Multiverse: Becoming a Giant of Light, Godslayer from the Start

With All the World's Evils dealt with, Su Mo made his way to Fuyuki City Central Park. By the time he arrived, Illya had already activated the backup Lesser Grail. Before coming to Fuyuki with Irisviel, Illya had prepared a substitute for the original Grail core—because she was not about to let her mother become a vessel again.

The backup Grail already contained enough Servant souls to function. Su Mo took the Lesser Grail and paused for a moment. Sakura and the others—none of their wishes required the Grail. After asking everyone, it turned out no one had made a wish.

So, in the end, the task of making a wish fell to Su Mo himself. The only problem was… his dreams were too grand. The Grail simply wasn't powerful enough to fulfill them. Still, thinking practically, there was something the Grail could help with.

"I wish to elevate all of my combat skills to god-tier level!" That was Su Mo's request.

Now that he possessed a God-Slaying Spear, he had come to realize that as his strength continued to grow, he'd inevitably wield countless forms of weaponry. At present, only his hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship were at a master's level. His spear techniques, while passable, were fairly ordinary. And that kind of mediocrity could become a liability later on. It was better to resolve that now with the Grail's power.

Of course, Su Mo had other wishes too. But a wish wasn't just about wanting something—the wisher had to know how to achieve it. The Grail didn't work like a miracle; it simply provided the mana needed to bypass the process. The structure of the wish still had to come from the one making it.

In terms of martial arts, Su Mo already knew how to reach the realm of divine mastery. The Grail simply had to replicate the combat techniques of every Servant it had summoned—and transfer all that knowledge into Su Mo.

Just considering Karna alone, he possessed mastery over all forms of weaponry. That alone was nearly enough to fulfil Su Mo's wish. Not to mention, within Iskandar's vast army, there were countless warriors with peerless martial skills. So, raising his entire arsenal of combat techniques to the divine level wasn't just a vague hope—it had a concrete, achievable method.

Once the Holy Grail recognized the feasibility of that wish, it immediately began execution. The system activated. The Greater Grail manifested. An enormous tide of mana surged forth. Unpolluted and purified, the Grail cleanly granted Su Mo's request.

He could feel it—his mastery over swords, spears, polearms, all eighteen traditional weapons, and even modern arms like firearms and missiles—had reached the realm of the divine.

"This really is a generous gift package."

Seeing the results, Su Mo nodded in satisfaction. He hadn't expected modern weapons to be included, yet the Grail had accounted for those as well. Perhaps, in past Holy Grail Wars, Heroic Spirits from modern or even fictional worlds had been summoned, and their combat data had been recorded?

He couldn't say for sure. But this wish was merely an appetizer. The real purpose of the Holy Grail system was only just beginning. After granting the wish, the surface system of the Grail War was now complete. But the true objective—the hidden purpose of the Grail system—was only about to unfold.

Ordinarily, once summoned Servants fulfilled their role in the war, their spiritual bodies would return to the Throne of Heroes. And the Throne existed outside the world. Meaning, when the Servants housed in the Lesser Grail left, they would pass beyond the boundaries of this world into the realm outside.

Even someone like Ishtar, whose Spirit Origin belonged to a goddess, would temporarily break through the membrane separating the inside of the world from the outside. And in that moment, a "hole" would form. The Holy Grail system took advantage of this.

As the Servants broke through that boundary, the mana stored in the Greater Grail—an amount built up over sixty years—would be used to stabilize that rift. The energy used to fulfil wishes earlier was negligible in comparison.

With the massive reserve of magical energy, that "hole" could be held open. And through it, a magus could traverse beyond the world—to the Root. That was the dream of Tohsaka Tokiomi and countless generations of magi.

To reach the Root.

Even a tainted Holy Grail, one polluted by All the World's Evils, retained that capability. And now, with Su Mo's purification, the Grail had regained its full potential. Staring at the rift before him, Su Mo didn't hesitate. He stepped forward.

The world went black.

It felt as though he were falling endlessly into a bottomless abyss—but he remained calm. To a modern magus, reaching the Root was the ultimate ambition. Even knowing they might be consumed or erased, they were willing to risk everything for it. But in the Age of Gods, things had been different. Back then, nearly all magi had indirect connections to the Root.

For them, it was no great feat—something taken for granted. Even more so for the gods themselves. As extensions of Gaia's will, divine beings were inherently linked to the Root. Their Authorities and domains were born from it. And for Su Mo—a Campione, a slayer of gods—while he lacked that inherent link, he possessed a will strong enough to withstand the Root's pull.

