Chapter 10. Ally of Justice
Shindenow Giva was strong.
In this world, there are those who have restored and reconstructed Runes. Such a person is a designated Sealing Designation, the "Imperfect Red."
The restoration of a "Temple"—a privilege of Age of Gods magi—is actually no less a feat than the restoration of Runes; in fact, its threat level is even greater.
The first time Giva was able to manifest a "Temple" was one month ago. From that moment, like a lion born knowing it is a lion, Giva became aware.
As long as he was within his own domain, he would not lose even against some of the Lords. This was both his "lifeline" and his "divine realm."
Of course, reaching this step was not the achievement of Giva alone. As a lineage specializing in this particular field, his Magic Crest inherited the wisdom of many ancestors—along with their lack of humanity.
However, had someone other than Giva been born, this research would have required at least two or three more generations to complete. Giva undoubtedly belonged to the category of geniuses.
The restored Temple had no deity to link to, but the lost significance no longer needed to be realized; perhaps the "Temple" constructed by Shindenow Giva could not be called a true Temple, but the original intention of linking to the Age of Gods had long since fallen on deaf ears.
Shindenow Giva built a "Temple"—and thus, he fulfilled the long-held vision of every chronicler in his magus family.
The flames burned fiercely.
Framed by the curtain of fire, the magus and the dark-purple-haired girl watched one another.
By the time Shirou took a step forward in front of her as an exemplar, Sakura's expression had already returned to normal.
"Now that you're the only one left, do you look like you have something to say?"
As if discovering something, Sakura showed a faint smile.
"No, Mr. Giva, I just noticed one thing. The reason we didn't sense a single trace of a Bounded Field when stepping into your domain is because you only left a complete, detectable field in this specific area beneath our feet, right?"
Sakura touched the wall thoughtfully. "The other zones are just spatial distortions caused by the activation of this true Bounded Field. Only when it takes shape here does it constitute the
whole, forcibly binding other places—I actually thought it was a more advanced technique than this."
Giva was silent for a few seconds, but finally, he burst into laughter.
"I admit, that is the trick to constructing a first-class Bounded Field. But so what? As long as you haven't seen through the Temple, that realization won't help your current situation at all."
"No, I've already said what I wanted to say."
The magus Giva knit his brows.
Something was wrong.
For instance, the dark-purple-haired girl showed no sign of worry for her companion whatsoever.
Normally, this would be perfectly standard among magi. If it were him, he wouldn't have the spare heart to sympathize with a so-called ally. Not only that, he might even be ecstatic at the chance to squeeze out valuable information during the opening.
However, his instincts seemed to understand: the girl's "lack of worry" and his own "lack of worry" were two entirely different things.
Giva couldn't figure out why.
Clearly, the opponent was softer, he should be stronger, and Giva held the upper hand in the situation. Yet, in this confrontation with the woman across from him, Giva couldn't muster enough presence to overwhelm her.
There was an incredible sense of dread. Like spotting a dark shadow cruising in the deep sea, Giva's entire body subconsciously tensed up until he froze like a stone. A short moment later, he heard the voice of a "dead man" interject without warning.
"Sakura, he just said this place is a 'Temple.' Is that true?"
Emiya Shirou's figure emerged from the flames. His red hair, swaying in the heat, was more intense than the fire itself.
Through some unknown trick, the flames died out eerily. The youth who walked out from the inferno didn't have a single trace of a burn.
"It seems to be true, Senpai. As you can see, the magecraft he releases is significantly more powerful than normal, isn't it?"
The ever-informative and considerate Sakura explained, looking happy to be needed:
"At the same time, the consumption for using magecraft here has increased significantly. When I was just making a few ribbons, the mana drain was so small I thought it was an illusion. But looking at it now, creating an object worth 100 mana requires an expenditure of 500... though, it's only at that level."
Sakura whispered the last part to herself.
