Chapter 521: Save the World

【You have completed the Purge Mission】

Crimson light intermingled with golden radiance condensed before Bai Cangshu, and a special Scarlet Drop Card exclusive to the 【Scavenger】 materialized in front of the pure white Bai Cangshu.

Bai Cangshu did not rush to pick it up; instead, he kept his eyes closed, sensing the various surging and turbulent emotions within that boundless sea of consciousness.

Humans are eternally lonely creatures; between one person and another lies a skin that can never be erased.

But at this very moment, the walls of the heart dissolved, and these millions of humans merged into one; there was no longer any "other" between them.

All kinds of memories, emotions, and thoughts were laid bare, and everyone faced each other with their most authentic selves.

Bai Cangshu saw a couple confronting each other in anger, blaming the other for hiding too much inside, their previous interactions nothing but hypocrisy.

He also saw young boys and girls, childhood sweethearts, blushing as they looked at the innocent and straightforward affection of the other.

Bai Cangshu looked down from on high, like a god overlooking all living things, watching their joy, watching their anger.

Even after all humans had revealed their complete, true selves, this species still displayed inconsistency.

The noble seemed like saints descended to earth, while the despicable were like Satan come to the world.

"【Humans】, truly interesting..."

Bai Cangshu's massive head looked down from above this world, and finally, in a forest covered in ice and snow, he saw the silver-haired girl hugging her knees.

Ilya sat at the edge of the forest, looking far off at the ancient castle where her family resided, but she chose not to return, for there were no true kin there.

And in this forest, the giant who had always protected her in the past did not appear either.

Ilya sat in the wind and snow like a Heartless Puppet.

She had always been isolated from the world; as the daughter of the previous generation's homunculus of the Einzbern family and Emiya Kiritsugu, she had never been treated as a human.

Pat~ta.

A light landing sound occurred, and Ilya looked up to see a white giant land on the ground, the opponent's originally black long hair having turned fluorescent white.

Unlike her own silver-white hair, that fluorescent white seemed to be glowing.

"Assassin..."

Ilya just opened her mouth, the sound already emitted, but she did not quickly accept this new Servant, Assassin Tao Baibai, as she would have in the real world.

Only now did Bai Cangshu realize that this girl, who looked innocent and simple like a Heartless Puppet, also possessed complex thoughts.

Bai Cangshu's eyes narrowed slightly; for the first time, he scrutinized the heart of a weak girl so carefully.

As the daughter of the homunculus Irisviel, the family treated her entirely as a tool to complete the Holy Grail War, performing massive modifications while she was an embryo to grant her an abnormal number of Moluhuilu and Command Spells covering her entire body.

Likewise, this also destined Ilya to be a tool that could not survive for long; her Shuming was to die in the Fifth Holy Grail War.

The girl lacked normal ethics; risking her life to save others, or letting Berserker kill tens of thousands without changing her expression, were both perfectly normal things to her.

Because in her short and colorless life, good and evil had no meaning at all.

While she longed to kill her biological father, Emiya Kiritsugu, for betraying the family and her mother, she was also curious about the "younger brother" raised by her biological father, Emiya Shirou.

In her delicate and fragile heart, perhaps only that pitch-black giant, Heracles, who made her suffer agonizing pain every time he drained her Magic Power, was the only one who viewed her as a human rather than a tool.

Likewise, this girl also became the only anchor that allowed Heracles to maintain abnormal sanity after undergoing Madness Enhancement as the 【Berserker】 class.

Bai Cangshu squatted down, yet he was still much taller than the girl.

Various streams of information flowed through his eyes.

"So that's how it is; is this the process of the birth of the 【Heart】? Interesting..."

Bai Cangshu reached out his hand and placed it in front of Ilya.

"My Master, thank you for your Magic Power supply; Servant Tao Baibai will secure the victory of the Fifth Holy Grail War for you..."

Like a victory announcement, or perhaps some kind of special Oath. In this space, Ilya felt that she could also perceive the emotions and thoughts of this strange Assassin.

He was a guy as cold and hard as an iceberg—no, or rather, he was a non-human construct harder and colder than cold steel.

Before this, almost no emotional Wave could be felt.

Even if there were, they were some fake emotions, just like the smiles she put on to deal with others, or perhaps, only the smiles of a predator that was completely unlike a human.

The opponent appeared suddenly and voluntarily joined her ranks; Ilya did not feel much, as her Magic Power was enough to support more Servants.

But almost no different from Berserker, every time she was drained of Magic Power by Assassin, it also caused her great pain.

At this very moment, those pains, those bewilderments, all began to dissipate.

Only in this world where nothing could be hidden could she see the truth of Tao Baibai.

There... was nothing but Empty.

Ilya slowly stood up and took the initiative to approach Tao Baibai; in her eyes, it was as if she saw a "kindred spirit" she had never met before. Before joy could emerge, it had already turned into pity.

Yes, the emotion that appeared after Ilya saw the truth of Tao Baibai was pity.

Bai Cangshu clearly perceived this point. Ilya's cold hand lifted, seemingly wanting to touch Bai Cangshu's forehead, but the difference in their stature was too great to do so. In the end, Ilya only gently patted Bai Cangshu's arm.

"Assassin..."

"I am Illyasviel von Einzbern; please, win the Holy Grail War for me~"

Her eyes were crystalline, possessing a clarity that saw through life and death.

Or rather, she also had an abnormality in her concept of life and death; she did not understand the fear of death.

She had not yet endured too much of the pain of parting.

Bai Cangshu shook his head and reached out to grab the girl.

"Apologies, Master, I may have to take away the only meaning in your short life thus far..."

Boom!

The next moment, because Ilya refused the completion, and at the same time, Bai Cangshu was the ritual leader who replicated the nature of the white giant.

Unlike the indecisive boy Ikari Shinji, he did not give 【Humans】 much power of choice and directly reversed the power of the heart again.

Almost instantly, the fusion and mutual understanding of human consciousness that had finally emerged vanished in an Instant.

Barriers appeared one after another, and then, consciousnesses were ejected from here one by one.

The Walls of Heart collided with one another, and humanity could no longer merge within the Lcl Zhi Shui.

During the process of being repelled, due to the constraints of the Walls of Heart, human bodies took form once again.

Individual humans appeared out of thin air in the places where they had been before they vanished.

The ocean of orange juice began to disappear over a large area.

All that remained were bewildered humans standing on the devastated earth; some were panic-stricken as they quickly searched for their clothes to cover their bodies, while others still could not believe what had happened, repeatedly checking their own bodies.

More people, due to the previous merging of consciousness, looked at the familiar people beside them with complex expressions.

The white color on Bai Cangshu's body slowly faded, and his physique gradually returned to normal.

Before him, a naked young girl took form bit by bit; he thought for a moment, then took clothes from the real world from his pack and threw them onto the girl.

【Despair Savior Mode has been deactivated】

【Desperate Salvation bonus effect has vanished】

【You have triggered the special Milestone: True Savior (World's Rare Treasure), current progress: 1/3】

(End of this chapter)