Chapter 150: Irony of Fate

The Spirit Realm is a part of the world that housed higher-order lifeforms—more known as gods.

Due to their existence being of higher nature, they are rejected by the physical realm, and as such, they couldn't properly interfere within it. Be it in my world or this world, this fact remained the same. Only, the latter's protection against their interference are of a higher intensity, making it very difficult for humans to call out their power.

Of course, there are exceptions. Heroic Spirits are one of them. Since they carry power that isn't easily achievable after the end of the Age of Gods, they naturally retained their capabilities to summon forth gods' powers.

"Just like a sea breeze…"

The first thing that I noticed in this "mythical" Reverse Side is the concentration of prana… of magical energy.

It is countless times more potent than the ones present in the physical realm.

"The same with my world… but miracles are more tangible."

Perhaps, its biggest specialty lies in the "miracles" floating right before my eyes. Mysteries are being continuously distorted. Regular physics might not apply in this realm due to these distortions. Even so, I have a faint feeling that everything that I know in the physical realm might be overturned.

It is completely different from my world's spirit realm that is anchored on the physical realm's characteristics. Distortions like these appear now and then, but this world is far more drastic.

"Flowers..?"

My musings were interrupted by the sight that surrounded me. It is akin to an eternal paradise that will continue to exist despite numerous calamities.

A large floating "castle"... or rather, a mage's tower, existed in its center.

"We finally met properly."

A man's voice resounded from behind.

I calmly turned around and saw a white-haired man wearing a large white robe. His playfulness could be seen at first glance; the tip of his mouth smirking in excitement.

"It has been a while, Sir Merlin."

"You are as rigid as ever, Galahad."

He is none other than the wise man who served as my King's advisor, Merlin.

"Or it used to be… You changed a lot."

"Your humor remains the same, Sir Merlin."

"...and there's your usual jabs."

It must've been quite visible—my irritation, that is.

Back then, I used to be annoyed whenever I interacted with Sir Merlin. Despite my lack of expressions, he was the person who faced my unusual jokes the most.

There was something that irked me about it, whether it is his womanizing trait or something else.

"It seems like everything turned for the better. You finally became a human." He said with a joking tone.

No…

I know the reason why I was annoyed with him.

"Does Sir Merlin have something to do with me?"

"Hm..? No. This meeting is purely accidental. It's just that I remembered how you strayed into Avalon back then." Sir Merlin mused. "Everything happens for a reason."

Avalon…

That figure from back then was truly him. As for the reason to stray into the Spirit Realm back when I was a child…

I have some guesses.

"Oh well. Do greet Artoria for me. And yes…" He paused before adding, "Before I forget, here's the directions to Him. You wouldn't want to fight an entire pantheon just by trespassing, no?"

Suddenly, I was transported out of Avalon. I could've reacted and placed magicka defenses that prevented such a forceful ejection, but I stayed still.

"Being a human…"

Sir Merlin is a half-incubus and half-human. It is precisely for such a reason that he couldn't belong to either race. Maybe…

"I saw myself in him…" I muttered. "I wasn't that unfeeling back then, I see…"

Examining my surroundings, I found myself in a blank white space. The best description for it would be "seeing nothingness".

"Hm…"

In the midst of it, I saw a young girl. Her long blonde hair made her look like an angel in this place.

Of course, I knew she wasn't one.

"Oh? There's finally someone."

The moment our eyes met, I felt some incredulous feeling.

As expected, a young girl in this realm shouldn't be underestimated…

"This place was boring. I thought I'd see some interesting things." She said.

"For example?"

"...How do real angels look like?"

"Angels… Their surface appearance looks a lot like humans. Though, you shouldn't be surprised by how they truly look."

It seems that this young girl was expecting to see [Heaven] of sorts. It was purely a [Concept] back in my world, hence they appeared as 'projections' than the 'real thing' even in the Spirit Realm.

