Upgrade Projection Magic
On the school campus, the boy stared blankly at the girl, momentarily unsure of what to say.
The girl also recognized the boy at that moment and noticed that he, like her, was wearing an oddly elaborate outfit—the kind only seen on a theatrical stage.
No matter how you looked at it, he had to be involved in this bizarre situation.
"Shirou-san! Please explain what is going on here?" The girl's gaze turned cold as she stared at him, placing particular emphasis on the word "san" to mark emotional distance.
Familiar with the girl, Shirou knew that even though her face showed no expression, she was actually very angry.
That icy gaze gave off an unexplainable pressure.
Aren't we from the same club and friends? Why is she suddenly calling me "Shirou-san" so coldly? It feels so distant...
"Ah, Yukinoshita, now's not the time to talk!" Shirou turned his head decisively and pointed his sword toward the chimera that was roaring and attacking madly in front of them.
"Let's deal with that monster first! I trust you've received your Heroic Spirit's memories and combat knowledge by now, right? If we let it rampage like this, who knows how many people will get hurt."
"I see… Got it." Yukinoshita Yukino looked at the monster causing havoc and reluctantly nodded.
"But after this is over, you must give me a proper explanation. You clearly said, 'I'll be too busy practicing for Nationals, so I won't be able to participate in club activities.' And yet, here you are, with a girl in a skin-tight outfit, doing who-knows-what?" Yukinoshita gave Shirou a frosty smile.
"Ahaha, I actually was planning to show up at the club tomorrow..." Shirou replied with a laugh, feeling that her smile was a little too chilling for comfort.
"Is that so? Then I'll be waiting for your explanation." The icy smile on Yukinoshita's lips didn't waver.
Yukinoshita Yukino had always been more mature and rational than the average high school student.
While she had her own weaknesses and childish sides, in situations like this, she upheld her personal sense of absolute justice.
The moment she was possessed by the Heroic Spirit, she received their battle experience and information about this place, and she understood the cause behind the monster's appearance.
She was a frequent reader, so she naturally knew the tragic story of Minamoto no Yoshitsune—a familiar name to many.
As a legendary general who won several key battles and unified a divided Japan, Yoshitsune was feared by his brother Minamoto no Yoritomo due to his overwhelming merit. B
etrayed and forced into exile, he eventually died by suicide.
Yoritomo went on to unify Japan and established the Kamakura Shogunate, becoming the true ruler of the land.
Because Yukinoshita knew that history well, she felt pity and sympathy toward the youthful Heroic Spirit representing this tragic hero. She even resonated with her.
Both of them harbored complicated feelings toward their older siblings. Both were geniuses misunderstood by others.
Perhaps that was why Yukinoshita Yukino's compatibility with the Heroic Spirit Ushiwakamaru (Yoshitsune's childhood name), who possessed her, was as high as 80%. In fact, she could even draw out the Heroic Spirit's power better than Shirou.
As a result, she seemed more influenced by her Heroic Spirit than Shirou was.
Just like Ushiwakamaru, she had forgotten what fear even was.
She coldly stared at the chimera and drew the katana from her waist.
Shirou shouted toward the pink-haired girl, "Mash, we've got a new ally! What do we do next?"
"Shirou-senpai! To defeat a chimera of this level, we'll have to rely on Noble Phantasms!" Mash, who had been holding off the chimera, turned around and, upon seeing Yukinoshita, her face fell in disappointment as she shouted, "Why is it Rider-class again?! It's weak to this monster!"
"Eh? Did I get it wrong again? I thought as long as we had a Holy Grail, all of them should be powerful! So what do we do now?" Shirou asked in confusion.
In his previous world, every Heroic Spirit had been strong, and class weaknesses weren't this dramatic.
"I don't know! Shirou-senpai, you idiot! I was hoping you'd summon a strong, reliable partner! But no! You totally gave in to your uniform fetish and picked the girl in the skimpy outfit, didn't you?! Now what?! All we can do is tough it out!" Mash shouted angrily, clearly displeased with him.
