No regrets. That was—no is his motto. This was the path that he declared to Archer and he would do so with his head held high. He knew his dream was a twisted one. One that would certainly lead to no salvation, nevertheless, knowing that and even seeing it in that smug-faced shit that was Archer he couldn't give up on his dream.

Why?

If anyone was to ask him—specifically those close to him like Rin, his answer would be simple; to spite that bastard Archer. He would then follow it up with everything he hated about the man, being his looks, his personality and his uncaring attitude towards everything. Not in that particular order either.

A more grounded reason—and the true reason— would probably be because of his adopted father, Kiritsugu Emiya. You see, twelve years ago a fire was started in Shirou's home hometown, Fuyuki City. Thousands died. Fire was everywhere. Shirou was caught right in the thick of it and whoever he was prior to the fire was turned to ash and reborn anew. What he became was what Kiritsugu implemented into him. Not unlike a robot.

He could remember how it all started clearly.

One day, on a cool night, he and his father sat outside their porch, simply gazing at the night sky. Then out of nowhere, his father spoke about an old dream of his; to become a hero of justice and bring peace to the world. Shirou had questioned why he couldn't do it and his father had responded saying it was impossible for him.

That was the day. The day Shirou had found a purpose. Shirou latched onto the idea of being a Hero of Justice akin to a snake grabbing what could be its last meal.

Then the Holy Grail War happened. Shirou's ideals were put to the test, he'd summoned his faithful knight, Saber otherwise known as Artoria Pendragon—King of Britain and together, (Okay mostly Rin and Saber) they'd "won" except the Holy Grail from the beginning was essentially a scam and it was nothing but an evil wish-granting device.

Saber luckily, had destroyed the Grail while he went up against Gilgamesh and got his ass kicked but with Rin giving him some of her mana he was able to muster up enough power to summon his ultimate trump card-—his Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works.

In it he was able to match Gilgamesh blow for blow mostly because of his ego and eventually was able to defeat the oldest hero before he got serious.

All in all the Grail took Gilgamesh, Archer, the damn bastard was still alive and… helped him finally finish off Gilgamesh.

With that the war was over. Archer and Saber went back to the Throne and he and Rin eventually got together and they apprenticed at the Clocktower, the studying place for all want-to-be Magus'.

Of course when he says apprentice he means apprentice of an apprentice given his talent was close to none in anything that wasn't the bare bone basics which was Projection, Alteration and Reinforcement.

He was good at it, don't get him wrong but by Clocktower standards it was laughable and he definitely did get a few sneers from the posh Professors and students. They didn't of course know about his unique form of Projection he called Tracing because that was a can of worms he and Rin knew was better left sealed. For the time being.

The best part about apprenticing however, was the fact that he got to go out on missions and be the hero he'd always wanted to be.

Which led him to the situation at hand. It had started off easy enough. Rin's master, Zelretch had communicated to her to communicate to him (because apparently he wasn't important enough) about trouble happening at a museum. Apparently a rogue clocktower Magi by the name of Pierré Auclair—a minor Magi hailing from France was experimenting with some dangerous magic. A source nobody knew where he had obtained it from.

The mission wasn't to eliminate said Magi but to

spy on him. They needed undeniable proof of the man's crimes before they could move in and detain him. Rin's reminded him of that firmly.

"Do not under any circumstances confront him. We don't know what he is capable of. We just need to find proof of his misdoings and then the Enforcer's can restrain him." Rin had told him as they sat down at the table of their modest dorm. "With that being said take this gem-—when you pour mana into it it'll light up and alert me where I can watch from the gem."

"Okay… but why don't we just record him on a phone or a camera?" Shirou suggested to which Rin sputtered for a moment and looked away with her face red.

"B-Because, nobody in the Clocktower will trust the validity of technology and neither do I! Videos can be altered, messages can be forged and pictures can be altered. That's all possible with technology these days, so it has little sway in our world." Rin finally said.

Rin had brought up a good point but Shirou wasn't fooled. The real reason why she wouldn't just use a camera was because she was horrible with technology. For someone as young as her—she was several decades behind what kids her age used. Likely, because that's how she was raised.

