Fate: Hero of Justice Takeover-Chapter 647

Chapter 647: [Bodhi Tree Enlightenment] and [Anti-Messiah]

The exchange between the two Sakatsukis lasted only a moment, but when the red-robed archer met the white-clad magus, the impact on those around them was undeniable.

"As I thought, I should have realized it sooner..." Rin Tohsaka murmured, staring at the data reflected on her Master panel with an "I see now" expression, while Nero looked left and right, her cheeks inexplicably flushing red.

"Two Sakatsukis, heh, hehehe..."

Hakuno frowned slightly, her gaze shifting between both Sakatsukis as if trying to pry the true soul from their eyes. Meanwhile, Draco looked at the red-robed Sakatsuki, then at the one clad in the Heaven’s Dress. Unlike Nero’s foolish grin, she pursed her lips, her small face darkening.

"Thou art hiding something from Us."

"I was just about to report to you, my Emperor," the two Sakatsukis said in unison, bowing with flawless synchronization. "But perhaps you could guess—which version of me have you encountered?"

"Umu, umu." Nero snapped back to attention, intrigued by Sakatsuki’s words. "Let Us think... We encountered the red Governor, yes?"

"Correct. And your reasoning?"

"What reasoning is needed?" Nero puffed out her chest proudly. "Naturally, it is because of Our bond with the Governor!"

"If Saber is correct, then during the preliminaries, it was you—the white Sakatsuki—and in the finals, the Servant I contracted with was you, the red Sakatsuki-sensei."

Hakuno quickly deduced her own experience by analogy.

"Then I must be the same as Hakuno. Of course, the one who revived me was the white Sakatsuki, right?" Rin said firmly, her eyes fixed on the ancient tome in Sakatsuki’s (original) hands.

"Correct!" The two Sakatsukis nodded in satisfaction before turning their gaze to Draco. "And what about you, our Emperor? Have you reached an answer?"

The Red Dragon Emperor did not speak. Her ruby-like eyes reflected emotions far more complex than the others.

She seemed to understand something, yet there were things she still struggled to grasp.

Why had he made that choice from the very beginning? Why had he acted alone...

With thy power, why art thou here...

Finally, under the puzzled gazes of the two Sakatsukis, Draco averted her eyes and softly changed the subject.

"Will thou not introduce Us to thy ’friend’ here, Our Contractor?"

"Friend... is it?" Sakatsuki played along, shifting focus. The red-robed archer returned to Draco’s side, while the magus in the Heaven’s Dress nodded and gestured forward.

"Since you insist, then let us all pay our respects to that... divine being."

His tone was playful, his honorific exaggerated.

Yet when they crossed the sea of data, passed through the piled ruins, and laid eyes upon that existence—everyone but Sakatsuki held their breath.

Buddhist radiance manifested, celestial flowers rained down, golden lotuses surged from the earth. For a moment, they felt as though they had fallen into a sacred mountain paradise.

Jade palaces, crystalline blossoms—everything one could imagine. The lotus throne gleamed like white jade, Buddhist instruments adorned with gold powder, the scent of sandalwood thick and intoxicating. It was as if deities staggered drunkenly through the air, intoxicated by the fragrance, bestowing blessings upon all things.

"Ahem." Sakatsuki cleared his throat lightly, vibrating the Third Magic to bring everyone’s wandering minds back to reality.

Thus, all illusions vanished, but when their eyes turned to what lay ahead in reality, their hearts were struck by even greater waves of shock.

As the boundless Buddha light was pushed back by the Third Magic, obediently parting to reveal a path, there sat the Awakened One beneath the Bodhi tree. Clad in crimson kasaya, He sat cross-legged upon a pedestal, His head crowned with a high ushnisha, His features serene and noble—arched brows, a straight nose, and lips curved in a faint smile, exuding tranquility.

His left hand formed the Varada Mudra (gesture of granting wishes), while His right hand formed the Abhaya Mudra (gesture of fearlessness). Adorning His head was a three-leaf floral crown, with divine ribbons floating upward. Between His brows were six circular incense scars, as if carved with the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

This was one who had attained enlightenment. The Master who could summon such a Servant, regardless of morality, must have comprehended the ideal of "salvation for humanity." Though He had never answered a summoning in the Holy Grail War of Earth, within the photon computer transcending countless generations, His existence and records resonated, ultimately manifesting here.

His Class was named [Saver]—the World Savior, the Tathagata standing at the terminus of the Moon Holy Grail War.

"This..."

