Section 18: Is it Sin? Is it Reproachable? Is it Evil?

Patch data uploaded! Mystic Code and spell sync authenticated! Everything's ready to go!

All right, here goes! Activate Spring of Arcana Mystic Code spell!

Well, it's not completely purified, but it IS down to twenty percent of what it was before.

The Dreadnoughts are going away, too.

Good. All that's left now is to charge in and find Typhon.

We still need to be careful. I do not sense much inside the castle right now, but there's no telling what we may find in there.

Hey! Don't think you can tell the rest of us what to do just because you're the oldest one here!

Are you two bickering again? You never get tired of that, do you?

Hmph... That aside, I do agree with your opinion. We are the same person, after all.

So yes, we do need to move as swiftly as we can, while also remaining vigilant. The more cowardly the rabbit, the more difficult the hunt.

Understood, Master?

？！

So this is the Castle of Twilight's interior...

？！

I know what you mean. It reminds me more of an ant colony than a castle.

I can't imagine any humans actually living here.

I'm sure it was built with war in mind, but that's exactly why you're not supposed to scrimp on the living quarters.

You can't possibly fight at full strength if you're also constantly dealing with pain and discomfort.

The structure is bizarrely simplistic as well.

A castle is usually designed to lure opposing armies to certain areas, but I see nothing like that here.

Each of the other castle's we've seen reflected their lord's personalities, but this one just seems empty.

It's also strange that we have not run into any of the shadow knights we saw outside.

At any rate, if this castle is built like the others, then we should be nearing its center.

An enormous dragon!? Is that Typhon's real body!?

No. I wouldn't actually call that a dragon.

I-I see what you mean. It looks more like a cross between a dragon and a rocket.

Does this mean...it came from outer space?

？！

Yeah, I think so!

This Typhon clearly has some extraterrestrial elements to its body.

Maybe it's from the same lineage as the Twelve Olympian Machine Gods, or maybe ...

...something similar to it acquired the shape and traits of dragonkin when it first made contact with Earth...?

This thing's friggin' huge, but...it looks like it's sleeping.

So, you have learned my sleeping self's name.

？！

There's two of them!? ...Oh, right. Mash mentioned a real body before, so you must be a clone or something.

Of course your real body can't move if it's still sealed away.

？！

Why? A pointless question.

You and I are fundamentally different beings.

Strictly speaking, dragonkin cannot have free will as long as they are facing the end of their line, their fate.

I am the light that shows them a better way. I am the storm encouraging them to fight for it.

？！

The hell!? These magical energy readings are insane!

It hasn't even fully woken up yet, and its attention alone is making all our instruments go haywire!

Hey! Fujimaru!

Fujimaru!

Senpai!

V-vitals are falling rapidly! Internal organs and nervous system have sustained heavy damage! Initiating stimulation and stabilization spells via Mystic Code!

Khh, Light of Wisdom! Aid those spells however you can!

Fujimaru! Can you hear me!?

？！

I'm sorry. Please, listen to me!

I couldn't believe this at first either, but Typhon there is apparently the closest thing to a phenomenon out of all dragonkin.

？！

Most gods began as natural phenomena or concepts that became conscious and intelligent. Greek gods became humanlike through human interaction.

But Typhon is a dragonkin that was born for the sole purpose of killing the gods of Olympus.

The fact that it came from outer space only makes that purpose even more pronounced.

It's a monster among monsters that originated outside of Earth and became a pure god-killing phenomenon.

That's why its dragonkin purity is so unbelievably high.

So much so that you could plausibly call it a pure-blooded dragon.

...I think I get what you're saying. It's like the mountain god.

The mountains are home to thousands, maybe millions of living things...

...and we perceive that collective whole as if it were a single god.

But this thing became like a mountain god all by itself.

I'm sure it doesn't need human faith to exist. Hell, it probably doesn't even need attention from other gods.