Shirou himself wasn't a tech nut. He knew some things here and there but was by no means a master.

"Alright then, as you say. But you know, stealth isn't my forte. I'm more of a confrontational person…"

Rin rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm well aware of that and that's precisely why you're going to do this. To brush up on your stealth. You know you can't just swing a sword at everything. Even steel rusts to time. Stealth on the other hand only sharpens throughout time, never dulls."

She then looked at him pointedly. "And you need practice for your Enforcer training."

Shirou mentally sighed. He'd forgotten about that. They—more like she— decided that his area of expertise lies in being an Enforcer, as it would allow him to accomplish his goal of being a Hero of Justice by busting magus who abuse their power.

Of course, being an enforcer wasn't so black and white and not all people who received a sealing designation was inherently bad but Shirou tried his best to stay in the best course of justice.

Still though, he did have his complaints.

"Isn't it too early to start planning for my Enforcer training? We just got to the Clocktower a few months ago."

"The early bird gets the worm, Shirou. It's better to get it over with now, so later on you won't have to worry and bug me about it." Shirou's eye twitched and Rin smirked. "Plus, it's about time the baby bird left his nest, since Professor Zelretch has deemed me well enough to excel to the next level of studies. I'm going to be out a lot and so I can't always look out for you."

Shirou frowned. That was something he was looking forward to. Without Rin here, how would the other students and professors act? They already sent sneers his way when Rin wasn't looking, like he was a street rat picked up to take care of.

He wasn't afraid of them—not a chance in hell—but the problems that could arise could be troubling.

Also, and more importantly, he didn't like Zelretch. Not at all. He couldn't say why, but he never got good vibes from him. Zelretch never looked down at him or anything like that but it seemed like he wasn't even looking at him but through him! That was worse!

"But do you really trust me with something like this? Sounds like a big mission for something like practice."

"The best time to practice is under pressure. Or at least that's what Master Zelretch says. Besides, I know you'll find a way. Your own Emiya way."

"What does that even mean?"

Break.

Their foolishness carried on for the next day until eventually it was finally time for Shirou to start his mission. Dressed in all black, he went to the location that the association had found was his workshop.

The place that Pierrè had assumed as his workshop appeared to be a museum, making him a little bit happy.

You see, Shirou's unique ability is a variation of Projection except tens of times better than that of any Magus. His Tracing allows him to copy any weapon he's ever seen—provided of course he can analyze its composition. Everything he's ever copied is then stored in his personal Reality Marble which he can bring out.

This is possible because his Origin and Elemental Affinity is 'Sword'. Blades, blades, blades that was one thing Shirou was very good at.

The best part about it as well is that his tracing isn't just limited to swords per say but anything that is a weapon, meaning lances, bows, ax's, polearms and even conceptual shields.

Currently he has lots of high-ranking Noble Phantasms thanks to Gilgamesh's Gates of Babylon. Most of them weren't something he could trace at the moment because manifesting a high-ranking blade like Durandal for example takes a lot of mana, something he currently does not have. —Well, technically he could still summon high-ranking weapons but he'd have to recite several lines of his mantra to do so.

As he approached the museum he suddenly stopped, remembering what Rin had told him.

"Any Magus worth their gems has a bounded field around their workshop. You won't be able to get in normally, especially when the museum is closed at night. Trying to do so well, will alert the Magus and give them time to prepare and you do not want to fight a Magus in their home territory. They could have anything and from what we've heard, Pierrè has something incredibly dangerous."

"Then what do I do to get in then?" Shirou had asked.

"Remember when we were going through the weapons you can trace? One of them was a spear, Gae Dearg, from the famous Celtic Spearmen, Diarmuid Ua Duibhe. The spear cancels any magic that is struck at the tip, right? So what you need to do is find the weak point in the bounded field which each one has. By striking that area it should—until released, open up a hole that you can slip by without garnering the notice of the Magi because the magic wouldn't be canceled but suppressed so it would like it just timed out for a moment, making him not question who broke it but instead possibly wondering if his mana just short-circuited."

With that being said, Shirou drew forth his mental landscape and searched for the spear.

He found it on the far end corner of his Reality Marble where his other spears were. With the mental image of the spear in his mind, he started his chant.

