A flight like that of a condemned man.
Fuyuki City. Deep in the night. As Shirou Emiya sprinted through that courtyard, he didn't even have time to feel a single instant of regret — because the danger was already right on top of him.
Who could have possibly imagined it — that simply passing by and stealing one glance would mean witnessing a strange red-haired man and a blue-haired man locked in combat, and worse, that they would actually notice him, and then come charging his way.
Of course, there had been plenty of other strange things happening today as well.
A little earlier, for instance, a meteor had fallen — it had been a very long time since anyone had seen a falling star around here.
But in a situation as immediately life-or-death as this one, that detail had ceased to seem particularly important.
After having his heart pierced by that blue-haired man, he had apparently been revived by someone unknown. And the moment he made it home — before he'd even caught his breath — that same figure had materialized out of the void once more and come at him to kill him again.
"Thud!"
All at once, a tremendous crash rang out. Shirou Emiya's pupils snapped shut — and then his body was sent flying. Cu Chulainn slowly withdrew the foot he had just kicked out, looked at Shirou Emiya, and let out a sigh.
"I gave you a chance, and yet you're still out here making useless moves."
Cu Chulainn sighed, and had just begun to step forward — when he felt a tremendous force seemingly latching onto his body, seizing his flesh, and his movements stuttered involuntarily to a halt.
In an instant, Cu Chulainn's pupils shrank.
What on earth —?!
In the next moment, Shirou Emiya seemed to register the situation. Without a single moment's hesitation he scrambled to his feet and bolted in the direction of the storehouse.
Only in the void above, moving temporarily in spirit form, did Anthony watch Cu Chulainn with a contemplative expression.
"So that's how it works. That's how a Spirit Origin is put together…"
After staking out this place for so long, he'd finally gotten something out of it.
He opened the group chat and, as an afterthought, @-ed Kiritsugu.
[Sovereign of the White Holy Seat: @Ally of Justice — I've arrived. Took a look around. Seems like we're right at the very start of the plot; they haven't even summoned Saber yet.]
[Ally of Justice: So he's currently...]
[Sovereign of the White Holy Seat: Hm? Being hunted by Cu Chulainn. When I landed I was right in your family's courtyard — touched down and immediately watched the Dog Lancer going at Shirou.]
[Sovereign of the White Holy Seat: Barring any surprises, the next part should be the Artoria summoning sequence.]
Though — they'd come this far. Time to introduce a few surprises.
Anthony surveyed the state of the field, and raised an eyebrow.
He had some ideas.
Especially after, through the lens of his own soul, he had perceived with crystalline clarity the presence within Shirou Emiya's body — Avalon.
Even more so after he had felt Avalon's faint, almost-imperceptible call directed at him specifically.
Anthony's expression began to turn peculiar.
Avalon — the distant land of ideals. In its mythological prototype, Celtic mythology, it existed as a paradise — the world of the dead.
In other words: the afterlife.
And the afterlife — wasn't that just the Underworld?
And as it happened, there was someone present right now who was lord of the Underworld. Care to guess who?
Granted, the call from Avalon wasn't strong. Anthony himself estimated he probably couldn't outcompete Artoria — if Shirou were to summon a Heroic Spirit right now, odds were it would still come out as the Ahoge Queen.
But… there was also no rule anywhere saying Anthony couldn't stick his hand in at this particular moment.
And as for what there was to gain by sticking his hand in — well, that looped right back to Avalon.
This thing genuinely carried the mythological essence of "the world of the dead" — and right now the Underworld was in dire need of reconstruction on every front. Getting his hands on this, at minimum, would let him restore a few functions.
In an instant, the look Anthony turned on Shirou Emiya changed entirely.
This wasn't some group chat friend's family member at all — this was his outstanding future employee.
So long, Ahoge Queen.
And Shirou — don't worry. Your Uncle Anthony is coming to fish you out.
And so, Anthony — concealed in the shadows by the power of his soul — cleared his throat softly, raised his hand, and let the power of Soul Attachment flow out alongside a significant expenditure of points, briefly impeding Cu Chulainn's movements. At the same time, he spoke softly.
The sound passed through the soul's nexus and arrived at Shirou Emiya's ear in what felt like no more than a single instant.
"Go into the storehouse."
In that instant, hearing an unfamiliar voice sound at his ear, Shirou Emiya froze — and then instinctively looked around in every direction, though his feet never stopped carrying him toward the storehouse.
