Chapter Four "Resurrection"

Shirou quickly looked for a quiet place. As he walked he thought about the many things that were pressing his mind. The first thing what was wrong about him and his surroundings. He should be inside his bedroom after the countdown for the closing of YGGDRASIL's servers. Instead, he had found himself in a forest and saving an entire village from bandits then Gazef and his troops from mages. The world around him was not YGGDRASIL. YGGDRASIL did not provide a sense of taste and smell, and has a limited sense of touch. Senses that were currently fully manifested unlike the video game. That meant either YGGDRASIL had either gone through a spontaneous evolution overnight or he was back somewhere in real life.

He soon found himself where he found himself in a small grove of trees not too far away from Carne Village. He sat down and slowly took deep breaths.

His body was different from what he was used too. He had incredible stamina from his intensive training. He should be winded a bit. He had used two Noble Phantasms, Caladbolg and Hrunting. Even if, he hadn't been close to bringing out their full potential, they were costed a hefty amount of prana just to project and active a fraction of their ability. Shirou Emiya hadn't winded one bit.

Closing his eyes, Shirou casted Structural Analysis upon his body.

"Unbelievable." Shirou muttered in disbelief.

The amount of Od he was currently producing outmatched anything he should be capable was remotely capable of. Shirou Emiya was little better than the average mage when it came to his Magic Circuits. The average mage had about 20 Magic Circuits. For a first generation mage, he had been lucky to be born with 27 Magic Circuits. The quality of his magic circuits was also similarly just above-average in terms of how much od it could produce. The number of magic circuits had been unchanged, but that didn't explain what he saw before him now was a ridiculous unit of od being produced by his magic circuits. It was like his magic circuits had decided undergo a transformation like an average man suddenly becoming a bodybuilder.

It wasn't just in regards to the unit of od that his magic circuits were producing. The amount of mana he could take from the atmosphere as substitute for od in the generation of Prana was similarly increased.

If he had to estimate his newfound status of his magic circuits, he would peg his current state along the lines of being even greater than the prodigious Rin Tohsaka, who came from a longstanding and distinguished lineage of mages. In fact, he might even estimate that he was closer in magical energy reserves to the legendary Barthomeloi, who were famed for their Blue-Blood Magic Circuits.

He might actually have to reconsider his whole way of fighting. Shirou had always been limited to what he could do. His trump cards Noble Phantasms, the most powerful ones, were could only be used sparingly as they consumed great deal of magical energy. His trump of trump cards, Unlimited Blade Works, could only be used for several minutes at best. Now that he was no longer restricted to his former above-average prana reserves he had more options. Adopt more of his fighting skills and tactics that he had used in YGGDRASIL.

"Those were fun times," Shirou mused as he recalled the past.

It wasn't just his magic circuits that had undergone a transformation. If he hadn't used magic then he would've never known that he was different from before. His physical body had also gone a significant change. Nothing that seemed negative from what he could see. Though, the transformation of his body did alarm him. Outwardly, he was not different from he was in real life or in YGGDRASIL, as his avatar was a carbon copy of his real self. Internally, he was still a whole different story. He was still human. Something greater than a normal human, though.

"If I recall…" Shirou muttered as tapped on the air like there was something in front of him. "I was right…"

Something appeared before him. It was a very familiar sight to Shirou. Similar menus were found in many video games. The thing that caught Shirou's attention was how it looked exactly the same for the game menu that was in YGGDRASIL. Only one thing was off. A few of the menu options were darkened out. Things like graphic/sound settings and etc. The most important one that caught Shirou's attention was the log out button. It was darkened out.

Shirou let out a sigh. Nothing would from speculations without any proof to work with. Questions only led to more questions. He would have to investigate later. Given what he had discovered about his current self was closer to his YGGDRASIL then he was in real life there was a theory that he wanted to test out.

He walked towards the village square, where the villagers were repairing their homes and scavenge what could that had been destroyed.

"If it wasn't for you, everyone would be dead or sold into slavery. We are really grateful!" The Village Chief bowed, the moment he saw Shirou and the villagers around him soon followed suit.

"Please raise your heads. I did just what anyone should do." Shirou replied.

"We know that, but please allow us to thank you nonetheless. The only reason so many survived was because of your help."

"There actually is something that I might need help with," said Shirou, which caught the attention of the villagers.

