Chapter 408: The White God, Shirou
The power of the Reality Marble bloomed in its entirety at this moment. Shirou had experienced things he had not gone through in his past life, witnessed the past of himself across every parallel world, and fused with another version of himself. As the manifestation of his heart, the Reality Marble had long since ceased to be merely that wasteland.
Of course, the scale was also completely different! If he were to fully detonate this Reality Marble, which now surpassed his original Reality Marble several times over, even the immense magic power of the Greater Grail would be unable to withstand it.
This was the final effort Shirou made to fulfill his promise to protect the girl.
The fully expanded Reality Marble covered this black world. On the black swampy ground, there appeared a wilderness filled with weapons of all colors: sword hills, forges, the spires of the side he guarded, and the Camelot castle of the Knights of the Round Table—none of these were mere decorations; they possessed power close to the originals.
At this moment, all the Noble Phantasms in this world responded to Shirou's summons, rising from thin air and flying to every corner of the Reality Marble.
The next moment, Shirou detonated all the weapons within his Reality Marble. With a loud boom, as if detonating the most powerful weapon mankind had ever created, the interior of the Black Grail was turned upside down. The entire barrier fluctuated violently, like an unprecedented super-earthquake; even the sky seemed to be shaking, and it overturned the swamp of black mud.
The sky seemed to crack, and fragments of the black curtain began to fall. Through the gaps, one could see the sky of the outside world, and light shone in. The black humanoid zombies and the animals controlled by the black mud all lost the support of their power and dissolved bit by bit.
Everything Matou Zouken had plotted also fell short of success.
Shirou's jacket had been burned away by the explosion. He lay on the ground, looking at the girl who was completely unharmed, surrounded by layers of cherry blossom shields, and revealed a smile of relief.
"You damn brat! You really dared to do such a thing!" Matou Zouken was so furious he could barely maintain his form; various insects kept crawling out of him, and the old man's body became as thin as a single sheet of paper.
Matou Zouken summoned the insect familiars he possessed. With a wave of his hand, he pointed toward the direction where Shirou had fallen. More than a dozen Wing-Blade Bugs flew over, aiming for the boy's head, baring their fangs, and lunging directly at him.
"Senpai!" Sakura rushed forward, spread her arms, and used her small body to block this fatal attack for the person she loved.
The insects—leeches that could drain a cow's blood in seconds, Wing-Blade Bugs with blades sharp enough to cut through steel, mosquitoes that could poison a person to death with a single sting—all swept toward the girl and her slender body.
But Sakura didn't frown even once. With arms spread and eyes open, she swore to die blocking the insect swarm for Senpai, just as Senpai had protected her before!
At this very moment, dazzling white light burst forth from the sky. A circular ring of translucent white glimmering light descended upon the girl, protecting her within a pillar of light where crystalline particles danced.
When the black mud, poisonous insects, and man-eating bugs rushed up and were about to touch the girl—
The pillar of light flickered. The particles of light surged in waves, rippling like a lake surface splashed by water, forming a halo that expanded outward.
When the insects touched the halo, every external poison was instantly eradicated, as if evaporated, leaving no trace behind in this world.
"What!?" Matou Zouken was startled. He immediately transformed his body into insects and scattered in all directions, trying to escape.
But the existence of the halo gave him no opportunity.
The halo expanded instantly, covering the entire city. At this moment, all insects related to the black-mud substance were destroyed by this miraculous light wave, and they would never have a chance to revive again.
Above the sky where the light had first appeared, a gate of light appeared from nowhere. A man with an otherworldly aura arrived here.
Sakura looked up and peered over there.
White long hair, fair skin, a young man in white clothes and a white robe—his face was identical to the fallen Shirou. Yes, the white god, an existence that had originally been isolated outside, had appeared here.
Rumble! Black lightning struck the ground, and that black tower moved to appear before the white man.
