It was a day same as ever
Well expect the man following me.
I was running with all my being but I was slower than him. Sun was almost gone, the street lights were still off. I don't even know where I was trying to go. It's been almost 10 minutes and I haven't seen anyone. It was off, normally many people would be still out at this time.
There was only a single answer to this. Bounded Field. I don't even know when they set it off but I was never good at it anyways. It's likely my follower is magus but weirdly enough he did not use any magecraft.
Running was of no use. He was playing with me, keeping the same distance. I stopped and turned around looking at the man. He was dark skinned and white haired, rather tall with black clothes around him. There were also some golden lines on his skin and clothes making him look like one of the kintsugi art pieces.
He noticed me finally giving up on running so he slowed down considerably. He was now walking slowly.
"Finally gave up, Shirou?"
He knows my name… Is he an enforcer from the Clock Tower? but i don't remember me doing anything worthy of sealing designation.
He was still coming closer towards me without stopping. There was no other choice.
"Trace On"
Blue lines started to appear on my skin. It was getting hotter with each second.
Countless information was passing inside my brain. A rather normal looking blade was forming on my hand. The blue lines were going over the blade, visually changing nothing other than some lines on it but inside it was overflowing with energy. Energy it couldn't contain making it one use.
"Impressive, you're different from the others but still lacking." another step towards me.
Others? no now is not to think about it. I took on a rather basic stance I learned from my father.
He was looking towards my blade. A blade I forged after my recent studies under my father. I always wanted to forge earlier but he was against it saying I don't have enough strength. A blade with no name but after looking at it while not for much he stopped walking any longer.
"I see… It changes nothing. You are a Virus Shiou. Nothing will change that. Kill yourself Shirou and end this miserable life of yours"
W-What was he talking about? I couldn't understand it but. I did not listen to him any further and waited for him to get closer. I couldn't strike him right now, I was at disadvantage.
He continued to look at me then closed his eyes. NOW!
With a burst I ran towards. After getting close enough I swung my blade but the next second I was flying away with particles of my shattered blade around me. I couldn't see how it happened, it was too fast.
*Urghh!* my back landed flat on the ground. Blood came out of my mouth. This was bad. I tried to get back up but it was hurting so much. My bones were either fractured or broken. I needed to heal… I promised uncle to only ever use it when the situation is dire enough.
My hand went for a pocket on me, pulling out a small bottle with something red inside it. I immediately drank it. With the blood entering my system there were changes, I was healing but there was also light coming out of me. I immediately got up but I wasn't fast enough.
My leg was injured, a blade was sticking out of the other side.
"You.. how did you get that" he who was now right beside me took me by my neck. I tried to fight back but he was far stronger than me. Getting me to look at his eyes he once again asked.
"Answer me Shirou! How did you get that?" It was obvious he was talking about the blood I just drank but I would never tell him anything about it. I was starting to slowly lose consciousness because of the lack of air. With a last attempt from me I swung at him again.
One last strike with all my strength.
One last strike with all my belief behind it
One last strike with my dreams behind it.
One last strike with a weapon from my father.
Everything I longed, aimed, wanted was shattered with that single sound.
It was all broken because of that man
With a clean strike he shattered the blade in my hand and ut of my arm.
The blood was not enough the gift of my uncle could restore my arm.
"So be it" He flang me towards a wall close to us. This it, Everything inside my body was broken. I couldn't even lift a finger and i was bleeding heavily.
"I would say Rin and Sakura would be sad to see you like this but they don't even exist. Blame your existence Shirou" He was still saying things i couldn't understand.
I could barely see anymore but the last thing I saw was a gun in his hands aiming at me.
My eyes got closed completely, I couldn't open them anymore. I was just waiting for my inevitable death.
Sorry Uncle, even after you saved me I couldn't achieve the single wish you had, Father, for I couldn't make your single dream come true because I'm dying before I could even start it.
*BANG*
It was weird. It was cold everywhere then suddenly it was warm.
The arm that was taken from me was suddenly there, where I could feel it again.
My eyes sprung open at these sensations I was feeling. Is this how it feels to die?
"Not exactly, no"
A voice, it felt like a mix of everything. I couldn't figure out what it was but I could understand it. I looked in front of me to see my "killer" standing there with a bullet in the air.
I was struggling to understand what was going on.
"Shocked?"
Shocked? Yes, I was shocked. I was having hard time believing it actually. I who should be dead was now here like nothing happened and my "killer was standing there like time has stopped.
The only sort of magecraft I know of that uses time was Uncle's but he could only make himself faster not stop it.
"This is but the tip of the iceberg Mister Shirou"
Everything around me suddenly begins to disappear. I never heard of anything like this before.
"You are currently not in the same place as you were before Mister Shriou. My suggestion is for you to not understand it but accept it"
That would be normally hard to accept but something inside me was telling me to believe the voice.