"What would that be, savour-sama?!"

"We will do anything we can?!"

"Please give us orders!"

"Please bring all the dead here," said Shirou. The villagers looked at each other and then at Shirou in confusion.

"What are you waiting for?!" The village elder snapped. "Our savior asked for the dead to be brought before him. There must be a reason for such a request. Get to it!"

The confused looks and hesitation evaporated at the village elder's shouting. Those that were able-bodied rushed to bring the dead while those without the strength to do such a thing do their best to support those that were able-bodied by providing whatever assistance they could provide. The first of the dead were brought within minutes.

"The first of the dead has been brought here as you asked," said the village elder. "Why do you indeed to do?"

Shirou knelt down to inspect the dead that was brought to him. The corpse of a young girl brought to him was relatively untouched save for hole that had been stabbed into her heart by what looked like a sword. It was a good specimen to test Shirou's theory.

"I intend to bring forth a miracle," Shirou replied as he placed his hands on the chest of the deceased girl. "Resurrection."

A blue light of magical energy shone. It started from his hand and began to envelop the entire body of the deceased girl. The effects were not immediate. At first it seemed like a great light show, but that soon changed when the wounds that had killed the girl began to disappear. It was only after several moments the raising and lowering of the chest could be seen.

"Welcome back," said Shirou with a warm smile as lifted the previously deceased girl from the ground.

"Ummmhhmmm… what is going on? Is this heaven?" The girl asked as her eyes opened in confusion.

"Sasha!" A young woman shouted in happiness as she ran to grab what seemed like her daughter to Shirou. "Are you alright? Does anything hurt?" The woman asked as she inspected her daughter for any injuries.

"Is that you, mama? Did you also come to heaven?" The girl asked, clearly still lost about the situation.

"This is not heaven," said Shirou as he knelt before the girl so that she could see him. "Your mama never died. Sadly, you passed away, but I managed to bring you back."

"The savior is a god?"

"No, he might a priest. A heard the most powerful and experienced priests can bring back the dead."

"That doesn't make sense… How is he such a skilled in so many fields? Archery… swordsmanship and magic…"

"The heroes of legend were supposed to be really skilled and many times in many fields… he might be someone like them…"

"Are you saying that we are looking at a hero of legend… None of them are supposed to be alive anymore…"

"No… he might actually be one of them… There are supposed to be objects and magics that can prolong life or even grant immortality."

"Maybe he isn't a legendary hero… but someone that is one their way to become one. I think a legendary hero would've been able to slay the bandits in one swoop."

"Can the other dead be brought forth," said Shirou in a loud voice to interrupt the talking crowd of villagers. "The more time passes the less likely I will be able to bring back the dead."

Shirou's statement set off alarm bells as the villagers began a mad dash to bring their dead in a frantic dash to be the first one to have their loved ones resurrected.

- O -

Linda was awestruck. She couldn't comprehend the fact that every single one of her comrades was alive. She had sworn that she had seen them die before her very eyes. No one could survive a dagger to the brain or heart unless that was a miracle. What had happened couldn't be described as a miracle. A miracle was supposed to be something that rarely happened. Maybe if a few of her knights had survived then that would be stretching the definition of a miracle and likelihood of multiply miracles. Linda and her knights were a product of several small miracles or one large one.

"Shit. How are we alive?"

"Maybe because we were redeemable?"

"Pssst. Redeemable? Of course, we don't need to be redeemable! Everything we have done was in the name of the Six Great Gods. What we have done have been sanctioned and blessed."

"Yea. That is true. We are part of the Sunlight Scripture. All the demi-humans and heretics we have killed were to ensure the survival of humanity. The Six Great Gods must have revived us for our hard work."

Her fellow knights all continued to discuss amongst themselves to justify anything that came to mind what they had done must have pleased the Six Great Gods to allow them a second chance at life.

"I cannot believe such a group of buffons are right… even if how they were blessed was somewhat wrong…"

Linda and her knights turned around to see where the voice came from. The one to enter the room was someone that they respected and hated at the same time. It was Nigan, their commanding officer, that entered the room with his mages. Nigan was different as Linda looked at him. The mages also seemed to share the same thing. Normally, Nigan and the mages carried themselves with an air of confidence. Instead, they carried haunted expression like they had done something that they had horribly regretted.

