When that golden sword-light swept across the square and forced the Minotaur back, the world seemed to pause.
Shirou lay sprawled on the shattered stone, staring at the figure between him and the monster.
Blonde hair. The same silhouette. Even that cool, slightly airheaded "frequency" that made his brain reflexively label the person as Ais.
Yet… it wasn't Ais.
Not quite.
If he had to name the difference, it was that this girl carried more divinity, and the part that could be called "human warmth" felt… broader, deeper—like a wind bell that had learned how to sing and how to comfort.
(And yes, Shirou swore on all his cookware that he wasn't "looking at anything weird" during a life-and-death moment. His Mind's Eye did the measurements. Automatically. Ruthlessly. With zero respect for his reputation.)
"Shirou."The girl turned her head.
The face was the same as Ais's—yet softer, more maternal. The voice had a wind-chime rhythm that Ais never had.
"Get up," she said. "That big one… is about to go berserk."
As if responding to her words—
ROAR!!
The Minotaur hadn't been injured. It had been insulted.
It snorted hot steam, lifted the boulder it hadn't thrown earlier, and charged like a living siege ram.
"Move!" Ona rushed in from the flank, her great axe slamming into the Minotaur's leg.
CLANG!Sparks exploded.
"Too hard!" Ona cursed, hands numb from the recoil. "Is its hide made of orichalcum?!"
"Retreat! Don't fight it here!" Fina yelled, wind-blades severing the knights trying to close in. "We're getting boxed in!"
"Argo—CAR!" Shirou forced his broken body to move and bellowed at the still-frozen clown.
"Huh? Car—?!" Argo snapped out of it and looked—there, beside the platform, sat a lavish carriage meant to transport the "sacrifice." The horses had long bolted, but the chassis remained.
"No horses! How does it run?!" Argo wailed.
"Who said we need horses?!" Shirou staggered to the carriage and slapped his left palm to the axle.
Trace—On.His mana was empty, but reinforcement didn't need much—just precision.
"Ona! Crozzo! Pull!" Shirou barked. "Treat it like strength training!"
Ona swore loudly—then grabbed the shaft. Crozzo wordlessly took the other side, already accepting fate as a professional sufferer.
Shirou shoved the princess aboard, then flung Argo in after her like a sack of loud regrets.
"Hold on!" Shirou hauled himself onto the driver's seat—no reins, no whip, just raw nerve and sheer irresponsibility.
"Modification—Turbo!"
The wheels groaned.
A carriage, powered by an Amazon's brute force, a mad smith's stubborn back, and a mage's reinforcement, screamed forward like it had decided to roleplay as a sports car.
Behind them—
"Chase them!" Eld howled.
The Minotaur dropped the boulder, went on all fours, and pursued like a tank with hooves.
"Faster! Faster!! It's catching up!" Argo clung to the back rail, tears and mucus making an honest attempt at world domination.
"It opened its mouth!! It's going to breathe fire!!"
"Shut up," the blonde girl snapped.
She rose in the carriage like she'd always belonged in moving wind. A slender sword flickered in her hand.
"Ariel."
But it wasn't Ais's Ariel.
It was older. Purer. Like wind before it learned human words.
Spirit Wind.
A roar of air burst behind the carriage, scattering the Minotaur's flame and pushing the carriage forward with a violent tailwind.
"WAAAH—WE'RE FLYING!" Argo screamed as they leapt a ravine.
Shirou gripped the seat so hard his knuckles whitened. "That level of elemental control…"
He looked at her.
She wasn't human.
She was—
A Spirit.
A high-ranking one.
They landed, kept tearing across the road, and at last the Minotaur's heavy body fell behind.
They collapsed the moment they reached cover.
"Dead…" Ona sprawled on the ground, chest heaving. "My lungs are filing for divorce."
Crozzo slid down the wall, pale. "My mana… is gone…"
Only the blonde girl remained composed. She stepped toward Shirou, golden eyes steady.
"Thank you for saving me," she said softly. "My name is Aria."
Shirou's heart sank—then confirmed what his instincts had been screaming.
Aria. The Wind Spirit.The one the legends called "the Wind Princess."The origin.
The mother of Ais.
Shirou swallowed. "I'm Shirou Emiya."
