Chapter 24: The Panda Warrior
"So I can finally face you in a battle," the panda woman gave the Sword Hero a disturbingly big smile. EMIYA's eyes narrowed.
"You already know that I don't fight for fun," he said coldly. But Larsazusa only chuckled.
"Perhaps. But that doesn't mean I cannot enjoy a good fight with someone like you. You are one of the strongest fighters that I've ever met in my life, after all. You're not going to run away, aren't you?"
"If I wanted to run away, I wouldn't have come here in the first place," EMIYA snipped back at her.
The two fighters were facing each other at the center of the Grand Stadium's arena. The semifinal of the Grand Tournament was held in the afternoon, right after the quarterfinal finished and the fighters, as well as the audience, already had a break to have lunch and recover their strength somewhat. EMIYA didn't like this arrangement much; his fight was the last one of the quarter-final, and it meant that he was going to be at a disadvantage compared to other fighters.
During the lunch break, EMIYA had tried to ask for some information about Fohl. However, his effort was futile; no one gave him any answer. The best he could get from one of the organizers was that the boy was taken away for treatment. Whatever that meant, he didn't know. The only thing that he knew for sure was that the boy had already left. There goes the chance to go apologize…
It's not like he had the time to worry about something like that now, anyway.
The semifinal match between Captain Fargus and Artos ended just as everyone had expected. EMIYA wasn't allowed to watch the fight, but based on the commentary of Damian Kaur and the cheer of the crowd, he could imagine a completely one-sided battle with the winner being the pirate captain.
"Not going to use your great sword again?" said Larsazusa with a smirk while glancing at the sword in EMIYA's hand. The Sword Hero answered her with a smirk of his own.
"I figured that I would need more than just defense and power to defeat you."
And he was not lying. The sword in his hand right now wasn't what he used during the battle against Fohl. From what he had observed during the preliminary fight, Larsazusa wasn't just any normal fighter; she was not only very quick and nimble even as a big panda, but very skilled and strong also. And that was in an unarmed fight; he didn't know what she could do if she had access to a weapon. He needed to bring his A-game if he wanted a chance to win.
That's the reason why he chose what he was holding right now. It was the Kiku-ichimonji Norimune, one of the two katanas that the famous captain of the Shinsengumi, Okita Souji, used during her short life, and one of the swords he preferred using the most during the long wait to reclaim his trusted Kanshou and Bakuya.
[Name: Kiku-ichimonji Norimune – Quality: Epic – Base Power: 55]
[Speed +70. Agility +40. Keen Reflex. Surrounding Awareness.]
[Skill Unlocked: Flash Step (MASTERED).]
[Unique Skill: Mumyou Sandanzuki – Level 1 (387/10000).]
[Proficiency: 78%]
[Unlocked at Level 30 - UNLOCKED]
This katana was something he unlocked at the same time as some of the more mundane swords in his arsenal, including Sasaki Kojiro's Monohoshizao. Just like the Laundry-Drying Pole, it wasn't a Noble Phantasm, simply because the legend of Okita Souji didn't revolve around her swords. Even though she was a sick young girl who suffered from tuberculosis and died very early in her life, Okita was known as one of the most powerful swordsmen in the history of humankind, simply because her talent in sword fighting far surpassed any of her comrades in the Shinsengumi, and maybe even in the whole Asia at that time as well. If creating a sword technique with the power to strike the same place three times at the very same moment, something that completely breaks the rule of causality and rivals the infamous Tsubame Gaeshi technique of the aforementioned Sasaki Kojiro, isn't proof of that, then EMIYA doesn't know what could be anymore. That technique was so advanced that the best the Legendary Sword could provide him to imitate it was a skill that let him perform three stabs at the neck and the two shoulders of the enemy at a very fast speed, at least at this low level. And even that took a humongous amount of uses to master.
However, even though the sword couldn't help EMIYA access the full arsenal of Okita's skills, it still gave him some very useful abilities. For example, the skill Flash Step, which represents the technique Shukuchi that Okita had mastered during her life and was used by Ushiwakamaru as a part of her Noble Phantasm, was a skill that allowed EMIYA to, in a way, cut down the distance between him and his opponent in an instant. It wasn't simply a quick burst of speed like what he usually achieved through Reinforcement of his legs, but rather, a technique of martial arts which combined various phenomena and the right forms of walking and breathing to make the body move in a certain way that removes the concept of "distance" between the two fighters. That technique, if trained appropriately, would take a lot of effort and time to master and use effectively, and even though EMIYA could copy the abilities of the swords he Traced, this was one of the skills he could not. However, with the system of this world, this skill got integrated into his skillset when he unlocked it, and his body somehow managed to force itself to use it automatically whenever he declared its name with the intention of using it. And just by holding Kiku-ichimonji Norimune, his reflex and awareness of the surroundings were also boosted tremendously. Basically, this system was just like a cheat.
Against someone lack of experience like Fohl, EMIYA could afford to hold back and use a weapon he wasn't that used to. However, he knew that fighting Larsazusa was a completely different story. Therefore, he needed to go with something that fits his fighting style, something he could fight well with without causing him any hindrance, and at the same time was strong enough to give him some advantages in the battle. Usually, he would choose something he could use for his dual-wielding style, but the ones he could access in his arsenal right now weren't strong enough, and the ones strong enough were just not designed for dual wielding. Even though he could technically dual-wield any weapons in his arsenal with the skill Synch Blade, a lot of those swords weren't suitable to wield by one hand effectively. It's not like he couldn't fight with only one sword, anyway; dual wielding just happened to be the style he preferred to use.
"Are the two fighters ready?"
The voice of the mayor once again echoed around the stadium. EMIYA's hands tightened around the sword's grip; he raised it to his eyes' level and lowered his stance, ready to spring into action. On the other side, the panda warrior also slipped into her own fighting stance.
"Then… let the second semifinal match between Emiya Shirou and Larsazusa… BEGIN!"
"Will sensei be okay? I heard that panda woman is really strong."
Welt asked nervously while looking at the two fighters down in the arena. Tersia said, in an attempt to reassure him.
"Well, that boy Fohl was also said to be very strong, too, but sensei defeated him so easily, right?"
The archer still didn't look convinced. "Yeah, but in the end, he's just a fraud, right? Someone like that, even I can defeat. But this woman…"
"Well, maybe she's just like him?" asked Farrie hopefully.
The boy bit his lip. "Well, hope so…"
Right when the announcement came, EMIYA exploded into action. Closing the distance between them in an instant with a Flash Step, the Sword Hero swung his sword in a brilliant arc. The slash was delivered with all of his strength, aiming at the panda warrior's neck with the clear intent of decapitation.