If Linda could read the minds of Nigan and his mages then she would be proven correct.

The mages were all trembling and going insane for the greatest heresies that they had committed. There were different degrees of heresy. Anything from denouncing the existence of the Six Great Gods to… their crimes. What they had done was worse than defiling a sacred site or object. They had threatened a Godkin. Godkins were the living embodiment of their gods. Within their blood was that of divinity that had passed onto the descendants of the Six Great Gods.

There was no worse crime than even thinking about harming a Godkin. Normally, the crime they have committed would have resulted in agonizing deaths and their names struck in the annals of history as the worst traitors to the Slane Theocracy. What they feared most was not one would happen to them in life, but what would happen to them in death. For committing the gravest of crimes, they would be denied entrance to heaven. Where their Gods, the Six Great Gods were said to live.

Linda and the knights seeing the downtrodden expressions of their normally smug and arrogant superiors began to taunt and insult them. The taunting and insulting lasted several minutes before one of the mages couldn't help, but explode.

"Do you know what tried to do?! You tried to kill a Godkin!"

"Ha?" Linda and the knights said collectively in confusion.

"What he means is that the man that killed you all was a Godkin," said Nigan. "Instead of letting you stay dead and to wander purgatory forever without a chance to redeem yourself for the crime that you had committed, the Godkin resurrected your sorry asses and gave you a chance to redeem yourself!"

"You honestly want us to believe that, Captain Nigan!" One of the knights shouted as he laughed in a mocking tone.

"Peter, calm down. Captain Nigan might seem to be shouting nonsense, but think about it. The last thing we all remember, besides finding ourselves in this room was that we were all killed at the hands a single man." Another knight spoke up.

"Enough! Silence the two of you," Linda shouted to silence her two subordinates. "Explain, Nigan."

"The man that you and your subordinates fought goes by the name Shirou Emiya. After he killed all of you, he fought me and my subordinates. He could've killed all of us like he did with you, knights, but he instead seemed to have taken mercy on us and subdued us instead." Nigan explained.

"I can understand why you might possibly think him as Godkin, if he was that powerful to defeat all of us, but there are plenty of humans alive that can do the same. It was why the Slane Theocracy devoted so much manpower and resources to hunt down and kill Gazef Stronoff. He might be on the same caliber as Gazef…" Linda responded.

"Powerful humans like Gazef that can defeat us all do certainly exist. Shirou Emiya is an exception. He must be a Godkin. How else do you think is he gifted in so many fields? Explain his archery, swordsmanship and magic? Only Godkins and legendary heroes are supposed to be talented or skilled in more than one discipline of fighting. Shirou-sama himself also confirmed it himself." Nigan explained. "If what I said wasn't proof enough then what will you think after hearing this. He was the one that resurrected you all. Why would a normal human try to save their would-be murderer? He resurrected you all because you happened to be devoted followers of his ancestors, one of the Six Great Gods."

Linda's and her knight's eyes widened as they processed what they heard from Nigan. At first, they didn't want to believe what Nigan had said. They attempted to find any holes in Nigan's logic, but found none. It was solid. No holes where they could find. Instead they attempted to think outside the box and think if Nigan had lied to them about everything he had said. That thought was thrown out the window when they looked at the serious expression that Nigan and his mages wore.

"Nigan! How could you have not known that this village was home to the Godkin then?! Do you know what heresy that my knights and I have committed? We could've slayed the Godkin's family. Do you know what that means?! Because of your mistake! All of our years of dutiful service have been a waste! There is no spot for us in heaven for what we have done, but eternal damnation!" Linda screamed as she smashed her balled gauntlet into the wall.

"I didn't know and neither did my superiors provide me with the information that any of the Six God's bloodlines lived in the Re-Estize Kingdom! If I had known than I would have never ordered you and your knights to destroy Carne Village!" Nigan screamed back in fury and self-loathing for the heretical crimes that had been committed due to his orders.

"It doesn't change the fact that you have committed heresy on two counts. The first is giving the order to slay a bloodline of the Six Great Gods and attempting to personally slay the Godkin!"

The insulting and taunting continued back and forth in a burning fury for several hours between the leaders of the knights and mages, and their subordinates backed their leaders' argument by also participating in similar conversations with the other camp.

