Chapter 218: Wouldn't It Have Been Easier to Just Use the Red Form from the Start?
"It's over..." "It's finally over..."
Actually, there was no need for Julian to say anything. Saber and the others could all see the [Pandora's Box] Cursed Spirit slowly fading away under the infusion of this immense positive energy.
This should have been a good thing. Not only was [Pandora's Box], which Julian had been desperately longing to open, finally capable of being opened, but the environment of the Earth—which had been eroded by [Pandora's Box]—was also recovering.
Following the series of battles, even with Miyu Edelfelt back to help provide magical energy, the Reality Marble maintained by Emiya was on the verge of collapse. Seeing that the [Pandora's Box] Cursed Spirit had been defeated, he breathed a sigh of relief. With no further reason to maintain the Reality Marble, they returned to the real world, only to see endless black mud.
All the black mud that Darius had swapped with the world over the past millennium—allowing the inner world of [Pandora's Box] to erode the real world—had gathered within Fuyuki City at this moment, and had all returned to the interior of [Pandora's Box].
Undoubtedly, the influence brought by the inner world of [Pandora's Box] had been resolved at this moment. Humans would no longer need to flee the Earth to maintain the survival of their species. Everything was moving in a positive direction.
However... Julian thought with a sense of loss in his heart. "...What is this empty feeling?"
"Julian, you're always such a crybaby, no matter the time."
"...!?"
A familiar voice rang out from behind him. It was a voice and tone he had not heard for a very, very long time.
"Alright, alright, don't cry."
Then came a movement—an embrace capable of pulling him into her arms, and a gentle voice echoed beside his ear: "Didn't we agree? Julian, you don't want my life to end with nothing but a plea to die quickly. You wanted me to be able to truly smile when I passed away... If I were to see you crying as you sent me off at the end of this life, I wouldn't be able to be happy either."
It wasn't just the voice. Did she even remember the promise he had forgotten?
Hearing this voice and recalling a certain memory, Julian hurriedly turned back toward the direction the voice came from and said, somewhat incredulously: "Big sister? ...Is that you, big sister?"
It was the big sister, not the little sister. It was Emyria, not Erika. Although they were both one person—both Pandora—people are defined by more than just an identity. They are defined by memories, emotions... all those things that allow one to distinguish others.
Compared to the "Erika" personality, whose personality was swapped by Darius, and who had all the memory fragments of the life they shared together—including the memories of the six thousand years of agony Pandora suffered from her undying immortality—completely erased and replaced, the one Julian truly wanted to save, the one who sparked the desire to save Erika and Pandora, was undoubtedly Emyria, his big sister.
Originally, after that day, Julian thought Emyria had died. He believed that the only person he could save was Erika. But unexpectedly...
"It's me, as long as you still want to call me that, Julian."
Having regained the memories that Darius had swapped away, Pandora, who was holding Julian in that familiar tone, smiled: "You really worked hard, Julian."
"Although this good ending came about due to various accidental circumstances, as that person said, if you hadn't persisted, Julian, perhaps this ending wouldn't have come to pass."
"You really worked hard, moving forward step by step just as we promised."
As she spoke, it was as if she were saying goodbye... No, it wasn't "as if," it was exactly that. Because [Pandora's Box] had been opened, the "Death" that had been preserved within it finally returned to her, allowing her to welcome true death.
As golden motes of light constantly emerged from her body, she spoke her final words through her mouth: "Goodnight, Julian."
"Big sister..."
His body suddenly felt empty. When Julian responded with those final words, and followed up by hugging Pandora, what greeted him—besides that long-awaited embrace—were only the streaks of light left behind after Pandora's body vanished.
!?
"Goodnight to you too, big sister..." "It's over, huh..."
Watching Julian, who was clearly reluctant, yet smiling along with her to send Pandora off (to her death) after seeing the smile on her face, and seeing Emiya and Miyu Edelfelt able to continue their daily lives together without any concerns—though they were people from a parallel world who had nothing to do with her, Rin Tohsaka was still happy for Miyu Edelfelt, with whom they had spent quite some time.
Of course, she couldn't help but take advantage of this moment of relief to walk up to Emiya Shirou's ear and whisper: "But Shirou, wouldn't it have been easier to just project that Noble Phantasm from the start?"
[Pseudo-Anubis]—even without knowing the specific Stand ability of this Stand, this was a Stand that could only be projected after seizing a portion of the [Pandora's Box] Cursed Spirit's soul. The aura of magical energy that dissipated just to make Emiya Shirou's stats soar to a level comparable to the [Pandora's Box] Cursed Spirit was enough to make Rin Tohsaka feel a suffocating terror. It wasn't until Emiya Shirou cancelled the projection that she dared to approach his side.
"The reason for that is a bit complicated, and even if you asked me to project that [Anubis] again now, Rin, I'm afraid I couldn't do it. I could only project a weakened version," Emiya Shirou said helplessly.
Without the magical energy supply from [Pandora's Box], the current Emiya Shirou could not maintain this upgraded version of [Pseudo-Anubis]. It was, in every sense, a limited-time cheat code.
"But Rin, didn't you forget one very important thing?" Emiya Shirou said after thinking of something.
"What?" Rin Tohsaka asked, puzzled.
Emiya Shirou continued: "Miyu, who has returned to this parallel world, is likely unable to come back with us, so if we want to return, we can only..."
Read ahead by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting