Faced with Darius's plan, Ariel couldn't think of any way to solve it. She finally had no choice but to find Eris and Ghislaine, and found that the two were already ready to attack the execution ground.
Because the Asura Kingdom's prison guards were very strict, and the location was quite extreme, easy to defend and hard to attack, even if the two Sword Kings launched an attack directly, it would be difficult to rescue Sauros from the prison.
So Eris and Ghislaine finally decided to directly break into the execution ground where Sauros was being executed.
Although they also knew that Darius would definitely arrange a large number of people at the execution ground, and the North God Aubel, who they had fought with at the banquet before, would definitely be there, neither of them gave up the plan, and made the decision to sacrifice everything to save Sauros.
After all, for Eris, Sauros was an important grandfather, a grandpa she loved since she was a child.
For Ghislaine, Sauros was also her former savior and caretaker, someone she could not give up on serving no matter what.
Neither of them could sit idly by and watch Sauros be executed, and they couldn't bear to watch such a tragedy happen in front of them, while they could only do nothing.
Faced with Eris and Ghislaine's firm attitude, Ariel realized that she was destined not to be able to change their minds.
Therefore, she gave up all thoughts of backing down and made up her mind to assist Eris and Ghislaine in their break-in operation.
This surprised Eris and Ghislaine. Neither of them had thought of dragging the princess into their personal affairs.
Ariel helplessly said that the life and death of the Ariel faction could be said to be focused on the two Sword Kings, Eris and Ghislaine.
They would either rise together or fall together.
If Ariel just watched Eris and Ghislaine die, then she wouldn't be able to survive Darius's grasp, so she had to provide them with full support.
Eris and Ghislaine were without a doubt touched by Ariel's very sincere words.
Although they knew that what the other party did was out of self-interest, being able to help in times of need was naturally a valuable kindness to them.
The two exchanged courtesies for a while.
Finally, Ariel began to plan the break-in operation.
First, Ariel began to use all her power to determine the exact location of the execution ground, which was the public execution platform in the Asura capital.
The execution platform had a history of hundreds of years, and many famous historical figures had been executed there.
As the former head of the Boreas family, Sauros would naturally need to use a special execution platform for beheading.
After confirming the location, Ariel quickly confirmed the specific time and discovered that Darius's side was trying its best to speed up the time of the execution.
The original three days had been reduced to almost one day under Darius's desperate efforts, and the execution would officially begin.
In other words, Sauros's execution was coming on the second day during the daytime!
Faced with such a disadvantage, Ariel was undoubtedly panicked in her heart, but she didn't show it on the surface, calmly and rationally analyzed the situation, and quickly made a judgment - a head-on break-in would definitely not win. To successfully rescue people, she had to take action in advance.
Yes, Ariel's mind was very calm. She immediately judged that since Darius's side had already prepared a trap, there was absolutely no chance of winning if her side jumped into the trap. They had to make different preparations in advance to break a gap in the trap in order to have a chance of winning.
To this end, she desperately looked for clues, wanting to know the route Darius's side was using to transfer Sauros, planning to rescue Sauros as much as possible before the public execution took place.
However, her idea was still predicted by Darius.
In order to ensure Sauros's absolute safety before the public execution, Darius directly arranged for the Asura Kingdom's knight order to take care of Sauros.
Although the kingdom knight order lacked experts with extreme personal strength, relying on absolute numbers and trained group order, it was enough to go head-to-head with Emperor-level beings, and even defeat Emperor-level beings. Only God-level masters could fight against a national-level knight order alone.
Ariel only had two Sword Kings, Eris and Ghislaine, and there was no possibility of breaking into the knight order's position, let alone forcibly rescuing Sauros.
It could be said that Ariel had completely fallen into a desperate situation.
The only way was to watch Eris and Ghislaine break into the execution ground and pray that the two could defeat the North God Aubel and rescue Sauros.
"Why did it become like this..."
At night, Ariel silently curled up in the room, feeling powerless from the bottom of her heart, and sighed silently.
Since she made up her mind to return to the Asura Kingdom, she had actually been prepared to welcome this day.