Because the white god's descent broke the balance of this place, facing his mortal enemy, the polluted Holy Grail could no longer hide itself. It revealed its true form: a huge black cylinder standing on the ground like a sky-scraping tower. In the void above the top of the tower, a chaotic, bottomless black hole expanded.
"Emiya Shirou, even if it is only a Holy Grail forged by mages, and even if this body has already been stained black, the Holy Grail will not disappear."
The white god said mercilessly: "Shut up. You are merely a pretext created by mages to reach the Root, an evil thing full of deception and slaughter, which eventually gained its own consciousness due to pollution. But as a harmful object, being dismantled is your destined fate. I assert here: humanity does not need something like you at all. Vanish!"
"EMIYA SHIROU!!!" A hoarse, howling sound came from the tower-like Black Grail, like the most resentful curse in the world.
The hole above the black tower fired a black pillar of light. This was energy gathered and synthesized by the Greater Grail; it had transcended the scope of high-level magecraft and had reached the level of highest destructive power even among true Magic. The black mud of the world's evil was itself a void substance, so it could not be blocked by physical shields, but once touched, even the soul would be assimilated.
The white radiance absorbed the pillar of light of the black mud, and then, like a comet hitting the earth, it surged in reverse toward the black tower.
"URGH-AH-AH-AH!!!" The Black Grail let out a painful, long wail. It was defeated—utterly defeated. From the very beginning, it was not on the same level as the white god.
At this moment, the entire world was covered by white brilliance. The white man unfolded his white robe and embraced the purple-haired girl. Everything in the world except for the two of them was struck by the white light and disappeared without a trace.
Whether it was void or substantive existence, as long as it was established, that meant it could be created. Since there was darkness capable of obscuring all light, then light capable of swallowing darkness was also possible.
The black tower was gone, the swamp no longer existed, and the entire city had been razed to flat ground by that comet of light.
Sakura poked her head out from under the white Shirou's cloak and stared blankly at the completely changed scene around her. She suddenly remembered something, hurriedly pushed the man away, crawled out, and looked around nervously.
"Senpai! Emiya Senpai! Where are you?" Sakura called out nervously.
But everything all around was empty, like a flat, boundless white desert.
At this moment, the stones pressing down behind her were pushed aside, and Shirou crawled out from the ruins. Because of the white man's destruction of the Black Grail, the magic power was exhausted, and Shirou, who was lying on the ground, was also blown away. Everything around him, whether buildings or the ground, had exploded into fragments, pressing directly onto the fallen Shirou.
Shirou thought gloomily that although he hadn't been swallowed or had his consciousness twisted by the black mud, he had almost been buried alive and suffocated to death.
"Ho-oh, you're still alive? Another me," the white man said with a cold smile.
"Don't underestimate me! Mere black mud of this level is nothing much even if I drink it," Shirou propped himself up with one hand and staggered to his feet. He was now starting to suspect whether the other party had done it on purpose.
"Senpai! You must find a place to treat your injuries as soon as possible, right?" Sakura hurriedly stepped forward to support Shirou.
"Thanks, Sakura, but don't trouble yourself. Since he appeared here, it means my power has returned," Shirou said, utilizing the god's power of creation. White brilliance emerged on his body, instantly healing all the wounds on him.
At the very last moment, he had risked his life to release Unlimited Blade Works, breaking the barrier created by the Black Grail. The Black Grail, which had interfered with the god's plan, would naturally be sought out by the white god. However, it was somewhat unexpected that the white god would arrive so promptly.
"How about it? Are we going to start fighting here?" Shirou pulled Sakura behind him and said to the white god.
"Eh? What's going on? Senpai?" Sakura was pulled behind him and asked in confusion. The girl held her face in her hands, unable to stop her mind from running wild. Could it be true, like in urban legends, that there are three of oneself in the world, and when they meet, one must die?
However, Shirou had no energy left to explain anything to the girl at this time.
