"I… will not surrender. I cannot allow the Holy Grail to continue spilling that black mud…"
Half-kneeling on the ground and supporting himself with a broken blade, Shirou spoke weakly.
Though he said he would not surrender, he knew very well that his body had already reached its limit.
This was merely the final moments before death.
"Hmph. In that case, you shall fall here."
After hearing Shirou's answer, the blonde girl withdrew the sword pointed at him.
But she had no intention of sparing him.
Instead, she was preparing for the next attack.
The Shirou before her had already lost the ability to fight. Her earlier offer had merely been a final attempt born from lingering sentiment.
But since he had refused, there was no longer any need to hesitate.
She gripped the black longsword with both hands and thrust forward.
"Shirou!"
Amiya had never imagined she could run so fast.
But the distance between them meant that no matter how quickly she ran, she could never outrun the blonde girl leisurely driving the sword into Shirou's chest.
With a wet sound, the black sword pierced through Shirou's chest.
At that very moment, Amiya finally reached them.
She threw herself forward, trying to slam the blonde girl away.
Yet her body passed directly through the girl and she crashed heavily onto the ground instead.
Only then did Amiya realize something was wrong with this place.
Even after falling hard onto the ground, she felt no pain.
And moments ago, she had passed directly through the girl's body…
"This is… Shirou's memory?"
Having experienced similar situations before, Amiya quickly understood what was happening.
She had not realized it immediately because the memories she had previously encountered were fragmented. None had ever appeared as complete and coherent as this one.
But precisely because it felt so real, the sight before her caused her heart to ache all the more.
"Sa…ber…"
Already on the verge of collapse, Shirou stared at the black holy sword piercing his chest and understood that he had truly lost.
There was no possibility left for a comeback.
Yet there was no resentment in his eyes over his defeat.
He simply stared at Saber quietly.
As though trying to engrave her appearance into his memory forever.
"Shirou…"
But Amiya saw it differently.
Watching a living person die before her eyes filled her with unbearable anguish.
After a while, Shirou reacted again.
He raised that unnaturally enlarged right arm and grabbed hold of the sword.
But that was all.
He had already been critically wounded and near death before suffering this fatal blow.
There was little left he could do.
"…Farewell, Shirou."
Seeing Shirou tightly gripping the holy sword even now, Saber decisively hurled both him and the sword aside together.
Shirou's body passed through the still-seated Amiya and crashed toward the darkness behind her.
But Amiya did not hear the sound of flesh striking the ground.
Instead, she heard the sound of something falling into liquid.
"What is this?"
Turning around, Amiya saw Shirou's body slowly sinking downward.
Only then did she notice it.
An endless sea of black sludge.
"So this is the black mud Shirou mentioned earlier?"
Though the black sludge felt ominous and revolting, Amiya still clenched her teeth and ran toward Shirou.
She reached out, trying to grab the continuously sinking Shirou.
But her hands could not touch him.
Much less pull him back up.
"Grab my hand! Get up! Hurry up and get up! Quickly...!"
No matter what she tried, she could not touch him. Amiya could only watch helplessly as Shirou, with that black sword lodged in his chest, slowly sank into the black mud.
His eyes were filled with helplessness, and his lips continuously murmured something under his breath.
Only after Shirou's entire body had been swallowed by the black mud did Amiya finally stop her futile attempts. At the same time, she felt the knot in her heart tighten even further.
A feeling of helplessness filled her chest, while the word "powerless" echoed throughout her mind.
There was nothing she could do. She could only watch the people she knew leave her one after another.
Whether it was Her Highness Theresa, the Doctor, Nameless... or the Shirou before her eyes.
Even though she knew this was perhaps only a fragment of Shirou's past memories, personally witnessing this scene was still something she could not accept.
An enormous amount of negative emotion, just like the black mud beneath her feet, slowly swallowed her whole.
When she turned around, the girl whom Shirou had called Saber had already turned away and was no longer looking in this direction. It was impossible to tell whether she simply did not want to witness the death of someone familiar, or whether she did not care at all.
