The fact that Shirou became the seventh of the seven world powers was quickly known by Paul and Rudeus.
Even though they were somewhat ready for it, when they really faced this fact, everyone was surprised. They couldn't believe that someone close to them was recognized by the seven world powers stone tablet and became one of the seven strongest people in the world.
Of course, Shirou himself didn't care much about becoming one of the seven world powers. He didn't get carried away just because he became one of them, or think he was invincible. He wasn't that naive or foolish.
Because the so-called seven world powers is just a ranking, and it's a ranking made by some being called the Skill God. No one even knows if the Skill God really exists.
How can the Skill God even judge the true strength of the world powers?
At least Shirou himself didn't feel that Alexander had any earth-shattering power after fighting him. Even with the Dragon King Sword, he felt Alexander's power was only at the level of a Sword Emperor. It wasn't as overwhelming as other world powers, and not even as strong as the Water God he fought before.
Yes, Shirou didn't think Alexander was stronger than the Water God. It was just his personal feeling, but he thought he wasn't wrong.
Alexander relied too much on the Dragon King Sword. If he faced an opponent that the Dragon King Sword couldn't handle, he would be completely helpless.
But the Water God was obviously different. Shirou still hadn't forgotten the amazing sword strike that defeated him in an instant back then.
Considering that he might have to fight the Water God again if he joined the Asura Kingdom's civil war, Shirou felt instinctively nervous.
Even though he had successfully defeated North God the Third, Shirou didn't have the confidence to beat the Water God...
But, a fight with the Water God probably wouldn't happen right away.
If he had enough time to prepare, and maybe even fully restore the power of Unlimited Blade Works, Shirou might have a chance to beat the Water God.
In short, it was because he had these thoughts, and because there were truly powerful enemies he couldn't defeat, that Shirou wasn't proud at all about becoming one of the seven world powers. Instead, he became even more nervous and serious than before, spending time training himself every day.
...
The group continued on their way to the Magic University.
Nothing too special happened during the journey.
Shirou spent each day getting his body back in shape. Once he could move, he immediately started practicing swordsmanship, trying to understand how the fight with Alexander had improved him.
Alexander was, after all, North God, and his North God Style moves gave Shirou a lot of ideas. They helped his North God Style skills, which had been stuck for a long time, start moving forward again.
Shirou even had a clear feeling that if he kept training, he could soon reach the "king" level in North God Style.
It wouldn't be difficult.
If that happened, Shirou's Sword God Style and North God Style would both be at the "king" level. Only his Water God Style would still be stuck at the "saint" level, unable to improve.
Thinking back to when he was at the Holy Land of Swords, the Sword God had told Shirou to seek out Reida, the Water God, to learn swordsmanship.
Shirou now realized that if he wanted to improve his Water God Style swordsmanship, the only choice was to ask the Water God for guidance.
But Reida, the Water God, was a subordinate of Darius, a minister in the Asura Kingdom, and was in the enemy camp.
Shirou really couldn't imagine what kind of crazy things would happen if he went to find the Water God. They might start fighting right away.
And Shirou didn't have the confidence to beat the Water God right now.
That's why he started working even harder to improve himself, trying to get stronger, even if it was just a little bit.
Only then could he approach the strength he wanted!
At the same time, besides Shirou constantly trying to get stronger and break through his limits, Rudeus also deeply realized the importance of power after this battle.
Being completely overwhelmed by Alexander, unable to fight back at all, made him fully understand his own weakness, and how much valuable time he had wasted in the past.
So now, after surviving by luck, he started desperately studying magical skills, and also sharpening the magical techniques he already knew.
Because he was so talented, Roxy couldn't even help him much, and couldn't keep up with Rudeus' pace of learning magic.
Rudeus could only research and explore magic on his own, trying to create more efficient magic that could be used in battle.
While Shirou and Rudeus were racking their brains and working hard to get stronger, Paul had completely entered a state of laziness and relaxation.
Maybe it was because he had completed his mission after rescuing Zenith, or maybe it was because Shirou and Rudeus were doing so well that Paul couldn't even think about competing with them. As a result, he did almost nothing every day, occasionally staying by Zenith's side, waiting for her to wake up.
And it seemed that Paul's sincere prayers had worked. One day, Zenith actually opened her eyes from her coma.
It was in the afternoon. Zenith was sleeping in the carriage, but suddenly, her mouth opened slightly, and she made a small groan, slowly opening her eyes.
Paul saw this and excitedly grabbed Zenith's hand, calling Shirou and Rudeus over from outside.
"Ugh..."
When Shirou and Rudeus arrived, they saw Zenith slowly raising her body.
Usually, it would be difficult to sit up after lying in bed for so many days, but Zenith was clearly sitting up by her own power.
This obvious oddness made Shirou frown slightly.
But Paul didn't seem to notice anything strange, and excitedly started talking to Zenith.
However, Zenith didn't respond to Paul's words, and had a dazed look on her face, like she had just woken up.
"..."
Seeing this, Paul and Rudeus were stunned. They didn't seem to accept reality yet.
Shirou had been mentally prepared for this for a long time. When he talked to the curse-researching magician before, he had already realized a certain possibility. So he looked at Zenith's eyes almost calmly, and finally confirmed that Zenith hadn't returned to normal.
Although she had regained consciousness, Zenith's mind didn't seem to have returned. Her mind had regressed to the level of a baby.
Shirou confirmed this in his heart, but he couldn't say it directly.
Because he knew it would be a huge blow to Paul and Rudeus.
In fact, Rudeus didn't matter as much, but Paul panicked and became confused after finding out that Zenith didn't recognize him.
But surprisingly, Paul realized the reality more quickly than before.
