Hi! Lugal kug-ga here! I am a long time reader but a first time writer.
Imma say this now, I own nothing of the originals portrayed in this fic, I'm merely making an iteration.
And should you see some similarities with other fanfic Authors, it might be because I've…. copied it. Or took some parts of their works and incorporated it in mine. So, credits to them.
Enough of the boring A/N and onwards to the story.
I've committed to finishing this work, should it stop updating for a year, I've probably self deleted. So, sit back, enjoy, and review!
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Chapter 1
How long has it been?
Memories of the past have long since faded, with only fragments remaining.
Despite that, one memory remains, the smile of the one who dragged him out of that burning hell.
….
It started after Zelretch left, he suddenly felt a sense of vertigo and nausea. It felt like Memories started entering his mind but existing in different places at the same time.
One which is his body back in the space where it resembles a bubble, and the whole residence is in that bubble . The other is a battlefield, judging from the people's attire and the area's topology, it seems it's somewhere in the middle east, modern times it seems, the men riding trucks and holding guns said it all.
Suddenly, he felt an impulse. An impulse to eliminate and annihilate all within the area. The impulse felt nothing like a conscious or unconscious one. But felt more of an external order.
It happened suddenly, the him in the battlefield traced several arrows and let hell loose on everyone. None left alive.
Without giving him time to process what happened, he was suddenly in a different place.. to be precise, in a different time. Surrounding him are several soldiers wearing armor seemingly from a time during the medieval era ... .again, the impulse came… again he killed. An agent of death that have descended to reap the lives that he laid his gaze upon.
the swords, spears, axes, Shields, armours and several more weapons were traced and recorded within his reality marble, serving as a testament to the lives that he has eliminated.
Back in the pocket dimension 'outside'. Shirou was on his knees, his right hand covering his left side of his face…his eyes have the look of horror and despair.
"Why…why did I kill them?...why did they have to die?..." He asked with a shaking and tiny voice. He asked no one in particular, but as if to answer him,
A̴̷̢̭̮̮̖̣̟͎̲̽͌̅̈́̈́́̐͜͝ͅͅ ̴̷̢̛̩͕͍͓̻͓̣̰͔͚̝͈͓͈͆͊͑́̀̅̋̇̇̕Ḩ̷̸̧̲͓̙͔̻̙̥̲͕̦͖̮̳̀̋̏͐͜ͅï̶̶̧̡̨̬̫͔͕̹̬̖͈̩̺͐̌́̓̂̊͌̿ṉ̴̴̗̳͇͚͙͕͑̋̿͒̿́̅̊̽͋͛͗͒́͘͜͜͝d̷̷̛̤̯̣̟̮͙͕̖͐̈̀̀͑̌ř̴̴̨̫̯̼̠̟̠̮͇̲̖̮̙̫̪̻̀̍̃̈́̅̑͌̿͜͝ͅa̴̴̛̯̣͚̘̭̻̒̓̽͑̑ņ̶̶̧̛̝̦̺͇͖̻̗̫͚̞̆̎̏͛̒c̶̴̡̡̧̼͖̉͛͒̽̎̀̒̔̐̉̐̃̉́͘͝e̵̸̳͔̐̆͂͌̎͊̋̅ ̴̸̛̞̦̼͈̃̅̃̒͐̀̚̚t̷̵̛͚̪̺̝̝̹̙͙̖͎̦̥͒̓̀̕͝ọ̸̵̢͎̱̫̹͕̜̞͚̺͖̏̄̐̑̅̃̊̒́̌͝ ̸̷̧͙͖͉̰͇̯̮̠̻̯̙̹͔̃̔̄͗̓͆̉̈͗͋͠h̵̵̼̗̙͕͖̭̥͈̹̠͉͇͎̘̹̫̗̙͍͐̈́̽̄́͋̽͋u̴̴̝̖̣͎̣̪͓̦̩̠͚̺͎͌̌́͐́́͘ͅm̶̵̦̹̱̪̟̫̱̫̼̿̈̑̐̿͋̊̈́̂͋̈̋͛̉͌̒͝a̴̷̧̛̰̗̼̯̫̖̮̼͂͛͂͂͑̾̊̿̋̀n̴̷̛̗̹̲̙̞̝͕͖̯̓́̀̄̽̊̐̇̚͜í̷̸͍̮̥̠̺̜͉̆̂̏̓̽̿t̶̴̩̟̯̳̠̫̣͍̒̈́̓͛̌̎̽̂̌͠į̴̷̛̟̭̭̬̳̖̱͈̭͇̩̱́̾̆̀́͛͊͒̍e̵̷̡̛̛̖̻̺͓̳͙̐̑̈́̐̇̇̆̕͝ş̵̵̞̤̮̪̝̉̅̈́̃͘͝ ̴̴͕̜̻͕̮͇̜̹̮̑͋́͛̏́̄̅̓̈͝͝p̵̵̡̨̡̛͖̣͕͔͙͕̬̮͚̘͋͌̈́́̆̍͑͊͘͝ͅr̶̵̩͔͈̰̘̥̺̟͈̹͕̲̲̓̀̏͗̒̒ȯ̴̷̧̨̟͎̲̦͉̬̰̭͇̫͇͚͆͊͊̀̆̔̃̓͛͘͝g̷̸̛̛̘̲̹̤̦̹̜̀̄̊̋̔̈̉̋̔̓̕͘͘͝͝r̵̸̨̛̰̖͇̻̯͖̠͍̭̆͋̈͛̉̾̅̍̋̾ͅe̷̷̝̖̭̳̘̝̭̦̫͈̩̝̜̯̫̺͍͌̅͋̈́̈́͌͒̋̈͂̐͝s̷̵̜͇̥̲͔̙͕̳̙̤̲̥͉̘̻͍͑͑̓̆̅̎͌̃͆͜͜s̸̶̢̢̨̨̨̰͕̼̭̤̳̱͙̾̈́͊̅͋̐̈̓̒̀̅̍̅͝͠
knowledge seems to enter his mind. It felt nothing like when memory entered, it was more like something was conveying something through images and thoughts. Though it was enough for Shirou to understand.
