Chapter 34 The End Spoken by the Strongest Heroic Spirit
"No way..."
"Incredible! Is this what a battle between Heroic Spirits looks like?!"
Rin completely ignored Flat's incessant chatter in her ear, staring blankly at the scene several kilometers away.
Noble Phantasm clashed against Noble Phantasm.
A variety of magnificent armaments, radiating grand light, transformed into a torrential rain, singing against one another.
It looked as though two great storms of rain were pouring into each other.
In the center of this sea of Noble Phantasms stood two figures.
Among them, Rin saw a ghost who should have stayed dead.
"—Which godforsaken bastard summoned that Goldie back again?! We went through so much trouble to turn him into a ghost!?"
Rin, of course, did not know that the person responsible for summoning Gilgamesh had already become a ghost himself.
Unlike Gilgamesh, that man hadn't even left a scratch on history; he died so thoroughly that one couldn't even find someone to help carve a memorial.
"Miss Rin, what's wrong?"
Flat, innocent and oblivious to the situation, let out a confused sound. Rin suppressed the urge to faint and pulled out a certain mystic code.
The tool's common name was the "Gemstone Topographic Imprinter." Its function was to record a scene designated by the wielder, similar to sand art. Its advantages were a magnification effect reaching the kilometer scale and the ability to capture images normally at night.
Four gems floated out of the jewel box and promptly shattered. Using them as fuel, the imprinter began to operate with a "shwa-shwa" sound.
Once she had the image, Rin didn't hesitate; she took a photo with her phone and sent it off as an email.
It was only a short while later—several countries away—that Waver Velvet, upon seeing a figure so familiar he had once stood within ten meters of him, suppressed the urge to vomit. Supported by his considerate disciple while taking stomach medicine, he engaged in a meticulous argument with his foster sister—who was mockingly "comforting" him—about just how terrifying this guy actually was.
"Eh, phones are so useful! I'm buying one tomorrow!"
"I don't care what you do, just remember to add Professor El-Melloi's email address after you buy it."
On the bright side, at least this time Flat wasn't the culprit who made Professor El-Melloi reach for his stomach medicine upon seeing King Gilgamesh. Rin had a hand in it too.
Rin, still lingering in a somewhat comedic daze, suddenly felt her Magic Crest convulse.
Has Shirou consumed that much prana?
Two hours ago, the Magic Crest had convulsed once before. But after that, Shirou's prana levels had remained normal. Rin thought he had already solved the problem.
But now, the spasm of the Magic Crest was so intense it left Rin speechless; she even began to sense her own prana surging toward him.
It wasn't that he intended to drain Rin's prana; it was the principle of pressure difference.
Shirou's physical and magical energy were both heavily depleted. Rin could feel the vibration of the portion of the Magic Crest residing on him.
"...Shirou?"
"Hmm? Why did Butler-kun's name come up? Did something happen to Butler-kun?!"
Rin couldn't help a panicked whisper, and Flat, startled, turned to his classmate and started shouting.
Shifting her target, Rin approached Flat with the expression of a demon, causing him to stumble back.
"Hey, Flat! Can you find any other combat signatures nearby besides those two monsters? Don't limit yourself to the immediate area—search out to thirty kilometers! You can definitely do it!"
"Eh? O-okay! Your wish is my command!"
Flat closed his eyes and searched for a full minute before opening them. "To the northwest, there are two distinct prana signatures... one of them feels a bit terrifying, probably."
Rin and the others were currently south of the city. Northwest meant the western part of the city.
"Dammit."
Flat stared blankly at Rin's actions.
Without hiding anything from Flat, she easily gripped the sword she had never used in battle and held it aloft.
The "Jeweled Sword" emitted a refractive, starlike shimmer. In the next moment, in Flat's eyes, the world seemed to fold in a bizarre fashion.
Flat thought he saw an afterimage. But a second later, the afterimage brought out the patterns of a kaleidoscope.
Even the boundaries became blurred. After a prism-like light flashed and the dizzying scenery shattered—the prana in the area around Flat increased in density by twenty-three times out of thin air, all of it flowing toward that sword as she gathered it.
Witnessing a magnificent sight that transcended understanding, Flat felt something—but he didn't look at Rin, who was at the center of all the prana; instead, his eyes went wide as he stared toward the northwest.
Seven-colored brilliance flowed and flickered.
The prana poured into the sword was also Rin's own. At the cost of damaging her own bodily tissues as the price for haste, Rin funneled all the prana she had obtained in that short window toward the other end of the Crest.
The young woman gritted her teeth, a look of desperate anxiety in her eyes.
Her other hand reached out for her phone.
Rin dialed the number for the phone Saber had been given—and it was promptly hung up.
Hanging up was to convey that the message had been received; not answering was because even taking the time to pick up would be a hindrance. Rin could only imagine the King of Knights, expression grim, racing like the wind.
Even knowing that her words could not be heard on the other side, Rin spoke softly, tenderly, and even with a trace of helplessness:
"Can you hold on just a little longer, Shirou?"
.
.
.
Falling from the sky.
He heard an explosion in his ear, then felt the angle of what was piercing him skew.
The bow-staff that should have skewered Shirou's heart actually only grazed his left shoulder in the explosion. Shirou had narrowly escaped death.
This good news bolstered Shirou, and his clearing consciousness immediately sought to re-project chains, piercing toward the nearest building at his side.
Shirou couldn't just hit the ground. If he slammed flat onto the earth without any measures, his left shoulder—which seemed to be self-repairing—would be in bad shape.
After a long-distance breakfall, Shirou landed at the base of a nearby building and wiped the flecks of mud that had splashed onto his face.
Alcides, looking as though he had taken a slight loss, appeared on a middle floor of the high-rise that had its internal structure exposed, looking down in silence.
Before he could move, a large number of Rule Breakers appeared above Shirou again, plunging deep into the ground in at least a thirty-meter radius around him, filling the circular area one after another.
Physically, it felt like he could hold out for a bit longer. Of course, if this continued, Shirou would still die. But—he wouldn't let him take Shirou down that easily.
If not for the advantage of the terrain, Shirou would have been finished long ago; if Alcides weren't a Servant, Shirou's harassment with projected Rule Breakers would be nothing more than the useless actions of a fool. However, drenched in blood and utilizing every available constraint, Shirou had managed to endure until now.
Alcides was not invincible; the myth of this Servant's invincibility had been broken by Shirou's own hands.
Shirou did not avoid Alcides' gaze, meeting it squarely and openly.
Shirou had given the answer he wanted regarding "carelessness."
The gaunt giant did not jump down; however, behind the pelt, the corner of his mouth seemed to let out an imperceptible laugh.
Then, he stopped laughing.
Alcides' bow shifted from horizontal to vertical.
It was the same posture as always. The difference was—his aura became as calm as one looking at a dead man.
There was a reason Alcides had refrained from releasing his Noble Phantasm. The answer given by the "enemy" satisfied Alcides, and so that trivial reason vanished.
The one who needed to put forth an equal resolve was he, the slaughterer.
At the moment Alcides truly resolved to expose himself early and allow those loathsome demigods to establish countermeasures, only one conclusion remained.
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