After a hectic morning, Shirou headed to the high school. He remained cautious when he crossed paths with Issei, who was accompanied by the girl he had seen the previous day, but he contented himself with observing them from a distance.

Thanks to his clairvoyant ability, Shirou could conduct surveillance from a distance of more than 4 kilometers with simple reinforcement. By enhancing his power with runes, he had the ability to anticipate the future and even see through objects such as buildings and clothing. However, he had to avoid using his circuits intensively; he had retired for a reason. The more he used his abilities, the more his body and soul were invaded by the Holy Grail. Therefore, he settled for using it at the lowest level.

Shirou muttered to himself, "She is indeed a fallen angel." Thanks to his clairvoyance, he could easily identify the true nature of Issei's so-called "girlfriend" based solely on the type of energy she emitted. He hadn't been able to discover it previously due to his condition, but now he was capable, and he had no doubt.

She was, in fact, a fallen angel, a denizen of the underworld just like demons. Although some individuals, such as exorcists, would have killed her on sight.

Shirou was not closed-minded. As a member of the supernatural world, he knew that fallen angels in the current era were not as malevolent as one might believe. Most of them simply lived their lives in Hell and did not interfere with humans. They also kept the common mortals from discovering the supernatural world through various means, such as letting devils manage certain territories or even the Church, which had its exorcists to cover up any disturbances.

For example, he knew that the Sitri and Gremory families were in charge of Kuoh, two families belonging to the 72 Pillars.

The two individuals responsible for Kuoh were students: Sona Sitri, the student council president, and Rias Gremory, the president of the Occult Research Club. Although he interacted fairly often with Sona, the same could not be said for Gremory. He had crossed paths with her on several occasions, and she had even asked him to join her group at one point. However, he had to decline that invitation for obvious reasons.

Similarly, after declining Sona's invitation, she had started to investigate him. Although he couldn't blame her, given the reputation that preceded him, he knew they weren't the bloodthirsty monsters described in the Bible, at least not in the current era.

As he didn't know the intentions of the fallen angel who called herself Yuma, he would continue to observe her until she did something that forced him to intervene.

Shirou hated one thing more than anything else: killing. If he could avoid it, he would do everything in his power to make that happen. However, most of the time, he was compelled to go to extremes to save as many people as possible. Therefore, he wasn't the type to kill someone based on a mere hunch.

Arriving at school, Shirou continued to tail Issei, even though he had separated from Yuma. After discreetly listening to the perverted trio's conversation about Issei's girlfriend, he was able to gather some useful information. Issei had a date this Sunday, so he already knew in advance what he would be doing this weekend.

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Shirou yawned widely as he made his way back home. He was getting increasingly tired lately, and his limbs were becoming numb, severely handicapping him if he were to engage in combat. His physical condition had been deteriorating, even though he was still much stronger than an ordinary human. However, if he had to fight supernatural beings, it would pose more significant problems. He still remembered that just last year, he could easily compete with the most talented exorcists of his generation from the Church. But now, he wasn't even sure if he could withstand some of their attacks.

He already knew the cause of his condition, but he couldn't do anything about it. Moreover, he didn't know how much time he had left to live, at most a year, maybe six months. The more he restrained the Holy Grail, the faster it invaded his soul, leading to his self-destruction. Currently, he couldn't even use his signature spell; otherwise, he would be completely overtaken by the Holy Grail due to the Reality Marble. This forced him to rely on the Emiya crest and a few other spells like reinforcement and basic projection.

When he finally arrived home, the familiar atmosphere of his house enveloped him in a comforting cocoon. He decided to immerse himself in a video game on his console, accompanied by his sisters, creating precious family memories in the process.

However, the fearless Liz soon joined the fray, determined to playfully tease Shirou with her chest.

The curse that afflicted Shirou took effect, and the situation eventually escalated with Shirou slipping onto Leysritt while grabbing her chest, making this moment even more unforgettable.

He was determined to spend as much time as possible with his family before disappearing.

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The weekend is approaching rapidly.

Shirou had already made the necessary preparations for his surveillance mission.

He had chosen clothing devoid of magical powers to avoid being detected and had brought only one weapon with him: a katana wrapped in a special cloth that prevents its mystery from leaking.

If it were to be destroyed, he could still project a weapon from a memorized image, although it would inevitably be degraded compared to the original. However, this was more than sufficient.

The advantage of his Reality Marble was that he didn't need to remember the images of the weapons he wanted to project. He simply had to look inside and project them into reality, which prevented overloading his brain with thousands of weapons, especially since he couldn't remember them all. Thanks to this, he had no need to remember these weapons, only recalling them when he needed them.