"You see Mister Shirou you were just about to die but i pulled you here"
"Why?" I couldn't understand how these things were possible but just why would the owner of this voice do this.
"It's rather simple. You see there is a …playground I made long ago"
Suddenly the place around us changed. It was all black with white dots around us. The only thing different was a big round thing with white, green and blue all around it. It was something looking awfully similar to Earth.
"It was meant to be a place where everyone could enjoy but not everyone taught the same."
There were images of war. A war with human look alikes fighting against dragons. They were not human with their ears looking different and green all over them.
"This little argument over a place got bigger and bigger and included far more than this two sides"
More and more different things entered the battlefield. From Devil looking things to people with no solid skin.
"Many races died of in this war"
The death count was bigger than anything I have ever seen before. Corpses everywhere but they were still continuing on.
"One side was at clear disadvantage but a Tyrant appeared"
Someone with futuristic armour appeared. With blue lights around him and long red burly hair coming out of his helmet.
"Everyone thought he would end this war but he had other plans"
Many of the both sides were now together in a place bowing at a single man.
"The Tyrant hated the world and its inhabitants. Driven by his rage he aimed to rule with an ironfist. Conquering places, enslaving everything, even Gods."
"With his army there was nothing that could stop him. His army consists of trusted individuals but one day he was betrayed by someone rather close to him. He failed to amend his mistakes towards her. With his anger slowly going away he did not kill her immediately but let her go, replacing her with a clone."
"Before the witch was sent away she was given something by the second in command, an unparalleled smith across the universe. This would allow her to summon a Hero that would put an end to this Tyrant's rule but would end up making her go on a rampage."
There was a scene where some robot was giving a red robed man a ball or something.
"She would not hesitate to use it but first she needed a place where Hero could grow and this was also found thanks to the smith. He showed a place where the Tyrant refused to go for some reason. A place where there were still some people still living in the wilds trying hard to survive away from Tyrant's rule."
A place far away from his kingdom. A place with weird buildings around and people trying to live.
"The witch went there and learned why Tyrant refused to go there. She put locks on the entities within this place so they could be broken when Hero grows enough and defeats them. With her preparations done she started the summoning and locked herself up, waiting till it was broken and got killed by the very same Hero she summoned"
I saw the same red robed individual in different places doing some sort of magecraft i have never seen before, at the end doing the same thing to herself.
"This is the reason pulled you here Shirou"
"You want me to be the Hero" It was obvious. He showed everything to me, explained it but never said who was the Hero
"Exactly."
"But why me specifically? I'm weak and I was just about to die right there" I asked. The images around us disappeared but there was a man now standing there looking at me. He was wearing a blue suit with blue wants. A middle aged man with short black hair. His blue eyes looked at me and it felt like he was looking at my soul.
"Because you have the capabilities of what they are searching for. You have what it takes for one to be a Hero but also what he wants. A smith who has the potential to go past his creations. I can see it in you Shirou, you want to save those people and you have the dream to create the strongest blade. You are perfect for this."
He was right. I wanted to save those people. But..
"But I'm too weak and I am just a beginner smith."
"Those are meaningless as what they are searching is not some strong Hero right now but the one with potential. For the smith part you don't have to worry about that. Your ability alone makes you far above any basic smith and with his help you will be given some blueprints whenever you get close to something you will consider a smith or a workbench. There are some other parts as well but you will discover them with time"
"I.." I couldn't argue against it. But can I even grow that much? I am but a third rate magus afterall.
"I will help" I couldn't refuse in the end. I was already supposed to die so i could at least try once again here. Possibly making Uncle and Father proud.
The man opposite to me smiled and held his hand towards me.
"Excellent. Well then Hero i wish you good luck"
I walked towards him and shaked his hand. Ah I forgot to ask
"Sir what is your name?"
To this question of mine the man smiled further
"You will learn it at the end of your journey"
Suddenly everything went black.
I was feeling something on my back, like I was resting on something. I slowly opened my eyes to see the sun above the clouds with tall trees all around me making me look like an ant among them.
I got up from where I was laying. I checked myself to see everything was the same except my clothes. I was now wearing a basic shirt with loose pants.
I looked around me to see nothing except grass and trees. I started walking around trying to find anything and I heard a voice. It was the voice of a man.
I started running towards the voice. I was feeling rather energetic, and could feel every bit of glass I was stepping on. Even reinforced my earring, eyes and legs. In a short amount of time I reached to see a man trying to fend off what looked like a couple of slimes and zombies.
Without thinking much I ran beside the zombies tracing the sword I used against the dark skinned man. I beheaded the zombies as I ran. They were considerably slower than me so it didn't take long to take care of them. While I was handling the zombies the man also took care of the slimes.
After finishing the last slime he looked around and stopped forcing himself to standup, throwing himself on the grass. I checked to make sure and stopped the reinforcement.
"Hahaha I'M ALIVE!"
