"I have to admit… right now, you are indeed stronger."
So spoke Gilgamesh, standing before Shirou.
Gone was the arrogance and disdain he had shown before. This time, he had truly fallen at his opponent's hands.
Even he could see just how twisted and broken the man before him had become.
And since the other had genuinely defeated him, he was worthy of being acknowledged.
But only for a moment. Looking too long at such a Faker would only dirty his eyes.
"..."
Shirou had no intention of showing mercy to Gilgamesh.
The latter no longer had any combat capability. Any Noble Phantasm he tried to throw would be knocked away before it could reach its target, and whenever he attempted to draw out a stronger Noble Phantasm, he was constantly interrupted.
Two blades pierced through his legs, pinning him to the ground with no possibility of escape.
The outcome had been decided the moment Gilgamesh underestimated him and failed to fight at full strength from the very beginning.
In a sense, Shirou was fortunate. After all, his Reality Marble, Unlimited Blade Works, exerted overwhelming suppression against this particular Servant.
Had he been facing a Saber who could unleash her full power, defeat would have been certain.
Unfortunately, there are no "ifs" in this world.
Without saying a word, Shirou raised his hand.
Several swords leapt from the ground.
Then they came crashing down toward Gilgamesh, completely burying him beneath them.
Contrary to Shirou's expectations, Gilgamesh did not curse or rage at his defeat.
Instead, he accepted it with remarkable composure.
Though Shirou did not know the reason, he had no intention of finding out.
For him, it was not a bad thing. At least he would not have to listen to any more of Gilgamesh's insults.
The scene shifted.
Shirou returned to the Great Cavern. The black mud had already risen past his ankles.
Gilgamesh's corpse vanished without a trace the instant it touched the mud. Only the severed right arm that Shirou had cut off remained atop a nearby rock.
But it too was soon swallowed by the black mud.
"The Holy Grail... Next, all that is left is to destroy this thing..."
Staring at the towering structure that inspired disgust and revulsion at a single glance, and at the opening atop it from which black mud continuously overflowed, Shirou clenched his fists.
His condition was far from good.
Maintaining his body's precarious balance, forcibly deploying Unlimited Blade Works, and using magical energy beyond what his body could endure had pushed him to his absolute limit.
Even a firearm overheats when fired continuously.
If it continues firing while overheated, damage to the weapon is only natural.
How much more fragile, then, is the human body?
But it did not matter.
As long as he destroyed the Holy Grail in the end, everything would be worth it.
This was the final task he needed to complete.
Taking a step forward, he slowly advanced.
"I really am not used to seeing Shirou like this."
Watching the image of Shirou trudging forward through the black mud, Sora clasped her hands together and rubbed them anxiously.
"You have a point. At first the contrast felt cool and dramatic, but if possible, I would rather have the original Shirou back."
Beside her, Croissant nodded in agreement.
Not just them. Everyone who had interacted with Shirou felt the same way.
As for Reunion...
Although they did not know him particularly well, if they had to choose, they still preferred the Emiya Shirou who tirelessly pursued his ideals.
Someone optimistic, positive, and eager to help others is rarely disliked.
The Shirou before them now carried far too much.
The burden had long exceeded what he should have been expected to bear.
Who would have imagined it?
The battle-worn figure standing before them had been nothing more than an ordinary high school student just a few days ago.
To change so drastically in such a short time...
The Holy Grail War truly was terrifying.
"Fuyuki City... it is not safe, is it?"
Looking at the black mud that submerged Shirou's ankles, Amiya asked.
This substance was even more terrifying than a Catastrophe. Humans would be cursed to death by merely touching it.
And now, nearly the entire Great Cavern had been flooded by it.
That meant the black mud had likely already spilled out and begun devastating Fuyuki City.
"..."
Illya said nothing.
Her silence alone conveyed how dire the situation had become.
"I see. I understand."
Amiya did not press further.
Instead, she recalled a sentence once spoken by another Shirou, one dressed almost exactly like the Shirou they were seeing now:
"Shirou won the Holy Grail War, but Emiya Shirou lost as well."
At first, neither the Shirou from the beginning nor Amiya had understood the meaning behind those words. But after witnessing so many memories, Amiya felt that she finally understood.