I could sense how strong she was, yet she didn't trigger my alarms.

What I am sure of, however, is that she had the same feeling as Lord Nettesheim—a being who reached the Akashic Records.

In the end, I decided to continue interacting with this young girl.

Our surroundings became more colorful as it became decorated with a field of flowers. The very same Avalon from before was replicated using my dreamland.

Surprisingly… or not, the young girl seemed a bit disinterested.

"Onii-san must've had a wish"

"...Yes. You also have yours too, no?"

"I don't really know." The girl answered. "I don't have anything worth wishing for."

I caught on the hidden meaning behind her words.

'Really… A kid as young as her accessing the Akashic Records… She might've gotten everything already.'

The Akashic Records is not just a key to transcendence. It is also the library which holds the truths of the world. Everything that you wish for, you could find how to accomplish it. There's even an instance when the Akashic Records itself manifests to assist Magisters.

As to how I knew everything?

The fifteenth iteration…

"You'll definitely find one someday."

Galahad was a person without any desires nor wishes. He lived to protect others, disregarding his personal satisfaction for the well-being of other people.

Still, he was able to find his own wishes in this life.

"I'm sure of it."

The young girl with ocean-like eyes looked at me silently. I saw a bit of astonishment within her eyes.

"Then… What is your biggest wish?"

My biggest wish…

"I want to save the world."

*****

A star with never-ending brilliance.

That was how the young girl perceived the knight-turned-magician beside her. His maturity remained the same during his days as a knight, yet his slight childishness during his time as a magician complemented it.

It resulted in a person whose great ideals cannot be easily overrun by challenges.

Unbeknownst to him, he already reached the status of a dazzling hero he had once longed.

'A world.'

'Its downfall.'

'The personification of the end.'

Nobu felt her gaze and looked at her inquisitively. He vaguely felt that the girl saw through his identity in one look.

'Someone who faced the end..!'

His greatest accomplishment sublimated by the fifteenth iteration was acknowledged by her. Even though she only saw one moment, it was his most dazzling act—something akin to his magnum opus.

However…

"If… If you die in the process of fulfilling your wish, wouldn't it be meaningless?"

"..!"

Nobu finally caught on what she'd seen. The final memories of his fifteenth memories that he could recall went through his mind again.

…

"There's still a chance."

"Nobu?"

"Merge the three fragments of the stone again. The Akashic Records should respond to our call and…"

"Wait, wait. Are you crazy?!"

Suimei immediately saw through Nobu's plans the moment he proposed the plan regarding the Philosopher's Stone fragments.

"The greatest Sacrament of the world… That'll require a hefty price, no?"

The strongest contemporary sorcerer, Satoru Gojo, tried to analyze the "domain" they were enclosed with. He saw through its "sure-hit" effect at one glance, which is to enclose all the people with malicious intent towards its holder.

In this case, its holder is none other than the root of everything—the personification of Twilight Syndrome itself.

Despite Satoru's power ups, he could already feel how 'scary' this domain was.

"There's a reason why nobody did it, Nobu. But I feel like…"

"I have a plan."

"...I knew it."

Suimei sighed in exasperation as he heard Nobu's iconic line within the past few months.

"I'll contain it. I used to have a container for miracles. I'm familiar enough to pull it off."

Before they could even react to his absurd plan, Nobu continued explaining:

"I'll use it to interact with the parallel worlds. I'll temporarily lead the holy grail in this place. Once I combine both of them…"

At this moment, the few remaining people in this "strange domain" all showed varying reactions.

Suimei and Suguru showed a serious expression while Satoru smiled wryly. This was the second time he felt a tinge of excitement, second only as to when he managed to counter Sukuna's [World-ending Slash] during their duel.

Only Tsukumo and Hydemary wore a contemplative look. The former has much knowledge regarding the magician's side while the latter has the Lapis ex Illis Stellis (Fragment of the Stars), the mythical stone that caused the phoenix to renew her youth.