"Hah.. Thank you by the way." It seems he was having a really hard time managing these creatures.
"I'm Seth. What about you?" Seth huh. Cool name but me? I can't just say Shirou. I'm in a completely different world and hearing his name it wouldn't make sense to use an asian name.
"I'm.. Let's forget about that for now. Are you injured?" I skipped his question. I need some time to think about it.
"Ah well I'm alright man! But you don't want to give out your name huh.. did you lose your memories?" Perfect. Yes it would make it considerably easy.
"Yeah.. I actually recently woke up around here and was confused. Hearing your shouts I ran as fast as I could.
He looked sad after hearing what I said. Don't do that, it makes it painful knowing I lied.
"Sorry to hear that buddy. But not being able to call you anything would be bad. How about I call you with a nickname till you remember it"
"That is fine by me."
"Perfect. So hmm… you use a sword pretty well so how about Saber?"
"..." what kind of nickname is it?
"Arghh c'mon man. It's good I promise you. So what do you say we do, Saber? My house got destroyed because of these monsters so how about making one?" i guess it is Saber then
"...fine."
"Nice! I think this place is good enough. Don't worry I know a bit around here and I can say by myself they don't come here." hmm i guess it is alright. There are many trees around here too.
"Do you have any axes with you?" We need some tools to get the wood.
"Well.. I do but just one. Don't worry I can take down the trees by myself" that won't do. It will be too slow.
"Can you show it to me?" Maybe I will trace it. I never tried to do it with an axe so if it doesn't work I will have to cut it with a blade.
"Sure but why?" He pulled out the axe and showed it to me. It was a copper axe. Not a good material at all but I guess it was all he had with him. I took the handle of it and tried to trace it more, trying to remember it but something happened which i never expected to happen.
A feeling came over me, It was like this axe was already in my brain stuck there. It was not a simple memorization but it felt like it was really there. I took my hand off the axe and looked at my palm.
"Ehh dude you're scaring me" I did not listen to Seth's bickering. I tried to imagine the axe inside my hand and suddenly it appeared which made Seth step away for a second.
Amazing… but what is the cause of this? I feel like I have a copy of it inside me perfectly there but I couldn't pull it out fully, barely fifty percent of it. Did something evolve with my summoning as a Hero. He said there were other things so i guess so.
"Dude. What. Was. That?" Seth was now around me asking me how I did it.
"I'm not sure… When I touched it I got some sort of feeling. Like it was inside me, somewhere waiting for me to call upon it" It was half truth. I did not say anything about my ability to trace objects.
"That is super cool! So we have two axes with us. Double the axe double the efficiency" Ah if it was that simple
"Well there is something else to this. I did call it but not fully. I should be capable of around fifty percent of what the original can do."
"Ehh that is rather sad. Can you summon more than one?" Let's try it. I focused at the axe once again but on my other hand this time and it actually got summoned. It took a bit of my mana but not enough to hinder me.
"It seems like I can but it takes some Mana to do so"
"That's still so cool! We will never run out of axes then. You need to name it though." that is currently not needed but he was already thinking about it. "Hmm how about the Armory. You can do this on more than axes right? It fits perfectly with your nickname too" he seemed too happy with that name. Urgh I mean it is fitting. "Also how about calling your summoning something like Call of the Armory?" such a long name.
"..Call it whatever you want but isn't the second one too long?"
"Ehhh it's in the name only. You didn't need to say anything to call the axe right so it's just name only." that.. is fine but
"I feel like I can get better results if I summon it with some sort of call chant" Let's just go with it. I summoned both of the axes in my hands.
"Trace On" blue lines once again appeared on my skin but went unnoticed by Seth because they were mostly hidden by the shirt. I called the axe again on my right hand.
"Hmm this time it feels around eighty percent the same as the original." Seth opened his mouth at that.
"That is COOL! Nice line by the way but I still like the Call of the Armory better. Anyways let's start cutting no? It's getting rather late."
He was right so we started cutting the trees. It did not take as long as I expected to be honest and before the day could fully finish we made a rather basic look. Getting inside the log we started talking about what we should do.
"So who is gonna explore? Since I'm the older one among us I vote myself for the job" said Seth with making himself look bigger.
"The older one among us is weaker and slower than the younger one. You should stay around here and if someone comes here, greet them. You should also take down more trees as this log won't withstand as much as we like it to be" I refused his idea. He looked sad after I basically said he was weak.
"You hurt me man. Fine I accept. Anyways, I'm going to sleep now. If you have any more questions, do come to me. I may not look the part or act the part but I'm quite knowledgeable. Goodnight" and so he went to sleep. There are still many things to do. I will need to find other people, make this place stronger and get stronger myself.
"Goodnight"
Before I went to sleep I went to the workbench I made. A small one but still a workbench. The voice was correct. After getting close to the workbench I feel like there are many things I can do but I'm missing something. The things I could write were mostly wood based. Even then I lacked the equipment to make them so it will wait for now.