I am the bone of my sword.

Steel is my body and fire my blood.

"Trace On."

Shirou felt his reserves dip as the red spear shimmered into existence, landing in his right hand.

As he walked around the bounded field he kept his senses opened for a point where the mana didn't flow completely. It took him a while, especially because he wasn't very good at sensing mana but he did find it in the back corner of the museum.

"Well, here goes nothing." Shirou stabbed the tip of the spear into the weak point of the bounded field. Sparks flew and the invisible bounded field appeared as a blue sphere that surrounded the area.

The spear easily opened a hole through it. Shirou slid the spear downwards like he was cutting a cake, making the small hole into a bigger one that he could manage to fit through.

Stabbing the spear into the ground as anchor point,

Shirou slipped in through the small gap that he made. He then grabbed onto the spear and quickly pushed his hand through before it could close.

Hopefully Rin's theory was right about it not alerting Pierrè. He guessed though that if it weren't true the man would be here himself or some familiar of his.

Arriving at the doors, it was childsplay sneakily disarming all traps in the vicinity with Gae Dearg.

As he entered it was eerily dark, making it almost impossible to see anything. That was just fine with Shirou because he had something that could compliment that.

Shirou closed his eyes. The world around him vanished and a world of swords appeared in his mindscape. He thought of the weapon he needed.

"Trace on." Shirou intoned softly.

From his hand a small dagger appeared in his hand. It was a weapon that appeared to be made of gold, a large guard and decorated on the pummel was a lion.

This was Carnwennan. The dagger of King Arthur. Its special ability allowed him to coat himself in the surrounding shadows, invisible to the naked eye.

With the dagger in his hand, Shirou confidently strode through the museum. He ran through a few rooms. First a room dedicated to the renaissance period, then the european period, victorian and even an egyptian room.

The room he seemed to be in was an exhibit of the Vikings Period. He could spot several decent axes and swords. A lot of the weapons however, were fakes put up to make it seem like the museum had more than it actually did. Shirou could spot them. Fakers know other fakes.

One of those examples happened to be Gungir, the legendary spear of the Chief of the Norse Faction, Odin. Gungir was indeed a divine construct of the highest caliber. Shirou could trace this weapon meaning he could confirm it was a fake.

The last room he passed by was the Greco-Roman period. Depicting statues of the Trojan Wars, key heroes like Ajax, Achilles, Diomedes and of course Hector.

As he passed by a statue of the Olympians leading to what looked like the main area, he heard a noise that made him freeze.

It sounded like paws meeting the marble floor creating a soft thump sound. Shirou ducked behind a statue just in time as a figure moved through the various casings. Daring to take a look he peeked his eyes over and what he saw made his eyes widen. It was a large greyhound but that wasn't what caught his attention. The hound was massive even among the tallest of the Great Dane's. It had blood-red eyes, and around its collar was spikes.

It looked like something straight out of he—.

" —you doing?" A distant voice, that slowly increased in volume, spoke, but it wasn't Shirou's. He heard a door open from across the room.

"You damn, hellhound! There you go again acting up. You should be obeying my commands, not dallying around over there!" Shirou dared to peek and saw a man wearing brown robes inscribed with some type of rune magic. He held a long staff that went up to his chest when placed fully on the ground.

A structural analysis confirmed the identity that Shirou had expected.

Pierre Auclair! This is him! It looks like Rin was right, he was squatting over here, meaning this is his magical workshop. But what's the deal with that beast besides him? No way is that a standard familiar, Rin never told me about something like that.

Shirou then remembered what Pierre had called it; a hellhound. Now, Shirou wasn't a big history or mythology person, even considering his own home countries Shinto religion, but he knew enough about a hellhound to know its origins in Greek Mythology.

That's the creature of the God of The Dead, isn't it? Wouldn't that classify it as a phantasmal beast?

Shirou couldn't mull over the thought much longer, as he noticed the hellhound do something odd. It was sniffing around! That meant it caught onto his scent.

Pierre looked confused as to its action, as it toppled priceless relics and glass figurines, moving around with its snout touching the ground. Suddenly, it growled and looked forwards, but not to him. But the shadows that was around him. Suddenly, it launched forward on its hind-legs at speeds that would make a cheetah jealous, right towards the shadows.