As the "Shirou" who stood as an ally of justice, he had won the Holy Grail War and destroyed the Holy Grail.
But as "Emiya Shirou," he had paid an immense price for that victory.
The people loved, his friends, his hometown, everything had been swallowed by that black mud.
All because of the Holy Grail War.
It had been that way ten years ago.
And it was still the same ten years later.
One could say that Shirou's entire life had been shaped by the Holy Grail War.
In a way, she and Shirou were very similar.
Both had been fortunate enough to be saved by someone and had spent their lives chasing after that person's example.
The biggest difference was that Amiya still had Dr. Kal'tsit, Rosmontis, Blaze, the Doctor, and everyone else at Rhodes Island by her side.
But at this moment, Shirou had no one left.
Even in the past, when he had relentlessly pursued that ideal, there had never been many people with whom he could truly open his heart.
Compared to her, Shirou was far stronger.
He had left all the beauty and kindness to others, while the one who made it all possible hid far away in a corner, content simply to watch others live happily.
"Amiya."
As Amiya's thoughts continued to wander, someone's voice brought her back to reality.
"Rosmontis? What is it?"
Turning around, Amiya looked at Rosmontis and asked.
Rosmontis simply shook her head without saying anything. She walked over and stood beside Amiya, continuing to watch the Shirou on the screen.
Since arriving here, she had rarely spoken.
These were the memories Shirou had lost. As his friend, even though she herself could no longer remember many things clearly, she still wanted to do what she could and help preserve these memories.
"Thank you."
After thinking for a moment, Amiya understood Rosmontis's intention. After thanking her, she turned her attention back to the scene.
This should be the final stage of the Holy Grail War.
She wanted to witness Shirou's... end with her own eyes.
The Shirou on the screen was in terrible condition.
The red markings had already spread across most of his body. And because he was still standing in the black mud, the corruption continued to spread at a visible rate.
Combined with his previous battles against Saber and Gilgamesh, the only thing allowing Shirou to keep moving forward was sheer willpower.
The moment the fragile balance within his body collapsed, his journey would end as well.
The final obstacle standing before Shirou was the Church's priest, Kirei Kotomine.
His condition was not particularly good either. But compared to Shirou, he was still in much better shape.
Even so, there was more blood staining his clothes than Shirou's.
All of it had been coughed up by Kirei himself.
He had no intention of fighting Shirou.
Although his physical condition was somewhat better, Kirei understood perfectly well that he was no match for Shirou in his current state.
His duty was merely to witness the Holy Grail's birth.
Whether it survived afterward was not his concern.
Even if he wanted to intervene, reality no longer allowed it.
"Congratulations. You are the victor of this Holy Grail War. What you do with the Holy Grail is entirely up to you."
Stepping aside and clearing the path to the Holy Grail, Kirei Kotomine spoke.
"I am the victor?"
Hearing those words, Shirou asked expressionlessly.
Unfortunately, there was no one left to answer him.
After speaking his final words, Kirei Kotomine exited the stage.
In the entire Great Cavern or rather, in the entirety of Fuyuki City only Shirou remained.
The consecutive battles had consumed far too much time.
The black mud had already buried almost the whole city.
"What kind of joke is this...?"
"How does this make me a victor?!"
The resentment that had built up for so long erupted all at once.
Grinding his teeth, Shirou glared at the Holy Grail that continued to pour forth black mud and roared in fury.
"Shirou..."
Hearing his shout, everyone could clearly feel the anger within him.
Anger toward the Holy Grail.
And anger toward himself.
"Shirou always likes to blame himself for everything."
That had been Illya's assessment of Shirou's personality earlier.
At this moment, the Shirou on the screen embodied those words perfectly.
None of these burdens should have been his to bear.
In the beginning, he had merely been dragged into all of this.
The fact that he had made it this far was already remarkable.
As a mere human, he had defeated kings.
And he had defeated heroes.
No one could fault him for what he had done.
No one except himself.
Shirou's anger did not last long. He still remembered what he needed to do.
Extending his hand, he began a Projection.
This Projection took much longer than usual. Though only a dozen or so seconds passed, to those watching it felt like minutes, perhaps even hours.