Just as Amiya had no idea what she should do next, a familiar voice suddenly sounded beside her ear.
Although Amiya could not tell where the voice had come from, she remembered it clearly.
It was Shirou's voice.
"Tch, what a pain!"
Unlike his usual patient and gentle tone, Shirou's voice now sounded irritated and impatient.
Immediately afterward, the black mud beneath Amiya's feet suddenly surged upward and swallowed her body whole.
When she opened her eyes again, Amiya found herself in a place that looked somewhat similar, except there was no black mud here, nor was there any sign of Saber.
In the distance, she could still see the red-haired boy bathed in black mud, but the oppressive aura coming from him made Amiya hesitate to approach.
"Amiya? Why are you here?"
Suddenly, Shirou's voice came from behind her, exactly the same as the one in Amiya's memories.
"Emi... ya? It is really you, Shirou, right? It is wonderful that you are okay! Wuuu..."
The moment she saw the completely unharmed and slightly taller Shirou, Amiya finally broke down. She rushed forward and hugged him tightly as she burst into tears.
This was the first time she had ever felt that being able to touch another person was such a wonderful thing.
The scenes she had just witnessed had left too deep an impression on her. The moment she saw that Shirou himself was still here, she could no longer suppress the emotions that had built up inside her.
"???"
Completely unable to understand the situation, Shirou was stunned by the sudden hug. Then Amiya suddenly started crying as well, leaving him even more at a loss about what to do.
Still, he had taken care of children before. At times like this, there was really nothing he needed to do except give the other person some time to calm down.
Unfortunately, not everyone shared the same thoughts.
"You are quite popular"
From the distance, Emiya Kuro spoke in a teasing tone.
Hearing that teasing voice, Amiya finally came back to her senses. She hurriedly stepped away from Shirou and wiped at her face.
"...Two Shirous?"
After rubbing her swollen, reddened eyes, Amiya finally got a clear look at the person before her.
Red hair. Red and black sleeves covering both arms. But why was he only wearing sleeves without any actual clothing?
Amiya had only seen this style of dress on Nameless before, and the black sleeve on this Shirou's left arm also looked somewhat familiar.
However, the most eye-catching thing was the large number of red patterns covering his upper body. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but Amiya felt as though those patterns were faintly glowing, almost as if they were alive.
"You would not exactly be wrong if you put it that way."
Faced with Amiya's question, Emiya Kuro shrugged his shoulders as he replied.
"...That is not what we should be discussing right now, is it? Why did you drag Amiya and me here? Were those things just now your doing too?"
Unlike Emiya Kuro's completely indifferent attitude, Shirou stepped forward and shielded Amiya behind him while questioning the other man.
His memories only went as far as Doctor Kal'tsit noticing something wrong with Amiya and forcibly interrupting the experiment. After that, he had been dragged here.
He was already used to being pulled into this place from time to time. It was just more sudden this time.
But... why was Amiya here as well? And why were her emotions fluctuating so violently?
At this moment, Shirou reasonably suspected that the Emiya Kuro before him had been secretly meddling behind the scenes.
"Do not make it sound so unpleasant! I was the one who helped that little donkey, you know?"
Faced with Shirou's suspicion, Emiya Kuro crossed his arms over his chest, the motion conveniently covering most of the red patterns on his body.
"I am a Cautus! Not a donkey!"
Hearing Emiya Kuro call her a little donkey, Amiya poked half her body out from behind Shirou to protest.
"As long as you know who I am talking about."
Emiya Kuro clearly had no intention of arguing further about the topic and waved dismissively at Amiya with a look of disdain.
"Ugh..."
Originally, Amiya wanted to say more, but Shirou shifted slightly to the side once again, completely blocking her from view.
"What do you mean by helping little... Amiya?"
Keeping Amiya protected behind him and separating the two of them, Shirou looked at Emiya Kuro with a serious expression and questioned him.
'If I were the only one here right now, then I would actually be quite willing to chat a bit with the Emiya Kuro in front of me.'
After all, the other man knew many things that he himself did not, such as his missing memories and why he had come to this land.
