Chapter 172: The Snowy Unlimited Blade Works, The Ignited Indestructible Flame!
The appearance of the metal legion turned the tide of the battle around the execution grounds. At the same time, a turning point and change came to the confrontation between Shirou and the Goddess Astraea in the wilderness of Unlimited Blade Works!
"You said you obtained Hestia's Authority? That's impossible!"
Astraea denied Shirou's words, rejecting the fact that he claimed to have obtained a God's Authority.
"Do you think it's impossible?" Shirou stood up step by step, dragging his bloody body. "Well, people always struggle to believe things they haven't seen. It seems Gods are no different from humans; they, too, are influenced by their limited perspective and cannot believe in things that are real but unseen."
"You...!"
"But if words can't convince you, then I'll use action to make you a believer! I will let your own eyes witness the moment everything you can't believe becomes reality, Astraea!"
As Shirou spoke, he abruptly drew the Agaris from his waist. He spun the blade with a unique motion and stamped his foot down hard on the ground, as if pouring all his power into the blade in his hand. What followed was a sudden eruption of magical power from his entire body!
"Haaaaaaaa!!!"
The excessively hot temperature felt as if it would burn Shirou's body, but he ignored the searing sensation, forcefully suppressing the pain and concentrating all his attention on the blade in his hand.
"Boom!"
In an instant, fire ignited throughout the space of Unlimited Blade Works. The exaggerated flames seemed to make the very space boil, with raging fires starting everywhere that could not be stopped.
"..."
Astraea looked at the flames around her that seemed to ignite the space itself, murmuring in disbelief, "Claiming to have obtained a God's Authority? How is this possible?! How can a mortal obtain a God's true power? This is not something a human's status could possibly bear..."
Astraea's words continuously tumbled from her lips, as if she were trying to convince herself not to believe this outrageous fact.
However, the ever-increasing flames, now so hot that the space itself was at an incredible temperature, still made her eyes widen. This was clearly Hestia's divine Authority, the "Eternal Flame."
As an Authority of the same status as top Gods like Ouranos and Zeus, Hestia's Authority was never underestimated by anyone. Although Hestia herself seemed to have always struggled to understand how to use her Authority, the other Gods were privately well aware that Hestia's Authority was absolutely top-tier, even among Gods.
"Could it be that he really obtained the 'Eternal Flame'..."
Just as Goddess Astraea couldn't help but swallow and began to doubt her worldview, the surrounding environment suddenly cooled down. The raging flames that were about to completely ignite the space disappeared in an instant. The fire came quickly and went quickly, vanishing from the scene in the blink of an eye.
In its place was snow.
Countless snowflakes descended from the sky, transforming the entire Unlimited Blade Works into a snowy field, a world of pure white snow—like an eternal winter night. At the end of the frost, all the swords in Unlimited Blade Works were frozen solid by the extreme cold, turning into tombstones of ice, completely unusable.
Faced with a scene completely opposite to what she had imagined, Astraea's pupils widened.
"This is... what is this... This isn't sacred at all... rather than not being the sacred flame, there isn't even a single bit of fire to be seen..." Astraea stared blankly at the snow-white world before her, speaking in a bewildered tone. "What does this have to do with Hestia's Authority?"
Shirou did not respond to Astraea's words. He simply stared quietly at the Goddess of Justice before him, gently wiping away a snowflake that had landed on his forehead, but even so, more white snow fell on the side of his face.
"I see." After a brief silence, Astraea showed a pained expression. "Authority, sacred flame... you were just deceiving me. Well, although such a trick is quite despicable, I can forgive the cunning of you mortals. However, deceit does not bring truth. A non-existent Authority is non-existent. Shirou Emiya, you cannot defeat me. I will kill you to realize my justice."
Shirou showed a helpless expression at Astraea, who seemed to be a little annoyed by him.
He quietly spoke, "Astraea, you seem to be a little too hasty. Just because I didn't release flames, you think I didn't obtain the Authority?"
"What else? Hestia's Authority is the Eternal Flame. This is a fact acknowledged by all Gods," Astraea looked at Shirou. "You say you obtained her Authority, but you're not releasing any fire right now, are you? Not only is there no fire, but this place is the complete opposite of fire; it's
an extreme cold. How could this state be the result of obtaining the Authority of the Eternal Flame?"
"No fire equals not having obtained the Eternal Flame..."
Shirou calmly listened to Astraea's words, then spoke quietly, "Unfortunately, it seems your mind is not so sharp, Goddess Astraea."
"What?"
"Who said the Authority of the Eternal Flame only has one form of expression?" Shirou retorted to Astraea. "And, look closely. There isn't a single sword in this boundary now that you can use."
"..."
Upon hearing Shirou's words, Astraea finally reacted. All the swords in the Unlimited Blade Works Reality Marble had been frozen by the ice. In this field covered in frost, all the swords had turned into graves and tombstones, transforming into a giant graveyard of swords. In this state, Astraea's Authority was also completely sealed.
However, Astraea didn't care much, because her inability to use swords meant Shirou couldn't use swords either. With neither side using weapons, the outcome was still unknown.
Shirou understood Astraea's thought process and quietly spoke, "Don't worry, I have no intention of engaging you in close combat, Astraea. Although hand-to-hand combat might lead to victory, a close-quarters fight with a Goddess is truly too unseemly."
"Then what do you want to do? Haven't all the swords been sealed?"
