Chapter 82. The Strongest Blade to Sever Causality! [Tsumukari Muramasa]
The mental landscape—Unlimited Blade Works.
The sky was a burning crimson, with giant iron gears turning slowly across the firmament, emitting a heavy roar like the countdown of destiny. The ground was a boundless wilderness, studded with tens of thousands of swords of all shapes and sizes. Every sword was a tombstone; every sword was a fragment of history.
This was Shirou Emiya's inner world—a purgatory composed only of swords, existing solely for the purpose of "forging."
At the center of this wilderness, two forces powerful enough to tear space apart were clashing wildly.
Boom—!!!
Ottar, the apex of Orario, was currently like a Tyrannosaurus Rex that had barged into a porcelain shop. His fully beastified body radiated dark red waves of heat. Every swing of the Great Sword of Supreme Black (which, despite being new, was already beginning to crack under the intensity of this fight) stirred up a storm of steel.
"Useless! No matter how many of these fragile toys you bring, it's all the same!" Ottar roared. With a casual swipe, he shattered dozens of Noble Phantasm-grade demonic swords flying toward him as if they were dry twigs. This was the numerical suppression of a Lv.7. Before his absolute strength, quantity seemed to lose its meaning.
"Is that so? Then how about this?" Shirou Emiya stood atop a hill of swords. His face was pale as paper, but his eyes were frighteningly bright. "In this world, I don't need incantations, and I don't need to fill them with magic. This place... is my home field!"
He waved his hand violently.
"Full Open!"
Vring-vring-vring-vring-vring!
The swords planted in the ground seemed to receive a summons, pulling themselves up one after another. A hundred. A thousand. Five thousand.
The sky was obscured by steel. This was no longer a "rain of swords"—it was a "river of swords." Countless blades converged into a giant silver dragon, howling with the wind as it surged toward Ottar from all directions.
"This is way too much of a cheat!" Even Hermes, watching the broadcast through the Divine Mirror, couldn't help but complain. "This isn't an adventurer's way of fighting at all! He's literally turned on 'infinite ammo' and 'zero cooldown' hacks in this space!"
Facing the torrent of swords that could strip a giant dragon to its bones in an instant, Ottar did not retreat. On the contrary, he threw away the notched greatsword in his hand. He took a stance—the ultimate form of a warrior attained through countless life-and-death struggles.
Roar—!!!
Ottar let out a roar that vibrated through the entire Reality Marble. His muscles expanded to their limit, and his skin turned the color of black iron. [Hildis Vini] — Full Counter Mode!
Boom!!!
Ottar's fists turned into a blurred mass of shadows. He was actually using his bare fists to forcibly confront the giant dragon of swords! Every punch pulverized a Noble Phantasm. Every strike scattered a section of the sword rain. He moved forward. Braving the infinite blades, step by step, he walked firmly toward Shirou. Like an icebreaker going against the current, anything blocking his path was crushed by his illogical violence.
Is this... the strongest? Shirou felt a chill in his heart as he watched the blood-soaked yet unstoppable figure. In this field, all the swords were projections of B-rank to A-rank Noble Phantasms. An ordinary person would be heavily injured just by a graze. But Ottar... he was actually tanking thousands of slashes with his physical body and still hadn't fallen!
"Shirou Emiya! Is this the only level your 'Unlimited' can reach?!" Ottar bellowed, now less than fifty meters from Shirou. "If this is your limit... then shatter for me!"
He stomped violently. The ground collapsed. Ottar turned into a black cannonball, breaking through the blockade of the sword rain and appearing instantly before Shirou. That blood-stained iron fist, carrying the will to kill, roared toward Shirou's face.
He couldn't dodge. At this distance, even teleportation would be too late.
But. Shirou didn't dodge. A successful smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"I've been waiting for you... to walk into the trap, big guy."
"What?!" Ottar's instincts screamed in warning.
At the exact moment his fist was about to touch Shirou, the dark red tachi in Shirou's hand—[Tsumukari Muramasa]—suddenly erupted with a strange fluctuation. It wasn't magic power. It was... an absolute severing force aimed at "divinity" and "causality."
In this Reality Marble, all the swords were fakes. Only this one. This blade, which fused dragon bone, a fragment of the Moon Goddess, and Shirou's soul, was the only "Real Thing."
