Shirou and Paul were reunited as father and son after several years.
But the first thing they did upon meeting was to draw swords against each other, which was undoubtedly something that surprised everyone.
Shirou didn't really care too much about this; he had even secretly prepared for it in his heart.
After all, he knew how fragile Paul was as a man.
But he wasn't much better than Paul.
They were both the type to firmly believe in what they believed in and were unwilling to easily change their minds, so in the end, it was only natural that they would fight each other.
Of course, Shirou didn't really want to beat Paul.
All he was doing was trying to prove to him that he had never forgotten what he stood for all these years, and had never betrayed anyone.
This was something that absolutely would not be changed by anyone's will.
And he definitely didn't want to be looked down upon by Paul.
"You picked up a sword right after drinking; instead of waiting to pass out midway, why don't you go wash your face now?"
Shirou said slowly in a cold tone.
"Humph, I was just being merciful and giving you a chance; don't underestimate your old man."
Paul seemed to have gradually come to his senses as time passed and realized how ridiculous what he had just said was.
But now he was in a difficult situation.
Only a fight with Shirou could bring about a final resolution.
The two stood on opposite sides, with the members of the investigation team watching, each taking a sword stance.
Shirou held one sword, but Paul took out two swords from the very beginning.
Yes, compared to a long time ago, Paul no longer underestimated Shirou in any way. He immediately went all out and used his best double-sword technique.
But Shirou's condition wasn't good.
The toxins within him still hadn't been dealt with, which gave Paul many opportunities.
"..."
The two stood in their stances. After a brief hesitation, they took action almost at the same time.
"Clang,"
The sound of swords clashing rang out.
Paul's movements were as fast as a wild animal. He and Shirou both used Sword God Style swordsmanship. Although Paul's movements were clearly inferior, Shirou, as a Sword Saint, wasn't able to defeat Paul, who was at the upper level of Sword God Style.
Shirou was able to confirm that Paul had indeed not wasted his training over the years. His swordsmanship had improved significantly since Shirou was a child.
Even though it was still the upper level of Sword God Style, his strength was clearly far beyond that of an ordinary upper level practitioner; he was completely at the threshold of the Sword Saint level.
Shirou did not dare to underestimate him in the slightest, and decisively showed his full strength!
"Bang!"
"Crack!" "Bang!"
The moment Longsword of Light was used.
The blade in Shirou's hand was like a stream of moonlight, and at an extremely fast speed, even from different directions, suddenly bloomed with several different sword energies.
"...Ugh!"
Paul seemed to not expect Shirou's Longsword of Light to be so decisive and sharp. He reflexively made a blocking movement, but was still unable to completely block it, and was forced to retreat.
But Shirou's Longsword of Light still did not completely defeat Paul.
Seizing the opportunity to reorganize his stance, Paul suddenly made a blocking swordsmanship technique, completely blocking Shirou's Sword of Light.
"I didn't expect you to really be a Sword Saint... But that's nothing. I've also learned a lot of Water God Style moves over the years. Blocking Sword God Style swords isn't something I can't do!"
Paul said confidently, then suddenly turned one of the swords in his hand upside down. His whole person moved in a confusing way, rushing in front of Shirou at great speed.
North God Style!
Because Shirou had experienced two encounters with the North Saint, he almost instantly determined Paul's methods. Paul's skills were not inferior to Giles' in the slightest.
Because Paul's movements were even more extreme than Giles'.
At the moment when his attack was blocked by Shirou, he actually grabbed the sword in his hand with his teeth, and at the same time, suddenly reversed the direction of the originally straight swing, appearing out of nowhere in front of Shirou from an unbelievable angle!
"!!!"
This sword was almost an unavoidable attack.
But Shirou didn't panic.
He suddenly switched the sword that was originally in his right hand to his left hand, while holding the scabbard on the right side, and moved it in a strange motion.
If the opponent used North God Style.
Then he would use North God Style too!
Moreover, Shirou's North God Style was something he had imitated from the Undead Demon Lord Atofe, and Atofe's swordsmanship originated from her husband, the first North God Kalman, which could be said to be one of the most orthodox North God Style techniques in the world.
"Twenty Cuts!"
Shirou's sword was swung out at an unbelievable speed.
It was a godlike quick draw that was even more exaggerated than Longsword of Light.
Although the speed was definitely not as fast as Longsword of Light, it was better in that the moves were strange and hard to defend against. It was an action that was clearly impossible to make, but it was indeed achieved!
"What! It's actually the secret technique of North God Style, Twenty Cuts?"
Paul really didn't expect Shirou to use North God Style moves.
The sword in his hand collided with Shirou's sword, and because the force was not strong enough, it was directly knocked away by Shirou's sword.
