The fluorescent tube in the hospital ward buzzed faintly, the air heavy and stagnant. Only the canned laughter from a comedy replay on the TV echoed noisily in the background, masking the faint murmurs of conversation between the two.
Eri spoke a few halting words before falling silent again, reverting to her usual quiet self, as if that brief moment of laughter and speech had been nothing more than a beautiful illusion.
"Eri, how's your body? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
Eri sat obediently on the bed, shaking her head. She instinctively wanted to pick up her notebook to write, but then remembered she could already speak. Putting it down, her lips trembled and her voice rasped, "I… I'm fine."
Shirou walked slowly to her bedside, looking at her with mixed emotions. After the initial wave of joy, he quickly calmed down, realizing this wasn't something simple.
Eri suddenly being able to talk couldn't be explained by any so-called medical miracle. Let alone curing deaf-mute patients—it wasn't even a full treatment, just a check-up. No disease vanishes on its own in the middle of an examination.
He drew in a deep breath and asked carefully:
"Eri… you could always speak, couldn't you?"
"…Yes." Her words came haltingly, each syllable squeezed from deep within her throat. Her fingers curled unconsciously against the white sheets, gripping a corner tightly until her knuckles paled.
"Before… couldn't control… power… so, didn't dare… afraid of hurting people…"
Shirou's mind cleared. Of course. According to the intel Nono had provided and his own deductions, Eri had been strictly monitored by her family because of her frequent outbursts. They feared the uncontrolled eruptions of her authority—one careless word could cause death.
At the root of it, she was a vessel. The "god" within her had constantly been agitating, difficult to suppress.
Even the black shadow that appeared beside her earlier must have been a fragment of that god escaping her control.
"So… it's not that you regained speech," Shirou looked straight into her eyes, "it's that you lost that death-causing ability, right?"
"Mhm." She nodded, first happy, then faintly disappointed.
Her ability's disappearance allowed her to talk freely, which was wonderful. But now she realized she had no real role anymore. Monsters were monsters because of their terrifying power—heroes too.
If she no longer had the strength to protect or fight alongside her comrades, what kind of hero was she? She sighed quietly, clutching the sheets as if trying to hold onto something.
"It's alright. We'll figure something out," Shirou reached out and gently held her fingers.
He didn't say those empty words—Eri, you don't need to fight anymore, just stay safe behind me. Her determination to fight meant she was growing. His role wasn't to dissuade her, but to encourage her.
"Since you don't have that power anymore, are you interested in Western magecraft?"
As he spoke, Shirou casually "created" a knife in his hand. Eastern magecraft ultimately relied too much on the gods themselves. Without their aid, nothing could be done.
Back then, when Aozaki Touko left home, she didn't stay in Japan to learn magecraft. She went to the Clock Tower in Britain—perhaps because she realized how restrictive and family-bound Eastern systems were.
Eri's eyes lit up as she saw the knife. She remembered the dazzling Noble Phantasms Shirou had used in battle, each one beautiful and powerful. Her heart stirred with longing. She nodded lightly, "Can… can I make interesting, powerful weapons like Shirou?"
"That's hard to say. It depends on your talent. Everyone's path is different. At most, I can teach you the basics. If you want broader knowledge and applications, you should talk more with Charlotte."
"…Child?"
Eri blinked, recalling a little blonde girl. When they first met, Charlotte had puffed herself up like a kitten, hissing at them. Later she nearly cried when confronted by the black mud, and Eri had kindly given her a piece of crepe.
She had thought that hissing was reserved for them, but at the church Charlotte even hissed at Master Yue, without hesitation.
"Yes, but don't be fooled by her appearance—she's very knowledgeable," Shirou chuckled. "Just… don't call her a child to her face, or she'll throw a tantrum and ignore you."
Eri tilted her head. She didn't understand why someone would care about such things. It was just the truth, nothing insulting.
Still, she nodded obediently, "…Alright."
She thought, if she couldn't call her a child, then calling her "innocent" or "cute" should be fine.
Shirou, seeing her agree, moved on. "Eri, can you tell me about the black shadow—that god—and what happened between you two?"
His tone hardened. "That drumbeat sound, and the 'contract' it mentioned—something bothers me."
Eri nodded, recalling. "At that time… I heard the… drumbeat sound… and then…"
"And then?"
"…Like I lost control… like a puppet."
"So that's why you stood motionless," Shirou muttered. "That rhythm must've carried commands. He clearly wanted to control you. But why was it only effective on you? I heard it too."
Unfortunately, the "General" had died too quickly. The truth behind it would remain buried.
"Let's move on. About his death—it was the god inside you who acted, wasn't it?" Shirou recalled the golden eyes, a single glance delivering a crushing blow to the mind.
