Chapter 46: Tiamat's Childhood
"Oops, oops~ You found me out!" Merlin raised his head, looking quite proud. "Truth be told, I am actually Artoria's swordsmanship teacher! I was never good at using magecraft anyway; if I chant even a little too fast, I easily bite my tongue, so using a sword seems much simpler, don't you think?"
As he spoke, Merlin drew a sword from his strangely shaped staff and brandished it in the air with a practiced flourish: "Heh heh, this thing is way more useful than a magic wand!"
"..."
Gudako and Mash stared at him, speechless. Ana looked at Merlin with the gaze one would reserve for an idiot.
"Fou, fou, fou-uu!" Fou joined in with two cries, his little eyes filled with deep disdain.
Upon hearing Fou's cry, Merlin's eyes widened: "Cath Palug, you are calling me a fool again!" Merlin put away the sword and reached out to grab Fou. But Fou nimbly climbed onto Mash's head, leaving Merlin to retract his hand in frustration.
While everyone was chatting, a blue vortex opened up in the sky.
"It looks like it is time for you all to return." Merlin smiled. "Everyone from Chaldea, I express my respect for your battles. All the stars have gathered, and surely you will fight that evil at the end of human history. I hope this journey has a good ending. I will pray, wishing that your destination will be a clear, blue sky."
Merlin's final words gradually faded, and when they regained their senses, the group had already returned to Chaldea.
"Eh? Why did Miss Ana come along too?" Mash looked with some surprise at Ana, who had followed them there.
"Um... regarding this, the reason is truly difficult to put into words. Perhaps you should go ask Shirou." Ana's cheeks flushed slightly, and after saying this, she quickly and shyly pulled down the brim of her hat.
At the same time, Romani and Da Vinci rushed over. Seeing both Ana and Rin appear here, Romani was dumbfounded. "This..." "It seems many interesting things have happened." Da Vinci smiled.
"...You really are one for enjoying the chaos, regardless of the stakes." Romani sighed, feeling somewhat helpless.
At this very moment, under Rin's curious gaze, Shirou was holding the orb of light that had become Tiamat's soul.
"This is Tiamat. To be precise, Tiamat as the Mother Goddess has been returned to myth, and this is merely another existence that has retained her memories."
"I see... Then what do you plan to do next?"
Under Rin's puzzled gaze, golden light began to emerge from the palm of Shirou's other hand, which then took on a human form according to his will.
Shirou forged a body capable of housing her soul. The brand-new body was created based on Tiamat's original appearance, though its size was set to be about the same as Ana's. With long, beautiful silver hair, curved horns, a tail swaying at will, a beautiful face, and a delicate, petite figure, she now looked just like a young, ignorant girl. Her cherry-colored eyes were filled with curiosity about this world.
"Shirou... Shirou... Please... please give me... love..." Tiamat made intermittent sounds and hugged Shirou's waist.
Shirou smiled and stroked Tiamat's soft long hair: "Let's go, let's head back first."
Temporarily bidding farewell to everyone at Chaldea, Shirou returned to Fuyuki City with Ana, Tiamat, and Rin.
Everything returned to a warm daily routine. Surrounded by Saber, Sakura, and Illya, Ana and Tiamat soon integrated into life there. And Rin, who now harbored two goddesses within her, finally felt similar sensations to Saber. Although there were many more troubles, Rin's body had undergone a qualitative change, and her attainments in magecraft had far surpassed all current magical organizations in the world. Her original plan to go to the "Clock Tower" was therefore shelved. Apart from going to school, Rin also had to undergo special training from Scáthach, who was full of curiosity about her body.
"My path of magecraft is heading in a strange direction...!" Regarding Rin's lament filled with worry for her own future, Shirou could only express indifference, as he couldn't spare the hands to help.
Recently, several transfer students had joined Illya's class and became her good friends. Rumor had it that they were going to come over to their house to play, and Shirou was already busy making preparations to entertain them. He also had to confirm whether Saber and the goddesses were getting along harmoniously. Sakura had been jealous lately because Shirou was always running around, so he had to go comfort her. Furthermore, Caren, Jeanne, Nero, and Medea had been playing fighting games recently; it was said that they even managed to name the computer after Shirou. Watching them frantically operating the controllers, the corners of Shirou's mouth couldn't help but twitch.
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It was as if he had arrived in a bizarre and dreamlike world, permeated everywhere with a grey mist that obscured everything. A jarring sound, like the screams of thousands of people mixed
together, kept ringing in Shirou's ears. However, to Shirou, this level of strange noise did not sound ear-piercing.
Suddenly, a sound came from the sky above. Shirou, in the dream, raised his head in confusion, and immediately saw a gigantic human face blocking out the sky. He could not make out the specific features of that face; the only things he could barely see were the sunken, glowing eyes. That massive face seemed to have noticed Shirou's existence. At the moment its gaze was cast upon him, Shirou immediately heard a noise like the static from an old television screen. Then, Shirou felt his consciousness traveling through a realm beyond space, time, and all concepts—an experience far more exhilarating than bungee jumping.
At the same time, a beam of light struck from the deep, dark universe and slammed into that azure planet. Under the impact of such terror, the gods suffered unprecedented and devastating blows. The gods fell; however, for the gods, the death of the body was not death in the true sense, but even at this stage, they could not defeat this sudden enemy. At this time, the planet responded to the gods' desperate wish and forged a Holy Sword, assisting them in repelling the foreign enemy. After this battle, the gods had withered, so they decided to let go and entrust the future of this planet to humanity. Thus, the Era of Man was ushered in.
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Opening his eyes again, what met his gaze was the familiar room. The morning glow was starting to rise, and everything around him was becoming noisy. The rustling of wind through the leaves, the sound of a kitchen knife hitting a cutting board as Sakura chopped vegetables, the sound of the television playing the news—everything was no different from any other day.
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