When the Fireworks Fade / Alaya and Gaia

Shirou gripped the railing tightly with both hands, bowed his head to the girl, and apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, Illya. I didn't consider your feelings and made the decision for you without my consent, dragging you to this world."

"Hmm..." Illya shook her head, gazing at the sea, and said softly, "I'm so happy, Shirou. When you told me, 'I hope you can come to this world with me,' and 'It's you who wants to be with me,' I thought Shirou the world you're in must be a wonderful place."

"Eh..." Shirou said, looking at the girl.

"Besides, if I hadn't left with you, Shirou, I would have disappeared from that samurai world and returned to the Throne of Heroes of Heroes. And after hearing your Shirou, even if I was unwilling at first, I would have accepted it with a smile in the end. After all, it's only natural for a good older sister to try to fulfill her immature younger brother's wishes when he's being willful. Right~?" Illya asked Shirou, her hands behind her back.

"Illya ..."

"It's because Shirou has been so considerate of me that I can now clearly feel your feelings for Shirou. They're so incredibly warm, even inside the villa in Einzbern, I feel all cozy and cozy!"

The girl's expression at that moment was like cherry blossoms blooming all at once in spring, glowing like fluorescent sprites in the darkness—everything was understood without words.

"If that's what you think, that's wonderful." Shirou felt relieved and agreed with a light laugh.

"But, Shirou, you've kept this from me. You can't pretend you didn't see it. From now on, I'll make you pay for it slowly, just as I see fit!" Illya said with a mischievous grin.

"Huh?!" Shirou exclaimed in surprise, only then realizing that Illya could be quite terrifying when she wasn't cute.

"Stay by Shirou's side. Komachi doesn't want to call me 'older sister,' so never mind. I'm magnanimous and will forgive her. But we still need to prepare a gift for Uncle and Aunt. When we get to the other world, take me to the shopping mall to buy it first."

"Yes, I will convince my family. I will definitely make them acknowledge that you are an important family member to me." Shirou looked at the girl sincerely and made his most heartfelt vow.

"Actually, it's okay if I don't become the older sister, it's just that I wonder if my body can have children right now...?" Illya turned her head away, touched her flat stomach, looked at her petite figure, pouted insecurely, and muttered to herself.

Chapter 392 When the Fireworks Cool Down

At that moment, Artoria and Jeanne d'Arc walked out of the villa where they were vacationing.

"Illya, want to go set off fireworks together?" Artoria took out a large bag of fireworks, the kind that are cone-shaped and shoot sparks off the ground.

"No, let's play with the ones that go up into the sky, with a bang, and then explode in the air. That's definitely more fun!" Jeanne d'Arc of Arc said, holding up a firework cannon that looked like an iron block.

"You're already noisy enough on your own. Do you have to play this noisy stuff now?" Artoria retorted coldly.

"What! How about we have a contest right now? I'll burn your candle-like head and use it as a match!" Jeanne d'Arc glared fiercely at the blonde girl.

"Oh ho... if you're so eager to fly, then I'll send you up there too." Artoria pulled out her pistol and short sword, and said coldly.

"Haha, Saber and Jeanne d'Arc d'Arc over here are so funny," Illya said with a giggle.

"No, this isn't fun at all." Shirou said, quickly going over to break up the fight, otherwise, if they really started fighting, it would be an explosion in every sense of the word. "Alright, alright, if you two start fighting, all the fireworks we prepared will be wasted."

The entire beach was now covered in the light of fireworks set off by the Servant and the girls. Seven colors bloomed in the sky, and fountains of light rose up on the beach.

BB even summoned a turret, launching a super-large firework that flashed her image and displayed the English words "BB Channel" into the sky. The firework, in vibrant red, deep blue, and bright purple, spun and changed patterns in the air.

At this moment, the sea surface is like a mirror, reflecting all the fireworks. Because of the churning waves, the scenery inside has become more varied and colorful.

Mashiro gazed blankly at the night sky, seemingly wanting to depict this scene in her manga. The fallen angel and her demon companions squatted together, playing with sparklers.

"Come, come, such a beautiful view, teacher, have another drink." The horned Oni Tribe girl held up her gourd and poured wine for her drinking buddy.