However, the situation turned against him when he lost access to Unlimited Blade Works. At that moment, he could only recall a single pair of swords and his regularly used bow: Kanshou and Bakuya. These legendary twin swords represented yin and yang, and they were derived from human mythology, known as Noble Phantasms, powerful armaments created from humanity's collective imagination.

After making his preparations, Shirou left his home, making sure to inform his mother that he would be returning late. He was already aware of the location and the meeting time, which is why he decided to leave early, ensuring that he would arrive before anyone else. He reached the meeting place after a ten-minute walk.

Endowed with exceptional patience, Shirou naturally waited at a suitable distance to avoid being spotted, while remaining close enough to intervene if necessary.

At one point, a demon's familiar handed Shirou a flyer with a magic circle on it. He knew it was a fairly common practice among demons to distribute these kinds of flyers in an attempt to summon them. Most people didn't believe in such things and simply threw them away. However, some dared to try their luck, hoping to summon a demon to perform tasks for them in exchange for money.

Shirou had accepted the flyer without paying much attention and had tucked it into his pocket.

He was dressed in a simple gray tracksuit, concealing his eyes behind black sunglasses to avoid drawing attention. He had carefully slicked his hair back, making his appearance less recognizable in case Issei happened to look in his direction. He had stowed his sword in a shinai bag slung over one shoulder.

After about 20 minutes, Issei arrived early and waited patiently, showing an excited expression on his face. However, it wasn't until 40 minutes later that the girl going by the name Yuma made her entrance.

I had been following them from a distance thanks to my enhanced vision, but what I saw deeply surprised me. Issei... Issei... He had taken her on one of the most traditional dates…

They had gone shopping, shared a meal, and he had even given her a gift... Goodness, I never would have thought that a pervert like Issei could be so pure.

"Should I reconsider my opinion of him...?" After a few moments of contemplation, I ultimately decided not to when I saw him ogling the cleavage of the girl across from him. He's still a pervert in any case; he must have some self-discipline for the common good.

The date proceeded without any issues. During their time together, she had never attempted to harm Issei. Was I really wrong about him?

However, my doubts were dispelled when, later on, they stopped near an artesian fountain.

I sensed something enveloping the surrounding area... It was like some kind of bounded field.

The sky began to darken.

I knew something was wrong... and it became clear when Yuma changed. Her clothes shifted into something resembling what a prostitute might wear, her sweet smile was replaced with a sadistic grin, and she summoned two black wings that sprouted from her back. However, my gaze then shifted to the lance of light she formed in her hand.

"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" that was all that raced through my mind as I rushed towards them, reinforcing my legs to increase my speed. However, I realized I would never make it in time with just simple reinforcement. I had miscalculated the time it would take me to reach them; I think I had drastically overestimated the condition of my body…

"Would you mind dying for me?" were her final words before she launched her lance of light toward Issei.

In an instant, I chanted an incantation, "Time alter triple accel." It was a magecraft developed by the Emiya family that allowed the alteration of time. This spell had the ability to separate the flow of time within a designated space, either accelerating it or making it stagnate. However, this kind of magecraft had severe side effects that would handicap me for the rest of the battle.

I immediately drew the katana I had brought with me and, after getting close enough, I threw the sword with all my strength at the lance, shattering it completely.

All of this happened in a fraction of a second, leaving no one with the time to react. When the spell had finished taking effect, Shirou immediately felt the side effects as he sensed certain muscles tearing and several blood vessels bursting due to the return of the flow of time to normal. He immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, having to muster superhuman efforts not to collapse due to the world correcting temporal inconsistencies.

The winged woman's eyes widened as her lance of light shattered like glass. She instinctively flew backward to the top of the fountain, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Issei, on the other hand, hadn't even reacted to the situation yet, remaining motionless due to the shock.

Shirou didn't forget he was in a battle and chanted his aria, "Trace on," immediately conjuring the image of the twin swords from scratch by shaping his prana.

The fallen angel's eyes focused on the person who had interrupted them, and she looked at Shirou with anger. However, she quickly regained her composure and spoke, "I suppose I'll have to kill you too," Yuma declared, licking her lips.

"Emiya, what's going on?!" Issei asked in panic after finally reacting.

Shirou simply said, "I don't have time to explain." He needed to conserve his strength, and talking was a waste of energy.

While pushing his body to the limit, he rushed forward armed with his two swords, arriving in front of Yuma within moments. She was surprised by his speed and tried to impale him with her lance, but she was too slow for his eyes... however, his body could barely react, and he received a cut on his abdomen as he dodged her attack.