He soon realized… he had reached it. This was the source of all things. The beginning of all creation. A place of absolute emptiness yet filled with everything.

If the world of Type-Moon had a "truth," then this was its face—the Swirl of the Root, the blank[ ].

Knowing where he stood, Su Mo immediately began seeking the Third Magic. In this place, the five senses were meaningless. Even space held no meaning. To find the Third Magic, one had to rely on knowledge itself. Su Mo focused his thoughts, recalling everything he knew about the structure of the Greater Grail and the concept of soul materialization.

Perhaps because the rift had been opened using the Third Magic—the product of the Greater Grail—he soon located the exact place within the Root where that knowledge resided.

He dove in.

Falling deeper and deeper into the abyss of soul materialization, he allowed himself to sink. The deeper he descended, the more knowledge he gained. But the rift itself had a time limit. Just moments after Su Mo fully grasped the Third Magic and obtained the complete rights to use it, the rift began to shrink. Fortunately, there was no longer any need for him to remain.

The Third Magic was a mystery created after the birth of Magecraft. It had the unique trait of maintaining a direct link to the Root even from within the world. In other words, as a Magic User who had now mastered the Third Magic, Su Mo could continue to connect with the Root even after returning. This privilege—this unshakable bond—was the proof of his unique status as a true Magician.

And it was something that artificial vessels like the Winter Saint, made merely to contain the Grail, could never hope to obtain. Understanding this, Su Mo finally realized how someone like Zelretch, the "Father of the Jewel Magecraft," had managed to defeat Crimson Moon with just a mortal body.

He had a direct line to the Root, allowing him to refine his magic endlessly. It was like solving a math problem with the answer key already in hand. While other magi struggled through endless trial and error, exhausting themselves chasing theories, a Magic User linked to the Root could verify every step against the ultimate truth.

With a cheat like that, becoming a prodigy in Magecraft was practically guaranteed. Still, even among the Five Magic Users, Root access had limits. They could only access the field related to their own magic. They couldn't intrude on other domains of the Root.

That's why Aoko Aozaki's grandfather, despite being a Magic User, was never able to grasp the concept of immortality—his magic didn't touch that domain. As a result, he eventually succumbed to old age and died. But for Su Mo, that limitation was irrelevant.

The Third Magic itself encompassed the power of immortality. And Su Mo's own lifespan had already far exceeded human norms. With the power he now wielded, simply refining the Third Magic alone would bring his combat strength to new heights.

....

After returning through the rift, Su Mo was immediately greeted by the worried faces of Okita and the others.

"Papa, I felt the presence of the Third Magic. You did it, didn't you?" Illyasviel asked, her voice filled with excitement as she leapt into Su Mo's arms. Illyasviel immediately sensed the difference in Su Mo.

"Mm." Su Mo gave a light nod, then looked toward Kiyohime and the others. "We'll talk about granting you physical bodies once I've had time to organize my thoughts. For now, let's head back."

Back at home, after revisiting and organizing his understanding of the soul materialization power he had grasped, Su Mo began preliminary modifications to the Servants. He didn't fully apply soul materialization but gave them physical bodies sufficient for life in the world.

To fully bestow that level of mature materialization as on Illyasviel, who herself was already a highly refined vessel of the Greater Grail, was still beyond his current command of the Third Magic. More research was needed.

Still, Okita and the others didn't mind. On the contrary, just having physical forms and being allowed to remain in the world was more than enough for them. Their joy filled the house with celebration and laughter. Amid the festivities, Su Mo closed his eyes and entered the mist space once more.

...

...

As soon as he stepped out of the white fog, Su Mo found himself face to face with two familiar versions of himself—one dressed as a Marine, spinning a wild tale, and the other, the Campione Su Mo, listening with rapt attention. But the moment they saw the newcomer arrive, both versions stopped talking and extended their mischievous hands.

"You know what time it is!"

"Hehehe~!"

The two of them looked like sleazy villains harassing a proper young lady. The "Type-Moon" Su Mo was unimpressed and casually smacked both their outstretched hands away.

"Shoo, shoo!"

But the other two didn't care about his attitude. As long as they got that symbolic high five, they considered their objective achieved. After probing the new power within themselves for a moment, the Campione Su Mo beamed with joy.

"This is insane! I really did it—Heaven's Feel, the Third Magic, in the palm of my hand! As expected of me!"

"So this… is the power of true immortality?"

Although he had always enjoyed an extended lifespan, it was still finite—at most a thousand, maybe ten thousand years. But now, having mastered the Third Magic, he had essentially become truly immortal. He was now a being beyond the boundaries of natural life.