Aria repeated his name as if tasting it. "Strange. But… warm."
Then her smile turned distant, nostalgic.
"Like that fool who always sneaks me flowers."
Shirou's breath caught.That "fool" could only be one person—the hero from the old stories.
Before Shirou could ask—
"Okay! Enough staring!" Argo shoved himself in between them, jealous on principle. "I'm the leader here, okay?! I also contributed—half the credit! No, at least a third!"
He struck a pose with his crackling wooden sword.
"I am Argo! Future great hero! Currently a clown! But my heart is gold!"
Aria tilted her head, evaluating him with brutal honesty.
"…Weak."
Argo dropped to his knees like he'd been shot through the soul.
"That's too direct!! Even if it's true, don't say it!!"
Fina laughed despite herself. "Serves you right."
Despite the crude conditions, Shirou scraped together a pot of thick soup.
Aria tried it cautiously… and her eyes lit up.
"Delicious."She ate faster. Clearly faster.
Shirou stared.
So the snack addiction really was hereditary.
Ais, your crime is genetic.
Argo, however, had gone quiet.
He sipped soup without tasting it, eyes drifting again and again to Shirou and Aria.
Fina slid beside him and nudged his shoulder. "What? Got hit by a beauty's judgment?"
"No…" Argo murmured. He looked at his wooden sword—his only "weapon.""What is a real hero supposed to be? Like Shirou-bro—strong, calm, impossible? Like Aria—born noble, born divine?"
He forced a laugh that sounded like it hurt.
"And me? I run. I bluff. I scream. In the plaza… I couldn't even touch the Minotaur's fur. If not for them, I'd be dead. Can someone like that… become a hero?"
Fina went silent.
She knew this about him: the clown mask was loud, but the insecurity underneath was loud too—just muted, like a wound covered in paint.
"Idiot," she said softly, then tapped his forehead. "Who said heroes must be strong?"
She pointed to his chest.
"In stories, the muscleheads become side characters. The ones who don't quit… the ones who keep standing up even when they're ridiculous—those become the main characters."
Argo's throat bobbed.
"…Not quitting."
Shirou kept watch at the cave mouth.
Aria sat beside him, wind wrapped around her like a cloak.
"You're thinking of the future," she said.
Shirou stared at the stars. "We saved you. Eld won't let it go. And that Minotaur…"
His eyes sharpened.
"It's not finished. It felt… like it was learning. Evolving."
Aria's fingers tightened. "Are you afraid?"
Shirou laughed quietly. "Terrified. I'm always terrified."
Then he looked back at the cave—the people inside.
"But if fear stops me, nothing changes."
Aria lowered her gaze. "I'm afraid too. Afraid of being taken back. Afraid of becoming a sacrifice. Afraid of never seeing that fool again."
Shirou's left hand patted her shoulder—gentle, steady.
"We'll protect you. That's a hero's promise."
Aria leaned a fraction closer, her wind scent brushing him.
"You really are like him," she whispered. "That fool who swore he'd be a hero… and came back bleeding every time."
Shirou thought of the name from legends.
Albert.
If Shirou ever met him… yes. They would absolutely be friends.
If they survived long enough.
BOOM—
The earth shook. Pebbles fell from the ceiling. Everyone snapped awake.
"Enemy?!" Ona grabbed her axe.
Shirou ran out and froze.
Not soldiers.
Monsters.
In moonlight, the Minotaur—once three meters—now stood closer to five. Muscles dark as iron. Horns burning with violet flame.
And behind it—
A tidal wave of red-eyed beasts.
Crozzo went white. "Monster Philia…?! Eld broke the control stones? He's forcing a stampede to wipe everything out!"
"Run!" Shirou shouted. "We can't fight that number! Find terrain!"
"Where?!" Argo yelped.
"There!" Fina pointed toward a gorge. "Sigh Bridge! Cross it, cut the ropes—choke point!"
They sprinted.
Shirou carried Aria—purely for speed, definitely not because his instincts screamed "protect her." His reinforcement barely held.
They reached the hanging bridge over roaring abyss.
"Cross!"
They were almost across when—
ROAR!
The Minotaur jumped.
It landed on the center planks with a quake. The ropes screamed under the weight.
