With Saber's departure, the black holy sword lodged in Shirou's chest dissipated as well.
Perhaps it was her final gift.
As the sword vanished, the wound in his chest closed itself. The only thing left behind was a network of crimson markings that looked distinctly ominous.
"So even in the end, you were still helping me?"
Closing his eyes and briefly assessing his condition, Shirou muttered to himself.
The agonizing pain was gone.
His mental state was better than it had ever been.
Even his greatest problem, his lack of magical energy was no longer something he needed to worry about for the time being.
The reason he said for the time being was simple.
This state would not last long.
All it had done was compress the future possibilities of Emiya Shirou's existence, allowing the current him to unleash tremendous power for a short period of time.
As for what would happen afterward?
He had no idea.
But there was no point discussing the future when the crisis before him remained unresolved.
After confirming that his body could still function and making a rough assessment of his combat capabilities, Shirou began moving forward once more.
"...The current Shirou feels a little terrifyingly calm."
Watching Shirou advance with such composure, Exusiai rubbed her arms as if trying to warm herself.
The current Shirou was simply too calm.
In fact, he had become so calm that he seemed almost indifferent.
Cold.
A little frightening.
The feeling was difficult to describe, but Exusiai was certain of one thing:
If this had been the Shirou she first met, there never would have been a "later."
There was no way they would have allowed someone who looked this dangerous onto their vehicle.
Much less brought him back to Lungmen.
The contrast between this version of Shirou and the one she remembered only intensified the chills running down her spine.
"That is the Evil of Humanity. Shirou was completely submerged in it. The only reason he can still maintain his existence is because of the tiny miracle that allowed him to borrow a portion of another Servant's power."
Hearing Exusiai's comment, Illya took the opportunity to explain Shirou's current state.
The only reason Shirou had managed to struggle this far was because of that small miracle.
Another Servant—
Or more accurately, another Shirou—
Had responded and lent him power.
That power allowed this Shirou to temporarily ignore the effects of the black mud and move freely.
Of course, suppressing the corruption was not without consequences.
The effects were visible on the surface.
That cold and detached demeanor everyone sensed was one of them.
"A tiny miracle...?"
Amiya immediately caught the phrase Illya had emphasized.
Even without understanding magecraft, based on everything they had seen so far, obtaining power from one's future self certainly qualified as a miracle.
"If you want miracles and magic, you have to pay a great price. Nothing in this world comes without cost."
Illya spoke seriously.
"I understand that much."
Amiya nodded.
She knew Illya was deliberately reminding her of that fact.
As someone who often hoped for miracles herself, the warning was not lost on her.
"This is..."
As Shirou advanced deeper into the cavern, everyone was confronted with a rather cruel sight.
Sakura, her hair now completely white, sat on the ground with her back against a stone wall.
Rin lay across her lap.
It should have been a peaceful and touching scene.
But the blood covering their bodies and the swords piercing them destroyed any sense of warmth.
Most striking of all was Sakura's chest.
The area where her heart should have been was visibly missing.
When Shirou arrived and saw the scene, he did not display any dramatic emotional reaction.
He quietly removed the swords from their bodies.
Then he projected two coats and gently draped one over each of them.
Afterward, he turned and left without hesitation.
Aside from their bodies, only the shattered remains of the Jeweled Sword remained.
And, of course, the endless flood of black mud.
But one person was still missing.
Which meant Shirou had no time to mourn.
He had to keep moving.
As he proceeded deeper into the cavern, he could feel an overwhelming sense of oppression radiating from ahead.
But he already knew what he needed to do.
And so he did not hesitate.
He continued forward.
The deeper he went, the stronger the oppressive pressure became.
The amount of black mud surrounding him also increased steadily.
The distance itself was not particularly long.
Yet everyone watching felt as though Shirou had walked an incredibly long road.
A road that seemed endless.
Like the long corridor leading to the final boss chamber in a game.
Croissant almost voiced that comparison aloud.
But after opening her mouth, she thought better of it and simply continued watching in silence.
"Whoa... that's the Holy Grail?"
As Shirou entered another massive cavern, everyone finally saw the enormous object resting at its center.
No explanation from Illya was necessary.
They immediately understood what it was.