It was only when their voice began to become die from overuse that they grudgingly decided to purse the same topic and instead talk about something else.

"Nigan, do you know the weapons that the Godkin used. I have never seen or heard about weapons that were used to instead of killing us. It pierced through hardened steel like nothing." Linda asked as she described the weapons that had been used to kill her and her knights.

"I have heard about such weapons. The said weapons that you have described to me bear close resemblance to a special breed of magic weapons that only the Black Scripture is sanctified to use. I believe they are called Black Keys." Nigan replied.

Every knight in the room dropped what they were doing and stared at Nigan in shock. It wasn't because of the weapon that had been used to knock the knights out instead of killing because they knew all sorts of absurd magical weapon existed. It was the mentioning of the Black Scripture that got their attention. Meeting a member of the Black Scripture was nearly unheard off. The Black Scripture might be the smallest sect of the Slane Theocracy, but they were the most powerful. Only humans that had reached the pinnacle of humanity were given a chance to be entered into their sects. Each one was said to be worth an entire combat group.

"Are you done talking?" Shirou drawled as he entered the room.

"Yes, blessed one!" The servants of the Slane Theocracy all screamed in respect and honor as they kneeled down and kept their heads facing the grounds.

"What was your mission?" Shirou drawled. He expected someone to answer, but everyone else in the room remained silent as they remained in their unmoved position. "Well? Will anyone answer?"

"Of course, Godkin! The mission given to us had been the elimination of Gazef Stronoff!" Nigan replied.

"So it seems Stronoff's guess was right…" Shirou muttered.

A soft thump could be heard. Instinctively, the kneeling figures raised their head when they sought to know what had been the source of the sound. What they saw was gigantic scroll. They raised their heads to Shirou and looked at her curiously.

"This is a scroll that I wrote myself. It will absolve any crime that you have committed against me under the condition that you forsake any loyalty to your current superiors and swear fealty to me. I warn you, if you break the conditions of the contract than a fate far worse than death lies before you. It has been constructed using divine magic, the very magic of my ancestors, the Six Great Gods, to condemn any oath breaker to eternal damnation and aguish in hell."

Knights and mages nervously stared at the gigantic scroll before them. They could only imagine how powerful the magic that had been interwoven in the scroll would be. The magic crystal that Nigan had used to summon an Archangel, the highest caliber of angels that one without divine blood could summon, could only be constructed by someone that had divine blood flowing through their veins, gave an example of the very minimum of what sort of magic was contained within the scroll and how potent the effects for breaking the contract was. In their minds, there was no doubt that the magic contained within the scroll was beyond anything they had witnessed because they had seen just a small example of the might that the Godkin before them had.

The mages and knights didn't need to think. They had committed heresy of the worst kind. They had drawn their weapons against a Godkin. Slaughtered individuals of the divine bloodline of their gods. They had served their gods faithfully without question for years prior to this unforgiveable crime they had recently committed. If a Godkin, the avatar of their gods, was willingly to absolve them of their unforgivable crimes than swearing fealty to serve a Godkin was both their greatest duty and the highest penance that anyone could get in the name of the Six Great Gods.

"We are honored by your wisdom, Godkin! We swear to serve you!"

- O -

"Thank you." Gazef Stronoff bowed.

"What I am doing is only worthy of the sacrifice that your soldiers made. They acted as bait even when they knew that death was likely." Shirou said in embarrassed tone. "If I hadn't been required to escort the villagers away to safety before I entered the fight then I would've spared your men the traumatic experience of death."

"You did what you had to do. My men completely understand and do not hold any grudges against you." Gazef replied. "In fact, several of them have begun to worship you as if you were a god."

"I'm not god. Just a descendant of one…" Shirou continued with the charade of being a Godkin to explain how he was so powerful.

"You are indeed a humble one…" Gazef smiled. He then looked around at the knights and mages that had been his mortal enemies not too long ago as they helped rebuild the damage that they had caused upon Carne Village. "Are you sure that it was the right choice to resurrect the knights and mages? Will they not try to kill you again while your guard is down?"

"There is no need to worry. The knights and mages worship as a physical manifestation of the Six Great Gods. The very act of thinking to harm them goes against their consciousness." Shirou replied. "I am also not the one to leave things to chance. They all signed a geass. A magical contract that will kill them before they can harm me."

