Chapter 38. Surpassing the Limit, Projecting [Anti-World Noble Phantasm: The Holy Sword of the Planet]!
Darkness. Boundless darkness.
Deep beneath the 37th floor "White Palace," in a sealed space buried by rubble.
Oxygen level: Extremely low.
Mana concentration: Lethal.
Probability of survival: Theoretically zero.
"..."
A faint sound of coughing broke the dead silence. A hand, covered in burns and cracks, struggled to push away the rocks pressing down on his body.
Shirou Emiya woke up. Or rather, he was woken up by the pain.
"It hurts... I feel like Berserker used a stone pillar as a bat to hit a home run with me..."
Shirou tried to move his body, only to find he had lost all sensation in his left side. Looking down, the skin of his left arm was completely carbonized, revealing dark red muscle fibers beneath. He could even see a few... metal-like bones?
Magic Circuits. Physical Conceptual Displacement...
"Yeah, I know..." Shirou smiled bitterly, using his intact right hand to prop himself up. Because of the excessive use of [Unlimited Blade Works] and that suicidal "assimilation" defense earlier, his body was gradually "sword-ifying." If he acted recklessly one more time, he might actually become a sword stuck in a stone, waiting for someone to pull him out in the next Holy Grail War.
"However..."
Shirou looked up. In front of this underground cavity created by the blast, the pile of white rubble that should have been pulverized was writhing violently.
Gurgle... gurgle...
The white rocks re-aggregated. The broken greatsword reconnected. [The Executioner], whose core magic stone had been shattered, was forcibly reconstructing itself under the supply of the Dungeon's "malice"!
"ROAAAAR—!!!"
Although its size had shrunk by half (now about three meters), the suffocating pressure had become more concentrated and pure. Its hollow face stared dead at Shirou.
"Truly tenacious," Shirou leaned against the rock wall behind him; there was no way out. "I'm the same."
He took a deep breath. Though his lungs burned like fire and his mana was overdrawn to the point of burning his soul, his eyes remained as clear as a mirror.
"Trace—On."
No wasted movement. No flashy special effects. In Shirou's right hand, a plain, unadorned... scabbard appeared.
[Avalon (Pseudo)].
He pressed the scabbard against his chest.
"Synchronization start... Mana conversion... Life force extraction."
Since the mana was gone, he would burn his life. Since the body was broken, he would use the Concept to mend it.
Hum! A golden radiance lit up the darkness. Although far inferior to the "Absolute Defense" authority of the genuine article, the "Healing" concept contained within forcibly glued Shirou's collapsing body back together.
"It's a knockoff, but it's enough for an emergency."
Shirou tossed away the dissipating scabbard and stood tall again. His left arm was still charred, but sensation had returned. Though the mana in his body was faint, it pulsed frantically like a spark about to explode.
"Come on, big guy," Shirou looked at the Executioner, a wild smile curling his lips.
"Round two.
This time... I'm ending you for good."
The battle resumed.
This time, there was no support from Lili, no rescue from Ais. This was a true one-on-one (Solo).
Boom!
The Executioner attacked first. Its smaller frame gave it even greater speed. The white stone greatsword appeared above Shirou's head as if teleporting, slashing down ruthlessly with a white light that decomposed all things.
"Too slow!"
Shirou didn't dodge. After the previous deathmatch, his [Mind's Eye (True)] had completely adapted to the opponent's rhythm.
"Trace—On!"
The black and white twin blades [Kanshou & Bakuya] were in his hands. It wasn't a block, but a—parry.
Screech—!
The stone greatsword slid off the side of the twin blades, smashing heavily into the ground and corroding a large crater. Borrowing the friction, Shirou spun like a top, cutting into the Executioner's reach.
"Crane Wing, Two-Fold!"
The twin blades crossed in a slash. Two deep wounds were carved into the Executioner's chest, but no blood flowed—only white powder sprayed.
"Roar!" The Executioner ignored the injury and opened its mouth; that terrifying decomposition breath was brewing again.
"Not a chance!"
Shirou released the twin blades, slamming his left hand onto the Executioner's jaw.
"Trace On—Shield!"
A small-scale Rho Aias (only one layer) deployed inside the Executioner's mouth.
Boom! The decomposition breath exploded inside its own mouth. While it couldn't be fully blocked, this "plugging the barrel" maneuver directly blew off half of the Executioner's face.
"Now!"
Shirou retreated, opening up the distance. He knew ordinary Noble Phantasms couldn't kill this monster. Even a [Broken Phantasm] would only buy time against that horrific regeneration.
It had to be... a one-hit kill. He had to use that... Supreme Sword capable of severing the "Will of the World" and negating "Immortality."
Shirou closed his eyes. He searched within the Unlimited Blade Works in his mind. Not Archer's collection. Not the weapons he had seen in this world.
But... something from further back, deeper, engraved in the original worldline of the existence known as "Shirou Emiya"—something he had never seen with his own eyes, but learned of through a certain "Golden King."
Another Holy Sword.
The sword belonging to a different King of Knights. Not the blue light of the stars. But a golden... light of salvation.
"I am the bone of my sword."