"They…. are a threat to humanity?... Them? the humans?..."
….
"What….they.. threatened humanities progress…?.. then why?...Did those in seemingly advanced-..."
….
Շ̷̛̛͖͕̔͗̔̂̋̔̚๏̴̡͖͆̏๏̸̛̗̱̎͑́̏͑͂͂̏ ̸̯́̂̈́̈́̊̉͒͘͝͠๓̴̨̹̬̭̈́̎̋̀̄̉̍̀ͅย̸̧̡̩̙͔͚̩̲̰́͑͑̅͛͜͝ς̵̲̘́̽͒͗̓̈́̓͘͜ͅђ̷̧̣͎̜̟̤̻̞̈́̓͋͐͗̈́̆͂̌͘ ̴̦̼͔̳̘̂͆̇͠ק̵͇͂̑̅̐̿̓̽͊г̵̢͕̭͇̪̝͙̊̽̉̍͋̎͝๏̵̜͍͕̪̅̽̔̒̑̓͝ͅﻮ̵͎͈̯̹̖͖̀г̷̧͉̔̆̅̊͝є̵̠͚̖̖͍̠̠̣̈́̽͆̈́̓̀͑̑̂́ͅร̷̧͇͎̬͇͇̜̀̄͜ร̴̢̳͇͓̗̆̄̍́͝͝
….
"... they…have progressed too much?..."
…
…
…
Thus began his eternal duty as a guardian of humanity. Guarding them from those which are a threat that would bring upon their extinction. Eliminating them, as if they are but a pest for extermination. Even if that threat are the humans themselves. For eternity…
…Witnessing the erasure of countless timelines and possibilities.
…He Saw several destruction of empires and nations.
…He Saw how the Darkness within humanity consumed them. Falling to depravity, morals and order be damned.
Making the devil seem like a saint in comparison.
…Yet …he also saw how in darkness some are still different. Like stars shining from the vast darkness of night. They existed. Saints. Like the angels themselves from the teachings of the church.
….. still…it made no difference. Should he be summoned by beckoning of the collective unconsciousness of humanity. All…Shall die.
…
He was summoned to different era's and event's.
…One where Fergus managed to live…
..in which aias tried to prevent the prophecy….
…. where Beowulf succumbed to bloodlust…
…In modern times…. ancient times…
For a counter guardian is called with humanities despair.
….
….
Several times, he tried to kill himself. But every time he is brought back to life, as if cursed with immortality, he continues to live, reality itself denying his death. How could he kill himself when his being is not his own anymore.
Every time despair assail him, knowing that even how many times he kills himself it will not stop the fate of those sanctioned to be eliminated for the whole of humanity.
For the minority to be sacrificed for the continued survival of the majority.
…
"... this!.. this was not what I wished for!.. this!.. not this!"
Finally, under the weight of his ideals, he broke. His heart of glass shattered, with the shards being trampled on till they turned to dust.
"... I just…don't want others to cry…!"
Within the world of unlimited blades he stood upon a hill, with swords stabbed on the barren earth of the red wasteland that extends to infinity beyond the horizon. A grave mark of those fallen by his blade.
He gritted his teeth as a pained expression appeared on his face, though that also disappeared. Replaced with a scowl, his eyes seemingly glaring beyond the horizon.
Then, giant cogs made of steel appeared upon the skies. Turning ever so slowly. The sound of it was loud within the deafening silence.