He immediately began slashing at her abdomen, her arm, her leg, but she had time to react and narrowly avoided these attacks, preventing deep wounds.

"ARRRRHHHHHHH HOW DARE YOU, YOU DAMN HUMAN. You dare harm a fallen angel like me, I will make you pay!" she screamed in pain as blood gushed from her wounds.

She rushed toward Shirou at full speed, armed with two lances of light. This kind of wild and enraged attack was simple and predictable to dodge for Shirou. However, at that moment, the worst possible situation occurred…

His body wouldn't respond; it was completely numb.

The only thought that crossed his mind was, "Why does this have to happen at a time like this?"

He managed to shift slightly to avoid her hitting any vital areas, but it wasn't enough, and the lances pierced his leg and shoulder instead.

The fallen angel suddenly had a diabolical idea. "Since you want to play the hero, I'll kill the one you want to protect!"

Yuma changed her target and rushed toward Issei with deadly determination.

if this situation continued, both of them would die, and Shirou simply couldn't allow that. He had always followed a strict rule: if killing one person could save a hundred, then action must be taken accordingly. Even though it repulsed him deeply, there was no other choice. You couldn't save everyone because in saving one person, you abandoned another. It was an immutable truth.

Shirou was afraid of death, of course, but he didn't have much time left to live. In comparison, Issei had a whole life ahead of him. The choice was clear as to whom he should save.

Just as Yuma was about to reach Issei, dozens of swords fell in front of her, preventing her from reaching her target. These swords were incredibly resilient, and she couldn't hope to damage them, no matter what she tried.

When she turned toward Shirou, the scene before her was shocking. Swords were emerging from his body, piercing his arms from the inside and causing him to bleed profusely.

The next second, Shirou had moved at a speed that Yuma couldn't follow. He landed next to Issei, ready to defend him.

He had to avoid physical combat at all costs due to his condition, as every movement tore at his muscles because of the swords in his flesh. He decided to project dozens of swords above him and launched them, controlling their trajectory.

Seeing this, Yuma decided to flee, but Shirou didn't let her escape. He shot his swords like arrows. Several missed their mark, but she was hit in several places, including her shoulder and leg.

Just as he was about to launch another series of swords, he was interrupted.

"No, don't do that!"

Shirou lowered his head to see Hyoudou Issei pulling on his bowstring with all the strength he could muster, desperately trying to stop him.

"Please... don't kill Yuuma-chan," the boy pleaded, tears streaming from his eyes.

"What did I do wrong?" he asked, no, pleaded Shirou before him. "Please, tell me where I went wrong with Yuuma-chan!"

However, he was unable to react as he had already no strength left. He simply collapsed to the ground, bleeding profusely. He felt Issei rush over to check his condition, but he knew it was futile…

As he slowly faded, he recalled his life and the people he had met who had left a mark: Kiritsugu, Irisviel, Ilya, Chloe, Lyseritt, Luvia, Rin, Xenovia…

"I wish I could have seen them all one last time..." he thought, letting memories wash over him as he drifted away from consciousness.

As he pondered all of this, the flyer in his pocket began to glow, and a summoning magic circle suddenly appeared above him. This abrupt manifestation startled Issei, causing him to step back in fear.

From this circle emerged a seductive silhouette, a beautiful young woman with fair skin, blue eyes, and a voluptuous figure. Her most distinctive feature was her long, crimson hair flowing down to her thighs, with an ahoge sticking out from the top of her head, and she was dressed in the Kuoh Academy uniform.

Looking around, Rias seemed to wonder what had happened here. She noticed the one who had summoned her lying in a pool of blood, swords protruding from his body, with Issei Hyoudou seemingly fixating on her chest as he stood beside him.

She recognized him immediately because she had already interacted with him on several occasions. He had even declined her invitation to join her peerage. It was Shirou Emiya. Looking at him, she could only wonder one thing: what had put him in this state?

She glanced at Issei, Shirou, and their surroundings and quickly understood what had happened.

"The wound on him is magic-made, these swords, these scattered feathers... and judging by Issei's teary eyes..."

Suddenly, she remembered something. A few days ago, she had received a mysterious package containing a specially modified mutation piece along with a letter saying that she would need this piece in a few days. At the time, she hadn't thought much of it, but could it have been meant for this moment?

She didn't dwell on it for long and approached him. As she got closer to Shirou, she said only one sentence to him: "Do you want to live?"

He responded with something almost inaudible, but she heard his answer and seemed satisfied as a faint smile appeared on her face.

"So be it."