"..." Shirou couldn't figure out why even his kouhai was suddenly mad at him.
"By the way! When did you even become friends with Yukinoshita-senpai?!" Mash asked with a frown.
She couldn't believe it.
It hadn't even been 24 hours! And the Shirou-senpai she trusted had already used the account she gave him to roll an SSR, and added another girl as a friend! What else didn't she know?
It was like a pharaoh still obsessed with his dream lover after death, only to find out she had turned into a ball by the time he saw her again.
The world was moving too fast, and she couldn't keep up.
Where had that upright, good-hearted senpai gone? Did one day of gaming really corrupt him?
Mash took her feelings of irritation and frustration, transformed them into strength, and slammed her shield into the chimera's lion-like nose, hitting its weak point and making it scream in pain.
Just then, Yukinoshita Yukino stepped forward and said, "If I had the magical sword Ame-no-Habakiri, I could absolutely cut through this level of monster with my Noble Phantasm. That's what the Heroic Spirit inside me tells me."
While Mash was entangled with the monster, Yukinoshita had been carefully observing the pitch-black chimera, looking for a way to deal with it. That's when the Heroic Spirit inside her spoke, offering a solution.
"The weapon you have now won't work, Yukinoshita-senpai?" Mash shouted, raising her shield to block another pounce.
"No, this one's just a slightly sharper fake due to the incomplete summoning," Yukinoshita replied, charging forward with her sword.
Using footwork as nimble as a swallow's flight, she dodged the chimera's claws and swung at its snake tail—only to slice off some scales. As she said, the current blade was only a shadow of the real thing.
"That's a compatibility issue! But there's no way to instantly fix it!" Mash said as she shielded Yukinoshita, clashing again with the chimera's claw. A heavy metallic thud rang out.
"Mash, hold on a little longer! I'll figure something out with the Noble Phantasm!" Hearing Yukinoshita's words, Shirou's eyes lit up as he shouted to her.
All things in the world follow the principle of mutual counterbalance.
Flames that burn all and bring destruction can be doused by cool water.
Poisonous snakes that kill ferocious beasts can be eaten by mongooses immune to venom.
There are Noble Phantasms made specifically to slay monsters—like the magical sword Ame-no-Habakiri that Yukinoshita mentioned, stained with the blood of countless demons.
"The magical sword Ame-no-Habakiri, right? Let me see if I can do it!" As Shirou said this, his eyes lit up.
Because he was possessed by a Heroic Spirit, Shirou's current state was like a pseudo-Servant—similar to someone partially infused with Zhuge Liang's powers. Though weakened by the rules of this world, he could still fight using mana from the Holy Grail.
Originally, in this world devoid of magical energy, he wouldn't have even been able to use reinforcement magic without special means.
In his previous life, Shirou had developed the "Analytical Mystic Eyes" at the brink of death by constantly using reinforcement on his own eyes.
He had used these eyes to channel mana and resolve a nuclear meltdown crisis.
The reinforcement on his bow earlier had also been done using these Mystic Eyes.
These Mystic Eyes functioned as an independent magic circuit, capable of generating mana and initiation sequences.
They could even consume life force instead of mana.
Compared to ordinary circuits, they operated more like celestial bodies—mysteriously functional even in this magic-less world.
Though they only allowed him to deconstruct and analyze physical objects like a 3D scanner—unlike more famous Mystic Eyes with direct combat potential—they were still incredibly useful in certain cases.
With sufficient mana now, Shirou could finally attempt things he'd previously been unable to achieve.
For the first time since being reborn into this world, he used the magic he was most skilled at.
His Mystic Eyes gleamed with a gemstone-like amber light as his gaze analyzed the magical sword in Yukinoshita's hand. Through the Heroic Spirit inside him, his consciousness connected with the root source hidden behind the Holy Grail.
With the help of his Analytical Mystic Eyes, Shirou's understanding of Noble Phantasms deepened even further.
At this point, what he was doing went beyond ordinary magecraft—it was closer to a miracle, something approaching true magic.
"Trace, on!"