The great hollow once again fell into silence.
Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others crawled out from the mound of dirt.
"Cough! Cough! Cough…"
Her lungs, filled with dust, protested. Lying on the ground, Fujimaru Ritsuka showed the expression of someone who had just escaped death, "Being alive feels so good."
"Emiya?", Pushing aside the thick smoke, Olga Marie saw Shirou standing before the Holy Grail.
Even after enduring so many violent explosions, the Greater Grail remained unscathed.
'Truly unbelievable.'
'So this must finally be the end, right?'
'Which means, I'll soon be able to…'
"Senior Emiya, what are you doing?", Mash's voice was filled with shock.
"Emiya… senpai…", Within Fujimaru Ritsuka's line of sight, Shirou touched the Greater Grail without hesitation.
That ominous object brimming with curses.
Olga Marie's expression changed as she tried to rush forward, "Are you insane, Emiya? That's a curse!"
'And an extremely sinister curse at that.'
Even without knowing exactly what the Grail contained, the fact that it could taint the purest Heroic Spirits was enough to reveal its terrifying nature. Absolutely not something humans could withstand.
"Don't come closer," After making contact with the curse, Shirou's expression remained emotionless as he warned, while at the same time calling out to Romani, "I know you're there, Roman. Cut the nonsense and hurry up, initiate Rayshift!"
A blue light-screen appeared. Romani looked at Olga Marie, wanting to speak but stopping short.
"Don't worry."
Shirou knew what he was concerned about, and said, "There won't be any problem. After going back, just let Da Vinci make me a new body."
Olga Marie's running slowed, then stopped altogether. Her expression suddenly looked lost, "What do you mean, Emiya?"
"Could it be…", Realizing a certain possibility, her heart began to ache, "You wished upon the Grail?"
"More or less," Shirou's tone was calm, his gaze lowered, "As a Master, the final victor of the Holy Grail War, I naturally have the right to make a wish upon it."
"But wasn't the Grail corrupted? How can you wish upon it?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka clenched his fists, his face full of worry, "Senior Emiya, what on earth are you…"
"Don't mind it," Shirou turned his back,
"In the end, no matter how corrupted, the Greater Grail itself is still composed of pure magical energy."
"If, at the time of wishing, the evil portion is isolated and placed into another vessel, then the wish can be fulfilled normally."
"That's impossible," Mash said, "There's no vessel here that could possibly contain such a curse."
"Unless…", Her clear eyes, half-hidden behind pink hair, widened slowly in disbelief. She murmured, "That can't be real…"
"Director, Mash, what's going on?", Fujimaru Ritsuka's heart pounded violently. This wasn't excitement, joy, or the sign of something good, but something much simpler. A sign of ill foreboding.
Trying to escape from that dreadful feeling, the clutches of dread, she forced a smile and said, "Don't look at me with faces like that. It's finally all over, so why do you look like we've lost? Besides…"
Like a drowning person reaching out to the crowd for help, she stretched out her hand, "Senior Emiya, why don't you come with us back to Chaldea?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka pleaded awkwardly, "Look, this world is completely empty. If you stay here alone, it'll definitely be lonely. If you come back with us, Director will also be very happy."
"She'll definitely see you differently than someone like me. She'll hold you in high regard, since you're so strong, so reliable."
"If you're worried about pay, that's even less of an issue. Meals are included, everything's fine, whatever you want. So…", Fujimaru Ritsuka lowered her head, her face hidden in shadow, fingers clenching tight, asking in exhaustion, "Why is everyone silent? Are you bullying me, a mere ordinary person who doesn't understand anything?"
"Master…", Mash turned away, unable to bear it.
"Why," Olga Marie asked in a trembling voice, "do I have anything worth you doing this for? Even if you didn't care about me, it wouldn't matter, right?"
"I just…"
On the verge of tears, Shirou smiled faintly, "Don't think too much. It's just that this is the second time I've heard someone say before me that they want to live. I couldn't just sit back and ignore it."
"But you'll die!", Olga Marie blurted out the cruel truth, "To bear the curse with your own body! For someone like me? It makes no sense, it's meaningless! How could there be…"
She stepped back slowly.
Not out of fear, but trying to escape the reality before her.
"How could there be someone like you, so self-righteous? IDIOT! FOOL! MORON! BAKA!"
Finally unable to suppress her emotions, she shouted, "If you do this, how could I possibly accept it with a clear conscience?"
"I want to live, but if the price is you, if it's Emiya, then it's completely meaningless!"
"Not yet, Roman?", Shirou asked briefly, then turned his tone toward Olga Marie.
"Olga," he called her name, "you are an excellent person. Your temper may be sharp, but I believe you have the right to live. At least until Ritsuka and Mash grow stronger, they still need you."
"Don't say things like that on your own, Senior Emiya," Fujimaru Ritsuka stepped forward. For the first time, anger appeared in her eyes that were usually no different from Shirou's own.
"What do you take us for? First you protect us on your own, and now you want to leave on your own. If you're going to take responsibility, why not see it through to the end?"
Facing her question, Shirou shrugged, "I never said I'd babysit you like a nanny. Besides, what are you even worried about?"
He said, "Once the Singularity is corrected, history will return to its proper course. I'll devote myself to my own life again. In fact, if you think about it, you're the real culprits who disrupted my life."
"I…", Fujimaru Ritsuka was struck speechless.
"No…", She lowered her head, clutching at her chest with force.
"No, that's not how it's supposed to be… It shouldn't be like this…"
"Why did things turn out this way? It was supposed to be fine, all the way…"
"Listen," Shirou sighed, "you've gotten far too involved with a man who was only ever passing by."
"Ritsuka," he spoke in a tone like advice, "with such emotional impulses, you won't be able to restore Human Order."
"No, you're wrong!", Mash took a deep breath, mustering her courage to refute him, "The one acting on emotion is you, Senior Emiya! You didn't tell us anything, and made this decision all by yourself."
"What are you talking about, Mash?", Shirou asked dismissively, "Wasn't it you who took it upon yourself to expect things from me? Now that I've resolved the situation, you still won't accept it?"
He sighed, with a reproach from the depths of his soul, "Honestly… you're so immature."
He raised his hand, "Projection, begin!"
Countless Noble Phantasms appeared in the air.
"Looks like I was wrong. You don't have the resolve to bear the weight of Human Order. In that case, drown here in your COWARDICE!"
"Senior Emiya!", Mash protested, "Don't! If you do this, all the desperate effort you've put in until now will all be wasted!"
"How could it?",bShirou's voice cold and merciless, stating the truth, "This Singularity has already been resolved. Which means, the ones without a future are you!"
"No way!", Mash's conviction was shaken. She stumbled back a step.
Shirou frowned, "Won't you draw your Noble Phantasm, Servant?"
Clutching her shield, Mash gritted her teeth, "I can't. Senior Emiya isn't the enemy, I…"
"Enough!", His tone, impatient, "Naive brats are annoying. Then die!"
As the Noble Phantasms were about to fall, Olga Marie stepped in front of the two, "That's enough!"
She unleashed the dignity of a Director, "I understand. We'll leave right away. Roman, activate the Rayshift!"
["Director…"]
"What are you standing around for, hurry up!", Olga Marie barked harshly.
Romani looked at her, then at Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash, their beliefs crumbling behind her, and finally at Shirou. With a sigh, he agreed, ["I understand."]
He began operating.
Before, there was still the excuse that the Director hadn't given the order.
But now…
"Too late!", Shirou swung his hand.
A torrent of steel was unleashed.
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