The beginning of the story was when Van Gogh discovered she had descended into this world.
Unlike Created such as Selesia and the others, she came from somewhere much farther away—beyond the cosmos, beyond the sea of stars. She was a traveler crossing galaxies, and this world was merely one stop in her endless journey.
Upon her arrival, she immediately realized this world's peculiarity.
First, this world resembled the Type-Moon world—it had both a planetary consciousness and a collective human consciousness. But unlike Type-Moon's Gaia and Alaya, the two great wills of this world didn't interfere at all. They neither extended their influence nor sent Guardians to meddle in human history.
Thus, at first glance, this world appeared entirely devoid of the mystical. Even though its reserves of mana were abundant, the beings living here were completely unaware of it.
The two great wills of this world remained totally inert, as if they were asleep—yet they weren't entirely defenseless. They would only respond in simple, instinctive ways. If visitors arrived from outside their world, these wills would become slightly stimulated, reacting differently depending on the visitor's identity.
As for Van Gogh—whether due to her own merits, recognition from another world, or some unknown factor—the two wills hardly troubled her at all, easily permitting her entry.
It was her first time in such a harmonious world, so harmonious that even Van Gogh found it uncomfortable.
Initially, Van Gogh simply resumed her former profession: being a painter. Although eighty percent of her Saint Graph belonged to Clytie, fifteen percent to an imaginary black box, and only five percent was from the artist Vincent van Gogh, she nonetheless possessed Van Gogh's memories and talents.
With just a few paintings, Van Gogh quickly gained popularity and attracted some admirers. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before another group of people accused her work of being mere clumsy imitations of the great Van Gogh, worthless trash. These critics held some influence, and more and more people sided with them. Thus, Van Gogh's path as a painter was swiftly blocked.
In the end, Van Gogh chose a different path—drawing manga. Within her Saint Graph lay memories of "Van Gogh" drawing manga alongside Osakabehime, and combined with experience from "Fenghuan," she wasn't completely inexperienced.
Thus, Van Gogh became a mangaka. Through the manga Fate/Grand Order, she instantly gained fame. How fortunate that a certain "mushroom" didn't exist in this world.
However, Van Gogh despised socializing and public exposure. She never appeared in public, never held fan meetings, and never attended author conferences. Many were curious about the true face of the mangaka Van Gogh; they'd never imagine that she was just an underage girl—at least, according to her official documents.
One day, Van Gogh met a girl named Shimazaki Yuna. She was not only a fan, but more importantly, Van Gogh noticed Yuna had severe psychological issues, even suicidal tendencies.
Upon learning of Shimazaki Yuna's experiences, Van Gogh took pity on her, making Yuna her assistant. While closely observing Yuna to prevent her suicide, Van Gogh hoped their daily interactions might gradually ease her condition.
It was kindness—there should've been no problems. Yet, an Outer God connected to Van Gogh discovered this world through her and cast its gaze upon this realm.
This Outer God had previously attempted to invade the Type-Moon world, creating the Heroic Spirit Van Gogh. However, due to unexpected interference, its plan failed.
Now, this Outer God had set its sights upon this world, beginning another invasion.
Naturally, this world's two great wills were no mere decorations. Although smaller in scale than Type-Moon's Counter Force, these two wills didn't need to manage countless parallel worlds or split themselves into many agents. Without parallel worlds, gods, or Heroic Spirits, all mysticism here belonged exclusively to these two wills. Thus, they managed to successfully repel the Outer God.
However, the Outer God refused to give up. It intended to repeat its old strategy—using its apostles to spread its "gospel," creating vulnerabilities to weaken the barrier blocking its path.
Unfortunately for the Outer God, not only had "Van Gogh" long escaped its influence, but here, she was no longer merely "Van Gogh." The Outer God's power couldn't even slightly shake her will.
Upon realizing this, the Outer God reluctantly changed tactics… and targeted Shimazaki Yuna instead.
Taking advantage of Yuna's connection with Van Gogh, the Outer God gained the chance to influence her. Crucially, because Yuna had just suffered online bullying, her mind was on the verge of collapse. Though Van Gogh's efforts had some effect, a large void remained in Yuna's heart.
