11 – The Female Support Friend Joins the Battle
Within the blinding pillar of white light, the boy's body was strengthened in that moment.
His soul was also elevated, and within his mind appeared a portion of memories related to a heroic figure from religious legends—along with that hero's combat style and experience.
This was the Heroic Spirit Possession System developed by the omnipotent genius Da Vinci, inspired by the concept of divine possession.
Though this possession state wasn't perfect, its strength already far surpassed the limits of ordinary humans—and even those of average magi from his previous life.
The Heroic Spirit possessing the boy had once been an active cavalry officer of ancient Rome in the late 3rd century AD.
Even in this world, legends of him lived on: a man who defied the Roman emperor for his faith, protected the weak, slew evil dragons, and rescued princesses.
With Da Vinci's help, Chaldea had completed the possession summoning by linking the Heroic Spirit to the Master from this alternate world, allowing the Heroic Spirit to manifest through possession.
At that moment, Shirou felt the immense power hidden in his body.
He had inherited the Heroic Spirit's combat experience and skills, while still retaining control over his own body.
Shirou came to understand that the Heroic Spirit possessing him was none other than the world-renowned hero—Saint George! The dragonslayer who struck down a poisonous dragon with his spear and severed its head with his holy sword—one of the seven most famous warriors in Christian lore.
He drew the holy sword Ascalon from his waist and pointed it at the vile, black Chimera before him.
He couldn't stop car accidents or gas explosions, but this monster that brought destruction to the world—he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
Shirou knew he wasn't as great as Saint George had been in life, nor did he share the same unwavering faith in God.
But in this moment, the Heroic Spirit and the boy's purposes aligned: to slay the evil beast and protect the peace and happiness of this world.
Saint George had answered the boy's summons because of his unwavering resolve to protect humanity.
And now the boy would use this power to protect everything in this world!
"Uwahhhhhh!!" the boy roared, charging straight at the Chimera with unwavering determination. With the confidence of someone wielding the power of a dragonslaying hero, he believed that a first-rank Chimera wouldn't be a problem.
"ROAAARRR!!" The monster howled in rage as its snake-head tail lashed out at Shirou.
But Shirou showed not a trace of fear. With both hands gripping the holy sword Ascalon, he leapt high and slashed downward at the snake head with the intent to cleave it in two.
However, as the blade touched the snake head, his unstoppable momentum was inexplicably disrupted. It wasn't just the Chimera's tough scales—there seemed to be some kind of rule at play, one that suppressed his magical power and nullified most of his damage.
When the blade struck, it felt like a rusty iron weapon colliding with solid steel. This monster defied all logic—something about it had mutated.
Shirou's arms went numb from the shock.
Gritting his teeth, he forced the snake head aside, flipped the sword in his grip, and slashed at the lion body of the Chimera.
The holy sword Ascalon barely pierced through the creature's fur, only managing to cut a superficial wound.
Blood spilled from the Chimera, but it wasn't enough to cripple or even slow it down. Enraged by the pain, the beast let out a furious roar.
This kind of interference—rules that shouldn't exist in this world—were clearly suppressing the boy's power.
The snake-tail lashed forward again with its fangs bared. Shirou hurriedly jumped back to dodge.
Fortunately, the Heroic Spirit possessing him specialized in defense.
Shirou raised the sword to block the snake's strike, but the force behind the blow drove him back several steps.
The goat head, now left with just one eye, spat out another fireball.
Mash leapt into the air with her shield raised and smashed the fireball out of existence. She shouted to Shirou:
"Shirou-senpai, calm down! This mutated Chimera has been altered by some unknown factor and now registers as an Assassin-class enemy! Your Heroic Spirit is a Rider-class!
And honestly, George-sensei isn't even an offensive-type Servant to begin with—and he's only two stars…"
Shirou launched another attack. But no matter how much strength he put into his slash, the wounds were still too shallow. He couldn't deal any real damage, and instead, completely enraged the three-headed Chimera.
The lion head swiped at him with a giant claw. Shirou barely managed to raise his longsword to block, but the impact sent him skidding back ten steps, iron boots scraping across the ground.
"Why does even a monster like this have a class!? And what part of that reckless charging behavior says Assassin-class?! If it's not gonna sneak around, at least act like a proper guard dog!" Shirou shouted in frustration.
"A perfect assassination is one where there are no witnesses! That's what one of the great Grand Servants once said! The 'Triple Red Matchless Assassin'—that's the essence of the Assassin class! Who cares about Presence Concealment? A true assassin charges in and goes full combo!" Mash, dressed in her skintight purple outfit, shouted with an odd sort of excitement, seemingly fired up at the wrong moment.
"Mash, you damn eggplant! Is this really the time to be complimenting the enemy?!" Shirou yelled.
He desperately wanted to use a skill buff on himself like in the game, especially something to increase resistance to mental stress. But because he wasn't a believer, he couldn't receive any such divine blessing.
The pitch-black Chimera had clearly mutated somehow. The power it displayed wasn't that of a normal beast—it had reached the level of a fantasy-class creature.
Everywhere it went, destruction followed. Walls cracked and collapsed from its shockwaves. Trees were split in half and crashed to the ground in splinters.
"Shirou-senpai! With our current strength, it's almost impossible to kill this monster!" Mash cried out.
"Then what do we do?!" Shirou shouted as he jumped back to evade another strike.
This time, the Chimera's claws only grazed the front of his armor, but even that left a long tear across the breastplate—enough to make his hair stand on end.
"Find a powerful support friend! I'll hold it off! — Shield of Rousing Resolution!" Mash yelled, injecting magical energy into her cross-shaped shield. It glowed white as she charged straight at the Chimera and slammed into it.
"Support?!" Shirou's mind jumped to his phone.
Sure enough, a battle interface appeared in a floating holographic display. On the far left was the pink-haired Shield Girl. The second was himself in armor.
To the right, a support slot. He tapped on it. A row of incredibly strong-looking friends popped up—each dozens of levels higher than him.
"Snow Meow Who Loves Mr. Pan? Level 138? This Servant's maxed out, and not only that—it has a Holy Grail symbol in front of the stars, just like my George."
Screw it! I choose you!
Shirou tapped the support button.
The phone once again emitted a pillar of brilliant white light shooting into the sky.
A female warrior in strange armor leapt out of the light.
"Wait, what?! Just a moment ago I was—" The girl adjusted her posture mid-air and landed effortlessly on one knee.
As if by instinct, she used her long sleeve to cover her body.
Seeing her surroundings left her completely confused. Her mind was a mess. But once she organized the sudden influx of information, she finally calmed down.
Her long black hair was tied high into a ponytail that flowed down her back.
Bangs parted evenly across her forehead framed a refined, adorable face with sharp, confident eyes.
She scanned the area with a cold, heroic gaze—clearly looking for whoever brought her here.
Shirou felt that this sudden sky-falling girl looked very familiar.
Taking a closer look—her beautiful face, her slender figure, that icy aura… wasn't she the same girl from his school club, Yukinoshita Yukino? Why did she just jump out of his phone?
But he was sure he had clicked on Snow Meow Who Loves Mr. Pan … Wait a second… Snow Meow…?
Shirou stared in shock at the girl, realizing he might have just stumbled upon a secret so dangerous it could get him silenced forever.