Because Ariel knew how deep the mud in this capital was. She had neither obtained strong help, nor had she gained the approval of Dragon God Perugius, so there was no way she could win in this struggle for the throne.
However, Ariel's heart had actually always had unrealistic desires.
I will win, I can win...
Why did she have such thoughts?
Thinking back, it was on that day when she saw Shirou showing her the sand dunes of endless swords under the evening light.
When she saw that hill of swords, Ariel's heart instinctively produced mixed thoughts. Countless thoughts intertwined with each other, and finally gathered together, it was a power called courage.
Yes, Ariel gained courage from Shirou's Unlimited Blade Works.
When she witnessed the end of Servant Emiya, and Shirou's back as he continued to move forward regardless of everything, even though he knew the end ahead of him, she had a strong belief in her heart.
It was like seeing a burning light in the dark night, and seeing an oasis in a dry desert. It revitalized her heart, which had always been shaken and confused, and gave her strength.
That's why Ariel returned to the Asura Kingdom, even though she knew the road ahead was difficult.
Because she also longed to be like Shirou, knowing that there were only cliffs and walls ahead, she still jumped in without regard for her own safety, to open up that only path.
However, now, Ariel finally realized what she still lacked compared to Shirou.
Although she now had faith, she couldn't win with faith alone.
She also needed something more important than willpower, something that could truly change the world!
And that was exactly what she was lacking now...
"Shirou... Shirou..."
In the dark, Ariel instinctively murmured that name, as if just by doing so, she could give her shaken heart even a trace of courage.
And as the night gradually passed, the final battlefield was about to arrive.
No matter what thoughts Ariel had in her heart, she had to face reality, face the upcoming public execution of Sauros!
...
The sandy hill of Unlimited Blade Works.
Thick smoke enveloped everything.
Since Shirou had used up all his magic power by Excalibur, he was like falling into an endless deep sea, surrounded by suffocating pressure and endless darkness, losing all his senses and perceptions.
When extreme darkness ravaged everything, the human soul and body began to gradually separate.
Once this separation began to accelerate, and the moment the soul completely got rid of the body arrived, the concept called death would completely corrode the person's body.
"..."
Shirou was no stranger to this impending death.
Or rather, he was very familiar with it.
Until now, he had experienced countless similar desperate situations, and his near-death experiences were countless, and it was impossible to estimate. Therefore, Shirou did not panic and become confused like ordinary people when facing a near-death experience. Instead, he used this special experience of being on the verge of the limit to make his overly active and hot-blooded mind begin to calm down and cool down little by little.
Through the forced brain cooling brought about by being on the verge of death, Shirou seemed to enter into a third-person perspective and began to examine the battle between himself and Servant Emiya in a completely rational state.
Looking back, he had never been absolutely calm from the very first moment he started this battle.
In his anxiety and eagerness, his consciousness failed to correctly recognize his current situation, and he purely relied on foolish impulse and brute force to try to defeat his opponent.
But this idea was undoubtedly wrong.
Servant Emiya was not an opponent that could be easily defeated. Shirou still hadn't surpassed Servant Emiya with his own power.
When facing truly powerful enemies, one must maintain calm and rationality at all times.
The more one fails to maintain calm in battle, the more one will fall into defeat.
Having experienced countless battles, Shirou knew this principle well, but when he thought of the civil war that was happening in the Asura Kingdom, and when he thought of Ariel and the people of the Boreas family who were about to fall into a desperate situation, he still couldn't completely calm himself down in the previous battle.
This was the result in the end.
Until this moment, Shirou had to reflect on why he had made such a serious mistake, why he had been fighting without any rationality while harboring confusion.
As his thoughts spread, he seemed to return to the Emiya residence in the past, back to the moment when he watched Miyu being taken away by the Ainsworth family, but he was powerless to do anything.
At that time, he was even more powerless and miserable than he was now. In absolute pain, he desperately overcame all the tragedies and accomplished an incredible feat.
In the end, he even successfully activated Unlimited Blade Works without using Servant cards, fought Angelica desperately, and saved Miyu.
So, why could he do it back then, but he can't do it now?
Shirou now recalled everything that happened during that time, and gradually had an understanding in his heart.
