Chapter 405: The Appearance of Matou Shinji
When Shirou arrived in this world, he didn't expect to be rejected by the barrier; he was bounced back in mid-air. He adjusted his posture with a backflip and landed on the ground.
He saw that the area where Sakura was located was now covered by a black, circular barrier, looking like an upside-down black pot lid without a handle or ears, or perhaps a black eggshell buried halfway into the soil. Shirou reached out and pressed his hand against the eggshell, only for black electricity to repel him directly—the world inside had actually forbidden his entry.
The world within the eggshell barrier and the world outside had become two completely different spaces. It was just like the world created by the white god, which prohibited the intervention of the Counter Force; this barrier operated on the same principle, possessing wild, rampant magic and black mud polluted by the evils of the world.
However, it specifically rejected the existence of the creator god. As long as he possessed the divine power of the white god within his body, he would be marked as unwelcome and isolated by the interior of the barrier. The enemy was unimaginably powerful; they had actually discovered a way to restrict the power of a god.
Shirou became even more worried about Sakura. In his hand, he began to project the divine weapon that burned with orange-red flames under intense heat, intending to forcefully slash open this barrier.
"Wait a second, Emiya." At that moment, the flippant voice of a young man came from behind Shirou.
"Hm? Who's there?" Shirou turned his head and looked toward the alley of a building behind him.
"Yo, it's been a long time." A young man with messy blue curls, his hands tucked into his pants pockets, walked out from outside the black barrier.
"Shinji..." Shirou looked at this familiar face.
The blue-haired man smiled and said: "What's wrong? You're the only one allowed to be resurrected? How nice. The great hero who plays the role of the nice guy—even after death, you're still so active."
The relationship between them was complicated. Although he was likely hated by Shinji, at the very least, during middle school, they indeed had a period of friendship—hiking, excursions, club activities, school-organized trips; they often acted together.
Shinji had suddenly changed into a different person and even abused and beat his sister, completely refusing to listen to advice, so at the time, Shirou had been very angry and beat him up.
"Shinji, what exactly is going on with you in this state?" Shirou asked.
"Ah! You noticed, huh? How about it?! Take a look at me now—I'm strong, right? The magic power all over my body is surging; it's about to overflow. I'm completely different from the past me, aren't I?" Shinji smiled and opened his arms, showing himself off to the guy he had cared so much about in the past.
Indeed... at this moment, a massive amount of magic power, visible to the naked eye, was emanating from the blue-haired youth's body, only this power was very unnatural. The man's body was quite abnormal; his skin was a deathly pale white, as if he hadn't seen the sun in years, and his eyes had changed color as well—the whites were covered with a layer of dark gray. Dark energy emerged from his morbidly pale skin, giving the impression of a zombie... or perhaps a vampire.
"I don't know, but if you think this is good, then that's enough, right? Shinji, answer my question: what's happened to Sakura?" Shirou pressed.
"Huh? Sakura? Who's that? Ah... that useless, gloomy girl? Didn't you abandon her all by herself in Fuyuki in your past life? Now that it's come to this, why are you still looking for her?" Matou Shinji twisted the corners of his mouth and asked with a mocking laugh.
"It's true that I owe Sakura a lot; I've always felt guilty about it. Now that she's in danger, I must help her." Shirou looked at him, gazing firmly into the other's eyes, and said: "Answer me! Shinji!"
"Ah, ah... what a waste of emotion. It's rare that I wanted to show you some of my current changes, yet your mind is completely focused on that girl."
"I know it, I know it! You all treat me like an idiot. Tohsaka never looked at me straight once, and that girl actually pitied me! You! Even you! You looked down on me! I even treated you as a friend before! I just hit that stinking girl a few times—if you were a true friend, you should have stood in my shoes and considered it!"
Matou Shinji stopped his roaring. His previously fickle face settled into an expression of disgust, and he said: "Is that cheap woman really that good? Huh? Emiya? A woman who lies in piles of bugs every day, with bugs crawling into her body and burrowing around—honestly, just touching her makes me want to vomit!"
"Shinji, Sakura genuinely viewed you as a brother and always spoke well of you. If you keep saying things like that, even though a lifetime has passed and I know some of the inside story, I will still get angry," Shirou looked at the man opposite him and said, enunciating each word clearly.
Shinji glared coldly at the man in front of him, whom he could never stand, and said: "Ah, is that so! That's perfect, then—I want to test the power I possess now, too. Let me tell you, Emiya! You, too! And Tohsaka! Isn't it just because you possess talent? If my body had been able to use magecraft back then, I absolutely would have been much stronger than you!"
"Now, I am the rightful heir of the Matou family! Since you want to defy my will, then go die! You hypocritical nice guy, die here together with that hypocritical cheap woman! Go meet each other in hell!"
Matou Shinji opened his mouth wide, grinning hideously as he spread his arms. Under the magic of the black energy, he summoned large flying mosquitoes and Wing-Blade Bugs with sharp claws and fangs. The silvery-gray mosquitoes, with their sharp, long proboscises, easily pierced into human blood vessels, injecting lethal poison while drawing blood.
