Chapter 407: The New Unlimited Blade Works
A black hole opened in mid-air, with black mud continuously flowing down from it. A quarter of the entire town had now been covered by the black mud, turning into a black swamp.
Shirou ignored the old man, walked to the girl's side, and projected a white garment of healing power, draping it over her. Sakura, having dispelled the state of Divine Possession, was delicate, small, and pitiable.
Although she didn't speak, Sakura felt the sincerity of her Senpai's tenderness from the bottom of his heart. Certain that this person before her was indeed her Senpai, tears couldn't help but well up in her eyes.
"But come to think of it, even if he responded to the summons, this old man wouldn't have requisitioned him," Matou Zouken said to himself, not looking at Shirou or Sakura, like a lonely old man talking to himself—except his remarks were far more pointed and acerbic than the average elder.
"Emiya Kiritsugu, that man, was a useless failure. Although he possessed quite good abilities, he wasted them in vain. At first, hearing that he was the Einzberns' opponent, this old man also felt he was a difficult man to deal with, so I chose to retreat and observe. A cold-blooded, heartless killer, an expert in hunting mages, unscrupulous—a man who simply had no flaws to be found."
"He was completely different from useless trash like Kariya who joined midway. Even Lord Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, who had established the name of a prodigy at the Clock Tower while still young, fell into his hands."
The old man babbled on, as if telling a long story.
"But in the end, he did not live up to anything for the Einzberns. He even abandoned his wife and daughter. Having obtained the Holy Grail, he thought about destroying it; it was simply foolish beyond measure."
"But a person who possesses talent yet refuses to strive for it is even worse than trash. At least Shinji knew how to struggle uglily, but Emiya Kiritsugu, who voluntarily gave up everything, was just superfluous dust—a disgrace to the world of magecraft."
Shirou turned his head and glared angrily at the old man.
Matou Zouken continued, unhurriedly: "Even though you are an adopted son who was picked up, you are very similar to that man in the most unnecessary ways. Emiya Kiritsugu was a useless failure, and so are you. Emiya Shirou, you clearly possess the power of a god, yet you don't think of ways to utilize it. Instead, you acted like a hero and recklessly burst in—this is the cause of your defeat."
"Matou Zouken! Shut up!!! Kiritsugu is not someone like you can criticize!! ROAAAAAR!!!" Shirou could no longer endure it and let out a loud roar. At this moment, affected by his class,
Shirou could not tolerate the evil that harmed others; the more detestable the villain, the more berserk he became.
Matou Zouken revealed a triumphant smile and said: "The participants of the Fourth Holy Grail War were indeed powerful. The Tohsaka family changed their trend of 'building a cart behind closed doors' of previous generations. After returning from studying abroad at the Clock Tower, Tohsaka Tokiomi, the noble mage who brought change to the family, shone brilliantly."
"A Lord who came here from the Clock Tower, wanting to obtain honor in the Holy Grail War..."
Following the old man's words, one after another, black humanoids crawled out of the black mud swamp, struggling. They continuously changed their appearance, finally taking on human form; their features and hair also changed and took shape accordingly.
The Tohsaka Tokiomi who had been wrapped in shadows by Sakura suddenly melted and turned into scattered black mud.
On the side of the black humanoids, a proud young man with golden hair and a slicked-back style, and an elegant middle-aged man with black hair and a small mustache, appeared there.
This was very similar to the principle of Heroic Spirit possession. As long as there was a corpse, a black mud humanoid could be created, and then the corresponding soul could be injected into it, summoning a specific person. Masters who had participated in the Holy Grail War and had been chosen by the Holy Grail had Command Spells carved into their flesh, establishing an indelible bond with the Grail.
Just as Matou Zouken said, if one did not abandon the existence of the Holy Grail by one's own heart, as long as there was a trace of yearning for this place in one's heart, it was destined that they would become puppets of the Black Grail.
They were not human, nor were they Servants; they were merely emotionless soldiers created by the Holy Grail through records for the purpose of battle.
Regardless, faced with these guys who wanted to hurt Sakura, he would absolutely not hold back.
Shirou glared at Matou Zouken, preparing for battle.
