Chapter 313: The Moment of Female Calamity's Retribution
"Hah? Why?" Both Shirou and Artoria, standing nearby, stared with wide eyes upon hearing the girl's words.
"By what right? Why?! You woman, you propose the moment we meet? Shirou! Say something to her, quickly!" Artoria said angrily.
Shirou held Artoria back and asked the black-haired girl, "Can you explain? I really don't understand what's going on here."
Presumably, if anyone saw either the black-faced Zhang Fei from theater or the historical white-faced Zhang Fei suddenly appear and propose to them, they wouldn't be able to accept it either.
"Yes! As I said, I decided this from the very beginning. Lord Shirou gave me Tonbokiri, granting me a new life and allowing me to achieve great deeds. As a retainer of the Tokugawa family, my life was destined from birth to be loyal to the Young Lady. However, I have already repaid all the kindness from the Young Lady's family. If there is a reincarnation and I meet my Lord again, then I shall belong to Lord Shirou!" the black-haired girl said, her face flushing.
"No, no, I follow that part, but why did it have to develop into 'offering your body in gratitude'?" Shirou asked in confusion.
"Because... the elders in my family always lectured me that besides fighting, my only merit was being 'well-suited for childbearing,' and urged me to marry. But I decided that my partner for this life and the next would only be Lord Shirou. So, I merely adopted a relative's child as my heir and daughter, then took the tonsure. Thankfully, the Bodhisattva blessed me and finally let me meet you, Lord Shirou."
"So! Let's get married! My wish for participating in this Holy Grail War was only one from the start! That is to marry Lord Shirou. Even as a Servant, as long as I can stay by your side, I will do whatever is necessary without hesitation!" The black-haired girl thumped her chest—which surged with the motion—as she made her solemn vow.
She's too serious! This person... Shirou covered his face helplessly, then pulled himself together and looked at her sincerely. "Thank you. I'm happy for your feelings, but I really cannot agree to what you're asking."
"Eh?! Could it be you already have a sweetheart?" Ah-Hachi looked up at the boy in shock.
"Ahem! Ehem!" Artoria, standing beside him, coughed repeatedly to assert her presence.
"Ah!" The black-haired girl looked at Shirou on the left, then at the girl beside him. Was Lord Shirou like Lord Nobunaga, preferring the "Nanban" (Western) type?
How cunning! Even as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Westerner, her skin was smoother than a princess of a Sengoku Daimyo, and her figure was the petite, cute type that men like.
Meanwhile, she was called a fierce general like Zhang Fei, a "tigress," a "mother bear," or a "cow" with a height greater than a man!
Truly too cunning—possessing the strength of a lion while acting with the cuteness of a cat.
"I can't win! I can't win at all!" The black-haired girl clutched her head. Honda Heihachi Tadakatsu, who had traversed battlefields all her life without fearing any enemy, felt for the first time that she was going to lose.
"I understand! Even as a concubine, it's fine—ah, modern Japan doesn't allow concubines anymore... Then please let me stay by your side as a Hime-musha (female warrior)." Ah-Hachi sat directly on the ground and performed a Dogeza (prostrating) before Shirou.
"No, that's not what I meant. I can't let a girl stay by my side like that," Shirou said, quickly stepping aside to avoid the bow and waving his hands.
"Ahahaha... true enough. A great figure like Lord Shirou isn't so easily won over, especially by a bear or a cow like me..." The black-haired girl's eyes went hollow.
"I don't think you should say that. A capable, strong, and sexy older sister figure is actually very popular..." Shirou comforted her, thinking of women like Medusa.
The black-haired girl lowered her head and said hesitantly, "I'm not like Miss Tachibana, who is dexterous, mastered multiple martial arts to the level of Menkyo Kaiden, and is beautiful. All I'm good at is spear techniques and war. But this era no longer needs samurai to fight, so this is the only way I can serve Lord Shirou."
"No, there's no need for that! So just be my friend! Let's be friends!" Shirou said hurriedly.
"Friends? You mean starting as friends first?" the girl asked in confusion.
"Yes." Shirou nodded.
