Chapter 884 - 22

GRAAAAAA!"

The beautiful woman, the very image of the celestial maiden of Hindu myths, snarled and roared, swinging her spear with a skill that should not be possible for someone of her nature.

However, her opponent read her every move, dodging and ducking beneath them, knowing that if even a single one of those blows struck true, he would sustain devastating damage due to the extreme gap between their stats.

Yet, with every dodged move, the woman's rage only grew, fueled by both her irritation, her very nature, and the darkness lurking within her.

She pulled back a pace before taking another stance, suddenly switching her style mid-battle to throw off her opponent's flow.

But once again, he perfectly read her move through his magecraft and barely dodged another thrust that would have skewered him straight through his heart.

Vritra, the best of the Asura, the Dragon that once stopped the flow of water across the world, finally stopped moving, as her hand turned pale due to how tightly she gripped Vajra, her spear, in frustration and anger.

"Are you only going to keep dodging? Alaya's Dog? Where is that snark of yours? Why aren't you running your mouth off as you always do? Did the Counter Force and Arjuna finally strip you of that as well and fully turn you into a hollow machine? a mere imitation of humanity?"

Shirou Emiya, the third-rate magus, sighed at those words, yet did not let down his guard as he still kept Kanshou and Bakuya ready for another clash after projecting them for who knows how many times during their fight.

"Vritra. Like I tried to say before, I am not Counter Guardian EMIYA. I am Shirou Emiya. The one you are angry at, the one who was forced to betray you back then, was my counterpart in the Throne of Heroes-"

Vritra lunged suddenly while Shirou was still talking, trying to take advantage of his distraction. However, since Shirou had predicted this thanks to how well he knew the woman, he was ready for it.

And yet, no matter how prepared he was, the difference between his Agility rank of C and her rank of A was too much to bridge with skill alone.

Gale winds erupted as the Vajra spear's tip landed square on his shoulder, shredding his torso to pieces through the inherent might of the Divine Construct that, while tainted and weaker than the original, was still in the A+ rank.

At least, that is how things should have gone.

Much to Vritra's surprise, instead of killing the man she hated so much then and there, all Vajra managed to do was tear through the holy shroud and land a blow that managed to pierce his skin before stopping dead.

She felt it. A resistance as if she were trying to pierce through a wall of steel.

Trusting her instincts and knowing how resourceful EMIYA was through personal experience, she activated her draconic eyes to peer into the truth of what was happening.

What she saw, however, sent chills down her spine. A first for her since she never felt this level of revulsion and concern even when facing the King of the Hindu Gods himself.

Swords. Dozens, hundreds, thousands, millions of them. Each one of them, the size of a single cell, acted as a collective organism, creating a literal armor of swords just beneath his skin, like the scales of a dragon.

And that was not the end of it.

A form of unknown yet gentle energy of The Everdistand Utopia surged through Shirou's body, enveloping him in a brief and subtle golden glow before fading, revealing that the surface wound had been completely healed.

To be fair, it was nothing much in the grand scheme of things. At most, this healing effect was equivalent to a low-ranked healing magecraft that any half-competent magus should be able to cast. Nothing compared to the true power of the artifact that Shirou used, which was unfortunately not available to him since he was not the real owner of it.

But this healing effect was enough since it was only a surface wound he suffered, thanks to his reality marble.

"Such an ugly trick! As expected of a damned machine that backstabs people without hesitation!!"

For a split second, Shirou's face became ugly at that accusation as his reality marble trembled within his soul, as if that insult had offended his very inner world.

Yet, he did not get to retaliate properly as Vritra started to overwhelm him despite his superior sworsmanship due to the sheer difference in their stats.

With each swing of Vajra, either Kanshou would break, or Bakuya would shatter, forcing him to constantly project them near instantly to fend off a follow-up attack.

Then, she would suddenly switch up her stance, throwing him off for a split second before he would recover and cope with her new fighting style.

Every time her Vajra clashed with the married swords, lightning flashed across the golden spear's body, hoping to electrocute the boy.

Yet Shirou would once again show his superior skills, earned through the memories of his various counterparts, most of whom were trained by the King of Knights herself, while the others earned their skills on the edge of life and death.

Then, Shirou went one step further by pulling on the experience of the countless peerless swordsmen and women from the weapons in his reality marble.

In essence, this Shirou Emiya is, at this very moment, the pinnacle of swordsmanship.

And yet, it was not enough in the face of the reckless and unfathomably strong swings of Vritra's spear.

Truthfully, if it were not for his dagger that siphoned energy from the Dimensional Gap and converted it into magical energy, injecting it directly into his magic circuits, he might have long since run out of energy and ended up dead under her relentless assault.

As Vritra overswung once again, leaving her wide open, Shirou took advantage and closed the gap, driving Kanshou straight into her flank. However, instead of tearing open her abdomen, all he managed to do was leave a barely noticeable white line on her dress, just as he expected.

Vritra, feeling the blow, once again jumped back and created distance between herself and Shirou, exactly as he intended when he made that inconsequential attack.

With the precious handful of seconds bought with that attack, his mind raced.

'That A rank Magic Resistance combined with her draconic nature is going to be the death of me. But I can't project an anti-dragon Noble Phantasm either. The moment she senses the emergence of such a weapon, she will unleash her own Noble Phantasm, and there is no chance of me winning if she unleashes Asurashreshta unless I unleash Unlimited Blade Works, which will take me a few seconds to deploy, enough time for her to unleash her full power and drown me in an army of darkness.'

'Such a troublesome situation. No wonder EMIYA had to stab her in the back with several copies of anti-dragon and anti-demon when she least expected it to kill her under Arjuna's orders.'

"Are you done contemplating how futile your resistance is? EMIYA? Because let me tell you, there is no way I am falling for the same trick as last time. This time, there is no Ritsuka to use as bait and stab in the back like last time."

At those words, the image of the girl with red hair and light orange eyes flashed through Shirou's mind as he felt a wince at the memory that Vritra was talking about.

He still remembered that dream as if it were yesterday due to how traumatizing it was. That dream also served as fuel for his determination so that he would never end up becoming that broken man who shared his name and face.

Vritra dashed forward once again, aiming Vajra straight at Shirou's chest with a telegraphed attack.

However, Shirou felt chills go down his spine as he felt the absurd levels of mana concentrated at the tip of the weapon.

If the blow landed, even with the protection of his Reality Marble and the protection of Avalon's projection within his body, he would explode into chunks of meat on the spot.

Worse yet, Vritra was taking full advantage of her agility and moving at full speed, making it look like she teleported from her place and appeared right in front of him.

Desperate to avoid the blow, Shirou ejected Avalon's copy from his body and rolled back, once again avoiding the blow by a hair's breadth as Avalon managed to deflect the blow before fading back into his body.

Vritra sneered and continued swinging her spear like a madwoman.

"This time, there is no God Arjuna looming over us in his Vimana, distracting me and keeping me from sensing your malice. There is none of your fellow Lokapala to take away my attention from your treachery. There is no Mahapralaya which turns our every action into a race against time."

"This time, there is no last master of humanity to use as bait by deliberately placing her in danger through the holy beasts. This time, there is nothing to hide behind, Dog of Alaya!"

Her grin turned menacing as mana surged around her, alarming Shirou as he understood exactly what she was up to.

"There is just you and me. Face to face!"

"I am the bone of my sword."

"Awaken, the weapon of my enemy, my nemesis!"

"Vajra!!"

"Rho Aias!!"

The spear transformed into a streak of light and struck true with the speed of a ballistic missile and the force of a mini nuke, a combination strong enough to reduce a town to cinders.

Yet, it failed to reach the boy as The Seven Rings the Cover the Burning Heavens manifested in its way, its petals manifesting in a mesmerising show of beauty and grace that would make anyone jealous.

The shield of Ajax the Great that blocked the unblockable. A conceptual weapon that is said to be the absolute defence against all thrown weapons.

However, despite its defensive capabilities, it lost three of its seven petals to the Divine Construct's unleashed full might, showing how powerful it was.

As Shirou panted in pain from having a part of his arm shredded through the rebound, which was being healed by Avalon's copy within him along with his reality marble, he dismissed the shield and stared at the manic Vritra, who grinned at his injured state.

With a wave of her hand, Vajra flew back into her hand as she stood leisurely in place. Her soft voice echoed through the silent, devastated battlefield that used to be a park.

"How does it feel? EMIYA? To face my might head-on instead of assassinating me like a coward? How does it feel to know that even with the power of the Counter Force and without the power of Vishvakarma, you can never equal me in a straight fight? How does it feel to know that your machine-like precision and the ability to mimic the power of others that you are so proud of has failed you in the end?"

To her taunts, Shirou had no answer. Instead, he asked a question of his own, as his dagger worked on filling his magic circuits with power, preparing for what he was about to do next.