After giving up the path of being an ally of justice, Shirou's biggest confusion in his heart was what he was fighting for.
The conclusion he had come to was family.
The reason why this was the answer was because Miyu was his family. He instinctively believed that he could give everything to protect his family.
But in reality, did he choose to save Miyu just because Miyu was his family?
Did he really save Miyu just because of the reason of family?
Not to mention that Miyu and he were actually not related by blood, Miyu's identity as a holy child ensured that she and he were not like ordinary siblings. The relationship between the two was far more complicated than family. Therefore, rather than the superficial reason of protecting family, Shirou had an even more important reason that made him take action, a reason to risk his life to save Miyu!
As long as he found that reason, he could shed his confusion, and maybe even like he did back then, use Unlimited Blade Works again with a human body!
But what exactly was that reason?
What exactly was he fighting for?
Familiar and unfamiliar scenes gradually appeared before Shirou's eyes. It was the life of Emiya Shirou, starting from the initial fire.
Moreover, it was not Shirou's own life, but also the lives of Emiya Shirou in other worlds, and even the life of Servant Emiya.
Each of them lived different lives, took different paths, and finally arrived at completely different destinations.
However, Shirou has found a common point.
Even though they made different choices and walked different paths, every Emiya Shirou ultimately had the same thing.
That was never regretting their choices.
Yes, whether it was taking the path of being an ally of justice, or giving up the path of being an ally of justice, whether it was fighting to protect a group of people, or fighting to protect one person... different lives, different choices, but in the end, the will of each self never deviated, because Emiya Shirou always believed that his path was correct, and also determined that his path conformed to the justice he had set for himself.
If viewed from an objective perspective, justice does have its position.
From a common perspective, only actions that conform to the interests of most people can be considered justice.
To give a more specific example, a hero who protects the world from being destroyed undoubtedly represents justice.
But fixing the perspective on individuals, the justice of the majority is sometimes not justice, and may even be the persecution of individuals by the masses. At the same time, protecting the world is not justice at all times.
If, in order to protect the world, certain innocent people have to be killed, such an action is definitely not just.
Emiya Shirou initially inherited Emiya Kiritsugu's will and yearned to become an ally of justice, but after experiencing countless storms, he had realized the fact that the so-called justice could not be simply defined.
In the end, all justice is nothing more than the path that each individual determines and believes in from his own perspective, a path that will never be wrong!
Therefore, Shirou made one seemingly completely unjust target after another, completely based on the choices and actions of his own beliefs.
Whether it was protecting Miyu, or protecting family, or participating in a country's civil war... are these really not considered justice? If these are not justice, then what is truly justice?
The Shirou of the past thought that he had given up the ideal of being an ally of justice, thought that he had abandoned the path of belief that he had always firmly chosen.
However, until now, when Servant Emiya's sword pierced his chest fiercely, he suddenly realized that he had never given up the ideal of being an ally of justice.
He was still that foolishly naive ally of justice, Emiya Shirou!
"I see, that's why you kept questioning me, questioning me why I was fighting..."
Shirou's heart gradually began to beat, even to say throb.
Although his body had been pushed to its limit in the previous battle, Shirou's condition did not worsen. Instead, as his will became stronger, countless forces began to spread and erupt from within his body.
"Unlimited Blade Works is the power of Emiya Shirou. I've been denying myself from the beginning, so I couldn't use the real Unlimited Blade Works. The way to solve this problem is also very simple, that is to accept myself, accept my stupidity, accept my ignorance, accept the fact that I said I gave up, but I'm still that naive ally of justice..."
Shirou slowly got up from the ground, and the thousands of sword blades on the sand dunes of Unlimited Blade Works around him made a joyful jump with his movements.
This huge hill of swords seemed to have been waiting for his revival as the master of the sword for a long time.
"Swish!"
In an instant, as Shirou completely stood on the sandy land, countless sharp blades on the ground also made a crisp hum as his will became completely firm.
At the same time, the thousands of sword shadows in the sword world began to move closer to Shirou's location, symbolizing the fact that Unlimited Blade Works had reaccepted Shirou!
---
Read 55+ advanced chapters on patreon.com/yeyeqiu