Maybe it was because of the hardship during the Displacement event, but Paul wasn't as easily emotional as he used to be. He quickly accepted the fact that Zenith hadn't recovered, and said that he would work hard to take care of Zenith, and try to find a way to cure her.
Facing Paul's determination, Shirou and Rudeus nodded, and then quietly left, leaving the couple alone.
After Lilia and Roxy checked her one after the other, everyone completely confirmed that Zenith was in the same state as a disabled person.
Although she would react to the sounds around her, she wouldn't speak on her own, and couldn't understand what other people were saying. She was always in a sleepwalking-like state.
She had forgotten everything from the past, and didn't remember who did what, what kind of things happened, or what the results were.
The most upset person about this was undoubtedly Paul.
Shirou also couldn't accept it, and desperately hoped that things could change.
After all, the Greyrat family was only one step away from truly being reunited.
But Shirou really didn't have any good ideas, and couldn't think of a way to cure Eris. Because of this, he would think about the words of the curse-researching magician whenever he had free time while practicing swordsmanship.
If Eris was like this because of some kind of curse, would she return to normal if the curse could be removed, or if Zenith could adapt to the curse inside her body?
Shirou recalled his experience with Servant Emiya, and instinctively thought of something: the Rule Breaker that he had wanted to forge at the Magic University.
As a unique Noble Phantasm, its effect was to remove the power of magic from individuals, and completely destroy created magic.
This Noble Phantasm might be able to completely remove things like curses as well.
However, Shirou didn't finish forging the weapon at the time, because he later found out that Rule Breaker was more like a magic tool than a weapon.
It didn't require the forging process, or tough materials, but instead required a huge number of magic circles to be carved inside it, creating a base that could directly activate the effect.
After confirming this, Shirou regretfully realized that he might not be able to create the Noble Phantasm Rule Breaker.
But later, meeting Nanahoshi allowed Shirou to successfully forge the Noble Phantasm Avalon, which was also closer to a magic tool effect.
If he sought out Nanahoshi's help, he might be able to forge Rule Breaker.
And by using Rule Breaker, he might be able to cure Zenith's illness.
Of course, Shirou didn't dare to be too optimistic, and didn't dare to tell anyone about this, because that would only bring meaningless hope, or even deeper despair.
...
Without realizing it, it started snowing in the Northern Continent.
Most of the year was actually the snow season here, so snowing was a very common thing.
Seeing the snow in the sky also meant that Shirou and the others were very close to their destination.
When they officially arrived at the magic city of Sharia, Shirou felt inexplicably nervous, because he remembered that Hitogami had told him before that he would definitely regret going to the Begaritt Continent.
Although Shirou never believed in so-called prophecies, and only believed in everything he achieved with his own hands, considering that Hitogami wouldn't say things without a reason, Hitogami's words must have had a reason.
Thinking back to his journey, Shirou didn't think he had experienced anything that he would regret.
He not only saved Zenith, but also defeated North God the Third, and Paul and the others had all survived safely.
No matter how he thought about it, it didn't match Hitogami's words.
So the only possibility was that something had happened to someone important to him in the time he was away from the magic city.
Because of this, Shirou rushed back to the house he had bought as quickly as possible as soon as he returned to the magic city.
He even used the speed of the Sword God Style, completely leaving Paul and the others behind, and returned to the front of the house as quickly as possible.
From the outside, everything looked almost exactly the same as when he left. The only difference was that there was now snow on the ground, and there seemed to be some more trees and potted plants in the yard, which Aisha must have prepared.
Shirou didn't hesitate and opened the door directly. He immediately saw Aisha running out in a panic.
"Oh... Brother! You're back!"
"Yeah."
Seeing Aisha's appearance, it seemed that nothing unusual had happened. Shirou couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and soon saw Norn coming out right after her.
Both of his little sisters looked safe and sound, which was definitely a good thing.
Next, as long as Paul and the others came over, the Greyrat family could truly be reunited.
Just as Shirou had this thought and was about to tell Norn and Aisha the good news, Aisha suddenly remembered something and brought a letter from a distance.
"Oh yeah, brother, about a week after you left, that person named Fitz came and delivered a letter. It seems to be from Princess Ariel to you."
"Ariel?"
"Yeah, she seemed to be quite worried, I don't know what happened."
"This..."
Hearing Aisha's words, Shirou instinctively showed surprise. He immediately took the letter, and because of this he overlooked the fact that Aisha called Fitz "she".
Fitz's disguise hadn't had any problems so far, so much so that even Shirou himself hadn't realized that Fitz was actually a woman.
Aisha's behavior was obviously a little strange, but Shirou didn't have time to care about it right now.
He immediately opened the letter from Ariel and found that the content of the letter was indeed written by Ariel herself.
She said that the situation inside the Asura Kingdom had taken a turn for the worse. Because the First Prince, Grabel, had completely defeated the Second Prince, Halfas, if she didn't return home immediately to participate in the competition, Grabel might completely control the entire Asura Kingdom.
Ariel didn't ask to borrow Shirou's power in the letter. She didn't seem to want Shirou to participate in that cruel political struggle. She only explained her own determination and resolve in the letter, and said that she was willing to risk her life for this battle that belonged to her.
Finally, Ariel said that if she won, she would be willing to invite Shirou back to the Asura Kingdom, and would make Shirou a general of the Knights.
Of course, this was undoubtedly just optimistic comfort.
Everyone knew that Ariel's return trip would definitely be a narrow escape from death.
"..."
After reading the letter, Shirou's mood became extremely complicated. He had originally estimated that Ariel's return home was still a long way off, and he would have time to prepare for the fight with the Water God.
But looking at the situation now, it could be said that it was close at hand.
He didn't have any time to prepare. After just finishing the fight with North God, he had to immediately deal with the next fight with a god!
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