"Tell me, Vritra. Did you see EMIYA smile when he killed you?"

"...Huh?"

The grin on her face disappeared.

"Did he gloat? Did he laugh as he sniped you from a distance with several Broken Phantasms?"

"Or, was his face one of despair and resignation?"

Now, she held a neutral look that barely hid the turmoil in her eyes.

Shirou stepped forward, his step echoing throughout the battlefield like a gong going off inside a silent room.

On instinct, Vritra stepped back, yet caught herself while rage boiled within her.

"Do you think he enjoyed it?"

Shirou's mind flashed back to the memories that still shone within his mind as clear as day.

The memories of Vritra indulging in EMIYA's cooking in the kitchens of Chaldea.

The memories of training that they shared.

The memories of their fierce fights across the Singularities, all in the name of protecting their master.

This was the EMIYA that Vritra called her comrade. This was the servant Archer that Ritsuka trusted with all her heart.

This was the servant who was killed in the final battle at the Grand Temple of Time.

Then, another set of memories emerged. This one, short and to the point.

This EMIYA knew none of the things his other incarnation went through with Chaldea, since God Arjuna deemed those memories useless.

This one, this Counter Guardian, was a machine through and through.

Somehow, someway, he was summoned by God Arjuna to the Indian Lostbelt and then merged with Vishvakarma, the patron god of all craftsmen and blacksmiths in the Indian Pantheon. His target? To eliminate all significant individuals that could be a threat to God Arjuna's vision of the perfect world.

And these parameters, unfortunately, included his former comrades, those he no longer remembered thanks to Arjuna's actions under the guidance of that monstrous creature called Limbo.

This is the version of EMIYA that Vritra hates. This is the version that she calls a traitor.

This is the version that she sees in every incarnation of Shirou Emiya.

"Tell me, Vritra, you knew him better than anyone due to your nature. So, do you think the man that made your meals, who fought by your side, who was willing to sacrifice himself for all your sakes at Solomon's temple, did what he did willingly?"

"...It does not matter. Today, you must die at my hands. Only then will I know peace."

Shirou closed his eyes and sighed.

'I see. Words won't reach you anymore then? So be it.'

"I am the bone of my sword."

Vritra's eyes widened, realizing exactly what Shirou was doing thanks to her experience with EMIYA.

Abandoning Vajra, she raised her arm to the sky as mana surged.

"I am Vritra."

"I cover the heavens and the earth-GAH!"

Chains erupted from the ground, piercing through her flesh and disrupting her mana, and stopping her from activating her Noble Phantasm for a single second.

Unfortunately, the Chains of Heaven cannot truly supress her as she has no divinity within her.

"My body is Steel and my blood is Fire."

With anger overflowing within her heart, she swung her spear, shattering the chains using her own Divine Contruct to counter its suppressing nature and once again pulsed her mana, continuing her own aria, knowing that she would have to go all out against what was about to come.

"Assemble! My Asura! The demonic army of my flesh-GRRAAA!"

Once again, Enkidu manifested and pierced through her defenses due to its very nature, yet was unable to chain her down due to her lack of divinity.

Once again, Shirou Emiya bought himself a precious few seconds.

"I will create a thousand blades."

"Never accepting Defeat. Never stopping at Victory."

Those words gave Vritra pause, for they were different from the aria of that accursed world of smog and gears she remembers.

Yet, her mind was too far drowned in her amplified rage to truly realize the significance of this change.

Instead, she once again shattered the chains around her with Vajra and started chanting again with renewed urgency.

"Separation is the law! May all creation be concealed!"

"Forging on with a hill of swords. This is my true path."

Darkness swelled around Vritra as her aria reached its end, just like Shirou radiated unfathomable levels of magical energy, drawing directly from the dagger's reserves.

As one, Vritra released her Noble Phantasm while Shirou unleashed his Reality Marble.

"Asurasreshtha!!"

"Unlimited Blade Works!"

One side of the battlefield was briefly bathed in peerless darkness from which countless Asura surged forth, intent on shredding their mistress's enemies.

Yet, everything disappeared in a ring of fire that overwrote reality itself.

In that moment, the darkness clouding Vritra's eyes and fueling her rage cowered.

For she saw a beautiful yet deadly world beyond anything she could have imagined.

Finally, she realized the truth.

This was not Counter Guardina EMIYA. Neither was he the Heroic Spirit EMIYA she knew in Chaldea.

This was someone else entirely.

With a sigh, she smiled as her true personality finally came to the surface. Her nature, which revelled in watching humanity suffer through the obstacles she placed in their path, and glow with genuine pride when humanity overcame these obstacles through their efforts and evolved to become better than before.

'What a shame. To be manipulated like this by that taint. I guess I understand what EMIYA must have felt back then.'

Her thoughts remained within her mind as her perpetual hatred for Counter Guardian EMIYA diminished significantly, now that she realized what it felt like to no longer be able to recognize your actions due to outside influence.

Yet, those thoughts will no longer reach anyone as anti-dragon and anti-demonic Broken Phantasms bombarded her location, killing her instantly through the sheer quantity and quality of the weapons used.

Shirou Emiya was many things, but careless he was not. So there was no way he would let up any time soon, especially when facing such a dangerous enemy.

After a continuous bombardment that lasted fifteen minutes, his dagger finally ran out of stockpiled magical energy, putting the strain of the reality marble back on his own reserves, forcing him to dismiss the inner world.

Watching the Lancer Class Card floating gently in the air where Vritra was, he could not help but sigh in regret and relief.

Taking it gently into his hand, he palmed it in nostalgia before putting it away and undoing his Install as the mirror world started to collapse around him.

'I guess, that's Mission Complete for now?'

Watching the mirror world crumble around him, he sighed one last time and used the dagger to go back to the real world.

One down, five more to go.

Asurasreshtha (Vritra Noble Phantasm):

Author notes: Did you really think I would reveal what Shirou's UBW looks like this early in the story? No way! That reveal is slated for later on.

Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1Last edited: Dec 19, 2025 Like ReplyReport Reactions:SufficientGravitas, MatMuraGarcia, Kaine941 and 188 othersRuijardDec 19, 2025NewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 17 New View contentRuijardKnow what you're doing yet?Dec 20, 2025NewAdd bookmark#251Sella stared worriedly at her young charge as he shambled forward like a zombie and sat down at the table, grabbing the mug of coffee that she prepared for Liz.

She knew that her 'sister' would raise hell for losing her morning coffee to Shirou, but that was a thought for later.

For now, Sella concentrated more on the fact that the boy she had never seen fall sick was suddenly looking like death warmed over.

"Shirou? Are you alright?"

The boy's tired golden eyes turned to her as he gave a brittle smile.

"Yeah. Nothing to worry about. It's just nightmares."

"...You seem to be having more of them these days than ever before."

"Yeah. But like I said, nothing to worry about."

Sella was not convinced, but let it be, knowing how stubborn this boy was.

After all, she was there when Kiritsugu and Irisviel brought him home from that orphanage.

Back then, they all thought Irisviel was barren and could not have children due to her nature as a Homonculous created by the Einzbern, just like Sella and Liz were created by them. And given that Kitirtsugu had already annihilated the Einzbern by that point with the help of a few old allies and Irisviel, the possibility of them discovering a way to reverse that barren nature by interrogating any survivors was next to none.

Sella did not blame Kiritsugu for what happened. After all, any normal human would do the same in his place when they learn the truth of the monstrous deeds that the Einzberns did behind their guise as a family of mages with a connection to the Norse Pantheon. Not to mention that he was well within his rights to annihilate that accursed family after they took away Irisviel from him and wanted to turn her soul into a tool for advancing their magical arts due to the discovery of how unique Irisviel was compared to the rest of her fellow Homonculi.

Hell, there was a reason why the Norse Pantheon did not even send down a single Valkyrie to help out the Einzbern when Kiritsugu killed Jubstacheit von Einzbern, the head of the Einzbern, and proceeded to either kill or imprison the human mages while freeing the Homonculus, like Sella and Liz, who were treated like slaves most of the time by the humans of the Einzbern family.

It also did not help that the Einzbern provided their homunculus designs, which were originally derived from studying the body of the famous Norse hero, Siegfried, to the Church of the Christian faction, enraging the Norse Pantheon to no end.

Anyways, after that incident with the Einzbern, Irisviel spent a long time in depression, thinking that she would never have any children of her own, prompting Kiritsugu to look around and take his wife to pick up Shirou from that orphanage.

Then, a miracle happened, as a few years after Shirou walked into their lives, Irisviel became pregnant with Illya.

However, there was one thing that they all had long since noticed about Shirou.

Shirou Emiya was not a normal child. It was a fact that they were all aware of from the very moment he set foot in this household as a five-year-old child.

He was quite, too quiet for a child. Too mature. Too aware of his surroundings.

His golden eyes held no emotions in those days, and he did everything he was told to do, as if he were a machine.

