Everything here was shrouded in darkness. Black Snake could only rely on the faint traces of light to avoid the surrounding ruins and debris.
He had no idea how long he had been walking. Everywhere he looked, there were only shattered buildings and broken swords.
The place resembled an endless labyrinth. He could find neither a path forward nor a way out.
Eventually, Black Snake changed his objective. He decided to head toward the crimson circle suspended high in the sky, radiating a red glow.
Compared to wandering aimlessly, having a clear goal certainly made it easier to stay motivated.
As he continued onward...
He finally saw something other than ruins and broken blades.
It was a pool of black mud.
"...?"
Black Snake was baffled.
And deeply shocked.
After possessing countless people over the years, this was the first time he genuinely felt that there was something wrong with Shirou.
Just what kind of person had such a ridiculously complicated mind?
The people he had possessed in the past were relatively normal. At most, as the possession progressed, he would gain glimpses of their memories or see fragments of the outside world.
But Shirou had apparently built an entire maze inside his mind.
The maze alone was tolerable. After all, Shirou possessed powerful and mysterious Originium Arts, as well as abilities similar to those of the Snake Scales. Being unusual was understandable.
But what was this black mud supposed to be?
Although he had never seen it before, the moment he laid eyes on it he instinctively knew it was dangerous.
It felt as though it carried the curses of countless people.
Every instinct in his body screamed at him to stay away from it.
At this moment, Black Snake was beginning to regret his decision.
Had he known there was something this dangerous inside Shirou, he never would have attempted to possess him.
Talulah might not possess such overwhelming power, but she had plenty of useful identities and connections. She was an excellent piece for advancing his plans.
Unfortunately, regrets were meaningless now.
He could not even find the way back.
His choices were simple: either wander here until he died, or continue moving toward the crimson circle.
There was no need to think about it.
He chose the latter without hesitation.
At this point, there was no turning back.
"Everything is for Ursus!"
After giving himself a little encouragement, Black Snake continued forward.
His serpentine body slithered onward, weaving around countless obstacles while enduring his growing disgust toward the black mud.
The closer he drew to the crimson circle, the more black mud there was.
Eventually, there was so much of it that he could only move forward by leaping from place to place. Otherwise, he would have to swim through the stuff.
"Is there not a little too much of this black mud? You really cannot judge a person by appearances. That guy looks so cheerful on the outside, but who would have thought he was carrying this much darkness inside?"
In the oppressive silence of this deserted world, Black Snake found himself talking to himself, trying to ease his tension.
Despite having lived for a very long time, instinctive fear and disgust were still things he could not completely escape.
He simply hid them well.
Forward.
Forward.
Forward.
As he drew closer to his destination, the crimson circle hanging in the sky became increasingly prominent, like a blood-red moon suspended above the world.
And the closer he got, the clearer he could see it.
The clearer it became...
The more terrifying it looked.
Thin streams of black mud flowed from the crimson circle, dripping onto the ground and spreading outward in every direction.
That was the true reason why the amount of black mud increased the deeper he traveled.
Actually, let him take back what he said earlier.
Black Snake was definitely regretting things now.
Even if he successfully possessed Shirou's body, could he really withstand all of this?
Merely looking at the black mud filled him with revulsion and discomfort.
The thought of it continuously growing and spreading throughout a body was even worse.
Earlier, he had spoken with complete confidence, claiming that Shirou and his ideals were too simple and pure, that a few tricks would be enough to shatter his convictions.
Now it seemed the truth was quite different.
Shirou had simply hidden everything too deeply.
Far too deeply.
Judging from the fact that none of the plans he had arranged over the years had ever managed to shake Shirou's resolve, Black Snake arrived at a reasonable conclusion.
Even if he were to expose the darkest aspects of Ursus, indeed the darkest aspects of the entire world to Shirou, the young man might waver for a moment.
But only for a moment.
Soon afterward, he would gather himself and continue doing what he believed he had to do.
Compared to that...
Talulah seemed fragile as paper.
