You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

There are many dark and cruel things happening inside Konoha Village, pirate crews, the Revolutionary Army, the Navy, and the World Government, but the author often separates them and blames them on a certain person or group (the famous scapegoat Danzo has something to say).

However, the Gotei 13 is an organization that, by its very nature, has nothing to do with "good" or "evil." It is more like a collection of swords and tools. The Shinigami are also very clear about their roles and rarely get caught up in right or wrong, good or evil.

Everyone knew there was discord within the 12th Division, that the 2nd Division had a lot of dirt on them, and that the 11th Division's competition system was brutal, but no one objected.

As long as it is useful for protecting Soul Society, then its existence is permitted.

Conversely, if someone poses a threat to Soul Society, they must be eliminated even if they have not committed a crime!

This is why Ichigo Kurosaki, the protagonist, is actually outside the Seireitei. This is not only due to the protection of the "Sacred Letter D", but also because a group of professional assassins, from Yamamoto to Byakuya and Byakuya, who are over 100 years old, have seen Ichigo's kind nature.

(Among the main characters of shonen manga, Ichigo is the only one who almost never talks back to others, because his only reason for fighting is "friendship." He doesn't have many grand theories; he just draws his sword and goes to fight!)

Given this worldview, it's impossible for there to be a happy ending like "everyone lived happily ever after".

Yhwach is merely the malice born from this distorted three realms, but there are many similar beings besides him, and the Seireitei itself also has a shadow side.

After Aizen Iori rose to power, why did the Seireitei seem more "positive"?

This is not only due to Iori's personal charm, but also because his rise is accompanied by the emergence of powerful enemies!

The Seireitei is an entity that maintains balance; that is, when faced with a threat, it automatically transforms into a guardian to combat that threat.

From the five noble families to the Forty-Six Chambers, no one can defy this great cause; everyone must make way for it!

Eliminating the Quincy clan is easy, but where can we find such a "convenient" villainous force to threaten the Seireitei?

In order to maintain internal stability, we need to find a hypothetical enemy for this group of people!

Besides, if something unexpected happens in the future... if necessary, Iori can use this knife to ensure that no blood is splattered on him.

Anyway, Iori plans to be a "good student," "good captain," "good brother," and "good husband" in Soul Society—this is the anchor of his humanity, and such a noble and righteous life naturally needs a pair of black gloves.

Putting aside the Quincy matter for the moment, Iori is living a rather leisurely life in Soul Society. Although there are a lot of things to deal with after the great war, they are obviously nothing to his writing skills, so he has plenty of time to spend with his family.

Esdeath also used this as an excuse to stay in Soul Society, and unusually, she acted like a good wife and mother... However, Iori also paid a price, such as activating the power of "Boy" to transform herself into a shota-like appearance that suited Esdeath's taste... But those were trivial matters.

Getting down to business, Iori's biggest challenge right now is how to resolve the "conflict between the Three Realms and Hell".

The Soul King was freed by Iori, but he still hasn't left the Soul King's Palace. Even if the Zero Division is resurrected, they will obey the Soul King's will and fully cooperate with Iori.

The problem is, Iori is quite adept at destroying the world, with ten or even nine different methods... but when it comes to repairing or creating the world, he's completely clueless!

Anyone else would be completely baffled and at a loss, but fortunately, Iori can call in outside help:

Although he didn't understand it, he had friends who were experts, which shows the importance of connections.

And the world he chose for this purpose is—

Chaldea!

……

Emerging from her room, Iori stood in the Chaldea corridor and took a deep breath:

Fortunately, nothing went wrong this time.

Chaldea is a strange place where trouble happens more often than peacetime. In a normal timeline, Chaldea is constantly exploding, let alone this dark and brutal version from the multiverse...

Iori had encountered at least two tough battles and several minor singularities before, and he would encounter some setbacks almost every time he came here, so the seemingly normal Chaldea made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

He knew that Ritsuka was rather "sleepy" and spent far less time awake than asleep, so based on past experience, he took out his communicator and dialed Merlin's Servant number.

Welcome back, Iori~

Merlin's voice remained both flamboyant and mysterious.