But before the blade could even touch Larsazusa, it was stopped dead in midair by the thing in her hands. She had slipped out of the chain wrapping around her armor in a blink of an eye, and was now using it as a weapon. It was just a normal chain made of steel with bigger links than what he usually saw, but she was stopping the blade of a very powerful sword recreated by the Legendary Sword dead on its track, just like that.
It wasn't without any effort, though. EMIYA could see her arms trembling like crazy under the force of the slash. Sending power into her arm muscles, the panda woman held firm, and with a nimble movement, she dropped to the ground and delivered a sweep at the Sword Hero's heels. She knew that it was not going to work; it was just a bluff to give her a chance to disengage, and luckily for her, it went as she had expected. The swordsman saw through her action easily and jumped away, avoiding the attack.
"Good grief," the panda warrior grinned. "You really are ruthless, just as people say about you, hm?"
"Holding back in a fight only means dying more easily," the red swordsman answered her with his own cold grin.
Larsazusa's grin became even wider.
"Then I guess I need to step it up a notch. Dritte Boost."
Realizing what was coming, EMIYA also chanted his own incantation. "Trace, on."
Then the two fighters became two blurs.
In a fight between two skilled fighters, being faster, being stronger, being more flexible, anything that could give a fighter a slight advantage over their opponent could very well be the factor that changes the course of the battle.
And considering what was happening right now, EMIYA was obviously the one at a disadvantage.
The magic the panda woman used to increase her speed was at another level compared to his Reinforcement magecraft. Reinforcement is the type of magecraft that uses magical energy to fill the holes and gaps in the structure of an object, thus pushing the basis of the object itself to its absolute limit. On a human being, the effect of a perfectly cast Reinforcement could only result in the physical and mental capabilities of the receiver being pushed to the peak of what his human body could handle. More than that, and the body would suffer from something akin to poison which would gradually destroy it. Therefore, users of Reinforcement magecraft have to be very careful when attempting to use it, and not many magi could reach the level of Reinforcing their own bodies.
However, the magic of this world, instead of filling up all the defects of the user's body to turn it into the "perfect" version of itself, somehow amplifies the power that had already been within their body, ignoring any kind of limit that body had. It could go far above any limit the body could handle, without harming it in any way. How in the name of Alaya it managed to do that was completely beyond EMIYA's comprehension. That went against every rule of magic the ex-Counter Guardian had known. Something like that had already bordered the realm of True Magic. In his memory, there was only one person who had managed to use Reinforcement of this level, and that was Medea of Colchis, the magus from the Age of God whose mastery of magecraft far exceeded what modern magi could even dream about. Then again, this world had already shown him a lot of things that went beyond his imagination, so something like this wasn't as unexpected to him anymore.
Not to mention Larsazusa was surprisingly nimble and agile for a big panda like herself, and with the huge buff coming from the magic spell, right now, she was faster than him. And the chain in her hands wasn't just a normal chain; it was a weapon similar to what was called in his world a kusari-gama, a type of weapon used by ninjas of feudal Japan, with a scythe-like blade at one end and a weight at the other end. Although in this case, the weight was replaced with a dagger-like spike. By swinging it around, the wielder could both attack and defend very effectively. Not to mention, this particular weapon was seemingly enhanced with magic somehow to give it the ability to stretch freely to any length the wielder wanted it to. In the hand of a skilled practitioner, it is going to be a very deadly weapon.
Battling her right now, EMIYA couldn't help but feel reminiscent of Medusa in her Rider class. The monstrous goddess of Ancient Greece was faster than even the Hound of Culann, and while the ex-Counter Guardian was more skilled than her, she had her sheer speed and monstrous strength. And EMIYA knew if he tried to engage the woman in close combat, it would be the death of him.
And that's why EMIYA wasn't afraid. At all.
Gripping Kiku-ichimonji Norimune tightly with both of his hands, he deflected and dodged every strike coming from all directions. The chained weapon on Larsazusa lashed out, twisted in the air and struck him from the sides, above his head and below, but no matter how hard the panda woman tried, she couldn't land even a hit on her opponent. He just weaved through the rain of strikes with an unchanged calm and cold expression on his face.
Larsazusa was strong; he admitted that. But no matter how strong she could be, there was no way she could even hold a candle to the Gorgon of Ancient Greece. Meanwhile EMIYA, as a former Counter Guardian and participant in Holy Grail Wars, had more than enough experience in dealing with enemies of that caliber. He had faced a lot of enemies who weren't just strong, but also incredibly skilled and experienced. And the most important thing was that fighting under disadvantages was his specialization. Even with this vastly inferior body, he wasn't going to lose to the panda warrior in a battle of skills.
That wasn't an opinion; that was a fact.
"That… that's… INCREDIBLE! HE STOOD FIRM AGAINST LARSAZUSA'S RELENTLESS ASSAULT, JUST LIKE THAT! IF LARSAZUSA IS A STORM, THE MYSTERIOUS FIGHTER EMIYA SHIROU IS JUST LIKE A FORTRESS! WHAT IS OUR STAR FIGHTER GOING TO DO TO BREAK THIS IMPREGNABLE WALL?"
After a particularly nasty clash of the two weapons, Larsazusa broke away from EMIYA and jumped back a few steps, making a distance between them. There was a hint of frustration on her face, but at the same time, a clear expression of joy could be seen in her eyes.
And EMIYA saw his opportunity. With another Flash Step, he closed the distance in a blink of an eye, and this time, it was he who was on the offensive. His katana mercilessly drew arcs in the air, aiming at points on Larsazusa's body which would be fatal if they managed to hit. Now it was Larsazusa herself who had to desperately struggle to prevent the deadly blade from decapitating her.
The problem right now was… who was going to slip first?
And finally, Larsazusa was the one who exposed an opening. Her arms were raised a little bit too high to block a slash from the side, and of course, EMIYA didn't let that opportunity slip by. Dashing in like a storm, he delivered a decisive upward slash at the panda warrior. If this land, it would be the end of the fight. Even Larsazusa herself realized that; with all of her strength, she launched herself backward in a desperate attempt to avoid, and luckily for her, the slash didn't split her in half, but it still managed to deliver a very deep gash across the surface of her breastplate. She stumbled onto the ground and rolled away, but quickly recovered back on her feet, breathing heavily.
Leveling his sword to his level, pointing the tip at the panda warrior who was still dazed after the clash, the Sword Hero rushed in like a tornado, and…
"Mumyou Sandanzuki."
