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"That's... that's impossible..." Ayaka's voice shook.

She struggled with this truth. She had idolized her perfect sister until Manaka became a monster who destroyed everything. And now they claimed that kind sister had returned?

"So this Manaka is like a version who never met Arthur? Who grew up normally?" Shirou asked.

Gaia nodded. "That's why I could retrieve you from her. In exchange, I helped free her from the Beast of Revelation."

Now everything clicked into place.

Thirteen years ago, when Shirou tried to absorb the Beast's remnants with his black mud during the Fuyuki invasion, he'd been trapped instead. But it wasn't the Beast that caught him - it was Manaka's consciousness within it. Later, Gaia had materialized through the Moon Cell and struck a deal with Manaka in the dimensional rift.

She recovered Shirou from his imprisonment, and in exchange she had promised to help Manaka, helping free her from the Beast and bringing the trapped Ayaka back to reality.

After the UOs imprisoned Gaia, the Council she had kept in check began to stir.

After Human Order collapsed, Chaldea searched the world for survivors and found Ayaka. Then when Shirou was summoned to Romania, it began - their war against the Lord of Salvation and the Council.

"What about my real sister? The original Manaka?" Ayaka asked.

"She's still there, suppressed by the current personality," Gaia said. "That might be why Tiamat chose to help her."

Ayaka's face tightened with resigned understanding.

"Ayaka..." Altera touched her arm.

Ayaka shook her head. "It's fine. This doesn't change anything. She still destroyed everything I had, and I won't forgive that! The past is just my scar now - it hurts, but it won't hold me back anymore. I want to move forward, with all of you, toward the future!"

Shirou looked away from Ayaka and Altera, turning to Gaia. "You know a lot about all this."

"I am the planet. Everything that happens within me, I know - except for one special connection point."

Gaia studied him. "You saw Tethys's phantom, didn't you?"

He nodded.

"Then you understand what 'Eternal King' truly is?"

"Yes." He met her gaze. "Eternal King is a vessel meant to destroy the Lord of Salvation. But Tethys said we need to find an answer, a light. I thought becoming Eternal Emperor was that answer. I was wrong. It couldn't defeat the Lord of Salvation—just another failed hypothesis."

"Do you have the answer now?" Gaia asked.

He shook his head. "Do you?"

"I don't know. But Shirou, if you try to reach the Root, I won't send my monsters to stop you. I can't speak for Alaya, but I won't stand in your way."

Everyone froze, including Shirou.

"Gaia!" Heaven's Corpse moved closer, but Gaia raised her hand. She met Shirou's flame-bright eyes.

"You have earned the right to reach the Root."

He stared at her, stunned. Gaia herself was giving him permission to explore the Root.

But he shook his head. "A monster lives there. Going to the Root now would be walking to my death."

The Lord of Salvation lived within the Root. Entering would be suicide.

He frowned, thinking about all the magi who had gone there before. Those who had used everything they had, who managed to overcome Alaya's Heroic Spirits and defeat Gaia's monsters, only to reach the Root and never return. Now he understood - they must have died facing the Lord of Salvation.

A bitter smile crossed his face. After all that effort, after defeating the Heroic Spirits and monsters, the truth was simply another monster waiting at the end.

The moon began to shake. Massive particles streaked down from space, carrying powerful gravitational waves with them.

Shirou looked up. Above the moon's surface, Saturn and the other UOs hovered in the space.

Their bodies began to glow, projecting human-like forms that descended slowly to the moon surface.

"It's been a long time, brothers and sisters," Gaia greeted Saturn and the others.

Saturn spoke while the other UOs remained silent. "You won, Gaia."

"No." Gaia shook her head. "Shirou is the one who won, brother."

Saturn glanced at Shirou, then at the burning ruins of Uranus's giant tree before turning back to Gaia. "Uranus's authority has returned to its original form, dissolving her personality. But this conflict between you two won't be easily resolved."