"If you are sure then I have no reason to be concerned." Gazef shrugged.

"I would like to ask a small favor from you. Can you not tell anyone that the former members of the Sunlight Scripture are alive and the Carne Village still stands. "

The Royal Guard Captain blinked at the request that had come from his savior. The fact that his savior was asking for a favor seemed absurd. His savior should be demanding that he listen to him given that Gazef owned his savor big time for saving his life, healing his injured subordinates and resurrecting those that had been killed.

Gazef opened his mouth to say that the request was something that he could comply with. He then quickly clamped his mouth shut about what was being asked of him. He couldn't be keep his superior, the King of the Re-Estize Kingdom, dark about what had happened at Carne Village and to his troops. On one hand, Gazef was honor-bound to comply with a favor for his savior to repay his life-debt, but he was also honor-bound to not lie to his liege lord.

"You understood what you ask, correct?" Gazef asked.

"Tell the king what he needs to know. He would only care that the threat to his kingdom is destroyed. Even if the king is benevolent and cares greatly about his subject, others might not react to the truth the same way. They may exploit the truth for their purposes." Shirou advised.

Gazef nodded his head. He understood. What his savior thought was correct. While the King, Lanposa III, cared about his subjects wellbeing greatly that was not the same as the nobility that was underneath the king. The majority of nobility would leap up to exploit the situation of Carne Village whatever possible if it were to their gain. The former members of the Sunlight Scripture were one example. They would possess state secrets of the Slane Theocracy that could be exploited.

"The king can be trusted. You have my word." Gazef promised.

Shirou sighed. While he trusted Gazef Stronoff as he seemed to be a trustworthy individual that would not go back on his word, the same couldn't be said if Gazef was forced to choose between keeping his word and serving his liege lord. Shirou had seen it many times where oaths to their superior superseded promises made. There was no telling in the future where Gazef may have to choose between the king and Carne Village, but she wanted to avoid such situation if possible. The problem was that Shirou could see that Gazef would remain unconvinced from anything she had to say from his stubborn look.

"If your trust in the king is that strong than I can only hope for the best."

"There is no need to worry. The king will learn of the truth and do nothing that shall negatively affect you. In fact, I believe that you shall be rewarded in your service to defeat a threat to the Kingdom and saving my life."

"Tell the king that I don't want any reward, but to be left unbothered."

"Then I shall relay your words to the king." Gazef spoke as he mounted his horse. "This is where I depart."

"Safe journeys to you, Gazef Stronoff." Shirou responded.

"May good fortune lay ahead the future of your village." The Royal Guard Captain spoke as kneed his horse and began to ride away into the distance with his troops.

Shirou Emiya kept watching until he was sure that Gazef and his troops were no longer within twenty kilometers of the village. He had been planning to keep watch for several more minutes until a voice spoke to him.

"Emiya-sama, what orders do you have?" Linda asked as she came to him fully armed and armored. Nigan soon joined them and also said the same thing.

There was silence as Shirou contemplated what to do. The first thing that he had been thinking of had been was to leave immediately Carne Village and wander the world he now found himself in. To look for information about if it was possible to return back to Earth and if that was impossible then to learn as much about the world he called the New World before deciding what to do with his life. That plan was put in hold when he had to think about what to do with the knights and mages that now swore themselves into his service. There were about 96 knights and 52 mages. 148 followers. All of them his responsibility.

Far too many people for him to feed by himself. He could enlist the help of his followers to help, but they were limited in their skillset. They had trained all their lives for one purposes and that one purpose was to fight. Only the mages had skills outside of fighting as they had varying level of skills in healing magecraft from healing wounds to curing poisons and illnesses.

"Have you gathered information from the villagers like I had asked?" Shirou inquired.

"It seems Carne Village is like any farming village. A village dedicated to the cultivation of food to their own sustenance and paying their surplus of corps as taxes. They are self-sufficient mostly, but what they cannot make or get their own is supplied by a peddler that comes by on a monthly basis." Nigan replied.

"My knights scouted the nearby area. No monsters were found, but there were signs of monsters nearby." Linda replied.

Shirou decided what he was going to do. Until he had the necessary funds to provide for himself and his followers for some extended period of time then he was going to use Carne Village as his base of operation to gather funds before he thought about doing anything.

"Listen carefully, the two of you. Here is what we are going to do…."

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