With the Black Faction's defenses shattered, the entire Yggdmillennia territory had turned into a chaotic battlefield.
Masters could no longer safely remain inside the castle; Servants had no choice but to protect their Masters while engaging in brutal combat against the invading Red forces.
Countless summoned creatures poured forth from the floating garden, rapidly converging toward the Yggdmillennia fortress. There they clashed fiercely with Vlad III and the other Black Servants, the battle growing increasingly intense.
But the Red Faction had never intended to face the Black forces head-on.
From the surrounding forests, endless hordes of skeletal soldiers emerged, encircling the castle entirely.
These creatures were Dragon Tooth Warriors, summoned forth by the floating garden—a kind of magical construct created from dragon teeth.
They appeared as skeletons composed entirely of bone, wielding crude weapons likewise made of bone. Such low-level beings could easily be destroyed by any competent magus.
Yet their threat had never stemmed from individual strength, but rather their sheer, overwhelming numbers—enough to drive anyone to despair.
Shirou Emiya fought desperately against the unending waves of Dragon Tooth Warriors, frantically searching for something amidst the chaos. His expression was one of urgent desperation, his armor long since shattered beyond recognition.
Far in the distance, Servants continued to clash violently; explosive impacts and deafening roars shook the ground, as if the earth itself trembled in fear.
On this chaotic battlefield, no Servant would waste attention on someone as insignificant as Shirou—just as no one paid attention to the homunculi struggling in the blood-soaked combat.
The Black Faction didn't care about their deaths; the Red Faction cared even less about enemy casualties.
But one person cared deeply.
Clang—!
A sharpened bone sword stabbed into Shirou's already broken armor, blood gushing from the fresh wound on his back.
Even the defensive strength of [Incursio] couldn't withstand the endless barrage from the swarming enemies.
Yet Shirou gritted his teeth and pressed onward, relentlessly searching the battlefield for survivors.
Dragging his exhausted, battered body through the fight, the red-haired youth was overcome with genuine joy whenever he discovered someone still alive. He seemed so sincerely relieved that it almost looked as though he himself had been the one saved.
A wounded homunculus lay on the ground, eyes glazed and unfocused as the red-haired youth suddenly appeared.
"Thank goodness...I found you."
The young man carefully lifted him from the bloodied earth, carrying him heroically away from the endless Dragon Tooth Warriors and off the battlefield.
Let me save one more—just one more!
Shirou carried the wounded homunculus to the edge of the forest. Though he was powerless to stop this war, he'd do everything in his power to save as many lives as he could.
In a daze, the homunculus saw many others like himself scattered throughout the forest, severely injured and sitting silently on the ground.
The red-haired youth gently placed him down, then turned without hesitation to rush back into the chaos once more.
Suddenly, Shirou felt a weak tug on his hand.
"Why...are you going this far for us?"
In the silent forest, the injured homunculus voiced the question all of them had long wanted to ask the young man.
It was a natural question arising from the hearts of homunculi, who had always believed their existence depended entirely on the Yggdmillennia family.
The Yggdmillennia family had given them life—they existed solely to serve the family. It was their duty to respect and obey those who created them.
Virtually all homunculi accepted their role as tools, believing it entirely natural. Without Yggdmillennia, they would never have witnessed the colorful, vibrant world, nor participated in a war involving legendary heroes.
From the very beginning, they'd defined themselves as mere instruments—not as subordinates or comrades.
But now, the person who by all rights should have viewed them as disposable objects was risking his life over and over to save them from the battlefield.
They were just homunculi—how could their lives compare in value to that of a magus, especially one who wielded Servant-level abilities?
Every homunculus present silently waited for the answer, eyes fixed on Shirou Emiya.
Turning slowly, Shirou gazed warmly at their bloodied, battered faces.
He offered no grand speeches about how he viewed them as equal to humans. He didn't try to justify that they were more than just magical constructs.
Instead, Shirou simply returned their questioning gazes and softly replied:
"Isn't each of you the only one of your kind in this world? Isn't that reason enough?"
His simple, earnest answer stunned the gathered homunculi into silence.
Slowly, they glanced at one another, confused and uncertain. Then, without quite knowing how or why, one by one, they began to smile.
It wasn't as though Shirou's words had suddenly bestowed them with emotions. The homunculi had always possessed their own thoughts, wills, and feelings. They weren't mere intricate machines. They felt pain and sadness. The Yggdmillennia family had designed them to suppress their emotions from the very start—but how could something as complex as human feeling be so easily controlled by magecraft?
They'd always had emotions. It was only their sense of duty and identity that had forced them to bury those feelings deep inside.
They had never minded dedicating their lives to Yggdmillennia; they simply wanted to know whether their existence had meaning—whether they belonged in this world, and if their lives truly mattered.
Suddenly, Shirou felt an intense magical drain sweep through him. His vision blurred, and dizziness overcame him as he fell painfully to one knee.
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T/N: shirou x jeanne mana transfer scene in chapter 700, (patreon is at 560) you should definitely! uhhhh powerstone this!
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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