Capítulo 460: C460
Artoria sensed that something wasn't right, as if there was a crucial detail she was missing. She looked at Gareth, whose face was clouded with sadness, almost as if she were about to cry. Then she turned to Galahad. His fists were clenched so tightly they had turned white, and his eyes betrayed a complex blend of sorrow and anger.
"Paul," she whispered, rolling the name around in her mind.
Why did it sound so familiar?
"You've really forgotten? You actually forgot about this person? He was after the Holy Grail just to oppose me. And let's not forget, he's the guy who kneeled before the Eternal King and handed over the crown to him!" Crimson Moon couldn't help but smile as she spoke.
The memory hit her like a wave. Paul, the Pope of the Holy Church!
Emperor Valentinian III had given him the task—before she'd taken off the Emperor's head—to find the Holy Grail as a way to oppose Crimson Moon. But he'd failed.
When Camelot had risen to power, the authority of the Holy Church was greatly overshadowed. During a royal coronation ceremony, Paul had no choice but to kneel before the Eternal King and present a golden crown, proclaiming the supreme authority of the monarchy to the king!
A sinking feeling settled in her stomach. Something wasn't adding up. It felt so off.
Taking in the reactions of those who had been there, such as Crimson Moon, Galahad, and Gareth, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. This unease made her feel suffocated, as if someone were choking her.
"It looks like you've remembered," Crimson Moon said, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. "Good. As a friend, I have some news to share with you."
Artoria lifted her gaze to meet Crimson Moon's eyes.
Crimson Moon's smile was full of mockery as she said, "What your daughter took down wasn't your kingdom. It was an extraterrestrial threat!"
"Extraterrestrial threat?"
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Gareth screamed, covering her head with her hands.
Crimson Moon's smile twisted into a sneer. "Ah, yes, now it comes back to me."
She paused for a moment before saying, "The term is Oraclization."
Hearing that word caused Galahad's breath to quicken slightly, and a wave of unease washed over him, causing his hands to tremble.
"Do you still remember how you and Shirou killed me?" Crimson Moon looked at Artoria, her gaze tinged with scorn, as if she were nothing more than a lab mouse. "Allow me to jog your memory. A torrent of magical energy lifted the descending moon, and your holy sword vaporized the Crimson Moon as it burst forth from the Earth. You truly were brilliant in that moment. But it's unfortunate that you destroyed something you shouldn't have. And to think, there are still people who regard that thing as the Holy Grail. Hahaha... it's so amusing!"
"Shut up!" Galahad clenched his teeth so hard it seemed they might crack.
"Don't give me that look. I didn't do anything; I simply watched, appreciated, and learned. Your daughter was an excellent teacher," Crimson Moon said, her expression turning even more sardonic. "It's just unfortunate that this 'great teacher' had to meet her end at the hands of her own mother."
Artoria's eyes dimmed, and she wrapped her arms around herself, shaking.
She couldn't understand what Crimson Moon was talking about or what she meant by Oraclization, but she suddenly felt so cold.
It was a numbing cold, as if she had fallen into a frozen abyss.
Her hands wouldn't stop trembling.
Galahad gave Artoria a quick glance before turning his glare on Crimson Moon. He snapped, "Enough, stop it!"
He picked up his shield and charged at Crimson Moon with a furious expression. But with a swift kick that landed squarely on the shield, Crimson Moon sent him soaring through the air.
Crimson Moon's gaze shifted to Artoria, who was visibly shaking. She seemed to relish the sight, unconcerned by the hostile and wary glances coming her way. Licking her lips in anticipation, she said, "You look lost. But that's understandable; you've never experienced anything like this. Here's another secret for you: Shirou knows about that thing from over fifteen hundred years ago. I'm the one who told him."
She lifted her head to meet Crimson Moon's eyes.
"Everything I showed him, everything I told him was true. I just left out one tiny detail. Sometimes the truth is the best deception, and your daughter taught me that. She fooled everyone with that trick, so why shouldn't I?"
Artoria's eyes seemed to glaze over as she stared at him, grappling with his words.
"Ever wonder why you did what you did to Shirou back then?" Crimson Moon said, her smile softening. "It's because someone wanted to spice things up a bit, so they added a little something extra."
Artoria's lifeless eyes suddenly contracted. "Could it be..."
Crimson Moon let out a low chuckle. "Don't you ever question why you couldn't resist that impulse? Why Morgan was so careless about the quantity of her potions, and why it even work on Shirou to begin with? Have you ever wondered why?"
"Sob... Sob..."
Artoria couldn't hold back her sobs, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes, "Why... why would you do such a thing... why...?!"
"Who destroyed me?" Crimson Moon's smile faded, her expression turning sinister. "You did. So it's only fitting that I destroy you in return. This is revenge – from honor, from the soul, down to the flesh... I will annihilate you completely! And do you know why I'm going through the trouble of revealing all this to you? It's because seeing you drown in this despair brings me happiness!"