Interestingly, every single legend about the Philosopher's Stone is closely tied to the Holy Grail. All three of the fragments were stated to be the "wine" within the Holy Grail that transformed into something miraculous.

"Shouldn't we break this domain first?" Suguru asked.

"Hm… With this level… It's completely inhuman. It's what we'd expect from the end." Satoru muttered. "Even if we all release our domains at the same time, it won't work."

"Akasaka… You'll be in big trouble. Is there any—?"

"No."

Having foreseen Reiji's concern, Nobu directly shot down his proposal.

"I'm confident I have the highest chances of pulling it off."

"Artemis-san will surely kill me…"

"She wouldn't." Nobu comforted the slightly depressed Suimei. "She's kind."

"Oh, you wouldn't know…"

"About what?"

"Uhh… Let's talk about it later."

…

'The end… I wasn't able to see it.'

Everything ended right as they were about to carry that plan. Nobu didn't have any memories after that.

'Did I succeed? Did I fail? Did this girl see something I couldn't?'

Despite that, he answered her question to the best he could.

"Why would it be meaningless? If my sacrifice is required to achieve the most ideal ending… I will still do it."

"Ah…"

The Twilight Syndrome ended an entire world. It meant that even if its denizen escapes into another world, they would be erased along the world.

To live and die with the world.

Such is the only ending shall they fail to defeat the looming end. To protect my loved ones, that protection has to be extended to the entire world.

"Alright. This—"

Suddenly, the young girl disappeared from her place. The Avalon formed by Nobu's dreamland collapsed.

What greeted Nobu is a large humanoid wielding a thunderbolt in his arms. A crown was placed on top of his head, showing his authority as Olympus' King of Gods.

Unfortunately, his current state as a Divine Spirit forbade him from showing his full strength. It was not only him, but all the gods killed by the White Titan could only re-emerge as Divine Spirits in the Reverse Side of the World.

"...I see. You didn't come here with kind intentions, I presume."

Nobu recalled the revelation he saw the moment he was about to enter this world. Him using the [Black Barrel] against gods happened right at this moment.

"Foreigner. Halt your actions at once."

Nobu didn't heed Zeus' words. Instead, he manifested his blade embedded with Lapis Judaicus.

"I agree. Let us stop this pretense at once." Nobu replied. "You came for the Holy Grail. Strapped with time, I believe you intend to finish everything all at once."

As he spoke, eleven other gods from the Olympian pantheon appeared.

"The holder of infinite possibilities. He made such a thing happen." Zeus declared to him. "The artifact from another world is enough. Give it to me."

"Hm..?"

Nobu became bewildered at his "request". He thought they came for the Holy Grail, not the Lapis Judaicus. On second thought, its function to draw infinite energy gathered since a world's conception is a tantalizing thing.

"Oh."

The next moment, Nobu realized why Zeus demanded such a thing. A wish to his Holy Grail was enough to clear his doubts.

"You're also a foreigner. Such an irony…"

Turns out, all of the Greek Gods in this world came from another world. They are all terminals of the so-called [Machine Gods].

At this moment, [Revelation] worked out once more. It granted Nobu several blurry memories in an instant. In all of them, the [Machine Gods] are present. These memories entailed the fights in a far away world; the so-called Lostbelts.

"Mash… She already fought you once…"

It was as if fate itself brought this outcome together. In the fifth Lostbelt, Mash fought and killed the [Machine God: Zeus] through her [Black Barrel Replica]. She fired off a [God Destroying Round] to completely destroy him.

Ironically, Nobu is Mash's heroic spirit (in a sense). He wielded the original Black Barrel that he temporarily restored through his dreamland.

Bam-!

Just as Nobu blasted a wave of [Ein Sof]'s attacks, he took out a weapon reminiscent of a Mossin-Nagant.

Once again, history repeats itself.