Shirou had a dream.
In the dream, he was back in the Emiya house that used to be his.
His sister, Miyu, had cooked and was waiting for him to come home, and his father, Emiya Kiritsugu, was also waiting at home.
Shirou felt like he had been on a very long trip, experienced almost endless separations and deaths, and finally returned home.
He said "I'm back" while hugging his sister, and then talked to his father, Emiya Kiritsugu, about what had happened over the years and the changes he had gone through.
Everything was so normal and wonderful.
But Shirou knew from beginning to end that it was just a dream.
Dreams can be endlessly beautiful, but they always end one day.
It's just that a glimmer of hope would occasionally arise in his heart, hoping that the dream could end a little slower, a little slower, so that he could enjoy the last moment as much as possible...
"Clap!"
However, the dream could not continue to be beautiful.
The beautiful dream that Shirou was experiencing suddenly changed. The Emiya house in front of him seemed to melt strangely, and finally changed from a Japanese-style old house into a medieval-style wooden structure.
In just an instant, the Emiya house became the Greyrat family's mansion.
Zenith, Paul, Rudeus, Lilia, Norn, Aisha, Sylphy...
Faces flashed before him, only to disappear completely under a sudden white light, turning into invisible dust.
Shirou tried desperately to grab those familiar figures, but was completely powerless.
Everything dissipated in the white light, drifting away from him.
At that moment, Shirou once again felt the same sense of helplessness he had felt when his sister Miyu was taken away by the Ainsworth family.
He also completely woke up from the dream, no longer immersed in the false beautiful dream, but returned to his own reality.
"This is..."
Shirou opened his eyes and found himself floating in mid-air.
Well, more like falling downwards.
The red-haired girl, Eris, was desperately holding onto him, but due to the sudden change, her awareness had long since disappeared completely, but her body was still instinctively holding onto his.
Shirou didn't know what had happened, but he could feel that he and Eris had been transported to a very high place, and if they didn't do anything, they would be smashed straight into the ground, turning into mincemeat.
If Shirou knew powerful magic, he might be able to use wind magic to support himself, or simply use flying magic, to solve the problem of landing.
But he wasn't such a great magician.
The scenery in front of him changed rapidly.
Shirou could already clearly see the shape of the ground.
Therefore, he knew that he only had one choice next, which was to use his strongest ability to strike the ground and create a cushion of impact force large enough to act as a buffer.
And among the abilities he possessed, there was only one that was strong enough to pierce the earth.
"Whoosh!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Shirou directly drew out the Sword of Promised Victory wrapped in his bag, and injected as little magic power into it as possible.
Shirou didn't plan to release a full-strength strike directly. He only planned to inject a little magic power to create a buffer cushion in a short time to support him and Eris.
"Holy Sword, release!"
Shirou focused his mind.
He used his ability as accurately as possible to activate the Sword of Promised Victory in his hand, releasing the magic power without consuming too much, but also being able to create a sufficient buffer.
"Boom!"
In an instant, a torrent of light erupted from Shirou's hand.
After Shirou forged the Sword of Promised Victory, he never imagined that his first chance to use this weapon would be in such a strange situation.
But in any case.
Thanks to the Holy Sword he possessed.
The fiery torrent successfully smashed an amazing storm into the earth.
Even if it was only for a moment, Shirou and Eris's fall suddenly stopped.
But this was only for a moment.
The next second, the two of them were like butterflies snapped in half by a storm, and after shaking a few times, they fell to the ground, onto the reddish-brown earth.
At the last moment, Shirou tried his best to protect Eris in his arms, preventing her from getting hurt.
But instead, he himself lost consciousness due to the violent impact and passed out on the spot.
...
Shirou slowly opened his eyes in a deep daze.
But he found that he didn't seem to have woken up in reality.
What appeared around him was not the reddish-brown earth he had seen in the sky before, but a puzzling pure white space.
There was nothing in the space, only a white expanse.
This strange feeling made him instinctively recall the sword mound where Servant Emiya had been, which also had a similar strange situation.
Thinking of Servant Emiya, Shirou quickly discovered a strange phenomenon.
That was, his current appearance was not his usual self, but rather a form that Servant Emiya would have.
A long red coat, dark skin, and a strong adult physique...
This was undoubtedly the appearance that Servant Emiya had, not the appearance that Shirou himself had.
Why would he appear here in the form of Servant Emiya?
And what kind of place was this strange space?
Could it be that this was the Servant Hall where Servant Emiya used to stay as a Servant?
Was he dead?
Countless guesses arose in Shirou's mind, and he felt confused about his situation. Just then, he noticed a strange figure appearing in front of him.
It was a figure that was completely white, with only a few outlines.
The person had a flat, pale face that was smiling, but didn't have any distinct features.
Once he was sure that the person had these facial features, the memory immediately disappeared from his mind, making it impossible to remember.
Perhaps because of this, it gave the impression that the whole body seemed to be pixelated.