Just now, Shirou had used that seemingly grand rain of swords to mask the "forging" he was conducting in secret. He had compressed all the stray magic power within the Reality Marble into this single blade.
This strike... wasn't meant to cut flesh. It was meant to—sever your "invincibility"!
"Tsumukari—!!!"
Shirou gripped the sword with both hands and swung this all-or-nothing strike to meet Ottar's fist.
There was no sound. No explosion. Only a thin, red line that traced across space.
The world... was displaced.
Ottar's fist stopped one centimeter from the tip of Shirou's nose. It wasn't that he didn't want to strike. It was that... his power had vanished.
Puchi!
A line of blood appeared on Ottar's chest. Immediately after, blood gushed out like a fountain. His body, which claimed absolute defense, was sliced open in a wound deep enough to see bone. More terrifyingly, he felt his connection to the "Falna" within his body forcibly severed in that instant. The beastification dispelled. The magic power dissipated. The protection of a Lv.7... was nullified.
"This... this is..." Ottar's eyes widened as he looked at the gasping boy before him. He couldn't understand. Why did his power suddenly disappear?
"Because this is my world," Shirou said, leaning on his sword and kneeling on one knee, coughing up blood (due to magic depletion). "In this world... I call the shots. I severed the causality between you and the 'outside world.' In this moment... you are just a mortal."
"A mortal..." Ottar dazed for a moment. Then, a smile of relief appeared on his stern face. "I see... pulling the battlefield into a mental landscape, then using a divine weapon to sever causality... this wasn't just a victory of strength, but a victory of tactics."
Rumble...
The surrounding scenery began to collapse. The red sky shattered, the gears stopped turning, and the wilderness dissipated. His magic power was spent; the Reality Marble could no longer be maintained.
Everyone returned to the reality of the plaza.
The two maintained their previous postures. Ottar's fist was stopped before Shirou. Shirou's blade was cut into Ottar's chest.
Who... won? Everyone held their breath.
"Cough..." Ottar withdrew his fist. His body swayed, and then he fell backward. With a thud, the strongest in Orario knelt on one knee.
"I... lost," Ottar said in a low voice.
ROAR—!!!
The crowd erupted. He won! The red-haired kid won! A Lv.5 defeated a Lv.7! This was undoubtedly the biggest upset in the history of Orario! It was the ultimate miracle!
No, it wasn't over yet. Shirou didn't show the joy of victory. He turned around and looked behind him. There, where the Freya Familia's flag had originally been planted... was now empty.
In fact, the moment the Reality Marble was deployed, Shirou had already secretly projected a [Pseudo-Caladbolg]. Using the visual blind spot, he had blown that flag away. The duel with Ottar just now was purely to stall for time, and for... a man's romance.
Victory by the rules. This was Shirou Emiya's battle aesthetic.
...
Clap, clap, clap.
Crisp applause came from the top floor of Babel. Though separated by hundreds of meters, everyone could clearly hear the sound.
"Magnificent." Freya stood on the balcony, her purple gown fluttering in the wind. Her face held no anger from defeat, only the ecstasy of one who had seen a peerless treasure.
"Shirou Emiya. You didn't just sever my charm; you even defeated my trump card. Your brilliance... has already exceeded my imagination."
She reached out and blew a kiss toward Shirou.
"According to our agreement, you win this time. The Loki Familia is safe."
"OOOOOHH!!!" The members of the Loki Familia embraced and wept. Finally... finally, they didn't have to worry about their cook being stolen! Finally, they didn't have to worry about being wiped out by that crazy woman!
However, Freya's voice rang out again, carrying a hair-raising sweetness.
"Don't think this is the end, my lover. This is only the 'first stage' of my proposal. Since you've proven your value... next, I will pursue you in an even more passionate and direct way."
"I will be watching you. No matter where you are, no matter what you are doing. My eyes... will always be watching you."
"Until the day you... come to my side voluntarily."
With that, Freya turned and returned to the tower. She left behind a crowd staring at each other in the plaza, and a certain red-haired boy feeling a chill run down his spine.
'What is this? This is clearly the ultimate declaration of a psychopathic stalker! And it's a server-wide announcement at that!'
"Emiya!" Ais rushed over, catching the reeling Shirou in her arms. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine... probably," Shirou smiled bitterly, feeling his body's exhaustion. Though he won, the price was too high. His right hand was starting to turn transparent again (though this time it was just a temporary phenomenon from magic depletion). And... the feeling of being targeted by that Goddess was truly more painful than dying.