At this moment, the opponent on that side moved first! The Assassin threw six throwing knives in succession, aiming for Shirou's left side.
The golden-haired man with the slicked-back hair controlled the Volumen Hydrargyrum like flying blades, slashing toward Shirou's right side. Now blessed by the Holy Grail, with magic power that was inexhaustible, he used this ultimate Mystic Code without hesitation.
On the other side, the man in red held a gemstone staff and fired a chain of fireballs, heading straight for Shirou's front with a wave of heat.
Berserker Shirou stood unmoved in place.
Flying knives, magical fire, and thin blades formed by sharp Volumen Hydrargyrum bombarded Shirou from three directions.
The next moment, three shields of cherry blossoms appeared out of thin air around the boy, blocking all the attacks projected from afar.
White flames flickered in Shirou's eyes. Instantly projecting, now that he had transformed into a Berserker, he had remodeled his body into the most suitable combat physique; both magic power output and projection speed surpassed his peak in life. Magic power moved according to his will. A giant axe was gripped in his hand; he rotated sideways, and the giant axe rotated with his body.
Surrounded on three sides, Shirou at this moment was like a whirlwind.
The back of the axe smashed into the golden-haired man, carrying him into the man in the red suit, knocking them flying more than ten meters away.
Finally, letting go with both hands, the axe was flung directly out.
The axe slashed directly into the Assassin's waist, cutting into half of his body and knocking him away.
The boy's initial fighting style had always been biased toward direct, head-on confrontation—a method of trading injury for injury, life for life. This was during his teenage years, when he was involved in the Holy Grail War.
A boy who did not cherish himself at all, when facing evil, no longer felt fear even in the face of death; every battle he experienced could be called risking his life. Like crashing into the axe of the great hero Heracles, facing Kotomine Kirei who summoned the black mud, or challenging the King of Heroes alone.
Every projection of a Noble Phantasm carried risks, potentially burning out his magic circuits or even losing an arm. His fighting style, which didn't take his own body seriously, was in the eyes of some, actually no different from a Berserker.
When his divine power was released all at once, it revealed unprecedented strength. To defeat all evil at any cost and to protect Sakura was his only conviction.
At this time, the Caster who had disappeared into the black mud appeared behind Shirou via space translocation. She spread her robes like a bat opening its wings. Hundreds of light beams emerged behind her, unleashing a bombardment against Shirou with the power of A-rank magecraft.
Shirou stabbed back with his sword, aiming at her heart. As a woman, Caster's slender body could not resist the sharp Noble Phantasm at all.
"What!"
"Urgh..."
But this Servant infused with black mud, as if having no sense of pain, actually lunged forward, allowing the blade to pass through her chest.
Instead of retreating, she advanced. Caster ignored the sword that pierced her body, vomiting black blood from her mouth. With both hands, she grabbed the blade, pulling herself closer to Shirou. The tip of the sword poked out from the woman's back, followed by the blade, until only the hilt remained.
"Urgh... haaaaa..." Caster opened her mouth, letting out a wail from her hollow throat. She stretched out her hands, which were covered in black blood, hugged Shirou's body, and initiated a space transfer, flying with Shirou to the swamp covered in black mud, and fell directly down.
Flowing out from the black hole in mid-air, the black mud now covered half the city, forming a swamp.
The invincible Berserker felt his feet go soft at this moment. Unable to find a point of support, he entered a state of weightlessness and continuously sank downward. When the black mud touched the surface of his body, something suffocating infiltrated along with it.
War, abuse, torture, slaughter, injustice, hatred...
The most unbearable and cruel scenes in human history that had occurred in the past emerged in his mind, causing continuous mental shocks to Shirou. He was simply overwhelmed and about to faint.
Shirou, relying on his combat instinct, projected a red wooden staff, stabbed it into the ground, and continuously extended it, wanting to reach the surface.
But everything was in vain. The Imaginary Numbers of the black mud, an element that did not belong to this world, were products from another dimension. No matter how much the physical wooden staff lengthened, it could not exceed the omnipresence of the void.
