However, when Morgan turned around, the steps they had climbed were nowhere to be seen. Instead, she found herself standing in a completely white world.
The form of the unified god had dissolved. She now stood beside Shiomi.
"...My husband..."
Morgan immediately noticed something was wrong.
"This has nothing to do with Mooncell," Shiomi said calmly. "Before we head to the final battlefield, a certain Saver cast a glance here."
Morgan understood at once.
"I see."
There was no sky, no ground, and no sense of time or space.
From the light, a figure clad in emerald and red slowly appeared before them.
"All phenomena are empty in nature. They neither arise nor perish, neither defiled nor pure, neither increase nor decrease."
The figure sat cross-legged upon a green lotus seat, eyes lowered. Yet within those lowered eyes, endless compassion could be glimpsed.
"In that case, benefactor, you have already resolved yourself to save all living beings."
"It is not salvation," Shiomi replied, bowing slightly. "I simply cannot stand by while actions done in the name of protecting Human Order leave all living beings stained with an eternal stigma."
"I only wish to walk this path myself, so that I may reach the true road to salvation."
"All living things must perish. The suffering of sentient beings will inevitably cycle through rebirth. Humanity has already parted ways with the gods, yet you have taken on the form of a god to walk the path of redemption."
The figure spoke calmly.
"The world should not be created by any one being. Rather, the world itself should give rise to all things. That alone is the proper way," Shiomi said, voicing his conviction.
"What I... no, what we are doing is simply returning everything to its proper course. Even if it is seen as obsession, that is fine."
"There is more than one path. Human good and evil hold no inherent value. Whether it is the unified god or CHALDEAS, neither will change the way the world itself exists."
The figure continued.
"You, young god who bows your head to save the world, this is not humanity's salvation. It is your own salvation."
"No," Morgan replied in Shiomi's stead.
"It is precisely because humanity will be saved that my husband will be saved."
The figure kept its eyes lowered, expression unchanged, calm as still water.
"If that is so, then go."
"Continue onward together with the future you wish for all living beings."
As those final words faded, endless light once again filled Morgan's vision, forcing her to close her eyes.
But just before the light swallowed everything, she saw Shiomi raise a hand toward that figure and perform a Buddhist gesture of respect.
When her sight cleared again, Morgan found herself standing in the water beneath Mooncell alongside Shiomi.
The brief encounter felt almost like a dream. For a moment she even wondered whether the torrent of information had affected her mind, making her see an illusion when their connection was severed.
"Are you alright?" Shiomi asked with concern.
"I'm fine."
Morgan shook her head.
"But... what exactly was that just now?"
"A human who attained enlightenment on their own, freed from all suffering and reaching awakening," Shiomi said with a helpless smile.
"They have no intention of interfering with anything. In the Buddha's eyes, the decline of humanity on Earth or any crisis it causes is only a somewhat larger fluctuation. A natural calamity that is simply part of the cycle, nothing worth intervening in."
"Then why... appear before us?" Morgan asked, clearly bothered by it.
She could tell that the Buddha had merely cast a glance at Shiomi's current state.
"Probably because, on the path of 'saving humanity,' I still haven't truly understood the essence of what that means."
Shiomi smiled modestly.
"In the Buddha's eyes, someone like me might easily become trapped in obsession and accumulate heavy karma."
Morgan understood, and her tone returned to its usual relaxed elegance.
"Buddhism advocates cutting off the seven emotions and six desires. From that perspective, someone like my husband would indeed be seen as burdened with deep karmic sin and countless emotional debts."
"..."
Shiomi's shoulders instantly slumped.
The tension he had felt after contacting Mooncell and learning what must be done next was completely washed away by the exchange.
All he could do was grab Morgan's hand with a slightly sulky expression and lead her away from Mooncell's core.
"If you simply made a wish directly, the problem would be solved, wouldn't it?" Morgan asked.
"That's exactly what obsession means. Refusing to rely on others or outside forces, insisting on doing it personally."
Shiomi scratched his temple thoughtfully.
"The Buddha probably sympathizes with me quite a bit... but there's nothing they can do about it."
After all, Shiomi had no desire to free himself from that obsession.
And so the Buddha had no reason to interfere.
Meanwhile, because only their perception of time had been stretched during the contact with Mooncell, only a single second had passed in the physical world.
To Scáthach and the others, it looked as if Shiomi and Morgan had briefly vanished into the depths of space... and then suddenly walked back out again.
"Did it fail?" Scáthach looked at Shiomi carefully, checking whether he seemed discouraged again.
Shiomi responded with an upbeat smile.
"No. It's already settled. We didn't go there to make a wish, just to obtain the solution. Though when we head to the final battlefield, we'll still need to use Mooncell's functions."
Artoria let out a small sigh of relief.
"That's good. So next we return to Storm Border?"
"Time is precious. We don't have the luxury to waste it here."
Shiomi turned toward BB.
"Thank you for helping open the path and guiding us to Mooncell's core."
"I only did what I was supposed to," BB replied with a cute, slightly mischievous smile.
"Then, teacher... where are we going next?" Olga Marie asked the question that mattered most.
"Singularity F," Morgan answered.
Touko couldn't hide her surprise.
"Singularity F? The first Singularity Chaldea observed during the Incineration of Human Order? But didn't it already..."
"We've misunderstood something from the very beginning," Shiomi said.
"Singularity F wasn't created by the King of Magecraft. In truth, it was the origin point of the Bleached Earth caused by CHALDEAS."
However, during the Incineration of Human Order, the King of Magecraft realized this and took advantage of it. He had the Demon God Flauros place the Holy Grail there in order to eliminate any Master who had slipped through the net.
In the end, the Holy Grail of Singularity F was taken by Flauros. After Shiomi and the others returned, it disappeared from CHALDEAS and was replaced by the seven Singularities used to ignite Human Order.
Then came the Sub-Singularities, along with investigations by the Mage's Association, the Holy Church, and even the United Nations. Chaldea never had the chance to properly reexamine the matter before the Bleached Earth occurred.
But all of it had been faithfully recorded by the Moon's Eye, Mooncell, something even CHALDEAS could not completely conceal.
"Right now, Singularity F can no longer be observed. If we want to return there and overturn CHALDEAS's Human Order compilation, we'll need Mooncell's capabilities," Shiomi said.
"Right, BB?"
"That's true," BB replied. "But just like when we sent Father to the Britain Lostbelt, Singularity F exists on the celestial sphere. It's an extremely special origin point."
"This trip will also be a one-way ticket."
"I understand." Shiomi nodded.
"I'll leave it to you, BB."
"Honestly, what am I supposed to do with you..."
BB sounded helpless, but her answer came without the slightest hesitation.