Escape to the Next World

Upon reaching the fireplace, he found it impeccably clean, without a trace of soot, suggesting it had never been used yet was regularly cleaned. Shirou activated his Magic Eye and instantly grasped the fireplace's secret. He forcefully twisted the candlestick above the fireplace, and a dull thud of a heavy object being moved echoed from within.

Shirou saw a door appear inside the fireplace, leading to a neatly arranged downward stone staircase. Shirou walked straight in. Scheherazade followed behind Shirou, ducking down and crawling into the fireplace.

They walked down the winding staircase that circled the building downwards. After descending about fifty stone steps, Shirou and Scheherazade arrived at a secret underground chamber more than ten meters below the surface.

The interior was surprisingly spacious, with a ceiling over ten meters high. Walking towards the center, one could see a tall building that resembled a temple, much like the castle Shirou had destroyed in the dream world, only smaller in scale.

At both ends of the castle, pillars resembling robotic arms rise high, and the two girls are sleeping in beds atop them.

Shirou quickly grabbed the cross key, ran to the center of the castle, and found a groove that was just the right size to fit the cross.

The castle reacted immediately, with two bright spots resembling red lanterns appearing high up. Shirou looked at the castle warily, worried that the robot might just grab the two girls and go berserk, crushing the two unsuspecting girls.

At this moment, the castle's raised arms slowly lowered, Shirou breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed it wasn't a trap after all.

"Artoria! Jeanne d'Arc! Are you alright?" Shirou ran forward and pulled Artoria and Jeanne d'Arc off the stone bed.

"Don't worry, they'll wake up soon," Scheherazade said.

Shirou nodded, relieved to see the girls breathing steadily.

"So, Shirou, I've completed my mission. Can you pay me the appropriate reward? You should be able to do that now, right?" Scheherazade looked at the boy expectantly. She had only one wish from the beginning...

Just then, a strange noise interrupted the brown-skinned woman's words.

Shirou received a communication request from Chaldea and accepted it through mental manipulation.

Mash's face instantly appeared before Shirou's eyes. Through the virtual 3D image, he could see that the staff in the Chaldea control room seemed extremely anxious.

The pink-haired girl looked at Shirou and said, "Shirou-senpai? You've made another mistake!? You're so small!"

"It's so tiny!" Gudako, joining in.

Shirou, on the other side, was furious and about to retort.

"Little eggplant! This isn't the time to talk about this!!" Da Vinci's anxious voice came from behind.

Shirou looked at Chaldea side with a puzzled expression, wondering what was wrong with them.

Let's rewind to a few tens of minutes ago.

At that moment, inside the Human Order protection organization atop Chaldea Mountain, a red light suddenly flashed, accompanied by a piercing alarm.

"What's going on! Investigate immediately!" Da Vinci, acting as director, shouted at the staff on duty.

"Yes!" The employees frantically operated the machines, but problems they couldn't find before suddenly started popping up one after another.

"We've made a new discovery about the cause of the malfunction that we couldn't find all along! Let's launch an investigation now," someone said excitedly.

Looking at the investigation results, the staff member said, "We discovered that the connection between Chaldea and Hall of Heroes is blocked by a spiritual energy wall. Previously, Chaldea's signal channels connecting to the outside world were completely intercepted by an invisible interference wall. Most of the radio signals are trapped here and can't be transmitted at all; there's absolutely no feedback!"

Chaldea now is like a dark, labyrinthine maze where people have been groping around for ages without finding anything, and suddenly the lights come on.

"Sixty-seven major problems have been discovered, no... sixty-eight, sixty-nine, seventy!! Ahhh! We can't handle them all! Quickly call the night shift to come and help!"

"Reactions to multiple Singularity have been detected! All are rated A++ or higher, suggesting a situation similar to the one at the Temple of Time."

"How could this be! Detected Human Evil reactions, multiple traces of Beasts, the beasts of original sin, have been found!"