"It followed!!" Argo collapsed on the boards.
"Damn it!" Shirou set Aria down. "Ona, Crozzo—take them across. I'll hold it."
"No!" Ona barked. "You'll die!"
"Move!" Shirou's voice cut like steel. "No time."
Ona hesitated—then grabbed Aria and dragged her across, Fina covering with wind-blades. Crozzo followed, teeth clenched.
Argo… stayed.
He stared at Shirou's back—thin, exhausted—yet blocking the horror like a wall.
Is this… a hero?
His shaking wasn't fear anymore.
It was rage.
At himself.
The Minotaur's fist slammed down.
CLANG—!Shirou blocked with projected blades, but his feet sank into the planks.
"Die… insect," the creature snarled, crude words forced through beast throat.
Then—
A crackle of lightning.
A ridiculous figure charged in with a glowing wooden sword.
"LET GO OF THE CHEF!!" Argo screamed, voice breaking into pure ugliness. "Your opponent… is ME!"
Shirou's eyes widened. "Argo?! Why are you back?! Are you suicidal?!"
"Shut up!" Argo's knees shook so hard they threatened to file a noise complaint, but he didn't stop.
He didn't have circuits.He didn't have magecraft.
He had a sword Shirou made.
And a heart that refused to quit.
"Thunder… Strike!!"
He stabbed the wooden blade into the Minotaur's toe gap—the only vulnerable seam.
ZZZ—!!Lightning surged.
The Minotaur flinched.
The tiniest stagger.
But it was enough.
"NOW!" Argo screamed. "Shirou-bro!"
Shirou's mouth curved upward despite blood in his throat.
"You… idiot."
Then his blades shattered into light.
A spiral greatsword formed in his hands.
Caladbolg (Fake) — Drill Mode.
"Get off—my bridge!"
He jumped, drove the spiral blade into the Minotaur's shoulder, and detonated the rotation force.
The beast toppled toward the edge, grabbing for support—
"Not done!" Argo fumbled a crude bomb from his pouch.
"Heroic wisdom!" he yelled—then shoved it into the Minotaur's mouth.
"Goodbye, big guy!"
BOOM—!
The Minotaur's grip failed.
It fell, roaring, into the abyss.
Silence.
Argo collapsed on the boards, staring at his own trembling hands.
"I… fought. I protected someone."
Shirou walked over and offered his left hand.
"You did great. That was… heroic."
Argo grinned like an idiot. "Of course! I'm Argo!"
Then—
SNAP.
A rope gave way.
The bridge, battered by battle, began to collapse.
"WAAAH—!"
Boards split. Shirou and Argo dropped.
Shirou fired a reinforced mana wire into the cliff and caught the ledge—
And caught Argo's wrist.
They hung over the void.
"Don't let go!!" Argo screamed, white-faced. "Please—don't let go!!"
Shirou grit his teeth.
His right arm—already fractured and burned—crackled and crumbled further under strain. The grip was failing.
His mana wire wasn't meant for two.
If he held—
They both died.
Argo looked up and saw it.
Shirou's pain.Shirou's breaking arm.Shirou's refusal to quit.
Argo smiled.
Not clownish.
Not loud.
For the first time in his life, it was quietly brave.
"Shirou-bro… thank you."
Shirou's eyes widened. "Don't."
"You taught me something," Argo whispered. "Even a clown… can be a hero."
"No—Argo, don't you dare—!"
"My heroic saga…" Argo's fingers loosened, one by one. "Chapter one is done."
He looked into Shirou's eyes.
"Go save the princess. Go be… the real hero."
"ARGOOOO!!"
Argo let go.
He fell into darkness—white costume, painted smile, and a heart that finally did something true.
Shirou's scream tore the night.
His right arm shattered into dust.
He climbed the cliff with his left hand alone, dragged himself onto the ledge, and dropped to his knees at the brink, staring into the bottomless gorge.
In the broken boards, the crackling wooden sword remained—abandoned like a promise.
Shirou picked it up, knuckles white.
"I swear," he whispered.
"Your story isn't over."
He turned toward the storm of monsters—and the distant city where fate waited.
"I'll carry your part too… and I will cut this damned era apart."
....
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