The unprecedented and unparalleled Great War of the Land of Shadows finally came to an end.
The Eternal Queen still hadn't escaped her eternity, but this time, she no longer regarded it as a curse. After all, she would no longer be alone.
After enduring countless years, she had finally found her place of belonging.
What would happen after that? No one knew.
The only certainty was that, whether in life or death, he and she would always be together.
Upon returning from the Land of Shadows, Shinji finally let go of his reservations and began to sort out the emotional debts he had accumulated over the past ten years. With the guidance and teachings of his Shishou, who truly lived up to her title, Shinji felt he had a considerable advantage.
Thus, Shinji took action.
And he was serious—not joking.
The first one had to be Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern.
She was the hope that appeared before him when he first arrived in this world, terrified and helpless. She was also the first woman to share his fate.
She held an irreplaceable, unique place in his heart.
Although, due to her aloof and slow-to-warm nature, she didn't care about the so-called order of things, Shinji couldn't remain indifferent. It wasn't just about giving her closure, but also about giving himself closure.
He took her back to the snowy Einzbern Castle, to the place where she was born. In front of the central program Golem Jubstacheit, the father of all homunculi, they held a wedding just for the two of them.
At the wedding, Justeaze wore a genuine Dress of Heaven.
It wasn't made by Einzbern alchemy but was a piece Shinji directly cut from magic itself—a symbol of the authority of the Third Magic.
Doing so undoubtedly weakened his magic and his power.
Mystery, after all, loses its strength when too many people know about it.
But Shinji didn't care. Their fates had long since become intertwined, inseparable. His magic was her magic.
The second was Matou Sakura.
His adopted younger sister, with whom he formed an immediate bond upon their first meeting. He had always held her in the palm of his hand, caring for her.
Maybe because he spoiled her too much, when her heart first awakened to love, it became entirely fixed on her older brother. She followed him quietly, giving everything without complaint.
How could Shinji not see such feelings? How could he remain indifferent?
He found an opportunity to have a long talk with Sakura.
In the end, the older brother was still the older brother, and the younger sister was still the younger sister.
Of course, that's in front of others. In private, you could add a word before "brother" and "sister."
As for what that word is... I'll leave that to your imagination.
The third was Asakami Fujino.
The fourth was Kirie Fujou.
These two were still in one-on-one relationships, but they were mentioned together because their experiences were too similar.
Both had tragic pasts, both were saved by Shinji and given a bright future.
From that moment, their fates became intertwined with his.
Neither of them had ever considered leaving him, and he had never considered abandoning them.
So when they each confessed their feelings and proposed marriage under multiple identities, Shinji agreed without hesitation.
Fujino, in America, under the identity of Levi Ackerman, at the top of the Statue of Liberty.
Kirie, in Dubai, under the identity of John Smith.
The fifth was Aozaki Touko.
A guide to the world of mysteries and a protector behind the scenes.
At first, their relationship was purely professional, but it gradually evolved into a sibling-like bond. After going through many emotional hurdles, they finally took a crucial step forward.
Due to her extensive life experience, Touko didn't care much for the formalities of a wedding.
Their agreement was the simplest: they returned together to Misaki Town, to the long-neglected Aozaki household, and announced to all of Touko's old acquaintances.
—From now on, this woman is mine. If you don't treat her as a treasure, I will!
The sixth, and last human, was Barthomeloi Lorelei.
There wasn't much complexity between them. Neither saved the other nor was there any master-servant relationship.
They simply met by chance, got to know each other, and grew to appreciate and like each other.
In the end, driven by various forces, they came together.
It might not sound like the purest love story, but does that matter?
She liked him, and he liked her, and that was enough.
At the age of twenty-five, an ideal age, the two most influential figures in the world of mysteries officially united.
Their wedding was unprecedented in scale.
Held directly in Buckingham Palace, with Queen Elizabeth presiding and the Pope from the Vatican personally officiating.
All the important figures from every field attended, including two magicians and the lords of the twelve departments. Even the Wandering Sea and the Atlas Institute, both notoriously elusive, sent representatives. The representative from Atlas was a familiar face—Sion Eltnam Atlasia.
