Chapter 920

"Well..."

Artoria stiffened slightly, then gave up.

In the short life of the Paradise Fae, there were no memories of spring that could be considered happy.

At that moment, a hand rested on her hat.

"At least, things haven't been bad lately, have they?"

Therefore, you certainly have memories of spring.

For you now, those are experiences closely connected to your present self, and cannot yet be called memories.

Shirou offered this explanation.

"... Shirou."

Artoria looked surprised, while the white-haired youth smiled.

"At least the time I spent traveling with you was very happy."

If Artoria is actually unhappy all along, I can't accept that.

"Hmm... that's true!"

Artoria breathed a sigh of relief, placed her hand on her chest, and lovingly grasped the other hand with her other hand.

"This trip with Shirou... I will make it my most precious memory!"

Don't talk about people as if they're about to die.

"Hahaha..."

Amidst their laughter and conversation, they finally arrived at their destination.

The Inner Sea of the Planet, where the forge forged the holy sword.

Moreover, it is also the altar for the fairies of the paradise to return to their planet.

Lady Avalon gave Shirou a look of confirmation, as if asking, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Shirou nodded silently.

He already knew what was going to happen next.

The Paradise Fae who has rung all the Bell of Pilgrimage will transform into the holy sword itself.

In other words, Artoria will disappear once the Holy Sword is forged.

As the price for establishing the concept of the Holy Sword of the Stars that defines this world, her own existence will cease to exist.

This is the mission of the Paradise Fae, and the true meaning of her existence.

Forging a holy sword is not as simple as it sounds.

Artoria's gained experience, memories, Spirit Origin, and destiny.

All of these must be treated as "materials" in order to forge the holy sword.

It was not a sacrifice, but an equivalent exchange.

Moreover, this is not something just anyone can do; only she could possibly accomplish it.

Shirou knew about this, and Artoria certainly knew as well.

Once the "mission" is completed, one's "life" will end.

Even so, she still made it to the Land of Selection by her own will.

"Is this... the Land of Selection... the forge where the holy sword was forged?"

Artoria looked around curiously.

Lady Avalon nodded and said, "That's right, located in the center is the interior of the Furnace of the Universe, the place where the Paradise Fae return."

"Once you join in, the Holy Sword will establish that this world and its inhabitants (fairies) will receive the true salvation."

Artoria murmured, "In that case, can Shirou's world also be saved?"

Shirou remained silent. "..."

Lady Avalon stated firmly, "That's right."

"Really? Then we definitely have to do it!"

Artoria said happily:

"Britain can be restored to its original state, and Shirou's world can be saved! It's truly killing two birds with one stone!"

She turned to Shirou beside her. "Well then, farewell—"

"Let's go."

Shirou took Artoria's hand.

"Wait a minute, Shirou!?"

Without a word, Shirou grabbed the stunned girl and dragged her away.

We must be decisive here; if we let her overthink things, it will cause a lot of trouble.

"No, wait a minute, are you going too!?"

Lady Avalon also made a surprised sound, but as always, Shirou ignored it.

Although it's a very, very old setting, the reason Shirou was picked up by Merlin (♀) was because her Clairvoyance couldn't see Shirou's future.

Therefore, all subsequent actions were completely unexpected by the Flower Magus.

"Shirou? What are you doing? Don't get in my way..."

"Believe me."

Shirou said to the struggling Artoria.

"Huh...?"

The blonde girl blinked.

On their way to the Spirit Cave, the Child of Prophecy told Shirou, "I believe in you," and this is the response to that moment.

"... Um."

Artoria made up her mind, and her expression immediately turned serious.

Then, the two of them plunged into the light together.

In the light of the birth of stars, Shirou pulled the girl in front of him, hugged her from behind, and together they grasped the Staff of Selection.

"Wait, this posture is really a bit—"

Shirou understood her feelings, but in order to synchronize his magic and breathing, he had no choice but to ask her to give up.

"This is a necessary condition. Be patient and concentrate. It's about to begin."

Shirou urged, Artoria blushed and mumbled for a while before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

Shirou closed his eyes in response.

It's an incredible feeling.

Shirou recalled the first time he used Projection Magic.

Artoria's memories were flowing into his mind.

The Furnace of the Stars is using Artoria's various experiences in the Fae Kingdom as materials to forge her very existence into a holy sword.

Her experiences, her memories, her emotions, her spirit, her self...

"Huh...?"

Artoria opened her eyes.

Although this child is a bit slow to realize things, isn't his reaction a bit too slow? Shirou thought to himself.

Artoria noticed that her body had not disappeared.

What happened?

She quickly noticed the necklace protruding from inside her clothes—

The ring necklace that Shirou forced on her during their first meeting is now being used by Artoria to transmit information to the planet.

That's right, that was exactly the backup plan Shirou had prepared from the beginning.

In his previous life, Shirou learned the cruel truth about the Paradise Fae and the Holy Sword of the Stars from Morgan.

Morgan, of course, stated that "Inner Sea of the Planet" did not do this because he wanted to.

It's simply because forging the Holy Sword requires "the way of existence of humanity in this era" as material.

The Paradise Fae is merely an aggregator, an aggregator that exists to materialize a more powerful and superior holy sword.

Since forging the Holy Sword requires burning the memories and spirit of the Paradise Fae, wouldn't it be better to create a Magic Crest that can back up Artoria's experiences?

So Shirou created this ring, whose true power is to sense the wearer's spirit and copy and store it every day.

Artoria's experiences, memories, and emotions up to this point have all been copied by the Mystic Code and submitted to the planet.

"Alright, time to forge the sword. Artoria, excuse me, excuse me."

Shirou grabbed the girl's shoulders and pulled her behind him.

"... Um?"

The Paradise Fae blinked in confusion. "W-what are you going to do?"

"What are you doing... Now that the materials have been submitted, shouldn't we start forging the sword?"

Since Artoria is still a novice who has just learned Projection Magic, I'll take care of the rest of the project."

Shirou said it in a matter-of-fact tone.

"So that's how it is. This is the Inner Sea of the Planet, the true Furnace of the Universe."

Artoria, leave the rest to me.

"Idiot... you idiot! Shirou, don't come any closer! You'll be burned to ashes!"

Artoria tried to grab Shirou's hand that was gripping the hammer, but found that her body floated up on its own.

"They all said it wouldn't work... Ugh, waaaaaah! Am I floating!?"

Shirou said, "Well, since I took over your job, anyone who gets in the way will definitely be kicked out."

That guy in the Inner Sea of the Planet has a temper just as bad as Hector's... although the place where the planet's soul is stored doesn't have a self."

"..."

Artoria looked like she was about to cry.

"I'm sorry... I couldn't keep my promise. I said I'd buy you new clothes when we got back to the city."

Without turning his head, Shirou swung the hammer down, bidding Artoria a final farewell with his retreating figure.

"But you're also at fault for not seeing through my lies despite having the Fae Eyes, aren't you?"

"Then... farewell, Child of Prophecy."

From the very beginning, Shirou intended to complete the sword-forging project in place of the Paradise Fae.

He must take full responsibility for Artoria.

This is the only "Original Sin" that Shirou can never avoid.

If he hadn't instigated Morgan to betray his mission...

Artoria didn't need to sacrifice her life in the first place.

If he hadn't bewitched the first generation of Paradise Fae...

Artoria didn't need to go through so much suffering.

The instigator of all of Artoria's tragedies was a self-righteous stranger from another land.

It's not just the fairies of Britain who need to atone; it's also the arrogant Shirou himself.

Shirou spoke quietly, "Live well, Artoria..."