Section 19: Imperceptible Sea

You got here in no time at all, Sì Bú Xiàng. Guess you're all ready to go, too.

I should begin by commending you for making an excellent choice.

Since both my younger self and I are me, it only makes sense to choose the version with more experience. That is to say, me.

Yeah, yeah. I bet that wasn't even a factor in Master's decision.

Haha! Nothing gives you a well-earned sense of superiority quite like the loser's complaining.

This is exactly what makes being king worthwhile. Don't you agree, Master?

Now, now, don't be shy! Trust me, I know exactly how you feel!

Understood. Do not worry. I promise you won't regret this choice.

？！

Hey. Young me.

What is it, old me?

I know El-Melloi II asked you the same question, but, did you enjoy your journey with him?

Don't tell me you... No, you didn't forget. I see. Sometimes, we just want to double-check what we usually take for granted.

Sure, I'll say it as many times as you like. It was the best. Of course it was.

It doesn't matter that it ended up being a sin. Or that we hurt people along the way.

...Or even that we wound up killing the friends we once fought beside.

Heh. That's right. It was, wasn't it?

Leave that cocoon to me. I've got something special ready for it.

You just get on Sì Bú Xiàng and ride him straight to the enemy.

You and Ptoley can take Sì Bú Xiàng, Master. I'll just follow along in my spirit form.

？！

All right, let's go. Hang on tight, Fujimaru!

At last, the end is nearly in sight.

It's been so long. So very long...

All that time spent waiting in the rift between day and night, where time has lost all meaning...

Waiting for the miraculous fruit, adrift in an ocean of time dissolved into twilight...

Now, finally, you and I have arrived at the place we were always meant to reach.

Really?

Hmph, that's right. I forgot just how foolish so-called heroes can be, refusing to give up even when they can never win.

Very well then. As an anti-wish granter, I will just have to dash their dreams once again.

As the fruit created for this very purpose, I will gladly nip this evil in the bud.

Sì Bú Xiàng is proceeding at a good pace. Twelve hundred meters to go until you reach Typhon's cocoon.

Evacuating to the Library of Alexandria did save your lives, but it didn't prevent your expulsion from the castle.

And of course, the enemy's not going to make it easy for you to get in close again.

They're here! As I expected!

You're nine hundred meters out now. But enemies have appeared at the six hundred meter mark.

Haha, that's fine! They're ultimately nothing more than an unruly rabble!

We don't have time to worry about them! Just focus on breaking through the enemies in front!

Good, we're through!

Five hundred meters to go now. ...Oh no!

High energy reading detected on the cocoon's surface! Typhon is about to unleash another breath attack!

Guess it can still fire that thing even through the cocoon!

So much for hoping it would stay asleep and not give us any more trouble...

I suppose that was too much to ask for against the ephemeral fruit.

Fortunately, we're ready for it this time. Trust me!

Typhon's cocoon...

Part of me still can't believe I'm going up against something so massive on my own.

Still, this isn't bad, not by half.

I can only imagine that boy Iskandar's excitement, were he here to see this!

Well then, I suppose I can't just stand here twiddling my thumbs.

I'll just have to be the first to set foot in the endless sea!

We begin with my first Noble Phantasm, Pharos Tis Alexandrias.

Then we add my second, Bibliothēkē Basileiou, and...

...combine them!

There. Ptolemaîos has activated his Noble Phantasm from the rear.

Huh. Hang on. Noble Phantasms...plural? Is he actually using two at once!?

I've always been able to use two Noble Phantasms, though my different ages do favor one over the other.

The first is the great Lighthouse of Alexandria. The second is the Library of Alexandria.

The library amplifies the lighthouse's energy, enabling it to reach far beyond its usual level.

Each effectively multiples the other's internal magical energy, though at the cost of rendering both unusable as Noble Phantasms.

I believe you call this sort of thing a Broken Phantasm.

Are you serious!?

The library is impressive enough, but the lighthouse is one of the Seven Wonders of the World! Even for Noble Phantasms, that's really something else!

No, wait. Considering their origins in the Atlas Institute, they're arguably more significant than any Servant rank could hope to express.

And you're telling us you're going to destroy both of them at the same time!?

Actually, I'm going to destroy three things, so I suppose that makes it a Triple Broken Phantasm.

I could never have done this while I was alive. My other self's Spirit Core will never be able to handle the strain of using so much magical energy at once.

？！

Don't look back!

I entrusted this task to my other self, along with all my convictions and regrets.

No matter how thick Typhon's outer shell may be, heI, will shatter it.

...So please, Master. Use a Command Spell on me.

？！

？！

？！

？！

I hear you, Master! I've received your will, and your magical energy!

Crystal domain stabilized. Ashen wisdom and execution authority delegated.

Critical mass breached. Control domain exceeded. Warnings will now be truncated to numbers only.

Spirit Origin coupling reduced to eighty-seven...eighty-three...continuing to drop. Time until materialization limit reached.

All right, let's do this.

The rest is up to you, my old self. Let's make sure we never lose another lord ever again.

No pharos can illuminate dreams. No mouseion can travel the world.

But a pharos can illuminate a journey! A mouseion can inspire dreams!

My journey was over as quickly as a fleeting dream. My dream burned as bright as a fiery journey.

Now, use my dream and journey as kindling, and set the forbidden wisdom free!

My third Noble Phantasm...Soter!

Haha... So this is Typhon. This is the breath of the dragon who defeated Zeus himself!

But who cares!?

So what if you're the great ancestral dragon!?

Show yourself, ephemeral fruit!