"Is there anything I can help you with...? Ah, but I'm a bit busy right now... Could you come over to the warehouse? I'm in warehouse zero."

"Ok?"

After turning off the communicator, Iori frowned, but still headed towards the warehouse as instructed.

Along the way, they encountered many Servants, and they greeted each other familiarly. However, they noticed that Iori did not stop at the cafeteria, but instead headed towards the "abandoned area." Some Servants hesitated slightly, while others remained silent.

Iori noticed this as well, but he said nothing and simply pretended to be oblivious as he arrived at the agreed-upon location.

Warehouse Zero—it's a place that evokes mixed feelings.

When I came to select supplies with Merlin, I passed by this place and saw that it was always closed. I asked him a question out of curiosity, but Merlin cleverly fooled me.

Iori wasn't stupid; of course he knew there was something fishy about this place, and given the usual style of the Type-Moon world, there would probably be some cruel truths that left people feeling helpless... But things were different now. Back then, he didn't have the ability to intervene, but now he didn't need to be afraid.

With the warehouse door wide open, Iori stepped inside, and Merlin, as promised, stood there, staring blankly at a replica of Chaldea.

"Ok?"

After Iori walked in, she took a closer look and realized that something was wrong.

"This globe..."

"Oh, you've arrived. Sorry, I got a little lost in thought."

Merlin turned and smiled slightly at Iori, then continued looking at the somber Chaldea.

Do you remember what I told you before?

"of course."

Iori was quite straightforward, "There must be some secret hidden here, and it's related to Ritsuka, isn't it?"

"...That's right."

Perhaps not expecting Iori to be so direct, Merlin paused for a moment before saying, "This warehouse doesn't store spirit origin materials or magical resources, but rather things that Master has discarded."

It was supposed to be destroyed, but some Servants and I secretly preserved it.

"The abandoned... Chaldea?"

Iori narrowed her eyes slightly. "Although it's very precious and has great sentimental value, there are plenty of similar things in Chaldea, aren't there?"

“We have no shortage of simple instruments, but this one is unique.”

Merlin looked up at the simulated Earth, which was completely unable to continue functioning, and said in a chanting tone, "This is Unit Zero."

"..."

Iori remained silent, waiting for Merlin to reveal the answer.

In all fantasy works, the one that can be called "Zero" must be the most special one.

"You know, Iori. In Chaldea, whenever a world line is terminated, we reclaim the [Chaldea] or [Imaginary Moon] there, both to commemorate the losers and to preserve their last data, proving that they once existed in the universe."

Each of these devices has its own number, which is now a three-digit number... and this one is number zero.

It does not originate from any terminated world line, or rather, it is not a world line we observe.

Iori seemed lost in thought, then slowly opened her eyes wide in surprise, exclaiming, "Could this be Ritsuka...?"

“That’s right, it’s the last legacy of Chaldea from our Master, Fujimaru Ritsuka, before she began her reincarnation!”

"really!"

"Haha~"

Merlin looked at Iori, a hint of sadness in his smile: "We are not all Heroic Spirits summoned by Master... In fact, my first Master failed in her journey."

But some Servants, for various reasons, escaped the cut and were rescued by their Master, coming to Chaldea. Both to repay their Master and to make up for past regrets, everyone is desperately trying to save every timeline…

"I was wondering why some Heroic Spirits address Ritsuka with subtle differences and their emotions are so heavy... It turns out they are projecting their guilt towards another version of her onto Ritsuka."

"If we had tried harder, Master might have survived—there are many Servants who think this way."

Merlin shook his head. "But I feel that this puts too much pressure on the Master, so I have been trying to reduce the Master's contact with gravity-type Servants."

"You've worked hard. I didn't expect you to be such a hard-working person in this timeline."

Iori said this half-jokingly.

Merlin smiled helplessly and continued, "One day, we accidentally retrieved this broken Chaldea in the imaginary space. After examination, Master identified it as her legacy from her first life."

She originally intended to throw it away, but we secretly kept it, hoping that one day it would free her from this burden.

They've even used the word "liberation" now—Iori frowned slightly.

"Why throw it away when it's so important?"

