Chương 491: C491
Endless darkness.
It was just so... dark.
Shirou felt like he drifted, lost in the void.
How long had it been? He couldn't even tell.
All he remembered was that he went into that thing's true form. But before he could even absorb it, he was locked away.
Who did it? And where was he now? He didn't know.
He saw things going south and fled, but now, he wasn't even sure where he ended up.
One thing was clear, though: this wasn't just some random spot on Earth. It felt more like a rift between dimensions.
He might have dodged that thing, but now he was stranded in this dimensional rift. He couldn't remember how he got here, and he had no clue where to go next. All alone in this eerie, dark space.
Where was the way out? And where was home? He had no idea.
Stuck in an endless dimension beyond the world, he felt his consciousness slipping away.
Just then, a pathway to the Throne of Heroes caught his eye.
The brilliance was breathtaking. It was as if a star's light was beckoning those from the Throne of Heroes, pulling them into reality.
"Holy Grail War..." He whispered.
This had to be a summoning from a Holy Grail War taking place somewhere.
For him, it was a glimmer of hope. Lost and directionless in this dimensional maze, this could be his guidepost. If he followed this, he might just find a way out and get a lead to reach out to Zelretch.
Apart from getting help from the Enlightened One, who had the ability to traverse the Root, the only escape from the dimensional rift was via the Second Magic. Trapped, he couldn't step into another world or even go back to his own. He was, in every sense, lost. His best bet was to track down the old man and ask for a way out.
He focused on one of the incoming records. A few moments later, he realized that his physical body couldn't break free from this maze and follow the records. That was fine; all he needed was for his consciousness to break through and make contact with the old man.
He cocooned himself in darkness, putting his physical body into a state of sleep. Then, with his consciousness carrying his records, he dashed toward one of the summoning channels.
Saber, Lancer, Rider... He qualified for nearly all the classes. So, before the Throne of Heroes could react, he swiftly took hold of one of the spots.
This was, unquestionably, a BUG.
Yet, in this dimensional space, he discovered something astonishing. Someone had done the same thing as him. It had reacted first, taken the Saber class, and completed the summoning.
He had no idea who this other person was, but it didn't matter; he had no interest in the Holy Grail.
He only needed to step into this world and then reach out to Zelretch through the Clock Tower.
"...Heed my call and manifest!"
A man's fanatical voice resounded in his ears.
The Holy Grail granted him a Spiritual Core, creating an operational physical body and imbuing his mind with modern knowledge and details about the Holy Grail War.
There was no doubt that this was the result of being truly summoned as a Servant.
In a pitch-black underground chamber, a crimson magic circle pulsed to life, and a man gazed at it with fanaticism. There was no doubt; it was the manifestation of his ambitions, summoning a Heroic Spirit from a distant land.
Within that magic circle, Shirou slowly opened his eyes and began to walk out.
"Servant, Assassin, I have answered the summons. You..."
Shirou started, but something made him stop dead in his tracks.
The intense metallic scent of blood hung in the air.
There, with that crazy look in his eyes, stood a magus.
But what chilled him to the bone were the bodies sprawled out around the man.
It was clear.
These people had been used, sacrificed.
Offered up by the magus just to summon a Servant!
A dangerous glint flashed in Shirou's eyes.
He had been summoned through some twisted blood sacrifice ritual!
As his anger bubbled, the magus began, "Heroic Spirit, I am your Master, and I..."
Before he could finish, Shirou quickly projected several swords, impaling the magus mid-sentence.
The magus gasped, eyes bulging. "You... You..."
The very Servant he'd summoned was now trying to kill him!
"Damn you... if you're going to be like this... then..." The magus' eyes blazed with fury, and the Command Spell on his hand started to glow a sinister red. Drawing a deep breath, he yelled, "I command you to end your own life! Do it, do it, do it...!"
But Shirou didn't even flinch.
The magus' face contorted in disbelief. "How... why isn't it working?"
Shirou drew a blade, his voice icy, "Command Spells don't work on evil."
The magus, clutching his bleeding stomach and spitting blood, stuttered in desperation, "Hold on! Just wait! Don't do it! You're the Servant I summoned! If I'm out, you'll be out of this war too!"
Shirou swiftly drove the sharp tip of his blade into his summoner's forehead without any hesitation and then decapitated him.
Thud-!
The magus' eyes widened in shock as his head tumbled to the ground, his headless body spasmed briefly, and then went limp.
"It's a shame; my summoner was crazy. But I suppose I can manage without a Master," he remarked calmly as he flicked the blood off his blade.
...
With a swift and decisive move, he took out the very magus who had summoned him. While he wasn't the type to kill on a whim, he had his own set of morals. Being brought into this world through such a gruesome ritual was an unforgivable breach of those morals.
In a world untouched by outsiders, his Evil Flower started to whir to life, rendering a Master useless.
"Did any survive?"
Shirou's face tightened with concern. He combed through the remains of the ritual, hoping to find any signs of lingering life.
The ground was strewn with lifeless bodies, numbering around fifty or so. Among them was a boy of no more than six years old.
This boy must have once been lively and cheerful, but he now lay disemboweled, drenched in blood, and lifeless.
With keen eyes, he noticed that the boy was clutching an Ultraman toy in his arms.
He reached out and took it; the exquisite Ultraman toy was now tainted with blood.
Even its golden eyes were smeared with red.
