Fate: I Will Eventually Become the Hero of Justice

Shirou's idea to use [Mortal Awakening] to destroy Angra Mainyu and the black mud had been a spur-of-the-moment thought. He hadn't expected it to actually work.

In fact, if it weren't for the Crimson Moon's foolish action, he wouldn't have realized such a terrifying weapon lay dormant deep in his soul. This made Shirou even more curious about what exactly this [Mortal Awakening] was.

If someone said it was a cheat that came from being a transmigrator, that would be wishful thinking. Such cheats only exist in light novels and anime, not in reality.

Of course, if one had Fujimura Taiga's absurd luck, who knows, it might just be real. But good fortune unfortunately had nothing to do with him.

Shirou had also considered exploring [Mortal Awakening], but lacked the means to do so. Perhaps he could use the black mud to detect and explore the invisible vortex's inner space. But in that dream, it had been proven that [Mortal Awakening] was able to crush [Evil].

Of course, that might not be the case in reality. But he simply didn't have the courage to experiment. Because compared to [Mortal Awakening], he trusted [Evil] which had always been with him. He could do without [Mortal Awakening], but not without [Evil].

Shirou ate berries with Salter, while Thrud finally stopped gazing outside the wall and walked over to them.

He picked up a blueberry and held it out to her, asking, "Want one?"

Thrud shook her head, declining.

He didn't mind the refusal. He just popped it into his own mouth. The taste really wasn't bad.

"Eternal King, we're very grateful for your help. We plan to leave here and return to Asgard."

Hearing this, he set down the berry in his hand and looked at her, asking, "Not going to search around a bit longer?"

She shook her head. "No. There's no other evil fluctuation here, so I'll go back to Asgard first and report this matter."

He nodded.

"By the way," Thrud said, "Sister Ortlinde said she wants you to come with us. Do you want to go to Asgard?"

While he was asleep, she had used the Valkyrie network and her own eyes to thoroughly check the Jotunheimr Gate for problems. Finding none, she was now preparing to leave.

He considered it first, then asked, "Can Asgard help us find our Master faster?"

"Of course," she nodded.

He got up and patted his butt. "Then we should definitely go."

He turned to Salter with a smile and asked, "Right, Saber? To find our Master faster, we should definitely go to Asgard, right?"

This guy... How much longer could he keep up this act before his cover was blown? These Valkyries would definitely toss him into their deepest dungeon sooner or later. Speechless, Salter took another bite of the berry and nodded, "Yes."

Shirou decided to go to Asgard, the Valkyries' base, with Thrud. Based on information she had accidentally revealed, her side led by Skadi had long allied with Chaldea. As Shirou was from Chaldea, it was natural for him to accompany Thrud and meet this leader.

After double-checking the gate and confirming no more issues, they returned to Village 23. Thrud told the villagers there would be no further giant attacks. However, rather than rejoicing at the great news, the villagers simply nodded calmly and thanked her and Shirou.

As Thrud and Shirou prepared to depart for Asgard, the villagers gifted them two baskets of blueberries in thanks, despite the backwardness and low productivity of their village.

Shirou initially declined, but Gelda smiled and said, "Take them, divine envoy. It's a long journey. These blueberries refresh and enhance the body - perfect travel fare. Bring them with you to eat along the way."

He couldn't refuse such kindness and accepted.

To a normal 21st century person, it was a simple gift. But here in the frozen Scandinavian world, shrouded in snow and lashed by frigid gales, it was precious. With not an inch of arable land, the Norse had survived for more than two thousand years on Skadi's blessed blueberry trees alone.

Furthermore, from what he'd gathered, blueberry yields had declined in recent years. So this gift represented not just fruit, but a lifeline. It was incredibly valuable.

"Divine envoy, my mother said Asgard is the gods' land where it's springtime all year round," Gelda said brightly, her eyes shining with curiosity. "If you ever come back, could you tell me more about what spring's like there?"

He nodded. "Of course."

Clearly, the girl was pretty fond of spring, but it was understandable. Just as one used to sunlight likely couldn't appreciate its beauty.

"Don't worry. One day, you'll see spring with your own eyes," he said with an encouraging smile.

"Really?" Gelda blinked.

He nodded.

She didn't understand what spring was like, but her mom had told her about the flowers, trees, grass, and butterflies...what did those look like?

Her heart swelled with anticipation.

Shirou waved goodbye to the villagers and set off down the road to Asgard, leaving footprints across the vast whiteness of the land.

...

Shirou's group set off from Village 23 on the Midgard border. With everyone at least as strong as a typical Heroic Spirit, they traveled incredibly fast and soon reached Asgard's domain.

Midgard wasn't very big, but Asgard left him dumbfounded. Ahead was a withered, snow-cloaked forest, and in its center stood an enormous icy tree trunk resembling a mountain, piercing the clouds.

Gazing at the gargantuan tree, he was awestruck.

Adam's thousand-meter tall body was shocking enough, but compared to this massive tree, he looked like a toddler.

Facing such a majestic sight, humans could only feel their insignificant.

Regaining his senses, he turned to Thrud and asked, "Is this...the World Tree?"

She nodded. "This is the mid-level main trunk. Asgard was built atop the upper levels of the World Tree."

She stretched out her hand, pointing to the top of the tree trunk's section.

He looked up, but with the heavy snowfall and only a strange black ring visible in the gray sky, he couldn't see Asgard or any other colors.

Seeing Shirou and Salter gazing upward trying to find Asgard, Thrud explained, "When the gods established Asgard at the World Tree's peak, they set up an invisible bounded field so it wouldn't block the creatures below from seeing the sky and sun. Of course, they also couldn't see Asgard either."

Shirou nodded in understanding. Although this decision seemed rather thoughtful, in deciding to establish Asgard atop the World Tree, it was not without the intention of surveilling the living beings below.

However, that was irrelevant to him. All he needed to do was clear this connection point, retrieve his main body, and return to Chaldea.

But now he doubted Romani and Mash's definition of a connection point that they had told him.

They had said a connection point was an intersection between worlds. So Shirou's transfers between two connection points should have changed his coordinates. But according to Adam, his coordinates hadn't changed.

Moreover, aside from the emergence of the Eternal King who had altered panhuman history, the historical processes of other parallel worlds were almost the same. In other words, this World Tree might have existed in all those parallel worlds. But how could such a massive tree exist on Earth, not to mention so close to Britain? He certainly hadn't seen any trace of such a gigantic tree back in the late Age of Gods over 1500 years ago!

Furthermore, what existed outside of this Scandinavian's connection point? Shirou had a strong feeling that if he could resolve these doubts, he might uncover the truth about connection points and the council's real motives.

Some of these questions could only be answered by collecting clues himself and making his own deductions, while he could inquire about others. For example, he could ask Skadi and Thrud about the Scandinavian world. They should be knowledgeable enough to answer all his questions.

In fact, he had already indirectly probed Thrud, but her answers gave him no useful information. She was like a true ancient native, with her worldview limited only to Scandinavia, which to her was the entire world.

Of course, there was no shame in that. But for these lingering questions, he could only save them for Skadi now.