TM : [90] Magus of Flowers

"Finally, you've come, Kurokawa-san. I didn't expect your willpower to be so astonishing. Even with Magecraft I set up on your sister from the beginning, it took this long for you to fall asleep." The man with rainbow-colored long hair said with a smile.

"Who are you?"

"Well, I am Merlin, the Magus of Flowers, widely acclaimed and eagerly anticipated by the public. And this is your sister's dream world. It took some effort to bring you here," Merlin said, smiling at Kurokawa Kazuya. "Nice to meet you, stranger from another world."

Kazuya looked at his sister lying in the bed of flowers on the ground, seemingly asleep.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing, she's just sleeping. I feel there are some things we need to talk about privately," Merlin said as he sat down. There was a smooth stone behind him.

"I feel the same... I want to know what all of this is about," Kazuya sighed slightly and then looked at Merlin.

"Alright... So, where should I start? I can tell you everything."

"Then, shall we start with how I was influenced by Counter Force?"

"Impressive," Merlin applauded with a smile. "You're really something. When did you figure it out?"

"Just now... after entering this dream world, I had a vague feeling of something being off. Combining it with some knowledge I have, I made a random guess, and it turned out to be right."

"Indeed, you guessed right. You've been under the influence of the Counter Force for a long time. For instance, you ignored your sister for a while, and your sister, under the influence of the Counter Force, thought that living alone was fine and distanced herself from you. As a result, the two of you didn't meet as often as before, and you only realized this possibility now."

Merlin continued with a smile, "This is what the Counter Force wanted. Do you know what the ultimate goal of this is?"

"What is it?"

"Well... in my view, eventually, you would have succumbed to this pressure and compromised with the Counter Force. After that, you will leave the person connected to The Root, and obtained the Red Stone of Aja, becoming an ultimate being." Merlin said with indifference, "That's the Counter Force's purpose. But, this is the current Counter Force's purpose. It's not the purpose of the future Counter Force."

"Wait a moment... The Counter Force exists in the past and future too?" Kazuya felt a bit confused. Counter Force, isn't it supposed to be an entity independent of the timeline?

Why... is there a distinction between the present and the future?

"That's right, typically it shouldn't be necessary, but for reasons I don't fully understand, the Counter Force is evolving... from a state of pure instinct to one with consciousness. However, it still lacks a physical form," Merlin explained as he continued, "The current Counter Force acts purely out of instinct, doing whatever it deems necessary to protect itself from threats before they grow too large. That's because, at the moment, it cannot see the future."

"Right, I think I get it," in Kazuya's understanding, he could be considered a part of the Counter Force, and in fact, everyone in the world was part of it.

A part of Alaya.

The collective consciousness of all humanity formed Alaya.

Gaia was a similar entity.

These two were the planet's Counter Forces and the Counter Forces of humanity.

However, the Counter Force lacked consciousness; it simply acted on instinct, determining that certain actions would be beneficial to the planet and humanity's existence, and acted accordingly.

Normally, it shouldn't have been this way, as the Counter Force was supposed to exist independently of the timeline... but...

"What do you mean by 'evolution'?"

"It's quite simple... for some reason, the future Counter Force has developed a distinct consciousness. Although, it's not quite as straightforward as that, based on the information I've received, it doesn't have a physical form, or rather, it doesn't need one. This 'consciousness' is more like a mirror that reflects different attitudes depending on the individual it faces. There isn't a clear consciousness. It simply thinks more efficiently about the concept of 'survival.' And the reason for all of this is because of you—"

"Me?"

"Yes, because of you, or rather, your future self... due to temporal reasons, the future Counter Force transmitted information to the current me. Although, I could have ignored it, but I also wanted to witness the evolved Counter Force with my own eyes. Of course, I received compensation for it..." Merlin smiled.

"Compensation? Could it be... King Arthur?"

"You do know a lot," Merlin chuckled. "Yes, I accepted this compensation, the reward of the Heroic Spirit Artoria. So, I came here, to the Sea of Stars, Avalon, to have this conversation with you."

"Well, let's not talk about that. Let's continue with the topic of evolution," Merlin waved his hand. "Because of the evolution of the Counter Force, the once timeline-independent Counter Force has been separated. Now, each timeline has its own Counter Force. To truly complete the evolution of all timelines, it would take too long. So, it needs you... it needs you to replicate that successful future, to obtain those two things again. I don't know the specifics, as the Counter Force is rather vague in its descriptions."

"So, what will you do? What do you intend to do to achieve this?" Kazuya asked.

"Well... your knowledge from that otherworld, that [Fate/Zero] thing, has been taken care of by Jewel Magician. Let's call it an 'experiment in parallel worlds,' a way to see the results of events from other parallel worlds being showcased in this world by other people," Merlin said, extending his hand and placing it on Kazuya's chest. "I have two objectives for coming here. One... I'll give you the ability to resist the influence of the Counter Force. Of course, this ability was sent by the future Counter Force, Alaya, not my own power. I'm not capable of that; I can only resist the Counter Force myself. After all, I'm just half-human. This way, when the Counter Force in this world tries to influence you, it will probably feel puzzled. It might even cause instinctual confusion when it encounters a power like yours."

"And the other one... even so, your future will still be full of twists and turns; that's for sure. Just by looking at you now and not examining the other me, I can tell that much. So, do you want me to ensure a stable future for your sister?"