Chapter 7: [Emiya]
"Giaaaaaaa——!!"
Amidst the distortion of the air. Amidst the surging heatwaves formed by flames. A burly figure, looking as if it had stepped out of an ancient Egyptian mural praising the Sun God Ra, coalesced within the crimson, bird-like flames.
Standing behind Shirou Emiya, it opened its hawk-like beak and shrieked, announcing its birth. Even the surrounding temperature rose in response to that cry.
But what truly caused the expressions of Joseph and the others to shift wasn't the heat. It was the Stand itself!
"Th-This is...!?"
The person most shocked was undoubtedly Avdol, who had handed the Tarot cards to Shirou Emiya. He never imagined he would see his own Stand in such a manner. He instinctively summoned another [Magician's Red]—the one that belonged to him.
"Giaaaaaaa——!!"
A second hawk-like shriek followed. Feeling the presence of his Stand, Avdol breathed a temporary sigh of relief.
'At least it's not a Stand ability that steals Stands.'
However, if it wasn't an ability to steal Stands, then what exactly was Shirou Emiya's Stand ability? Avdol looked back at Shirou with a mixture of horror and confusion. Even though Avdol hadn't said a word, his expression screamed the question in his heart:
'How exactly did Shirou Emiya do it?'
Judging the concept of creation, hypothesizing the basic structure, duplicating the composition material, imitating the skill of its making, sympathizing with the experience of its use, and reproducing the substance through the accumulation of years...
These are the steps of Projection Magecraft.
The reason Shirou Emiya couldn't project a Stand before was simply because he couldn't see them. During the process of using Projection, he would get stuck on the step of "duplicating the composition material."
But if he couldn't see it, why not just let someone else "watch" for him? If the Stand itself couldn't be projected yet, why not just project something else that could be projected?!
He gazed. He saw through the Tarot cards that originally belonged to Avdol with flawless clarity. Shirou Emiya projected the accumulation of the original owner's experience along with the object. He could even see the techniques Avdol used to perform divination via these cards.
And...
Just as the original Shirou Emiya in Fate/stay night projected the monstrous strength of Berserker along with his axe-sword, Avdol's Stand was naturally his talent as a born Stand user. It was a talent that, after Shirou projected the Tarot cards and fully understood Avdol, could be projected onto Shirou himself!
"[Magician's Red]... though, Avdol, you and the others can also call it [Emiya]. Stand——[Emiya]."
(Note: "Emiya" is Shirou Emiya's exclusive execution theme music.)
Meeting their incredulous stares, Shirou Emiya spoke slowly: "As long as I obtain an object that has accompanied a Stand user for many years, I can use it to project that user's Stand.
However, it depends on the strength of the Stand. The more powerful it is, the shorter the time I can maintain the projection, and the greater the consumption."
As if echoing Shirou's words, the [Fake Magician's Red], before it could even display its heroic might, let out a mournful cry and dissipated behind him.
Shirou Emiya himself seemed to lose all strength, staggering back onto the wooden bed in the detention cell. He leaned heavily against the wall to soothe his body, which had been severely drained of magical energy in a short burst by the Projection Magecraft.
"As you can see, while it's likely a very powerful Stand, I wouldn't use it to project Stands under normal circumstances. Instead, I use it to project items to learn the techniques of the item's owner."
Only after his body felt slightly more relaxed did Shirou have the strength to continue: "The prophecy I mentioned earlier, and the divination techniques I possess, were actually learned through this method."
Why was someone so young more skilled in the field of prophecy than a specialized diviner like Avdol? Shirou Emiya was now effectively patching the logic of his "precognition."
"So, Mr. Joestar, if you still don't believe my words, you can give me an item related to you or related to a Ripple warrior.
DIO, who has long since become a vampire, surely won't let any Ripple warrior or anyone who knows how to cultivate the Ripple go free.
Of course, I have my own selfish motives. The miraculous effects of the Ripple breathing method should be able to slightly alleviate the side effects of my Stand."
Shirou Emiya stated his request without fear of Joseph refusing.
In fact, if Shirou truly learned the Ripple, Joseph—having witnessed Shirou's heaven-defying Stand ability (Projection)—would feel more at ease about his identity.
As he said before, there is almost no possibility of coexistence between Ripple warriors and vampires. This is because those who fall to become vampires are invariably obsessed with immortality. They simply wouldn't allow the existence of Ripple warriors who can counter and kill them to remain in the world.
Once Shirou Emiya learned the Ripple breathing method, regardless of his previous identity, he would undoubtedly become DIO's enemy.
The enemy of an enemy is a friend; even if Shirou truly had other motives, they could undoubtedly be trusted in the matter of defeating DIO.
This was what Joseph was thinking.
Shirou's thoughts, however, were much simpler. Thanks to Kiritsugu Emiya's shattered dreams after the Fourth Holy Grail War, Kiritsugu initially didn't even intend to teach Shirou magecraft; he only relented under Shirou's persistent pestering.
Consequently, the magecraft knowledge he taught Shirou was riddled with errors. Even the most basic method of using Magic Circuits was wrong.
Although the Shirou Emiya with past-life memories knew exactly where he went wrong, he lacked the method and didn't know how to correct it.
Fortunately, the Ripple breathing method could, to some extent, substitute for the function of Magic Circuits. Or rather, a correct breathing method in the Type-Moon world is, in itself, a top-tier Magic Circuit.
"So, Mr. Joestar, what is your intention?" Shirou asked.