For all intents and purposes, he was no different than a robot.

It was only thanks to Irisveil's constant attention and love, combined with Kiritsugu's awkward attempts, along with Sella and Liz's constant care, that the boy who looked more like a homonculous than the actual homonculi slowly started to express emotions.

A change that was further amplified when Illya came into the world.

Sella still remembered that precious moment when Irisviel and Kiritsugu came back from the hospital with little Illya in her carrier.

The way Shirou looked at her with muted curiosity, a curiosity that turned to profound awe when Illya caught his extended finger as if it were her lifeline.

Sella liked to think that it was at that moment that the doll truly turned into a real boy.

It was because of all these experiences, this familial bond over the past thirteen years, that Sella knew Shirou's nature better than anyone aside from his parents.

And right now, she knew that he was hiding something from them.

Yet, she would not press him for the truth because she trusted his judgment.

Shirou is many things in her eyes. Stubborn to a fault. Far too prideful in his cooking (which felt justified, which felt very frustrating for her to admit since it hurt her own pride as a cook). Far too serious about everything. And extremely oblivious when it came to his own charm and his effect on the opposite gender. (Sell could not help but pity the many girls who tried to subtly approach him over the years, only for this dense fool to unintentionally friendzone them all).

However, the one thing he was not was a bad judge of a situation.

More often than not, his intuition and reasons turn out to be the right thing in the end in many situations. Something that the household has come to trust him completely about.

That is why she will trust his judgement this time as well, and wait for him to come clean himself.

Sella watched silently as Shirou downed the last of the coffee and got up, heading out in that new outfit that he had taken to wearing these days.

Honestly, Sella could say that the new look suited him. The red jacket and white shirt combo worked really well with his crimson hair and golden eyes, while the black pants and boots added a rugged charm to his already ridiculous charm, thanks to his personality.

But something about the outfit rubbed her the wrong way. The same feeling she would get whenever Kiritsugu went out for one of his 'jobs'.

Shaking her head to get rid of thoughts, she called out behind him.

"Not eating any breakfast?"

"I'll eat something later. I've got some stuff to do."

Sella sighed as Shirou briskly walked out of the house, not even bothering to take his bike with him.

Yes, Sella knew that Shirou Emiya was hiding something from her and the rest of the family. But she will trust the boy she watched grow up and wait for him to tell them what is happening to him these days.

"..Nee-san. Where is my coffee?"

Because right now, she has a lazy 'little sister' to take care of before she blows up and turns the house upside down lest she get her fix of coffee.

Near the commercial district of Kuoh, there is a boy with short brown hair and eyes walking alongside a girl with black hair and violet eyes.

They walked all over the place. Sometimes visiting a clothing store, other times visiting a cafe.

All in all, it looked like an ordinary date, a sweet sight of two teenagers in love.

Of course, things looked much different for people who know of the unseen like me.

To me, it looked more like a predator leading its prey around, charming its prey into a lull through such normal actions before going for the kill at the moment the prey would least expect it.

Thats just how most Phantasmals are.

Not to mention the tainted holy energy I can feel all the way from over here, a few rooftops away from the unaware human and the phantasmal.

A feeling of disgust rose from deep within me as several weapons within me bristled at the woman's energy.

I knew what she was based on her energy, thanks to Zelretch's lessons.

A Fallen Angel. An Angel of heaven that fell from grace after committing a sin.

In the many worlds out there where my counterparts live, it is a known fact that all pantheons that humanity recorded in their myths exist. This meant that the heavens and the angels within also existed.

However, in those worlds, due to the end of the Age of Gods, the Angels no longer descended to the mortal world, choosing to retreat to the Reverse Side of the World along with the rest of the divine spirits and gods out there.

So it is a rare sight that an angel, fallen or not, is spotted by any human in those worlds.

However, this world is different.

Case in point? The way this Fallen Angel so brazenly walked around in the open with a human. Worse still, she is not the only one.

I can sense three other signatures nearby in a rough range of a kilometer or two.

The way they kept moving with the two down there meant that they could either somehow keep track of the Fallen Angel down there, or she was secretly communicating with those three through some kind of magical ability.

It really did not bode well for Hyoudou with the way things are turning out right now, and I cannot help but thank my instincts that led me to investigate this 'Yuuma' and tail these two today.

Soon, the day turned to dusk as the Fallen led Hyoudou to the central park.

'Who would have thought I would return to this place again after the fight last night?'

I pushed away those thoughts just in time for a pulse of mana to wash over me, forcing me to become alert, anticipating an attack.

However, as no attack came, I realized that it was not some directional detection spell, but some kind of a bounded field-barrier spell.

Peeking through the bushes, I saw the smile on Yuuma's face twist for a single second into something utterly revolting.

'Looks like you are done playing with your prey then?'

Without hesitation, I cranked open the imaginary valve within my mind to the limit, flooding my body with magical energy.

When it comes to Phantasmal creatures, it is better to go all out from the very beginning since you can't tell what they are capable of if you give them the time.

"Trace. On."

"I am the bone of my sword."

The familiar Black Bow materialized in my hand.

With my body flooded with magical energy, I reinforced myself to the absolute limit.

Now comes the next part.

A spiraling sword shaped like a drill materialized in my hand.

Placing the Rainbow Sword on the bow, I applied Alteration, turning it into an arrow, while also pushing magical energy into it, directly channeling the power from my dagger to the Noble Phantasm, reducing the strain on my circuits while also gaining the maximum effect possible.

Instantly, it became a Broken Phantasm.

Just in time for the Fallen Angel to shed her guise.

"Time to die."

Those cold words from the Fallen resounded across the clearing as tainted light gathered in her extended arm, forming a spear of energy that was aimed right at Hyoudou's stomach.

It would be a fatal blow, but by targeting the abdomen, the Fallen was making sure that he would die in agony, drawing out his death as much as possible.

Unacceptable.

"My Core is twisted in madness"

She must have sensed the sheer conceptual weight behind my aria since her neck snapped towards my location with alarm.

Unfortunately for her, I will not give her the chance to escape.

"Caladbolg!"

The broken phantasm shot forward like a ballistic missile, with speeds far beyond anything that a human could ever hope to perceive.

Space itself twisted as the sword turned arrow drilled through the air.

Of course, I was not done yet.

It felt like the world came to a standstill with a few more seconds before the broken phantasm made contact with the Fallen.

Of course, this was merely the illusion born from my enhanced perception born from my reinforcement, but this will work in my favor at the moment.

"Chains of Earth that Bind the Divine: Enkidu!"

I called on the chains of heaven, calling out its full name to maximize its power as much as possible.

In the split second before Caladbolg made contact with the Fallen, the chains erupted from the ground and wrapped around the creature, locking down her divinity then and there and immobilizing her power of light.

Then came the spiral sword that skewered through her as if she were a kebab, taking her away from Hyoudou before exploding with the force of a bomb.

If it were not for Rho Aias I projected in front of myself and Hyoudou, closing the gap between us in the single second before Caladbolg exploded, I have no doubt the boy would be a smear on the ground right now from the sheer kinetic impact of the explosion.

Of course, I would not allow that to happen since everything was within my calculation from the beginning.

Once the explosion that was probably loud enough to be heard from a few kilometers away and flashy enough to be seen from the other side of the town subsided, I immediately projected Kanshou and Bakuya, ready to initiate Overedge and cut down the Fallen who should be heavily injured at least from that explosion.

However, no attack came as I expected. There was no moment either.

Suspicious. Very suspicious. I don't remember Phantasmal creatures being so easy to defeat. Especially higher-tier Phantasmals like Angels, who would be categorized as lesser Divine Spirits in the magus terminology.

Cautiously, I walked forward, keeping my guard up the entire time, until I arrived at the edge of the crater.

What I saw left me dumbfounded.

At the center of the smoking crater, there is just a lump of charred flesh that I can't even identify anymore.

Given that I could not feel anything from down there, she is definitely dead beyond doubt.

.....It really was that easy? How?

Suddenly, I felt the barrier around us start to crumble, probably because the caster is dead.

'Shit! No time to waste.'

I took out the dagger and sliced the air, opening a gateway straight to Ryuudou Temple's ruins, while also using the dagger's pocket dimension that Zelretch provided me for storage to put away the corpse.

Turning around, I prepared to calm down a catatonic boy, only to see that he had passed out sometime during the whole incident.

'Damn my luck!'

With no choice, I carried him like a sack of potatoes and hightailed it out of there, heading straight for the ruins of Ryuudou temple.

I would normally take him back home, but there is no telling if the other Fallen in the area would track him down to his home. Given how petty Phantasmals tend to be most of the time, it is better for Hyoudou to stay at the temple for the moment. At least until he recovers from this ordeal and I find out why those Fallen were after him.

'Man, it's one thing after another, huh?'

Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1Last edited: Dec 20, 2025 Like ReplyReport Reactions:SufficientGravitas, MatMuraGarcia, Kaine941 and 181 othersRuijardDec 20, 2025NewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 18 New View contentRuijardKnow what you're doing yet?Dec 22, 2025NewAdd bookmark#289Illya fidgeted a bit as Ruby worked on opening the portal to the mirror world, while Rin and Luvia argued as usual, and her fellow magical girl, Miyu, remained silent.

"What's wrong?"

Illya felt startled at Ruby's call before calming down.

"Nothing. Just trying to wrap my head around the concept of fighting ancient heroes and monsters to seal them away in those tarot cards."

"The situation is much more complicated than that."

Miyu spoke softly, finally breaking Rin and Luvia out of their fight.

"Miyu is right, Illya. We are not actually fighting the Heroes of legends. We are just fighting pale shadows of their true selves contained within those cards."

Rin's face twitched as her thoughts returned to that disastrous fight against the Rider Class Card.

"If it were the real Gorgon that we fought back then, we would be nothing more than smears on the sidewalk in the best case. Worse case, we would be imprisoned within our own bodies after they were turned to stone for all eternity, or until Rider grew bored and shattered us on whim."

Instantly, tears of terror flowed down little Illya's face at that thought as she hugged Ruby close, making the Kaleidostick extremely angry.

And cue its usual reaction to anger, it chose violence.

"Ruby Punch!!"

Ruby shot forward and smacked into Rin's face while still continuing its dimensional transfer task, showing its remarkable multitasking ability.

"No scaring my master, you hag!!"

"Who the hell are you calling a hag, you damned stick!!?"

Luvia sighed at her rival's actions before turning to Illya with a serious look while her eyes still held the softness with which she interacts with Miyu, the girl that the Edelfelt has basically adopted by this point.

"While Rin's way of putting it was too crude, it is simply the truth, Illya. Honestly, we only know a little more about the situation than you since the Grandmaster keeps most details close to chest and on a need-to-know basis. But from what we do know, what we are fighting are beings called Heroic Spirits."

Illya tilted her head in confusion as the transfer finally commenced and threw them into the mirror world.

Luvia continued speaking while Rin continued her fight with the Kaleidostick.

"Heroic Spirits are basically ghosts of the ancient heroes recorded in a place called the Throne of Heroes. A realm whose existence was only discovered because of the Grandmaster of the Clock Tower, an exclusive piece of knowledge that no one else in the world knows about except for us."

Illya went pale as a sheet as she stared at the sky before speaking in a shaky voice.

"U-Um, by any chance, do these ghosts of heroes know anything about magic?"

Luvia's eyes lit up while she grinned broadly.

"You catch on quickly, Illya. Perhaps there is merit in taking you in as a student. To answer your question, yes, there are Heroic Spirits who specialize in magic when they were alive."

"....Like that?"

Illya pointed at the sky, making Luvia follow her finger to find a chilling sight that sent her instincts screaming.

Realizing that something was wrong, Rin and Ruby stopped fighting and looked up as well, only to share the same dumbfounded look as Luvia.

The entire sky of Kuoh's riverside was covered in spheres of energy that radiated such ridiculous levels of mana that it would put an Ultimate-Class devil to shame.

The problem was that Luvia and Rin failed to even identify what kind of magic was being used since they had never seen such manipulation of mana.

Miyu, on the other hand, stared at the Heroic Spirit with a hardened gaze while holding up Sapphire.

Unfortunately, the Heroic Spirit Caster, formerly known as Medea of Colchis when she was alive, took that action as a challenge.

What followed could only be called a massacre.

Rin and Luvia ran around like headless chickens, trying to understand what the hell was going on, while Illya and Miyu concentrated on maintaining the barrier around them so that they wouldn't get one-shot by the magical blasts that were basically the equivalent of magical orbital bombardment via laser canons.

Finally, when Caster started to gather colossal levels of mana in her hand, the girls realized that they had bitten off far more than they could chew and decided to return home.

However, the moment they returned to the real world in their tattered state, they realized that something was wrong.

When they left merely a few minutes ago, it was still Saturday morning with barely any people nearby, a time that Rin and Luvia deliberately chose since they wanted to use the rest of the day to prepare for their classes that would start on Monday. After all, they definitely did not want to leave a bad impression on their fellow students, not to mention a certain someone that they both shared a crush on.

However, just a few minutes after fighting in the mirror world, it was already dusk.

Rin and Luvia stared with a stupefied look at the sky before their minds finally clicked.

"AAAAHH! Stupid! Stupid! How could you forget about such an important piece of information!?"

"Same to you! You damned gorilla!! How did you forget about the dilation effect!?? And you dare call yourself my equal!?"

As usual, the teenagers blamed each other for the problem, leaving the younger girls confused.

Finally, unable to handle the idiocy of the teenagers, Ruby and Sapphire stepped in.

"Alright, enough of that, you two. Can't you see you two are scaring Illya and Miyu?"

"Nee-sama is right, Rin-sama, Luvia-sama. You need to stop and properly explain things to them."

Rin, who was in the process of executing a perfect German suplex while Luvia was prepared to turn the tables and execute an exemplary judo throw, finally stopped their impromptu grappling match and stared at the younger girls with embarrassed blushes on their faces.

Finally calming down, Rin sighed and started to speak while Luvia called her butler and asked him to bring the car around.

"To put it simply, what we experienced is an unstable time dilation effect."

"...Time...dialation?"

At Illya's confused words and Miyu's perplexed look, Rin sighed heavily again and started to explain with slumped shoulders.

"As you know, the Class Cards are hiding themselves within pocket dimensions attached to this world. However, sometimes, these dimensions are far more unstable than usual, leading to time dilation effects where time might flow faster within the dimension compared to the outside, or sometimes, doing the opposite, with time flowing slower in there compared to real world."

"What we just experienced is the latter effect."

Rin stared with a blank stare directed at the setting sun.

"The few minutes we spent in there translated to several hours in the real world, and here we are."

Luvia came back from her talk with her butler.

"I have contacted Auguste. He should be coming around soon-"

Suddenly, Luvia stopped talking and turned around with an alarmed look, one shared by Rin as well.

And a split second later, a deafening explosion erupted from the center of Kuoh, originating from the vicinity of the central park.

At first, all they heard was the noise, before some kind of barrier fell away and revealed the true breath of what it was hiding.

The sphere of flames expanded in a dome the size of the entire park before collapsing inward, giving rise to a mushroom cloud of ash and dust that was visible all the way from the riverside on the other side of the town.

Illy and Miyu struggled to find their footing as the very ground shook from the force of the explosion, and the gale winds combined with the shockwave nearly swept them off their feet, showing how powerful the explosion was, given the distance between their location and the park.

As for Rin and Luvia? They had long since taken off towards the source of the explosion, boosting their bodies with magic, while leaving instructions behind to the Kaleidosticks to take the girls back home with Luvia's butler, Auguste.

Illy and Miyu did not know what exactly happened and why things suddenly gone south out of nowhere.

But what they did know was that this was something truly serious if Rin and Luvia were willing to put aside their differences like this and move as one.

Rias Gremory gritted her teeth with frustration and exhaustion as she worked hard to isolate the crater that dominated a huge part of the park while her Peerage and familiars worked on erasing the memory from the citizens of Kuoh as quickly as possible with mass amnesia spells.

Of course, her peerage was not doing this alone, as Sona's peerage helped out her servants as well. However, that in itself was the problem, as she was not the only one working on fixing the damaged area.

Sona Sitri, who was glaring daggers at her while working alongside her.

"I told you, Rias. I told you not to do your usual thing and take care of that Fallen before things went south."

"Give me a break! How was I supposed to know that things would deteriorate to this extent? I was already moving when that Fallen put up an isolation barrier around the park, but in the short few minutes it took, things already became like this!"

Sona did not stop glaring at her friend. Rather, her glare intensified even more, sending chills down Rias's spine.

"And yet, all of this would have been avoided if you had killed that Fallen the moment we detected her outside the school that day when she approached Hyoudou. Now, look at this."

Sona motioned towards the slowly recovering ruin.

"The Fallen is missing. Hyoudou is missing. The area reeks of unknown holy energy. The entire town saw that ridiculous explosion. And worst of all, this incident happened exactly when we have 'guests' in our territory, tarnishing our reputation forever across the supernatural community should this news leak out!"

Rias fell silent at the accusation, knowing that Sona was right, regretting her inaction so far.

On the other hand, Sona knew what Rias was regretting her inaction as well. However, the Sitir heiress also knew that it would change nothing.

Rias was, by nature, a creature of sloth. Just like most of the Gremory devils. Just like how Sona's family mostly had the flaw of pride, including herself.

With a sigh, she got back to working on channeling her demonic energy into the magic circle tailor-made to reverse damage to an area, just like Rias was doing.

Yet, their concentration faltered as two new magical signatures dashed into range, bypassing the isolation barrier that the devil heiresses set up beforehand.

It was none other than Rin and Luvia, who stared at the devastation with a stupefied look before turning to look at the Devil heiresses.

"Well, looks like something really interesting happened here."

Rin smirked while Luvia grinned and followed up on her rival's words.

"My, looks like someone really powerful made a mess of things, eh? Gremory? Sitri?"

Rias's temper boiled over at the sight of the two girls.

While her initial impressions of the girls were rather good, thinking of them as promising peerage members if it were not for the orders from the Satans, this impression had long since deteriorated after she had a private meeting with them without telling Sona.

Long story short, she realized that the girls operated on a whole different mindset and were not willing to form any kind of pact with her, not to mention how hostile they were to her kind.

To be fair, Rias did understand their caution and hatred for her kind.

After all, it is hard not to be understanding when the mass outbreak of Stray Devils ten years ago due to a certain incident, which exponentially multiplied their population across the world, causing diplomatic disasters all over the world for the devil race and harming nearly all the factions of the world, one way or another.

Not to mention the personal damage this outbreak did to the two girls by taking away Tohsaka Rin's father when she was little, while also taking away Luvia's sister in a similar way.

And yet, despite knowing all this, Rias could not help but be enraged with how the girls were making fun of them in such a situation, especially since this felt like a personal attack on the Gremory heiress, as Sona's earlier words were still fresh in her mind.

But Rias did nothing to act upon that rage, only glaring coldly at the girls and going back to work while the two human girls started to examine the scene.

All the while, the source of this entire headache, one Emiya Shirou, was facing a crisis of his own as Issei Hyoudou, his unintentional charge, faced the greatest threat in his entire life in the form of the immortal wizard Zelretch, who was having a rather interesting time messing with the perverted boy.

Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1 Like ReplyReport Reactions:SufficientGravitas, MatMuraGarcia, Kaine941 and 147 othersRuijardDec 22, 2025NewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 19 New View contentRuijardKnow what you're doing yet?Dec 22, 2025NewAdd bookmark#290"....So, Yuuma-chan wanted to kill me? Because of this Sacred Gear thingy inside me?"

Zelretch nodded while he continued examining the corpse I brought back through various magecraft spells that were probably beyond my understanding.

Ever since I brought Hyoudou to this place with the dagger, this was probably the hundredth time the boy asked this question.

Honestly, I don't really blame him for feeling so shocked.

God knows how shocked I felt when Zelretch gave me the crash course and then handed me several books as 'homework' to bring my knowledge about this world up to acceptable levels, along with tomes that would help me understand the magic systems of this world.

Gods, devils, angels, magicians, touki practitioners, Sacred Gears, it was all too much and too bizarre for me.

But just like always, I soldiered on for the sake of my goal.

And given that Isse does not have the 'buffer' of being in the know about the supernatural side, unlike me, who stumbled upon that Archer card all those years ago, this shock went double for him.

Thankfully, despite his flighty nature, which was a result of his workload, Zelretch is a really competent teacher, which translates into patiently giving the boy a similar crash course as he did with me.

While Zelretch continued his observations, Hyoudou slumped into his chair with a self-deprecating look.

"Figures. The one time a girl showed any interest in me, it was to straight up kill me for something outside my control."

"Well, if you could control your perverted ways, you might actually have had a girlfriend by now."

The way he slumped even more made me wince a bit, but I know I cannot mince my words here.

Issei Hyoudou is an unrepentant pervert. There is no doubt about it. His perversion most of the time borders on harassment and can get him locked up in most countries, including our own, if not for the school's leniency for some reason.

However, under all that perversion, there is a good heart that I have witnessed before.

An honest and hardworking kid who never shirks his duties.

Cleaning duties assigned to him by the class rep as punishment for peekin on her? He will complain, but he will still do it. Told to carry some seriously heavy stuff by the teachers because they see him as less than human? He will do so without complaint, taking it as a method to train his body and 'show off' to girls.

Someone he knows is in need or facing some tough times? He will genuinely try his best to help them, even if he will make a big deal out of it and say that he will ask for some favors as compensation.

There is a reason why, despite getting beaten up so many times by the girls, orders of magnitude more than his so-called comrades, Hyoudou often receives fewer injuries than Matsuda and Motohama at the hands of the girls.

There is a reason why his parents are treated rather politely by the teachers in the school meetings, despite the teachers' disdain for him. In contrast, Matsuda and Motohama's parents receive quite the heated words and pointed conversations that would embarrass them publicly.

Because everyone who knew him from his admission into the school believed that, underneath all that idiocy, he still had the potential to be redeemed into a decent human being, unlike his two degenerate friends, who had none of those qualities and were literal human wastes.

Hell, back in the day, when Kuoh High first became co-ed, I remember many female students showing interest in him. Of course, all that interest went down the drain the moment he opened his mouth after the entrance ceremony, but that is a different matter altogether.

All in all, he is a good kid whose nice qualities are overlooked because of his open pervertedness.

Now, watching the idiotic kid's downcast look, I could not help but sigh and sit down on the chair beside his.

"Look, Hyoudou, instead of brooding over what happened, why don't you take this as a lesson?"

"...Huh?"

The blank look on his face and that dead gaze told me that this incident had seriously scarred his mentality.

Taking a deep breath, I spoke seriously.

"Now that you know about this side of the world, and the fact that you have a Sacred Gear, I think it is best if you start considering your future seriously from now on. And I am not talking about your mundane future either, because let's face it, that future has already died a dog's death at this point."

He winced at my words, but I still spoke seriously.

He needs to understand the gravity of the situation and know that from now on, his life is no longer going to be as simple as before. He needs to know what kind of dangers will now actively haunt him and, potentially, his family as well.

"You are a pathetic fool. An incorrigible pervert. Someone who only exists to inflate the population statistics of our country."

With every word, he shrank further into himself and appeared to be on the verge of crying.

"However, that is not everything there is to you. I know that because I have seen it."

The time when he helped out a lost little girl while he was on his way to school, knowing that he would be scolded silly by Shitori and the teachers. The time when I saw him help out an elderly couple who manage a local sweet shop despite not getting any pay for it, simply because they asked him for help in carrying a heavy crate.

That time when he stared lustfully at a student from Homura high and even followed her for a bit to try and get her number, only to have all his pervertedness fade when he saw the depressed look on her face and the direction she was going in, towards a really high spot of the Kuoh bridge that stood over the river, and then calling in the cops then and there.

Seriously, there are so many incidents that I saw with my own eyes, and who knows how many that nobody saw, that showed the kind of person he is under all that pervertedness.

The way hope and gratitude flashed in his eyes at my words made me wince a bit.

'Just how starved of compliments are you that such simple words made you react like that?'

Ignoring those thoughts, I continued speaking.

"Yet, why should anyone care? Hyoudou? Why should anyone care to look deep enough to see the real you when you do such a good job of portraying yourself as a criminal in the making?"

Once again, he deflated.

This is it, the point which will either break him or forge him into steel that will break before it bends.

"What are you going to do about it? Issei? What are you going to do about people like that Fallen woman, who will manipulate you with your desires for their own goals? What will you do when they come after you for the power that you hold? Power that you don't know how to use because you never earned it, like those who are really strong?"

"What are you going to do when they try to bribe you with the offer of giving you any woman you can ever desire? With the offer of making you so rich that you can basically buy anything you want? Will you throw away your humanity? Your very existence that was born from the loving union of your parents, who care so much about you?"

"And what about your parents? Issei? What will you do if someday, someone comes along and demands your life in exchange for theirs? A situation where you will not be able to do anything because you are weak? Because you don't have the power to protect both your life and that of your family? Will you force your parents to watch as your enemy kills you in front of their very eyes? Their only son-?"

A sickening crack rang out across the room as a fist met a face at full force.

Needless to say, it was Hyoudou's fist that landed on my face, causing his skin to scrape off due to my body's durability, while I barely even felt it.

Yet, it was not the attack that I thought about. No, it was the look on his face. That rage-fuelled madness that stems from his love for his family.

The same madness that burns within my own blood.

My aria for my reality marble is no mere poem. It is a fact. A statement.

And now, it seems my attempts to awaken a similar flame within the boy has succeded.

"Fuck you and fuck all of your hypotheticals! Emiya! I will not allow anyone to harm my family! Even if I have to kill them myself!!"

That proclemation, it came straight from his soul. I can feel it in his words.

And, it seems, whatever power lies dormant in there also heard it.

Blinding light shone in the room before a huge crimson gauntlet manifested on his left arm.

A sight that made me grin a bit while he stared with a dumbfounded look.

"Good. Keep that fire alive, and you truly will achieve what you just said. That Sacred Gear is the proof of your conviction."