Thus, the Outer God extracted part of Van Gogh's Saint Graph and fused it into Shimazaki Yuna's body, granting Yuna Van Gogh's memories, powers, form, and identity. Because only "Van Gogh" could usher the Outer God into this world, Van Gogh's Noble Phantasm was the key to opening the gate.
If Shimazaki Yuna's spirit completely collapsed into madness, Van Gogh's Noble Phantasm would activate automatically, paving the way for the Outer God's descent.
Naturally, Van Gogh couldn't allow that. She sealed Shimazaki Yuna's memories, forcing Yuna to see herself completely as "Van Gogh," since "Shimazaki Yuna" couldn't resist the Outer God's corruption, but "Van Gogh" could. This was a temporary solution to stabilize Yuna's mind.
To prevent Yuna from sensing anything unusual—which might weaken the seal and worsen her mental state—Van Gogh wore a "shell," acting out the role of Shimazaki Yuna herself. She was experienced in playing such roles.
However, Shimazaki Yuna, having acquired part of Van Gogh's Saint Graph, couldn't fully control that power. Whenever her emotions spiraled out of control, she would summon the Outer God's soldiers—those monsters.
Thus, Van Gogh not only had to remain constantly by Yuna's side to monitor and stabilize her emotional state, but she also had to seal or eliminate those monsters whenever they appeared. Most of them were sealed within her shadow since she lacked time for thorough disposal. If Yuna realized Van Gogh wasn't present, her mental condition would deteriorate further.
Only the incident involving Chikujouin Magane's death was unexpected. Van Gogh never imagined Magane's twisted power could conjure a false Hound of Tindalos, inadvertently drawing a genuine one.
One Outer God was troublesome enough—Van Gogh didn't want further complications.
The good news was each time Shimazaki Yuna summoned monsters, she consumed the Outer God's power. Once enough power was drained, Van Gogh could reclaim the split-off Saint Graph fragment and restore Yuna.
"However, the Outer God didn't place its entire focus on me and Yuna. It simultaneously pursued other plans."
After saying that, Van Gogh paused slightly, glancing across everyone present.
Meteora stroked her chin, deep in thought. "You mean… us Created?"
"Not entirely."
After briefly arranging her words, Van Gogh continued, "The Outer God's greatest obstacles were this world's two great wills—the world consciousness and the collective human consciousness. Following my own naming habit, let's temporarily call them Gaia and Alaya."
"The Outer God is strong but can't destroy Gaia and Alaya directly, so it sought to weaken them instead."
"Unlike Gaia, Alaya isn't a single whole but an aggregate of human consciousness. Powerful when united but weak when scattered. The Outer God seized this weakness, continuously stealing and splitting Alaya's power—turning people's imagined worlds into reality. Your worlds were born like this."
"The 'Recognition' you speak of is essentially Alaya's power. Creativity originates from human imagination, Alaya's domain. Turning your worlds real, bringing you to this world—all were achieved by the Outer God stealing Alaya's strength to weaken it."
"As for your so-called corrective force, that's Gaia's manifestation. Your presence disrupts this world's laws. The ongoing conflicts and battles have continuously destabilized Gaia, further weakening it."
Unlike Type-Moon's Counter Force, these two had long grown complacent, having no experience responding to such a crisis. They had been boiled like frogs in water by the Outer God's slow erosion.
Overwhelmed, everyone instinctively turned toward Altair—
Wasn't bringing the Created into reality precisely Altair's doing?
"No, wait…that's not what I know!" Altair panicked.
"I miscalculated…" Van Gogh began murmuring miserably, spiraling into familiar self-hatred, muttering depressively about dying and rotting away beautifully into flowers—just like the Van Gogh they remembered.
Finally, Blitz Talker concluded grimly, "Seems our situation's quite dire."
"Not much time remains," Meteora added coldly. "We must act quickly—if Yuna opens the gate, everything ends."
Van Gogh timidly raised a hand: "Actually…we're not in the real world. This is a copy within my shadow, made from seven billion monsters…so no one will be hurt…"
Everyone stared, speechless.
"Oh! I forgot Mamika-san outside!" Van Gogh exclaimed suddenly, diving back into her shadow and emerging shortly after, bringing along a bewildered Mamika Kirameki.
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T/N: bro whaaat yuna was our van gogh this entire time!
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