As it charged forth, it disappeared. No, not through a corridor, as the shadows it was staring at were facing a wall, it just disappeared.

A creature that size just disappeared? Wait. If it's a Hellhound, wouldn't that make it a creature of shad—"

Before Shirou could comprehend anything he felt something with the force of a warhammer impact his back and he felt intense pain, akin to the experience of getting stabbed right in the gut. Shirou flew out of the shadows, his dagger long gone and his back met a statue of Zeus.

Blood pooled out of Shirou's mouth as he felt a rib or two broken. He could spot black spots at the corner of his eyes and shook his head to remove them.

When he got back into focus, he could see Pierre standing over him with the hellhound not to far behind him. He eyed him curiously, as one would an interesting test subject.

"Now look at what we have here, a magus?" The robed man inquired as pushed his staff under his chin to get a good look at him. His eyes widened briefly. "Wait a second, I think I recognize you, you're that brat who came with the Tohsaka wrench to the Clocktower. The one everyone titled as the "Errand-boy." Did she send you to watch me? Does she not realize the consequences of provoking a mage of a noble lineage, such as I? I could report her."

"Noble?" Shirou repeated as he looked at Pierre with the gaze of steel. "What about you is noble? You're clearly doing something that's not allowed—not without strict supervision, which is summoning a phantasmal beast. Not to mention, you have him under your control, so I'm sure you realize what would happen if the Clocktower found out about this?"

"Oh yes, I'm all too aware of what would happen should the Clocktower find out my discoveries. I'll likely be given a sealing designation, and my magic crest confiscated for "safekeeping". Pierre spat angrily as he looked off to the side. "They are hypocrites—the lot of them— they would stop me

from doing as I please but do you truly think they would just get rid of this phantasmal beast, given they can?"

Pierre then focused back on him and grinned menacingly. "But, you have bigger concerns, namely, making it out alive. You were foolish to come here, especially alone. Did your master not teach you rule number one of being a magus; never attack someone at their home base. Now I'm not sure how you got past the bounded field and escaped my traps, but I'll admit it has me curious. Enough to keep you alive. For now that is."

"Beast, crush his skull, not enough to kill him, but I wouldn't mind you crushing every bone in his body." Pierre commanded with a wave of his staff, which Shirou took note of. The beast stalked forward, ready to crush his body.

It's time to think of something, and fast! Or I won't be thinking anymore.

As the beast finally leaped forward, intent on landing on him and crushing him with its weight, Shirou acted. Blue particles materialized between his knuckles and long blades with red hilts appeared. These were the Black Keys. The signature weapon of The Church, and excellent against the undead and hopefully this phantasmal beast. He wasted no time flicking them towards the beast, who was currently exposing its underbelly from jumping.

Unfortunately, given Shirou's injuries and his near pass-out, only one of the three black keys found purchase in the beast's back while the other two, impacted the lights, causing glass to shatter.

The one black key that found its way into the hellhound was enough to stop its momentum, and get a yelp from it as it crashed back to the floor. A cloud of dust was formed from its impact.

When the dust dissolved, the hellhound was gone and all that was left behind was golden dust.

Pierre watched in disbelief.

"Black keys? Those are the weapons of the church, what business do you have owning them. No, nevermind that, was that projection you just used? How were you able to utilize it as such? Bringing you in just got more interesting."

That was… too easy? Isn't a hellhound a divine beast of the Underworld?

Shirou could only recall the legendary beast itself, Cerebus. However, he doubted that—that was the beast itself. It was too small, and its presence while intimidating didn't feel too overwhelming. Also, he was sure the real hound had three heads instead of one.

Either way, that just made his job a lot easier and he could focus on the more important matter which was restraining the mage. Rin wasn't going to be happy to see all the damage he had accumulated to himself. He wasn't looking forward to that. At all.

Shirou stood up, shakily as he glared at Pierre, who was too busy mumbling to himself about what projections should and shouldn't be able to do. Shirou hardly paid attention and used the time to form his signature twin blades.