It forced its way into becoming natural phenomena and concepts, all while remaining an individual.

I can't even imagine the sheer power it'd take to do something like that.

Typhon the dragon is a phenomenon meant to pass judgment on godsa mechanism for guiding sin and vice.

I am sin. I am transgression. I am wickedness.

Now, I will give you all a fitting end.

...

...I knew it. Something is off.

？！

Yes, you're saying all the right things. The same things a truly powerful dragonkin would say.

But something's not adding up. I sense a faint but genuine hatred in you.

It was like this back with Thēseus and Asterios as well.

You tried to talk Thēseus over the edge of despair in a way that no simple phenomenon would ever bother with.

A true natural phenomenon would never hold mere humans in such contempt.

...

See? You're doing it right now. Yes, you're certainly acting like a dragon would.

But those feelings seething inside you aren't the sort you can keep hidden.

Trust me, you couldn't get by in my time if you couldn't tell what people were really feeling.

So...are you actually Typhon?

...

...Have you ever regretted having a wish come true?

？！

What do you mean?

If Taigong Wang hadn't won, he wouldn't have had to kill Daji.

If Thēseus hadn't won, he wouldn't have had to kill Asterios.

And if your people hadn't won, the Wars of the Diadochi would never have happened.

What are you

This isn't limited to Servants, either. How about you, Master of Chaldea?

Have you ever won a fight you wish you hadn't?

？！

Get a hold of yourself, Fujimaru!

？！

This is no time to be answering the enemy's questions! As far as we can tell, Typhon's real body is still asleep!

We can't risk it waking up, however small that risk may be!

So you should be doing whatever it takes to capture that girl as peacefully as possible!

There. You just said you can't let Typhon awaken.

Huh?

I heard it! I heard your wish loud and clear! Now, give them a good fight, my shadow knights!

Tch, there's too many of them! Hey, old man! I'm going to borrow your appearance for a moment!

It's no use! They just keep coming!

Khh... They're too close! I can't handle them all at this distance!

I've got it!

I know your tricks, and who you really are! You are both Typhon and not Typhon!

？！

Yes, it seems you really have figured it out.

But you're too late. I've heard the wish. The mustached man said you can't allow Typhon to awaken.

Well, your wish...will not be granted.

H-hey! You there! Are you aware you're wreathed in pitch-black flames!?

Damn! So that's your game!

？！

I am sin! I am transgression! I am wickedness!

To sin is to wish. To transgress is to pray.

To be wicked is to dream.

The old philosophers knew the truth. They understood that wishes are the source of every wicked monster.

And the goddess granted a fruit! A fruit that would stop all wishes from ever coming true!

Wh-what the...!? Why's everything shaking!?

Hear me!

Hear me, and awaken, Typhon the ancestral dragon!

Massive magical energy reading detected! Dragonkin breath incoming!

Wh-wh-wh-why is this happening all of a sudden!? What's going on!?

The breath's magical energy readings are spiking even higher! There's enough destructive force here to level a whole city!

Crap! It must be using energy from the thunderbolt Typhon stole from Zeus!

Master!

Come on! We're going to escape to my library! I just hope we're not too late!

Open, gates of wisdom!

You shall learn the arc of history. You shall know of our future.

You shall see our indomitable spirit, even if our journey is doomed to destruction!

Bibliothēkē Basileiou!

Well...

Senpai! Take a look at the screen!

The Castle of Twilight! It's

？！

Apparently, even though you escaped to the library, the breath attack managed to expel you from the castle, right down to your space-time coordinates.

By stealing Zeus's thunderbolts, that breath attack was able to affect space-time itself.

？！

However, that cocoon is

It's Typhon's cocoon.

They mean to use it to cure Typhon of the curse of ephemerality the fruit placed on Typhon, restoring it to full strength.

Wh-what did you say? They want to restore Typhon?

What in the world is going on there, Ptolemaîos?

