94 Gudako Is Kidnapped
In the lingering light that had not yet fully faded, the sharp scythe blade was now less than ten centimeters away from the neck of the black-mud spirit.
One second later, the outcome would be decided.
At that moment, "Black" revealed a ferocious grin—like a cunning fox toying with its prey.
He did not retreat but instead charged forward.
With his magic fully unleashed, the black-mud spirit, blessed by the fire god Agni, spewed intense blue flames from his back, propelling him forward like a rocket thruster.
Normally, because this ability damages the body, he only used it to accelerate his arrow speed.
But now, with his body repaired by the black mud, the damage was minimized, so he repeatedly used it to change the tide of battle.
This time, he used that ability to seize victory.
Before the scythe could cut him, the black-mud spirit instantly accelerated and dashed in front of Shirou, placing the arrowhead of his drawn bow against Shirou's abdomen.
For someone of his level, close combat did not affect his archery skills at all.
He drew the bowstring and shot a powerful blue afterimage arrow that pierced through the youth's body directly.
The blood-covered arrow created a large hole through Shirou's back and flew out. A gush of blood spurted from the wound.
"Uwaaah!!" Shirou's eyes widened as he weakly lowered his head.
Blood dripped continuously onto the ground, some spat from his mouth.
The blood pooled in the uneven ground, forming puddles—life slipping away...
"Hahaha! Looks like I won! Taste this bitter defeat, then die!" The black-mud spirit laughed, his twisted heart savoring supreme delight at this moment.
"Cough cough... Finally... caught you!" The youth lowered his head but suddenly grabbed the black-mud spirit's bow-holding hand.
"What?" The black-mud spirit looked at the youth in shock.
The magic source sustaining his spirit foundation was broken, and with a large hole in his stomach, even a true Servant should have been forced to retreat.
Yet at this moment, the youth's hand tightly held on to him.
He sensed a dangerous aura from the youth and tried to pull away and retreat, but the youth's grip was strong and unyielding.
"Let go of me!" The black-mud spirit erupted again with blue flames all over his body, struggling with all his might to break free from the youth's grasp.
"Not a chance!" Shirou endured the searing pain from the flames, his left hand still tightly gripping the black-mud spirit's hand to prevent movement.
His right hand clenched the scythe, unleashing its greatest power to slash down.
"Damn it—Aaaaaaa!" The black-mud spirit's body was sliced open by the sharp scythe, torn from the abdomen and finally cut in half.
With two muffled thuds, the black-mud spirit collapsed to the ground, blue soul flames flickering from his wound, burning the internal core.
At the cost of injury, the youth won this hard-fought battle.
In fact, after coming to this world and meeting Artoria, and making a contract with her—even if only verbal—the scabbard inside the youth's body was activated.
With black mud healing the body, "Black" was incredibly fast, and even if Shirou managed to get close and win, the spirit could still escape.
Of course, Shirou had no better option.
He simply risked everything, betting on the only way he could possibly defeat the opponent.
"Fortunately, Artoria is on my side now; I have no reason to lose." Shirou, holding his abdomen, looked at the black-mud spirit on the ground, the wound slowly healing.
"Why does a faker like you still have that kind of thing inside?" The dark-skinned man laughed mockingly.
The black-mud spirit seemed to remember something and grinned wickedly: "By the way, if I disappear, there's still the Demon Pillar waiting for you. Since this is a request from Alaya, you'd better take over the job that the 'Emiya' who was supposed to be here was meant to do."
"What's going on?" Shirou asked, looking at the black-mud spirit who was already starting to fade away.
"Heh, don't you know? Besides you, the faker, nearly all Emiya Shirous in other worlds have vanished!
All because of that man who tried to unify every Emiya Shirou across all worlds as the 'embodiment of justice.' A man transcending the Throne of Heroes, denying everything, trying to solve human evil and all disasters at their root by himself!" The black-mud spirit sneered.
"Is that even possible?" Shirou asked incredulously.
In his previous life, he nearly made a contract with Alaya, and the price for his "eternity" was only to save more than five hundred people.
"If you think it's impossible, how would I know? But the fact is, scraps like me abandoned by the Servants have appeared here.
Because the Servant Emiya disappeared, someone must complete the mission.
So I know that Alaya would definitely bring you here. But I didn't expect I'd be the one to lose…" The black-mud spirit said self-mockingly.
"Even if you defeat the Demon Pillar, five Riders are waiting for you. Emiya Shirou, your fate is destruction. So enjoy your beautiful dream and struggle desperately! Hahaha!!" The black-mud spirit's remnants made a curse-like declaration, laughed wildly one last time, and left this world.
"Cough cough..." Shirou wanted to ask more but blacked out and fell.
"Hey! Shirou! Are you okay?" A blonde girl ran over.
Artoria, who had been fighting Berserker, seemed to sense something wrong here, and as soon as the fight ended, she ran over directly.
She crouched down and lifted the youth from the ground.
At this point, the youth had already fallen unconscious. When she saw the blood from the abdominal wound had stopped and was slowly healing, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Artoria's gaze fixed on the place where the black-mud spirit disappeared, seeming to be pondering something.
"Mash, how is Shirou over there?" Jeanne crossed her arms, standing still, eyes locked on Shirou's direction.
When she saw Artoria touching her equipment and sitting down, placing the youth's head on her lap, she clicked her tongue.
"Breathing and pulse have returned to normal; the body is recovering. Shirou-Senpai has no major problems now," Mash's hologram, monitoring from Chaldea, reported Shirou's condition.
"By the way, Jeanne, why didn't you just go over there yourself?" Mash asked curiously.
"Hmph, why should I go over there?" Jeanne snorted unhappily, muttering quietly, "It's all because of the holy light everywhere earlier that slowed my steps. Didn't expect that cold-blooded woman to beat me to it! Going now would only make me a laughingstock."
"Haah..." Mash seemed to have heard it all.
At this moment, a man dressed as a commoner quietly slipped out of an alley and circled behind the girls.
Then he transformed back into a shirtless black-haired young man with tattoos and a braid.
"That was close, close. I was planning to sneak attack but almost got caught in the Noble Phantasm and died. Better retreat. But if I'm going back, I might as well bring a gift," Yan Qing said, his eyes finally locking on the red-haired Master.
At that moment, all the Servants nearby turned their attention toward Shirou's side, seeming like an easy target.
"Waaah!" Gudako suddenly was grabbed by a black shadow, screamed in surprise, then felt a sharp pain in her neck and fainted.
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