Above the grotesque structure hung a massive black hole.
An endless torrent of black mud poured out from it without interruption.
For Exusiai, the sight was difficult to process.
Before this, the words Holy Grail had always sounded beautiful and sacred.
From now on, however, whenever she heard those words, the first thing that would come to mind would probably be the monstrous thing standing before them.
Sometimes, knowing too much is not necessarily a good thing.
"So in the end, he still has to face the King of Heroes?"
Looking at the figure standing before the enormous unknown structure, Talulah frowned.
Setting everything else aside, the man's strength was undeniably among the very best.
Even Berserker and Archer working together had failed to gain any advantage against him.
Not to mention that he had managed to walk away unharmed from a battle with Saber at her peak.
Although Talulah had never witnessed a fully unleashed Saber, she understood that even the Saber from earlier—who had been forced to hold back out of concern that the cavern might collapse—was far beyond her ability to handle.
Perhaps, if all of Reunion's commanders joined forces, they could delay her for a while.
But the chances of actually winning would be extremely slim.
Shirou swept his gaze around the area and soon found the snow-white figure in the distance.
The two individuals guarding the Holy Grail acted as though they could not even see him, allowing him to move freely through the area.
For the current Shirou, that was actually a good thing.
As he approached, it became clear that Illya's condition was far from optimistic.
She bore no visible injuries.
Yet something was obviously wrong.
Her empty eyes.
Her lowered head.
Everything about her appearance felt unnatural.
And there was also the pure white ceremonial dress she wore...
Shirou seemed to realize something and looked to the side.
Behind a nearby rock lay two white-clad figures leaning against one another.
The Noble Phantasms piercing their bodies and the blood staining their clothes already explained their condition.
As for Illya, she had already fulfilled her role as the Lesser Grail.
That was why she had simply been left there and ignored.
Even Shirou's approach was not considered worth noticing.
To the golden Archer, Shirou was no different from an insect.
Not even worthy of a second glance.
"...A total wipeout."
Seeing the scene, Blaze clenched her fists tightly.
As operators, situations like this were not uncommon for them.
But no matter how many times they experienced it...
They could never truly get used to it.
Or perhaps more accurately, she never wanted to get used to such things.
"..."
Unlike everyone else, Shirou the person most directly involved displayed little emotion.
He simply walked forward and draped a coat over Illya's shoulders.
It was the last thing he could do for them.
"Shirou... do not give up... You have to defeat that golden bastard..."
After the coat settled over her shoulders, Illya suddenly spoke.
Her voice was weak.
Yet her words were still filled with encouragement.
"I will."
Closing his eyes, Shirou took a deep breath and answered.
Then he stood and walked away.
He would defeat that golden bastard.
It was a promise he had made to Illya.
And it was something he absolutely had to accomplish.
"My body was forged from swords—"
As he advanced, Shirou began his chant.
He knew very well that his current strength alone was insufficient to defeat Gilgamesh.
Just dealing with the barrage of Noble Phantasms he fired like a machine gun would already be incredibly difficult.
But there was still a way.
If he could not match Gilgamesh's speed in drawing weapons—
Then he would bring Gilgamesh into the place where all his weapons were already stored.
A world born from the mind.
A Reality Marble.
As a Heroic Spirit, Emiya did not possess a single iconic Noble Phantasm that defined him.
What he possessed instead was this magecraft that came closer to a miracle.
Projection Magecraft itself was merely a byproduct.
One could say that this inner world was the only thing truly belonging to Archer and Shirou.
"My body is iron, my heart is glass. Across countless battlefields I have remained undefeated—"
As if finally noticing that Shirou was gathering an enormous amount of magical energy, Gilgamesh cast a brief glance in his direction.
Immediately, a storm of Noble Phantasms shot toward Shirou.
Shirou remained calm.
In that instant, he analyzed every weapon and projected an equal number of blades to intercept them.
"Though I have never known defeat, neither have I ever known victory. Alone, that man endlessly forged swords upon the hill of blades."
His chant continued.
The magical energy surging from his body grew stronger and stronger.
Eventually, Gilgamesh was forced to turn his attention toward the man he had previously not even bothered looking at.