I should also get some sleep. I went next to where Seth slept and got inside the bed made with leafs and grasses found around the log. It did not take much long to fall asleep.
I saw something different from the nights before I came here. It was some sort of dream. In the dream there were grasses and trees everywhere with a log house in the middle of it. Inside the log house I saw the axe standing there together with the workbench. I walked near the workbench but before anything more I woke up from one of Seth's punches.
I wonder what that was.
—-
Time has passed. Before Shirou could understand it they grew up. Now there were more houses where they stayed. There was now a wall of logs around the houses. Shirou found more people as days went by and found more materials. He upgraded all the houses and equipment all around. It could be called a village now.
Shirou could be seen together with Seth and a few others. These people were the head of the village. They made the decisions but most knew that people saw Shirou as their leader. They knew that Shirou did not see himself as one but they also knew he couldn't refuse them.
Currently they were planning on roles of the people with Shirou once again taking the heavy jobs. Most did not want him to force him this much but they couldn't stop him. Seth took it on himself to prevent his friend making stupid mistakes so he was called Guide as he also helped others in the village.
After their talk was finished Shriou went back to his smithing room while others went on their way. Afterall they couldn't let Shirou handle so after a very long talk they convinced him to let them make a team to protect the town and many more. Leaving only smithing and exploring to Shirou.
He went near the anvil with some materials in his hand. Started to hit them with a hammer that appeared in his hand. He was making equipment for the people around the town and making himself an armour set so he can take down the Eye of Cthulhu. If what Seth said was correct it would appear after a week so he needed to prepare himself to face it.
After each smack something was changing inside him. This went mostly unnoticed to him but inside his dreams he could see the things he made. The small village was now inside his head together with each of the weapons he made or acquired. The little workbench and anvil in this space was looking like it was melting. He couldn't understand why this was happening. This space of his was some sort of Reality Marble is what he guessed. He heard them from his Uncle who witnessed one. He guessed that he was still developing but something always bothered him. From what he knows Reality Marbles shows how said person sees the world so why was he seeing the village. He never understood this.
After hitting it for the last time he concluded his armour was ready. Now it was time for others.
—-
"Saber, you should rest for now. You are pushing yourself too much" Seth could be seen trying to prevent Shirou from going out.
"But Seth, I need to kill it. It is coming here with all his speed and you yourself heard the dryads. It will arrive in almost an hour, I need to pull it outside the village. This year many new children were born, we can't risk their lives!" Shriou who was now more mature looking with a short beard on his face was. He was not wearing any armour weirdly enough.
"Guards exist! They can help you. You are just going to break yourself if you keep this up" No matter what Seth was still not agreeing with Shirou
"You know that they are not ready to face this one. Look Seth trust me on this one. Elysia is also with me on this one and you know how usually she isn't." Shirou opened the door after that. After he went outside a blade and armour set appeared on him. After a while he was now able to trace his equipments with ninety percent accuracy without chanthing. After 5 years his body evolved making him not need to chant to activate his magic circuits. He was now able to keep them active at all times.
"Fine but please ask for help. Helen is also done with healing you every goddamn time you come back." Seth was now rubbing his temples. The village was getting big, almost a city and some even changed from calling Head to Lord. Everybody was getting restless seeing Shirou get out by himself every time. They were worried about him and they somehow managed to make him leave something to them like smithing. He still smithed for himself as nobody was better than him but it still was something. If only they could make him get some help every time he went out.
Shirou did tell them that he was chosen as a Hero but even then a Hero still needed some sort of party.
Seth looking up saw that Shirou was already gone, turned back and sat down. He was getting tired trying to keep this man. He was now very different from the first time they met, there was still that young spirit in him but with taking the responsibility to run the village almost the size of a city because Shirou just couldn't do it he changed. He also had a son now, just 8 months old.
He knew he wouldn't live too long so he was going to train his son to be Shirou's right-hand man after he dies. He still did not tell Shirou but he was sick. Deadly so. It was because of the corruption they were trying to stop. He knew that if he told Shirou about this he would try everything to make them stay here so he was trying to prevent that.
Seth was right. Shirou grew too attached to the people. The only reason they did not start building on other parts was because he was not letting them do so. He still did not think guards were strong enough.
Seth could just hope everything would go well now.
—-
Shirou was considerably older now. He was sitting on a throne with Seth next to him. There were more people with the head of the dryad, the head doctor, Sea King, Archmage and a Princess of a fallen kingdom.
"My King, Jungle is completely conquered. We can start the buildings as soon as possible"
The Head Dryad Elysia spoke towards Shirou who became the King after the people chose him to be so. He at first refused to be so as even being the Head of the village was too much for him but at the end he accepted. He was just a King in the name as most things were done by other people. Even the paperwork was done by Seth. Seth did manage to make Shirou accept expansion since he also knew it was inevitable with the increase of the population.