The action didn't go unnoticed by the french magus as he focused back on him. "Oh, I see you're up. Good, but as I stated before, choosing to fight me in my own workstation was a mistake!"

From somewhere, a whip made pure fire shot out towards the unsuspecting Emiya, and latched onto his arm. Intense pain followed shortly after as Shirou could feel the heat burning his very veins, to the point he had to drop his grip on his sword and take a knee.

Shirou looked towards where the whip led to and saw the most ugliest—and somehow menacing— creature he'd ever seen.

It was pink-skinned, the color of bubblegum, however gum was more pleasant to look at then it—yes it— was wrinkly and he could tell just from its look alone that it was from hell itself. It had two bat-like wings installed onto its body that lazily flapped as it floated a few meters above the ground.

"A nice little thing, no? Definitely an upgrade from the hellhound I'd say. Gave me less trouble too."

Shirou stared at it in unmasked horror. "What is that?!"

"From what I can understand, it's a Fury, the personal servants of the god Hades." Pierre responded before he smirked. "And the person in charge of giving you excruciating torture. It's good at that, you see. I'd like to see anyone at the Clocktower stop this."

With a wave of his staff, the Fury cackled, which was unsettling as its mouth didn't move and it yanked the fiery whip forward, hard to the point, Shirou thought its aim was to rip his entire limb off. The apprentice had no choice but to be pulled towards it where it then yanked the whip to the right and into a statue.

Shirou crashed straight through it, near headfirst, with the only thing saving him being the fact that his little spiel gave him enough time to reinforce his body. It still hurt like hell, though, enough for him to see stars.

If he didn't have Avalon, he was sure this would be fatal, if not permanent damage. And even still regardless, he would be out of commission for a while.

I need to stop getting hit. I can't take much more damage at this rate, I need to start dishing it back. There is also Pierre to consider, but he's the lesser of the threats right now, so I need to kill this monster.

Shirou looked at his arm. His wrist was definitely suffering some third-degree burns as wrist was blacker than charcoal. He could move only his index finger as the rest of his arteries in the hand appeared to be badly damaged.

A fiery whip came from his flank and he quickly ducked as the whip sailed overhead and into the statue where it melted the statue behind him like butter.

Shirou looked at it in shock. The whip cut through that statue like it was nothing!

Wait, how come it's so effective against the statue but it didn't completely incinerate my arm?

Shirou then remembered something. It's a creature from hell, specifically its role is to torture and torment souls in the Fields Of Punishment. That meant its skillset relied on dealing out extreme pain, rather than decisively killing.

That meant the chances of it having anything lethal was low—not to mention, the magus was intent on keeping him alive if he could, due to his interesting abilities. Rin had warned him time and time again of this fact. But now, he was going to use it to his advantage.

He had an idea.

"Alright then. Two can play that game!" Two large nails connected to chains were in his hands and one side was quickly shot out. But it wasn't aiming for the Fury.

Pierre looked shocked to once again see an act of projection, and also to see the nail flying at him at alarming speeds. The Fury, for its credit, reacted far quicker and whipped at the right projectile, sending it off course.

Shirou of course, wasn't done and with a pant of exertion, he tugged at the chain. The nail ricocheted off an object and yet this time it found its target in the Fury.

The Fury, who had kept its eye on the projectile simply flew up, dodging the nail attempting to skewer it. A fiery whip shot at him in retaliation in which Shirou slid underneath it, and finally used the other side of the nail and launched it at the midair Fury.

With its elevation, it was able to see the attack fairly enough and only had to move slightly to dodge it, making it fly into the roof. Shirou cursed internally.

"Enough games, end this Fury!" Pierre exclaimed as he raised his staff up high where it pulsed with high magical energy.

He's getting reckless. He should know that doing that will only cause more attention to himself.

The Fury cackled eerily as it flew towards him, abandoning all defense. When it got within ten meters, Shirou launched his trap.

From the roof, the large nail dagger came zigzagging like a snake that found its prey. It wasted little time and pierced the Fury in the back before it could even realize it. The creature of Hades let out a screeching wail which made Shirou and even a shocked Pierre wince.