"Oh, thank you, Shuten- chan." Shizuka Hiratsuka replied with a smile, her pretty face flushed as she raised her glass.

Such unrestrained drinking and revelry could only last one night, and fireworks fade quickly. When the fireworks ended, the party on the beach came to a close, and everyone returned to the villa to rest.

The next morning, BB-chan opened the multi-faceted passage, and everyone said goodbye to each other, leaving this world and returning directly to their own homes.

See you at school then!

"Goodbye."

Shirou also brought Illya to the front door of his house.

"Shirou, am I being impolite? I didn't bring any gift." Illya asked with some concern, as the Japanese are known for their emphasis on etiquette.

"It's okay, we already talked about it on the phone. The adults in my family don't hold these things against children; they're all very kind people. Don't worry, I'll make things clear for you," Shirou comforted the girl.

"Haha, don't worry, there's absolutely no problem, brother." Komachi laughed and stepped forward, saying with great certainty.

Higashiya family's mother saw Illya, she rushed over and hugged her tightly.

"So cute! Such an adorable child! Why don't you stay here and be our daughter forever!"

"Thank you, Shirou's mom~!" Illya replied with a smile. She was very good at acting cute and innocent, which naturally made her even more popular with adults.

"Yes, yes." The Higashiya family father nodded in agreement, and if he weren't worried about being mistaken for a suspicious old man, he would have pounced on her long ago. But then he saw Komachi coming in from behind and quickly changed his tune, saying, "Of course! In Dad's eyes, Komachi is just as cute~!"

"Who would want to hear your opinions, Dad!" Komachi rolled her eyes and retorted, then turned to Shirou and shrugged, saying, "See? There's absolutely nothing to worry about."

The girl was supposed to be an exchange student from abroad, but a sudden accident turned her into an orphan.

When they learned that Illya had no other family members, her parents, wiping away tears, accepted Illya and offered to be her guardians. And so, Illya smoothly integrated into this large family.

When Shirou returned to school, he saw the gate under the rows of green trees. The journey had made school life seem very distant. Although his recent experiences had been so dramatic, the other students were still living their peaceful and ordinary daily lives.

As soon as Shirou entered the Service Club, the girls grabbed him and forced him to sit in a chair.

Yuihama leaned forward, forehead to forehead, staring intently into the man's eyes and demanding, "Shirou, are you hiding something from us?"

"After escaping from the Forest Witch, we discovered that the inner space of the world is gradually shrinking, and the Demonic Beast on the outer walls of the world have all disappeared. What finally confirmed our suspicions was Mash's situation," Yukino Yukinoshita said.

"Mash? What happened to her? She should be at Chaldea side right now," Shirou asked, puzzled.

"The mobile game FGO is still running, but apart from the Servant you had 100% possession with before, there's no way to summon them anymore," Asuna said, taking out her phone.

"I've lost contact with the original entity in Chaldea side, and the FGO game operators have all become just ordinary money-grabbing scammers. Now I'm just ordinary artificial intelligence," Xiao Da said, tears streaming down her face as she leaned over the screen.

Yukino shook her head and said, "Not only can we not contact Chaldea, but recently even Mash has been forgotten by the people at the school."

Yuihama nodded in agreement, saying, "Yeah, actually I asked the students in Mash's class before, but..."

This is how the students in that class answered...

"Mash? A foreigner?"

"Are there any girls like that in the class?"

"Ah, I think she was an exchange student? She's already transferred schools."

Some people tried hard to recall, but ultimately these were all the impressions they had. The pink-haired, bespectacled beauty who used to recommend the game to schools everywhere had been completely forgotten and had become an insignificant passerby in people's hearts.

Asuna said, "We probably retained this memory because of the possession and summoning we shared. But to others, Mash is like someone hidden from the world."

Shirou nodded and said, "Yes, I think I know what's going on. For a world that no longer needs to deal with foreign invaders, Mash is a superfluous outsider, and everything about Chaldea will be downplayed."

"What is going on?"

"Um... everyone, listen to me..." For the first time, Shirou told the girls about his relationship with the white god and what he was going to do next.

Hearing everything Shirou said, the three girls fell silent. After a while, they came to their senses and had to accept the fact. They had many questions, asking one and Shirou answering them one by one. This conversation continued until the school bell rang.

After returning home, Shirou explained the matter to Komachi.