"So you dare interrupt this king's enjoyment of the spectacle to come? How courageous, mongrel!"
At that moment, Gilgamesh looked like someone who had carefully prepared everything needed to enjoy a perfect performance—
Only for an annoying pest to suddenly appear and ruin his mood.
It would not prevent him from enjoying what came next.
But it had nevertheless irritated him.
Far more golden ripples appeared around him than before.
Countless Noble Phantasms emerged from the Gates of Babylon, all pointing directly at Shirou.
"Then this life needs no meaning of its own—"
Ignoring the Noble Phantasms hurtling toward him, Shirou continued his chant.
The Magic Circuits spreading across his right arm intertwined with the crimson patterns extending from his left.
"This body is made of infinite swords!"
The moment those words fell, the world around Shirou and Gilgamesh changed.
Gone was the vast cavern shrouded in darkness and illuminated only by scattered flames.
Instead, the two found themselves in a land filled with countless swords.
A crimson sky, like an eternal sunset, bathed the world in red light.
Yellow sands drifted endlessly through the air.
"This is..."
Most of the spectators stared at the transformed landscape with astonishment written across their faces.
All except Talulah.
Her expression was not one of surprise, but of deep concern.
"The authority of a Feranmut...?"
She muttered the words under her breath.
While everyone else was focused on watching Shirou battle Gilgamesh, most of Talulah's attention had drifted elsewhere.
Though she hated to admit it, she had learned many obscure secrets of Terra while under Koschei's influence.
Among them were tales of beings known as the Feranmuts.
Ancient entities with immense lifespans.
Immune to Oripathy.
Possessing countless strange and incomprehensible powers.
In ages past and even today many people would simply call such beings by another name:
Gods.
"Feranmut" was the Yan term for them.
Some among their kind possessed dominion over concepts such as space itself.
That was why Talulah's first thought upon seeing this scene was of those legendary beings.
Not because she suspected Shirou was one of them.
After all, she had watched him struggle from the level of an ordinary human all the way to this point.
No.
What truly concerned her was something else.
Was it really a good thing for a human to possess power comparable to that of a godlike being?
At that moment, she felt as though she had found a crucial missing piece of the puzzle.
The reason Koschei had secretly incited infected uprisings...
The reason he treated the infected as disposable chess pieces to be used and discarded in Lungmen...
Could it be...
That his true goal was to seize Shirou's power?
Or perhaps even Shirou's body itself?
The possibility made Talulah's expression darken immediately.
That black serpent could never be allowed to succeed.
If Koschei truly acquired Shirou's abilities—
Or worse, his techniques—
Then no one on Terra would ever know peace again.
"Yes! Yes! Nicely done, Shirou!"
Meanwhile, on the other side, Croissant, Exusiai, and Blaze were leading an enthusiastic round of cheers and applause.
As Shirou unleashed Unlimited Blade Works and steadily suppressed Gilgamesh, the three could hardly contain their excitement.
They had disliked that arrogant king from the very beginning.
The man who constantly referred to himself as "this king" and everyone else as "mongrels."
None of them had expected that a fully unleashed Shirou would actually be capable of suppressing him, even if only temporarily.
As Illya had already explained, the reason was simple.
Gilgamesh's greatest advantage lay in drawing weapons from his treasury and launching them.
Shirou, on the other hand, effectively skipped the "drawing" process entirely.
The weapons already existed within his Reality Marble.
He only needed to fire them.
That difference was enough to overwhelm Gilgamesh in terms of attack speed.
The only major issue was the enormous magical energy consumption.
But for the current Shirou, magical energy was ironically the cheapest resource he possessed.
Of course, the danger still remained.
If Shirou made even a single mistake and allowed Gilgamesh to retrieve one of his truly decisive Noble Phantasms, defeat would still be inevitable.
But the current Shirou would not allow such an opportunity.
There was simply too much resting upon his shoulders.
Too many hopes.
Too many sacrifices.
He would not give Gilgamesh even the slightest opening.
Because this was also Illya's final request.
And so he would devote every last ounce of his strength to fulfilling it.
He would not allow this man to leave.
Nor would he allow this man's wish to come true.
Such a twisted and vile wish...
Could drown here alongside everything else.