The Counter Force.
A safety mechanism born from the collective unconscious—an invisible vortex of power that condenses in response to prayers.
The planet wishes to extend its life, and thus there is Gaia.
Humanity wishes to avoid extinction, and thus there is Alaya.
Neither possesses true intellect; they are mechanisms that trigger passively when a cause appears that could lead to the planet's death or the collapse of human civilization.
And in the Counter Force's judgment, a magus attempting to reach the Root—the "cause" of all things in this world and the ultimate "nothingness" at the end—falls under an absolute prohibition.
So when Baiye played the card called "the Fuyuki Grail's true nature," the Counter Force showed itself.
Talk. Baiye demanded of Gaia and Alaya. You started the Grail War a year early—what exactly are you trying to stir up?
What, you're asking why he could "converse" with something that supposedly had no intellect?
He was in Unity of Heaven and Man. He was already one with heaven and earth.
Talking to the planet and humanity as concepts wasn't strange at all.
As for why he was questioning them—
It traced back to Morgan and Scáthach's investigations, plus information from the Goddess Rhongomyniad.
"Mana turbulence in the Fuyuki leyline caused the Greater Grail to fill one year early" was the kind of excuse that collapsed the moment you stared at it.
At first, Baiye had suspected Kama.
As the half-body of Beast III, she had the capability—and a plausible motive.
But both Morgan and Scáthach had investigated in their own ways and ruled out Kama, along with several other possibilities.
Then, after Baiye allied with the Einzbern, the Goddess Rhongomyniad had explained that her own invitation came from "a sudden uncertainty glimpsed within fate," which she seized—only to discover it was the Grail War's call.
To borrow a detective's famous line: once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains—no matter how impossible—must be the truth.
"…"
"…"
Answer me.
"Mostly Gaia. She wanted to make use of your special nature."
"You agreed at the time!"
"If you had objected, I wouldn't have done it!"
"So I said it's mostly you. I didn't deny I share responsibility."
"…"
Enough. Save the blame-splitting for later. Baiye cut them off. What I care about is—what do you mean by my "special nature"?
"Let Gaia explain."
"Okay, okay."
"Do you know about parallel worlds?"
I've heard of them, Baiye answered honestly, though he didn't quite see where she was going.
This world's past, present, and future weren't a smooth line from a higher-dimensional perspective—they were more like a constantly growing tree.
So long as the "trunk," the quantum time-lock, remained intact, the "branches"—futures born from possibility—formed parallel worlds with mutable futures.
"That's how it used to be. But after you appeared, we found that every possibility beneath your feet collapses into a single outcome."
Possibility collapse…?
Baiye rubbed his chin.
Do you know why it happens?
"No."
"No."
Figures.
Given what he knew of the Counter Force, the question probably was beyond it.
So he brought it back to the point:
Even if I can collapse all possibilities into one, that doesn't seem like a reason to start the war early.
If you wanted to use me to eliminate the Fuyuki ritual—the one that could, if all went smoothly, genuinely let magi reach the Root—you could've just waited and let me join the war normally next year.
"Because Gaia hasn't said the key part yet."
Oh?
"Your special nature isn't just 'collapsing all possibilities into one.' It's also that 'futures not collapsed become a state of chaos.'"
"In other words: relative to your 'present,' the 'past' still has a rough shape. But the 'future,' from the moment you appeared, became entirely unknowable."
"So after you arrived in Fuyuki, Gaia proposed: let's try to ensure you wouldn't miss the Grail War, while adding a variable—so fate could deviate more sharply from the 'predictable futures' we observed before you appeared, and see whether that might bring us more hope."
And then you discovered there's a Beast in the house? Baiye shot back.
"…"
"…"
Wait. I just remembered something.
Learning he had this "hidden trait" made Baiye recall an old incident.
Three years ago in Misaki City—did you pull something then too?
Over three years ago, Tōko Aozaki brought back to Misaki an "assistant" meant to deal with Aoko Aozaki and Alice Kuonji—a golden wolf capable of multiple transformations.
At the time Baiye already had Unity of Heaven and Man and Hundreds of Martial Arts (Lv.7). With Alice's PLOY reinforcement, he still wasn't that thing's match—Aoko had ultimately needed to unleash the Fifth Magic to win.
Baiye had originally chalked it up to simple inferiority; his knowledge of Witch on the Holy Night had been limited.
But with this new "puzzle piece" from Gaia and Alaya…
In the original story, Aoko's final reversal did hinge on the Fifth Magic—he knew that much.
You could argue that Baiye's presence simply wasn't enough to erase the difference between the two factions before and after Aoko's awakening.
But after the battle, Lugh Beowulf—left behind in Misaki by Tōko—would only ever answer Baiye's questions about those transformations with:
"I don't know what happened."
"It's like I didn't want to lose, and while you kept hitting me I just got stronger."
"Now? I don't think I can do it anymore."
Put together with what the Counter Force just told him, it said plenty.
....
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