In addition to these, many representatives from the mystical realms of various countries attended, and even several heads of state personally came. This alone showed the influence of this couple.
That wraps up the human side; now for the non-humans.
Non-human No. 1, Arcueid.
The naive, sweet True Ancestor Princess, who had captured his heart in a past life and led him into the deep pit of the Nasuverse. In this life, she was even more irresistible, even though she constantly caused him trouble and left him with headaches.
This time was no different. She originally didn't care about human concepts like marriage or weddings, but after seeing Lorelei's grand wedding, the willful princess declared she couldn't lose and demanded a wedding of her own.
With her boundless energy and endurance, Shinji, whose soul was undoubtedly the strongest in the world, was nagged into a nervous breakdown. He had no choice but to agree to give her a similarly grand wedding.
Though it wasn't held in a palace, nor attended by politicians or important figures, in terms of fantasy, it surpassed anything imaginable—it took place on the reverse side of the world.
For the sake of his "daughter," or rather her nominal father, Gaia bent the rules and opened the pathway to the reverse side of the world.
The wedding wasn't a regular one but more akin to a carnival.
Phantasmal species, fairies, and spirits—beings with terrifyingly long lifespans who were usually so bored they spent most of their time sleeping—finally had an excuse and opportunity to indulge. Naturally, they caused quite a ruckus.
If this had happened in the real world, it would have been a disaster. But within the Inner Sea of the Planet, under Gaia's protection, there was no need to worry. Some of the more mischievous fairies even planned to make this day a festival, celebrating it from time to time.
In a way, this could be seen as a good thing. After all, where there is vitality, there is a future, and stagnation only leads to an end—perhaps that was Gaia's reason for helping.
Non-humans No. 2 and 3: Artoria and Jeanne d'Arc.
They are mentioned together not only because they look alike, but their personalities are also similar.
Having died once, they didn't place much importance on weddings or titles. Instead, they valued the spiritual connection. As a result, they remained in the dating phase.
Artoria had confessed earlier, so their progress was quicker. They had already experienced everything lovers were supposed to. (TL: Sorry no segg scene. I feel like it will destroy the rhythm of the story.)
Jeanne, however, needed time to understand her feelings and determine what exactly she felt for Shinji, which caused significant delays. After a conversation with Mooncell and Leticia, she finally had an answer and told Shinji the iconic line:
"I am in love with you."
Non-human No. 4: Altera.
This one was the most interesting, as her state was different, and so were her feelings for Shinji.
The loli form expressed childlike attachment.
The Servant form showed quiet watchfulness.
The giant form felt romantic love.
These three distinct but interconnected emotional expressions took Shinji quite some time to get used to.
Later, with Scathach's guidance, he figured it out—he would treat them like three sisters.
A daughter is a daughter, family is family, and a lover is a lover.
There was no conflict between them.
By the way, the issue of Giant Altera had already been completely resolved by Shinji.
The landing pod that Altera's starship had used to descend on the Moon, the VoidCell at its core, had been thoroughly conquered with the help of the Third Magic and Mooncell's computational power. It was assimilated into Mooncell.
From now on, Altera no longer needed to worry about the orders of the wandering star or the destructive instinct within her. She could finally be her true self.
This also meant that Shinji had officially obtained Mooncell's highest authority.
It was the highest authority, but not royal authority because the symbol of royal authority was a crown, which Shinji did not possess. Moreover, in this world, Mooncell didn't have any royal authority. Shinji's previous belief in its existence was simply a result of being influenced by the thinking of Nasuverse fans.
The royal authority was something Mooncell had created to resist the star-devouring Velber. To choose a suitable holder of this royal authority, Mooncell hosted a Moon Holy Grail War with 128 participants.
That entire process was a simulation created by Mooncell based on the data it had collected in the Fate/Extra world. Given the different changes in worldlines, it was perfectly normal for Mooncell to arrive at different conclusions.
For instance, in the Fate/Extra world, Mooncell was able to gather 128 Masters for the Moon Holy Grail War, but in Shinji's current worldline, that was impossible.
Aside from the parallel-world observer Zelretch, the time-traveler Shinji, and theoretically Aozaki Aoko, no one in this world knew of Mooncell's existence, so the Moon Holy Grail War couldn't happen, and no royal authority was created.
