the Holy Grail, but as the price, from the moment you receive it, you shall become a Counter Guardian."
Artoria agreed without hesitation. The Counter Force fixed the final moment of her life in place; she would cross timelines, retaining her physical body and memories, continuously participating in one Holy Grail War after another.
The moment she won a Holy Grail War and obtained the Grail, she would die and become a Counter Guardian, performing cleanup work without end until humanity's extinction, facing tragedies the world finds too horrific to look upon.
Merlin watched the girl sleeping in the woods from his tower. He saw her wake up and repent, continuously repenting, his heart feeling an emotion of guilt he thought he never possessed.
Until that moment, he saw a different vision. Suddenly, from a certain point in time, the girl's fate of becoming a Counter Guardian was averted.
Though he didn't know exactly what happened, someone had changed the girl's mind. She actively gave up the Holy Grail, and thus the contract with Alaya no longer held.
Merlin watched in surprise as a small bird flew onto a branch of the tree the girl leaned against. He saw the girl wake up, and Bedivere cast the Holy Sword back into the lake.
The Merlin of the 5th century did not yet know what exactly happened at some location in the future or past.
The only certainty was that the stubborn girl, who never wanted to admit defeat, finally accepted her fate.
The connection between her and the Counter Force vanished. It seemed she had used her own strength to obtain the Grail and then gave it up by her own will, thus nullifying the contract.
Merlin was also redeemed by this. At the very least, the girl he had raised lived her life as a King and finally met her end as a human. This was the first time the girl made a choice of her own will—not for her citizens, but for herself—and it wasn't bad.
Because of this, Merlin once again felt hope for this world and for humanity. He released Fou, whom he had intended to seal by his side forever, out the window, letting it witness everything about humanity for itself.
He let it make its own judgment and choice: would it see the beautiful side of humanity, find its own happiness, and protect that human? Or would it become completely disillusioned and disgusted with humanity, eventually becoming a Beast of Calamity that destroys the world...
It wasn't until a thousand years later that Merlin saw the encounter between the girl and that boy, and the events of the Fifth Holy Grail War.
The boy endured all sorts of hardships. Merlin decided to help him achieve this miracle, no matter how much time it took; he was the one most qualified to be by the King's side.
No, perhaps it should be said he hoped he could stay with the King forever.
If it were him, he could bring happiness to the King. By his side, the Eternal King sleeping in Avalon would be just a lovable girl. An Artoria who wasn't a King could find happiness.
The boy in that world loved the girl deeply. He promised the girl they would meet again, and he spent his entire life fulfilling that promise.
Avalon—the utopia isolated from the world, transcending time and independent of space. For a human to reach this place might be even more difficult than achieving True Magic.
Then, finally, one day, a crack opened in Avalon, connecting to the ruins of time. Having endured who knows how much and walked for who knows how long—as if leaving the world behind—the boy finally reached the end of the world.
On the green prairie, the blonde girl awakened from her slumber. Wearing a plain white dress, the wind blowing her long golden hair, she welcomed that boy.
But the boy who achieved such a miracle suddenly disappeared one day.
After that, Merlin, through his Mystic Eyes of Clairvoyance, saw the process of that boy becoming a god.
Even if he had lived for over a thousand years, it remained so: as an incubus, he could only act according to his nature. You can't ask a lion to eat grass or a zebra to eat meat, right?
Though he felt sorry for Shirou—forcing this "good guy" boy to help him clean up these messes—he truly didn't do it on purpose. One can only say that human women are always like this, or perhaps women in general? Even though he wanted to leave, things became entangled like this.
And fifteen hundred years ago, he was even worse at handling this.
"So, I'm sorry~! Shirou! Next time, I'll definitely introduce you to a good girl who won't get angry or go berserk!" In the mental world, the handsome man with long silver hair clasped his hands together and spoke with a flippant smile.
"Forget it... as long as you help us get back outside this time, we'll call it even." Shirou sighed helplessly, no longer having the energy to complain. He truly couldn't understand why, in Western movies and novels, the characters based on him like Gandalf or Dumbledore were wise and brave old men with white beards, while the man himself had this kind of personality.
"Sorry, can't do that~!" Merlin gave a brilliant smile, shattering the boy's naive thoughts.
"Eh? Why? You're a top-tier magus, aren't you?" Shirou asked.