The three stabs were launched at the panda warrior in rapid succession, aiming at her neck and her two shoulders without any mercy. Still in a daze, there was no way Larsazusa could avoid this strike at such a close range.
He won…
"Dritte Guard! Bamboo Armor!"
And EMIYA felt the tip of the katana strike something hard. He managed to pierce through it, but the force and the speed of the strikes were reduced heavily, to the point that it couldn't deal much damage to the panda woman except for a small scratch on the skin at her neck. The strikes sent Larsazusa tumble across the arena, but otherwise did no serious harm to her.
From what he heard and saw, it was obvious that Larsazusa had used magic to strengthen her body in order to be able to withstand the deadly strikes coming from her opponent. But since he arrived in this world, he had never seen anyone who could cast magic spells that quickly. Even though his disciple Farrie could also cast some magic spells just by uttering the name of the spells, it took her a lot of training in order to be able to do that, and it still took her some time to gather magical energy in her body to finish the spells. Even though the power of the magic wasn't that high, Larsazusa's mastery of her magic chanting… it was at the level of some Caster-class Servants, ones with mastery in High-Speed Incantation.
And by failing to land the decisive blow, EMIYA knew the opportunity had slipped by. There's no way someone, as experienced as Larsazusa, would give him another chance like that.
From the other side, the panda warrior had stood up. She looked worn down from the intense combat, but on her face, the biggest grin he had ever seen on her face could be seen, very clearly.
"Blimey, you really were planning to go for the kill, weren't you?" she said while pulling out something from inside her armor, and the Sword Hero's eyes narrowed when he realized that they were pieces of broken bamboo. "Had I been just one second slower, I would be dead now. This is the best fight I've ever had in my life. You are even stronger than people said you were."
"Thank you very much. I'm flattered," EMIYA answered her with his traditional sarcastic voice. He lowered his stance, ready to attack again…
"…but that isn't everything you can do at all. You are still holding back a lot. Am I right… Mr. Sword Hero?"
That sentence alone stopped EMIYA dead on his track. Not only he, but the whole stadium suddenly went completely silent after the words of the panda woman.
After a few seconds, the red warrior asked. "When did you realize that?"
Larsazusa smiled back at him. "Looking at how you fight, only fools would expect anything less. Stories about the mighty Sword Hero dressed in red with peerless sword skill have reached even this land, you know. Don't underestimate the information network of an experienced adventurer."
Whispers also started rising from the stands. Shocked exclamations started filling the air, and some people even stood up from their seats to get a better look at what was happening in the arena below.
"What did she say?!"
"That man is really the Sword Hero?!"
"No wonder why he's so skilled! He's just like Captain Fargus!"
Damian Kaur's voice trembled from the commentator's booth. "THIS… THIS IS SUCH A TURN OF EVENTS! IF WHAT LARSAZUSA HAS JUST SAID WAS TRUE, OUR MYSTERIOUS EMIYA SHIROU TURNED OUT TO BE NONE OTHER THAN THE SWORD HERO OF LEGEND!"
EMIYA shook his head. He really didn't want his identity to be exposed in such a manner. "And what about it?" he bluffed. "If I go all out, I cannot ensure that I will be able to spare your life."
The smile of the panda woman became even wider. "Oh, you don't have to worry about me, Mr. Sword Hero. After all… when did I ever say that this was everything I had?"
Then she clapped her hands together.
Immediately, EMIYA realized what she was going to do. There's no need for him to even think; after all, this type of magic is also his specialty.
"Flash St-"
But he had to take a few steps back before the command could be uttered completely, as massive spikes made of bamboo suddenly shot out from the ground where he was standing and would have skewered him into shish kebab had he not moved away in time. Only thanks to the passive skill Surrounding Awareness granted to him by Kiku-ichimonji Norimune did he manage to react in time to avoid the sudden attack from below.
However, he knew for a fact that the panda woman didn't expect the attack to succeed at all. It was just a distraction she created in order to be able to complete what she was planning to do.
Shit…
"Magical Domain: Bamboo Forest."
And with those words, the battlefield changed.
A humongous burst of magical energy spiked up from where the panda woman was standing. From the soles of her feet, a ring of green light started expanding. Anywhere it spread to, the ground became the color of lush grass. It swept through EMIYA's body, but strangely, he didn't feel any heat coming from it; just a light, sweet aroma of… bamboo?
Finally, the surge of energy died down. And EMIYA's eyes narrowed when he saw what happened.
The entire arena had turned into a bamboo forest. The ground was covered in grass, and at the corners of the field, groves of bamboo had sprouted and grown to the size of fully matured bamboo trees, in just a few seconds. Looking at the ground, he could see the small tips of bamboo shoots poking out of the surface.
The former Counter Guardian couldn't help but let out an impressed whisper. This magic wasn't at the level of a Reality Marble, but it was still a very advanced Bounded Field pretty similar to the Territorial Fields created by the Dead Apostles in his world, which changed the battlefield into the environment that the user wanted it to be. And…
"Welcome to my battlefield, Mr. Sword Hero. I'll tell you, you are one of the very rare people who managed to force me to resort to this. In this Bamboo Forest, you don't have a chance against me."
"This… THIS IS LARSAZUSA'S BAMBOO FOREST, HER MOST POWERFUL TECHNIQUE!" At the commentator booth, Kaur's voice rose again with a hint of shock. "IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE WE LAST SAW HER USE THAT TECHNIQUE AGAINST ANY FIGHTER! IT MEANS SHE'S GOING ALL OUT! THE SWORD HERO, EMIYA SHIROU, IS DEFINITELY A WORTHY OPPONENT FOR HER TO PULL OUT HER TRUMP CARD!"
EMIYA gripped his sword tightly with his right hand.
"We'll have to see about that, won't we?" he answered calmly and slipped back into his stance, ready to move again.
He only said that as a taunt, though. He knew for a fact that fighting an enemy on their home turf is no different from plunging himself into the hand of Death. He glanced around with wary eyes, trying to take a grasp of the situation.
Seeing EMIYA's hesitation, Larsazusa smirked. "Not going to attack? Then don't mind if I go first. Bamboo Magic: Leaf Storm."
Bamboo what?!
A gust of wind started rising with Larsazusa as the eye. Then, hundreds of leaves, razor-sharp bamboo leaves, appeared from thin air and shot themselves at EMIYA with the speed of bullets.