Once the atmosphere finally calmed down, Shirou recalled her words and said in surprise, "But wait, Miss Tachibana? Do you mean Lord Muneshige? Wasn't he the only Daimyo who, despite being defeated and losing his territory after the Sengoku period, managed to regain it through military merit? A model figure of both wisdom and courage. There's always been the saying 'Honda Tadakatsu, Unrivaled in the East; Tachibana Muneshige, Unrivaled in the West.' Even someone like that is a woman?"
Artoria knit her brows and said, "Shirou, since you already know I'm a woman, you should have been mentally prepared that many famous historical figures might be female. Why are you acting so surprised now?"
"No, no... how do I put it? Famous people from my own country feel different. Nobu and Souji are both eccentric comedy characters, so I didn't think much of it at first. But she looks like the real deal—a serious Sengoku general being a woman..." Shirou looked at the heroic yet incredibly "well-endowed" Honda Heihachi Tadakatsu, feeling it was still hard to process.
"Hmm? What's wrong, Lord Shirou?" The black-haired girl opened her large eyes and leaned in close with an innocent, friendly look.
"Shirou! Don't look over there! If I grow up, I won't lose to her!" Artoria reached out and forcefully wrapped her arms around the boy's neck, pulling him back to her side. Her cold face rarely showed a competitive expression; she seemed to have developed a rivalry with the massive Ah-Hachi.
Artoria and the black-haired girl's gazes locked, revealing an undisguised killing intent. This was a bloodlust that could only be possessed by those who had spent years on battlefields, witnessing thousands or tens of thousands die in rivers of blood.
I should definitely kill her! Honda Heihachi-chan thought, staring at Artoria while dark aura emanated from her.
This person pestering Shirou is so annoying. I'll cut her! Artoria glanced at the black-haired girl's chest and felt a surge of irritation.
This King of the European island nation is truly powerful. I didn't gain the upper hand in the fight earlier, and her mana seems inexhaustible. Against that level of Noble Phantasm, even my Unrivaled Noble Phantasm couldn't defend many times. If it weren't for this space being connected to Japan and my body being Japanese with a regional fame bonus, I might have been the one killed.
Just as things were about to explode, a buzzing sound from thousands of wings echoed from all directions, as if they were being surrounded. Then, above the forest, countless black swarms of bees flew over Shirou and the others, heading deeper inside.
"Oh no! Komachi and Mashiro are still over there!" Artoria shouted and ran toward them.
"Komachi! Mashiro!" Shirou followed immediately.
"Lord Shirou! Wait for me!" The black-haired girl followed as well.
Before they had run more than a few steps, another dense swarm of black bees took flight. This time, the swarm formed the shape of a cage, and two girls were standing inside it.
"Onii-chan! Save us!" Inside the cage, Komachi saw Shirou and shouted.
Komachi, who was supposed to be in safety with Mashiro while Pseudo-Summoning Shuten Douji, was now in her human state, locked in a cage of bees alongside Mashiro.
"Wait, I'm coming to save you right now!" Shirou answered quickly, not daring to delay. His eyes glowed with a dazzling white light.
"Please do not be nervous. I swear I will not harm a hair on their heads." At that moment, a witch in red robes appeared in the air. When she looked at Artoria, she descended from the sky.
"You are..." Artoria recognized the witch.
"Respected King of Knights! The Witch of the Forest sends her regards. Congratulations on regaining your physical body," the witch bowed to Artoria.
"Ah, it really is you." Merlin's phantom materialized, poking his head out and smiling at the Witch of the Forest.
"Merlin! Get over here!" The Witch of the Forest reached out, and her palm emitted a suction force that only worked on spiritual bodies.
"What!?" Before Shirou could react, Merlin was pulled out of his body. The witch's hand, with its long, red-painted nails, grabbed Merlin by the throat.
"Yo, it's been a long time. You look well. It seems you've had a good thousand years?" Merlin said with a light laugh.
The witch's thick, bright red lips curled into a wicked, seductive arc as she smiled. "What do you think? You, who forced yourself to this side of the world, aren't even a complete independent soul. How do you plan to oppose me?"
