10 – When the Heroic Spirit Manifests
Suddenly, a pitch-black hole cracked open amidst the densely packed clouds in the sky.
From it emerged a creature with three beast heads and an entirely black body—an artificial chimera.
The monster's three heads were those of a lion, a goat, and a snake. It surveyed its surroundings before leaping down from the rift and landing on the road in front of the school, shattering the concrete beneath its feet.
The massive lion head scanned its environment, roaring with thunderous might. Its breath surged out like a howling storm.
The black goat head had glowing red eyes, and its tail was a giant snake's head, over four or five meters long.
This pitch-black behemoth stood over two meters tall at the shoulder, resembling the mythical creature Chimera from Greek legends.
"What the hell is going on?! This thing is fantasy-species level! Why would a creature of this class appear in this world?!" Shirou exclaimed in disbelief.
A human hero might be able to fight a lion or a tiger, but facing a monster of this scale would give anyone pause.
"Senpai, this Chimera is already on par with an average Servant in terms of strength," Mash said.
"Mash, since I can't transform into Heroic Spirit Emiya right now, have you thought of any surefire way to win?" Shirou asked with a bitter smile.
"Unfortunately, no, Senpai! This is a formidable foe. Please be prepared—this will be a hard battle," Mash said, shaking her head.
The creature raised its tail high—the snake head towering over the roadside trees, giving it a clear view inside the school grounds past the three-meter-high decorative wall.
At that instant, a faintly glowing arrow shot through the air, piercing the snake head's vertical green pupil.
Amber light flashed in Shirou's eyes as he lowered his arm from the bow, muttering resolutely, "Guess we're going in hard."
"SSSSAAAA!!" The snake head let out a pained screech with an arrow lodged in its eye. It reeled backward, writhing and slamming into a roadside tree, snapping it in half with brute force.
The other two heads became enraged, roaring with fury. The goat head spat scorching flames; wherever the fire passed, roadside flowerbeds caught alight from even a spark. The blaze quickly spread, igniting the trees and producing thick, rolling black smoke.
If that fire reached any wooden houses nearby, a major blaze could erupt within minutes.
"Mash! Think of something, quick!" Shirou shouted to Mash, who was still tapping on her phone.
"Please remain calm, Senpai. We're in a separate dimension—reality hasn't been affected. I'm currently contacting Da Vinci," Mash replied.
By now, the fire-breathing beast had locked onto Shirou and Mash. It charged forward, stomping heavily toward the school gate—it was about to burst inside.
"But that thing clearly doesn't plan to wait for us!" Shirou fired another arrow.
The Chimera sensed danger and halted mid-charge, closing its eyes.
This time, the arrow struck the lion head's eyelid. The wooden shaft snapped instantly and did no damage to the beast.
"Such high magic resistance… As expected, now that it's on guard, even enhanced magic arrows won't cut it," Shirou muttered, putting away his bow.
Taking off his school uniform jacket, he tied it to a long wooden pole to use as a makeshift flag, then began walking toward the monster.
He had to stall the Chimera somehow.
But in this world, magic didn't exist—his body didn't even have magic circuits.
He could barely perform a few reinforcement spells per day using the Mystic Eyes he had awakened by chance in a past life, but there was no way he could project a Noble Phantasm strong enough to fight a fantasy-class beast.
Chimeras of this tier were high-ranking fantasy species—mystic beings on par with Servants.
Shirou stepped forward with difficulty—this was a long-forgotten feeling.
Ever since arriving in this world, he hadn't experienced this: the trembling of his body, the racing heartbeat, his entire being screaming that this monster was beyond human power.
At the same time, deep within his soul, the will to fight for something—long dormant—was awakening under the pressure of this dire threat.
The pitch-black three-headed monster noticed the boy standing at the school gate.
Its remaining five eyes glared in fury, still smarting from the snake's injury.
The snake head flicked its tongue, the goat head bleated angrily, and the lion head roared, then leapt viciously toward the boy.
Shirou hastily threw the bamboo pole with the jacket tied to it at the creature to obscure its vision and dove to one side of the gate.
Dodging by a hair's breadth, the beast barreled past him. The school gate's wall behind him crumbled under the force, collapsing inward.
That terrifying strength—if Shirou hadn't dodged, even if he hadn't been crushed outright, slamming into the wall would've turned him into a bloody pulp.
His heart pounded, his blood boiled, and his mind roared. Yet the surge of survival instinct triggered a strange calm. It had been a long time since he felt this way.
From his two lifetimes of experience, the first time he felt like this was the night he was hunted by the spearman, Cú Chulainn.
Back then, he could still summon the Heroic Spirit Saber to save him.
But this world was an ordinary one. There was no Holy Grail. No Holy Grail War!
"Shirou-senpai! I found a way!" shouted the pink-haired girl from inside the school grounds as she held up her phone and ran toward him.
The Chimera's goat head turned toward Mash. It opened its mouth, forming a fiery ball of intense heat.
"Mash, watch out!" Shirou rolled to the ground, grabbed a chunk of rubble, his eyes flashing with light, and hurled it with all his might at the monster's head.
Empowered with reinforcement magic, the piece of rubble became like a sharp dagger, striking the goat head in the right eye. Blood spurted out as the beast howled in pain, and the fireball vanished.
Furious, the Chimera's snake head twisted its long body like a whip and lashed out at the boy.
Shirou couldn't dodge in time. He could only watch wide-eyed as the giant serpent mouth opened and lunged at him.
In that instant, time seemed to slow down—like a carousel of memories spinning.
The fanged mouth opened wider and wider, about to swallow him whole. The foul stench of the snake's breath filled the space between them.
Then, a flash of white light. A purple silhouette holding a massive shield slammed into the snake head. The impact sounded like a hammer hitting steel.
"Senpai! There's still one last option! Quick, open your phone!" Mash shouted as she stood in front of the monster, shield raised—larger than her own body.
"Phone? This isn't the time to be playing games!" Shirou shot back at the junior who constantly nagged him to game together.
"Shirou-senpai! Don't joke around—open the game!
Da Vinci has already converted your system.
Find the glowing Heroic Spirit icon on the interface—summon the Servant and let it possess you to fight!" Mash yelled, holding the massive shield against the Chimera's claws.
The sounds of violent impacts rang out.
"Summon a Heroic Spirit? Possession? I don't really get it, but fine! I'll just do it, right?" Shirou responded.
He chose to trust her. Now wasn't the time to hesitate—he had to try.
Shirou tapped the FGO app icon. Unlike before, the game now launched instantly with just a light touch. The interface was different from what it had been.
Scanning the icons on the screen, he saw more than ten Heroic Spirits—but only two were lit up.
Without hesitation, he tapped the one with silver hair. The gold-framed one looked much stronger.
Phone prompt: "Your compatibility is insufficient. Summon failed."
"Damn it!" Shirou quickly tapped the other one—a bronze-framed, reddish-brown-haired man who looked suspiciously like a member of an idol group.
The phone instantly emitted a brilliant white beam of light that expanded rapidly, engulfing the boy.
—Compatibility: 60% —Heroic Spirit possession initiated —Spirit core insertion —Loading Heroic Spirit's biography, Noble Phantasm data —Assigning class-based abilities —Possession summoning complete —Servant Class: Rider, Manifested in the present world!
A man with bronze skin, long hair, clad in armor and wearing a white cape, appeared in the boy's consciousness.
He turned into a white orb of light and, like a soul entering a vessel, flew into Shirou's chest.