I was only half right about Typhon being behind this Singularity.

Only half?

The real mastermind certainly has close ties to Typhon, but it was not Typhon who found the Holy Grail.

No, the being we have been facing so farthe Holy Grail's true wielderis the ephemeral fruit.

？！

Now I get it! Back in the Age of Gods, it wasn't uncommon for objects to take on personalities.

Even the gods first started out as phenomena and concepts. Hell, in Greek myth, people wouldn't even bat an eye at a plant becoming a god.

So, that girl isn't Typhon, but rather, the ephemeral fruit Typhon ate!

And that would mean she's materialized as a Servant that performs Typhon like a role... A Pretender!

That would make her Servant name "Ephemeros," from the Greek word meaning "ephemeral."

As for the ephemeral fruit, it's as I told you before: it is a fruit that prevents one's wishes from coming true.

Put another way, it is an anti-wish granter.

？！

That is most likely why she was so fixated on our wishes.

It must be an instinctual reaction for her.

So if one of us were to wish for Typhon not to be revived in front of a fruit that refuses wishes...

No way...

But, that would mean

？！

I see... So that's why she took such a roundabout path to get here.

A wish granter can't grant its own wishes. The same must be true for an anti-wish granter.

Th-then, it's my fault Typhon is going to be revived?

？！

Yeah. You couldn't have possibly known. I had no idea of her real identity, either.

And I don't think she expected us to come to that castle, so this method was probably a backup plan of sorts.

Well, at least now we know why she made this Singularity, and why she made it the way she did.

Like Ptolemaîos said, as an anti-wish granter, she must instinctively react to wishes.

So she made a Singularity that pitted Heroic Spirits against each other.

Because the best way for an Anti-Holy Grail to gather magical energy...is to encourage their wishes even as it refuses to grant them.

So that was her plan!?

I doubt this was the first time she's done this. She's almost certainly repeated this kind of Holy Grail Front over and over.

And since time is all distorted in this Singularity, she could then collect the Heroic Spirits whose wishes never came true and

...Heh.

Heh, hehe. Hahahaha. Hahahahahahaha!

？！

What can I do but laugh?

I had my suspicions about this Singularity from the start, but I never would have guessed that the owner of the Holy Grail we've all been fighting for was actually an anti-wish granter!

This...is just like when Iskandar and I devoted ourselves to searching for the endless sea that never existed!

The sea was a dream, a fantasy! There was no one strong enough to carry on in Iskandar's stead!

We all let meaningless dreams drive us to waste our lives chasing an illusion, until we lost everything!

We racked our brains, our muscles, our courage...and all for nothing!

The ephemeral fruit is right. Our wish was sinful. Transgressive. Wicked.

Our dreams themselves were the true source of evil!

Ptolemaîos...

？！

I'm sorry. I need some time to think.

Fortunately, between the two of us, we should be able to maintain the library.

...

Oh, Master.

I'm sorry I was hard to find. So many of these shelves look so alike, it's easy to get lost in here.

I'm also sorry you had to see me making such a disgrace of myself earlier.

？！

That's kind of you to say.

Can I ask you a question, Ptolemaîos?

There's something I've been wondering about for a while now. Do you use Memory Partition?

？！

There are two skills every Atlas Institute alchemist must be able to do:

Thought Acceleration and Memory Partition.

The former lets you think at high speeds, as you'd expect, and the latter lets you wall off your mind so you can hold multiple thoughts in your head simultaneously.

These aren't philosophical questions. These are real, practical abilities needed to use Atlas Institute technology.

So the fact that you're able to make things like that mechanical eagle, or this whole library, makes me wonder if you didn't have those abilities back when you were still alive.

Indeed, I did. I was born with some unusual talents.

I actually have five different personalities. Only later in life did I learn that was unusual.

？！

These are no imaginary friends. They are the personalities of my parents and other close figures from my life.