"Heh-heh-heh. Although Berserker is very strong, because of the class limitation, he is prone to being confused. Once he falls into a rage, he fights with disregard for everything. Although your Mad Enhancement rank is not as good as that one from the Einzbern family, in the end, an Ally of Justice is just this kind of boring guy. This old man won after all," Matou Zouken said with a smile.
"Senpai!" Sakura let out a scream.
Shirou's mouth had already been plugged by mud at this time, unable to reply. He could only stare at the girl with his white pupils, and then he was dragged bit by bit into the quagmire of black mud.
Matou Zouken chuckled and said: "Heh-heh-heh, if you hadn't voluntarily given up the power of the god, this old man really would have had a hard time dealing with you. But now you have no room to turn things around—what a pity about that layer of divine power. Then~! Boy, will
your justice last to the end, or will it be drowned by the evil of the world? Perform it well and let this old man see it!"
"Damn it!" Shirou was irresistibly dragged down by the black mud in the Holy Grail. With a shout, even his head sank into the pool of black mud.
"Senpai!" Sakura broke free from the shackles of the worm and lunged toward Shirou, but lunged at empty air. When the black mud encountered the girl, it was like encountering an insulator; like an S-pole avoiding an N-pole, it avoided the girl. She could only lie on the ground, leaving behind tears of unwillingness.
Matou Zouken said with a smile: "Sakura, are you that infatuated with this boy? Well, to be honest, this old man is also looking forward to his performance. Although this kid is reckless, he does possess the quality. If I had known this back then, I might have even adopted him. Sakura, you look too—look at how Emiya Shirou is swallowed by the Holy Grail~!"
Silence now fell. The hole generated when the black mud dragged the boy down was soon leveled.
The purple-haired girl just stared blankly at the swamp of black mud, expecting a miracle to happen. But the surface of the quagmire remained motionless, and there was no sign of Shirou coming up for a long time.
Matou Zouken shook his head and revealed a sarcastic smile.
"Alright, since that boy's capacity is only to this extent, then Sakura, you can work for me with peace of mind. Continue in this world and finish the work of turning the world into black mud for me," Matou Zouken said, looking at the purple-haired girl.
In fact, he didn't intend to let the black mud be injected into Sakura's body; after all, the magical attribute of nothingness had too many unknowns. He would not take risks, but this was a rare and powerful talent, so he wanted to use the modified Crest Worm to control Sakura again.
"..." The black-haired girl remained indifferent to the old man, just gazing at the black mud swamp, her eyes becoming hollow and lightless, and she completely lost all hope of living in an instant.
Senpai... we finally met, but you left like this. You died to help me, but if that's the case, what is the point of me living?
Matou Zouken's black pupils looked at his palm, controlling his body. Something was swimming inside him, drilling all the way to the center of his palm, piercing a hole. A worm crawled out from it. Matou Zouken pinched it in his hand and handed it toward the purple-haired girl.
At this very moment, in the swamp of black mud, a hand suddenly emerged, clawing at the black mud and climbing upward with effort. Finally, in the quagmire, Shirou's head was revealed. He spat out a mouthful of black mud and opened his mouth wide.
"UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS!!!" Shirou raised his head and let out one final roar.
He would fail, and he could fail. In the past, in every instance he strove for justice, he did not achieve perfection. Every time, all sorts of powerful enemies appeared, and unpredictable desperate situations occurred. Many times, even if he risked his life, he couldn't change anything.
Even after being tested by the Holy Grail War and going to the Clock Tower to study and becoming a qualified mage, he was not the strongest; he was never the strongest. There were opponents in this world that he could not contend with.
After every battle, there would be irreversible things happening, and regrets would be left behind. It was through collapsing time and time again with heartache and regret, and then climbing back up, that he tempered his will to be as strong as steel and iron.
But only the people by his side must be protected. The important person, this purple-haired girl, the pitiable junior, Sakura! Only this point—absolutely must not let her be harmed.
Only this point! Absolutely would not give up! Even if he had fallen into the abyss of hell, he would climb up and protect her well.
In the boy's heart, a lamp was lit. The light mark in the shape of a sword—the unprecedented Reality Marble was unleashed, filling and covering the entire dark world.
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