A golden, radiant sword appeared in Shirou's grasp.
Although they had only seen it a few times, everyone recognized it as Saber's Noble Phantasm.
The power of that sword was well known.
Not only had it split apart a Catastrophe in Chernobog before, they had also witnessed Saber wield it personally.
Using that sword to destroy the Holy Grail seemed entirely possible.
Yet after projecting it, Shirou stopped moving.
He simply stood there blankly.
"Huh? Why did he stop?"
Seeing Shirou suddenly freeze, Blaze, the most impatient among them, could not help blurting out the question.
Before anyone could answer, the Mystic Code covering Shirou's body dissolved into particles of magical light.
Thud.
The sound of blades piercing flesh echoed through the air.
"He has already... lost consciousness."
Looking at Shirou's body, which resembled an outbreak of Oripathy with sword-like protrusions continuously erupting from within, only those accustomed to dealing with the Infected, people from Rhodes Island and Reunion dared approach closely enough to assess his condition.
Mindful of Amiya and Rosmontis standing nearby, Frostnova chose her words carefully.
The Shirou standing there now had dull, lifeless eyes.
His head hung low.
He had lost consciousness.
Lost his heartbeat.
Lost control of his body.
Yet he had not fallen.
Instead, he remained standing with both hands gripping the holy sword.
Aside from the occasional sword erupting from within his body, he made no other movements.
At least, that was how it should have been.
"Yet this life remains unfinished..."
After remaining silent for a long time, Illya suddenly spoke.
As though responding to her words, Shirou took a step forward.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
With every step he took and every movement he made while raising the sword, the blades protruding from his body shattered apart.
"What is this!?"
Watching Shirou move, everyone found it impossible to believe.
Even without touching him, it was obvious to the naked eye that he had truly...
After all, there was no heartbeat.
His chest did not rise or fall.
Countless swords pierced his body.
An ordinary person would have collapsed long ago.
What was happening now had completely surpassed their understanding.
"He really is dead, you know."
Illya smiled helplessly as she began to explain.
"Shirou's body died the moment he projected that holy sword. Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for Shirou to project Saber's Noble Phantasm."
"But if he pays a sufficient price, it can be done."
"However, Shirou misjudged the state of his body. In order to project the holy sword, he shattered the delicate balance keeping himself alive and hastened his own destruction."
"The only reason Shirou can still move now is because of sheer obsession."
"The promise he made to Rin and me."
"His desire to protect others."
"His determination to stop the black mud from continuing to pour out."
"Those feelings are what allowed a dead Shirou to raise his sword one last time."
As she spoke, the Shirou on the screen activated the Noble Phantasm in his hands.
An overwhelming flood of light engulfed the Holy Grail.
It engulfed the Great Cavern.
It swallowed everyone's vision.
Though the brilliance obscured everything, they could still make out the Holy Grail disintegrating beneath the pillar of light.
Then the entire Great Cavern including Shirou himself was consumed.
At last, the light faded.
Darkness returned.
"So... is it over?"
Texas asked.
The dissatisfaction in her voice was unmistakable.
The ending was simply too cruel.
"Not yet."
Illya shook her head.
"The Holy Grail War is over, but Shirou's journey is not."
Hearing that, everyone exchanged confused glances.
What she said made sense.
After all, they were watching Shirou's memories. The Shirou of the present should still be lying in a hospital bed somewhere.
It was just that the impact of those final moments had been so overwhelming that they had nearly forgotten.
Illya continued:
"His fate will remain forever trapped in that night."
The surroundings began to flicker.
Starting from a single point, ripples spread outward, much like when Shirou had deployed Unlimited Blade Works.
Before long, everyone could clearly see their surroundings.
A pitch-black sky.
A vast city of ruined, crumbling buildings.
Fires still burned among the wreckage.
Though it was night, neither stars nor moon could be seen overhead.
In their place hung a massive black hole in the sky, radiating an ominous crimson glow.
Within this endless wasteland, only a single red-and-black figure moved.
Like a puppet wound too tightly to ever tire, it wandered ceaselessly through the city.
Wandering through the city that had once been known as Fuyuki.
Forever wandering through its ruins.