"Goddess Astraea, you said before that your true Authority isn't the manipulation of swords, but the concept of the sword itself, right?" Shirou suddenly changed the subject. "A God's Authority doesn't just have one form of expression; it's often a collection of certain concepts. Your Authority of the Sword is like this, and so is Hestia's Authority of Eternal Flame."
"This is different..."
"No, it's the same."
Shirou quietly spoke. "The Authority of Eternal Flame is indeed the Authority that keeps a fire burning, but the Authority of Eternal Flame is not the fire itself, but the process of lighting the fire. Therefore, I can reverse the operation of this Authority, from lighting all the flames to extinguishing all the flames."
"Extinguishing all the flames?"
"And the reason I want to extinguish all the flames, even to turn this world into a frozen domain of extreme cold, is not to seal all the swords, but to make sufficient preparations for the true burning that comes next! After all, only ice that has been cooled to the extreme can temper a blazing fire capable of breaking through everything. If I can break through this
freezing cold, the fire that can be born will be able to tear through all divine power and Authority, reaching the realm that ends all things!"
Shirou slowly spoke and raised his right hand.
In that instant, Astraea clearly saw a ball of fire burning in Shirou's hand. Even though everything around was cold and the entire Unlimited Blade Works was currently covered in extreme frost, the ball of fire ignited in Shirou's palm was like a lamp that would never be extinguished, symbolizing a will that would rise again no matter how many times it was defeated by countless harsh environments.
"Ignite."
Shirou raised the fierce flame in his hand.
In an instant, a situation like a volcanic eruption occurred, or like a certain energy bottoming out after reaching its limit and bouncing back. Everything in Unlimited Blade Works was reversed.
The frozen world was torn apart instantly. Extreme flames, centered around Shirou, suddenly surged outward, transforming into an ever-burning sun!
The Eternal Flame.
Hestia's Authority as the Goddess of the Hearth was continuously applied to Shirou while he was unconscious. It ignited the Karma's Flames within Shirou, while Airmid the healer, through special means, continuously fed Hestia's divine blood to Shirou, enhancing the Authority's effect on his body.
Ultimately, through Shirou's own struggle within the domain of Unlimited Blade Works—a confrontation with his past self who sought justice—and his eventual defeat of that self, he successfully fused with this Authority and obtained a part of Hestia's power.
Now, the Karma's Flames Shirou already possessed was pushed to its limit under the influence of Hestia's Authority of Eternal Flame. With it, he created this Reality Marble completely ignited by flames, transforming the former Unlimited Blade Works into a purgatory shrouded in fire.
"It really is the Eternal Flame..."
Seeing the vortex of flames so intense that it could make divine power wane, Astraea had to admit that Shirou had indeed obtained Hestia's Authority. Although it was incredibly unbelievable, a mortal had truly obtained a God's Authority.
However, Astraea still didn't understand Shirou's intention for igniting this space.
"Isn't this a magic boundary you specifically created to make countless swords? What's the point of igniting this entire space?" Astraea questioned Shirou. "After all, Hestia's Authority is not an offensive Authority. The ignited Sacred Flame is indeed a concept of extremely high
status and possesses the power to resist any curse or erosion, but it is by no means a power that can destroy an opponent."
"That's right," Shirou nodded. "Hestia's Authority can only ignite flames and make them never extinguish. Even when combined with my Karma's Flames, it cannot directly harm an enemy. That is precisely why I am using this Authority to ignite this space."
"What do you mean..."
"After I obtained the Karma's Flames skill, I have hardly ever used this power for battle. In fact, fire truly can't be used directly for combat. I have only ever used my Karma's Flames in one way: to forge weapons." Shirou looked at Astraea, while also glancing at the raging fires around him. "Now I'm just doing the same thing. I'm not using Karma's Flames for combat, but as a means to temper and forge weapons to achieve my goal."
"Forging weapons? Are you saying!"
Astraea seemed to have finally realized what Shirou wanted to do.
She looked at the surrounding space and saw that the numerous swords that had existed in Unlimited Blade Works were now beginning to melt.
They had been shrouded in extreme cold and solid ice, but were then suddenly subjected to extremely intense heat. Their texture instantly became incredibly fragile.
Under the shroud of the Eternal Flame, all the swords began to turn into airborne dust, like snowflakes shattering and floating into the air. Everything was like a scene replayed. The cold, snowy plain from moments ago reappeared.
However, there was not the slightest trace of coldness on the current snowy plain. On the contrary, below the snowflakes floating in the sky were flames of extreme heat!
At the same time, Shirou was in the very center of the flames. He casually projected a hammer and guided all the fragments of the swords from Unlimited Blade Works to fly toward his hand. His gaze was cold and calm, as if he were not on a battlefield, but merely standing in his familiar forge.
"Clang!"
Shirou's hammer suddenly began to strike. The moment the sound of metal colliding rang out, an astonishing wave of energy burst from his hand, turning into an infinitely revolving ripple that tore through everything.
At the same time, a chant, unlike any he had ever used before, came from Shirou's lips.
"The essence, elucidated!"
"The concept, converged!"
"The forging technique, critical!"
As Shirou's words fell, the movements of the hammer in his hand grew faster and faster. Gradually, the prototype of a weapon forged from the extreme flames began to appear. It was a weapon made from the fragments of all the shattered swords in the entire Unlimited Blade Works, a sword formed from infinite swords, and a sword that could be said to have been forged from Unlimited Blade Works itself!
Even though this sword was not yet fully formed, Astraea could already feel an astonishing power spreading from it, as if it were about to tear the entire world apart.
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