"..if only.. I didn't exist-!.."
As long as he existed, he would cause suffering for others .
…
….
In the living room of the residence inside the bubble of space 'outside' , countless papers are stacked neatly everywhere, every page containing scribbles, formula's, and theories.
These are the results of his countless research upon the books that someone has given him, from a time he no longer remembers.
He immersed himself in the books as if escaping from the cruel reality of the true nature of his existence.
Having read through everything contained within them countless times to the point where he could recite every line of every page. The book's appearance could be deceiving, what looked like a book with thousand pages actually contained nearly infinite pages, but that's it, for it is not infinite, and he read them all countless times already.
….
….
He immersed himself in his research as if a man possessed. For the sole purpose of creating something that could be used to end his existence. One that connects the soul of an individual from all the souls of all its possibilities and assimilates them into one, turning that individual the sole possibility amongst infinite possibilities.
Merely ending his own would merely mean another possibility of him repeating the mistakes he did, so, he needed a more sure and secure way to stop it from happening, Thus his conclusion.
...a mortal soul cannot handle the weight of its infinite possibilities being assimilated into one, much like a star having too much energy it can handle and implode into itself thus ending its existence. Likewise, the core which is the one possibility made to assimilate the infinite possibilities of itself would end up being turned to dust eventually. thus erasing all existence of that individual and the remaining possibility into existence.
The only exception would be the heroic spirits recorded in the throne and if that individual is a bearer of True Magic, specifically the third miracle. Or something that could match or even surpass the strongest of phantasmal Beings, like the Gods.
Even though his existence is similar to that of a heroic spirit, unlike them he still has his mortal body.
…..
….
In the courtyard, there stood Emiya, his hair being full white, his body packed with lean muscles, and his tanned skin having countless marks and what seemed to be some kind of tribal tattoos.
These tattoos are seemingly carved, yet natural that it seems it has always been part of the body, they link each other and cover him from head to toe, glowing with magical energy.
Having abysmal talent in other branches, he opted with something that he's already familiar with, something that could let him bypass the restrictions of his origin and element.
Having only mastered his own variation of projection and reinforcement which he then named tracing. He instead focused the thaumaturgical formula centered around them.
At its core, Magecraft is merely the manifestation of things that already exist or occur in reality, like so, one cannot 'invent' but merely discover what was 'unknown'. albeit with a slight disregard for time and materials required. Phenomena not of this universe are impossible to reproduce. In order to create something, either another object must be given as a price, or an existing object is modified.
The base of all Magecraft is the use of Magical Energy to produce something that either already exists or can exist. That which falls into the Phantasm category, something made entirely out of images and might not even exist naturally anymore, will eventually be wiped out by the World for being in conflict with its established rules.
But, Emiya managed to bypass this rule to some extent when it comes to his Projections, since everything that he Traces is actually being pulled out of his own internal world by the power of his Reality Marble, making it his thaumaturgical foundation.
Thus an outrageous idea was created. Abandoning all self preservation and downright suicidal. He altered his body to be an amalgamation of magical formula.
Magic Circuits reside within the Magus' Soul, and it stretches itself throughout the body in a fashion similar to the nervous system. The number of Magic Circuits that one possesses is determined at birth and cannot decrease or increase naturally,but it is possible to change that number artificially. Like Through generational sacrifice for the creation of magic crests. But that's not possible for him, so he opted for the one that, due to his father's unwillingness to involve him in the moonlit world, and his own stupidity and stubbornness to learn. In his younger years for 10 years, he created his own magic circuits, which felt like inserting a burning hot iron rod into his spine.
By converting his nerves into magic circuits, and connecting them to his soul, he engraved the formula that makes it so that they would remain permanently, next is just storing and altering the magical formula that would make up the grand ritual that he has created.
It's not all success though. Countless times he died, and countless times he was back at zero. Dying means being reverted back to the point when the body has died or before the cause of its death.
Exploding…being cooked inside out…turned to ribbon strips…. crushed into a ball…
Now he finally managed to create and link the final and last nerve circuit.
"...fuh."
Exhaling, he opened his eyes. They shone a dull gray of steel.
"... with this, everything will be over."
As he's about to inscribe the final formula into the last circuit he stopped.
".. what?"
Looking at empty air as if he was looking down at someone or something, with furrowed brows he looked.
What he's looking from is another him that was summoned. Except this one is his saint graph being summoned into a container.
A Servant Container of the Archer class that was summoned to fight for the all wish granting cup. The Holy grail.
The him that was summoned as an archer was now looking down at a boy with red hair and golden brown eyes, looking up at him as if looking at something he utterly despised.
Both him from the 'outside' and the Archer spoke at the same time.
"... Emiya Shirou." "Emiya Shirou."