"Master probably doesn't want to remember... She has sacrificed too much for us and for more worlds, and she can't go back to the past."

Some people become more resolute when they recall their original aspirations, while others become weak... She didn't know what would happen to her, so she simply refused.

If she can completely sever her ties with the past, she can continue to move forward as the 'Master'... She placed all her hopes and dreams in the past, and what sustains her now is her awareness and pain.

She offered herself as a sacrifice to bear all the failures, and if things continued like this, one day...

The voice grew softer and softer. Merlin looked at Iori one last time, his expression more sincere than ever before: "Because of Master's subconscious will, no one from Chaldea can enter this abandoned Chaldea. But you and she don't have such a strong contract, so you're probably the only one who can do this."

"I had some idea when you asked me to come here... but what exactly is it for?"

Iori smiled, as expected.

“We need to extract Master’s information from Chaldea. This cannot be done with technology alone, because this globe stores an unimaginable amount of data. Finding the necessary information accurately and fully outlining Master’s profile will be an extremely difficult task.”

Merlin said seriously, "Therefore, we need someone to enter the 'Singularity Records,' find the Master through the bond connection, intervene in the records, and establish enough connections with the past Masters to create an anchor point."

The more anchor points you have, the more complete your intelligence becomes!

"This is simple."

Iori didn't refuse—he had received countless benefits from Chaldea, so giving back was a matter of reciprocity.

Besides... he also hoped to be able to help with Ritsuka's matter.

"As long as we can extract the 'past Master,' we can stabilize her current mental state... There are two outcomes: either she becomes more determined, or she chooses to give up."

—We would prefer the latter.

Merlin looked at Iori with a wry smile: "I can only ask you for help, Iori-san."

"No problem... You're not hiding anything from me, are you?"

Iori looked Merlin up and down with a half-smile: "Let me make this clear, although I'm not one to hold grudges, I can still have a temper sometimes."

You have a lot of embarrassing past mistakes, so please don't repeat them!

"how could be."

Merlin sighed. "I don't joke about Master matters."

Seeing his serious and focused expression, Iori nodded in relief.

Just in case, let's secretly leave a clone in Chaldea.

Even if something goes wrong, we can catch Merlin and beat him up right away!

……

……

In early 2016, the light of humanity manifested by the Earth soul simulation device [Chaldea] disappeared, and the Chaldea Observatory, which was scheduled to conduct exploration of humanity, was accidentally destroyed, resulting in the near annihilation of all Masters.

At the same time, human society outside was burned to the ground overnight, civilization came to an end, and the planet's surface was reset. Only Chaldea, located on the Antarctic continent, survived the incineration due to its unique magnetic field.

Subsequently, the survivors began exploring the singularity in an attempt to save humanity.

Afterwards, through a long journey, the people of Chaldea overcame one trial after another, steadily repairing the humanity that had been burned away.

The beginning of Fuyuki, France ravaged by dragons, Rome of the Seven Hills, Oceanus of stormy seas, London of another world shrouded in magic mist, the North American continent rushing across the wilderness, the Round Table realm reigning over the Lion King, and Mesopotamia on the Warcraft front.

And, finally, the final singularity, the Grand Temple of Time.

When the last enemy was defeated, humanity, which had been destroyed, finally returned to normal. The darkness and flames that shrouded the world receded, and the cycle of the sun and moon reappeared. Only then did people realize that life was so beautiful.

The exploration of human reason lasted less than two years, which felt like a lifetime to the people of Chaldea, but to the outside world and the "awakening" society, it was just a fleeting moment.

……

The burning city of Fuyuki, the burial place of the Greater Grail, in the Dragon Cave of Mount Enzo.

The black-clad swordsman stood proudly atop the heights, while the ruthless tyrant looked down upon the weak Chaldeans.

"To offer oneself up as a sacrifice is nothing but a futile struggle."

Fujimaru Ritsuka, Master of Chaldea, your so-called self-sacrifice is like using poison to quench your thirst; in the end, you cannot avoid a desperate end!

As for you, Mash Kyrielight, how can someone who can't even protect themselves protect others?!

"my name?"