AN: Thanks for all the support. I'll be taking a short break as I plan out the next arc, but regardless of my progress, I'll be posting the next chapter in a week.


He felt his soul ache, as a sword near the level of a Noble Phantasm was stabbed into Unlimited Blade Works.

Unlike Paul's plain sword, that held no special history or traits, and was easy to Trace and Project, the katana on the waist of Ghislaine Dedoldia was unique.

Flat Core, a cursed sword made by Yulian Jalisco, a craftsman of the Demon World, and created from the bones of a King Dragon. Collected by Gal Farion, the Sword God, and given to Ghislaine she became a Sword King.

UBW wasn't fixed yet, he still couldn't access most weapons, and yet Flat Core broke through the complication, and the red blade was embedded into his soil of his soul.

It felt like electricity was dancing across his brain, and his image of the katana began glitching out.

Rejection, his body was rejecting the sword. That sword was more than a weapon, it was an anchor, a key, a part of this world that blinded his soul to his body in this world.

Spells were mental images enforced upon the body and world. Unlimited Blade Works was Shirou Emiya's ultimate spell, a manifestation of his entire being.

But it wasn't, it was Archer's spell, and it had infected and killed him. His soul had been invaded and ripped apart by ideals that went against his borrowed ideals.

His body was moving on his own, Paul had asked Ghislaine if she wouldn't mind testing his son, she had accepted and drew her sword, he did the same.

She was strong, it wouldn't be bizarre if she could take down a Servant. She had a move that could let her slash faster than sound and light.

He wasn't in control of his body as he attacked. His mind and soul were occupied struggling with the information from her blade.

An imaginary hand gripped the copy in his soul, and he shoved it deeper in, until the hilt was beneath the soil.

As he came to his senses, she had just parried his sword and sent his entire body flying. The force had torn some muscles, and as he feet landed, his injuries healed. He froze, he hadn't casted Healing.

As his muscles twitched, so did Ghislaine's beast ears, the steel fibers had scratched against each other in his body.

"Healing."

Steel warped and vanished, and the static in his mind had left completely. He fell to his knees and began panting heavily.

It had almost been exactly a month since he talked with Paul about his future, and he already had all his affairs in order as a horse drawn carriage came up to the house.

A tall beast woman emerged, and as she began talking with Paul, he got lost looking at her sword.

"Huh, I can see why you're so smug, he's certainly strong."

"Hoh?" Paul puffed up his chest with pride.

The battle hadn't lasted more than twenty seconds, and he had been the only one attacking, yet he had worn himself out without even scratching her fur coat.


AN: Thanks for all the support. I'll be taking a short break as I plan out the next arc, but regardless of my progress, I'll be posting the next chapter in a week.

I think a major flaw in this story is a lack of personal stakes, and uh, I don't think I can fix that soon, it will definitely take a while.

The good thing about Eris is that she is an active character. So unlike everyone else, Shirou will have to truly interact with her as a person.