No, that was not quite fair.
Compared to ordinary people, Talulah was actually exceptionally strong.
At the very least, she could be considered a wooden plank.
Meanwhile, Shirou, who was even harder to break than Talulah, resembled a block of steel.
But could a person truly possess a heart made of steel?
Lost in such thoughts, Black Snake continued onward.
Turning back served no purpose.
This place felt like an endless wasteland stretching forever into the distance.
At this point, he no longer cared much about possessing Shirou.
Compared to that goal, he had become far more curious about Shirou's true identity and origins.
The unbelievable abilities, this equally unbelievable world, and his relationship with Archer...
All of it pointed to one thing: Shirou was special.
And so Black Snake could only continue forward, toward the source of the black mud.
Perhaps all the answers lay there.
Through sheer determination, he drew closer and closer to his destination.
"As long as I can reach that place..."
After overcoming obstacle after obstacle and climbing a steep slope, Black Snake finally reached a point where he could see the source of the black mud pouring from the crimson circle.
Yet instead of feeling joy at being so close to the answer, he froze completely.
His expression quickly shifted from shock to confusion, and then from confusion to outright terror.
The next moment, he turned and fled as fast as he could.
"Why?! Why is that guy here?! And who are those other two people?!"
As he desperately retreated, Black Snake muttered to himself.
If there had still been even the slightest thought of possessing Shirou before, that thought was extinguished the instant he saw those three figures.
Even the curiosity that had driven him this far shattered completely.
Although they were still some distance away and only appeared as blurry silhouettes, there was one figure sitting on a rock that he could never mistake.
It was Archer.
The very man who had forced him to drastically alter his plans and abandon countless assets and pawns.
Archer should have died in that avalanche.
At the time, Black Snake had deployed both Emperor Blades and an entire Ursus military force to hold him down.
The result?
Archer had pulled out a golden sword, erased the Emperor Blades along with the demon inside them and triggered an avalanche that buried the army.
The losses had pained Black Snake for a long time.
After all, his relationship with the Emperor Blades had been one of cooperation. Yet they had died because of that cooperation, and not even a body remained.
As a result, future negotiations with the Emperor Blades had become extremely difficult. Convincing them to participate in this latest operation had required enormous amounts of time and effort.
None of that was the important part.
The important part was that he was absolutely certain Archer had died back then.
And yet here he was.
If he was not mistaken, the second figure should be Shirou.
Then who was the third?
Black Snake could only see the person's back and the tattoo covering it.
Just one glance was enough to tell that he was not someone to be trifled with.
"Well, well, well. If it is not the immortal Black Snake himself, Mister Kashchey. We have been waiting for you for quite a while."
Black Snake had only managed to flee a short distance when a sword covered in vicious barbs slammed into the ground before him, cutting off his escape route.
At the same time, he heard a familiar voice spoken in a completely unfamiliar tone.
Slowly raising his head, Black Snake looked toward the owner of that voice.
Red hair.
A familiar face.
It was undoubtedly Shirou.
Yet for some reason, this Shirou was noticeably shorter, and the expression on his face lacked the kindness he was accustomed to seeing.
Instead, he looked more like a villain.
"So Black Snake is not just a title after all. You really are a black snake."
When Black Snake failed to respond, Shirou or rather, Emiya Kuro simply grabbed him by the head and lifted him into the air.
When dealing with snakes, controlling the neck greatly reduced their threat.
However, after lifting him up, Emiya Kuro quickly noticed something was wrong.
Black Snake did not struggle at all.
His entire body hung limply.
If not for the head, he would have looked like nothing more than a black rope.
"Tch. He is scared witless. Hey, Archer! What exactly did you do to this guy? The moment he saw you, he ran away. Now his entire brain has stopped working."
Emiya Kuro turned toward the two figures nearby and shouted while carrying Black Snake over.
The black mud that Black Snake had struggled so desperately to avoid meant absolutely nothing to Emiya Kuro.
He walked straight across it without the slightest hesitation.
