Shirou's sudden appearance surprised everyone, especially Paul. He had thought Shirou was mercilessly burned to death by the Red Dragon's fire breath, and felt he had lost him forever.
But unexpectedly, not only did Shirou not die, but he reappeared in a strange form, and even saved his other child, Rudeus.
For Paul, the emotions he felt at this moment couldn't even be described as happiness.
After such ups and downs in his life, he was now in a state of numbness.
Of course, although Paul's mood was extremely complex, his thinking didn't stop. After a brief moment of excitement, he immediately realized that the current crisis hadn't been resolved. The Red Dragon was still a huge threat, and if it wasn't handled well, everyone could die here.
So, he immediately rushed to the people of Buena Village and, in a loud voice, ordered all the distraught villagers to retreat.
Afterward, he also went to Shirou and Rudeus.
Seeing Shirou's strange appearance, Paul was slightly stunned, not understanding what was going on with his life force seemingly burning like this.
But he didn't have time to ask too much and immediately said, "Shirou, quickly take Rudy and run. The Red Dragon is strong, but I can still hold it back somewhat. As soon as you get back to Buena Village, take the villagers and Zenith and leave immediately. As long as you can survive..."
Paul spoke anxiously. He didn't want to experience the pain of losing a son again, so he was willing to sacrifice himself to give Shirou and Rudeus a chance to escape.
"Father..."
Rudeus looked very upset at Paul's decision. He felt even more pain, pain at his own powerlessness, and that he didn't even have the will to give everything to protect his family.
On the other side, Shirou's expression didn't change at all. He glanced at Paul and slowly took a step forward:
"If someone has to stay behind, it should be me. Paul, you don't have the strength to fight anymore, do you?"
"This..."
Paul was surprised that Shirou saw through the fact that he no longer had the strength to fight. Although his expression was complicated, he remained firm. "It's natural for a father to protect his son. And don't think your old man looks like he has no strength. I've encountered this situation many times when I was an adventurer. Believe me, I'll definitely hold back the Red Dragon!"
"Father..."
Rudeus felt even more upset seeing this but didn't know what to say.
Shirou looked at Paul's face, walked slowly in front of him, and gave him a gentle push.
Paul, who was already exhausted like a candle in the wind, staggered and barely managed to stay on his feet.
"That's enough, Paul. You've protected us enough."
Shirou slowly took off his coat, letting the cold wind hit his chest. "So, it's my turn now. Like you said, it's natural for a father to protect his son. As an older brother, it's also natural for me to protect my family."
"Brother Shirou... You'll die."
Rudeus finally couldn't control his emotions. Paul and Shirou's willingness to stay behind made him realize his cowardice and lose control of his emotions.
Shirou smiled at him and shook his head. "No, I won't die. It's because I don't want to die, and I don't want anyone to die, that I have to fight!"
"Why... Why do you have to go this far?"
Paul was silent for a moment. He never imagined that this child he had accidentally picked up outside the village would do this much for this family.
Even though, strictly speaking, he wasn't even a member of the Greyrat family.
Shirou just gave a calm smile and said slowly: "It's simple, because I see you all as my family. Paul, Rudy, so, thank you."
After saying these words, Shirou didn't say anything more. He turned around and walked toward the Red Dragon without looking back.
At this moment, in the raging battlefield, the Red Dragon was frustrated by its continuous failures. It couldn't get its way, again and again, with these weak ants.
In the Red Dragon's eyes, the one causing all this was undoubtedly the red-haired boy. It was his obstruction that prevented it from wiping out these ants.
"Roar!"
In an instant, the Red Dragon completely focused on Shirou. Even if Paul wanted to stay behind, this Red Dragon would probably ignore Paul and be determined to completely eliminate Shirou.
On the other side, Shirou was moving step by step in the opposite direction of the fleeing crowd.
Among the villagers fleeing in panic, his steps against the tide of people were firm and without the slightest hesitation. The magic circuits glowing on his right hand became even hotter and more surging with his choice!
It was only at this moment that Shirou truly realized why he hadn't been able to use Servant Emiya's power since coming to this world.