As a result, I was able to perfectly imitate how they acted and what they would say in any given situation.

Back then, others saw this ability as advanced impersonation, but once I got too close to the originals, they began to find it more disturbing than entertaining.

But my king loved my talents. He said such a rare gift should be put to use in his service.

I remember exactly what he told me on a hill near the school in Mieza.

This is a talent of yours, right? Talents as brilliant as that deserve to be known by the whole world.

And if possible, I'd like you to use yours by my side.

...Hm? You want to know why?

Ahaha, isn't it obvious? I want to be able to see stuff like that up close whenever I feel like it!

I see. So that's your secret.

You're not just a wise leader. You're able to perfectly emulate other people's thought processes!

Man, Iskandar sure knew how to pick them! That kind of talent would be a headline act in most places, but among his retainers, it was apparently just normal.

The Mieza school was a wonderful place to learn. I especially loved how anyone could read as many of their numerous books as they liked.

My king was fond of stories like the "Iliad," but I daresay my love for them eclipsed even his.

I'm guessing you were also able to pseudopredict the future just as well as any Atlas Institute alchemist then.

So you realized that too.

In my case, I could only predict events involving myself or people I personally knew, so it was even more limited than you might think.

As my king and I continued our eastern conquest, I acquired even more personalities.

One of them was a fearsome general said to be our army's strongest warrior.

He was the other pillar of our armed forces, a true master of both the literary and martial arts.

Like me, he was one of King Iskandar's seven bodyguards, the Somatophylakes. He was also one of the king's best friends, and known to many as the second King of Conquerors.

My other personalities include his nameless sister, the one-eyed general, the lion-slaying brave, and the commander of the Silver Shields. There was also the infinitely wise Brahmin and his assistant, and the general who was the king's half sister.

...Ahh, I could go on and on about them. Every last one of them shone as clearly as the brightest stars.

And of course, we can't forget our king, and all his incomparable glory.

His death was devastating. Not only for me, but for all the Somatophylakes.

I cannot tell you how empty the Conference of Babylon we held to discuss his legacy was, or how utterly pointless the resulting Wars of the Diadochi were.

Setting that meaninglessness aside, I could always stay one step ahead, since I retained what amounted to a copy of their minds and personalities within myself.

？！

Yes. I used my multiple personalities to set traps for the other would-be successors. It was astonishingly easy.

We were comrades in arms, you see. So I knew all there was to know about them.

Of my abilities, the one that proved most effective against them was the power of culture, of stories.

...

？！

That I did. I intertwined the tales of Egypt and the pharaohs with my king and myself.

I went on to become pharaoh, just as my king did, and brought back a number of ancient Egyptian rituals that had long since been forgotten.

I even conflated my all too mortal king with the immortal gods the Egyptian people worshipped.

？！

Ptolemaîos was better versed in Egyptian mythology than most actual Egyptians of the time.

Greece and Egypt were already closely tied together, which made it easy for him to combine their mythologies and reconstruct them to include new holy figures of his own making.

One of those was a myth that said Iskandar was the son of two demiurges, Zeus and Amun-Ra.

？！

That's right. I created a new Egyptian mythology, with my king at its center.

I built temples, invented new gods, and brought in scholars and priests to make everything seem legitimate.

Of course, the other successors tried to use my king to justify their own claims as well. My methods went further, though.

Yeah, having faith in something meant a lot more at that time than it does now.

I can imagine how difficult it would've been for the other successors to attack a nation whose faith centered on their former king.

If I recall correctly, you were also the Mieza school's star pupil, right?

Indeed. I knew very well how much the other successors revered our king.

That knowledge is what enabled me to use the culture and stories we call "mythology" as both shield and sword.

Consequently, in spite of their arguably superior military power, none of the other successors were able to so much as scratch me.

Stories plant the seeds of ideas that become dreams. They are the sustenance of our prayers and the foundation of our wishes.