Gaia's shoulders dropped. "I understand. I let that civilization capture her, study her, turn her into mass-produced weapons..." She looked up at Saturn. "But now that sister's personality has dissolved, she won't act on emotions. Let's heal our relationship in these remaining years, until the aging sun claims us all."

Saturn nodded, and silence fell between them.

Gaia turned to Neptune. "Neptune, does our agreement still stand?"

"Of course." Neptune nodded.

Pluto turned to Neptune, eyes wide. "You had an agreement with Gaia? Why didn't any of us know?"

"If you had known..." Neptune's lips curved into a small smile. "I would have ended up like Heaven's Corpse."

Pluto nodded slowly. "So that's why you supported the wager so strongly."

The realization hit them. Neptune had made a secret deal with Gaia. Like Heaven's Corpse and Mercury, she had been working with Gaia all along.

The other UOs exchanged glances. They had lost the wager, so there was no point dwelling on Neptune's secret now. Still, they couldn't help wondering what agreement she had made with Gaia.

Neptune walked up to Shirou and leaned in close, studying his face. She reached out and poked his cheek. "So you're Fujimaru Shirou. You're exactly my type."

"Neptune, stop that!" Arcueid narrowed her eyes at Neptune.

"Getting jealous?" Neptune's lips curved into a playful smile. She lifted her hand, and blue light flowed from her fingers, surrounding Shirou.

He stared at the light enveloping him in surprise. "This is..."

Arcueid stepped forward, her mouth falling open. "You're giving him your authority?"

"This was my agreement with Gaia." Neptune winked.

Saturn nodded slowly. "I understand now. You wanted to gather our authority to fight the Lord of Salvation. You showed us what makes this man special, so we'd give him our power—this was your real plan in accepting our judgment, wasn't it, Gaia?"

"Yes, brother." Gaia met his gaze. "He's the only otherworldly soul independent of Akasha, and the vessel Tethys created. When I chose to believe in him instead of Crimson Moon, I made my choice."

"So this is the wager Tethys mentioned." Saturn's brow furrowed. "But giving our authority to a human—are you sure about this?"

"Yes." Gaia nodded with conviction. "I am."

"What if he becomes another Crimson Moon?" Saturn's eyes narrowed.

Gaia met his gaze without wavering.

"Since you're so sure..." Saturn lifted his hand. "As the one who lost, I'll accept this." Light flowed from him, surrounding Shirou.

The other UOs exchanged glances. One by one, they raised their hands, sending their own light of authority to envelop Shirou.

"This is incredible..."

Arcueid watched as Shirou glowed with their combined power. Even one planet's blessing was rare, yet Shirou now held the blessing of every planet in the solar system.

"With my blessing added, Shirou now has the power of almost our entire solar system—except for the Sun without its UO, and Uranus." She smiled. "Eternal Emperor will be even stronger now. We can defeat the Lord of Salvation."

"No." Shirou shook his head, a grave expression on his face. "I don't think I can become any stronger."

"What do you mean, Shirou?" Arcueid's brow furrowed.

"I felt it when I first created Eternal Emperor in the past plane." He looked down at his glowing hands. "Now I'm sure. Eternal Emperor is my limit. No matter how many blessings I get, this is as far as I can go."

"But this is different." She stepped forward. "You have the blessings of my siblings—something no one else has ever had."

"The blessings mean the UOs accept me. They'll support me in battle." He closed his hand into a fist. "But I can't grow stronger. I've hit my limit..."

It hit him then. Now he knew why Manaka said he could never defeat the Lord of Salvation. She must have seen that Eternal Emperor was his limit.

"How can this be..."

"It is the nature of things," Gaia said to Arcueid. "Shirou's Heroic Spirit has reached the limits of what the Throne of Heroes can contain, just as the Enlightened One did before."

"Enlightened One..." Arcueid's mind went to the monk who sat in constant meditation at Ryuudou Temple.