If one were to speak of the chances of winning, it was likely infinitely close to zero. From the first glance he caught of the other party, Shirou understood that he was not simply a clone of the god he had encountered before, but the true aggregate known as Emiya Shirou—the god himself.
An aura that made people feel close, as if he contained everything; every elegant movement; white long hair that was even brighter than the hair of a woman who had just undergone maintenance. There was no sense of aging, but rather a brilliant, smooth silver like a work of art.
Yes, it was as if he were that Shirou who had his mind completely immersed in archery. Or rather, that Shirou who could resonate with Senji Muramasa when fully devoted to forging.
This was an aura that only appeared when a person, while completely devoted to one thing, reached a mysterious state where their spirit and energy were unified with the bow and sword, and in harmony with nature—the so-called realm of unity between man and heaven.
However, the existence before him was in this state at every moment; perhaps this was what is called a god. When an existence ascends from human to god, it is naturally not just an increase in power; their spirit, will, wisdom, and temperament will all undergo earth-shattering changes.
"Don't be so guarded, another me. In any case, it is impossible for me to harm Sakura," the white god said calmly. His temperament was unique, and his voice carried a sense of persuasiveness amidst its elegance.
It was as if all the merits Shirou possessed while human had been elevated to the extreme; every word and gesture showed one message: he was in the most perfect state.
"Senpai? You really are Emiya Senpai too, but why are you fighting?" Sakura looked at the white-haired man in confusion, then looked at the black-haired Shirou who had protected her before, unable to figure out what was going on.
"Don't worry, Sakura. I have no intention of fighting here," the white-haired Shirou answered with a gentle smile.
Yes, the black-haired boy was an accidental product. He was a newborn born from the yearning of the aggregate of all Emiya Shirous, and he was a reincarnation that existed as the starting point of the so-called Emiya Shirou and as the yearning of all Emiya Shirous.
In other words, he was an accidental product acting under the subconscious of Emiya Shirou as a god, and also the ideal yearning of the god, like a beautiful dream formed into reality because of the power of creation.
He was the existence yearned for by the perfect god.
Logically speaking, dreams eventually face reality, and bubbles eventually burst.
But this ideal self existed incomparably realistically, having resisted the main body as a clone of the god, and successfully persuaded the god's clone to absorb it.
Perhaps the ideal self could find some things that an absolutely rational god could not do.
When he realized this, the god changed his mind and didn't feel there was anything wrong with it.
In fact, many people have fantasized about having a cloning technique, letting their clone go study, run errands, do housework, and deal with all the troublesome things for them, while they can concentrate on resting and playing games.
As long as this clone doesn't cause trouble for them or have a conflict of interest, it is a capability that many people absolutely desire.
At least for the white god, having a different version of himself in another world was not a bad thing. Why must he kill himself?
"Now that the matter of the Black Grail has been safely resolved, there will never be any problems in this world from now on. Sakura, you can live with peace of mind," the white-haired Shirou said softly to the girl.
"Yes, thank you, Senpai." Sakura was still a bit flustered regarding the current situation; after all, there was a Senpai on both her left and right, and she really couldn't adapt all at once; she
didn't know which side she should look at better. The Senpai on the white side seemed to have attained the most perfect state in both temperament and appearance. Although his face hadn't changed, he just seemed to have an added sense of sacred beauty.
"Well, this is my own problem, Sakura, you don't have to worry at all," the black-haired Shirou also said.
"Yes, Emiya Senpai," Sakura said.
As for the Senpai on the other side, he showed a masculine aura everywhere. Because of his previous Berserker transformation, he was still shirtless at this moment, and his muscles were much more robust than she remembered, which made her feel a little flushed.
Now the girl was surrounded by two men—an Emiya Senpai on her left hand, and an Emiya Senpai on her right hand.
Sakura kept shaking her head, only feeling her cheeks heating up and turning red, and she fell into a state of unprecedented chaos since arriving in this world.
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