"What on earth is going on?!" Da Vinci's hands hadn't left the control panel since the beginning, constantly inputting commands, but the problems kept piling up, and she simply couldn't handle them all. She screamed in frustration, even a genius like her felt her mind wasn't up to the task at this point.

"Da Vinci, we're here to help!" Gudako, the girl with the single ponytail, arrived with Mash and said.

"Gudako, sit down! I'm leaving Mash's job as a doctor in your hands! First, go find Shirou's coordinates; there might be some problem with him."

"Yes! I'll do it right now!" Mash didn't dare to delay and quickly agreed.

The pink-haired girl skillfully pressed the buttons, operating the system. The central screen switched to a spherical map interface. Since Chaldea recorded all of Shirou's travel data here, Mash only needed to press the data and quickly search.

The Chaldea machines were restored to normal and functioning well, quickly finding matching data.

"Shirou-senpai's coordinates have been detected, huh?!" Mash looked closely and exclaimed in surprise, "There are two reactions!"

"I can't worry about that now, let's just open one and see." Gudako stepped forward, pressed the button, and said.

The instant the image unfolded, the white deity on the screen made eye contact with everyone in Chaldea who was looking at the screen.

At this moment, everyone was stunned, feeling as if they had been completely seen through by others.

"Oh no!! Cut it off quickly!" Da Vinci realized something was wrong when he saw that look in his eyes and shouted loudly.

However, the outcome was predetermined the moment their eyes met.

In the center of the control room at Chaldea, a white, humanoid phantom appeared out of thin air. Small data cubes appeared within the phantom, piling up from the bottom and gradually forming the outline of a human body.

The white deity did not go there, but instead created a new avatar there, constructing a divine body from nothing.

Gudako stepped forward, picked up a blank A4 sheet of paper, circled it, and poked the phantom in the center of the control room.

Before it could even touch the phantom, the paper was blocked by a transparent protective layer, turning into tiny particles and disintegrating.

"Whoa!" Gudako quickly released the note from her hand, and the twig that had fallen to the ground was quickly decomposed and completely disappeared.

Mash looked at Da Vinci, who was in charge, and asked, "What do we do!?"

"Connecting directly to the next coordinate, my guess was correct. We must find Shirou; he is the only way," Da Vinci said.

"Yes! Connect now!" Mash replied.

Meanwhile, Shirou, inside the palace, received the Chaldea communication at that very moment.

"Shirou-senpai? He's so small! Did you get the wrong person again? But you're so cute, little brother!" Mash said, looking at the cute Shirou on the other side of the screen, both surprised and delighted.

"Wow, really? What a tiny little boy! Is he going to join the children's kingdom?" Gudako chimed in.

"Mmm, so cute~! Perfect as a younger brother, hehehe..." Mash said with a silly grin, feeling that she was somewhat similar to Asuna when she went berserk.

"Don't say I'm too young! If you're looking for a senior from the International High School Kyudo Club, then I'm the one." The elementary school Shirou, said unhappily.

"Huh?! It really is Shirou-senpai! Why? Did you discover the legendary Noble Phantasm that can turn all pretty boys back into cute little Noble Phantasm?!" Mash stared wide-eyed at the screen, asking excitedly.

"There's no such thing!" Shirou retorted.

"Hey! Little eggplant! This isn't the time to indulge your personal interests, get to the point! This part is almost finished!" Da Vinci called out.

At the heart of Chaldea's control room, the avatar of the white god, now fully formed, awaited only the complete activation of his consciousness. From the moment he opened his eyes, the fate of Chaldea would no longer be in their hands.

"Listen up, Shirou! The White God has arrived in Chaldea! We can't escape in time, and we're no match for him. I'm sending you the White God's coordinates now. If anything happens after this, I'll leave it to you!" Da Vinci said decisively.

Unexpectedly, the white deity didn't come looking for him, but instead went to Chaldea side.