"Who — who's there?!"
"Don't worry. I have no intention of harming you."
Anthony's voice was calm. "You look like you've run into some trouble."
"Do you need help?"
When Shirou heard the male voice at his ear say those words, he reflexively froze for a beat — he looked all around him, and yet couldn't make out so much as a single silhouette.
Just who in the world was talking to him?
But in the next moment he saw Cu Chulainn break free of his restraints and come charging toward him in great strides — and so, without another moment's hesitation, he spun around and leapt into the storehouse.
"Why are you helping me?"
In the next moment, Shirou Emiya murmured in some confusion. Faced with that question, Anthony was briefly silent — then answered:
"Hmm… I'm something like a friend of Kiritsugu's, I suppose. You could think of it as a favor asked of me."
"Also — I was watching when you did that high jump earlier."
He tossed out a line that seemed to have no connection to anything. Shirou's expression blanked for an instant — but there was no longer any space for prolonged thought.
Because in the very next moment, his foot came down squarely inside the summoning circle.
And in that instant, Anthony was filled with jubilation.
Here it comes, here it comes — it's finally here!
In a single instant the summoning circle activated. Within Shirou Emiya's body, Avalon came to life in response — calling out to a distant presence from the Throne of Heroes—
And yet the response went silent without a sound, and even seemed to fall into a kind of suspension.
Only behind Anthony, in the distance, the Origin Furnace materialized — and silently began to roar.
He raised an eyebrow, glanced at Cu Chulainn, then looked at Avalon within Shirou Emiya's body, and a smile spread across his face.
What? You're saying this Avalon isn't my holy relic?
That's fine. It will be in a moment.
And so, under Anthony's attentive gaze, from within the Origin Furnace an endless torrent of souls came surging forth — streaming straight in the direction of Avalon. And then, just like that, he moved to forcibly brand a mark upon Avalon—
Of course, this process was never going to go smoothly without a fight.
Faced with something roughly equivalent to squatting in someone else's home without permission, Avalon naturally protested.
But in the next moment, faced with Avalon's protest — the damaged Underworld stepped forward first and delivered Avalon a firm slap.
A damaged Underworld was still the Underworld!
Of course, perhaps because it was too damaged, the slap wasn't enough to subdue it — so Anthony raised an eyebrow and quietly nudged his own divine rank up by one tier.
And then the Primordial River leapt forward and delivered Avalon another solid slap.
This time it worked. Rather — when Anthony tentatively laced a trace of the Primordial River's earth-binding spirit essence into the torrent of souls surging toward Avalon, Avalon very nearly let out a sharp, piercing shriek.
And so, just like that, Anthony effortlessly left a mark upon Avalon — sending a greeting toward Avalon, and toward the Holy Grail's summoning ritual:
Hey — this is the King of Avalon. Venmo me fifty.
Just like that, riding on the faint affinity he held as lord of the Underworld, combined with the mighty authority of the Forgemaster, Anthony successfully completed the reforging of Avalon — pulling its ownership a meaningful degree in his own direction.
And in that moment, the Heroic Spirit summoning fell into a brief state of chaos due to the disruption in ownership.
And that chaos was precisely what Anthony needed.
Working from the Forgemaster's authority, in that instant the Origin Furnace thundered with a tremendous roar. Anthony did no more than flick a glance at Cu Chulainn's Spirit Origin — and then, drawing upon his own mastery of soul circuit analysis, grasped its essence in a single moment.
Or rather — even without fully grasping it, it didn't matter.
Because behind Anthony, the Origin Furnace had already begun to roar.
And in that instant, Shirou Emiya's pupils went completely vacant. In his eyes, all he saw was an enormous forging hammer — descending straight toward him.
In that moment, even the summoning circle's target was altered — changed in the midst of the Forgemaster's reforging, which could only be described as outright cheating.
There was no need to find it strange. For this was simply the nature of the Forgemaster — with that authority, to achieve the evolution of all things, the remaking of heaven and earth.
And so, in that instant, Cu Chulainn's outstretched spear faltered again. While upon the back of Shirou Emiya's hand, red lines began to gradually surface.
This time, Cu Chulainn furrowed his brow.
That same familiar feeling again — just who is it?
And now this is… a Heroic Spirit summoning?!