"Go on with it" Shirou was now far older. He almost went around everywhere except the abyss. He destroyed most of the seals and slayed the enemies. He managed to fend off many of the Tyrant's companions. With the downfall of the corrupted Empress of the Light he was informed there are some cultists trying to summon an outer god. Worried about this he shared this information with the others. Archmage and dryads worked together to create a dome which will protect anything from happening while he was trying to find these lunatics.
"The meeting is done. The King wants alone time." seeing how they still did not go "Up, Up c'mon go out now."
"Bah you don't need to tell us this everytime Seth" Archmage went away after this followed with others. The head doctor Helen turned back to Seth pulled out her tongue then laugh at him after which she went out. She was the mother of Seth's child.
"You guys are still childish even after all this time" Shirou chuckled at their antics.
"Heh, like you can say that. You are still the same as ever even though we tried to change you" Seth laughed at his king.
"Bah, I changed… a little." Shirou turned his head to the other side at the last words coming out of his mouth.
"That little change is just you giving up more work to us." Seth held his hand towards his face and shaked his face.
A cough escaped from Seth's mouth which alerted Shirou. He got up from his throne and went next to his friend.
"Are you good? Here sit down" He helped his friend sit down and drink water while he was still coughing. He was informed about his sickness after his wife was fed up with not telling him. They tried everything but it was too late to save him. He was dying. Seth got scolded really hard by Shirou after that.
"You.."
"*Cough* no. Don't say it. I don't want to hear it from the idiot who cleans the castle all by himself and cooks for himself. *Cough*" Shirou got serious after that
"Please you know I'm good at it too" which made Seth smile a little at Shirou's remark.
"Heh i know and i do miss it. But I have a wife now. What type of man would I be if I refused to eat my wifes food?" They kept on talking and laughing after that. They were still friends even though it's been more than twenty years.
As they talked outside people were having parties everywhere. They were drinking upon the kingdom's foundation day.
Most people could be seen in the centre of the city around the statue of their King with his armour on. There were lights everywhere, people were going from stall to stall. Everybody was having a great time. Their great King gave them everything they could have ever wanted, what was there not to celebrate. Among the people, blue lights appeared together with an old man with ice around him. This man was the Archmage of the kingdom. People greeted him as he walked around as he entered a bar.
"Hello Barkeep"
"Ohh Sire, Permafrost is here. Let me guess "Where is Cirrus"" a burly man greeted him back with his unique style
"Where the hell is that drunkie" The old man smiled as he knew the burly man in front of him failed to guess correctly
"*Tsk* Same place as usual. You know that your Drunk Princess won't accept you any time soon right?" Barkeep returned back to cleaning glasses for his customers.
"Hey Barkeep another glass here!" a man to far right shouted
"Coming right up!" Barkeep shouted back as he turned to fill a glass for the man
"AH but she will!... eventually." Archmage hold one of his hand to air as with the other he covers the palace his heart is supposed to be. " For you see, I'm the perfect one for her!"
"You say that but you know she is with you because you make her drinks stay cool" Many man and the Barkeep snickered at him
"Hey! No, that is not the reason at all. She loves me!" which caused everyone to laugh. There was only one single thing Arcmage said before disappearing "Fuck you guys, you will see when she accepts me as her husband"
Shirou watching all this from a balcony of the castle was also laughing rather quietly compared to others. He couldn't see what was happening as there was a wall between them but he could still hear them. He got way stronger physically over the years. With eating Demon Heart and many more his body was still changing.
He turned back to enter his room. Seth was already gone so he was alone now. There was nothing more to do so he went to get some sleep. Today was a promising day afterall it would be nice to relax a little.
As he changed his clothes and entered the bed he once again found himself on this land.
It was now fully showing his kingdom. He would always appear at the main balcony of his castle which was directly showing the centre of the city. He turned back and walked around his castle, soon entering the room where he always smiths. Compared to before there was something lacking. There were no more workbenches or anvils around the place. They long ago disappeared. They melted and merged with his land. He could now do anything he could do with them anywhere he wished to. He could craft anything if he had the materials. He still was not sure but he couldn't summon his Reality Marble outside. He could still use functions like crafting anything with just holding the materials or many more and summoning anything he made or obtained.
Shirou kept walking and opened another door. This time he was outside facing the statue.
His body changed far from how it was in the beginning. His magic capabilities were getting worse each day but he could now fully summon any weapon he saw or made. He truly became one trick pony according to Archmanges words. He couldn't even cast reinforcement on anything but he was basically on reinforcement permanently. This came with the bad result of him not being able to use any wand or anything that required him to cast with mana. To make this not as miserable he made many trinkets along the way. From shields to basic pendants that have special effects.
He walked around his kingdom. A whole kingdom but there was just him standing here. He was scared of this place, he never told anybody about this but he was really scared of this place. Not because some monster was going to appear or something like that. He was scared because of the possibility of his kingdom becoming like this, empty.