"Sob...!" she wept in agony.
Crimson Moon had been telling the truth. Everything she held dear was destroyed, meticulously and deliberately torn apart.
Crimson Moon looked on, her face a portrait of twisted satisfaction as she saw Artoria fall apart. "It's all about revenge! Just like your ruined kingdom! This is my vendetta against you, Artoria!"
...
The Temple of Time.
"Oraclization... Crimson Moon..."
Shirou, who was maintaining the Tower of Light, couldn't help but tremble slightly. He lifted his hand and began to rub his forehead.
Just as the illusion of the Temple of Time appeared in the outside world, allowing outsiders to learn about the situation within the temple, Shirou was also aware of what was happening outside due to the evil doppelganger he had left behind for his sister and the connection between his main self and the doppelganger.
But...
He never thought it would get this bad!
Dead Apostles were swarming everywhere outside. It was painfully obvious that human armies had been compromised long ago, now serving as little more than extensions of the Dead Apostle forces.
He never saw it coming. Crimson Moon had been hiding inside Arcueid all along, even posing as her when he wasn't looking. And then, out of nowhere, Crimson Moon launched a surprise attack, ruining Artoria's Class Card and shattering Excalibur.
These things were already enough to give anyone a headache. What he really hadn't expected were the things that transpired in his kingdom and among his people over fifteen hundred years ago after he left Britain.
Oraclization...
This was a skill that evolved in Fate/EXTELLA LINK when Karl der Große, who was using Gilgamesh as a power source, came into contact with the Aberrant Star Key.
Oraclization bore some resemblance to Shirou's Second Noble Phantasm. While his skill allowed him to assimilate and dominate anyone whose record he obtained—thereby gaining access to their Noble Phantasms and skills—Oraclization operated a bit differently. It required physical contact with the subject's Spirit Core and involved rewriting their mental attributes. The end result was the same: assimilation under the control of the initiator. The subject's personality would remain intact, but their actions would be manipulated by the controller.
So in essence, it was a control method similar to Shirou's Second Noble Phantasm. The main distinction lay in the source of the abilities: Shirou's was a Noble Phantasm, an innate part of his heroic identity, whereas Oraclization could only be activated with the power of the Aberrant Star Key, also known as the Monolith, or a fragment of Velber.
The crucial factor for the existence of Oraclization was none other than the Aberrant Star Key!
In the Type-Moon universe, the Aberrant Star Key was an extraterrestrial artifact, on par with or even surpassing the technology of the Atlas Institute.
Though Crimson Moon had been sparse with details, Shirou quickly caught the implications and connected the dots.
Over a millennium and a half ago, he and Artoria had wielded the Holy Lance and Sword to annihilate Crimson Moon's physical body. Crimson Moon hinted that their actions had unintended consequences, destroying something important in the aftermath. Clearly, that "something" was the crucial element for the creation of Oraclization.
Then Crimson Moon brought up Paul.
Shirou was familiar with him too.
He was the Pope who collaborated with Emperor Valentinian III of the Western Roman Empire during the era when Crimson Moon still ruled. Paul had been on a quest for the lost Holy Grail from Nero's time, hoping to use it as a weapon against Crimson Moon. But ultimately, Paul never found the Holy Grail. Instead, it was Shirou and Artoria who succeeded in destroying Crimson Moon's physical form.
Crimson Moon had made previous references to Paul and the Holy Grail, which allowed Shirou to piece together a likely scenario. After he had left the past, Paul must have eventually found a Holy Grail. But this wasn't the fabled artifact lost during Nero's time; it was an extraterrestrial one. From there, someone—or perhaps something—gained the power of Oraclization, taking control over his kingdom by assimilating it.
And it was that kingdom which Mordred had ultimately destroyed!
So, the extraterrestrial threat that Crimson Moon was hinting at was probably none other than Camelot—the very kingdom that Mordred had destroyed, along with its people!
If that was indeed the case...
Then, what kind of unimaginable despair did that baby dragon have to go through?
Suddenly, Shirou remembered the whisper he had heard from that baby dragon in the illusion created by Crimson Moon as she stepped onto the final battlefield to fight with her mother...
─"...only one left, only one more to go... only one more, and it will end..."
The last one she was referring to must have been herself.
His hand clenched tightly.
The pain he felt was almost too much to bear.
In this situation, Crimson Moon's words couldn't be dismissed as lies. The unmistakable air of anger and rage, the gloat of victory, emanated from Crimson Moon so strongly that even his doppelgänger could sense it.
It had to be true.
Which meant that over fifteen hundred years ago, the root of all this destruction, all this pain... it was him. He was to blame.
Shirou felt as though his heart were tearing apart from the inside.
His head pounded, each throb like a hammer blow to his conscience.
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