Chapter 211: Exploiting a Bug
The existence of Darius was no secret to Julian. Or rather, after nearly a millennium of displacements, as long as the time came, every successive head of the Ainsworth family would be replaced and displaced by Darius. Such a thing was impossible to hide from the others in the Ainsworth family.
Therefore, Julian also knew.
Emiya Shirou using [Rule Breaker] to expel the displacement magecraft Darius had cast upon him and drive Darius out of his body was, after all, only temporary. Darius would return to him at any moment.
To continue this displacement magecraft.
When that time came, even if Julian didn't want to talk, Darius would learn exactly what Emiya Shirou and the others were planning through Julian's memories.
Thinking of this, Julian said to Emiya Shirou with a sense of relief: "Kill me, Emiya.
As long as I am dead, Darius will no longer be able to resurrect using displacement magecraft.
Anyway, now that the displacement art on [Pandora's Box] has been canceled, I have no more use in your plan, Emiya.
Instead of waiting for Darius—who knows when—to once again complete his displacement of me, it would be better to use my death to ensure our plan proceeds smoothly!"
Having said this, Julian offered what he considered to be the perfect answer.
To this, Emiya Shirou shook his head and said: "Don't say silly things. Since I've already said I have a method to save everyone, how could I possibly use a way that requires sacrificing you?
If I did that, what difference would there be between me and you, Julian?
By then, I'm afraid even the 'me' of this world would think that my method of wanting to save everyone is a lie."
Speaking to this point, Emiya Shirou specifically looked at the Emiya-MW (the other Emiya Shirou).
Although Emiya Shirou and Emiya-MW would generally dislike each other, that was because they were both versions of Emiya who had walked the path of the "Ally of Justice" for a long time without seeing an end, losing faith in the dream of becoming one. Only after seeing the past Emiya—who was still persisting in that dream—would they want to kill their past selves.
They wanted to stop their past selves from embarking on that point of no return from the source.
Undoubtedly, Emiya Shirou, who possessed memories of his past life and knew this was all just Nasu's bad taste, similarly had little confidence in whether he could become an Ally of Justice.
But conversely, Emiya-MW in Satsuki Miyu's world had long ago given up on the dream of wanting to become an Ally of Justice. He was the type of person who would even receive help from Archer (Red A) once they finally understood each other.
Under these circumstances, there would naturally be no conflict between Emiya Shirou and Emiya-MW.
Not to mention that Emiya-MW had also heard from Satsuki Miyu that while she was traveling through Emiya Shirou's world, Emiya Shirou had been the one taking care of her all along. By any logic, Emiya-MW could not possibly doubt Emiya Shirou.
However, after all, they were both "himself." So Emiya-MW could understand what Emiya Shirou meant.
Rather, even if Emiya-MW chose to give up becoming an Ally of Justice in the end, it did not mean he didn't long for one. If there were a way to save others without sacrificing anyone, how could Emiya-MW not want to use it?
Therefore, Emiya-MW, understanding Emiya Shirou's meaning, nodded when Julian looked over.
'If our philosophies hadn't diverged' Emiya-MW couldn't help but think 'perhaps he and Julian could still have been very good friends.'
Likewise, Emiya Shirou, who hadn't stopped what he was doing and had finished preparing for the upcoming decisive battle, continued to speak: "Besides, before figuring out what I have done, Darius probably won't be able to displace into you again, Julian."
"...!?"
Julian, who hadn't given up on the idea of suicide even after seeing Emiya-MW nod—or rather, had become even more determined to commit suicide so as not to cause trouble for his friend, Emiya-MW—was stunned on the spot upon hearing this sentence from Emiya Shirou.
He even stopped the motion he was preparing for suicide.
"Th-that... that's impossible! You might not understand our Ainsworth traditions; Darius's displacement is not something we can refuse just because we don't want it! Every time a new head of the Ainsworth family is born, they are automatically displaced by Darius!
Even the position of family head is the same! When my father and sister died in the last Holy Grail War, I was automatically chosen as the new head of the Ainsworth family and automatically displaced by Darius!"
Julian said this very loudly. Very seriously, he wanted Emiya Shirou to realize that this displacement was not something that could be stopped by ordinary methods.
"So, as long as you are no longer the head of the Ainsworth family, wouldn't Darius be unable to displace into you?" Emiya Shirou didn't pay attention to Julian's words. He merely projected the Disc of Cursed Transformation he had prepared in advance.
He threw it toward the sky of Fuyuki City, in the direction of [Pandora's Box], where the displacement had been canceled by Julian: "This is the same as what I am doing now!"
Yes, Emiya Shirou's method of stopping Darius's displacement was very simple.
It was to use [Pseudo-White Snake] to pull out Julian's mental DISC, then add a command to it, making Julian mentally deny that he was the head of the Ainsworth family.
As long as Darius was unaware of this fact, Darius—who performed displacement magecraft based on the concept of being the "head of the Ainsworth family"—would never be able to locate Julian.
Even if there were other humans in Satsuki Miyu's world who possessed Ainsworth blood or Darius's blood, as long as Julian, the first-in-line successor, was still alive, they would not automatically be promoted to the new head of the Ainsworth family and be displaced by Darius.
"This is one of my special powers. Without this power, how would I dare to say I can save everyone in this parallel world?"
Speaking to this point, Emiya Shirou felt [Pandora's Box], into which he had implanted the Disc of Cursed Transformation, soon start to undergo changes.
Suddenly exuding a chilling aura, Emiya Shirou quickly followed the instructions he had given the others at the very beginning.
He turned his head and shouted loudly to Emiya-MW and the others: "My self from another world, and Saber, get ready—"
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