Chapter 271: The Saint's Kiara Sessyoin
"Must be nice, only Lilith gets to enjoy headpats from Shirou-senpai," the girl with the ponytail said, blinking her eyes at the youth in a suggestive hint.
Shirou reached out his other hand and patted Gudako's head, sternly advising her: "While I'm not here, Gudako, you must listen to everyone. You need to rest on time and not let your body fall into a state of extreme fatigue. Do you understand?"
"I know! I know! Shirou-senpai, you're just like my mother, so naggy!" Gudako said, pouting.
"Alright then, I'm off," Shirou said with a light chuckle as he withdrew his hand and looked toward the blonde man on the other side.
The Knight of the Sun nodded, declaring with a solemn face: "Shirou, if you are leaving, it must be for something important; I will not ask for your reasons. You need not worry about things here. As long as I, Gawain, am still standing, whether it be day or night, I will never let the Master come to any harm."
"Ah, you are indeed the most reliable of comrades. Sir Gawain, I leave Gudako in your care," Shirou nodded, walking toward the other side.
Having been summoned here, he had a mission that only he could fulfill. He intended to continue investigating the clues he had discovered from the very beginning.
Previously, in a diary found within the church, the following information was written:
January 2017: Life at the oil field base suddenly underwent an abnormal change. Contact with the outside world vanished. The already complex interpersonal relationships—between the privileged and the working class, the higher-ups and ordinary employees, men and women—all manifested as problems.
People, falling into a state of panic, began to fight, and some were injured. Countless eyes flickering in the darkness... monsters that devour the human heart.
People can no longer trust others; they can only love themselves. Conscience and morality are as nauseating as maggot-infested, rotting food here.
It feels like an emotion that completely denies the woman's previous life. Why did it become like this? I want to cry... The woman recorded a stroke of despair in her diary.
February 2017: Outside the church, festivals are held at night as usual. Burning flames and the sound of gunfire, men laughing like madmen. Every day, a new living sacrifice is offered...
The woman watches these scenes with cold indifference; her heart has gradually grown numb.
Driven by her final responsibility as a mental therapist—even if she is the last human to maintain sanity, even if she might be killed by the staff—before then, the woman works hard to soothe the berserk and collapsing spirits of the people, hoping to restore their reason...
March 2017: The woman's eyes were gouged out, and then she was thrown back home. With trembling hands and using every ounce of strength in her body, she sealed the door tightly. Not to prevent those outside from coming back in, but because she feared her own constantly changing inner self. She no longer wanted anyone to see her. Everything is beyond redemption.
Combined with what Vlad III had said regarding a Demon God, it seemed there was an even more terrifying existence in this place. In the diary, that originally kind woman who loved helping others seemed to have collapsed under some kind of influence.
After parting with Gudako, Shirou used invisibility to avoid the Servants and Demonic Beasts who had fallen into a frenzy due to the lack of a Master and the influence of madness, searching for information hidden within the oil base.
Through his investigation, Shirou gradually approached the truth of the matter.
All clues pointed toward a woman named Kiara Sessyoin. Regarding her identity, in the world where "No Name" (Mumei) originated, she was a woman recognized by the high-ranking Cardinals of the Holy Church as a modern-day Saint—and also regarded as the greatest potential enemy hindering the development of religion.
As a human, she was not a magus with great destructive power or an existence with miraculous might, but she possessed an instinct to influence the human heart through words and actions. In her universal love, she bestowed affection, understanding, and tolerance upon everyone. In the face of such care, even the most heinous individuals, seen by the world as beyond saving, could not resist.
The desire to be understood, the desire to be loved—no matter what kind of desire was in one's heart, it would receive recognition and support from Kiara Sessyoin. People would do anything for her; they lived for her and died for her. As long as they could receive her love, then even going to Hell was supreme happiness and enjoyment.
She made the cold-blooded, ruthless assassin sent by the Western European Plutocracy—a man with absolutely no faith—become a follower at her feet, and he truly became a sage who benefited the people.