In moments, he had carried Black Snake all the way to his destination.
"..."
Although he had finally arrived, there was not a trace of joy in Black Snake's eyes.
Instead, he stared at Archer with pure terror.
"Do not bring filthy things over here. Having all this black mud around is already unpleasant enough. Did you really have to bring that snake too?"
After Emiya Kuro placed Black Snake before him, Archer let out a sigh and spoke.
"Come on, do not be like that. Is he not an old acquaintance of yours?"
Unlike Archer's exasperation, Emiya Kuro looked completely unconcerned.
He did not really have any personal grudge against Black Snake.
At most, he knew that the snake had been targeted by Archer in the past and had subsequently redirected his hatred toward Shirou.
But what did that have to do with him?
The ones who had dealings with this snake were Archer and Shirou.
Black Snake had just been beaten by Shirou, and now he had stumbled into this place only to run into Archer.
That was genuinely unfortunate.
Still, Emiya Kuro felt no sympathy for him.
When it came to choosing sides, he stood firmly with Shirou and Archer.
Strictly speaking, he could be considered one of their own.
Sure, he was mixed with some of the filthy stuff from the black mud, but that was not a major issue. His sense of self still fell within the category of Emiya Shirou.
At most, he simply possessed a little more of what existed within the black mud, along with some of the spirits and personalities of the Penguin Logistics crew and the people of Lungmen.
The former was the primary reason for his birth.
The latter was because Shirou spent most of his time with Penguin Logistics and various people from Lungmen, and Emiya Kuro would occasionally receive fragments of those memories as well.
He had to admit, it was rather interesting.
Unfortunately, opportunities like this would probably not come again.
After returning the memories and everything else to Shirou, he had become completely separated from him on a spiritual level.
Now he was somewhat like a summoned Servant, merely one facet of Emiya Shirou given independent existence.
The actual reasons behind it were quite complicated. Even he did not fully understand the mechanics involved, and Archer himself was not entirely certain either.
The only thing they could confirm was that once Shirou completely mastered this power, it would be time for Emiya Kuro to disappear.
As a result, he had decided to embrace the spirit of "the fluorescent light person" and "the croissant" and live happily every day.
Starting with waving things Archer hated right in front of his face.
"I am not familiar with him. Throw it farther away."
Archer responded with a disdainful snort and gestured for Emiya Kuro to get rid of Black Snake.
His impression of Black Snake was even worse than Shirou's.
Black Snake belonged to the category of people Archer would casually eliminate if he happened to run into them.
"Got it. I will take him away right now."
Seeing Archer's obvious disgust, Emiya Kuro nodded in satisfaction.
This was exactly what he wanted to see.
Now that he had enjoyed the show, it was time for this old black snake to learn that he had picked the wrong person to provoke.
"Honestly, this is exhausting."
After Emiya Kuro carried Black Snake away, Archer let out a helpless sigh.
He was not worried that sparing Black Snake for the moment would have any consequences.
There was nothing Black Snake could accomplish here.
Even if the three of them were not present, Black Snake would never be able to leave this place, let alone possess anyone.
Because this was a Reality Marble.
More specifically, it was not Shirou's.
It belonged to the part known as Emiya Kuro.
He had always existed here and had never truly left. Originally, he had been connected to Shirou, but now he had been separated into an independent existence.
Putting aside the complicated composition of his being, one thing could be confirmed:
At present, he was an ally.
More precisely, he was Shirou's ally.
Compared to Archer, who had once wanted to kill Shirou, and the other Archer nearby whose intentions remained unclear, Emiya Kuro stood firmly on Shirou's side.
That was not difficult to understand.
After all, they were fundamentally the same person.
Emiya Kuro was simply... made up of somewhat more complicated ingredients.
His tongue was certainly much sharper and more venomous, but nearly every action he took was ultimately intended to help Shirou.
As for his personality, Archer chose not to comment.
He had no idea where Emiya Kuro had learned it from.
