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Time returned to the present…
When the elevator doors closed, the narrow space filled with the smell of disinfectant. No one spoke, enjoying the calm before the storm.
Soon, the elevator began to descend. With a trembling sensation, the skincare advertisements on the inner wall appeared somewhat eerie under the dim light.
The elevator descended one floor.
Emiya Shirou's smile completely vanished, and his originally red hair began to show streaks of white.
He spoke, saying, "Fujimura and Shinji are both very important people to me."
"Mm… I know."
Kisaragi Rin glanced at his paradise bracelet and comforted him, saying, "I hope paradise can apologize to you."
The elevator descended two floors.
Emiya Shirou's hair was now half red and half white, and his originally slender body began to swell, new muscles stretching his loose hospital gown.
"When you appear before my eyes as acquaintances, toying with others' fates, your wanton behavior is as disgusting as a toad's skin."
Kisaragi Rin shrugged, completely unfazed by Emiya Shirou's words.
From a rational perspective.
The placement of identities was decided by paradise, and the players' identities were also given by paradise.
Even if I, Kisaragi Rin, as a party involved, have responsibility as a player who came to the Fate World, paradise should bear most of this karma.
And paradise?
Paradise repeatedly told players it was for glorious evolution, but it never cared about the players' opinions.
You, Emiya Shirou, lying in a hospital bed, eating hotpot and singing songs like a newly appointed county magistrate, suddenly encountering a bandit like paradise, is indeed very unlucky.
You, Emiya Shirou, discovering that your friends have been inexplicably replaced by strangers, is very desperate.
But as a player of paradise, can I come out and stop all of this?
And from an emotional perspective.
There was even less need for Kisaragi Rin to feel any emotion.
In any case, he was now a beneficiary of paradise; empathizing with Emiya Shirou because of what paradise did sounded as absurd as Koby stopping Akainu from slaughtering pirates.
Everything is merely the sorrow of the weak.
Watching Emiya Shirou's hair gradually turn white, Kisaragi Rin suggested a better solution to him.
"If you're unhappy, why don't we not fight for now? I'll find a way to get you a player qualification, and after we leave this world, you can go destroy paradise."
The elevator descended three floors.
With a 'ding', it announced that it had reached the last floor, named the first floor.
When the elevator stopped steadily, the narrow space also surged with magic that could materialize.
Emiya Shirou's hair, floating with the magic, had completely turned white, and his facial features had matured like ripened fruit.
Without answering Kisaragi Rin's suggestion, he whispered, "Iskandar, King's Army!"
As if giving an order, a deep voice simultaneously came from within Emiya Shirou's body.
"King's Army…"
Pure magic turned into radiance, and the Reality Marble named King's Army covered the surroundings.
When the elevator doors opened to both sides, everyone inside had already vanished from here.
Endless yellow sand stretched into the distance, with an indistinct scorching sun overhead, its hot rays illuminating this space.
The battle couldn't be fought outside.
On this point, Kisaragi Rin and Emiya Shirou had a tacit understanding.
So Emiya Shirou commanded Iskandar to release his Noble Phantasm, King's Army. The Reality Marble altered the surroundings, shifting the battlefield to this special space.
"Mm… This is where I came last time."
Esdeath looked at the scorching sun in the sky and released cold air to cool the surroundings.
Kisaragi Rin squeezed a handful of the yellow sand on the ground; the texture was very real, and the nearby sand had already begun to tremble, indicating that the ten thousand Heroic Spirits of Iskandar's King's Army were approaching.
"It really is the effect of Iskandar's Noble Phantasm."
Looking at the enemies about to charge in the distance, Kisaragi Rin quipped, "Are all the other Heroic Spirits from the Fourth Holy Grail War in the hands of this referee?"
"Probably not?"
Yukinoshita Yukino glanced at her last Command Seal and raised a point: "We've already confirmed that the Assassin outside is Hassan of the Hundred Faces. If the Heroic Spirits from the Fourth Holy Grail War are all in his hands, with one Hassan of the Hundred Faces in this world, presumably no new Hassan of the Hundred Faces would be summoned."
"Perhaps in this world's Fourth Holy Grail War, Hassan of the Hundred Faces wasn't summoned? After all, Saber didn't participate in the Fourth Holy Grail War as in the normal timeline."
Medea said this while reaching out to grasp Kisaragi Rin's Demonic Hell Sanctuary, complex magic continuously carving out and forming numerous shields.
It was also at this moment that Emiya Shirou, who had disappeared when the King's Army activated, reappeared in their sight.
"No, the Servant of the Assassin class that appeared in the Fourth Holy Grail War was indeed Hassan of the Hundred Faces."
He was still in his wheelchair, next to him a burly man on horseback, a sword half-raised in his hand, his cape casually draped and somewhat tattered.
It was indeed the Heroic Spirit Iskandar, but one could tell from his eyes that he was no longer the magnanimous King of Conquerors, but a puppet controlled by the black holy grail.
Perhaps knowing that paradise was the culprit, Emiya Shirou looked at Kisaragi Rin, who appeared to be "Matou Shinji" in his eyes, and continued to explain, "Hassan of the Hundred Faces indeed appeared in the Fourth Holy Grail War and was taken in by the Holy Grail, but I abandoned him."
"Why?"
Kisaragi Rin asked curiously.
"Because of seven."
Without intending to be enigmatic, Emiya Shirou continued to recount his past experiences.
"To stabilize the Holy Grail, putting seven Heroic Spirits inside is the best outcome. Unfortunately, at that time, I happened to have eight Heroic Spirits." Speaking of this, Emiya Shirou showed an apologetic smile, "You understand, Hassan… well… he wasn't quite suitable for the Holy Grail War… so I had no choice but to kick him out."
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