"What should I do?!" Shirou realized the seriousness of the situation and asked hurriedly.

At that moment, the white divine avatar that had formed in Chaldea raised a hand.

The communication images between Chaldea and the palace were suddenly turned white, leaving only a hissing noise.

"Hey! Da Vinci! Mash! Can you hear me? Gudako!" Shirou lost contact with Chaldea side before he could get a reply.

Chaldea was enveloped in a blinding white light, which swallowed the entire snow-capped mountain. Nothing could be seen or heard except for a vast expanse of white...

Chapter 328 Escaping to the Next World

In the palace's secret chamber, Shirou stared at the spot where the holographic image had vanished, still reeling from the sudden turn of events.

Shirou tried to reconnect with Chaldea side, but there was no response, and communication was completely lost. Trapped in this world by the witch, he was helpless in the face of this.

"How could this happen..." Shirou clenched his fists. The thing he least wanted to happen had still happened. His friends had been dragged into his affair with the White God.

"Won't something happen to them at Chaldea side? No, if they are gods I know, they shouldn't harm humans," Shirou muttered worriedly.

"I'm not sure, but we have to leave here. I'll open a passage directly to where the angels are from here. If we go up, we might get held up because of Charlemagne. That emperor isn't so easily deterred, and I have a very bad feeling about it," Scheherazade said.

"A bad feeling? No! Even if we're leaving, we should take Sita with us," Shirou asked.

"Don't worry, for the girl in the real world, this is just a dream. And in the world inside, as virtual characters constructed using Servant, even if they die, they simply return to the Throne of Heroes. If fate allows, you will naturally meet again, so you don't need to worry." Scheherazade raised her wand and directly opened a passage to the dream world in one side of the underground chamber. Because the two worlds had already merged and overlapped, doing something like this was quite simple for her.

As the brown-skinned woman operated the machine, she said, "When it comes to being afraid of death, probably no one can beat me. Right now, my heart is beating very fast, and I have a rather ominous premonition, which is enough to tell you the truth."

"Scheherazade, are you alright? You're trembling." Shirou asked Scheherazade with concern.

"Eh! Huh?" Only then did she realize that she couldn't control her body. The brown-skinned woman was trembling slightly, her face turned red, and even her breathing became heavy, exhaling hot air that was different from usual.

"Hey, calm down. Why do you seem a little excited, even though you're scared?" Shirou said.

"Hoo hoo hoo, I don't know either! But if it's that god, under that white light that created everything, maybe it can turn the tables and make me disappear completely! But dying is really terrifying!!!" the brown-skinned woman said, both frightened and excited.

"Then don't go die!" Shirou retorted.

Scheherazade cried out, "But as long as I live! I'll die sooner or later! I want to become, I want to become sea foam, so I'll never have to worry!"

Realizing that this place was not a safe place to stay, Shirou, along with Scheherazade Artoria, and Jeanne d'Arc, prepared to return to Yukino, Yuihama, and Asuna, and leave this world.

"Where are the others... my sister and Mashiro?" Shirou asked.

"I haven't seen the girl you mentioned. It seems the witch doesn't put everyone together; some people have been placed in other worlds." Scheherazade shook her head.

"I understand. Let's go then. I also sensed your premonition. That white deity will definitely come here soon. I'm certain of that," Shirou said.

Shirou understands that the white god, who currently only possesses divinity but is doing things to care for humanity, is doing good deeds but cannot understand human thoughts at all, and may cause harm.

Life is unpredictable, and nine times out of ten things don't go as planned. Even if a person's intentions are good, the outcome may not be so good. Sometimes, a loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

In fact, the worst people are those who only talk about morality, always criticize others, but do nothing about it.

Once such people seize power, they often make a mess of things; such examples are commonplace. Moreover, such occurrences often signify the rise of bad power holders.