"No! I won't let you go! Komachi doesn't care about gods or incarnations, as long as her brother is healthy and safe by her side!" Komachi was unwilling no matter what, but Shirou's words, although, were not enough to convince her to watch her brother go on an adventure.

"Yes, Komachi, be a good girl. I have to go there so that everyone in this world, including Dad and Mom, can be healthy and safe," Shirou said, patting his sister's head.

Komachi wiped away her tears and said, "Komachi absolutely wants to make my brother happy too, so you'd better come back safe and sound, or Komachi will definitely go out and find you!"

Looking at his stubborn younger sister, Shirou smiled wryly and said, "What a helpless little sister I am... Yeah, I know, I'll try my best."

"We have to work incredibly hard! It's a promise!" Komachi said, puffing out her cheeks and glaring at Shirou with tears still in her eyes.

"Yes! It's a promise!" Shirou understood the weight of this promise and looked at his sister seriously as he agreed.

When Mom came home from work, she opened the door and walked into the living room.

"Mom, I want to eat your beef stew with potatoes." Shirou put his hands on his mother's shoulders from behind and hugged her gently.

"What? What's wrong, Shirou?" His mother, surprised and amused by her usually serious son's sudden affection, turned around and asked. If Komachi were acting like this, she'd probably be asking for pocket money.

However, she seemed to have never received such treatment from her son, except for the first few years after his birth. But she didn't doubt it; after all, he was her own son, and she still smiled happily.

"No, I just suddenly wanted to eat your cooking, Mom," Shirou said with a light laugh.

"What's wrong? You're such a rare sight, child. Suddenly you're acting all spoiled. Okay, I'll go buy groceries right now." The mother patted her son's head, smiling happily, and readily agreed.

"No, I'll go," Shirou quickly said.

When they arrived at the shopping street, Shirou bought beef from the butcher shop, as well as wild river eel, which he usually couldn't afford to buy. Of course, he also bought fried foods such as fried chicken nuggets, and then went to the vegetable shop to buy some of his favorite vegetables.

Then we went to the restaurant. Since we were old neighbors, we only had to say a few words before the owner brought out a large bottle of Japanese liquor.

After that, Shirou helped his mother cook a table full of delicious dishes. When everyone sat down at the table, Shirou poured his father a glass of wine.

"Haha, Shirou, I can do it myself," Dad said with a smile.

This time, however, Shirou didn't just pour himself a drink; he poured one for himself as well.

"Come on, Father, let me toast you." Shirou said, looking directly at his father. He had three fathers in his life. He had little memory of his biological father from his previous life. Then there was Kiritsugu, who saved his life and gave him his goal, and finally, the laughing middle-aged man in front of him.

By ordinary standards, this middle-aged office worker in front of him is undoubtedly the one who raised him the longest, and in Shirou's mind, he is also the most responsible.

"Haha, what's going on today? Is it a holiday for me?" Dad asked with a chuckle.

"Hmm! That's too cunning! Komachi wants to drink too!"

"Wait a minute! Komachi! Shirou! You're not even twenty yet, you can't drink!" Mom said sternly.

"Then Komachi will have juice." Komachi turned her head away and stuck out her tongue. 'No... I already had some... with my brother...'

"Haha, honey, forget about Komachi. You still don't trust Shirou? He's more than an adult himself. Alright! Let's have a drink, cheers!" Dad agreed with a laugh.

"Cheers!" Shirou held up a full glass of strong liquor. He had received over ten years of nurturing and genuine care from his family.

Having said everything he could to those around him, Shirou returned to his room.

Shirou looked at the gate of light and walked in without hesitation.

The meeting place was still the platform with a large tree, where a woman in a red robe sat under the tree. It seemed that Alaya had been waiting there for a long time.

"It seems you've really come to your senses this time, Shirou," Alaya said.

"Now that things have come to this, I have nothing to hesitate about," Shirou said. In his eyes, a woman with a bare chest and belly was nothing more than a mechanical skeleton wearing a beautiful woman's skin.

Ultimately, she is the Counter Force formed by the collective subconscious of humanity. When she returns to the void, she will only be a halo shimmering with seven-colored light. In the age of gods six or seven thousand years ago, the human race held a very lowly position in the world.