They are the most beautiful thing I ever learned in Mieza's halls.

Which is why what Typhon said struck me so deeply.

To sin is to wish. To transgress is to pray.

To be wicked is to dream.

The old philosophers knew the truth. They understood that wishes are the source of every wicked monster.

She is right.

I took the stories I loved so deeply and turned them into bloodstained tools of war for my own wishes.

？！

I ruled my nation with stories. I drove my comrades in arms to their deaths with them.

I took something I considered more beautiful than anything in this world and used it to destroy the people I cared about the most.

I even sacrificed my king's own son.

Perhaps things could have been different if it weren't for my king's mother...

So you're saying all that was evil now?

The young Ptolemaîos...

You wouldn't know. You haven't become me yet.

True, in this body, it's hard for me to believe we're the same person. But I can still use Memory Partition just as well as you.

That means I can recreate what you're thinking. And I do understand what you're saying.

You feel like stories are what led both our king and ourselves astray.

...

The stories of the endless sea, and that the strongest warriors were meant to claim it, were what set us on that wild-goose chase.

What's more, it was our very love for stories that led to us turning their power into weapons.

True, that's a hellish thing to realize. It makes me want to throw the "Iliad" away, I'm so disgusted with myself.

？！

But that doesn't mean it was the wrong thing to do.

...What was that?

Maybe what we did WAS a sin. Maybe we DID transgress.

But I refuse to accept that it was also purely wicked, with no redeeming qualities.

I know why we did it. We wanted to accomplish our goal without spilling blood.

We thought if we used stories instead of spears, we wouldn't have to point those spears at our comrades' throats.

We believed if we deified our king, we could once again share in our journey to the Far East.

Yes, we were also acting out of self-interest. Yes, we did employ some underhanded schemes.

But that doesn't mean everything we did was wrong. I refuse to accept that, even from my own self.

You may be the older and wiser me, but you can't deny the ardor that still burns in me.

I...

I agree with the young guy.

？！

I may not look it, but I'm something of a monk myself, so I'm used to hearing people talk about their regrets.

The thing is, Ptoley, people can't help but live their lives through stories.

Just like you made up stories about a new god, stories about the Buddha spread far and wide and took root real deep.

Every blade of grass, every leaf, every flower petal... They've all got stories of their own.

And there ain't nothing wrong OR right about that.

Grass, leaves, flowers... They just exist, no matter what you say about them. Same for the mountains, the ocean, the sky, and so on.

And by just existing, they inspire stories. Sin, transgressions, wickedness... All that just happens naturally.

There's no shortage of bad things out there, and probably even more that're just plain worthless.

That doesn't make them mistakes.

None of us here are mistakes, whether we're still alive or died a long time ago.

？！

？！

Fujimaru...!

？！

？！

...

I see. Yes, good point.

That you went down the wrong path doesn't mean going down it was the wrong choice.

If an author writes a treatise that is found to be in error, we need only reject the treatise, not its author.

Exactly. Same as how I got inscribed on the Throne even after I missed the most important target I ever aimed at.

Now, now. I never made any mistakes THAT dire.

What was that, old man!?

Heh... Forgive me. I was only poking fun.

I'm sorry. I intended to give myself some time to cool off. Instead, I found myself relying on you for help.

I hope you can forgive me.

Heh. Did you really think I could just stand around while the other me is making a jackass of himself?

Eh, I was just passing on what the other monks used to say.

Heh. I see.

All that aside, how do we fight back now? We need to act soon, before the real Typhon wakes up.

And with its real body on the side of an anti-wish granter, we can't count on its Authority preventing wishes from coming true to work.

You all saw what its breath was capable of, and that was while it was still mostly asleep.

Hold on. An anti-wish granter?

In that case...there may be someone else here better suited than me to offer advice.

？！

Hang on. I'll be right back with him.

I see. Yes, it does sound like I would be a better fit for this job.