Well...looks like this journey is coming to an end for me.

Shame I missed out on seeing the endless sea again. That's okay, though.

Master... May your ocean be...

That light... It was like it was shattering space itself!

That's right, me...

My journeythe journey we all undertookwas always more than its faults.

Yes, it may have ended in tragedy, and we all may have committed countless sins along the way.

But even if I had known what fate had in store, or how many tears I shed at its outcome...

...I would never have stopped for anything! No one could have stopped me, no matter how hard they tried!

Reaction confirmed! He did it! He destroyed Typhon's outer cocoon!

Come, let us head inside!

It looks like there was lava flowing in here to begin with, but now it's even melting into what's left of the ground.

That clash between Typhon's breath and Ptolemaîos's Noble Phantasm sure left a hell of a mark on this place.

All this magical energy swirling around would be insane for the Age of Gods, to say nothing of modern times.

Make sure you stay with Sì Bú Xiàng, Master. We can handle these footholds, but I don't want you risking it.

One bad step, and you'd be no more than bones long before you even made it down to the lava.

Good grief. It seems they're both still alive and well, unfortunately.

But look, Typhon's real body is injured! That Triple Broken Phantasm must have done some serious damage!

I don't know. Looking at it another way, even with all that power, he couldn't take the thing out while it was still asleep.

These pure-blood dragons really are like nothing we've ever seen.

So, you've returned.

I should commend you for that attack just now.

It's hard to believe a human Spirit Origin was capable of such a precise and powerful assault. Whoever did it must have accumulated quite the history.

？！

Is that my name? I see. Clever.

Ephemeros...the ephemeral fruit. Then you know what it is I do.

You're an Anti-Holy Grail, aren't you?

Yes, that would seem to be the best way to describe it for you. I am an anti-wish granter. My only purpose is to prevent wishes from coming true.

It is a purpose none ever asked for, much the same way Pandora's Box should never have been opened.

However, just as there are some wishes that should be granted, there are others that should not.

Or have you never had dreams you would rather had never become reality?

...Of course I have.

Dreams always have the potential to turn poisonous, whether they come true or not.

My own dream became a poison for the history of the whole world. I can't in good conscience say that doesn't bother me.

You won all of your battles. And you fell as far from grace as one ever could.

By day, killed. By night, you piled death upon death without so much as hesitating. You left a mountain of corpses in your wake.

You spread the poison of arrogance to all you touched, just as Zeus did during the two machia.

Yes, that too is true.

However, Anti-Holy Grail...what you fail to see is that you have confused the order of it all.

The order...?

Isn't that right, my Master?

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？！

Living...comes first?

Your focus so far has been entirely on the results, the end.

And yes, the result of Heroic Spirits like myself living as we did left all manner of scars on the tapestry of history.

All the more so for those who would later come to be known as Anti-Heroes.

But even those scars are proof that we persisted in life.

If being judged one day is the price of my dreams coming true, so be it. If I've done harm, then it's only right that I make amends.

But wishing that my dream had never come true at all? That would make me a truly irredeemable fool.

There! That is exactly the sort of arrogance I am talking about!

Yes, that's it. You have every right to stand before me, so overcome with emotion.

You're not the goddess of fate any longer. You're filled with rage; you're the enemy Master and I are here to fight.

Fight? There will be no fight. Typhon's awakening is nearly at hand.

The more you wish for it not to come to pass, the more your wish will be denied!

Typhon's internal Spirit Origin readings are rising rapidly! I can't believe it! They're already on par with a Divine Beast!

Ephemeros's Noble Phantasm! That must be the Authority she wields as an anti-wish granter!

You who are cloaked in darkness and sin. You who are burdened with heavy transgressions.

Rejoice, for calamity is upon you.

I am sin. I am transgression. I am wickedness. My fruit shall prevent your wish from ever coming true!



Now, Sugitani!

Yaaah!

What... What did you just shoot...?

Ghh!

That round was made with the Tears of the Holy Grail. I suppose you could call it a Holy Grail round.

I knew from our battle with Thēseus that it was possible to modify the bullets in Sugitani's Noble Phantasm.

I doubt you'll find something so rare and precious even in Chaldea's halls. Enjoy it!

It worked! Ephemeros and Typhon's magical energy readings are dropping!

I see... This bullet is my antithesis.

It will indeed be difficult to revive Typhon like this.

Very well then...you leave me no choice.

？！

I would have dearly loved to witness your final miserable moments, but so be it!

Devour me, Typhon! Devour me like in your myths!

I, too, shall become a wish that will never come true!

？！

Ahh... I should have known that my wish would also fail to come true.

Whoa, whoa. What's that girl's voice doing coming out of that thing?

...Now I see.

So this is your true form: Typhon Ephemeros, the Pretender.

The goddess of fate fed me to Typhon to ensure its wish would never come true.

She said it was because that wish was evil.

I believed her, and thus thought I wouldn't mind being eaten, being a sacrifice.

？！

It's just like I read in my library. This is one of the many dragon myths.

It's like what happened with Yamata-no-Orochi being intoxicated before it was defeated, or with Jason using Medea's medicine to put the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece to sleep.

Dragons and other monsters that are too strong to beat in a fight meet their ends by being tricked into consuming drugs, tainted offerings, and the like.

What is more, that drug or offering is thought to have frequently been sacrificial maidens.

I loathe sinful heroes! I despise arrogant gods!

As long as I exist, I shall never let their or anyone else's wishes come true!

All those wishes you achieved by trampling all over us... I shall make you regret every last one of them!