The General had died instantly from it.
But Shirou had only felt a sharp, momentary dizziness. Likely because his dragon-blood baptism had strengthened his mind far beyond normal humans.
"Mhm," Eri whispered, "that god… while I was a puppet, it spoke… called me a shrine maiden…"
"To offer everything to the god?" Shirou finished for her.
Eri nodded firmly.
Shirou frowned in thought. He analyzed the phrase carefully, trying to link it with the black shadow's actions.
First: if it was truly Izanami, the mother goddess of death in Japanese myth, her presence here was too weak. Calling it a "fragment" was an excuse, but it still felt off.
Second: its manifestation was extremely similar to a Heroic Spirit Summoning—a spirit being called into reality. That explained its form, but then, who was the Master? The shadow had mentioned a "contract." Did that make Eri the Master?
Third: the shadow had nearly dissipated, yet suddenly regained power. If Eri was the Master, then it drew energy from her—mana or even life force. That would also explain her collapse afterward.
It resembled a Holy Grail War contract. The Master sustains the Servant's existence with their own energy.
But this shrine maiden contract was clearly one-sided, forced upon her.
"…Will it be alright?" Eri asked softly, reaching out to touch his forehead, as if smoothing away his frown.
"Don't worry, Eri. Just focus on learning magecraft. Leave the rest to me." Shirou smiled.
At worst… he'd just slay a god again.
———
Angers walked down the streets of Tokyo, the cool night breeze tugging at his suit. He glanced at his phone—still no notification about Fingal waking.
No word from the hospital yet. His mood sank heavier. His beloved Maserati GranCabrio was probably lost with Fingal somewhere in the Elysium. He had no choice but to go on foot.
"Norma, navigate me to Genji Heavy Industries' headquarters."
Not that it mattered. His Word Spirit was "Time Zero." If he really sprinted, even cars couldn't keep up.
As he walked, he recalled how Uesugi Yue had bolted off earlier after getting a message from his son, Uesugi Tokiomi. The old man had hopped onto his ramen cart and sped away, shouting grandly:
"Father and son go to battle together! My son didn't say it in the message, but he must need his father's help!"
Sometimes, when someone made you speechless, you really had no words. Angers had nearly buried his face in his palm to hide his shame.
He couldn't even imagine it: in the middle of a fierce battle between the Hachijo families and the Yakuza inside Genji HQ, a ramen cart would storm in, neon lights blazing with the words "Shadow Emperor Ramen," stunning everyone.
No, old man, did you walk into the wrong movie set?
Then, Yue would shout "Not at all!" tear off his ramen headband, and with his twin blades unleash Niten Ichiryu, swallowing all gunfire into a miniature black hole with his Word Spirit: Black Sun Domain!
Finally, just as Yue was about to finish cleaning up, his son would arrive late, declaring: "The former Shadow Emperor has returned. Will you still resist?" And the gangsters, trembling, would kneel, weeping and begging for mercy…
Angers shook his head, chasing away his wild imagination. Actually… knowing Yue wasn't a stiff old Showa man but secretly a French clown, maybe it wasn't impossible.
Yes, thinking like that, it all made sense.
———
But reality wasn't like that.
By the time Angers arrived, the battle had already ended. He spotted Yue standing in the lobby of Genji HQ, staring down at the corpses in silence.
"What's wrong? The old Shadow Emperor doesn't want to step into his family's headquarters, so he lingers outside?"
Yue shot him a cold look. "Thanks, but I just got here. Unlike a certain bastard who abuses Time Zero—fast, shameless, and downright obscene."
"Obscene?" Angers blinked. His time magecraft was elegant, refined—how was it obscene? Then two seconds later, he realized Yue was making dirty jokes again. Covering his face, Angers snapped, "Stop projecting your porn habits onto my Word Spirit!"
"Anyway, these corpses all look like young women."
Yue, amused by Angers' frustration, smirked faintly. Ignoring the other's pained pride, he said flatly:
"Some of them have swollen, ruptured abdomens. Inside were mutated stillborns. They were pregnant."
"Deadpool spawn can reproduce?" Angers muttered, intrigued. "If we report this, the scholars at HQ will go crazy."
"Now isn't the time for academic obsession," Yue stepped over the corpses. "Look—these bodies have signs of heavy pressure. Their positions suggest they were slammed to the ground, then beheaded. Every single one of them."
Angers crouched, nudging a severed head, examining the clean cut of the neck. Smooth as glass, severed by an incredibly fast blade. He nodded, impressed.
"Truly remarkable… and fast. Was this your son's work?"
(End of Chapter)
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