Chapter 204: Excuse Me, Just Passing Through
This wasn't because the secrecy of magecraft was truly that impenetrable.
Or rather, if magi could really prevent other nations on Earth from noticing their actions even when a battle was tearing through an entire city, then the "Principle of Mystery," the unwritten rule prohibiting magi from causing large-scale incidents and putting them on a "wanted" list if they did, wouldn't exist.
Yet, even though the Ainsworth family had clearly shattered this unwritten rule, displaying magecraft almost openly before the majority of the world's nations, not a single country had intervened by discovering something amiss. There was only one explanation for such an irrational situation.
"While the Ainsworths and Illya were still debating whether to sacrifice Miyu to save this world and save humanity...
The people of other nations were actually attempting to figure out how to save humanity themselves.
But, unaware of the existence of 'Pandora's Box' and the Divine Child, they chose a method that combined magecraft with technology.
They aimed to build spacecraft capable of interstellar travel before 'Pandora's Box' completely altered the Earth's environment.
In other words, Julian—who didn't actually want to sacrifice Pandora—was probably incapable of imagining that there was a second way to save humanity besides magecraft, even as he forced himself to do it for the sake of survival."
This was, in fact, a common ailment among magi: they prioritized magecraft far above technology. In Fate/Zero, Emiya Kiritsugu used the information asymmetry brought by modern technology—and the reality that most ordinary magi couldn't withstand an RPG—to earn the title of "Magus Killer" despite his self-taught, amateur level of magecraft.
Even someone like Julian, who unlike Tohsaka Rin was not a technological illiterate, and who, like Aozaki Aoko, had received a normal modern education before officially becoming the successor to his family, was completely unaware of the extent to which modern technology could be pushed. One could only say...
"Is it because of Darius's influence?
Since Julian replaces Darius after becoming the head of the Ainsworth family, Darius is the one in control.
Even if Julian could conceive of combining magecraft with modern technology to save humanity, Darius—fixated solely on opening 'Pandora's Box'—would have interfered with Julian's choices."
Thinking this, Shirou couldn't help but look at Julian with a hint of pity. It was no wonder that in the original Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya, the only Counter Force that appeared to help Illya and her friends was Gaia, and not Alaya. This was likely the reason.
Gaia cared only for the continuation of the Earth itself. That was why it appeared to stop Darius, who wanted to turn the Earth into the world inside "Pandora's Box." By contrast, Alaya cared only for the continuation of humanity itself. What happened to the Earth was irrelevant to Alaya, so long as humanity could continue to survive. Similarly, under Alaya's influence, the magi' Principle of Mystery could not stop the intervention of the Counter Force. Only the Counter Force could manage to make magi and ordinary humans cooperate to achieve progress in both technology and magecraft. This explained why, according to Shirou's guess, the various nations of the world had suddenly taken an interest in magecraft and begun this technological explosion.
In other words, Julian's belief that his actions could save humanity—and his resolve to sacrifice anyone to achieve it—had been a fiction created by Darius from the very beginning. Furthermore, this "salvation" actually shortened the time humanity had, preventing the various nations from completing their spacecraft and launching humanity into space before the Earth's Source was completely extinguished.
They tried to save humanity, only to end up destroying it with their own hands... It must be said, that certainly fits the flavor of the Type-Moon world.
Trace on!
——[Pseudo-The World]!!
Time stopped at that instant.
Facing Beatrice, who had appeared via spatial displacement and gained the full divinity of Thor along with "Mjolnir" through a Card Install, and Angelica, who had updated her Class Card after losing the Gilgamesh card, Shirou merely walked calmly toward them, flanked by the golden, muscular figure of his Stand.
One second has passed.
"While I am quite curious about which Class Card could surpass Gilgamesh, especially in the Archer slot..."
Shirou looked at Angelica. She was no longer wearing the gold armor that covered only her lower body with a white bikini top, as seen in Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya. Instead, she was dressed in red and white robes that covered her entire body, holding an intricately decorated red longbow. Realizing that she had indeed changed to a new card and that this attire was "too Archer-like," he couldn't identify the Heroic Spirit she had displaced.
"But, I'll naturally understand that once I take that Class Card from you."
Fwoosh—!
Splat!!
Without a moment's hesitation, Shirou used the hands of [Pseudo-The World] to violently pierce through their hearts, right into their chests. As he grasped the Spirit Cores inside to seize the Class Cards, and as the stopped time approached its limit...
Two seconds have passed.
He added, "...Could you please move aside? Just passing through."
Accompanied by the sound of Angelica and Beatrice collapsing to the ground, and the image of Shirou walking straight past them to stand before Julian, time began to flow once more as consciousness returned to a stunned Julian and his group.
Read ahead (100 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting