The projection—of a genuine Noble Phantasm—was successful.
For the first time, Emiya Shirou felt his heart pound with such force. It was as if a mighty dragon coiled and roared within his blood, the surge of mana fully answering his desperate longing.
In the original HF route, Emiya succeeded in projecting five Noble Phantasms—Houseki no Ken (Gem Sword), Iliaster, Aestus Domus Aurea, Rule Breaker, and Excalibur—only after transplanting Archer's arm. But here, he had done it by himself.
If one were to interpret this feat through the unfamiliar alchemical framework of this world, it could only be described as a perfection of Gainen Busou (Conceptual Armament) from the "Seven Great Kingdoms" of alchemy—
—a depth only the Dragon Kings had ever truly mastered.
Odin was shaken. He refused to believe Shirou had awakened this power on his own. Someone—another of Odin's kind—must have taught him everything.
BOOM!
The projected weapons didn't explode like in Gensō Hōkai (Phantasm Collapse), but shone like true originals. Each one unleashed its own alchemical domain.
Tai A Jian summoned fierce gales, redirecting the immense thunderblade. Qixing Longyuan Jian followed with precise slashes. Then came Chunjun, Chengying, Zhanlu... All blades Shirou had studied now manifested in full glory for this divine battle.
Wave after wave of sword energy intertwined and built up like a tsunami, pushing back the oppressive storm of Odin's divine thunder.
The flashing bolts were overwhelmed by the sword torrents. Raw energy twisted and scattered, detonating as deadly orbs that destroyed structures and scorched the streets.
RUMBLE!
After a few brutal seconds, both thunderblade and sword storm dispersed.
Several projected weapons dropped, breaking apart. But fresh projections rose behind Shirou. Seven new blades formed in mid-air—shaped differently, resonating as one field—and then shot toward Odin.
"The Seven Deadly Sins, is it?" Odin sneered.
He eyed these weapons, clearly forged to slay gods. He knew: if the wielder was inferior to the forger, the weapons would be weak.
And his extinction-grade Genrei (Word of Power) had just begun.
Thunder pounded. Lightning arcs webbed the earth, converging at Odin's feet. Orbs of electricity hissed, challenging the encroaching domain of the Sins.
BANG BANG BANG!
The spheres exploded. Shirou's domain managed to suppress parts of the electric net, but Odin had already summoned another storm. His new thunderblade roared with a coiled whirlwind.
"—Zenshō Keizoku Fukikae!!" (Full Projection Continuous Overwrite!!)
A new barrage of blades emerged. Swordlight layered into a raging river, gnawing at the sky-blade, trying to erase its presence.
Though each blast disrupted the lightning edge, Odin's storm constantly replenished itself. The giant thunderblade still grew.
"Damn it!"
Shirou grit his teeth. He could only delay Odin's wrath, not reverse it. He lacked the attack-grade Noble Phantasms needed to win.
A fundamental truth of overwhelming power was asserting itself.
"Mortal, your performance was dazzling," Odin mocked. "But this act ends now. Bow before the curtain call."
Thunder echoed like final judgment.
"..." Shirou was only disgusted by Odin's theatrics.
And then—a voice called from behind.
Water.
A dragon-shaped tide of blade-aura split the electric sea. At the edge stood a small figure—Wa-zhu—holding Duan Long Tai (Dragon Severing Platform).
"—Shirou, catch!"
The bronze chains clinked as the half-broken ring-hilted ancient sword landed in his grasp. The moment he held it, dragon spirits sang.
He had studied this relic before. He knew its structure. Projection would not be difficult.
"Projection—start!"
Within the joyful roar of dragons, the broken blade sprouted a new edge. Even the raging storm paused to listen.
A sound sharp and clear split the heavens—the reforging of Duan Long Tai.
The reformed blade triggered ancestral memories—tales of Great Yu taming floods, slaying wyrms, and forging the Nine Cauldrons. It was as though the might of Yu had descended into Shirou's body.
Unprecedented strength flooded his limbs.
Was this "projection loading"? He had never used it. Perhaps it was intrinsic to Duan Long Tai?
He remembered how HF Shirou projected Nine Lives Blade Works and inherited Heracles's techniques. Maybe this was similar.
Suppressing his questions, Shirou raised the restored blade and aimed it at Odin's thunder.
One swing.
The amplified sword wind sliced the sky, blowing away even divine lightning like snow in a storm.
"I'm coming, Odin. How much thunder do you have left?"
———
As a god-slaying battle raged through the midnight skies over Shenzhou, eleven time zones away in Illinois, USA, afternoon sun lit a serene mountainside.
A secluded traditional campus lay undisturbed.
Unaware of the approaching tempest.
This was the true face of the world—headquarters of the Secret Party, home of the legendary Cassell College.
With global branches, field ops, and student recruitment, Cassell wielded authority in supernatural affairs and dragonkind containment worldwide.
Its immense efficiency stemmed from one hub: the second-floor control room of the college's library.
A five-meter holographic globe floated midair—a sci-fi-style 3D projection linked to NOMA, their supreme AI. It processed global intelligence and fed it here.
Professor Manstein, wearing glasses, groaned in his chair.
He was the Dean of Discipline and Head of Finance. Now he had to take a monitoring shift.
The control room never closed. Always lit. Always staffed.
Worse, his shift wasn't even the graveyard slot.
Manstein coordinated seventy analysts, interns, and support staff, reviewing global intel and issuing decisions.
Each red dot on the globe brought a fresh wave of stress.
Then came a new one—dark red—spreading across the Shenzhou region.
His heart pounded.
"What the hell is that?!"
An intel officer shouted, "Emergency alert from Shenzhou Division! Unnatural weather patterns—possible extinction-class Genrei detected!"
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][www.p@treon.com/euridome]
[Thank You For Your Support!]