There was also the old man from the Makiri magus family who excelled in insect magecraft, who once had noble ideals but later became obsessed with extending his life by any means necessary. After immigrating to Japan and changing his surname to Matou, under her influence, he was transformed into a genuinely good person after 500 years of life.
Such cases were too numerous to count. Kiara Sessyoin was a bona fide Saint; the compassion she bestowed could indeed grant salvation from despair and pain to all of humanity.
Kiara Sessyoin never told a single lie to herself or others, displaying her desires without concealment. Yet, she could somehow induce people to act for her sake, speaking "lies that were completely true." Then, when she lost interest, she would naturally discard them.
Kiara's own wish was to satisfy and bear the desires of even more people. It was precisely because of this that she traveled to save all living beings, aspiring to become the vessel for the faith and wishes of the masses.
The desires of people were laid bare before her, and she would encourage them to realize those desires. In the process of pursuing these desires, she could obtain supreme pleasure. Once people's hearts were satisfied, their desires would fade, and they would become things that were no longer needed.
At that moment, Kiara Sessyoin would leave these people without hesitation and never pay them any mind again. Many who had found salvation through her would, because of this, fall into unbearable sadness, collapse, and end their own lives.
However, these matters were superfluous to Kiara Sessyoin because, from the very beginning, the only one she considered a "true human" was herself. She saved humans only because she wanted to feel the pleasure brought by those intense desires.
She was an absolute egoist. After all, when she lay despairingly on her sickbed as a child, she had already realized that other humans were beyond saving and were merely toys used to satisfy her through their desires. If someone came with an intense desire to kill her, she would open her arms and accept it gladly. But if there was no desire, they would only be treated as an unnecessary burden, and she would leave coldly and decisively.
In the Moon Holy Grail War, she went even further to absorb a massive amount of energy. With the help of the Moon Cell and the Noble Phantasm of the Servant Hans Christian Andersen, she ultimately achieved the status of a "God." The "salvation" she brought to the humans of the world as a God was mostly disaster. Her compassion and care for humanity were heartfelt; she loved humanity more than anyone else. One could only say that this was the love of a God, not a human love that people could understand.
In the memories of this Moon Cell, in the world on the Near Side of the Moon, No Name and Hakuto had gone through many battles.
In the First Layer, the opponent they met was a child very similar to the Shinji he knew. Although they shared the same name, this Shinji Matou's real identity on Earth was actually a boy born in the Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan region.
He was a "Designer Baby" conceived from the preserved genetic sperm of the Makiri family applied for by his mother. His real age was actually 8 years old—spoiled, overbearing, and arrogant.
However, this was somewhat unavoidable. After all, at such a young age, he had won the Asian gaming championship. His aptitude as a Spiritron Hacker was indeed excellent. His
most hated rival was the world-champion "gaming hermit," Jinako. His Servant was the legendary British pirate Francis Drake, who in life not only completed two circumnavigations of the globe but also repelled the Spanish Armada, opening the prologue to the new British Empire.
In the cruel elimination tournament, Hakuto defeated Shinji. Seeing the disappearance of her former friend, she couldn't help but shed tears for him.
In the Second Layer, the opponent's Master was an old knight who had earned the trust of the Queen of England. The battle took place in a forest, against a green-haired man known as the Faceless King.
In the Third Layer, they encountered a pitiful girl under ten years old. In reality, her physical body was already dead; as a cyber-ghost, she had been wandering through the network world, watching the competition from the periphery. It wasn't until she saw Hakuto, who was in a similar situation, that she couldn't help but intrude into the tournament grounds. Originally just a lonely girl who wanted someone to play with, she also fell into a situation where she was forced to fight.
In the Fourth Layer, they met Rin Tohsaka, who had summoned the Lancer Cu Chulainn and was struggling. As a member of the "Resistance" organization opposing the Western European Plutocracy, she had followed the heir of the Plutocracy, Leo, here to participate in the Holy Grail War. Her wish was to defeat the Western European Plutocracy, which controlled the Earth's resources but sought no change, and then settle in Japan.
