Chapter 106: I Lack Nothing Now
Since the time Emiya Shirou had used [Pseudo-Atum] to turn Gilgamesh into something akin to a Class Card, this was the second time he had processed a Servant into a card.
Of course, this wasn't because Shirou was bored. It wasn't as if he was performing an unnecessary extra step by extracting Assassin's soul after already defeating him.
Rather, a thought had suddenly occurred to him.
Is the Holy Grail War essentially a gamble initiated by the Grail itself? And does the winner of the Holy Grail War count as the one who achieves final victory in this gamble?
Initially, these questions seemed meaningless. Regardless of whether it was a gamble or a final victory, the winner of the Holy Grail War didn't usually receive any extra perks because of the title. As the final victor, one could already make a wish upon the Grail; an empty title wouldn't grant an additional wish.
The issue, however, was that Emiya Shirou was a participant in this Holy Grail War. And in his hand, he held [Pseudo-Atum].
[Pseudo-Atum]—the Stand whose ability can only be activated upon the precondition of "victory"!
Once that information is understood, Shirou's actions become clear.
"This is the second one.
Even though there is supposedly only one victor in the Holy Grail War, to me, with the memories of my past life, the claim that there is 'only one winner' is a complete lie."
—'Or rather, to win the Holy Grail War and make a wish upon the Grail, one doesn't actually need to defeat all seven Servants, including one's own.
—As long as the Lesser Grail collects the souls of at least five Servants, the Greater Grail located in Fuyuki City can descend, entering the final stage of the magical ritual to begin the wishing process.'
This wasn't just Shirou's idle speculation. In both Fate/Zero and Fate/Unlimited Codes—one being a novel written by Gen Urobuchi with Nasu's authorization, and the other being the arcade game plot developed by Capcom in collaboration with Nasu—this hidden information was clearly stated.
While Fate/Zero somewhat implicitly pointed out that the Grail began to descend and pull Kiritsugu Emiya into its internal space to tempt him into wishing before Gilgamesh and Saber had even settled their duel in the Fourth War, the Caster route in Fate/Unlimited Codes stated it directly: Caster could not use the Grail to make a wish with only four Servant souls. At least one more soul was required to complete the ritual and resurrect Kuzuki Souichirou.
This is the most "cheating" aspect of the Einzbern family as one of the Three Founding Families. As long as they aren't eliminated immediately by other participants, the Master chosen by the Einzberns is almost certainly the first participant with a chance to make a wish—take Kiritsugu Emiya in the Fourth War, for example.
However, the Third Magic that the Einzberns wish to realize cannot be achieved with only five souls; it requires at least six, which serves to balance out their "cheat" somewhat.
Similarly, the Tohsaka family's desire to reach the Root is the most taxing of all; to realize that wish, one must collect the souls of all seven Servants. Not only must they finish the entire war, but they must also preserve a Command Spell to kill their own Servant at the end to meet all the conditions.
Emiya Shirou's plan was similar. As long as he won the "gamble" of the Holy Grail War, he could use [Pseudo-Atum]'s Stand ability to extract "All the World's Evil" from within the Grail. Furthermore, by seizing Servant souls through [Pseudo-Atum], he ensured that Illya and Sakura would never have the chance to absorb them.
This would prevent them from losing their physical functions and becoming sacrifices for the manifestation of the Greater Grail. If there was to be a "Happy End," this was the only way Shirou could see it happening.
Besides, the function of [Pseudo-Atum] wasn't just to snatch souls away from Illya and the others. There was also...
"Because this is the second one, by the standards of victory in the Holy Grail War, I have already completed two-fifths of the victory—nearly half the share.
Therefore, my [Atum] can now grasp you... Holy Grail... No, [All the World's Evil].
In that case..."
From a perspective only a Stand User could see, the [Pseudo-Atum] beside Shirou did more than just repeat its previous trick of turning Assassin into a Class Card. One of its entire arms disappeared, bypassing multiple barriers to grasp the idling [All the World's Evil (Angra Mainyu)] in its hand.
In a sense, [All the World's Evil] had achieved a form of the Third Magic—the Materialization of the Soul—by assimilating with the magical energy inside the Grail. How could it not feel such a direct touch upon its soul? It was immediately overjoyed, intending to use this tunnel opened by [Pseudo-Atum] to force its manifestation and launch a counter-invasion.
After all, whether Servant or human, none could resist the erosion of "All the World's Evil." If it weren't for the fact that the Holy Grail War ritual required the souls of five Servants to summon the Grail and release it from its imprisonment, "All the World's Evil" would have submerged the Earth long ago.
Now, things were looking up. Although "All the World's Evil" didn't know who had opened this path, how could it pass up such a golden opportunity?
...And then, there was no "and then."
"All the World's Evil"? Angra Mainyu? The curse of black mud capable of eroding all living things?
Apologies, but the settings of the Nasuverse hold no sway over a Stand from the world of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Not only did they have no power over it, but Emiya Shirou hadn't sent [Pseudo-Atum]'s hand over there for no reason.
He was there to take the spoils of war.
The magical energy of the Grail, fused with "All the World's Evil," was filtered through [Pseudo-Atum] and poured directly into Emiya Shirou's body without any side effects!
Infinite magical energy.
Projection Magecraft.
The current Emiya Shirou lacked nothing now!
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