"Sword Barricade!" Realizing the danger coming for him immediately, the Sword Hero shouted desperately. This skill was something he got from trying to copy one of the more mundane swords in his Unlimited Blade Works, a sword the size much, much larger than any other normal swords in his arsenal. From the sky, five swords of the same size dropped down in front of him, acting as a shield to block the attack coming at him. The attack couldn't cause any visible damage to the sword barricade, though whenever a leaf hit the blades, a clashing and scratching noise reverberated in the air, as if razors made of metal were cutting into the steel of the blades. And even though the sword barricade managed to stop most of the razor leaves, some of them still managed to slip through the gaps between the blades, and EMIYA winced when those deadly leaves cut into his skin, even slashing through the Champion's Garb he was wearing.
"Zweite Bamboo Spike!" Not stopping there, the panda warrior immediately slammed her right claw into the ground surface right after the barrage of leaves stopped. The ground below EMIYA rumbled, and a bunch of poles made of bamboo burst out, aiming at his upper body. EMIYA had to hastily backtrack to avoid being skewered by those incredibly sharp bamboo spikes.
Have to back away…!
He jumped back, planning on making a safe distance between himself and the panda woman, away from the sword barricade which was starting to wear out under the relentless barrage.
His feet stepped on something pointy on the ground.
Shit!
He desperately threw himself forward while curling his body up as much as possible right before the bamboo shoot he had just stepped on exploded with a force that was strong enough to make a sizable hole in the ground right under his feet. He gritted his teeth in pain; even though he managed to somewhat dodge in time, it seemed that the force of the explosion had ripped off a chunk of his right leg. Had it not been for the boosted defense of his outfit, as well as the Reinforcement spell he had cast before, it would have blown his leg into smithereens. Immediately chanting a healing spell, he patched up the wound as quickly as possible, but he knew that it couldn't be perfect, just enough for him to be able to move again.
But he didn't dare move another step. That explosion alone had already told him about what was waiting for him everywhere around him. If he took another risky step, there was a very high chance that it wouldn't be his leg only, but his whole body that was blown to kingdom come by those landmines.
Above are range attacks… and below is a minefield…
Yep. He was basically a cornered rat now.
It was exactly what Larsazusa had said. This was the perfect place where she could utilize her full power. And she wasn't joking when she said that she had been unbeatable on this battlefield. This was just cheating.
He couldn't help but roll his eyes. He, with this freaking sword of hax in his hand right now, definitely had no right to talk about anyone cheating.
No. There's no one who is undefeatable. Even the strongest hero has his own weakness… but what is Larsazusa's?
The gears started spinning inside his brain. What might be the weakness of this minefield?
And his eyes widened.
"This is the end!" On the other side of the battlefield, Larsazusa yelled. From the ground, hundreds of spears made of bamboo rose to the air and rained themselves down EMIYA's head with the speed of arrows shot from a bow. This technique was similar to what EMIYA used to eliminate the horde of monsters during the latest Wave of Melromarc, a skill designed to destroy armies.
Larsazusa wasn't a fool. She might be someone who enjoyed a good battle, but even she knew when she was outskilled by an opponent. Even though she might be at an advantage at the moment, she knew that it wouldn't last for long. She knew that she had to finish him quickly or he would turn the battle upside down in an instant. Using an anti-army skill on a single person might be a little bit too overkill, but she needed to be sure.
But the panda woman had underestimated the Sword Hero too much.
EMIYA was someone who specialized in this kind of technique. He had also fought people like Gilgamesh before, who uses this type of attack as their main battle technique. And no matter how dangerous this might be, there's no way it could even compare to the rain of Noble Phantasms coming from the King of Heroes.
He hadn't changed into any other sword forms during the battle so far, in order not to let his identity be exposed, but… there's no use trying to hide it anymore, anyway…
"Synch Blade," Switching Kiku-ichimonji Norimune to his left hand, he whispered. In a flash of light, another katana appeared in his right hand. It was the golden katana of Suzuka Gozen which he had used during the battle in the Wave of Melromarc, Daitsuuren.
"Housenka!" Yelling out the command, he swung the golden sword in the direction of the incoming bamboo spears. A torrent of fireballs the size of soccer balls appeared and intercepted the projectiles in midair before they could touch the Sword Hero. Even though they were small, the destructive power of those fireballs was very impressive, as the bamboo spears were burnt into cinder right upon touching them.
But the Sword Hero didn't stop there. With a flick of his wrist, he switched Daitsuuren into a reverse grip.
"Suiren!" he roared, and stabbed the blade of the golden sword into the ground. Usually, a slash delivered by this technique would send out a big wave of water at the enemies, but by burying the blade in the ground like this, the water coming from the sword was instead pumped into the earth itself. Soon, the whole surface of the battlefield was soaked in water, and the ground became soft and sticky.
And of course, Larsazusa realized what he was doing immediately. She smirked.
"Trying to wet the floor to dampen the power of the mines? Too bad, it's not going to work! My Bamboo Shoot Mines can explode even underwater! No matter how much you wet them, you won't be able to do anything to them!"
Then she saw the smirk on EMIYA's face as the golden katana in his right hand morphed into the shape of a… shovel?
What…?
[Name: Shovel Sword – Quality: Rare – Base Power: 20]
[Strength +15. Endurance +10. Modify Bioplant. Territory Reform. Plant Growth Boost: high. Plant Quality Boost: high.]
[Skill Unlocked: Mud Wave – Level 2 (24/500)]
[Proficiency: 100% - QUALITY UPGRADE AVAILABLE]
[Unlocked at Level 5 - UNLOCKED]
And that cold glare in his eyes…
Oh cra…!
By the time she realized her mistake, it was too late.
"Mud Wave."
And the ground heaved.
The Shovel Sword was something EMIYA unlocked when he let the Legendary Sword absorb a shovel he bought at Erhard's shop. Even though it was easy to train and upgrade, the weapon was basically just a common gardening tool. However, it came with a skill that let him shoot the mud in the field he was standing on toward his enemies. The peculiar thing about this was, the skill only worked on mud, and nothing else. Usually, the technique didn't have much use, but the Sword Hero had figured out a way to make use of it.
The earth, turned into wet, sticky mud by the previous skill EMIYA had launched, erupted and rushed towards Larsazusa like a tsunami, carrying together with it a rather… large amount of bamboo shoot landmines. Some of them exploded in midair, drowning the arena in a chorus of booming noises, but a majority of the mines didn't ignite and were now descending on their owner's head, whose eyes were widening in surprise and shock. Obviously she couldn't expect her own trump card to be turned against herself like this.