Shinji obtained Mooncell's highest authority not through the Holy Grail War but simply by establishing a connection using the Third Magic. After a prolonged data transfer, Mooncell recognized him, granting him the highest authority.
Mooncell didn't explain why, but Scathach speculated it was because it saw potential in Shinji to resist the star-devouring Velber. After all, Shinji had already mostly resolved the issue of Altera and was even planning to deal with the other two Velber warriors. He even had grand aspirations of unifying the solar system and venturing to the stars.
If that wasn't enough to impress Mooncell, nothing ever would be.
Everything happened naturally. Many things that seem incredibly difficult at lower levels become surprisingly easy when you reach a certain level.
Obtaining Mooncell's highest authority also meant Shinji no longer needed to rely on Zelretch to travel between parallel worlds—Mooncell already possessed the function of a branching event tree and could connect with similar devices in parallel worlds, transmitting data, including souls.
While it wasn't as convenient as the Second Magic and had many limitations, thanks to it, Shinji was finally able to meet some old friends from another world.
He had a drink with Chiron.
Spar with Achilles.
Helped Atalanta plan her charity work.
He also got in touch with Sieg and Astolfo. They seemed to be having the time of their lives, currently on an expedition to Antarctica, living better than anyone.
As for the romantic relationships everyone was concerned about, Shinji had already addressed them.
He built a family with Rokudou Rika and the now-matured Jack. He also officially married Fiore and registered the marriage. Furthermore, he visited Laeticia's home and, with some firm insistence, officially moved her residency to Trifas.
Some actions, once initiated, must follow through to their conclusion unless they haven't yet reached that point.
To this day, a few people still maintain ambiguous, hard-to-define relationships with Shinji.
One example was Tohsaka Rin.
Their relationship was quite strange—they sometimes competed in secret and sometimes supported each other. They weren't quite friends, weren't quite family, and weren't quite lovers. While Rin declared that their relationship was defined as comrades on the path of magic, not even Sakura knew what her sister truly thought.
A similar situation existed with Luvia. While her connection with Shinji wasn't as deep as Rin's, her constant rivalry with Rin often led her to use Shinji as a point of contention. Over time, rumors spread that one of the Edelfelt twins was the lover of the Third Magician, and Luvia didn't bother to clarify, leaving people to wonder what she was thinking.
The Rokudou Rika and Fiore of this world fell into another category altogether.
In the parallel world, they had already achieved their happy endings, so theoretically, they could let go. However, due to the influence of their parallel selves' memories, every time they tried to forget that man and start a new relationship, their hearts would feel heavy.
Yet, if they chose that man, they would feel unsatisfied—why should they? The ones with deep ties to him weren't them, but their parallel selves.
It's a tangled web, and it seems they will struggle with it for a long, long time.
Luckily, the Third Magic not only grants immortality to the Magician but can also bestow eternity upon others. If five years aren't enough, then ten years; if ten years aren't enough, then twenty years. If it takes a hundred years, the answer will come eventually.
Even if no answer comes, once everyone from this era has passed away, that will effectively be the answer. Shinji's mindset had begun to shift toward that of an immortal.
As he had said to Scathach: the universe is vast, the world is full of wonder—dying early would be too wasteful.
Moreover, beyond the Nasuverse lies an even broader multiverse. One day, he hoped to venture out and explore it. He wanted to return to the home of his previous life, visit his past parents, and if possible, pull a prank on someone as a form of repayment.
Perhaps he might even find a way to avoid the Land of Steel outcome. The infinite multiverse offers infinite possibilities—surely one of them would be suitable for this world.
Of course, reaching that point might require an unimaginably long time, but Shinji wasn't in any hurry. Having a goal brings motivation. Without a goal, without motivation, a person becomes stagnant, and a long life truly becomes a curse.
Perhaps that's why the previous Third Magician went missing.
But Shinji was confident he wouldn't meet the same fate. His home was here, his roots were here, and all his bonds were here. As long as he held onto that thread, he wouldn't lose his way.
This is the story of Matou Shinji.
[END]