Before he could finish his walk he was woken up. He was gonna do anything in his power to prevent this ending. Even if he dies, at least his kingdom will live.
—
Shirou was wounded. Most would call it a fatal wound but it didn't prevent him from going further. He lost an arm in a fight against Moon Lord. It was nothing but a skeleton now. He could still use it like a normal arm but nothing would grow anything on it.
After the brutal fight against the Moon Lord he went back to his people. Most of the Guards were finishing off the leftovers. He covered his arm with a cape as walked back to his kingdom. As he entered from the entrance he walked towards the castle, to the centre of the kingdom.
Many people came out from their houses and looked at their King. They were happy it all ended without losing much man but they couldn't show it in front of their king. Almost everybody in the kingdom knew how much their king loved each of his people. It was apparent he was not in a good mood. Not many realised he was wounded as well.
With all of them not getting in front of him Shirou swiftly entered his Castle. Today there would not be any celebrations against the defeat of an Outer God.
Shirou entering the Castle was faced with his main team of people. The head doctor immediately rushed towards him
"Hah.. you don't nee-" he was hit from head but was not hurt instead the doctor rubbed her hand as she was the one that got hurt.
"Shut UP! Let me see your wound!" Helen was quite scared sometimes, Shirou thought.
"That was stupid you know" and Shirou showed them his now skeleton hand. Most gasped after seeing it.
"You.. you have that healing thing right? It doesn't heal it?" Hah.. generally Avalon would always heal me slowly. As she helped me every time she knew about what it does.
"It's cursed. Far beyond anything I saw." Elysia answered our head doctor instead of me
"Elysia is right. It won't heal no matter what and it is spreading over my body. It doesn't seem to be deadly but slowly I'm losing any meat on me. I won't be able to have a child anymore" I was once again hit on my head from the back this time.
"You idiot! How many times have I told you and stopped making jokes when the atmosphere is like this!" I got scolded by Seth once again.
"Heheheh. You guys don't need to worry. I can still use it with full capability. I just lost the skin on my body. Can i get a bit of a rest now…" As I said, they let Shirou go to his room to rest. After all he now defeated an Outer God all by himself.
After he was gone they started to talk among themself.
"We need to do something about this. He is just going and killing himself!" Helen screamed to others
"But we can't. He is the only one among us that can go against them." Elysia spitted some cold hard truth towards Helen
"YOU! How can you say that when he is like this! Do you want him to die!" Helen tried to go towards Elysia but was blocked by Seth.
"You think I want it to be this way? I'm just telling the truth here. We are WEAK!" Elsyia compared to her usual self confronted Helen. Normally she would never do something like this but the situation was dire. A small frost wall appeared between them
"Ok enough! Let's not do any fighting now. Our King is trying to rest and you guys are disturbing it." Permafrost turned towards Helen "Helen I would also like it if what you were saying was possible but we can't, Elysia is right, we just can't help him no matter what. The enemies are far stronger than us. You also know the whole reason Guards exist was to support him and this is their limit. They can't go against stronger foe's" Permafrost finished his talk as the wall between them melted.
"But-"
"No 'But's Helen. Let's go home, our child is waiting for us." While their firstborn left their home a few years ago Helen and Seth felt that it was too lonely and somehow their second born happened. They were already considered a pair of grandma and grandpa but they were still energetic enough
"I.. okay" feeling dejected Seth and Helen got out of the castle leaving others behind.
"We should also go now and let him rest." and with that everyone slowly went to do their own thing.
—
Shriou was inside a fire pillar. He was not getting hurt, no not at all as the strength of the pillars was lost after their maker was killed.
Looking at the corpse of the goddess disappearing, his eyes saw a weird object left behind her. Taking it in his hand he looked at the past of the object and saw that this object would call upon the messenger of it. They will be working passively and with her defeat they should already be on their way.
Shirou was getting tired but he couldn't stop now. He still needed to protect them. After the loss of Seth Shriou rarely showed himself in front of his people.
Helen and others tried their best to confront him about this but he always skipped over it.
In this dream he would always be confronted by his friends favourite book staying next to his throne
—
Shirou put his sword at the worm and with its disappearance there is one message left.
"Beware, It is coming. Your end is near"
—
Breaking the portal's only way of obtaining itself slowly it began to disperse with a massage left behind.
"Your existence is fuel for him. Give up now for there is no other way"
—
With the wraith death leaving behind the cloth of his and a massage
"He will bring changes with his coming. There is no escape. End is inevitable"
—
Helen died.
Cause was old age. There were a lot of people at her funeral. She was buried next to her husband.
Shirou did not stay that long at her funeral. The others knew this and they knew another thing but couldn't stop it.
In his dream next to his throne a medkit appeared.
He was breaking down
—
Sky was breaking.