She casually created an enormous shadow ribbon that spiraled around her, which then leaped into the ground and vanished by diving into Imaginary Space.
"What do you want to do, Senpai?"
"Let's forget about fighting together. You noticed how he generated a massive range of fire from the side instantly, right? There are about twenty people lying unconscious in this otherworldly space that's been expanded to the length of a hall. I think Sakura is the only one I can rely on."
This was a nonsensical conversation to the magus Giva. Rather, he hadn't been able to keep up with the changes for a while now.
First, the primary issue to address was Emiya Shirou returning from the fire.
The magus took a step back.
"Why are you unharmed? ...No, you must have set up a surface defense ward in advance. Surrendering before the fight even begins is a cowardly way of doing things."
He was first flustered by the incomprehensible, then regained his calm by coming up with his own explanation.
'What is he even talking about?' Shirou was speechless.
Actually, it wasn't a special trick.
Equipping Kanshou and Bakuya simultaneously increases the wielder's Magic Resistance.
And Giva's nameless magecraft was merely massive in scale; its complexity remained categorized as the lowest "Single Action," the equivalent of a snap of the fingers.
That was all. Being neutralized was only natural.
Of course, sheer overwhelming power can break through Magic Resistance, but in Giva's case—his output simply wasn't high enough.
If the power had been several times greater, Shirou would have chosen to dodge or slice through it with an ice-attribute magic sword.
Ultimately, since there was no threat, he naturally didn't want to exert extra effort. Thanks to this, Giva's mouth finally loosened, leaking a bit of information.
Furthermore, demonstrating this scene in person... served as useful leverage for a dialogue.
"Giva."
Shirou took a step forward. "Do you have any interest in answering my questions now?"
Even though his heart was thumping with anger, he couldn't let it disrupt the situation. Shirou felt that something more fundamental was still hidden in this confrontation.
"I have a question that feels very strange. Do you have any interest in telling me? You want to collect so many souls, so much magical energy—just what on earth are you planning to do?"
The magus had no intention of answering.
He raised his arm, making a gesture as if leveling a gun.
"My flames incinerate my enemies; in their mercy, the embers shine bright."
A three-line chant.
It was on a completely different level from Single Action magecraft. A magical storm nearly half the height of the hall expanded outward, baring its fangs. Under such extreme violence, even Giva himself couldn't track Emiya Shirou, who was submerged in the flames.
However, he didn't need to track him. Using an unknown method, the wall of flame was split in two the moment it overlapped with the youth, revealing Shirou's unharmed figure.
The remnants of the fire dissipated hollowly to both sides.
An incomprehensible sight unfolded. The ground at the edge of the split ignored the power of the flames, manifesting a starkly contrasting white frost that the magical fire absolutely could not touch.
With Giva's dynamic vision, he could only see something in the youth's upward-swinging hand dissolve into magical light.
"!?"
In the next instant, a figure flashed right in front of him, startling Giva into a desperate backward lunge.
A sword flash swept over the top of his head. By a mere hair's breadth, the terrifying future of decapitation nearly became reality.
"Have you played enough?"
To Giva, who had retreated several steps, the youth's voice sounded like volcanic rock concealing molten lava.
Giva felt several severed hairs fall from his head.
"Why... why didn't even a three-line chant work? Who are you?"
Three lines constituted a formal means of attack. Yet, he couldn't even understand the principle by which it was neutralized. The young figure standing before Giva began to instill a chilling sense of loathing within him.
The girl watching from the side smiled and answered first: "An Ally of Justice!"
If one looked closely, they would see that all the ordinary people slumped on the ground had disappeared. The magus hadn't noticed at all that while he was busy "playing," as Shirou put it, Sakura had taken advantage of the cover of the fire to finish relocating them.
Shirou relaxed after confirming this, then corrected Sakura's quip.
This was something he couldn't back down on.
"I am not an Ally of Justice."
Shirou said, "It's just that my ideal is to become an Ally of Justice."