"Bamboo Magic: Bamboo Locking Wall!" she yelled desperately, and three layers of very thick domed walls made of bamboo shot up from the ground, hiding her from view right before the wave of mud collapsed on her head and exploded violently, drowning the whole arena in a series of eardrum-shattering explosions and a cloud of dust and shrapnel. Even that very strong bamboo wall couldn't completely protect the panda woman from that terrifying blow; when the cloud dissipated, there were only a few fragments of the dome left, and Larsazusa emerged from behind them, the breastplate of her armor was completely obliterated, and it looked like her right arm was broken, too.
Then she felt the tip of a sword nicking the skin of her neck. The Sword Hero was standing right in front of her, with his sword just one millimeter away from taking the last breath of her life.
"Care to surrender now?"
"Do I even have a choice?" she smiled in defeat, and EMIYA smirked.
"AND WE HAD A RESULT!" Kaur's voice boomed around the stadium. "THE LEGENDARY SWORD HERO, EMIYA SHIROU, HAS DEFEATED LARSAZUSA IN AN INCREDIBLE SHOW OF POWER AND SKILL! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF ZELTOBLE GRAND TOURNAMENT, WE HAVE A FINAL MATCH BETWEEN TWO HEROES!"
And with that, the second semi-final match came to a close.
Here I come, Fargus…
That night, EMIYA decided to have a drink at the inn's bar after dinner.
He wasn't someone who liked drinking. However, with everything that had happened during the last few days, he felt that he needed to have a freaking drink. Besides, it's kinda hard to avoid it, considering that the whole inn was gathering around him to congratulate him on his victory, and to try to get close to the Sword Hero. He didn't like that, but under the insistence of everyone in the inn, including his own disciples, he had to relent.
The alcohol in this land was pretty interesting. From what he had observed, it seemed that they didn't use rice to make it like Japanese usually did for sake, but a type of fruit known as rucolu. Farrie had told him that when he asked her about how they made the wine. The intriguing thing was when he asked her if the fruit was edible, she just stared at him with eyes full of horror as if he had just grown another head. Turned out one single fruit was enough to make a whole barrel of wine. If anyone tried to eat it, that person would definitely end up with acute liver failure.
The taste of the wine made by that fruit was pretty good, though. If anything, he liked it better than sake. It's not like he's going to drink a lot, though.
Finally, after a few rounds, the crowd started dispersing. They couldn't force him to drink a lot, so after a while, they would naturally get bored and return to their own group to continue drinking themselves to sleep. Obviously, who would want to sit around drinking with someone who wouldn't finish a mug while you were chugging down mugs after mugs yourself?
"Not much of a drinker, hmm? You really are different from what I thought about you."
The Sword Hero blinked and looked at his side, where the new voice had come from.
Sitting on the stool next to him was a girl he had never met before. She looked like an experienced adventurer, based on the suit of light armor she was wearing and the developed muscles on her arms, but EMIYA could say with utmost confidence that he had never seen a twenty-five-or-so-year-old girl with silvery white hair in this world before. Even though she didn't look like a girl who cared much about her appearance, she was still very beautiful in a strong and sporty way. If anything, she somewhat reminded him of a younger, light-skinned Caenis.
"Uh, excuse me… do I know you?" he glanced at her warily. The girl pouted.
"Gosh. You just beat the crap out of me this afternoon, and you already forgot who I am?"
EMIYA blinked. Now that he looked closer, he could indeed see the round ears covered in black fur poking out of her hair on top of her head. That means…
"You're Larsazusa?!"
The girl giggled. "Bingo. Am I that difficult to remember?"
The Sword Hero chuckled. "Not that much. It's just because you're much prettier than I thought you would be."
And he raised an eyebrow in amusement when the panda woman's face turned tomato-red in an instant.
"I-I'm not pretty!" she denied, a little bit too hastily and forcefully. The Sword Hero smirked; it was obvious that she didn't like being addressed with anything girly.
"Oh, I'm just saying the truth," he continued. "You're more beautiful than most women I've met since I arrived in this world. Why should I lie about it?"
The girl's face somehow went even redder. "You-you…! I'm gonna beat you to a pulp!"
"Oh, sure, sure," he waved at her dismissively. "Just like how you did it this afternoon, isn't it?"
Larsazusa flinched. She knew that she's just slipped her mouth; obviously she couldn't hope to beat someone who had just beaten her to a pulp a few hours ago. Finally, she pouted.
"You just like to mess with me, don't you?"
"Oh, am I being that obvious?" EMIYA answered teasingly. The panda girl turned away with a huff, and took a sip at her drink to hide her embarrassment.
The pair sat at the bar in silence for a while. Then, Larsazusa suddenly said.
"You're really an anomaly, you know that?"
EMIYA raised an eyebrow. "Why? Because I think of you as pretty?"
"No, not that…" she shook her head. "It's just… there's something weird about how you fight, you know. Before, when you battled me, how you fought was just… different. I've never seen anyone fighting as you did. Even Heroes are limited by the rules of the world, you know, but you… how you fight, the skills that you use… they're just… different. I just don't know how to describe it. It feels like you… don't belong here. It's just like you're someone from a completely different setting who got dumped into this world to mess with it."
Well, you're not that wrong there, thought EMIYA.
However, he had to admit that Larsazusa had a point. Since he arrived here, reincarnated into this body of a normal human, he had felt that there was a pretty big difference from what he had known about himself before. The status window did show parameters corresponding to what he used to know about a Servant, but they didn't feel the same as what he remembered. Even the Noble Phantasms he managed to copy and unlock with the Legendary Sword were not the same as what he knew them as. It felt like the system that created World didn't know what to do with an anomaly like him and just did its best to copy what he was used to into the setting, but not properly enough.
The two just sat there in silence for a while. Then, the Sword Hero spoke up.
"The other day, you spoke to me about that boy Fohl as if you had already understood what was happening."
The girl closed her eyes. "Ah, yes. Fohl has been fighting here for quite a while. A year, I think. He has potential, indeed, but he is still too naïve. You already saw how easily he got manipulated by those nobles. And the worst thing was that he had let the bloodlust of the fights, the fame and the glory slip into his head. From what I saw during the preliminary, it seemed that he's become proud of his own power, and much more confident. He's managed to convince himself that he was strong enough to go against Hero-level fighters, and you already know how vicious some of the gladiators in this land are. He's not going to survive for long if he continues with that way of thinking."
"So you wanted me to snap him out of it?" EMIYA raised an eyebrow. "You could have done it by yourself, couldn't you?"
Larsazusa snorted. "Oh, please, do you really think I'm someone who would be able to do something like that?"