It was shattered as a portal appared.
From the portal a huge worm-like creature came out.
Shirou knew it, this was what they were talking about. He had come finally to meet its end maker.
—
At the castle leftovers from the team were staying still without speaking a word.
Shirou was in his room.
There was nothing to talk about because there was nothing they could do.
Their King was handling their enemies but they couldn't do anything to help him.
The Archmage was already extremely old, Dryad couldn't leave the people behind, Seth and Helen's child was taking care of the Kingdom, Sea King was taking care of the Kingdom's near sea cities while the Princess was taking care of the land parts.
Their King has already lost all of his skin while fighting Pet of the Tyrant. He consumed its heart so he wouldn't die of old age.
—
"Interesting, so you're the Hero she summoned"
A alien looking robot thing was talking while looking at the armoured Shirou
"I will admit those things you made are for sure great things. I for one never managed to make them but there is also the case that killing a general of my business partner would destroy the partnership."
Shirou never said anything to him.
"Show me what you're capable of. I will let you choose against three of my Mechs. I will analyse your capabilities while you're fighting them."
For the first time Shirou asked something "You.. you helped her summon me. Why?"
No emotion was readable from his face. He answered as coldly as possible.
"To analyse you. I wanted to see what a "Hero" could achieve in this time period."
At his response Shirou did not say anything for a while
"All of them. Just send them all three and be done with it"
"Arrogant"
—
"Kill me before the curse takes over once again." There laid a dark elf looking woman in red clothes, asking the man in front of her to kill him.
"You.. How can I save you?" Losing most of this body part made his ability to talk very limited. Shirou could barely speak with his magic.
"Heheheh I can't be saved. This curse will turn me mad once again. Just kill me and finish that guy off.
"Can I.. Save you if i take your curses" her response to his question was just a mad smile.
"Hahaha you can but why would you? It will come to haunt you, I would prefer it. Just kill me, it will make it easier." the witch in front of him seeing him coming close looked rather sad. Living a cursed life because of that mad Tyrant and in the end dying because of a curse. A joke was what her life was.
She waited her life to end with a slash from the Hero she summoned but the Hero she got was truly stupid
"What are you doing? Stop it!" He was trying to take all the curses on her to himself but failed each time he tried.
"You fool. Can't you see you are failing. Just kill me, what you're doing is just making the takeover the curse faster." seeing how he couldn't really do it he summoned his weapon. But the Witch stopped her
"Before I forget, take this. This is "The Community". Lame name i know but it strengthens you with the people who believe in you." the witch pulled out a crystal shining with a rainbow colour..
Going on top of her he first took on her last gift and then he finished her off in a single slash making it as painless as possible.
He failed to save her summoner but he would make her wish come true. Killing the Tyrant to save its people, to grant a wish, to end a misery.
Shirou de-summoned his armour, he who was left with nothing but a skeleton look close the eyes of the witch.
He summoned rather light looking armour parts that will help the cape stay still. He also summoned a helmet with a crown on top of it.
In his dream the robe of the witch was over his throne.
—
The Doors were flung open. Someone with a black armour entered the throne room. The armour had gold and red accents. He was facing the Tyrant who was staying still on his throne looking at him.
"So you have come in the end" the Tyrant was the first one to speak.
Killing every single one under him, Shriou finally managed to come across him.
"To hate me that much to summon you…" the Tyrant was speaking to himself. He looked rather depressed.
"You.. get ready" finishing the talking both of them got into fighting stance
Shirou summoned his best weapon to date, Iridescent Excalibur, named after Avalon, faced against the lone Tyrant.
The Tyrant pulling his greatsword was the first one to attack. It was truly a spectacle but it ended quickly, too quickly.
Shirou who was overpreparing against The Tyrant easily overwhelmed the depressed Tyrant. To him he felt disappointed. Everything for just this? Was his taught
The Tyrant was still not dead. He who was missing the bottom half and a arm suddenly pointed towards Shirou
"In the end I won Hero. Your kingdom couldn't hold out against me till you came here." The Tyrant, knowing he will likely die, wanted to go in the pettiest way possible, taking down the reason Hero was even here doing what he was doing.
A screen appeared around them showing the horrible situation of his kingdom. It was completely destroyed except for the castle. There was not a single life left there.
Completely losing himself after seeing this something shattered inside him. His armour began to melt completely. His crown and skeleton parts started to blacken up. A cape composing of black smoke appeared behind him. Each regret showing it self as sword appeared in his back. Together with a light clothes left behind of his armour that hides most of the next part. The community hanging beside him turned purple, shattered and started to bleed.
Going right beside the madly laughing tyrant he punched him. He continued to punch him with everything he got. Punching him with every hate inside him.
The anger and sadness stacking up inside him was finally lost and it did not like it. It was going to go soon. He continued to punch the Tyrant till he was nothing but a goo.