"I mean exactly what I said. She just saw your memories, which caused the power inside her to show signs of going out of control. If I had not pulled the two of you in here, it very likely could have affected the little donkey's real body, you know?"
Seeing how wary Shirou was of him, Emiya Kuro did not avoid his gaze and simply stared directly back at him.
"Memories?"
Hearing that Amiya's emotions had become so unstable because she had seen his memories, Shirou frowned and began searching through what little he could remember.
The only things that could cause such an intense emotional reaction from Amiya, besides the great fire from his childhood... would probably be the Holy Grail War.
But even he himself could not remember it anymore, so why could Amiya still see it?
"Even if you cannot remember clearly, the body and soul still remembers."
Watching Shirou frown in thought, Emiya Kuro gave his answer.
As for whether it was true or not, Shirou had no way of knowing.
Perhaps the other man had simply made it up on the spot.
Still... what he said was not entirely unreasonable. Shirou had seen similar concepts mentioned several times in television shows and movies before.
"Was it... memories of the Holy Grail War?"
For the moment, Shirou decided to believe what the other man had said while also taking the opportunity to probe whether he knew anything about the Holy Grail War.
"Yes, but I am too lazy to explain it to you. Go ask the little donkey yourself. Although, what she saw was only a portion of it. If there is nothing else, then please leave."
Hearing Shirou's question, Emiya Kuro nodded as he answered.
At the same time, he understood exactly what Shirou was trying to do. He simply did not have the interest to give Shirou a long-winded explanation.
The longer they stayed here, the greater the effect it would have on both him and Shirou.
The main issue was still that little donkey. It could only be said that Emiya Shirou truly had a talent for getting himself into trouble in situations like this.
"...At least tell me who won the Holy Grail War in the end."
Hearing Emiya Kuro trying to drive them away, Shirou clenched his fists tightly as he questioned him.
"..."
Emiya Kuro did not answer. The indifferent expression on his face gradually became serious, and even Amiya behind Shirou could feel the heavy pressure radiating from him, to the point where she almost could not breathe.
If Shirou had not been standing between her and the other man, she might truly have been overwhelmed by that pressure.
"Did I lose?"
Shirou glared back without backing down in the slightest. To him, this level of pressure was nothing.
"Shirou won the Holy Grail War, but Emiya Shirou also lost."
After remaining silent for quite a while, Emiya Kuro finally spoke.
"...?"
Hearing that answer, a giant question mark slowly formed in Shirou's mind.
Could you speak like a normal person?
What did he mean by winning the Holy Grail War while also losing it?
A win was a win, and a loss was a loss. Since when was there such a thing as both winning and losing at the same time?
"When you remember it yourself, you will understand what I mean."
Seeing the rather blank look in Shirou's eyes, Emiya Kuro finally dropped his serious expression and revealed a deeply mocking smile.
That mocking expression made Shirou feel an almost irresistible urge to punch him.
Even though the other man was using his own face and body... well, that was technically in the past now. At the very least, the current him was much taller than the other man.
"Um... Shirou, what exactly is the relationship between you and the Shirou in front of us?"
After sensing that the atmosphere had eased considerably, Amiya reached out from behind and tugged lightly on Shirou's clothes as she asked.
"I do not know either."
Shirou honestly admitted that he himself had no idea what sort of relationship existed between him and the Emiya Kuro before him.
Perhaps he was another version of himself from a different timeline, one who had been corrupted by the Holy Grail.
"How cruel! I am Emiya Shirou too, you know? My composition is just a little complicated... probably mixed together from the spirit origins of the red one and the black one, plus some miscellaneous junk from inside the Holy Grail. But at the core, I still act according to Emiya Shirou's way of thinking."
Hearing Shirou say that he did not know what relationship they shared, Emiya Kuro declared that he felt deeply hurt.
It should have been obvious at a glance that he was Emiya Shirou, so how could Shirou say he did not know?
Sure, he was darker, and his composition was more complicated, but he was still Emiya Shirou!
And after all the times he had helped Shirou too!