And the Wing-Blade Bugs, a pair of thin wings flapping at high speeds, were the monsters of legend capable of dismembering a cow in an instant.
At this time, a buzzing, chaotic sound echoed behind Matou Shinji. One could only see silvery-gray specks gradually filling the surroundings, forming a circle that enclosed him and Shirou within.
Floating beside the blue-haired man were two Wing-Blade Bugs the size of small dogs; their eyeballs flashed with red light, staring only at Shirou, twitching their sickle-like limbs like silent killers.
"..." Shirou looked at this former friend with some surprise; he hadn't expected him to have such capabilities. In the Fifth Holy Grail War of his past life, although there were absolute powerhouses like Illya and Kotomine Kirei, who were impeccable in both knowledge and experience, as well as geniuses like Tohsaka, there were also unexpected interlopers. For example, Teacher Kuzuki, or himself.
As Rider's Master and a participant from the Three Founding Families, Shinji's displayed strength was even worse than an outsider like himself who hadn't entered the gate. Later, after delving into the world of magecraft and mastering the knowledge within, Shirou finally understood. Although Shinji was born into a family of mages, his bloodline had problems, and he was naturally born without the physical capability to use magecraft.
It wasn't that Shinji was too weak, but that he hadn't even had the qualifications to compete on the same stage from the beginning. The Rider he drove using the False Attendant Book could not be provided with magic power by him at all.
As long as he was the one participating, Rider could not unleash her true strength. In a state of insufficient magic power, even an incomplete Saber could easily massacre her.
If he had been an ordinary person and didn't know all this, that would have been fine. Shinji, who surpassed ordinary people in both sports and studies, would probably have been a wealthy young master popular with girls of his age. Although his personality had flaws, relying on a decent brain and family power, he could have lived a very carefree and easy life.
But Shinji happened to be born into a family of mages, and the people around him were all mages. Since childhood, Shinji had been exposed to knowledge regarding magecraft. His family didn't want to teach him seriously, and Shinji didn't get discouraged, but instead
eagerly self-studied. In order to understand magical texts, he studied foreign languages, including ancient magical scripts.
He yearned for the wonders of magecraft, but in the end, he was told he didn't possess the corresponding qualifications. In a family of mages, he was as worthless as the dirt on the ground—a disabled person with an incomplete body.
Just like an ugly duckling that had wandered into a flock of swans, before discovering the truth, he would quack all day, clamoring self-righteously, imagining the day he would fly high into the sky. Shinji, with his strong self-esteem, couldn't accept this cruel reality at all, so his temperament became increasingly twisted until his humanity collapsed along with it.
Shirou understood this feeling. In the past, he yearned for the "Ally of Justice" Kiritsugu spoke of, but he had no path to realize it. When the Holy Grail War appeared, although it brought much misfortune...
He indeed gained the opportunity—the opportunity to become an Ally of Justice and defeat evil. Taking this as an opportunity, he learned magecraft from Tohsaka and became a mage with the corresponding abilities, using his life in his past life to fulfill his wish.
But Shinji was the opposite of himself.
Setting aside how despicable his means were, he had indeed struggled with all his might in the Holy Grail War in whatever way he could, only to finally accept the fate that he could never become a mage. Shirou didn't expect that after death, Shinji would finally realize his own wish and compensate for the regrets of his life, albeit in his current form.
"Hee-hee, he-he-he, ah-hahahahah!" Matou Shinji looked at Shirou's surprised expression, the corners of his mouth curving upward. He raised his hand to cover his face and couldn't help but burst into loud laughter.
In the world where Shirou had lived in his past life, the world had ultimately dodged the end of destruction. Several years after Shirou's death, the world began to fall into a great collapse. Matou Shinji, who had been mingling in the circles of the wealthy in Fuyuki, was unable to escape death. Although he had struggled, he was still not spared.
At this time, because of Matou Zouken, he also received the summons of the black mud and became an existence similar to a vengeful spirit, or rather, a zombie. The black mud granted him a new fleshly body, but he also became a familiar working for the Black Grail because of it.
However, the Holy Grail does not think; it merely drives itself by existence instinct to resist the god's annihilation of it, summoning familiars. As long as the objective is consistent, whether it be Angra Mainyu or Matou Zouken, they possess the greatest freedom. They can do all sorts of problems according to their own thoughts.
So Shinji actively took on the mission of coming here to intercept Shirou. As an old friend and yet an enemy, he held complicated feelings toward Emiya Shirou. If most of those guys in
school were idiots, those who catered to him were idiots, and those who didn't even understand the principle of flattering the strong were major idiots.
And those stupid women who would swarm over just by being treated to a meal were just for play. After all, a mage born into a family like his, destined to become the successor of the Matou family, couldn't possibly fall in love with an ordinary woman.
Like those ignorant commoners, the mortals who didn't know the mysteries of magecraft—whether they liked him or didn't like him, it had nothing to do with him. Matou Shinji's world was different from theirs; now, he was just holding the idea of killing time and completing the necessary studies.
But only Emiya Shirou—this hopelessly stupid guy—always had one attitude toward him. No matter what he did, he would still treat him as a friend; it seemed that no matter what he did to him personally, he wouldn't care. It was precisely this point that was extremely infuriating.