Thinking about this, Archer raised his head and looked toward Emiya Kuro, who was currently swinging Black Snake around by its tail in circles.
A headache immediately followed.
That familiar urge to strangle himself was truly impossible to forget.
"Still... a Reality Marble, huh? It is a rather dark one."
Shifting his gaze away from Emiya Kuro, Archer looked toward the crimson opening suspended overhead.
The Reality Marble.
Unlimited Blade Works.
The one and only magecraft possessed by Emiya Shirou.
Just as its name suggested, a Reality Marble reflected the inner world of its owner.
And this place...
To be honest, it made Archer uncomfortable.
From a certain perspective, perhaps the influence of that Holy Grail War would remain with Emiya Shirou forever.
He had merely been dragged into it.
Yet because of his own nature, he had ended up taking every burden upon himself.
At that thought, Archer closed his eyes and sighed.
"So this is what they call fate? What an unpleasant thing."
This was the curse Emiya Shirou had placed upon himself.
And yet he embraced it willingly.
Shirou was like this.
Archer was like this.
Even the other Archer nearby was like this.
The one thing that made Shirou different from them was that he had arrived in another world.
On this land, he had found many companions who shared his ideals.
When a person stands alone, it is easy to lose their way.
But when enough people walk alongside them, there is always a chance of being guided back onto the right path.
Furthermore, Archer's story and the stories of the others like him had already reached their conclusions.
Shirou's story was still ongoing.
He still had the opportunity to reach a different ending.
Whether he would come to regret his choices or sink beneath them would ultimately be his own decision.
Still...
As much as Archer hated to admit it, he did not believe Shirou would end up taking the worst possible path.
Setting aside the fact that Shirou already knew the fates of both Counter Guardians, there were also many people around him who would reach out and pull him back whenever necessary.
And when it came to strength of character alone, the current Shirou was not necessarily inferior to Heroic Spirit Emiya.
After all, the current Shirou had endured the corruption of All the World's Evils, defeated multiple powerful Servants in succession and prevented the Holy Grail disaster from spreading any further.
Not to mention that he had spent another year growing on this land afterward. He was no longer the reckless youth he had once been.
With all that in mind, Archer believed that Shirou now possessed the ability to make the right choices.
That was enough.
Nothing else really mattered.
As long as Emiya Shirou did not end up following in his footsteps, that was enough.
In a certain sense, Archer had already fulfilled his wish.
And he would even get to watch it through to the very end.
For him, that was not a bad outcome at all.
Meanwhile, Emiya Kuro stopped what he was doing.
Black Snake hung upside down from his hand, limp and motionless.
"That is all it took? I thought someone who had lived this long would be more resistant to dizziness."
Looking at the snake's condition, Emiya Kuro immediately lost interest.
He had not even started getting serious yet.
How had the snake already collapsed?
Originally, he had planned to project an arrow, tie the snake to it with a rope, launch it into the distance, then reel it back in.
At this rate, that probably was not going to work.
Simply killing Black Snake felt somewhat wasteful as well.
There were only three people here in total.
Of those three, only he and Archer actually spoke.
The third person had not uttered a single word the entire time.
The place was already boring enough.
"I heard that in order to possess someone, you need to shatter their convictions first so you can exploit the opening?"
Casually gathering several broken swords and arranging them around Black Snake, Emiya Kuro crouched down and stared at him.
"Hm? Not answering? Then I guess we will do a few more spins."
Seeing Black Snake keep his eyes tightly shut, Emiya Kuro decisively grabbed his tail and lifted him again.
The moment he did, Black Snake immediately opened his eyes.
He looked incredibly weak.
Confusion.
Vulnerability.
Misery.
Various negative emotions could be seen in those eyes.
"Please answer. I know you can hear me."
Ignoring all those emotions, Emiya Kuro gave him a friendly smile.
Black Snake: "..."
Although Black Snake remained silent, Emiya Kuro was able to read the answer from his eyes.
"Then your luck really is terrible. Next time, you should choose your target more carefully…ah, right. Sorry. I forgot you do not get a next time."