EMIYA glared at her. "So basically, you just don't want to do it because you're lazy, so you dumped the dirty work on me, huh."
"Pretty much," said the girl nonchalantly with a cheeky smile.
Silence filled the air for a few more minutes. Then, EMIYA suddenly said.
"Do you know where he lives?"
Larsazusa blinked. "Well, I do, but…"
"Can you take me to his place?"
The panda woman blinked again. "Now?"
"Of course," the Sword Hero said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Tomorrow is the final match; when else do you think I will have the time to visit him?"
Larsazusa stared at the man in red. Then after a few seconds, she smiled and stood up.
"Let's go then!"
After fifteen minutes of walking, a wooden hut on the outskirt of the city appeared within EMIYA's range of sight.
"So this is his house, huh…"
"I've just been here once before," Larsazusa admitted. "It was after the first time he took part in a tournament at the underground colosseum. He lost, obviously, but he still showed promising potential. After that-"
The panda woman's sentence was cut off abruptly by a pained shriek. The two warriors jumped in surprise upon hearing the sudden sound. The sound came from… the direction of the hut.
"What the hell…?"
"Let's go see what happened!" Larsazusa, who had transformed into her therianthrope form in a puff of smoke, urged.
When the two arrived at the house, they were both horrified to see the front door wide open. Based on the sounds they could hear inside, there should be about ten people in the house. A band of people visiting a house on the outskirt at this time of the day was definitely not a normal thing.
"What in the world is going on here?!"
Larsazusa yelled in shock when she entered the house. The only room in the small hut was full of people; there were five muscular men as well as a midget wearing a top hat and a tailcoat. And EMIYA was startled when he realized who that was.
"Beloukas?!"
The midget turned and looked at the Sword Hero with an amused expression. He bowed deeply with a big smile on his face. "Well, what a surprise. You are Emiya Shirou, Lord Sword Hero, am I right? What an honor to know that you know my nephew. But, no, sir, I'm not Beloukas. My name is Zallaras, and I am the head of the slave trading company of Zeltoble. Beloukas is my nephew, and indeed, I was the one who introduced him to the business."
Then the midget felt himself being lifted up. The panda girl was holding him by the neck of his tailcoat, and on her face, utter fury could be seen clearly.
"You bastard," she snarled. "How dare you…! Who gives you the right to do something like this?!"
The thugs around them started to rise from their places, but Zallaras raised his hand to stop them. There was no hint of fear or worry on his face.
"Now, Miss Larsazusa, I'm afraid there is a misunderstanding here," he said calmly. "You see, the boy here has been in debt to me for quite some time, and because of that, the two of us had made a… deal before the tournament started. He had to advance to at least the semifinal match, but thanks to Lord Sword Hero here, he was knocked out of the competition before he could reach the goal. He couldn't fulfill his end of the deal, so naturally, he belongs to me now. A magically binding contract, in fact. If you want to see it, I have it right here. I'm just doing my end of the contract."
He pulled out a roll of parchment from inside his coat, and Larsazusa unceremoniously dropped him to the ground before snatching the sheet from his hand. Her face went pale with each word she read.
"You see?" the midget stood up from the ground and straightened his tailcoat with a satisfied smile. "I acquired him completely legally and rightfully, with the boy's consent even. If you do anything to me, I'm gonna say that there would be trouble."
"Bullshit!" From behind him, Fohl snarled angrily. "I signed that contract with you, but Atla doesn't have anything to do with this! You've never said that she's going to be a part of this!"
"No… Brother, stop…"
A weak voice rose from a corner that EMIYA couldn't see before because of the crowd standing in the room. He turned his head toward the direction of the voice, and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he realized what he was looking at.
Sitting on the bed in the corner was a girl about ten years old. She looked frail and sick, and was dressed in clothes which were basically rag, but the serene and mature aura of nobility coming from her showed the ex-Counter Guardian that she was anything but a normal country girl. Even though she was turning her head toward the crowd, both of her eyes were closed shut. The girl was blind. Her arms and legs were covered in bandages; looking at her, anyone would be surprised at how she was still alive.
But what shocked EMIYA the most about the girl was her hair. The mystical silvery hair with a streak of black was highlighted by her smooth, pale skin under the bandages covering her body, which made her look more like a porcelain doll than anything. And EMIYA's heart felt like something sharp had just pierced it without any mercy.
"Illy—"
He swallowed the word before it could escape his mouth. There's no way the sick girl in front of him could be her. There's no way his adopted sister could be here, in this world…
The girl struggled to sit up from her bed. EMIYA could see clearly that she was in pain, but somehow, her expression didn't move a single millimeter from the calm and serene one she had been keeping until now.
"I don't have a lot of time left…" she said, and EMIYA grimaced upon hearing her voice. "If… I can stay together with you like that, Brother… I don't mind being enslaved."
She talked about being enslaved so lightly as if it was nothing. And from her words, it seemed that she already knew her incoming fate. And yet, she was facing it with a smile on her face.
The slave trader crouched down and looked into Fohl's eyes. On his face, a nasty grin could be seen.
"You see, boy? Your sister understood things way better than you. If anything, I'm doing you a favor. If she's with me, you can still take care of her… but what is going to happen to her if you go with me alone?"
"Ugh…"
Fohl couldn't find any word to retaliate. And EMIYA could see why; this slave trader was obviously someone with a lot of experience, and thus, he must be incredibly skilled in manipulating people's minds. What he told the boy didn't make any sense at all, but at the same time, it was something that no one could find any way to argue against.
Tears rolled down the hakuko boy's cheeks in despair.
"Then I'll buy them."
Everyone turned toward EMIYA, who had just said those words, in surprise and shock. Zallaras started.
"I'm sorry, what did you just…?"
"I said I'm going to buy them. Both of them," the Sword Hero looked straight into the slave trader's eyes and said with a firm tone. "Is there anything in those words that wasn't clear?"
The shock spread across the room. Even Fohl was now staring at him as if he had just grown a second head.
Even Zallaras was completely taken aback by this sudden proposal. But the moment of shock passed as quickly as it came, and the midget eyed the Sword Hero with pure curious interest.
"Why do you want these two, Lord Sword Hero? If you need slaves, I can offer you even better ones without any blemish rather than these two."
"I have my business with that boy Fohl here," the ex-Counter Guardian said calmly. "But before I could even see him, you already came and snatched him from my grasp. You should feel lucky I didn't slaughter all of you for stealing my prey right under my nose."