Because of the collapse of moral beliefs, society turns to a meritocratic approach, as Cao Cao did. In times of chaos, he issued edicts to recruit talented people regardless of their virtues, which attracted many capable and ambitious individuals to his cause, but also brought in Sima Yi.

However, giving opportunities to capable villains leads things from one abyss to another. If talented villains are completely unrestrained, they will also lose themselves.

When people are focused on profit, their vision inevitably becomes short-sighted, their nature becomes selfish and cruel, and they lose all restraint. Since desires are endless, they become extremely dangerous.

Truly virtuous and talented people are extremely rare. That's why it's so important to formulate comprehensive laws that can restrain power.

For example, the current white deity believes that it does not need the Counter Force and has blocked the interference of the Counter Force, but that is the collection of the subconscious of all mankind and the survival consciousness of the earth.

For example, the white god rejected the Servant and wanted to close the Throne of Heroes. But you have to know that Artoria, Jeanne d'Arc, and other Servant went back in time and established friendships are all in there. It is because of this mechanism that humans and Servant have the opportunity to meet, gain a lot from each other, and develop deep feelings.

However, these things became completely incomprehensible to the white god who had gradually forgotten human emotions.

Who knows, one day he might realize that all of this is completely unnecessary and turn the blockade into an erasure.

When he arrived again, his companions were waiting there, and Shirou explained what had happened to them.

"Shirou, are you really going to fight against such a terrifying being?" the girls asked worriedly.

"Anyway, let's all run away before that god discovers this place," Yuihama said, standing up.

"Yes, yes. Okay, Gabriel, you should get up too." Vignette urged her friend.

"It's okay to wait a little longer, I've just reached a crucial point and haven't saved yet! I don't know what kind of monster it is, but even if it's powerful, it can't possibly fly to this world right away, right?" Gabriel said, holding the controller and staring at the screen.

"No, we've been targeted." Shirou looked up at the window.

The white deity standing amidst the snow and ice then noticed Shirou. Separated by countless worlds, the two gazed at each other.

The angel girl and the demon girl here also sensed something, suddenly shivered, hugged their arms tightly, and rubbed their bodies to warm themselves.

"Ah! What a creepy feeling." Raphael couldn't stop smiling and opened her eyes as she spoke.

"What on earth is going on? It feels like even our existence is being erased," Vignette said, her face pale.

"Is this a natural enemy? No, the devil is right beside us. It's more like the despair you feel when your parents catch you playing erotic games, and you feel like your personality has been completely destroyed in their eyes," Gabriel said, holding her head.

"Butter? What's that? Humph! How pathetic! Lady Satania, the Great Demon, has absolutely nothing to fear!" the red-haired imp said with a smug laugh.

"If you're going to say that, please stand up straight first. You've been shaking since the beginning," Shirou couldn't help but complain. However, he hadn't expected that the white deity posed such a great threat to these high-ranking beings.

Even in their eyes, the creator god is indeed very dangerous.

"Alright, you all need to get out of here quickly." Scheherazade opened the door to the original world, and had Gabriel and the others line up in front of the door. Shirou then saw the girls off.

"Senior, are you going to face such a terrifying being? I think I'll stay. Although I'm still a student, as a demon, I can still do my part!" Vignette ran up to the boy and said.

Shirou shook his head and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Vignette, but it's not necessary. That god is actually another version of me. This is a battle between myself and myself, so you can go back without worry. And everyone, see you in the original world."

"Hmm..." Vignette agreed, but she still seemed worried.

"Alright, everyone, let's go in quickly." Shirou led the girls into the passage.

"Hey, Shirou, I'm waiting for you to come back and cook something delicious, okay? Don't go back on your word, or I won't let you into heaven!" Gabriel said, turning back just before entering the passage, then waved. "See you then."

"Ah, of course." Shirou saw the girls off, then turned Yukino and saw Yuihama, Asuna, and two other girls standing there, looking in his direction.

Yukino spoke first, saying, "I've said it many times already. We'll always wait for you, so Shirou, you understand, right?"