Crossover: With Heaven-Defying Insight, I'm Shaking the Very Aeons

Like a god forgiving a sinner, or an angel welcoming the righteous.

Under the brilliant sword of light, the black mud melted away like snow.

The black giant instantly dissolved and collapsed, returning to its formless, odorless state as pure magical energy, flowing within the foundation of the Great Holy Grail.

The incarnation of the evil god had roared in pain, yet the incarnation of the good god acknowledged the goodness within him and personally ended his eternal suffering.

This mythical scene, like a sacred religious ceremony, left everyone present staring in a daze.

"To be able to acknowledge even the king of evil gods... Is this the magnanimity of a god?"

Even the worldly Artoria was deeply moved.

"...Man acknowledges. Man permits. Man bears the sin."

Recalling Su Mo's earlier words, Artoria suddenly felt a little lost.

If everything is decided by humanity, if both my victory and my defeat are humanity's own choices... then is my wish to return to the day of the king's selection, my desire to rewrite history, a bit too rash?

If the fall of Britain was the path its people chose, then as their king, should I have defied the people for the sake of the country? If so, what right do I have to be king?

While Artoria was lost in her confusion, Tohsaka Rin, though clever and mischievous, lacked the same depth of experience and wasn't as deeply affected.

Seeing the enemy before them thoroughly defeated, her sharp eyes immediately noticed that something resembling a book had been left behind where the black giant had disappeared.

Pat, pat, pat.

She immediately scampered over, her twin-tails bouncing, and picked it up. Then, as if currying favor, she held it up with both hands and presented it to Su Mo.

"Lord Su Mo, it seems he dropped something."

The book's cover was pure black, with a blazing white flame in the center. The border where the white flame met the black cover was the flame's outer edge, showing a gradient of orange-red. The style of the flame was the typical sacred fire emblem of Zoroastrianism.

From the spine of the book, the title could be seen written in Persian. Rin didn't know Persian, so she naturally couldn't recognize it.

Su Mo, however, had recognized it from the very beginning. Or rather, the book before him was one of his main reasons for coming here.

"Avesta," Su Mo read out the meaning of the ancient Persian words.

Hearing this, Rin immediately understood. "Isn't that the sacred text of Zoroastrianism?!"

For a magus, the Avesta was as famous as the Bible, the Kojiki, the Theogony, or the Iliad. It was required reading from a young age.

"Correct," Su Mo nodded. "And it is also Angra Mainyu's Noble Phantasm, Verg Avesta (All Creation's Locus of Recording)."

As a Servant, before contaminating the Great Holy Grail, Angra Mainyu's combat power was extremely low, ranking at the very bottom of all Servants. In fact, even after contaminating the Grail, his combat power wasn't high.

Despite possessing a god-like sea of magical energy, he was still defeated by a Servant in the original story. This was a type whose combat ability was practically in the negatives.

Even his Noble Phantasm, Verg Avesta, which bore the rare honor of being named after the sacred text, had the most useless of effects, with no damaging power whatsoever.

Its effect was to automatically record everything its master encountered. Besides shorthand, it had no other function.

It could be said that in the Third Holy Grail War, he was a complete pushover. Any Servant could have kicked him to death, possibly without even needing to release their Noble Phantasm.

After hearing Su Mo's description, Rin's face showed a look of disappointment.

"It only has a shorthand effect? Isn't that the same as having no effect at all? Besides, if this 'All the World's Evils' is just a substitute for the evil god, then this Noble Phantasm should just be a pseudepigraphon, right?"

If it were the original text held by a god, it couldn't possibly be this weak.

"From a common-sense perspective, you're not wrong," Su Mo acknowledged Rin's complaint. "However, whether it's a pseudepigraphon or the original text isn't that important. As long as it's filled with enough correct knowledge and can exert the same power, a pseudepigraphon can become, or even surpass, the original."

In the Nasuverse, stories of fakes surpassing the originals were all too common.

And for Su Mo, whether it was a pseudepigraphon or the original didn't matter. What mattered was the knowledge it contained. The Avesta in his hands was like an ungerminated seed.

Though it had yet to record content rivaling the original text, Su Mo believed that as his research into the power of myths progressed, this pseudepigraphon would one day grow to reach, and even surpass, the level of the original.

