Shinji Matou at Your Service

What is the Root, or more specifically, The Swirl of the Root?

It has many names:

"Akashic Records."

The origin of the universe.

The cause of all things.

The starting and ending point of all laws, phenomena, and causality.

In terms of existence, it is the ultimate knowledge.

It is the ultimate goal that magi dream of, a fantastical place humans can never physically reach in their lifetimes.

If omniscience and omnipotence exist in this world, they are surely found in the Root.

If there is a being that transcends all existence, it must reside within the Root.

This is how magi define it, and since the Age of Gods, they have been relentlessly pursuing it.

Of course, this isn't necessarily wrong, but those mad magi often forget one crucial thing: if the Roo" is so high in scale, can humans even handle it?

Touko once said, "Infinity is not limitless."

To define infinity, there must be limits. Without limits, infinity cannot exist.

But when humans can't even define concepts like finite and infinite, how can they bear the burden or comprehend omniscience and omnipotence?

Since the Swirl of the Root is the origin of the universe, how could humans—mere specks of dust in the cosmos—truly understand and accept it? Humans, after all, have limits. Do they think they're some kind of Warrior of Light from the M78 Nebula? Even a Warrior of Light isn't truly omniscient and omnipotent.

Thus, humans cannot truly reach the Root in a physical sense. And even if they did, they would transform into some incomprehensible form of existence, erasing all traces of their existence in the world. While there are a few so-called cases of people returning after reaching the Root, those individuals didn't strictly enter the Swirl of the Root. They merely made contact with it through some method, catching a fleeting glimpse of the tip of the iceberg. Even so, they paid a steep price.

Both Ryougi Shiki and Tohno Shiki, for example, have died once and, upon waking, were left to forever face a world shattered and fragmented.

Take Satsuki Kurogiri, who, due to Shinji's interference, never reached Misaki Town. Although he gained the ability to communicate with the world, a language akin to True Magic, he lost the ability to unify his perception of information and events.

This shows just how dangerous and terrifying the Swirl of the Root truly is.

Now, Shinji had also stepped onto the path leading to this place. He understood that all the dangers and fears weren't mere exaggerations.

It was like facing an enormous modern database, while your computer was an outdated Pentium 486—insufficient hard drive space, insufficient memory, insufficient graphics processing—insufficient everything.

The worst part was that he couldn't stop the data from being input. In the end, the only outcome would be a system crash, just like those predecessors who recklessly threw themselves into the Swirl of the Root.

However, Shinji was fortunate. His experiences were anything but ordinary.

Stepping into the realm of magic had strengthened both his mind and soul.

Years of interacting with thought-based existences had trained him in multi-threading and noise-canceling abilities.

And helping Arcueid manage her bloodlust had given him experience in handling overwhelming information.

Because of this, he didn't die from the initial explosion of information. After the initial bewilderment, his survival instincts kicked in. The body and soul influence each other, and while the soul was being overwhelmed by the torrent of information, the body could still fight back, saving the soul in return.

First step: Shut off all sensory input, minimizing the influx of information.

Second step: Internal processing.

Archive and use anything that could immediately alleviate the situation.

Everything else—whether useful or not, whether comprehensible or not—simply delete it. And if deletion wasn't possible, convert it into heat energy and radiate it away.

This wasn't the real world, after all; they were outside the world. It didn't matter how much destruction occurred. If the Swirl of the Root couldn't handle that, it might as well be called Glass Shards.

Simply put, the system's super management software had kicked in.

Firewall activated, self-scan initiated, aggressive deletion in progress—saving your lagging brain.

Ahem, no intention of mimicking a certain notorious digital protection software that acts more like malware than antivirus. It's just that this description fits best.

Gradually, Shinji regained a bit of consciousness and began to understand his situation.

He recalled the parting words of Scathach and Gilgamesh:

The closer you are to success, the more cautious you must be. The more impossible something seems, the more likely it is to happen. Don't be deceived by appearances, or swayed by great temptations, and don't forget what's most important to you.

The first part of the first sentence referred to Roa's resurgence, while the great temptation referred to the magi's ultimate ideal—the Root. As for the most important thing? That was obvious—his family, friends, and loved ones in the present world.

The phrase "Never forget your original intention" was as clear as day. What was the fundamental motivation for gaining strength? Beyond protecting himself, wasn't it to protect the people important to him?

Scathach had once said during her warrior training: "Man is the master of power, not its slave. Losing oneself in the pursuit of power is to forsake the essence in favor of the superficial."

That was close. He had almost lost himself.

In that instant, a flash of insight hit him.

He gathered all his strength and will, focusing on dispelling the thoughts and influx of information swirling around him—

I am myself!

I do not seek the Root, nor do I desire power that I cannot control!

That's all there is to it!

—And with that, he severed the connection!

Without the constant flood of information, the rest was just a matter of time. With his will driving him, the unnecessary information was discarded, while the useful parts were retained.

The chaotic state of his soul finally subsided, and Shinji regained control of himself.

When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the familiar interior of the Greater Grail. Instead, he was surrounded by an ever-shifting void.

He could sense the presence of concepts, laws, space, time, dimensions, worlds, planets, nothingness, life, death, and more—almost as if, with just one more step, he could reach out and grasp them, holding them in the palm of his hand.

But Shinji didn't do that. He simply stopped in his tracks, abandoning all these things. He only wanted one thing—how to return home, how to get back to the real world.

People were waiting for him there. Enemies to defeat. Things to do.

The Swirl of the Root—he wasn't interested. Goodbye—or better yet, may we never meet again!

In the moment he realized his true desire, the void around him faded, replaced by an apocalyptic scene.

A dark, sandy wasteland, with occasional glimpses of broken ruins, and cloaked figures the same color as the wind and sand scattered around the area.