"Could it be...?"

"Governor, you...?!"

"Oh my god..." Rin stared at the sacred Awakened One, the breath she had been holding finally escaping her lips. Even her ladylike composure was forgotten as her voice trembled slightly.

"H-Hakuno, do you see that?"

The tea-haired girl stood frozen for a long moment before replying, her voice unavoidably dry. "O-Of course I see."

This was the Awakened One—Shakyamuni, Amitabha!

No matter where one was born, no matter what culture they were raised in, there was no one who would not recognize Him. He was truly engraved in the annals of human history, a figure one needed only to look up to see—the very embodiment of civilization itself!

People might not know the legends of dragon-slaying heroes, the tales of the sun god’s children, or the glory of the Knights of the Round Table... but they would never be unfamiliar with this one.

The founder of Buddhism, one of the world’s three major religions; the Martial King, the Chakravartin; the one who reached the "Truth of the World" and the "Answer of Humanity"; the first to step into the "End"—the Awakened One!

"G-Governor..." Even Nero, in the presence of this ultra-ultra-legendary figure, dared not act recklessly. After all, the combined fame of all Roman Heroic Spirits couldn’t hold a candle to His. "Thou didst say... He is thy friend, yes?"

Seeing the mysterious smile curling on Sakatsuki’s lips, Nero’s eyes instantly welled up with tears as she frantically tugged at his sleeve.

"N-No way... He isn’t our enemy, is He?!"

At her words, the others all turned to Sakatsuki with strange looks in their eyes.

Fighting Shakyamuni? Us?

Might as well write our wills in advance!

As the crimson-robed Sakatsuki was swarmed by the group, the young man clad in white-gold Celestial Robes noticed Draco’s expression shift from realization to pallor. Her long lashes trembled slightly as her eyes locked onto Sakatsuki, the one who had formed a contract with her and freed her from the shadows of the Imaginary Number Space.

Sensing trouble, Sakatsuki leaned closer and called softly, "Draco...?"

With a ’whoosh,’ the fierce wind lifted Sakatsuki’s silver hair. His pupils trembled as he watched Draco grit her teeth and raise her small hand. His arm instinctively twitched, but in the end, he did nothing, merely turning his head aside with a bitter smile, prepared to endure her wrath.

Yet Draco’s palm never came down. When Sakatsuki turned back, he caught a fleeting glimpse of shimmering tears in the Red Dragon Emperor’s eyes. The next moment, the girl threw herself at him, clinging desperately to his slender frame as if trying to melt into his embrace. In the place where Sakatsuki couldn’t see, she clenched her jaw, fighting back the tears threatening to spill.

Only her body trembled uncontrollably, like a little dragon caught in a storm, seeking the warmth of the one who sheltered her.

Silent sobs wracked her—she wanted to cry, yet the words were painfully stuck in her throat. The mere thought of that possible outcome felt like a thousand knives carving into her heart.

Yet this pain, this sorrow, these choked-back sobs... dissolved like honey in her chest, blooming into fields of flowers across the landscape of her heart.

Just like the love that raced across the cosmos, yearning to proclaim itself to the entire world.

"Huh...?!" Sensing something amiss, Nero noticed the scene and was instantly startled. "Draco?! Why are you crying? Are you hurt? If the pressure of facing the Savior is too much, I’ll help you—"

That wasn’t it at all.

Before Draco could retort, Sakatsuki deftly turned, shielding her from prying eyes with his body. Gently, he brushed her cheek, wiping away her fallen tears, and spoke in his usual calm voice:

"It’s alright, Draco. I’ll always be here."

"..." No matter which form Draco took, she could never resist those words from her Contractor. As amber light shimmered around her, the Red Dragon shrank several sizes, curling into Sakatsuki’s arms with a complicated gaze—though her tail betrayed her, coiling around his waist and forming a heart shape.

"You’re always so cunning, Contractor," she muttered. "Thanks to you, the other me got too worked up and submerged herself in the sea of consciousness for now."

"Then tell her not to drown in there," Sakatsuki chuckled, pulling his Red Dragon Emperor closer—Servants were manifestations of Heroic Spirits, and no matter the form, she was still the same to him. "After all, we still have a farewell battle ahead."

"Hmph, true." Draco’s cheeks flushed slightly as she turned away. But when the sacred silhouette of the Savior entered her vision, an unparalleled killing intent flared in the little dragon’s eyes.

"Daring to harm my Contractor... No matter who they are, I’ll make them pay."

————

Now, let us tell a story known to none.

