Three days and three nights passed, and Medea and Shirou, who had not stopped for a single moment, finally completed the modification and transfer of the Lesser Grail.
At the same time—
[Fake Emperor Armor: Abandoned]
Shirou, who had been on alert and waiting for Illya to wake up, was stunned.
'What is going on?'
"Projection start!"
He first glanced at the Emperor Belt, then began projection.
It didn't fail, but he couldn't perform the armor fusion.
Or rather, it wasn't that he couldn't fuse, but the magical energy required to maintain the projection plus the fusion was now two to three times higher than before.
[A/N: Because of the abandonment, the legendary blessing was lost, and since it wasn't a sword, the magical energy consumed by projection became proportional to other non-sword Noble Phantasms.]
"What are you doing, Berserker?"
"Nothing."
Shirou thought for a moment, then honestly said, "My Noble Phantasm seems to be unusable."
Illya had already been disconnected from the Greater Grail. Although her total magical energy was still decent, it definitely couldn't compare to when she was backed by the Greater Grail. Using it recklessly, let alone maintaining something that required two to three times the magical energy of Heracles, would be fatal for her health.
So Shirou could only temporarily shelve it and wait until he found a way to resolve it in the future.
"Isn't that how it should be?"
Medea said in a normal tone, "You abandoned the Noble Phantasm, so it's natural you can't use it. Anyway, you can just project it…"
"No, what I mean is, even projection can't be used."
"What did you say?", Medea instantly flew in front of him and nervously said, "Is there a problem with the projection magecraft?"
Shirou remained silent.
Why did it feel like Medea's expression now was just like a researcher observing whether their lab mouse was diseased?
Medea also realized she was too agitated and stepped back from in front of Shirou, "Well, how should I put it, since you're the core strength, if something goes wrong, eventually…"
"I understand," Shirou interrupted her, "It's just that the armor can't be used for now, the other Noble Phantasms aren't affected."
"Why is it like this?", Medea frowned.
"Noble Phantasms from Heroic Spirits, once they're summoned, are already fixed. This isn't a fake, but your actual Noble Phantasm. Even if it was abandoned, your projection shouldn't be affected, it makes no sense."
"Unless…", Medea seemed to think of something, her heartbeat sped up, her breathing grew heavy, and her gaze became terrifying.
"Berserker."
"...", Shirou didn't speak.
'Should I say it?'
'Should I not?'
"Don't tell me, you're still alive?"
'She said it!'
She blurted it out without even preparing mentally. But of course she did.
Heroic Spirits are affected by the legends that are built around them.
From the start, Medea had found it strange.
Clearly he was already a Heroic Spirit, so why was he still constantly training? And even improving.
If he were merely relying on a Noble Phantasm to get by, then, losing that Noble Phantasm and being unable to use it anymore was not something you could gloss over.
That's right, because he was still alive, the great deeds he had created continued to change.
If he had created the armor while still alive, and had also abandoned it while still alive, then naturally he couldn't possess it anymore.
Just like how the Dumb King (Artoria) lost her sheath.
Unless you return the Noble Phantasm to her, otherwise she remains in the state of having lost it. Such is the nature of the legend.
This is the outcome formed from a conceptual level.
In the end, that's what Heroic Spirits are. Rather than saying they exist in history, it's more accurate to say they are nothing more than legend.
No need for a spoken answer. Silence was the best answer Medea could receive.
She used a voice filled with suppressed but burning heat, emotions repressed yet boiling over, and said, "Berserker, you've really given me a research subject that no magus… can ever… refuse!"
She knew she shouldn't keep going, but the frenzy in her heart, her identity as a magus, made her long, made her desperately long, to keep speaking, "Right now, I'm very curious, extremely curious. Just what are you? And where… in this world… are you currently alive?"
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