With the source of the disaster defeated, the conditions within the crater gradually stabilized.
Alice Kuonji walked alone across the ravaged battlefield, guided by instinct to the jagged edge of the rubble. She crouched down and used her slender fingers to clear away a few small stones.
Before long, a shattered magical artifact emerged from the dirt and rocks.
It was completely ruined, with no trace of Mana remaining.
Alice let out a quiet sigh and picked it up.
"So it really did start with your PLOY?" Touko Aozaki's voice came from behind her.
"…At the beginning, you could say that," Alice replied calmly. "But in the end, the disaster was caused by that person. The PLOY itself is already broken." She felt a twinge of regret, yet understood there was nothing to be done. "It was probably destroyed by the 'New God.'"
"Not exactly. Seeing this clears up part of what happened," Touko said, shaking her head. "This Wishing Star-Box, if I remember correctly, works by turning a handle to potentially grant a wish… but only if that wish is truly the most genuine and ideal one for the person making it."
Holding the broken PLOY, Alice straightened up. "You seem to know quite a lot about PLOY."
"That's something that happens many years after your time," Touko said casually. "I don't know why your Wishing Star-Box malfunctioned, but when it did—when the 'Star' descended and the Mana winds swept through this area—Tenkei and Morgan were both here. Morgan was gravely wounded, on the verge of death, and he was powerless to do anything."
"To save the one he loved most, he was willing to give up everything…" Alice murmured, beginning to understand.
If that was the case, then it made sense.
"And that's not all. The real issue is that Tenkei isn't an ordinary human," Touko continued. "He touched the domain of the divine and possesses Authority that hasn't fully awakened yet. When the PLOY transformed into the 'Star,' it likely judged that Tenkei's wish could be fulfilled, but it couldn't withstand the worst of his emotions. His Authority was rapidly catalyzed in the process, awakening at an extreme speed. That turned him into a power capable of devouring the 'Star,' and ultimately into an existence able to ascend toward godhood on his own."
"This was never part of my expectations," Alice said evenly. "I only misplaced it by accident and came here to look for it."
"I know," Touko replied with a matter-of-fact smile. "There are Magi in this world who can shape heroes, even kings. But there are no Magi or Magicians who can create gods. Human faith and wishes merely fix a god into a certain form. They become the source of that god's power, or else are discarded along with the faith itself."
For Tenkei Shiomi of 1999, PLOY was nothing more than a catalyst.
That overwhelmingly powerful wish was only the spark.
Without touching upon the singularity of Authority, things would never have developed into this state.
Had it been even a little later, human history might have been ignited from this very point, rewriting humanity itself, perhaps even the world.
If it had not exceeded the limits permitted by the Primate Counter Force, it would have unfolded as something almost inevitable.
And yet, he himself never longed for such a transformation. All he wanted was the power to save the one who held his heart.
In the final moment, after losing all reason, he became a completely new god, one even he could no longer recognize.
With that thought, Touko turned her gaze toward Shiomi.
She suddenly found herself wondering: if, at this Singularity of 1999, it hadn't been Morgan who was hurt, but herself… or any one of them instead.
Would Shiomi still have become like this?
Probably… yes.
The hypothetical question arrived at an answer that felt all too likely, even if the details might have differed.
After all, he was that kind of man. Greedy, yet deeply compassionate.
Morgan of 1999 lifted Tenkei Shiomi of 1999 into her arms, preparing to leave the place where the anomaly had occurred. She intended to take him somewhere quiet, where he could rest and recover.
"Wait." Shiomi called out to them.
"What is it?" Morgan of 1999 asked, slightly puzzled.
"The Authority that exceeds your capacity, I'll take it with me." Shiomi placed his hand on his past self. "As for what remains, once the Singularity is restored, you'll probably forget everything that happened during this time. Still, don't worry. 'I' will eventually come to truly understand the existence of that Authority."
Sensing the subtle change in the aura surrounding Shiomi of 1999, Morgan of 1999 immediately understood what was happening.
Once he was done, Shiomi turned away without looking back and went to rejoin his teacher and the others, preparing to contact Chaldea.
Morgan let out a small laugh, then looked at her own self in Servant form.
It felt strangely surreal.
After all, very few people ever get to face themselves from another point in time.
But when she thought about it, it had only been a little over ten years. There wasn't really anything to say. Even if she offered advice to her past self, it would disappear once the Singularity was repaired.
In the end, all she could do was silently lower her head to her past self, receiving the same wordless gesture in return, like looking into a mirror.
The unspoken farewell came to an end. They turned in different directions and went their separate ways.
Just then, Morgan suddenly remembered something and called out to her past self.
"Wait. There's something I want to confirm."
"What is it?"
"Could it be that your serious injuries were because of—"
"…"
Servant Morgan froze for a moment, said nothing, and simply nodded.
"So that's how it is," Morgan said, understanding at once. She didn't press any further.
She then walked over toward Shiomi.
Aoko Aozaki was in the middle of explaining the situation.
"Don't worry. The Kumano Hot Springs area was just swept away by the Mana wind. It didn't disappear. Once the Singularity vanishes, both the 1999 version of this place and the 2001 version will return to normal," Aoko said, patting her chest confidently. "So your children, and all the other guests staying at the inn, are perfectly safe."
Shiomi shrugged. "I figured as much when we were fighting the 'New God.' And besides, we've already dealt with a world-ending crisis caused by someone who called himself the King of Magecraft. We're pretty familiar with things like the calculations behind human order."
"The King of Magecraft? You mean that King of Magecraft?" Aoko exclaimed. "The one who supposedly taught the Second Magician, the progenitor of magecraft?"
"That's a long story," Shiomi said with another shrug. "When you see your sister later, ask her about it then."
"I see." Aoko wisely refrained from probing any further. "Still, I never imagined gods could be such unfathomable beings…"
At that moment, Shiomi lifted his gaze to the sky.
After the divine body collapsed, its remnants drifted upward. Now, countless specks of light descended like snowflakes. They were celestial fragments, the power of the world itself, coming down to restore this land.
"Maybe," Shiomi said quietly, "the truly unfathomable beings are humans."