He was careful not to let his expectation for the hakuko boy show. He knew these businessmen; if they could get their hand on someone's desperation, they would do everything to milk as much as they could from him. Making it something like a business and treating it as though the slave trader had just stolen it from him might make it a little bit easier for him to breathe there. And it seemed what he guessed was correct; the slave trader started sweating bullets. Obviously he didn't like the idea of crossing someone like the Sword Hero of legend.
But the midget wasn't the boss of the biggest human-trafficking line of Zeltoble for nothing. After a few seconds, he calmed down immediately and cleared his voice.
"Ahem… I'm sorry to break this to you, Lord Sword Hero, but buying these two slaves isn't something that simple… I mean, there are a lot of procedures I have to go through first before I can put them into the market… You see, I'm just following the rules. Owning illegal slaves was something even this country would look down on, you know."
EMIYA clicked his tongue in annoyance. It was obvious that the midget didn't want to sell those two hakukos; those words were just his way to try to buy some time. However, he couldn't say anything back; he didn't know the law of this country, and trying to use force here might lead to an international incident. He didn't want himself to turn into the biggest enemy of the country, especially before he could have a proper talk with the Axe Hero.
"Then how about I buy them instead?"
Everyone's heads turned in surprise again, but this time towards the front door, where the new voice had just come from. Captain Fargus the Axe Hero was standing there, leaning on the wooden door with a smirk on his face.
"Why are you here?" EMIYA's eyes narrowed. The boisterous pirate captain just walked into the room without answering him. When he walked by the Sword Hero, he leaned down and whispered into his ear.
"You're not the only one who wants to recruit the boy into your rank, you know."
The slave trader looked completely flustered now. He could never expect that the Axe Hero himself would be the one who joined the conversation. "Well… I… uh…" he stuttered.
Fargus just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. And he knew he was cornered; he wasn't the governor, indeed, but in this land, Captain Fargus was just as powerful politically as any other politician. He knew that there was no way he could pull the procedure trick against the Axe Hero; if there was anyone who understood the law of this land the best, it would be no one else but the Captain himself. After all, he was one of the people who made it.
"Very well then," finally, he gave up. "But I still need the money from you, you know. These two cost me a lot of money; there's no way I'm going to give them up for free just like that."
"Yeah, yeah," Fargus rolled his eyes, and threw a bag of money at the midget, who hastily caught it.
The sealing ink was prepared in no time. When the slave trader brought the bowl to Fargus, the Axe Hero pondered, then snatched the container from the hand of the midget. Before the surprised eyes of everyone in the room, he gave the bowl to EMIYA.
"What?"
"If you want to have them as your slaves, you need to add your own blood into the sealing ink, you know," the Axe Hero said with a grin.
But those words only made EMIYA more dumbfounded. "But why? Didn't you just say that you want them too?"
"I take back my words," Fargus shrugged nonchalantly. "Taking care of sick children is not something I like to do. Too much of a hassle. And I'm pretty sure that boy is not going to leave his sister, so… yeah, you know. Take care of them."
Then he turned and walked away, but not before throwing back the last sentence.
"Don't do anything stupid, you hear? I'm looking forward to our battle tomorrow!"
When the back of the Axe Hero finally disappeared completely into the night, Larsazusa muttered.
"That guy is so weird."
But EMIYA understood why the Axe Hero did that. Even though Fargus might sound like a jerk, and was a battle maniac who wanted nothing but a good fight, at heart, the man was still an honorable man who wished the best for his people. The Sword Hero smiled; if anything, the man deserved the title of Hero more than anyone he had met in this world.
He turned toward the slave trader.
"So? What are you still waiting for?"
The ritual was finished in no time. And as the two children groaned in pain when the seals were placed on them, a new alert appeared in front of the Sword Hero's eyes.
Slaves acquired. Conditions of use as follows:
Together with it, a new window opened. It was filled with conditions, and EMIYA grimaced when he saw what those conditions actually were. They were basically commands to torture the slaves if they didn't follow what their owners wanted. He had heard about them from Naofumi before, but when he finally saw them with his own eyes, disgust rose inside his throat and made him feel nauseous. At the same time, two new names appeared on his party menu. "Fohl" and "Atla".
So that girl is Atla, huh…
He silently checked the status of the two hakuko children. Fohl was at level 26, pretty high for a child of his age, and from what he knew about the leveling process of this world, it seemed that people in this world needed to kill other beings if they wanted to level up. It must mean that the boy had already had to kill. A lot. His statistics were very good, but they were all over the board; although the boy was pretty strong for someone of his age, it seemed that he didn't know how to focus on what he needed to train.
Meanwhile, Atla… she was at level 1. However, even though they couldn't compare to those of her brother, her stats were surprisingly high for someone of that level. Maybe that was the perk of being a member of the hakuko race, as Larsazusa had told him before. And in her status window, he saw something that made him grimace.
Weak Constitution
This slave suffers from a hereditary illness.
So the illness she had was something she inherited from her parents. It didn't look like any kind of disease EMIYA had ever seen in his life. He didn't know how serious it was, but it was torturing the girl in both her body and her soul.
"What do you want with me?"
He turned toward Fohl, who had just blurted out the question. The boy's face was full of hostility. Obviously, he still couldn't forget the humiliating defeat EMIYA had given him the other day in the arena.
The Sword Hero sighed. He shot a glare at Zallaras and his underlings, who were staring at the group with eyes full of curiosity.
"Now you don't have anything to do with anyone here, can you please leave? I have something I need to talk to them about."
The slave trader bowed deeply at him. "It's my pleasure to serve you, Lord Sword Hero. If you ever need anything else, you can always find me here, in Zeltoble. I'm going to assist you with all my power."
Then they left. When there was no one else in the room except for the two siblings and Larsazusa, he pulled a chair nearby and sat down in front of the hakuko boy.
"Well, now I guess you know who I am," he started casually, and the boy tensed up.
"You… really are the Sword Hero," finally, after a moment, he spoke up. "But… you don't look or act like a hero."
"Yeah, I've heard that a lot. So what?" EMIYA rolled his eyes. Next to him, Larsazusa nodded in agreement.
"But… a hero doesn't go around enslaving people!" Fohl said, but he sounded more confused than angry. The only hero he had ever met in his life was Captain Fargus, and even though he was a bit… eccentric, he was always a heroic person at heart. This man… he's just cruel and ruthless.
"No…"
Everyone's eyes turned toward Atla, who had just raised her voice. She was turning her face toward EMIYA's direction, even though she couldn't see anything.
"Brother, is that our new Master? I can sense the presence of a person who is incredibly strong… and yet, a strong flame of kindness… is burning inside his heart… Am I right, Brother?"