"Don't be like that. Even if we aren't in that kind of relationship anymore, we can at least be friends," Merlin said, smiling.
"Shut up! You're not needed here. Get back to the tower and stay there quietly!" A black void opened beside the witch. She squeezed Merlin's spirit into a ball and threw him out of this world with a flick of her wrist.
The red-lipped witch raised her index finger to Shirou's nose and said:
"Merlin is beyond saving, but there is still hope for you to change. I came here to correct your thinking, otherwise all worlds will collapse! Even witches will lose their space to exist."
She was the Witch of the Forest, not a Heroic Spirit, but she possessed unimaginable power. She had been plotting from the start, intending to turn the conflict between Servants into a ritualistic conversion to use when the Holy Grail activated her ceremony.
"Witch of the Forest, release these two girls first, then we can talk!" Shirou urged.
"Of course... you can," the witch agreed.
The cage of black bees instantly dissolved, and the unconscious Komachi and Mashiro fell.
Shirou rushed forward, jumping up to catch his sister in his arms while using his free hand to grab Mashiro by her armpits, catching her steadily. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.
In the next instant, the witch appeared behind the boy. Her long, dagger-like red nails pierced through Shirou's abdomen, and blood sprayed out.
"Ngh!" Shirou felt a sharp pain extend from his back through his body. He groaned in agony. Komachi and Mashiro slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground, though Shirou softened
their fall with his hands at the last moment so they wouldn't be hurt. The witch's magecraft seemed very powerful; both girls remained in a deep sleep.
The Witch of the Forest leaned down, her eyes darting around as her fingers pushed deeper into Shirou's abdomen, as if searching for something inside a bag.
"Aaaaaagh!" Shirou screamed in pain.
"Found it!" The witch stopped, revealing a bizarre smile.
Her hand, stained red with viscous blood, pulled the Holy Grail out from within the boy.
"Oh right, and this..." Simultaneously, she held a set of aqua-blue scissors in her other hand, clipping them onto a white long line that looked like an infant's umbilical cord being pulled from Shirou's body.
With a snip, the connection between the boy and a certain existence far removed from the timeline was severed.
Shirou felt a wave of vertigo. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness, collapsing to his knees.
At that moment, on a distant iceberg, the White God paused for a second, then continued... manipulating countless divine avatars across myriad worlds to complete his tasks.
"Bastard! What did you do to Lord Shirou! What kind of witchcraft is this!" The black-haired girl raised her spear and charged.
"Stand down!" the Witch of the Forest barked coldly.
"Ngh!" The girl stopped as if struck by lightning, her body acting against her will. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move her feet forward.
"Foolish Lancer, who do you think summoned you here?" The witch said, then looked back at the collapsed Shirou.
"It's not over yet! Emiya Shirou, in this world, you and Merlin are birds of a feather. As punishment, I bestow upon you the curse of being a woman fought over relentlessly by all!" The Witch of the Forest raised her staff made of stars and pronounced her judgment.
A sphere of lake-blue water enveloped the unconscious Shirou.
"Lord Shirou..." The black-haired girl tried to move forward, reaching out and struggling, but she still couldn't reach him.
"Then let this plan officially begin!" the witch said with a laugh. She waved her hands, and from within her robes, she drew out two spiritual bodies of incredible quality—the residual energy of Servants left in the world.
"What are you doing! What are you doing! Don't you dare stop the love between me and my Master!" Juana screamed hysterically.
"Witch! You lying bitch! You dragged us in from the start just for this! I curse you!" shouted Zhang Chunhua, the posthumously titled Empress of the Jin Dynasty.
Another spiritual body was released, this time Salome.
"My lover, my beloved head! I can no longer have it."
They were all forcibly extracted from their Masters and were now being sucked into the magic circle.
"With this, my long-cherished wish can be realized! The Counter Force's trump card is gone, the White God is now without flaws, and the annihilation of all long-lived species is not far off, hahahaha!!!" The Witch of the Forest laughed in a low, eerie tone.
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