After receiving confirmation, Emiya Kuro clicked his tongue.
He was only mildly curious.
At the same time, he genuinely felt sorry for Black Snake.
Of all people, he had chosen Shirou.
Emiya Shirou.
Could he not have looked at the two people sitting over there as reference?
After spending two whole seconds feeling sorry for him, Emiya Kuro's expression returned to normal.
Naturally, he did not forget to mock him in the process.
"Oh, right! I heard you targeted him because you wanted Projection Magecraft, correct?"
Ignoring Black Snake's obvious expression of "please stop talking," Emiya Kuro kindly continued explaining the truth.
"Let me tell you something. Even if you had successfully possessed him, there is a very good chance you would not have been able to use Projection at all. Shirou's magecraft is a byproduct of Unlimited Blade Works.
"And magecraft circuits are deeply connected to the soul. Even if you obtained the body, you would not have been able to use magecraft.
"To put it simply, all you would have gained is an ordinary person who cannot use Originium Arts and whose physical abilities are fairly average.
"How tragic. You spent so much time planning all this, only for it to amount to absolutely nothing."
Emiya Kuro specialized in stabbing people where it hurt.
The kind that made sure his victims understood every painful detail before they died.
It was as though he had personally dug someone's grave, built the tombstone, engraved their most embarrassing secrets on it, and then stood on top of it laughing.
That was the level of emotional damage he inflicted.
"...Ursus profanity."
After listening to all that, Black Snake thought for a moment before unleashing an extremely vulgar Ursus curse.
There was no helping it.
The person before him, who resembled Shirou by nearly eighty percent, was simply too infuriating.
Every sentence struck directly at his sore spots.
And he kept threatening him.
When had the immortal Black Snake ever suffered such humiliation?
The worst part was that he genuinely could not do anything about it.
He could not beat Emiya Kuro.
This was Emiya Kuro's territory.
Even if he wanted to cause trouble, he lacked the ability.
And the most terrifying thing was not being swung around by the tail.
It was the constant reminders.
The reminders that his possession attempt had failed.
The reminders that everything he had worked toward until now had been completely meaningless.
He had spent enormous amounts of time and effort.
He had even invested vast resources shared among the Snake Scales to create this opportunity.
And in the end, he had failed.
Normally, such a mistake would never have shaken him.
At most, he would have frowned and moved on.
But under the relentless barrage of Emiya Kuro's reminders and explanations, combined with his current circumstances, Black Snake no longer felt like enduring it.
While having someone satisfy his curiosity was certainly nice, he sincerely wished that person had a less poisonous tongue.
"Can you not even handle this much? Do not worry. We have plenty of time ahead of us. Everything you did to 'me'... I will make sure to repay every last bit of it."
Hearing Black Snake curse at him, Emiya Kuro showed almost no reaction.
He merely revealed a faint smile.
Although it was technically a smile, in Black Snake's eyes it was as terrifying as the grin of a demon.
He knew that the days ahead were going to be miserable.
Even if Emiya Kuro was not here, Archer his former enemy was still present.
And this was their territory.
His defeat was absolute.
The only thing he could place his hopes on now was the other Snake Scale outside. Perhaps it could follow the original plan and lead the Emperor Blades and the army to subdue Shirou.
Even if they could not obtain that powerful ability, they could not allow it to become an enemy of Ursus.
That said, even Black Snake himself considered the chances slim.
Back when he had plotted against Archer, he had invested a tremendous amount of effort into the plan. Furthermore, Archer had been weakened for reasons he did not understand, which was the only reason he had dared to make his move.
Shirou might be younger, but the power he currently displayed was no weaker than the Archer from his memories.
If this operation failed, future Snake Scales would likely find it extremely difficult to cooperate with the Emperor Blades again...
But none of that had anything to do with him anymore.
Staring at the crimson opening hanging high in the sky, endlessly pouring out black mud, Black Snake finally accepted his fate completely.