He screamed and hit the floor for a long long time. Left with nothing in this world, just by himself.
—
Long after Shirou was out of his rage. He was sitting on his throne. There were a few small things beside him. An ice particle, a leaf, a book, a medkit, a robe, a trident and lastly a sceptre. He was sitting silently looking over nothing.
He stopped functioning for a while after he was out of his rage but when he got out there was a key in his hand. He doesn't know when it appeared and with all the time in the world he stayed there thinking.
He woke up once again, inside a few rubbles of the fallen empire.
This was the day he was going to use this key. It has been too much of a time since he stopped doing anything.
There was a feeling inside him that was saying to put the key into air and twist it so he did. There was only a feeling because he couldn't read any history behind it.
As he did so ripples began to appear in the sky. Some kind of purple being stepped out of it and attacked everything in his sight.
There was nothing it to destroy anyways. With a sight Shirou once again started to fight
—
Shirou was currently staying silent. After he defeated the creature a rock was left behind. He couldn't understand why or how but similar to the key he couldn't read anything about it. With the idea that perhaps it could summon something like that once again Shirou started to make a weapon. His fight against the purple creature took more than ten days mostly because he couldn't hurt it.
Many blueprints passed in his head trying to combine many of his weapons but they always did not work. He couldn't understand why this Iridescent Excalibur would not merge with others. He did this before without any problem but whenever he tried to do it with this one it would always shatter.
Why?
WhY?
Why?
WH?
WHY?
This was the only thing going in his head until he tested everything. It just shattered with everything, he couldn't understand it. His first idea was to combine it with healing equipment so it wouldn't shatter instantly but it didn't work. Even together with Avalon the single item that was with him from the start to end would shatter.
He couldn't make anysense of it.
There has to be something he didn't use right?
Right?
And there was. The stone.
Shirou picked up the stone, he already lost all hope for it but it wouldn't hurt to try right. And so he did.
It was a success. It was amazing, this stone allowed his weapon to merge completly without any problem. How? Was the question inside his head but he didn't let it out. He just had to make it.
Many weapons appeared beside him, everything he made till now was around him. Most hovering over him waiting to be used.
Slowly everything started to bleed down. He added everything he could to this single sword he was creating.
With each second another sword melted down and entered together with its fellow melted brothers in front of Shirou.
The blob of metals, mana, wood, fairy dust and many, many more started to take shape in front of Shirou.
He knew how he was going to design it.
It has been a long, long time but that sword was his first successful sword.
Blobs of metal took on the appearance of an average length mediaeval sword with a simple guard. He took the handle of it and looked at the blade itself. The only thing that someone could say this blade was different from others would be because of the quality of it and the colours it shows when light bounces on it.
While not showing it Shirou was happy because he was incapable of. This sword was now his everything.
From how it started to how it's ending, this sword contained everything he experienced till now.
It was his ultimate sword.
"Andruil"
"Great name"
Shirou did not do anything. He knew this voice and knew he would eventually come.
"I waited for you to finish"
A man in blue suit walked beside him
"Are there any regrets left?"
His blue eyes were looking at Shirou.
"Yes, a single regret"
The man changing nothing in his face still looked at Shirou.
"Tell me what is it"
The man knew what it was, how could he not. He was there watching him and appeared when there was nothing else for him to do.
"Not being able to save a single person"
"Hmm.. Do you want another chance at that?"
This surprised Shirou a little. He taught he wouldn't but to his surprise he did
"..Yes"
The man then smiled.
"Well then. Since you accepted my deal in the start I will now do what you want to happen. "
He started to walk around Shirou but then vanished and the space around them once again changed. This time showing images of a girl with orange hair.
"A single soul left to defend humanity. Getting the help of the heroes of the past tries to change the ending."
Shirou was looking at the girl immensely. A single girl trying to save the whole of humanity… just around the age of 18 he guessed.
The man once again appeared with the disappearance of the images.
"What do you say Shirou, will you try once again?"
The man, like the last time, held his hand towards Shirou.
There was nothing to think Shirou taught, only a single answer in front of him.
He took the hand of the man and shaked it.
"One last time"
This time he would do it. If he couldn't save his kingdom then he should try from the start but just one person this time.
"Good bye Shirou, I hope it goes well for you this time"
The man was smiling at Shirou and before he fell on that darkness again
"What is your name sir"
The man's smile grew wider at that.
"Most call me Xeroc"
Darkness once again fall on Shirou
He was hearing a call of cry
He tried to go towards him and lights appeared all around him
"Summoning Successful. Saber Class"
He looked around where he was. White all around with pipes and cables here and there.
Lasty he looked in front of himself and saw her
The same girl she saw before
"Servant Saber in your service"
This time..
This time he will do it.
Eh, I wrote this in single sitting so it's pretty bad... I'm satisfied with it thought. I skipped most of the stuff i wanted to add in and shortened most since my but started hurt after 2 hours.