The Fury didn't give up and even with its pierced body it lunged at him with its sharp claws that could rip flesh asunder. The projection magus didn't let that happen. The other side of the nail dagger shot out and wrapped around the monster. Now it was trapped.

"Give up, Pierre. This is your last chance or I'll bring you back to the Clocktower unconscious." Shirou warned the magus who took a step back in… fear.

"What—what are you!" Pierre growled. "None of this makes any sense! You're supposed to be a nobody! I'll be the laughing stock of the Clocktower if they find out about this."

"That's the least of your worries, I'd say.

"No. I won't let it end like this! The rift gave me these beasts for a reason! As a magus gifted with the origin of "Control" it's my destiny! And I won't have it taken from me by some—by some upstart Magus!"

Shirou ignored the latter part and focused on the first part he said.

"A rift? What are you talking about?"

"These beasts are not of my doing, you fool. If it were, do you think I would summon merely henchmen?"

"Then where did they come from?"

Pierre rolled his eyes and looked at him like he was stupid. "To hell if I know, I was visiting this museum at my own leisure when I noticed the rift. I casted a bounded field to get everyone to leave and from within the rift appeared those two. I almost lost my life fighting those foul beasts, yet I prevailed and now they are mine!"

"They were yours but now they are dead and dying." The Fury was still alive, albeit barely. Shirou would have been impressed if it weren't trying to kill him.

"We'll see about that!" Pierre spat as he raised his staff once more. Shirou tensed. "I've decided that in order to live, you'll need to die. It's unfortunate but I can't afford to have a sealing designation placed on

me. My family will die out with me if I do! Fury! Get up and kill this Vermin!"

The creature struggled and struggled to get free and yet couldn't. It was a sad sight, one that stirred his kind instincts to kick in.

"I'm going to end it." He raised his redrawn nail dagger and positioned it near its head and stabbed forward.

"No! You stupid beast, obey me!"

Every instinct in Shirou's body told him to jump back so he did so immediately, looking around for the threat.

The Fury's body went limp and for a few eerie seconds it was silent. Until, what looked like a swirling vortex formed with the Fury at the epicenter.

Shirou could feel something ominous from within the dark hole and he had one thought.

I need to leave! Now! I need to leave!

"What in the devil is that?!" A skeletal shot out of the vortex and grabbed a hold of the french magus. Pierre cried out in agony and fear as it squeezed him. Blood spilled out of his mouth.

Shirou couldn't watch any longer. He may have been a bad person, but he was still a human. Whatever that grabbed ahold of him was not.

Dismissing the nail daggers, he used the last of his mana and formed his signature twin blades and ran forward. The hand that was slowly dragging the magus to the vortex met the twin blades of Emiya with a clang.

His attack was on its forearm yet he found that despite being made of bone its composition was more like diamond from how hard it was. Sparks flew as he pressed onwards but to no avail. There wasn't even a crack!

It seemed hopeless and whatever this was it was clearly out of his league.

"No, I can't give up!" He poured more strength into his blades and the sparks increased, some even getting into his eyes. "Shit. I can't muster all my strength because of my burned arm."

"Wha… you're—you're helping me?!" Pierre's voice came out weak and in a rasp.

"Yeah, I won't let some bone arm take you away!" Shirou replied as he still kept slashing and slashing at the retreating arm.

"But why? You gain nothing from doing this and I won't just lay down and get put under a sealing designation."

"I don't." He slashed and slashed. "Need a reason to do so!"

A moment flashed by. A time when he had lost everything to flames. His memories, his identity and his loved ones.

A time when everyone around him died, so he could live.

He was given shelter and reprieve from the pain and the leftover scars and everyone else just received more pain.

This is part of his atonement. Every life he saves is part of his atonement.

By accomplishing his goal of saving everyone he can atone and obtain some sense of self-satisfaction.

"It's just the right thing to do!" (1)

Shirou jumped back and his twin swords disappeared and in its place appeared a sword of eastern make. The blade was gray, almost black and even through the flickering lights, the sword shone well. The guard was extended long like most eastern swords and the middle part of the guard had a jewel shape with spools of black. On the pommel there was a purple orb surrounded by golden extensions.