One day, a young man who cherished the Calamitous Dragon as his treasure accidentally leaked her presence. The Savior, taking the form of a messiah, detected it and identified her as the seven-headed, ten-horned dragon recorded in the Bible—demanding the young man surrender this calamity.

Faced with the Savior’s demand, the young man did not obediently hand over the Beast. Instead, he sent the apocalyptic Red Dragon into the Holy Grail War unfolding in the world of the moon, entrusting another blessed version of himself to protect her in his stead.

The young man himself, clad in the Robe of the Soul, employed every means to firmly block the Savior from the Throne of the Blazing Heavens, preventing even a single step forward. He allowed the Calamitous Dragon to resurrect during this time, even slaughtering nearly every Master on the battlefield, and ultimately ascended the throne with her, confronting the Savior once more.

Though a magus who wielded the miracle of the soul, he colluded with the Beastly Calamity that sought humanity’s destruction, repeatedly obstructing the Savior from fulfilling his duty, until it escalated to the point of attempting to eliminate the Savior entirely.

—Such actions could only be described as those of a true Demon King of Heaven.

Realizing this, the Savior did not hesitate to strike.

On the first day, the young man’s body shattered and reformed hundreds of times, defiling the Great Wheel of the Heavenly Wheel King with profane power, rendering the functions of [Pruning Phenomenon] and [World Domination] inert.

On the second day, hundreds of Shadow Servants were sniped and annihilated by the Lesser Wheels. The young man’s body crumbled, and he summoned the Robe of Heaven to oppose the Savior. Though outmatched, he revived countless times through the miracle of the Third Magic.

On the third day, his Reality Marble was damaged, and his soul wounded. The Savior intended to depart, but the young man turned his spear toward the Savior’s Master. Enraged, the Savior unleashed all seven Noble Phantasms along with the Spear of Light, reducing the Throne of the Blazing Heavens to ruins within half a day—leaving only the Holy Grail behind.

Yet, the young man still lived.

On the fourth day, the Savior began to wield his power in earnest. The martial arts of Kalaripayattu could even shatter souls, yet the young man endured with unyielding resolve—though at the cost of his soul nearing depletion.

On the fifth day, the young man’s martial arts transcended the divine realm. He fought the Savior for an entire day, facing peril repeatedly but ending in a stalemate.

On the sixth day, the young man launched a counterattack. The radiance

Burying deep within his heart the pain of countless deaths, the suffocation of being torn apart time and again, and the despair of a shattered soul, the miracle known as ’Sakatsuki’ showed his friends only his ever-present gentle smile.

"My Emperor has returned to me. Your Anti-Purge Defense will no longer work against me."

During the long war before the final gamble, the reason Sakatsuki had been unable to overcome the Savior was due to one BUG-level inherent skill the latter possessed.

[Bodhi Tree’s Enlightenment: EX]

A protection granted only to those who have reached the truth of the world and the answer of humanity.

It was also proof of [World Protection], known as [Anti-Purge Defense]. It unconditionally weakened all forms of damage—physical, conceptual, or interdimensional—reducing the damage taken by an amount equal to the user’s HP.

Furthermore, it provided 100% resistance to mental interference. The Savior, possessing this skill at EX rank, could even calmly endure the full spectrum of human emotions.

Coincidentally, Draco, as Beast VI/S, possessed a skill in her third ascension that directly countered it.

[Nega Messiah: EX]

Nullifies all blessings granted by faith.

Additionally, it held a hidden ability to weaken the special skills of those with the special class of "Savior," granting an advantageous attribute against them.

This was why the Beast of Sodom was also called the ’Antichrist’—these abilities were born to suppress the Savior. And for Sakatsuki, this was the key to sounding the horn of his full-scale counterattack.

No matter how powerful the Savior was, he could not escape the constraints of being a Servant. His heaven-defying offensive skills were suppressed by the Fate Compendium, and his absolute defense was nullified by Draco—now, he was nothing more than a tougher-than-average top-tier Servant.

As the original, having gathered all the power from his journey, Sakatsuki had no reason to fear him!

"Come, Savior—let the battle begin!"

Electricity crackled violently as three great magecrafts cycled through him. Sakatsuki gripped a gun in his right hand and a blade in his left, his muscles taut, his heterochromatic blue eyes locked coldly onto the Savior—the most troublesome, dangerous adversary he had ever faced, one who had even killed him once before.

"Today, I will blast you out of the Moon Cell and seize its sovereignty for good!"