Chapter 168: Regaining What is Lost; Craziness

It was such a strange yet peaceful scene. Everybody else was dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events, hence she and Shiro had a silent time together.

Feeling the portion of Artoria's power that she transferred, he felt his injuries become better by every second. His recovery became faster once they lowered to 20%, enabling him to use [Heaven's Feel] without any repercussions.

Even though he hasn't used it on himself as it would lead to an imperfect [Life Level Elevation], its "absolute" authority on souls isn't a joke. With it, Shiro could compare to a Creator God in this aspect!

[Soul Injury: 20.2%]

[Soul Injury: 18.4%]

[Soul Injury: 16.7%]

...

[Soul Injury: 12.1%]

As soon as his soul injuries were healed, the rest of his regenerative abilities made a short work of his severely injured physical body.

[Physical Injury: 34.5% --> 5%]

In the first place, his damaged soul is the one that held back his body.

The two worked out in a balanced way, thus one's injuries has a chance of expanding to the other. Of course, the body is far inferior to the soul, forming the situation that a slightly injured soul would severely injure the body—if the body is severely injured, it wouldn't affect the soul immediately.

Only when both the body and the soul had reached an equilibrium by being equal in terms of life level would one shed their mortal statuses, becoming a [God].

This is why he didn't materialize his soul permanently. The magi in this world doesn't really have the chance so they simply took that opportunity, but not him. His power system has a complete pathway to become the strongest being, which is also the reason why his former world is just as special as these worlds that are in direct contact with [The Root].

'No.'

Suddenly, Shiro sensed that she is about to deplete her power... just for him to recover fully. For the first time, he felt a different kind of emotion—fear. Unlike his past self, he'd accepted more about his past identity(s). He wasn't as clueless as before, and therefore, didn't want to part with someone whom he loves once more.

He signaled her with his eyes while holding her hands tighter. He even shook his head, appearing somewhat weak and vulnerable for a moment.

'Please.'

Artoria was surprised upon seeing this, mainly because she'd been used to the calm and collected Shiro. Only when they're in some special circumstances such as in bed would she see more expressions of his.

In the end, she complied to his wishes. Their lips had separated, and at the same time, Shiro fell unconscious. Swiftly, she caught his small body, someone very unfamiliar to her.

"Who are you?"

Looking at the source of the voice, Artoria saw a blindfolded woman with long purple hair. She instantly connected her appearance to the one whom she was competing with her in the Throne of Heroes since the moment they've went back in this world.

"Euryale's sister... Medusa?"

"...who are you?"

Noticing her resemblance towards Shiro, she laughed inwardly. Though, she replied:

"You might know me as Artoria Pendragon... but she is not me." She paused to emphasize their difference. "Artoria Avalon, that is my true name. Also, I'm Shiro's wife."

"..."

To be honest, everyone except Shinji had the thought of him having a wife cross their minds, simply due to his attractiveness. Though, the latter was even more surprised as he knew that there's Altera, another wife of Shiro, in Chaldea.

'Aniki... As expected of him!'

While they went silent, Artoria made another vessel of hers with the remaining transcendent power of hers. From mere golden particles, it then resembled a normal human body. It is fundamentally different from a Servant's as it is not made with Ether, but with a real substance; namely, true ether.

There, they saw a younger-looking Artoria with her eyes closed. She has the same outfit as the dignified Artoria in front of them, but her hair is not braided and she looked more childish than the King Pendragon whose appearance is eternally 15.

She planned to transfer her consciousness to this body later, but she took this valuable moment slowly.

"Heh... You're too cute in this form." She mumbled with a pair of dazed eyes..

*****

"Kuh..! She beat me to it!"

Slam-!

"Is there something wrong?" Mash, who was besides this "idol", asked.

"There is! We both have the same starting line, yet..!

At this moment, her [Divine Core of the Goddess] subconsciously erupted. It imbued her with the 'perfect' concept, something similar to Shiro's [Perfection]. Although it looks overwhelming, it's not that broken. At best, it can allow her to exist in a 'perfect' state whereas she retains her youthful appearance and not be affected by any external influences.

Though, she possesses an even more terrifying power than it.

If not for her current restricted state, it is enough for her to sweep through both Singularities and Lostbelts that they would encounter later on.

Fortunately, Roman is smart enough to place hundreds of Bounded Fields inside the director's room.

"Did someone... find Shiro already?"

"...That's right." The goddess, Euryale, replied. "That brat managed to make the first move! Only when she made her move did I know where he is."

'Look who's talking.' Roman thought inwardly, but he showed the same carefree expression from the outside.

He heaved a sigh of relief and said, "It's been almost a year, huh. We can be rest assured on his safety."

Hearing this, Euryale stopped focusing on that matter and had a longing look. Unlike one would expect, Shiro's thousand years of crossing to Terra is not necessarily a thousand years for others.

It could be tens or hundreds of thousands of years... and even a million years. Being separated from your other half in such a time frame is truly an excruciating experience. Still, all of his wives understood that it is a necessary step for Shiro to live.

"Shiro..."

She tightened her fists as she started thinking of a way to descend to that world. No matter how difficult it is, she would definitely reunite with him once more.

She would.

Suddenly, Chaldea shook. Every summoned Servant sensed this extremely strong power fluctuations, one that surpassed that of a Chief God. Some are confused, while others wore amused and interested expressions. Others didn't care about it and continued what they've been doing just now.

As it is rare for them to witness an interesting event in the throne unless they're summoned as a Servant, they view it as one of their novelties.

"That power... It reminds me of those bastards." A Heroic Spirit with a golden armor stated.

"That... Why do I feel suppressed?" The corrupted version of a certain Saber-class muttered as she felt the instinctive feeling of the dark holy sword in her hand; as if it was facing its greatest enemy.

Sensing the tear in this world's reality, Euryale thought of a certain 'expressionless' woman.

"Tch. If she can be this crazy, why can't I?"

She made a decision to gamble, but it's a different thing for the acting otaku director.

"Please, don't destroy Chaldea."

"I won't. Only the unrefined ones will create do something barbaric as that!"

After she replied, a single swipe of her finger created another tear in this reality—the sides of it is held by alluring pink light. Simply put, she weaponized the concept of charm and made reality itself do her bidding.

Once she left, Roman lamented about his good friend's wives causing trouble in this place. Though, his chest became lighter as he thought of what Shiro would face once he meets with those two.

"Roman-san, are you alright?!"

"Yeah... A couple of all-nighters would fix this." He said, subconsciously comparing his previous life to now. The only difference is that...

He's overworked more this time, having to sacrifice sleep to manage Chaldea well...

*****

A/N: No sleep for Chaldea's acting director...

Roman: Why?! (T⌓T)

PS: I've been writing the Gorgon Sisters' story in the advanced chapters and I couldn't help but mix up the myth from Fate's lore lmao... One example is me getting confused as to whether Euryale and Stheno lived. In Fate, they got devoured by Gorgon. Yet in the real-life myth, they are alive and tried to kill Perseus who was using the invisibility helm of Hermes at that time.

Also, the title can pertain about his power, but it could also be his wife regaining back their precious connection. A play of words, to be exact:)