In that instant, Cu Chulainn desperately tried to pull his lance free — but then he saw a pair of dim, luminous eyes, gazing at him.
Just as if… looking at raw material.
"You've eaten through so many of my points — time to get a little return on investment, don't you think?"
Under the gaze of those eyes, where something like stars seemed to drift in slow rotation, Cu Chulainn heard that voice reach him.
And then, in the very next instant, he felt the shackles binding him loosen — but immediately after, a powerful gravitational pull came surging from his own body.
And then, countless azure flames ignited across his body — searing his flesh, and even his… Spirit Origin.
Looking at Cu Chulainn before him, Anthony weighed Avalon in his hand — already his in every meaningful sense — while still keeping the Dog Lancer's Spirit Origin in his thoughts.
Honestly speaking: a Spirit Origin like this was genuinely expensive.
The thing was, in some sense, composed almost entirely of energy — and from just one small bite taken out of it, Anthony had already recovered a fair portion of the points he'd spent, and his mood turned cheerful in spite of itself.
But Cu Chulainn's expression was gradually growing more and more excited.
Battle — for him, this was not something to be avoided.
It was the real thing — a genuine source of joy.
And so, in the next moment, he swept his spear out wide — but in the instant that followed, a command came in.
Retreat.
A moment of silence.
When Cu Chulainn raised his head, he saw Anthony looking back at him with a smile on his face.
He looked down, eyes fixed on the soul-flames still burning ceaselessly across his own body, his expression twitching at the corner — and at last, with a sigh, he withdrew his spear and departed.
"Not going to keep going?"
"Pass."
The curt reply came, and Cu Chulainn leapt upward and bounded into the distance. As the distance grew, the soul-flames naturally receded back into the Origin Furnace.
For a moment, the storehouse held only Anthony and Shirou Emiya.
In that moment, Shirou Emiya stared blankly at Anthony — watching that man with the enigmatic smile turn to face him — and could not help but speak softly:
"Just who are you…"
"You can call me Anthony. I said it already — I'm a friend of Kiritsugu's."
Anthony's tone remained calm as he spoke: "Consider it a favor done for Kiritsugu. In short — I'm here to help you survive this Holy Grail War. Or, as the case may be, to win it."
"The Holy Grail War…"
Shirou Emiya murmured the words somewhat blankly — then met Anthony's gaze directly.
Anthony, for his part, was looking at Shirou Emiya in return.
Honestly — if he was being honest.
It had been a while since he'd fought anything himself, and when he'd come face to face with the Dog Lancer just now, Anthony had felt a little out of his element.
So, after just a short while, he'd made a different decision.
Better to just cultivate Shirou.
The kid looked promising to him — Projection magic was not something Anthony was going to let go to waste. And besides, Anthony genuinely wasn't very accustomed to getting into fights himself. How exhausting would that be? Better to stay back and harvest whatever gems of talent came his way.
But more centrally — the moment he saw Shirou, Anthony suddenly realized: it had been quite a while since he'd last made a Trash Golem.
His hands were getting a little itchy.
On top of that, before leaving on this trip, he'd brought the Glass Window along just in case — Anthony figured it would be a shame not to give it a try.
Once Shirou had come out the other side of the Trash Golem crash course, he'd have a body tempered by walking the edge of death — smash through the broken Grail, and wouldn't this whole trip's objective be wrapped up?
The key was: once Shirou came out of the crash course, he could immediately become — just like David — an outstanding employee who'd ridden the Underworld Ferry. His workforce might be on the verge of a massive expansion.
Of course, and for that very reason, there were still more important things to be done for the time being—
[Sovereign of the White Holy Seat: @Ally of Justice — Shirou's side is handled, I went ahead and stepped in on the Heroic Spirit summoning myself.]
[Sovereign of the White Holy Seat: Get yourself ready too. Later the two of us will bring Shirou and punch straight through the broken Grail.]
[Sovereign of the White Holy Seat: Also — we need to find Illyasviel as soon as possible.]
After dashing off those few messages in the group chat, Anthony turned back to Shirou Emiya.
"The specifics I'll leave out for now — better to let the veteran from the last round explain things to you in person. You'll be clear on everything soon enough."
Finally, Anthony let out a quiet breath, and posed his question to Shirou Emiya:
"So then — would you like to see Kiritsugu one more time?"
____
👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Jujutsu x Mieruko: Oh no, am I a villain too?
Let's hit these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter for the public!