"The witch behind this small world is likely after me. It's probably because she discovered I slipped out of the tower. Right now, everyone is locked inside this small world. I was summoned by you, and now I can't go back either. After all, she was once my disciple, so everything I know, she knows perfectly. Even after fifteen hundred years, she still hasn't let go of her anger. A woman's obsession is truly terrifying, hahaha." Merlin spread his hands and laughed loudly.
"It really is your fault!" Shirou yelled at the silver-haired man, nearly breaking down. "Anyway, find a way to solve this quickly! Explain what needs explaining, apologize where apologies are due! If there's a punishment, you take it!"
"I know, I know. But because I'm still alive and not a Heroic Spirit, I can only come here through Pseudo-Summoning. Even with a Holy Grail, I can't gain a new life like Artoria, so I still have to rely on your body, Shirou, to move around," Merlin explained with a friendly smile.
Shirou dazed for a moment, then covered his face in pain. "I know. No time for dawdling! Tell me! What do we do?"
Merlin clapped his hands and began to consider seriously. "Well, since it's a small world created by a witch, it's essentially like a magus's workshop. Confronting her head-on here would be very risky."
This was a small world created by a legendary witch famous since the time of King Arthur. She was an existence on the same level as Merlin. In the legends passed down, there are even cases where the witch is regarded as a spirit or a goddess.
In an era so ancient that gods still walked the earth, the lineage of witches had already begun, and in a way, they could be considered a new species.
A child born to a witch is inevitably a witch. They generally inherit a unique system of magecraft. In ancient times, this magecraft might have even been called True Magic. It's just that in modern times, the continuous development of technology has meant this special system is no longer unique, though it remains incredibly powerful.
Though they look human, they are destined to be inhabitants of the Moonlit World from birth. Their aptitude for magecraft exceeds the scope of human genius. Their entire bodies are transplanted with a staggering number of Magic Circuits—their skeletons, even their internal organs, are fully lined with them.
"Yeah, the girls were swept in too. If they're used as hostages, it'll be bad. If a direct confrontation won't work, surely you have another way?" Shirou asked Merlin nervously. Just thinking that the opponent was an insidious and crafty witch while the girls were all trapped with him made him shudder.
Take Caster from the Fifth Holy Grail War, for example. Her father was the son of the sun god, King Aeëtes, possessing the bloodline of the sun god. Aeëtes was also a hero whose strength in all of Greece was second only to the great hero Heracles. The heroes on the Argo, led by Jason, could only choose to flee and seek protection when pursued by him.
She herself was a disciple of the goddess of magecraft, Hecate—a top-ranking magus who could activate Great Magecraft in an instant, manufacture various magical items, and grant martial artists the reinforcement ability to fight Servants.
She entered Ryudou Temple, which possessed a spiritual pulse, and utilized its characteristics to build a fortress that even Heroic Spirits could only enter through the front gate, summoning Sasaki Kojirou to guard the entrance.
In truth, the strength she displayed was greatly weakened by the constraints of her Class and the rules of the Holy Grail War; she was much weaker than she had been in life. She also couldn't summon the dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece.
While she wasn't suited for head-on physical combat, her curses, charms, and unpredictable magecraft were endless. Shirou had suffered greatly back then. If given enough time to prepare and plot, no matter how many Masters there were, it might not be enough for her to kill.
In a Holy Grail War, once a Caster's trump cards are exhausted, they are easily dealt with. This is because of Class limitations; her physical abilities were almost the same as an ordinary person's.
But a living witch is a different story. In fact, very tenacious witches do exist—beings who can survive through sheer willpower even if their heart is crushed.
Aside from Medea, the Witch of Betrayal, Shirou had seen another "Coal Witch" at the Clock Tower. She was a Lord of the Botany Department. Unlike the ostracized Professor Waver, she was said to be a super idol with hundreds of millions of fans, holding concerts worldwide.
It was said she had once assisted the famous Dr. Henry Jekyll in completing the elixir that could manifest an opposite personality.
'Thinking about it, she seems to have lived for several hundred years. A several-hundred-year-old super idol?' The image of that twin-tailed, girl-like Lord flashed through Shirou's mind.
The boy shook his head violently—now was not the time for that!
The problem now was that the enemy he and his partners faced might be a Medea-level threat with the tenacity of Cu Chulainn. It was too terrifying...
Shirou patted his cheeks and looked at Merlin. "So, what exactly should we do now?"
"A direct confrontation isn't feasible, so..."
His long silver hair fluttering, Merlin raised one hand high and pointed sharply at the boy, declaring loudly:
"Shirou! Go and 'conquer' them!"
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