Shirou was undoubtedly instinctively vigilant toward such a strange existence, and at the same time began to guess the person's identity in his heart.
After all, if this was the Servant Hall where Servant Emiya was, then this white figure was probably the so-called Counter Force, Alaya?
The moment this thought arose in Shirou's mind, the white figure took the initiative to speak:
"Hi, should I say nice to meet you for the first time? Good afternoon, Emiya Shirou."
"..."
It had been a long time since someone had called out his full name.
After Shirou came to this world, he had never used his full name to refer to himself, so it was impossible for anyone to know the name Emiya Shirou.
So that's how it is. This guy is most likely Alaya.
But was the Alaya in Servant Emiya's memories such a frivolous guy?
Shirou had doubts in his heart, and while he was at a loss, the white figure spoke with some confusion: "Can't you hear me? Please respond to me, otherwise it's too boring."
"..."
Shirou frowned at the white figure's inexplicably flirty words.
He really couldn't imagine that humanity's defense system would be such a twisted image, and could only try to speak: "What are you?"
"Mm-hmm, it's good to be able to greet and interact with others."
The white figure didn't directly answer Shirou's question, but instead felt approval of Shirou's attitude. "I've been watching you for a long time, but this is actually the first time I've met you in person."
"..."
Shirou ignored the white figure and was still waiting for his first question to be answered.
Seeing Shirou's attitude, the white figure smiled bitterly and helplessly: "You really are as inflexible as I imagined. People as serious as you, who don't even smile much, are likely to have short lives."
"That doesn't matter."
Shirou shook his head.
He hadn't planned to live too long anyway.
Neither Servant Emiya nor Emiya Shirou were the kind of people who craved survival.
They would rather sacrifice themselves without hesitation to achieve their goals, giving everything to save the people they wanted to save.
Therefore, death, for people like him, had always been a place that was destined to be reached and was not too far away.
Seeing this, Hitogami showed a disappointed expression and opened his mouth helplessly: "Alas, you really are more boring than I imagined... Forget it, let's get back to the main topic. Emiya Shirou, I know where you came from, and I know what kind of thing you are, because I am the god of this world. You can call me, Hitogami."
"The god of this world... So, you are the defense system of this world?"
Shirou tried to understand the other person's existence with his own thinking.
In fact, the person was indeed very similar to the Alaya in Servant Emiya's memories. They were both so vague that it was impossible to see their form clearly, like a mosaic.
It's just that Alaya is a blue orb, while Hitogami is a white humanoid figure.
Hearing Shirou's statement, Hitogami was stunned for a moment, and then opened his mouth: "Defense system? Do you call the gods of your world by that word? That's a strange way of saying it, but it's strangely interesting. I really want to meet the defense system of your world..."
"That probably can't be done, right?"
"Yeah, it can't be done."
Hitogami nodded and answered frankly.
Shirou didn't show much reaction on the surface, but he was still somewhat disappointed in his heart, because he realized that even Hitogami couldn't allow him to move between worlds.
"Hehe, what a pity, your expectations are destined to be in vain."
Hitogami seemed to see through Shirou's thoughts and said with a smile, "However, I think it doesn't matter even if you don't go back. Haven't you been living a very wonderful life in this world?"
"Wonderful... Do you know about my things?"
"Yes, after all, I am a god, and I know everything."
"..."
Shirou didn't respond. He still didn't believe in this so-called Hitogami after all, because he knew the suffering that Servant Emiya had experienced in Alaya.
For these individuals beyond human intelligence, human reason and emotion cannot be empathized with.
If you instinctively think that these so-called gods can easily understand human emotions, or even be human partners, then the outcome will be more tragic than imagined.
For example, the former Servant Emiya, it was precisely because he accepted the contract of Alaya that he embarked on that tragic life.
Seeing Shirou's reaction, Hitogami seemed a little surprised, and he hesitated and said: "You're really cold. I only spoke up to help because you seemed troubled. Can't you trust me?"
"..."
Shirou didn't respond at all.
He could never trust such an individual with an unknown identity, not to mention that the person might be a defense system like Alaya with no humanity.
Seeing the attitude of disgust emanating from Shirou, Hitogami realized that his previous behavior of admitting that he was the defense system might have been inappropriate.
But he couldn't change his words, and could only open his mouth helplessly: "It seems you're the type who really hates gods and that kind of thing."
"Don't you know what happened to me?"
"I don't know."
"But you just said you knew everything."
"This…"
Seeing Hitogami speechless, Shirou's suspicion of them could be said to have reached its peak.
A guy with an unknown origin, unknown identity, and who is also full of lies, Shirou's vigilance towards this person at the moment can be said to have reached a peak!
Even though he knew that this was just a space of consciousness, he instinctively raised his hands and was surprised to find that he could actually create projections here.
So he decisively projected two twin swords, looked at Hitogami with a cold attitude, looking like he might lash out at any moment!
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