Because the power given to him was a power based on the will to protect. Only when protecting others, and being willing to sacrifice everything to protect important people, could he use the power to burn everything in exchange for that one miracle.
Shirou had relied on this power in the past to create a miracle in that snowy night, saving his sister Miyu and ending that vile Holy Grail War in one night.
Now, he was using this power again and was willing to sacrifice everything again to protect his family in this world!
"It's okay to kill this dragon, right, Paul, Rudy?"
Shirou turned his head to look at his father and brother.
Paul and Rudeus didn't even realize what he meant for a moment. The two of them stood there in a daze, even forgetting to run.
"Roar!"
Although the giant dragon in the distance couldn't understand human words, it could sense the arrogant attitude displayed by this ant-like being from Shirou's actions.
A mere weak human actually dared to compete with its noble self. Just this ignorant courage made it feel intense anger and determined to crush Shirou completely!
"Rumble!"
As the Red Dragon flapped its huge wings, a violent whirlwind swept through again, carrying the massive magical beast into the sky, where it began to circle.
It was obviously accumulating momentum again, deciding to crush Shirou directly with its huge body, just like it had attacked Rudeus before.
Although the Red Dragon was huge, it wasn't slow at all.
It could cross that distance in just a few seconds!
Shirou clearly understood this. Therefore, he just took a deep breath, intending to end this battle within half a minute!
"Trace, On!"
A phrase completely different from the past, and at the same time, accompanied by a completely different power.
Shirou hadn't fully used Servant Emiya's power since coming to this world, so naturally, he hadn't used true projection.
His past projections were just sword magic developed based on the magic Roxy taught him, using a mixture of multiple elements.
The weapons created by that magic were not only fragile but also soulless. Most importantly, magic couldn't do what true projection magic could do, which was not only copy weapons but also copy the weapon holder's experience and secret skills.
In contrast, the true projection magic mastered by Servant Emiya was incredibly broken. It could not only copy weapons but also copy the weapon holder's combat experience and secret skills.
Creation concept, basic framework, constituent materials, production technology, experience, reproduce projection!
The true skill refined by Servant Emiya was a special rule that even first-class Servants couldn't match.
If practiced to the extreme, it could even create a unique world—a world of countless swords in the mind, called Unlimited Blade Works.
But Shirou didn't want to use Unlimited Blade Works right now, both because it consumed too much magic power, and his weak body might not be able to handle the consumption of Unlimited Blade Works, and also because in the current situation, projecting Unlimited Blade Works wouldn't give him an advantage when facing the Red Dragon.
As an enemy, the Red Dragon was a single entity with powerful physical abilities that humans could never match.
In that case, to defeat such an opponent, what he needed wasn't absolute suppression in terms of quantity, but a single weapon with absolute destructive power that could defeat the opponent!
And in Shirou's memory, there was only one such weapon!
"Projection, Start!"
Shirou suddenly stopped breathing. He poured all his magic power into his right arm. The brilliant magic circuits seemed to completely absorb his life force and began to burn.
At the same time, a huge weapon began to gradually take shape on Shirou's raised arm.
It was more like a huge stone axe than a sword. The end of the axe's handle was extremely heavy, and its weight alone was enough to crush an ordinary human being completely.
But Shirou was using Servant Emiya's projection load right now.
So, he could not only copy the weapon but also copy the techniques and monstrous strength of the weapon's original user.
"Crack!"
However, even if there was no problem with the projection itself, Shirou's own excessive projection was further burning his life and soul. The gray-white corner of his hair became more obvious and even began to spread outward.
And his body and skeleton began to crackle due to the intense load!
But he didn't hesitate at all and continued the projection firmly.
Finally, the complete stone axe sword appeared in his hand. It was one of the most powerful weapons in Emiya Shirou's memory, the weapon of the Servant Berserker, the nameless axe sword used by the legendary demigod Heracles.
Of course, more than the weapon itself, what Shirou was projecting right now was the technique Heracles used when using this weapon!
It was a technique that could even destroy the mythical immortal monster, the Hydra!
It was the perfect weapon to fight the Red Dragon!
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