"Let's go home." Ais gripped his hand tightly, her golden eyes filled with determination. "No matter what she tries to do... I will protect you."
"Yeah." Shirou nodded. Regardless of what the future held, at least for now... he had defended this place.
.
..
.
Three days later. Twilight Manor.
A grand victory banquet was being held. This was not just to celebrate the victory of the war, but also to celebrate the safe return of Shirou Emiya (who had been bedridden for another two days).
"Cheers!!!"
Glasses clinked amid laughter. The girls of the Astraea Familia were there too, mingling and drinking with the Loki Familia. Ryuu and Ais were still subtly competing to see who could put more food on Shirou's plate. Haruhime watched it all happily from the side, her tail wagging non-stop.
"Emiya, come with me for a moment." While Shirou was busy dealing with the "shura field" (love battlefield), Finn suddenly called him out to the balcony.
"Captain? Is something wrong?" Shirou walked over holding a glass of juice.
"About that blade." Finn looked at the [Tsumukari Muramasa] at Shirou's waist, his gaze deep. "That isn't an ordinary weapon, is it? In that field... I felt an aura that even the gods would fear."
"Yeah, I guess so." Shirou touched the hilt. "It's a blade forged from dragon bone and moon fragments, specifically designed for 'slaying gods'."
"Slaying gods..." Finn smiled bitterly. "You kid, you really manage to bring something new every time. However..." Finn's expression became serious. "With this power, that plan... might be moved forward."
"That plan?"
"The cleanup of the Knossos (Man-made Labyrinth)." Finn looked toward the shadows of the city in the distance. "Although Thanatos is dead, the core of the labyrinth—the so-called 'other
side of the great hole'—is still connected to an unknown abyss. And... recently, the Guild detected strange tremors coming from below the 60th floor."
"You mean..." Shirou's eyes narrowed.
"The 61st floor? Or... somewhere even deeper?"
"Exactly." Finn nodded. "We suspect that the so-called 'Corrupted Spirit' is actually just a 'tentacle' of an even larger existence. The true body... might still be slumbering."
"If it wakes up... that will be the true 'Great Calamity'."
Shirou fell silent. He remembered the gaze he felt on the 60th floor. That man in the black robe. And the incubating meat cocoon.
"It seems... there isn't much time for rest," Shirou sighed, finishing his juice.
"It's okay." He turned around, looking at his laughing companions inside. "As long as we're together. Even if it's the end of the world... I can cut it down for you."
"Then I'll count on you, Senji Muramasa." Finn patted his shoulder.
"Yeah, leave it to me."
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While the two were discussing the future. A dark corner of Orario. Deep within the sewers.
A man wearing a tattered cloak was kneeling before a massive altar. Upon the altar sat a... beating, black heart.
"So you failed... Thanatos." The man's voice was raspy and grating. "Even those two useless ones, Zard and Alfia, couldn't complete the task... how disappointing."
He raised his head, revealing a face covered in scars and incantations. It was a face... that was once thought to belong to a "dead man."
"But, it doesn't matter." He reached out and stroked the heart. "The seed has already been planted. That red-haired kid... his soul is the final key to waking 'Mother'."
"Just wait, Orario. When the day of the 'Eclipse' comes... you will witness... true hell."
The man let out a mad laugh. The laughter echoed through the sewers, startling a group of mutant rats.
And upon the surface of that black heart, a strange pattern slowly emerged. It was an image... of a crying spirit entwined in chains.
A new storm was brewing. And this time, it would be the Endgame where the fate of the entire world was at stake.
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Back at Twilight Manor. The banquet was drawing to a close.
Everyone was drunk, lying haphazardly across the floor. Only a few were still awake.
"Emiya." Ais walked to Shirou's side and tugged on his sleeve.
"What is it?"
"The moon tonight... is very beautiful." Ais pointed outside the window.
Shirou dazed for a moment. He looked at the sky. That bright, clear moon was still hanging there quietly. Just like Artemis's final gaze toward him that night.
"Yeah." Shirou smiled tenderly. "It's beautiful."
He took Ais's hand.
"As long as you are here... the moon is beautiful every night."
Ais's face turned red. She leaned gently against Shirou's shoulder. Their shadows stretched long, very long, under the moonlight.
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