Opening his eyes once more, Shirou found that he was still trapped within the black mist.
There was no way to tell how much time had passed. It felt as though his sense of time had been stripped away; even silently counting in his head accomplished nothing.
After what he had just experienced, Shirou no longer trusted his own perception within this realm.
Just like now. Although he felt as if he was taking step after step in a specific direction, he could never leave the boundaries of the realm.
He felt that his feet were moving, but were they really moving?
And these "black mists" he was seeing now, were they truly something he was witnessing with his own eyes?
His brain was still receiving signals from his senses of sight and touch, but that was all it was receiving: signals.
Even so, he refused to give up, forcing himself to continue moving in some direction.
Manipulating magical energy failed. It was probably related to his current condition. Most likely, he would need to overcome this abnormal state before he could use mana again.
Shouting for help failed. Forget sending his voice outside; Shirou could not even hear his own voice.
Activating the communication device on his body failed. No matter how many times he pressed it, there was no response.
"..."
Unable to hear even his own footsteps or breathing, Shirou felt that the fact he could remain this calm was rather impressive.
Who knew how much time passed as he continued walking forward.
Perhaps because he had remained in such a suffocating environment for too long, Shirou began seeing hallucinations.
The black mist of the realm disappeared, replaced by a sea of flames, and he found himself running through the inferno.
Just like he had done in that fire long ago.
In the next instant, the sea of flames vanished, transforming into the city he knew best.
The city where he had lived for nearly ten years.
The familiar scenery caused Shirou to unconsciously slow his pace, but he did not stop walking, nor did he deliberately change his route.
After all, only the city existed here. There were no people or animals. Occasionally, he could see objects connected to people he knew lying along the streets.
As he continued forward, Fuyuki City gradually crumbled apart, becoming the final image he remembered of it.
Saber's Noble Phantasm.
Lancer's spear.
Archer's shroud.
And the shattered black-and-white twin swords...
The clothing and Noble Phantasms of the Servants lay scattered across the ground, worn and battered.
By this point, Shirou could tell that something was wrong.
This feeling...
Was this a life review?
Still, it was somewhat different from when Lancer and Berserker had dealt him fatal wounds. Back then, scenes had flashed through his mind one after another. Now, he was standing here, personally revisiting them.
The three versions of Fuyuki City represented a summary of his life.
Being rescued by Kiritsugu from the sea of flames.
His peaceful daily life in Fuyuki.
And being swept into the Holy Grail War.
If he was correct, the next scenes should be related to Terra.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a vast amount of black mud suddenly surged forth, swallowing both the ruined Fuyuki City and Shirou himself.
Everything returned to darkness.
Just like the black mist of the realm earlier.
But this time, something was different.
Thump—thump—thump—
Listening to the sound of his heartbeat, Shirou felt for the first time that the beating of a heart could be so wonderful.
There was no longer any need for him to run.
He could feel his body sinking downward.
More images appeared before him.
Although he had never seen these cities or landscapes before, Shirou was certain that everything in those scenes was connected to this land.
After all, the animal ears and horns made it obvious.
"But this is... war?"
Watching the countless scenes flashing before him, Shirou could clearly tell that they depicted wars between the various races and even nations of Terra.
The Sankta and the Sarkaz, two races that resembled angels and demons had always despised each other. Whenever they met, a battle would inevitably break out.
There were also the Kuranta and the Ursus.
If Shirou was not mistaken, this should be a war between Kazimierz and Ursus.
Besides that, there were countless other conflicts between different races.
At times, even members of the same race fought one another.
But when he noticed Originium crystals growing on the bodies of one side, he immediately understood.
This was the struggle between people and the Infected, the conflict Shirou had encountered most frequently so far.
Faced with these unfamiliar visions, Shirou remained completely calm. After all, this was not the first time he had experienced something like this.
When he had first projected Chi Xiao using Originium dust, he had already seen similar scenes, though those had mostly been related to Oripathy and the Infected.
Soon, the images changed again.
The battles shifted from people fighting people to people fighting grotesque monsters.
The humans all had white hair, while their opponents came in countless different forms. If there was one thing the monsters had in common, it was that every single one of them looked bizarre beyond description.
Shirou did not recognize these creatures.
Neither the books he had read from the Emperor nor the explanations given by Yith had ever mentioned their existence.
Perhaps those two did not know about them either.
Or perhaps they simply had not wanted him to know.
Shirou quickly accepted the idea that such monsters existed on Terra. After all, his current employers consisted of a talking penguin and a dragon species that he had previously only seen in books.
He himself had crossed over from another world.
At this point, nothing that appeared on this land could truly surprise him anymore.
These visions only left him puzzled, not worried.
What came next, however, was different.
Shirou watched as those "monsters" emerged from the sea and began conquering city after city.
Among them was Lungmen.
In the end, all he could see was a crimson figure standing upon the coastline, surrounded by enormous monsters.
The figure in the vision was blurry. Even Shirou could not make out their appearance. However, by comparing them to the creatures around them, he could tell just how gigantic those monsters truly were.
The crimson figure appeared for only a brief moment.
The next scene was an endless snowfield, with a circular structure standing upon it.
The center of that circular structure had originally been empty, but it was suddenly filled with a vast blue-black expanse.
At first glance, it looked somewhat like...
A starry sky?
The cosmos?
Before Shirou could think further, an unknown black spherical object burst out from within it and exploded, turning every subsequent image into a blur.
Like a television with poor reception, the scenes became filled with static.
The moment before the explosion made Shirou inevitably think of the Nation used by the Emperor's Blades.
That mysterious black sphere was probably one of the demons.
"..."
Shaken by everything he had seen, Shirou could not help swallowing nervously.
