49 - Supreme Future

Shirou watched as cargo was being moved into the stronghold. He stood nearby for whenever anybody needed directions.

He breathed out, watching a cold mist form. It was quite cold in Antarctica, but Shirou was able to stay warm. He used [Furnace] at the bare minimum, which gave him protection from the cold.

He heard someone approach him, causing him to turn around. An Awakened soldier was saluting him.

"The representatives of the government have arrived, Sir. Lady Morgan has asked for your presence."

Shirou nodded, and he was on his way. He traversed the corridors of the stronghold, before arriving before a group of people. He found Saint Madoc, Nephis, Morgan, Master Jet, and Sunny.

He also recognized Saint Cor, also known as Wake of Ruin. Shirou had learned about all of the prominent individuals, and Saint Cor was one of them. He was the only Saint that worked for the government.

Once he arrived, Shirou and Sunny stared blankly at each other, while everyone else was talking about the battle that was going to occur, and whether Valor wanted Sunny or Jet to become their emissary.

Sunny slowly shook his head, almost imperceptibly. It seemed that he didn't want to be stuck with them. Once Saint Cor asked Morgan who she would choose, she expectedly chose Sunny.

She probably thought that having Sunny was a better option than Jet, which was due to her knowledge of him having a Divine Aspect. In the current situation, the Song Clan would have to deal with three Divine Aspect users, which would put them at quite the disadvantage.

Right now, the only real threats to the three of them would be Saints. Either that, or if Mordret suddenly appeared.

Not like that would happen.

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Shirou and Sunny were in a secluded room, with Sunny making sure that nobody was listening in on them using his shadow sense.

"So, what's up with the whole… go to Antarctica to become a Hero of Justice without your best friend Shirou?"

Sunny's eye twitched.

"I just needed to get away… from a certain someone. Why don't you tell me about why you decided to join Valor, instead of using that plan you had thought up?"

Shirou scratched the back of his head, "Well, I just wanted power, and stuff."

Sunny deadpanned, "That's it?"

"The best way to get power is to become a Sovereign, I think."

Sunny sighed, "Anyways, did anyone tell you about my flaw yet?"

Shirou shook his head.

"Basically, it makes it so that I can't lie. Normally, it would've been pretty mild for a Divine Aspect, but it gets even worse."

"…How does a flaw get worse?"

Sunny sighed once more, "The Innate Ability of my Aspect is called [Shadow Bond]. It makes me vulnerable to anyone who speaks my True Name. So don't ask me what my True Name is, please."

Huh.

Shirou blinked, "Wait, did Nephis say your True Name?"

Sunny nodded, "I told her about it after I killed one of Mordret's reflections. I was sure that he knew about it, so I didn't want to leave myself vulnerable to him."

So that's the bond she was talking about.

Sunny looked at him strangely, "Anyways, you really shouldn't have married into the clan. I get that you're dense, but you should really think about the people around you before you make decision like that."

"Says the guy who dipped to another continent."

"Tsk!"

"Anyways, are we seriously going to fight in this stupid war? They should save it for when an entire population of people isn't under threat."

Sunny nodded, "This is only going to cause more damage to humanity. It's not like one of the Sovereigns will be killed in this fight."

"Huh? Why does it matter whether or not one of them live?"

Sunny sighed for the third time, "The power of a Sovereign is decided by how much influence they have. If only one Sovereign exists, then that Sovereign will basically rule all of humanity. At that point, they would be the most powerful human we have."

…So that's what this is all about.

Shirou had figured out the purpose of this war. The goal was to increase the influence of a Sovereign, which would then allow them to take over the world. Shirou wasn't sure what would happen then, but he guessed that they may attempt to become a Sacred being.

If Shirou were to take over the Sword Domain, it would become much more powerful, as it would become apart of his own Domain, whatever it manifested as.

This wasn't a battle over some grudge, but a battle to see who would lead humanity.

In that case, this battle would cause more harm than good. Awakened, Masters, and maybe even some Saints will be killed. Even if one Sovereign gained an advantage over the other, nothing definite would come out of this.

Realistically, the best choice would be to gain as many people to be apart of the Domain as possible, before directly going for the enemy Sovereign. The exact details may differ, but unless the two Sovereigns battled in Antarctica, the losses would be much more than the gains.

However, another thought rose in Shirou's mind. Although many will die, some were bound to live. The ones who survived will become stronger, as they culled the weak. This would lessen the amount of resources that needed to be allocated, and increase the individual power of the Awakened.

These Awakened will then be chosen to participate in Second, and even Third Nightmares, increasing their strength even more. The Sovereigns will lead an army of humanity's elites.

Once one of the Sovereigns die, those elites will become apart of their Domain, further increasing the cumulative strength of humanity.

In other words, this was a battle of natural selection.

The Sovereigns were not thinking about the immediate gains, but rather, what the future of humanity would look like. Having a Divine Aspect holder like Shirou would simply be the best choice for a leader of humanity.

He must have been making a weird face right now, as Sunny was looking at him strangely.