The incantation began. This time, it wasn't just magic circuits operating. Shirou felt his soul burning. He was overdrawing his future. He was using his very life to construct the miracle that existed only in legends.
"Steel is my body. Fire is my blood."
The Executioner regained its mobility. It seemed to sense the terrifying aura capable of threatening its existence. it went berserk. The white rocks covering its body began to disintegrate, turning into countless sharp thorns that shot toward Shirou like a rainstorm.
"Unaware of loss. Nor aware of gain."
Shirou didn't move. The air around him began to warp, and golden particles danced. The incoming rock thorns were all repelled and pulverized the moment they touched this golden aura.
This was the prototype of [Anti-Purge Defense].
"ROAAAAR!!!"
The Executioner felt fear. For the first time since its birth, it felt fear. It no longer held back, converting its entire mass into energy and concentrating it into the greatsword. It was a ten-meter-long execution sword radiating a white light of destruction.
It intended to erase this human and this entire space in a single strike.
"Withstood pain to create many weapons."
Shirou snapped his eyes open. His pupils had turned completely golden, reflecting the shadow of a sword.
It was a Holy Sword sealed by thirteen restraints. The radiance of the stars that saves the planet.
"Trace—Excalibur!"
But that wasn't enough. Merely projecting the shape was not enough. He had to... release the seals.
[Seal Thirteen—Decision Start]!
Shirou's voice became grand and solemn, as if overlapping with the King of Knights from a distant time and space.
"—This is a battle to live (Bedivere)." [Approved]. Golden light converged in Shirou's hand; the first seal was released.
"—This is a battle against one more powerful than oneself (Kay)." [Approved]. Facing an out-of-spec Lv.6 monster, the condition was met.
"—This is a battle that does not disregard humanity (Gareth)." [Approved]. Fighting to protect, fighting to survive.
"—This is a battle for the truth (Agravain)." [Approved].
The Executioner's greatsword had fallen. The world-ending white light was less than a meter from Shirou's head.
But the radiance in Shirou's hands had already surpassed the sun.
"—This is a battle to save the world (Arthur)!!!" [Approved].
Though he wasn't saving all of humanity, for Shirou Emiya, living and returning to everyone's side was his world.
Five seals released. Though less than half, for this [Anti-World Noble Phantasm], it was enough.
"Excalibur!!!"
Shirou raised the golden sword of light with both hands and swung it down ruthlessly against the descending execution sword.
BOOM!!!
There was no sound. Because sound had been swallowed by the light.
A golden pillar of light soared into the sky. It easily sliced through the Executioner's greatsword, through its hard body, and through its core magic stone. It even... sliced through the rock ceiling of the 37th floor, hundreds of meters thick!
It was pure light. The breath of the stars that dispels all darkness and severs all malice.
"..."
The Executioner let out a final wail within the light. Its body dissolved like a snowflake. The Will of the Dungeon was forced to retreat before this sword of salvation.
The light dissipated.
In the hall of the 37th floor, there was now a bottomless ravine and a massive hole leading to the upper floors.
Shirou Emiya stood at the edge of the ravine. The Holy Sword in his hand had vanished. His right hand... the skin was completely gone, revealing red muscle and white bone. The magic circuits throughout his body were completely burned out from failing to withstand the load of the star-light.
"..."
Shirou looked at the "sky" he had carved out (the rock ceiling of the floor above), and a smile of relief appeared on his lips.
"This time... it really was the limit..."
His vision went black. Like a kite with a broken string, he fell backward.
"Emiya!!!"
Just as Shirou was about to hit the ground, a golden figure jumped down from the hole blasted by the light cannon.
Ais Wallenstein. She rushed over recklessly and caught him before he landed.
"Why... why do you always act so recklessly!" Ais's voice carried a sob. Looking at this blood-soaked boy in her arms, whose right hand was nearly destroyed, she felt a pain so sharp she couldn't breathe. That golden light that pierced through heaven and earth—she had seen it clearly from the neighboring area. That power... that holy and warm light... was like... a true Hero.
"Ais..." Shirou forced his eyes open, looking at that familiar face. "Sorry... for making you worry again..."
"Idiot." Ais held him tightly. "As long as you're alive... that's all that matters."
"Yeah... I'm back."
Shirou closed his eyes in peace. This time, he really could rest.
Meanwhile. At the top of Babel.
Freya watched the fading golden light in the crystal ball, and the wine glass in her hand shattered with a snap. The bright red wine flowed down her fair fingers like blood.
But on her face was an unprecedented, near-manic ecstasy.
"What was... that?!
That radiance... a radiance that even the Gods must shrink from!"
Freya trembled, her eyes burning with a manic love.
"It's not just Senji Muramasa... Inside that soul... something even greater is hidden!
Shirou Emiya... Shirou Emiya!" She repeated the name over and over, as if reciting the most sacred incantation.
"You are mine. You absolutely... must be mine.
To have you... even if I have to start a 'Great Feud,' even if I have to destroy Orario...
I will not hesitate."
The obsession of the Goddess of Beauty, at this moment, transformed into a karmic fire capable of burning the world. The true disaster had perhaps only just begun.
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