Suddenly, he turned from the gauntlet and stared at me with a confused look before it morphed into one of gratitude.

Looks like he figured out what I was doing.

"Senpai! I see what you were doing now! You really are a good guy! The Kuoh Academy Weekly Bachelor Rankings that those girls like to read did not lie about you!"

"Oi! I just heard something truly outrageous there!!"

Tears comically poured down his face as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder with a guts pose.

"From this moment on, you are my comrade, no, my senior! No. You are already my senior, so, yes! I got it! You are now my Shishou!!"

"Oi! Go back to the previous conversation. What is this Bachelor ranking thing you were speaking about? Why am I mentioned in there!? OI! I need answers for that before anything else. And don't go assuming that I will teach you anything."

Watching our interaction, Zelretch chuckled a bit before speaking up.

"You pushed him into the abyss with your words, and then pulled him back up to make him like you. Truly worthy of a harem protagonist."

Those words instantly made Issei assume a neutral look and take a great distance from me.

"Shishou. As I said, I really like you and respect you. But I don't bat for the same team. So don't think about those kinds of things with me as the focus-OWW!!"

Using the trademark Tohsaka smile, I smacked Tora-Shinai straight on his head.

"What was the stupid thing that escaped your mouth just now? Hmm? Care to repeat it again?"

"N-NOTHING SIR, EMIYA SIR!!!"

He stood at attention comically with a salute while his face morphed into a terrified look. Good.

Looks like the Tora-Shinai is still effective in maintaining discipline.

"Hehe. How interesting."

...And then there is the flightly immortal I need to deal with.

Truly, what did I do to deserve all of this?

Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1 Like ReplyReport Reactions:MatMuraGarcia, Kaine941, LOWER_CASE_DUDE and 177 othersRuijardDec 22, 2025NewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 20 New View contentRuijardKnow what you're doing yet?Wednesday at 10:06 AMNewAdd bookmark#316Miyu Edelfelt, formerly Emiya, fidgeted nervously as Luvia completed her preparations and handed over her bags to their butler, Auguste, who was already done handling Rin's luggage as well.

Originally, Miyu wanted to act as Luvia's maid to earn her keep and repay the debt of saving her from being a homeless person shortly after arriving in this world's Mount Enzou. However, Luvia straight up refused it and treated her more like a little sister than anything.

An action that Miyu attributed to the strange melancholy she saw in Luvia's gaze once in a while when she thought Miyu was not looking, an action that she later learned originated from the loss of her real sister to the Stray Devil outbreak ten years ago.

Thinking about the monsters that she learned about recently, Miyu could not help but shiver in fright.

'It is a good thing that these kinds of things never existed in my world. I can't imagine how our humanity would have lived with these kinds of creatures roaming the world freely.'

Shaking her head to get rid of those thoughts, Miyu clutched Sapphire's body tightly while watching Luvia and Rin discuss things seriously. The normal arguments and fights missing from their interaction, showing how serious this business was for them.

Whatever they were discussing came to an end as Rin entered the Limo, waiting for Luvia, who walked back to Miyu and patted her head with a smile.

"You remember everything I talked about?"

"Yes. I need to keep my phone close and stay with Illya-san until you and Rin-san return from your trip to the Clock Tower. If anything unexpected happens, I need to call you with the speeddial and inform you immediately."

Luvia nodded happily, then spoke.

"More importantly, take care of yourself, and don't fall behind Rin's brat, you got it?"

Miyu nodded seriously. She had no intention of losing to Illya, even if it meant asking for the girl's assistance with unlocking the mysterious power of flight that seemed to elude her even now.

However, despite the demanding tone, Miyu also know that aside from her hope for excellence, Luvia genuinely cared about her and was masking her concern in such a way, just like she was taught by her family.

A kind-hearted girl who acted tough, arrogant, and ruthless to protect herself. That is who Luvia Edelfelt was. That was the conclusion that Miyu arrived at in the past days she spent here.

"Alright then, we are off!"

Luvia jumped into the Limo that took off under Auguste's extremely skilled driving, leaving behind Miyu, who dragged her small suitcase to the house opposite the mansion that Luvia built for herself.

The Emiya home.

When she first heard of the name, she felt like her heart would leap out of her throat.

And when she first met a certain resident in the house, it really did feel like her heart would break.

Because the Shirou Emiya of this world felt just like her brother, with the only difference being their appearance.

Even the look in their eyes was the same, only the look of this Shirou Emiya was a bit warmer and less burdened compared to her brother, an attribute that might originate from his family situation.

The similarities were so uncanny that Miyu had accidentally called Shirou 'Onii-chan' when they first met under Luvia's insistence after she heard about Illya's relationship with the man.

And as expected of a version of her brother, Shirou accepted her right away with a warm and kind smile, encouraging her to continue calling him that if she wanted to. An offer that Miyu reluctantly declined.

In her heart, her 'Onii-chan' will always be her Shirou Emiya. A position that she will never replace, even if the person in question is a version of him.

Walking towards the door, she pressed the buzzer and waited for a few seconds for the door to open.

"Ah! Miyu-san. Come in, come in! Edelfelt-san has already left for her trip, then?"

Miyu bowed towards the silver-haired woman.

"Yes, Sella-san. I am in your care.'

"None of that now, come in."

The older woman opened the door and helped Miyu in by taking the suitcase from her.

As they walked in, Miyu felt a familiar scent that reminded her of home, as a voice from the depths of her dreams and nightmares rang out from the kitchen.

"Ah? Miyu is here? Wash up and get ready for supper. I am making a Western special today. Chicken Alfredo and Carbonara."

Miyu's heart twisted at the familiar sight that she knew she could never see again, yet she smiled to the best of her abilities and bowed, hoping that the teenager in front of her would not see her expression, which was probably a mix of despair and jealousy.

Yes. Miyu Emiya felt jealous. Jealous of the girl called Illya, who had such a picturesque life even in a world like this. A life where she had a loving father and mother in the form of this world's Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel, who was completely different from his version in her world, while the woman called Irisviel never even existed in Miyu's life.

She even had her own Shirou Emiya, who was just as loving as Miyu's own, along with two other women who cared for Illya like a sibling or a niece, which fuelled her jealousy even more.

Perhaps this jealousy was also part of the reason why Miyu saw Illya as a rival.

"Hello, Shirou-san. Thanks for having me."

Shirou Emiya smiled at the sight while his eyes hid the sadness he felt in his heart for the dimensionally displaced girl.

"Arlight, enough of the polite stuff. Get ready for food. Sella will guide you to the restroom."

Sella nodded and gently nudged the girl forward while Shirou absentmindedly swung his ladle down, smacking Liz's hand before it could reach the chicken.

"No stealing before it is served. Go and bring Illya down, Liz."

"Fine..."

The lazy woman pouted at the teenager before sulking off, heading up to Illya's room.

Watching Liz walk out, I finally sighed and turned back to the stove, watching over the pancetta to make sure I don't burn them. Since the pasta was already boiled and the eggs were already whisked and ready, all I needed was the meat to be ready before everything went in.

Losing myself in the process of cooking, I let my mind wander.

When Luvia and Rin barged into the house in the morning, saying that they had urgent business to take care of and ran off quickly after Luvia asked us to watch over Miyu during the next week, I did not know what to think.

Especially the strange way those two behaved. I mean, who gives such strange gazes while blushing when asking someone for help?

Anyway, I had no problem looking after Miyu for the next week. A thought that Sella and Liz shared, given that some of the rooms in the house remain unused most of the time anyway.

However, the timing of this sudden departure is suspect.

It was just yesterday that I saved Issei from death at the hands of the Fallen, and maybe, just maybe, went a bit overboard with my attacks by overestimating her power.

I suspect those two are probably headed back to the Clock Tower to update Zelretch on the situation, not knowing that he already knows everything.

Meaning, they were going to waste an entire week now for nothing. I have no doubt that Zelretch will act ignorant and act as if Rin and Luvia had done a great job by bringing this 'important information' straight to him and keeping him in the loop.

He tends to do that as a way of encouraging initiative in his students, if only to make sure that his potential students survive the hell awaiting them in the future as his students.

Strangely enough, however, he chose to push off the burden of training Issei onto me for some reason.

A move that made no sense, given that I am more of an amateur in terms of this world's magic and can't possibly teach him better than Zelretch.

Whatever the case might be, the fact is, right now, I am swamped with all kinds of responsibilities and tasks, more than I can handle on my own.

'I wonder, is it possible for Zelretch to somehow bring Miyu's brother to this side as well? From what he told me, this world has no restrictions since it is far away from the Human Order. So, it should be a good place for this pair of siblings to live the rest of their lives in peace. And given his power that I've seen in my dreams so far, maybe he can help me share these burdens?'

'Then again, given Zelretch's personality, since he hasn't done this already, it must mean that he has his own plans, or there is something that requires the siblings to remain separate for now for the sake of the best possible outcome to take place.'