"How is…" Pierre whispered in shock as he saw the legendary blade. Its presence was strong and commanding and like many swords in Shirou's Reality Marble, it felt larger than his entire being.

Shirou's shoulder glowed a bright blue as Rin's crest worked to supply him with the many necessary for his action.

He charged forth again, drawing the sword back for a mighty swing. The legendary blade met bone. Sparks flew and the pressure created a wind fortex that almost blew Shirou away. He placed his shoes firmly on the ground as he kept pressing on.

"Houhhhhh! Haaaa!"

Except this time, a different result was produced. His sword met little resistance and severed the bone cleanly, causing it to drop the trapped magus unceremoniously on the floor where he lay still.

Some type of black liquid spilled from the severed arm and was quickly absorbed into the vortex. As if in response to this, the vortex's gravitational pull seemed to increase to the point where Shirou could no longer ground his feet to the floor to stop it.

He was lifted off his feet and was only able to save himself by wisely deciding to stab his blade into the ground. Despite this, his only leverage was the blade and his feet were suspended in midair from the pull of the gravity.

"Whatever you are, I won't let you take me!" He held onto the handle of his blade like his life depended on it, which it probably did. The gravitational pull though was unyielding and relentless making Shirou question who was behind this. Whoever it was, it was certainly sentient to know that it didn't absorb anything except the flying museum artifacts.

He couldn't keep this up forever he knew but a solution escaped him.

Just then, Pierre woke up, likely from the loud noise and everything going to shit, and quickly locked eyes on him. Inwardly Shirou cursed. This would be the perfect time for the magus to run away or even throw something at him to make him lose his grip. He would be helpless to stop either one.

However, to his surprise and confusion, the magus had summoned his familiar, a black spider about the size of a twelve-year-old. From the familiar's bottom, a web shot out and wrapped around his waist. The web felt far sturdier than a normal web and hardly swayed to the gravity.

"Don't get the wrong idea, magus. I am simply returning the favor. In my country, we never let a debt go unfulfilled, good or bad." Pierre explained calmly, as if everything wasn't wrong. "But do not think that I will simply sit here and let myself be captured. Outside, I can sense from the bounded field that we have company, so I will take my leave."

Pierre strolled away—perhaps a little quicker than normal—, leaving him attached to a pillar that was a ways away from the vortex. Slowly, but surely, Shirou was able to find his way from the intense gravity by continuously stabbing the ground to gain distance.

Shirou had to stop when a wave of nausea came over him. His eyelids felt heavy, so very heavy.

Shit! I'm starting to pass out!

It was hard to keep his grip on his left hand which was facing severe burns. His head was spinning from the hellhound landing a blow on him and it was distracting him very much.

"No! I will stay up!"

His resolve strengthened and he found more strength in him to keep going. So distracted that he was though, he didn't notice something coming from the portal. A new skeletal hand came from the vortex except this time it wrapped around his waist in a tight grip.

That woke Shirou up as he began slicing at the bone hand, much like he did before. This time, whatever it was learned its lesson. Volcanic red flesh grew on the bones of the arm, it formed fast and in a matter of moments, the arm that captured him was covered in thick flesh, diameters deep.

Oddly enough, Shirou realized that it wasn't squeezing him like it was for Pierre. That might be bad, he thought to himself.

With his free hand, Shirou drew back his legendary blade for a final sweeping attack. It was all or nothing at this point. The blade glowed with holy light and he stabbed down onto the flesh.

The flesh sizzled and started to dissolve, yet Shirou regretted doing that as a moment later, its grip tightened on him, possibly damaging a magical circuit—or maybe he just lost concentration—as his blade finally dissolved.

The hand then started to retract rapidly, and Shirou knew no more.

Welcome one, welcome all to my magnum opus. Unlimited Family Works. A very different fic that is inspired off two good fics that I am fond of, one being A father's Love and the second, Lost Hero of Chaldea.

As this is a different fic, it will be taking the rough concepts but going its own way with different woman goddesses that you will just have to wait and see.

This fic I'm planning on expanding the world and lore so of course, I'm gonna have some oc's. Also, I have some very good ideas for some of Shirou's Noble Phantasms, custom mythological weapons. You'll see.