Her virtual avatar in the Moon Holy Grail War was a black-haired, twin-tailed young lady, but her original hair color was actually blonde. She had a strong personality and the caliber and strength of an outstanding magus. While decisive in killing, because of her own sense of justice, she helped Hakuto, who had saved her, all along the way. Even after losing her Servant, she continued to stay by Hakuto's side to help her.
The opponent in the Fifth Layer was Julius, Leo's half-brother. As a member of the Harwey family of the Western European Plutocracy, he was born as a designer baby but was born with the defect of inferior abilities. In the cruel post-apocalyptic world, even the Harwey family would not raise a useless commoner. However, through his will to survive, he earned their attention.
Thus, the adults raised him as an assassin. Later, he became the captain of the Plutocracy's special assassin unit for terrorists. In his childhood, his only reliance was Leo's mother, who cared for him. However, his first mission was to kill his foster mother. Before she died, the foster mother smiled and pleaded with him, "I leave Leo to you." After that, Julius lost his final bit of humanity. Aside from completing assassin missions, his only life goal was to protect Leo and assist him in becoming the head of the family.
His Servant was the Chinese martial artist Li Shuwen. As an Assassin, he displayed completely presence-less concealment techniques and a martial art that could sever mana;
he was a terrifyingly strong enemy. After a bitter battle, they finally cracked Li Shuwen's concealment and defeated the opponent.
The deceased Julius became a cyber-wraith due to his obsession and fought Hakuto once more in the final layer. As a failed designer baby—an inferior, talentless ordinary person—Julius had felt a threat from the similarly weak Hakuto from the start. In the final battle, he was defeated by Hakuto. Through their conversation, he understood the girl's thoughts, regarded her as his only friend, and then vanished in peace.
The opponent in the Sixth Layer was a brown-skinned, expressionless Egyptian girl wearing glasses, Rani, who summoned the Berserker Lu Bu. She was a homunculus created by the last alchemist of the Atlas Academy, specializing in cyber-warfare. As a Master of the Moon Holy Grail War, her talent could be said to be among the best.
The Seventh Layer was the defending champion, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beautiful youth. He possessed super-talent exceeding that of general designer babies. Having received elite education since childhood, he completed everything perfectly and was skilled at reading human hearts, much like a true Emperor. It would not be an exaggeration to say he was the strongest Master of this competition.
As the successor to the Northern European Plutocracy, which controlled nearly two-thirds of the Earth's resources, he entered the Moon Cell and joined the war despite his family's attempts to stop him, in order to prevent the Moon Holy Grail from falling into the hands of villains and causing instability on Earth.
His summoned Servant was the Knight of the Round Table, Saber Gawain, who displayed overwhelming military force during the three hours of noon. Skilled at speculating on an opponent's psychology through subtle expressions, he found it difficult to read the inner thoughts of the expressionless Hakuto, and thus became very interested in her.
However, this Moon Holy Grail War fell into stagnation. It seemed that during the period between the end of the fifth layer's war and the start of the sixth layer's battle, Hakuto was kidnapped to the Far Side of the Moon. She was placed in the health room, falling into a deep slumber.
Nevertheless, Hakuto woke up from her dream and called out the name of the Servant connected to her heart.
No Name reached Hakuto's side through various methods, re-established the contract, and began exploring the Sakura Labyrinth. During this time, they encountered Lilith and Lip, opening the hearts of the girls.
In order to save the girls and leave the Far Side of the Moon, Hakuto requested to learn the cyber-techniques developed by the nun Kiara Sessyoin—who had also been transferred to the old school building—namely, the "Five Meditations for Stopping the Mind" (Gofugoshin-kan) and "All-Colored Stagnation" (Manshoku-yuutai).
But at this time, even BB did not expect that the Kiara Sessyoin here would be the massive mastermind behind the scenes.
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