There's no one else at Chaldea who knows more about wish-granting Holy Grails than I.

Don't forget the "II." I'm not nearly ready to assume the responsibility that comes with going by El-Melloi alone.

Thank you for remembering the "II." I'm still not ready to go by El-Melloi alone.

？！

I've been thinking about the original Command Spells Ptolemaîos mentioned before.

Chaldea only has a single record of that kind of Command Spell. It's from the Holy Grail War that took place in Fuyuki City.

The Fuyuki Holy Grailthe one the former director, Marisbury, got his hands on...

...was especially powerful when it came to granting wishes.

？！

What's more, the Holy Grail War that took place in Fuyuki happened in El-Melloi II's world multiple times.

Five or six times, in fact, depending on how you count them. When I learned about this, I began a thorough investigation.

So I think it's safe to say I know more about the Holy Grail's wish-granting ability than anyone else.

Long story short, it IS possible to neutralize Typhon Ephemerosthe ephemeral fruit.

Seriously!?

？！

Their plan is to stop your wish for Typhon to stay asleep from coming true, thereby reviving it, right?

This means you should be able to prevent Typhon's real body from awakening by interfering with the anti-wish granter's Authority.

What's more, that the ephemeral fruit is an anti-wish granter also makes it an Anti-Holy Grail...

...which means a real Holy Grail can counteract it.

And I believe you already have fragments of that Singularity's Holy Grail.

？！

Correct.

That Holy Grail may be more pronounced as a source of magical energy resources than Fuyuki's, but it's still a wish granter.

If it wasn't, this latest Holy Grail Front would never have happened in the first place.

So as long as you make good use of it, you should absolutely be able to weaken the ephemeral fruit.

And fortunately for you, Lord Ptolemaîos there excels at that sort of thing.

...True, my library can help us find out how to do that.

Though, the way you were speaking just now, it almost sounded like you know me personally.

Oho, so I was right? I was told you were a sage in a past Holy Grail War. Does this mean I was summoned as a Servant in that war?

That story is from my world, and isn't relevant to this one. It's not worth wasting our precious time on that now.

That said, there is one thing I would like to ask you, if you don't mind. Is that all right with you, Master?

？！

Right, then. My question is actually for both of you.

Was your journey with King Iskandar worth it?

I see... So you and that Iskandar boy...

You've fought alongside my king as well!

Only for two weeks.

Hahaha, it doesn't matter how long it was! Well, I suppose that nameless woman might feel differently, but never mind her now.

My king's army was not at all concerned with the duration of your service. It didn't even care whether you were enemy or ally.

Its only concerns were whether you set your sights on the same stars, and whether you dreamed the same dream.

...The same dream, huh?

It's ridiculous, right? Imagine a group of grown men gathering around that king and saying:

"Please, let us follow you. Let us chase down the endless sea by your side."

As for the answer to your question...I was actually just stewing over that same thing myself earlier.

Same here. That part of us will never change, no matter how many decades pass.

Ultimately, our answer is...that there is no answer.

Despite all the passion we brought along, it may be that that journey we took with him was a sinful one.

But even if it was, the light from that time will never fade from my heart.

So, if my king should happen to be there, please...tell him I'm still dreaming the same dream.

Thank you. I will. I promise.

Okay, so we know what we have to do now.

But we still need to figure out a way to get close to the ephemeral fruit again.

I've thought and thought about it, but I still can't figure out what would get us through a cocoon that tough.

There were spots we could destroy when it was just a castle we had to worry about, but I'm sure they're all reinforced even more heavily now.

Oh, don't worry. We can handle that part.

Yes, that should be no problem.

？！

Oh yes. Something very special. But we'll need some time to get it ready.

That we will.

Also, I didn't think I'd have to ask you this anymore, but it looks like I have to do so one last time.

There's no night or day to worry about now, so I just ask that you follow your feelings when making your choice.

All right, Master, which version of me would you like to go with?