His athletic ability, his swordsmanship—his talent was superhuman. Even for archery, which he was proud of in his heart, he had to admit he couldn't win, and Shirou would just give it up whenever he wanted.
Emiya Shirou seemed to care about nothing regarding himself, yet whenever he encountered matters regarding other people, he would stand out and meddle.
"Ah-haha! Emiya! If you don't want to die, then kneel down and beg me while crying! If I'm happy, maybe I'll tell you the way to enter the barrier and find that bitch! Anyway, I've long since grown tired of playing with that kind of woman! Ah-heh-heh-heh, hahahahaha!" Matou Shinji said, laughing wildly.
"Shinji! It seems that your temperament hasn't changed even after death." Shirou said coldly with an expressionless face, projecting a katana that radiated a strange, chilling light, and gripped it in his hand.
"Ah... is that so? Then die!" Matou Shinji's face turned cold as he drove the flying insects to rush rapidly toward Shirou.
The claws and fangs of the Wing-Blade Bugs were indeed very sharp, and coupled with their amazing flight speed as insects, they even possessed the power to threaten Servants.
However, the blade of the Demon Sword Muramasa was far sharper. When the claws on the Wing-Blade Bug made contact with the blade, it was as if tofu were being pressed onto a kitchen knife—it sank right in.
The moment the claws were completely severed, losing their support, they flew directly backward, crashing into the wall behind the blue-haired youth's head and burying themselves deep inside.
"Eeeek!!!" Shinji let out a shriek, collapsed to the ground in terror, and gasped for air.
The blade light flashed rapidly. The flying mosquitoes were cut into fragments, and the Wing-Blade Bugs had their thin insect wings and claws severed, falling powerlessly to the ground. Shirou stepped on the back of an insect to hold it in place and used his sword to pierce the insect's head. The Wing-Blade Bug twitched, then lay motionless.
"Ha-ah... urgh-ah-ah! This is impossible! Why! I'm clearly not the same me I was before anymore!" Shinji grabbed his face with both hands, leaving several finger marks on his deathly pale, bloodless face, looking as if he couldn't accept it.
"It's true that you've become stronger, but it seems like you still haven't mastered the method of using it. Moreover, just like you've become stronger, Tohsaka and I have also grown in the time that has passed," Shirou said, holding the Demon Sword Muramasa, as he walked to the front of Shinji.
"Don't! Don't come over! I've only just obtained this power; I don't want to die right away!" Shinji widened his eyes, shrieking and yelling.
Shirou walked up, grabbed Matou Shinji by the collar, pulled him up, and asked in a deep voice: "Tell me, how do I get in there?"
SLAP!!
Matou Shinji realized he wouldn't be in mortal danger. He slapped Shirou's hand away, struggled, pushed Shirou aside, and grinned hideously: "Heh-heh-heh, it's useless. Even if you break the barrier, it's just using a Noble Phantasm to destroy the environment inside. You still can't get in. That place is a world that belongs exclusively to the Holy Grail War. Aside from Masters, there's only Servants. The candidates for Masters have long since been determined. Unless you commit suicide now and become a Servant, it's impossible to enter inside."
"Is that so..." Shirou nodded and said.
Shinji laughed maliciously and said: "Right, Emiya, let me tell you a piece of news. Do you know why I appeared here? That's because Grandfather is inside now. As long as he is there, Sakura absolutely cannot escape. How do you think she will be treated after she's caught? Huh? Emiya? What do you think? Heh-heh-heh-heh, hahahaha."
"Ah, in order not to let her become like that, I came here to protect her," Shirou agreed. No longer hesitating, his eyes emitted white light, consuming divine power to reshape his physical body, remodeling himself bit by bit from a human into a Servant possessing a fleshly body. Since he couldn't possess divine power to enter inside, then he would just discard the divine power.
This process was very risky and filled with uncertainty. The only thing Shirou could become now was a vacant Servant class in the Holy Grail War. After entering, his connection to the god and his divine power would be completely sealed and could not be restored; he would inevitably be influenced by the class as well.
Matou Shinji glared at Shirou with bitter hatred and shouted hysterically: "That white god is simply insane! He actually wants to erase all mystery! I've finally obtained this power, yet he wants to deny it all—it's simply incomprehensible. How should I put it? It's truly worthy of you, this madman, to do something like this."
"Now that you're turning yourself into a Servant to enter the world inside, it's crazy enough. Continue your game of justice, Emiya! What kind of experience is it to be so eager to kill yourself? Keep struggling in your ugly way! Heh-heh, ah-ah-ah, hahahaha."
"Shinji, I sincerely hope there can be a world where everyone can find happiness. Of course, you are included there too. If there were a fairer world, you wouldn't have become the way you are now," Shirou said, turning his back to his former friend.
The blue-haired man raised his head and shouted loudly at Shirou: "How could there be such a world! You idiot! The reason over ninety percent of the people in this world exist is to be trampled under the feet of elites like yours truly!"
"Then goodbye," Shirou responded to the summons of the world within the black core, turned into a beam of light, and entered inside.
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