What's more, the Avesta before him wasn't entirely without the ability to harm. Perhaps the Noble Phantasm Verg Avesta had no offensive power, but the Avesta's other use, Angra Mainyu's final Noble Phantasm, Tawrich (The Left-Handed Grimoire of Retribution), was quite useful.

As long as he didn't die, he could reflect all the damage he received back to his opponent's Origin. For the weak, this Noble Phantasm was full of pitfalls. Any Servant could deal Angra Mainyu a fatal blow, making this power seem useless. But for the strong, this Noble Phantasm was ridiculously overpowered.

Even for Su Mo, this was a power that could rival, and even surpass, Mythical Thaumaturgy.

"Using a pseudepigraphon to surpass the original mythical text?!"

Hearing Su Mo's words, Rin was stunned for a moment, completely shocked. If anyone else had said that, she would have thought them delusional. But if it was Su Mo saying it, she truly believed he could do it.

After putting away the Avesta, Su Mo turned to the slightly bewildered Artoria.

"The current Great Holy Grail is now sufficient to grant your wish. Setting aside whether Alaya would allow you to do so, let me ask you: do you still hold to the wish you once made?"

In Su Mo's view, Artoria had practically been scammed by Alaya into working for free. After all, even if Artoria managed to win the Holy Grail War, Alaya would never allow her to rewrite history and create a Lostbelt.

That would lead to the troublesome situation of Human Order Pruning.

"My... wish?"

Facing Su Mo's gaze, which seemed to see through everything, the girl who had given her all for her country shook her head blankly.

"I'm sorry, Master. I don't know."

Hearing this expected answer, Su Mo extended a hand to the ahoge-king before him.

"Since you're still unsure of your own thoughts, do you want to forge a new contract with me?"

"Forge a new... contract?" Artoria was a little confused.

"That's right," Su Mo explained patiently. "Our previous contract was a master-servant contract that lasts until the end of the Holy Grail War. Since you still have doubts about your wish, would you like to sign a new one?"

"In the new contract, you will need to offer your loyalty as a test sub... I mean, as an attendant. And in return, I will give you the answer you seek during our journey!"

Though it was a rather frank conversation, Rin, standing to the side, felt that something was off. She didn't know if it was her imagination, but it felt a bit like he was trying to kidnap her.

And besides, what Lord Su Mo had originally wanted to say wasn't "attendant," but "test subject," right?!

On top of that... That idiot Erica actually went offline because of a few bugs! Do you have any idea your home base is about to be stolen?!

Rin's eyebrow twitched as she tried to suppress the intense urge to retort. As a friend, she should have warned Erica, but Su Mo was also her benefactor, putting her in a difficult position.

While Rin was struggling with her dilemma, Artoria quickly made her decision. She immediately knelt on one knee, performing the rite of a knight pledging fealty.

Unlike the temporary contract of the Holy Grail War, this was a long-term master-vassal contract.

"Master! I am willing to accept your proposal. In the name of the King of Knights, I will defend your will with my life, until the moment the contract ends."

In her straightforwardness, she seemed to have forgotten to ask Su Mo when the contract would actually end.

During their brief time together, she seemed to have misjudged Su Mo's character, thinking he was an extremely compassionate and upright good god.

A request to travel together from a great god was naturally no different from a divine blessing; there was no reason to refuse.

"I accept your fealty."

Su Mo lightly tapped Artoria's shoulders three times with the Sword of Promised Victory, completing the ceremony.

At the same time, using the Boar incarnation as a foundation and Mithra, the god of contracts, as the core, a Mythical Thaumaturgy was activated.

He successfully snatched Artoria's sovereignty from the hands of Alaya, which had failed to fulfill its promise.

From now on, even without Command Spells, Su Mo could, as her master, forcibly command Artoria to obey his orders.

Of course, given the current power gap between them, Artoria wouldn't have been able to resist him even without a master-vassal contract.

Having successfully acquired the ahoge-king, Su Mo turned his gaze to the structure of the Great Holy Grail before him.

There was still about a year until the Holy Grail War officially began, so there was no rush to end it. Compared to the predictable Holy Grail War, there was something more worthy of study before him.

"I remember, the Great Holy Grail is a magical device constructed by the Winter Saint, Justeaze. Which means... its very structure contains the incomplete Third Magic?"