Black and Shirou appeared in a memory rooted deep in Einzbern's blood.
They saw Zouken Matou, a young man hundreds of years ago, stepping into the majestic underground cave system with Justeaze Einzbern and Nagato Tohsaka.
This place was directly beneath Mount Enzo, on top of which Ryuudou Temple was built.
Black and Shirou watched as the fourth man appeared in the memory.
"That's… Zelretch?" Shirou asked.
Black nodded.
Then, Justeaze stepped up on the altar and lay down, smiling.
The three men around the altar began chanting, and a humongous pillar of stone descended toward the altar.
With a thud, the pillar landed on the altar and crushed Justeaze, initiating the Holy Grail Ritual and turning her into the Greater Grail's will.
As Justeaze blood flowed off the altar and entered the vast spell circles, magically drenching the Spell Circles on both the ground and the multistoried-tall pillar of stone, Zelretch reached into his robes and took out a dagger.
Both Black and Shirou stepped a bit closer to the edge, watching it from above.
The dagger was unlike the Azoth Sword and looked like a carved jewel, instead, glowing with a multitude of colors.
"The Jeweled Sword of Zelretch…" Shirou said, already doing his utmost to scan the weapon.
Down, near the altar, the Father of Jewel Magecraft raised the dagger high — a cyan glow washing over the blood.
At the same time, time paused.
"… Why can't the Jeweled Sword turn into an Item?" Black asked.
Shirou was still looking at the weapon in the red-eyed and white-bearded old man's hand without blinking.
He hadn't even heard Black, as if the latter didn't exist for him anymore.
But Black hadn't addressed the question to Shirou, anyway.
In purple robes, a third figure appeared next to the boys.
Zelretch looked at the ritual playing out by his old self. "The Jeweled Sword is the embodiment of my mastery over the Second Magic — Operation of Parallel Worlds. It can access one part of my Second Magic, particularly the Multi-Dimensional Refraction Phenomenon. It lets the wielder access almost infinite Mana from the parallel worlds… Think of it as a Storyline Character who can refill his Mana reserves from different timelines… with no repercussions."
Black's eyes narrowed. "What's the difference between Second Magic and the Sevenfold Path of Multiverse?"
Zelretch let out a small smile and behaved as if Black didn't even ask the question. "The reason behind The Jeweled Sword never becoming an Item is not its uniqueness," He continued. "It's the Staff's relation to the Second Magic itself."
"… Can you please explain, Lord Zelretch?" Black requested.
"Do you know the difference between different Magics?" Zelretch asked, instead.
"Only a little…" Black shook his head. "Inconsequential."
"Haha…" Zelretch laughed. "Sly. Very sly. Anyway… The First Magic and Fifth Magic are the result of reaching The Root, while the Second Magic, Third Magic, and Fourth Magic are the means to reach it. Do you understand?"
Black shook his head. "I…"
Smack!
Zelretch put His hand away after smacking the back of Black's head. "Don't play an idiot to get more information out of me," He said, smiling. "I've never liked the Faceless Men of the Game of Thrones Bubble."
On the other hand, Zelretch's light smack had jolted Black's Source.
It was as if he had never comprehended the three contrasts of Facelessness, to begin with.
Paling, Black bowed toward the Deep One. "Apologies, Your Excellency," he said, hoping Zelretch wouldn't make him lose any Quality because of this. "I will be careful next time."
The True Ancestor nodded. "Let's try again. Do you understand?"
Black nodded. "Hope," he replied, stating his guesses. "The Magics that are created as a means to reach The Root are a hope for mankind. In this sense, they are much more… tethered to the Fate Bubble than the First Magic and Fifth Magic."
Zelretch looked at Black profoundly. "Not bad… Not bad at all. More or less, that's why even the replica can't become an Item."
"I see…"
But before Black could ask something else, the Deep One added, "However, I can still turn it into an Item."
Black's head snapped toward Zelretch, openly showing his shock and greed.
"If you are willing to leave this timeline right now," He said slyly, "then I will bestow the Jeweled Sword upon you — as an Item."
With that, the Deep One disappeared.
Simultaneously, the memory ended as well.
"Whoa… that was something…" Shirou said, holding his head. Then, his eyes landed on Black. "Hey… are you OK?"
Black had gone red in anger, cursing the Deep One. "Sigh…" He let out a breath, smiling. "… Let's rest and continue…"
For Shirou to scan the Jeweled Sword better, they must repeat the process over and over again, until he was sure enough to project the weapon.
Seeing how much of a burden Black was facing, Shirou's expressions softened. "Alright," he said, sitting down on the floor with Black. "… May I ask something?"
Black wasn't finished cursing Zelretch, though. Still, he nodded, bringing a smile to his face. "Sure," he said, almost chuckling. "… To be honest, I was joking about all that Sakura's boyfriend stuff…"
Shirou blushed. "No-No…" he said, laughing wryly. "It isn't that… I just wanted to ask… What is Humanity's Salvation to you?"
These were the words Sakura had screamed days ago, standing by Black's side.
At that time, Shirou had thought that Black had brainwashed her or something. Now, he believed otherwise.
Sakura had shouted those words not under any influence, but because she had believed in them… She had believed in Black.
Now that he knew this, Shirou couldn't help but ask Black about it. Because after learning who Assassin truly was, an old flame had lit in his heart — about becoming the Hero of Justice.
Opposite Shirou, Black found himself facing a Déjà vu.
It was like he was sitting in front of Jack Sparrow all over again.
He could have lied at this moment… with both Facelessness and AI backing his emotions and expressions, Shirou wouldn't know the truth even if he lived a thousand lifetimes.
Yet, he just didn't feel like lying.
"Struggle…" Black said dreamily, remembering a blurry image of his home world. "… Standing up for something greater than ourselves. For me…
"… Humanity's Salvation lie in… Selflessness…"
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