"Humph!"
Paul was even more shocked by Shirou's growth, but he didn't give up. He held two swords, made a twisted pose, and seemed to be simply holding two weapons rather than holding a sword.
"Bang!"
Paul rushed forward.
Shirou wanted to respond normally, but he didn't expect Paul's movements to suddenly change during the process.
Not only did he have the speed of Sword God Style, but also the solidity of Water God Style, and even the unpredictability of North God Style.
Paul's efforts over the years had not been in vain. Although he still hadn't broken through to the Saint level in any swordsmanship style, Paul's swordsmanship in the three styles had been completely integrated, and was even faintly about to give birth to a fourth kind of swordsmanship that fused the advantages of the three swordsmanship styles.
"Swish!"
Shirou parried repeatedly and was constantly forced back by Paul.
It was clear that he couldn't defeat Paul with just Sword God Style and North God Style swordsmanship.
The main thing was that because the toxins in his body had not been cleared, Shirou currently didn't have the ability to fight a long battle. If time dragged on, it would only become more and more disadvantageous.
Although he could admit defeat at this time, Shirou was already fired up and unwilling to give in easily.
Even if he used methods that could be called cheating, he had to take the victory.
"Sorry, Paul."
Shirou took a deep breath, held the blade with strange movements with both hands, and then the magic power and fighting spirit on his body gathered together at the same time—
Magic Power Released!
"Rumble!"
Paul didn't expect Shirou to have such a move.
Before he could react, he saw that Shirou's speed had almost instantly increased several times.
The sword speed that he could originally parry with Water God Style and North God Style techniques was now almost so fast that his eyes and intuition could not keep up at all.
The main thing was not just speed.
Shirou's strength had also been increased several times with the blessing of Magic Power Released.
"Bang!"
With one sword strike, Paul was directly sent flying, and his whole person rolled on the ground for a while before stopping with difficulty.
"..."
The scene suddenly fell silent.
The members of the investigation team didn't expect that Shirou would be able to defeat Paul, and that he would win so decisively. They were completely aware of the extraordinariness of this young man.
As for Paul himself.
After being sent flying by a sword, his whole person was like a stray dog.
He was already mentally unclear due to being drunk, and now his whole body was covered in dust. He blindly got up from the ground, and instead of admitting defeat, he pounced on Shirou like a madman.
"Paul?"
"Shirou!!"
It was clear that Paul had lost his reason.
He directly punched Shirou.
But because Shirou possessed the Mind's Eye, and his basic qualities were now better than Paul's in all aspects, he easily dodged Paul's attack, and let him fall to the ground again.
"Damn it... Are you looking down on me?"
"No, you've already lost."
"Lost? Heh, it's that condescending attitude again... Hey, Shirou, you've always looked down on me, right?"
"This..."
Shirou couldn't respond, because he had indeed felt for a long time that Paul was a muddleheaded man who had neither ability nor a sense of responsibility.
Although it didn't reach the point of looking down on him, he definitely lacked respect.
Shirou's attitude made Paul reveal a self-deprecating attitude, and said coldly: "That's right, I'm not as good as you. I'm useless and cowardly, and completely lack the appearance of a father, but even someone like me knows what the most important thing to do right now is!"
"..."
"You probably don't know the situation in the Fittoa Territory, right? The entire territory has disappeared, and everyone has been displaced. I've been searching for possible survivors for so many years, and I've done a lot of things, but what about you? Do you think you've done better than me? Even so, you still don't have any remorse, and you want to give up searching for your family and travel around with that little girlfriend of yours?"
"No, Eris and I are not that kind of relationship."
Since he couldn't deny the previous words, Shirou could only deny Paul's last sentence.
In essence, Shirou was also avoiding reality.
Paul staggered over and swung his fist at Shirou with a completely pathetic movement, but it was easily dodged by the latter.
It was already an attack so slow that even the Mind's Eye didn't need to predict it.
"Haahhhh!"
But Paul still didn't stop, forcing Shirou to take action to subdue him, and directly pinned him to the ground with a joint lock.
But Paul was still struggling.
"Not that kind of relationship, then tell me, what kind of relationship are you two in?"
"Eris... Eris is like a little sister."
Shirou helplessly responded to Paul's words.
"Little sister?"
Paul laughed, he looked at Shirou with a mocking attitude, "You mean, you're going to give up your real family for a Boreas little sister? That Eris is your little sister, so aren't Norn and Aisha your little sisters?"
"..."
Shirou was completely silent.
He couldn't answer, and he didn't know how to answer.
Because this was exactly the problem that he was also struggling with now.
What kind of choice should he make?
He couldn't give a proper answer.
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