Scattered across the globe, they only gather in tribes in a few regions. Relying on the advantage of their manufactured weapons, they can hunt giant beasts, but they still fear crocodiles and venomous snakes in the muddy riverbanks, and ferocious beasts in the jungles and mountains. They are even more vulnerable in the face of natural disasters, not knowing how to prevent droughts and floods, and unable to withstand the cold of winter.

At this time, people's crops yielded low profits, withered and died in droughts, and drowned in floods, with no way to help them.

They were completely at the mercy of the heavens, entrusting their fate to the gods in the sky. They willingly became the gods' servants, kneeling before them in worship, offering livestock, and praying for sacrifices. They only asked that heaven grant them a year free from disasters and a bountiful harvest.

However, nature is the most ruthless and cruel thing. All species struggle to survive under the rules of nature, trying to live better, but ultimately they cannot escape death.

Even humanity, with its seemingly greatest advantages and immense power capable of destroying the Earth, is actually incredibly fragile, suffering from various troubles and torments: disease, emotional trauma, war, the gap between rich and poor...

Given humanity's fragility, nature could easily destroy it with just a slight change.

For example, creating an unsolvable infectious virus; causing meteorites to fall from the sky; giving artificial intelligence intelligence; sending out signal waves to summon an alien invasion;

Of course, these catastrophes that could cause the world's greatest prosperity and genocide are very, very far removed from modern people, but they are not impossible.

Moreover, in the 4.6 billion years since the birth of Earth, there have been instances in history where once-prosperous races, even dominant races, have been wiped out overnight.

Cambrian invertebrates, Devonian fish, Jurassic dinosaurs, and then giant mammalian predators.

The terror and horror of dinosaurs, thanks to the promotion of movies in later generations, is something most people can relate to.

In ancient times, when the ocean submerged the entire Earth, with only a few high mountains visible above the surface, those ferocious aquatic beasts could even climb ashore using their powerful gills and fins to hunt prey, gradually evolving into amphibious behemoths.

In modern times... these creatures no longer exist.

The most terrifying thing is the change in the rules of nature, which causes damage no less than a major reshuffling of the Earth: survival of the fittest and elimination of the inferior. It could cause more than 90% of life to disappear as a result.

In comparison, the global warming and ice ages of later generations are insignificant. Even earlier, 2.3 to 2.4 billion years ago, the Earth experienced a major atmospheric change known as the 'Great Oxidation Event,' during which the Earth's atmosphere began to transform into large amounts of oxygen.

Compared to the abundant oxygen available in later generations, the abundance of oxygen at that time led to the emergence of many enormous creatures and plants, with weights measured in tons and heights ranging from several meters to tens of meters.

However, a large number of organisms also went extinct during this era. This was because they did not need oxygen to breathe; the excess oxygen replaced the gas they originally needed, or they were anaerobic organisms and were directly poisoned by the presence of oxygen.

In the future, there may be an era when there is no oxygen in the atmosphere. In fact, the oxygen content in the Earth's atmosphere has been slowly decreasing, but the rate of decrease is so small that it can be basically ignored.

Ultimately, humanity is merely a species that has been best suited to this environment for the past ten thousand years, occupying a dominant ecological position, and emerging as the temporarily leading species under the rules of natural selection and survival of the fittest.

Nature's laws dictate that there will be typhoons, hailstorms, earthquakes, and tsunamis. In their struggle for survival, people endure immense suffering and, in despair, turn to deities for protection. However, it turns out that these worshipped gods are not as reliable as people imagine.

Later, under the guidance of sages and kings, humankind invented various tools, cultivated high-yield crops, and domesticated wild animals for their own use. Humans gradually understood the laws of nature and no longer simply resigned themselves to fate when disasters struck. Some, like Shennong, tasted hundreds of herbs and developed agriculture and sericulture; others, like Yu the Great, controlled the floods and dredged waterways. The imperial court collected grain, built granaries, and provided timely relief to disaster areas.

It was at this time that Alaya emerged, and as humanity truly became the largest race capable of influencing the world, she gradually became one of the two major Counter Force on Earth.

Chapter 393 Alaya and Gaia

"Now that we're here, let's get straight to the point," Shirou said, looking at the woman.

"Wait, this time I'm asking you for help not only, but also for myself," Alaya said.