His heart grew heavy.
He couldn't stand the deaths of children, especially when they were caught up in such sudden disasters.
It brought back memories of his own younger days.
After a thorough search, it became clear that no one had survived the ritual.
This left him feeling somewhat regretful.
"May you rest in peace."
He sighed and began to walk away, but then he heard a feeble voice pleading for help.
"Help... please... I... I don't want to die..."
Turning back around, he saw a woman, barely conscious. Her injuries were severe; her entrails spilled onto the ground. Even in this horrifying state, she managed to plead weakly for help.
Without a second thought, he cast a healing spell, narrowly pulling her back from the brink of death.
"Thank... thank you..."
She murmured weakly, gratitude evident in her tone before slipping into unconsciousness.
Carefully, he lifted her and made his way out of the underground chamber, heading straight for the nearest emergency room.
Once she was in the hands of medical professionals, he discreetly left the hospital. He located a nearby phone booth and called the police, providing them with a briefing about the gruesome scene in the basement.
When the police tried to trace the call, they did pinpoint the booth's location but found no sign of him. As a Servant, he had the ability to shift into a Spiritual Body, effectively becoming invisible. Unless he wanted to be seen, the average person couldn't detect his presence.
Roaming the streets of the city in his spiritual form, he gathered bits and pieces of information.
He found himself in Shinjuku, Japan. But certain discrepancies quickly made him realize that this wasn't the world he knew. For starters, phone booths were a thing of the past in his timeline. Moreover, when he tried calling his home number, the one that had never changed in his world, there was no answer. Neither Fujimaru Shirou nor Emiya Shirou seemed to exist in this place.
Stranger still, there was no hint of the Holy Grail in Japan. Nor did he sense the presence of any other Servants. It dawned on him that if a Holy Grail War was to happen, it wouldn't be here but elsewhere.
Being a Servant summoned to this world gave him an innate sense of that particular city, along with knowledge bestowed by the Holy Grail that allowed him to pinpoint the true location of the war's epicenter.
—Romania.
This was the knowledge the Holy Grail had shared with him.
But he had no interest in playing the make-believe game of the Holy Grail War with children.
Still, there was one overriding rule that all Servants summoned by the Holy Grail were bound to—participation in the Holy Grail War was mandatory.
This immutable law acted as a magnet, pulling in both reluctant and willing participants alike to one city, compelling them to face off in the Holy Grail War.
He couldn't escape this rule either. The foundation that brought him into existence was the Holy Grail War itself. If the war were to begin without him on the stage, his existence would dissipate into nothingness.
This explained why, in his world, both Kiritsugu and Artoria hastened from Germany to Japan after he triggered the Fourth Holy Grail War.
More importantly, he also had another reason to go to Romania, albeit a more personal one. He needed the Holy Grail to get in touch with the old man, his only hope of retrieving his physical body from the dimensional rift.
So, entering and winning the Holy Grail War was a must for him. However, he didn't manifest as the Eternal King; instead, he appeared as Fujimaru Shirou in the role of an Assassin Class.
...
Class: Assassin
Strength: E
Endurance: E
Agility: E
Mana: ??
Luck: E
Innate Skills:
Evil Flower A+: Embrace the darkness, and steer your heart towards the light, for even sadness can bloom beautifully. Unconsciously absorb negative emotions and transform them into one's own magical energy.
Wisdom of Mortal D++: We are not chosen by the heavens, but we are the masters of our own lives. Praise those who are good, condemn those who are evil. — Hostile heroes will lose their fame bonus, while friendly heroes will gain an extra level of fame bonus. In the case of anti-heroes, the effect will reverse.
Heroic Mortal C+: Falling behind leads to a beating, and being weak invites bullying. Know shame, then be brave, that's what makes a true hero! Move mountains, fill seas, open up a great path with your own two hands. We are all the nameless and silent! — An innate skill formed by duplicating the great deeds of individuals seen. The skill is one rank lower than the original, and if the copied skill is lower than this skill, it will be fully copied. Selection takes precedence, and skills cannot stack.
Leader of Mortal B: Knowledge is not a gift from the heavens, and human deeds are not bestowed by gods. Learn and teach, gain and give, let the flame of knowledge be passed on forever! In addition to common skills, any skill can be reduced by two ranks and granted to others.
Noble Phantasms:
Evil Flower of Freedom EX: Open the path to freedom and obtain the controllable Noble Phantasm of black mud. It combines attack, defense, healing, cursing, erosion, destruction, and control into one Noble Phantasm.
Mortal Awakening (EX): The fire of awakening that burns away everything and leads to the distant shore of kingship. Accumulate karmic retribution, and at a certain threshold, this Noble Phantasm will automatically activate. Reincarnate as a king. (1/100)
Unlimited Blade Works (E~A++)
...
This is what popped up on his current status panel. His ability scores were still pretty lame, and [Imperial Privilege] was split into [Wisdom of Mortal]. [Heroic Mortal], and [Leader of Mortal].
It wasn't the Eternal King who was summoned from the throne; it was Fujimaru Shirou.
As for his innate skills, there is no need to mention them in detail. In terms of Noble Phantasms, his black mud has gained special effectiveness against Dead Apostles and Divinities after absorbing the essence of both the dead and the gods.
Furthermore, the invisible vortex deep within his soul has manifested as the Noble Phantasm 'Mortal Awakening.'
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