"Wha-?"
Atla didn't answer her brother. She kept looking (or was it sensing?) in EMIYA's direction, the dreamy smile never left her face.
"Can you come closer, Master? So I can touch you?"
EMIYA walked toward the bed where she was sitting. The gentle hands covered in bandages rose up slowly, touching the Sword Hero's cheeks and wandering around his face.
She kept letting her hand roam around his face for a while. And EMIYA's heart squeezed up painfully when he realized how much that action reminded him of his adopted sister. During his life, he didn't have much chance to interact with her except for the time when he had to fight her to the death during the Holy Grail War, but the time in Chaldea allowed him to have his time with not only her, but a lot of versions of her in different timelines. And the time he spent with her was something he cherished the most in his memory.
"You're sad, Master. Did I do something wrong?"
Only now did the Sword Hero realize that tears were running down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them with his sleeves. "No… it's nothing…"
One of his biggest regrets in his life was that he wasn't able to save Illya. And this time he's not going to let that happen again.
He stood up and closed his eyes. Atla's face followed his movement with curiosity, even though she couldn't see anything.
"Trace, on."
The best way to help Atla was, of course, the legendary sheath of Excalibur, Avalon, with the potent healing power which could even heal the most fatal injuries and keep the holder healthy and strong. However, the holy sheath was one of the rare things in the world he could not Trace, no matter how hard he tried. It was something that was sealed in his body by Kiritsugu to save his life on that night of destiny, and when he returned it to Saber, it was gone forever with her. It could be said that the holy sheath was lost together with his own life.
However… there was still something else with power rivaling the sheath, which he can Project.
In a brilliant flash of light, the shape of a sword took form in front of him. A beautiful sword made of gold and silver with dazzling decorations. The symbol of the King of England, pulled out from the stone of appointment, with the words "Whosoe'er pulleth out this sword of this stone is rightwise king of all England" engraved in a golden inscription on its hilt. The Sword of Selection, Caliburn.
Ignoring the electricity running across his body when he grasped the hilt of the sword, EMIYA gently lifted it up and placed it in the hands of Atla, sheath and everything. Even though Caliburn cannot offer incredible healing power and absolute protection like what Avalon can do, it bestows its wielder immortality and eternal youth.
"As long as you still keep this sword together with you, you are not going to die from any disease or illness, even what you are suffering from at the moment," he said. "This is the best I can do for you at the moment, but I promise with my own life that I'm going to find a cure to get rid of your illness once and for all."
Atla smiled. "I believe you, Master. I can feel tremendous power coming from this weapon… but at the same time, I can also feel a warm glow coming into my chest. I can still feel the pain, but… it doesn't hurt that much anymore. Thank you."
EMIYA nodded with a smile. Then, he stood up and turned toward Fohl.
"I never consider myself a Hero. You can think anything about me; it's fine. However, I was summoned here to protect this world, and you can trust me that I am going to do it with everything I have. Even the slave crest is just a formality; I can break it as soon as I want, and if you want me to. However, right now I'm in need of people with promising potential to help me counter the Wave, and as such, I have to apologize for having to keep it on you two for a while longer. But I swear to you, you are not going to suffer from any kind of torture when you're with me, as long as you do not betray me."
He stopped for a moment, then continued. "And I swear to you, as long as you are with me, I will do everything within my ability to find a cure for Atla's illness. I swear in my name that I will do it, even if it costs me my life."
For a while, the room was filled with solemn silence. Then, Fohl stood up. There was still a hint of doubt and wariness in his eyes, but his face now bore a grim expression of seriousness.
"I still don't fully believe you," he said with a careful voice, "but Atla has decided to put her trust in you… so I'm going to, too. And…" he suddenly kneeled in front of EMIYA, "…please, keep your words about healing Atla. If you can do that, I will accept all of your demands, no matter what they are."
The Sword Hero looked at the boy. Now, in his eyes, there wasn't only doubt, but also desperation. EMIYA nodded, and reached out his hand. The boy grabbed it and stood up without a word.
In a corner of the room, Larsazusa was still standing, looking at the scene before her silently with a smile on her face.
Hmm… not bad… You really are a good person, Mr. Emiya Shirou…
The moon was shining brightly…
Happy New Year, everyone!
It feels good to finally be back. I was so busy in the last 3 months, so I couldn't find any spare time to finish this chapter. But finally I managed to finish it, and please consider this as my New Year present to you all.
There is something I already mentioned in this chapter, and would have to say again for your information: EMIYA CANNOT PROJECT AVALON. This is canon information coming from Nasu himself: he stated that EMIYA's strongest defense is Rho Aias, not Avalon, which means that he cannot Project it to make use of its power.
Based on an interview Nasu made in the past, he stated that EMIYA was the Shirou of a route mostly similar to the Fate route, and the difference was that he never managed to save Saber's heart. This, to me, might be interpreted in two different ways:
1. He did not give Avalon back to Saber, and somehow they managed to defeat Gilgamesh and Kotomine and destroy the Grail without it. I don't think this was possible, but if this actually happened, it meant that Avalon still stayed inside Shirou until he died, and was lost together with his body. Therefore, the Heroic Spirit EMIYA who lost his original body didn't have access to it.
2. He gave Avalon back to Saber, and they defeated Gilgamesh and Kotomine and destroyed the Grail as in the Fate route canon. It meant that EMIYA, as the Shirou of this timeline, did not possess Avalon after the Fifth Grail War anymore. But this is where things get interesting. it wasn't made clear in canon whether the Avalon returned to Saber was the original one, or just a perfect copy made by Projection magecraft, because it was stated explicitly in canon that Shirou used Projection together with Saber giving it the form in order to retrieve it. It might just be a perfect copy that would not disappear with the full function of the original, but a copy nonetheless. Saber herself stated that "no one else would be able to reproduce it so perfectly". Note that she said "reproduce", not "retrieve". But it was stated that when the connection between Shirou and Saber disappeared, the image and power of the sheath were gone as well. Therefore, even though it might still be in his body after that, EMIYA didn't have access to it.
In this chapter, EMIYA himself assumed that the one he returned to Saber was the original and he didn't have it in his possession anymore, that's why he could not Project it to heal Atla. And instead, he projected Caliburn, which wasn't mentioned to have a healing effect like Avalon, but it had the power to bless the wielder with immortality and eternal youth. This might piss off quite a lot of people, but I have decided to follow canon in this case. Sorry about that.
Anyway, Happy New Year again! Wish you all good luck this year!