Thinking about the multiversal shenanigans and true magics, I could not help but sigh heavily.

'One thing at a time. For now, let's concentrate on the present. Since I've got Lancer after that fight and already have Archer with me, the next logical choice should be the Saber card since it is the last of the three Knight Classes. But given Zelretch's warning about Angra Mainyu choosing the servants of the Class Cards, I think it is prudent to start with the logically easiest opponent to fight right now. The Assassin Card, which should be near the river, from what I managed to scout out yesterday night after returning home.'

I heard multiple footsteps approaching the kitchen, alerting me to the arrival of my family, which forced my thoughts to a grinding halt.

Plans can be made later. First, concentrate on the present.

Seeing the stars in Illya and Miyu's eyes as they beheld the spread on the table while Sella gave me an annoyed yet proud look, I could not help but smile with pride.

As for Liz? She was already digging in shamelessly, not even waiting for us to sit down.

This is it. This is the beautiful and peaceful life I am fighting so hard to protect.

And soon enough, after having wrapped up hunting down those class cards, hopefully, I will have many more of these peaceful days to look forward to.

Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1 Like ReplyReport Reactions:MatMuraGarcia, SufficientGravitas, Kaine941 and 183 othersRuijardWednesday at 10:06 AMNewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 21 New View contentRuijardKnow what you're doing yet?Friday at 3:33 PMNewAdd bookmark#341Monday was supposed to be a normal day for Issei Hyoudou. A return to normalcy after the upheaval his life underwent on Saturday.

However, things suddenly changed when lunch came around.

"Ooh! Look at that figure!"

"Right!? I knew you would appreciate it!"

Motohama and Matsuda were too engrossed in the magazine they bought to school from Motohama's personal collection, a magazine series that the three friends enjoyed regularly.

However, something felt wrong with the picture to those who would bother to examine the scene.

Issei Hyoudou was there, just as it was expected, and was looking at the magazine just like his friends with a lecherous expression.

However, in truth, he did not feel the same kind of thrill he would normally feel when looking at such things.

In fact, it was not just the magazines. In the morning, when he went with his friends to peep on the Kendo club again, he did not feel that desire, that passion for the female form, that he felt ever since he hid puberty back then.

It was subtle, but it was there. That absence, that hollow feeling in his heart, like he had lost a part of himself.

The man called Zelretch, the one that Issei had taken to call the 'old wizard', had said that it was the result of trauma and would heal with time. But Issei felt like there was something else going on with him.

Because every time he tried to indulge in his hobbies, that conversation he shared with Shirou Emiya, his senior and the one who saved his life, would ring out in his mind.

'Is this what you truly want to do for the rest of your life? Is this what you want people to see you as when you have so much more underneath it? Do you truly wish for your pervertedness and your lust to define your entire personality? To define you as a person?'

Maybe it was like the Old Wizard had said, that it was trauma, or maybe it was something else. But one thing was true.

Issei Hyoudou was starting to change.

He was starting to seriously look at himself from another perspective, analyzing his actions to see how others would see him.

And he found that he did not particularly like what he saw.

He was true to himself, that much was true. However, he found that, by looking at things from another perspective, as Shirou asked him to do, his being true to himself was actually hurting him in the long run, whether it was his social image or his own mental health.

Suddenly, he was brought out of his thoughts when a shout rang out near him.

"Damned handsome bastard! Why doesn't he just die already!?"

"That's right! Bastards like them should just die and leave the babes to us!"

Issei turned to look in the direction where his friends were glaring, and found one of the most sought-after men in the school, Kiba Yuuto.

Initially, the boys thought he would just walk past their class like always, but when Kiba entered their class instead and walked casually straight for them, they knew that something was wrong.

Under the stupefied looks of the class's girls, Kiba came to a stop in front of Isse and smiled in a way that would capture the hearts of any girl who saw it.

"Hi there, Issei-kun, right?"

If Issei was not aware of things that he was now aware of, thanks to that Old Wizard's torture/training session that the boy went through for the entire day on Sunday, he would have simply dismissed Kiba's greeting as nothing more than some kind of pity greeting or something along those lines.

After all, ever since they entered the school as first years, Kiba never even approached Issei for anything, an action that Issei could not fault Kiba for, given how Issei was starting to realize his own flaws.

However, now that he was aware of some stuff and the warnings that Shirou gave him yesterday about a few students in the school being from the other side of the world, Issei could not help but go on guard instantly, the memory of his near-death at Yuuma's hands still fresh in his mind.

"Yeah? What do you want?"

Kiba just smiled at Issei's guarded look.

"I'm here on an errand for Rias Buchou. She asked to meet you after school in the Occult Research Club's clubhouse to discuss matters regarding Amano Yuuma."

It was as if the temperature fell a whole ten degrees when Kiba spoke Yuuma's words, as Issei's body nearly went limp.

How could he not feel shocked when he realized in the morning that nobody but he remembered Amano Yuuma's existence?

But now, Kuba Yuuto was acknowledging her existence and spoke about how Rias Gremory, the third-year student, was asking to meet him after school.

Normally, he would have been over the moon to be associated with one of the great 'Onee-sama' of the school. But now, he knew that things were fishy and could not help but feel even more on guard.

Especially after he heard from Shirou about how the supernatural creatures that he called 'Phantasmals' viewed humans as nothing more than playthings at best and food at worst.

Unfortunately for Issei, he could not rely on Shirou right now for advice since he had taken the day off for something, not to mention that even if Shirou was at school, he would have been in the third year division, which meant Issei would still have to give Kiba an answer here before he went searching for Shirou.

So, with his guard still up, Issei decided to bite the bullet and see what he could find out about Yuuma.

"Alright. I'll come over at that time."

Kiba nodded with a smile.

"Good. I'll inform Buchou about it."

As Kiba left, the class descended into chaos, showering Issie with curses and questions, but the boy in question did not care about all that.

For now, he had a lead on finding out more about the woman who tried to kill him and got insta-killed by Shirou instead.

And that was more important to his heart than anything else.

In the forest at the edge of Kuoh, underneath an invisibility barrier that nobody knew about, Illya happily flew about in the air, practicing her manuverability for the upcoming rematch against the Class Card after Luvia and Rin returned from their trip, while Miyu stared at Illya with envy from her platfomr that she made with mana, allowing her to walk in the air.

Unlike Illya, who let her imagination go wild and use flight that way, Miyu's thought process was firmly anchored in the scientific principles, thanks to her upbringing, which meant that she whoel heartedly belive in the concept that humans cannot attain flight on their own, leading to her failing to manifest the ability to fly as Illya could.

In simple words, Miyu failed to delude herself enough to believe that she could fly, which ironically resulted in her not being able to fly like Illya.

"Ah! That's right! Rin-san gave me this to practice with when she left."

Illya took out the Archer class card.

"She said that it would help in the next fight if I could master this power and use its fantasy thingy as you can."

Miyu nodded her head at those words and stepped next to Illya in the air.

"Its not fantasy, it's called a Noble Phantasm. Crystalized myths of potent power."

Illya nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Yeah! That! So, let's try it out!"

She turned to the Kaleidostick.

"Ruby? How do I use it?"

"Just place it on my star and call out Archer: Include! And I'll take care of the rest!"

"That easy? Alright then! Archer: Include!"

Instantly, Ruby's form changed into a familiar black bow, confusing the girl greatly while Miyu just stared with a dumbfounded gaze.

One that was shared by a certain someone who was hiding in the shadows on the ground.

'What the actual hell is this? Both the Angra Mainyu version of Archer Card and the Ainsworth Archer Card contain my Counter Guardian self? Is this some kind of cosmic joke?'

I could not help the chill that went down my spine at that thought as I stared at the black bow in Illya's hand.

Granted, it was a mere replica given that the Kaleidosticks are merely drawing on the weapon of the fragmented Heroic Spirit within those cards. But still, I cannot help but want to dash up there right now and take it out of her hands before something bad happens.

I simply cannot trust that particular version of myself anywhere near my sister.

Watching Illya wave around the bow with confusion before dismissing the 'Include' function and going away with Miyu back home, I sighed in relief and let go of Carnwennan's projection, letting the shadows concealing me disperse.

While the reason I took a day off today was mainly to relax a bit and calm my mind after the recent excitement, I never imagined that I would end up stumbling upon Illya and Miyu taking off to practice on their own like this.

I know that I am acting kind of overprotective, but I also know that my paranoia is justified, especially after I learned about the Stray Devils I've been hunting here for such a long time now.

Turns out, the population of these Stray Devils was never supposed to be so high in the first place, since they were originally either humans turned into devils or other supernatural devils who joined the devils through the so-called Peerage system.

However, ten years ago, something serious happened in the Underworld, the home of the devils, that sent ripples of polluted demonic energy across the realm.