Suddenly, he felt that remaining in that pitch-black environment earlier had not been so bad.
At least it had been quiet.
The things shown in these visions were shattering his understanding of the world one revelation after another.
Whether it was the monsters from the sea or the demons upon the snowfields, they were all terrifying existences.
The dangers lurking on this land were far greater than he had ever imagined.
For some reason, Shirou suddenly thought of Doctor Kal'tsit.
She definitely knew about these things.
More than that, she even had to spare attention to worrying about whether the so-called Holy Grail War might bring an entirely new disaster to Terra.
It could only be said that Doctor Kal'tsit was far more mysterious than he had originally thought.
Soon, the static vanished.
What remained was a landscape completely covered by Originium crystals.
"Originium?"
Shirou frowned when Originium appeared.
Compared to the previous two threats, Originium was something he was far more familiar with.
Yet the scene before him felt strangely unfamiliar.
Although he did not have any precise instruments with him, Shirou estimated that anyone who remained here for even a few minutes would immediately become Infected.
There was simply too much Originium.
Even the site of a Catastrophe would not contain this much.
Based on the previous visions, Shirou guessed that the Originium before him was yet another threat capable of endangering Terra.
The difference was that this threat operated openly, killing people gradually like a frog being boiled alive in warm water.
Then countless Originium crystals exploded apart.
Having lost his footing, Shirou began falling once more.
This descent did not last long.
Soon, he landed in a strange place.
It looked like a golden ocean, and he was standing upon its surface.
Each step created ripples beneath his feet, yet there was no sensation of walking on water. Instead, it felt as though he were stepping on solid ground.
However, Shirou had little attention to spare for such details.
His gaze was fixed on a white figure in the distance.
The description was literal.
The figure was completely white from head to toe. Even its facial features were white. It was simply a white object possessing a humanoid shape.
"Was it you who showed me those visions?"
At this point, how could Shirou not understand why he had seen all those images?
"──"
A melodious voice rang out.
The gentle sound reached Shirou's ears.
At the same time, the figure raised a "hand," seemingly extending an invitation toward him.
"..."
For an instant, Shirou's mind went completely blank.
The scenes he had just witnessed flashed through his thoughts one after another.
The monsters beneath the sea.
The demons upon the snowfields.
The eruption of Originium...
Before he even realized it, Shirou had begun moving toward the white humanoid figure. Trembling slightly, he reached out his hand, intending to touch it.
"You must not do that."
Before Shirou could make contact, a familiar voice instantly pulled him back to reality.
"!"
Straightening up, Shirou turned toward the source of the voice in disbelief.
There stood a girl, her expression slightly serious.
That seriousness was not directed at Shirou.
It was directed at the white humanoid figure.
"You came too early. It is not time yet! This is different from what we agreed upon, you know?"
With every sentence, Illya took a step forward.
Her presence was unexpectedly overwhelming.
Even the white humanoid figure instinctively withdrew its hand and took two steps back in apparent respect.
"Illya?"
Looking at the person before him, Shirou could hardly believe his eyes.
He had thought she had already disappeared.
Yet now, she was standing before him perfectly unharmed.
"Good morning... or should I say good evening, Shirou?"
After forcing back the white figure through sheer presence alone, Illya dropped her stern expression and looked at Shirou with a cheerful smile.
"I suppose either works... since I have no idea what time it is anyway."
Faced with Illya's playful tone, Shirou instinctively brushed it off with a vague answer.
Everyone at Penguin Logistics talked like that all the time, and after being around them for so long, he had developed his own ways of dodging such remarks.
Only after speaking did Shirou realize that he was not at Penguin Logistics.
That was why he added the latter half of his response.
At this point, his sense of time had become so distorted that he would probably need quite a while to readjust after returning.
"Hm? Shirou, you have become less honest."
Hearing his answer, the smile on Illya's face grew wider.
Then she quickly put on an exaggeratedly sorrowful expression.
"If this were the old Shirou, he would definitely have gone along with what I said instead of answering with something so ambiguous."
As she spoke, she even raised a hand and wiped away tears that did not exist.
"Uh... sorry?"
Under normal circumstances, Shirou would have selectively ignored this sort of behavior.
Especially when dealing with certain members of Penguin Logistics.
But things were different now.
When facing Illya, Shirou was unusually passive.
"It is fine. I forgive you."
Having obtained the reaction she wanted, Illya immediately returned to her smiling expression.
Then she glanced toward the white humanoid figure, waved at it, and trotted over to Shirou before grabbing his hand.
"Let us go first! This is not a good place for a conversation!"
Holding Shirou's hand, Illya led him toward some unknown destination.
Shirou did not resist.
He simply allowed her to pull him along without any particular direction.
After all, there was nothing here except the vast golden ocean beneath their feet.
Still, Shirou never asked where she was taking him.
He just followed.
Because he knew she would never harm him.
And because he himself...
Wanted to spend a little more time with her.
Even if it meant simply wandering around an empty place together.
"This place feels a little depressing. Let us go somewhere else."
Unlike Shirou, who was easy to satisfy, Illya was far pickier.
The moment she said it, she snapped her fingers.
The golden ocean beneath them instantly rose up and enveloped them both.
"This is..."
When Shirou opened his eyes again, he found himself somewhere familiar.
The hallway of the Emiya residence.
Outside was the night scenery he knew so well.
The same night view from the conversation he had shared with Kiritsugu at the very end.
"It is a suitable place for a heart-to-heart talk, isn't it?"
Seeing the surprise on Shirou's face, Illya smiled in satisfaction.
At the same time, her clothes changed.
The pure white magical attire she had been wearing vanished, replaced by the purple outfit and white skirt she had worn when Shirou first met her.