According to the notes that Zelretch gave me, this polluted demonic energy has little effect on most Devils who are ranked in the Midium-class or above. But to the devils ranked in the Low-Class range, this pollution was no different than poison or drugs.

It corrupted their thought process and drove them mad in a matter of weeks, turning them into Stray Devils.

Worse yet, these Stray Devils somehow still have a semblance of logical thinking left, along with their abilities enhanced, allowing them to escape into the human world.

When the first wave hit the world after a mass outbreak ten years ago, many lives were lost, according to Zelretch, including Rin's Father and Luvia's sister.

Ever since then, Stray Devils had become a headache for everyone involved, thanks to the mutations the polluted demonic energy forced on the Stray Devils, allowing them to rapidly multiply like rats and give birth to more Stray Devils naturally.

In essence, they have become a supernatural pest species across the world.

And it is precisely because of this pest issue that I refuse to let Illya and Miyu out of my sight all on their own.

Watching the girls leave and feeling the barrier around the area that the Kaleidostics set up fade, I took off after them as well.

I only left them alone when I was sure that they would not be going out again and headed back to Ryuudou Temple to get in my daily training.

But of course, the universe was not done messing with me.

Because Issie Hyoudou was waiting for me there with a nervous look while clutching his phone in a death grip.

"Shishou! You are finally here! I....I found out about Yuuma- no. Raynare, and I got an offer that I am not sure about. Can you...help me?"

"...."

Truly, what is my life?

Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1 Like ReplyReport Reactions:MatMuraGarcia, Kaine941, LOWER_CASE_DUDE and 172 othersRuijardFriday at 3:33 PMNewAdd bookmarkView discussionThreadmarks Chapter 22 New View contentRuijardKnow what you're doing yet?Saturday at 1:18 PMNewAdd bookmark#376Issei should have been over the moon about the current situation.

The Occult Research Club was, as its name implied, filled with all kinds of occult stuff. Like candles on skulls, strange-looking tomes, the whole theme just fit their name.

And at the center of this place was a shower room with a very thin curtain separating it from the outside view.

A shower room that was currently occupied by one of the most beautiful girls in his school. Her silhouette on the curtain showed curves and shapes that would tempt anyone who even glanced at it.

For Issei Hyoudou, it was paradise.

At least, it should have been.

However, the boy was currently occupied by something else entirely.

Namely, his thoughts on how to handle this situation and make sure he makes it back home to his parents and not make it home to his ancestors in heaven.

One must really congratulate Shirou, and to some extent, Zelretch, for properly instilling the fear of the supernatural within the very soul of the boy.

Subtly glancing to the side, Issei spotted Koneko Toujou, the mascot of Kuoh Junior High, and Akeno Himejima, another sought-after beauty in the school.

And apparently, combined with Kiba Yuuto, some of the most desirable people in the school were located in this room right now.

'Seriously! Are all Phantasmals this beautiful? No wonder Shishou told me to be careful of getting charmed and tricked into handing over my soul or blood or something else like that. With this kind of face value, there would be people lining up to hand over their everything.'

Akeno Himejima smiled politely and placed a teacup in front of Isse.

"Here. Have some tea."

"T-Thanks. Akeno-senpai. But I've just eaten, so I'd like to decline."

Akeno still continued smiling even as she took away the tea, making Issei sigh secretly, but still felt like patting himself on the back for handling that situation like a pro.

Based on the many horror stories Zelretch told him yesterday, there was no way Issei was risking drinking or eating anything from here until he was absolutely certain that they posed no threat to his little life or his sanity.

Finally, the noise of the running shower came to a stop, and soon after, Rias Gremory walked out in a fresh set of clothing.

Plopping down on the couch, she sat imperiously and smiled at Issei.

"Sorry about that, Issei-kun. I like to feel fresh when greeting guests."

"R-Right. It's fine."

'Get it together! Issei Hyoudou! You are a mouse in a cage full of cats right now. Admittedly, most of the cats are fucking sexy, and I would love to touch them given the chance-no! Stop! Now is not the time!'

Issei finally took a deep breath to clear his thoughts and stared seriously at Rias Gremory.

"I heard you called me to discuss about Yuuma...?"

There was no physical change, but Issei somehow felt like the room suddenly became charged with tension.

Rias nodded and leaned forward a bit, giving him a generous look at her cleavage.

"Indeed. I do have some information about the situation. But, before that, I want to ask you something."

Suddenly, her blue-green eyes flashed with a strange light, and Issei felt lightheaded for a single second.

Then, the noise of something breaking resounded across the room, forcing everyone to look at the ring on Issei's thumb that now had an empty socket where a ruby sat until just that moment.

And at that exact moment, the lightheaded feeling fled Issei's mind, and he became even more alert than before.

He did not know what it meant for that ruby to break, but he remembered that Shirou told him to run with all his might should that ruby ever break.

And Issei was definitely going to follow through.

Unfortunately, Kiba moved to block the door before Issei could even get up from the couch.

Rias leaned forward even more with a grin.

"That's interesting. So you are already aware of things then?"

"...To an extent."

Rias's eyes gleamed at those words.

"Hmm. Then, tell me, what do you know of Devils?"

"After that, she gave me this grand speech and a pitch to recruit me into her peerage thingy that the old man talked about yesterday."

Shirou Emiya stared with a dumbfounded look as Issei explained the ridiculous situation the boy found himself in the single day Shirou was away from school.

Iseei figeted a bit before speaking.

"She gave me Yuuma's real name, Raynare, and the information that she was a Fallen Angel. However, it seems she is not aware that Raynare is dead and promised to help me search for her should I join her Peerage."

"...What else did she promise?"

"A lot of things. Money, status, immortality.....women. She said I could gain anything I wanted if I joined her peerage and became a devil."

"And? Are you going to take her up on her offer?"

"....At first, I wanted to."

Shirou did not say anything and listened patiently.

Truthfully, Shirou did not have much impression on the Devils aside from what he knew about them from the books Zelretch gave him and the memories he had about his counterparts' worlds, where they were pure monsters.

However, he still did not like the idea of these creatures having the power to convert a human into a devil.

To him, it felt like a betrayal of the human race for people to choose to abandon their humanity.

However, he also knew that it was not upto him to make such decisions for others. Every person is allowed to make their own choices, and so long as they made those decisions willingly, there is nothing Shirou would say about it.

If they became his enemies, however, that would become a different matter entirely.

He watched as Issei's face went through a multitude of emotions before settling on a determined look.

"But then, I remembered what you said about my parents. I tried to think if it was worth it to trade my humanity and the mundane happiness of my parents for my selfish goals."

"Somehow, it did not feel right. It is true that I might be able to achieve my dream of being a Harem King if I become a Devil. But, I can't help but think about what you and the old man said. Is that dream worthy enough to cost me my humanity?"

Then, he shivered and hugged himself dramatically,

"Not to mention all that spooky stuff the old man talked about. I definitely don't want to become some slave to a devil playboy. I don't want to lose my virginity to some prettyboy because Rias grew bored of me and traded me away!!"

'....there it is. The real reason why he rejected that offer.'

Shirou sighed exasperatedly at Issei's actions, but internally, he could not help but feel proud.

Proud to know that his efforts that day to ignite that inner fire within Issei's soul with his speech had truly succeeded and put the boy at the beginning of the proper path as a man.

"Then, what help do you want from me since you've already made a decision?"

Issei smiled wryly and scratched his cheek.

"Well, while I have made up my mind to reject her, I can't bring up the courage to face her again and say that to her face. I definitely don't want to become a corpse in a ditch somewhere, so I wanted to ask you for ideas on how to reject her."

Shirou gave him a flat look.

"You do know that phones exist, right? And if you don't have her number, there is also the method of writing a letter and putting it at her club's door or something along those lines."

"....."

The way Isse's eyes widened, and jaw went slack told Shirou enough to know that the boy did not even consider those options.

Shirou shook his head and motioned Issei to follow him.

"Well, since you are here anyway, I guess we can brainstorm more ideas. Meanwhile, I heard from Zelretch that you wanted to get some practical training?"

Issei perked up immediately at those words and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! I heard from the old man that you are like a master of combat or something, so I wanted to ask you to teach me some super secret martial art or something that can make me strong."

Shirou hummed and thought for a moment before nodding.

"Alright."

"...Wait, you really know some super secret martial art?"

The way Shirou's grin widened did not comfort Isse, and neither did the colossal stone axe that was larger than Issei that materialized in Shirou's hand.

"I guess you could call it a secret art, given that not many people know about it these days."

The older teenager's grin became downright creepy while Issei's instincts blared at him to run as fast as he could

"Tell me, Issei, do you know about the ancient sport of Pankration?"

That evening, many screams of fear and roars similar to a beast rang out in the ruins of Ryuudou temple, and it did not take a genius to realize which sound belonged to whom, should someone know who was occupying that place at that moment.