Old Rudeus's words made Shirou clearly see a scary part of the future. If nothing unexpected happens and things go as planned, Hitogami's plan will fully start. Not only will countless people die, but even the Greyrat family won't survive. Only Rudeus will be left alone in the world.
Shirou now completely understands why the old man hates Hitogami so much. He even openly shows his hatred.
"After saying so much, does Hitogami really just want to kill me?"
Shirou asked thoughtfully after listening to everything. "I feel like he's making such a big deal, even putting the soul of the Demon God Laplace into Aisha. It shouldn't just be to deal with me... If he just wanted to kill me, he had so many chances. Even if you don't count the me from before, even the current me is just barely a strong fighter. If Hitogami found someone stronger to attack me, I wouldn't stand a chance."
"I have no idea what Hitogami's goal is either. Orsted or Laplace might know something, but I haven't met either of them in the last fifty years."
"Laplace aside, why can't you find Orsted?"
Shirou asked hesitantly, "Doesn't Nanahoshi know where Orsted is?"
"Nanahoshi, she..."
When Nanahoshi was mentioned, Rudeus seemed hesitant, but finally said quietly, "After you died, Shirou, Nanahoshi fell into despair. Plus, Dragon King Armor had already been killed by you. She didn't have the power to figure out how to make the world transfer magic by herself. So, she completely disappeared one day."
"..."
Old Rudeus had a sad look on his face, as if saying that not only Nanahoshi, but many people related to Shirou, had also fallen into despair because of that terrible event.
As for Nanahoshi herself, Old Rudeus didn't directly say she died, but there probably wasn't any other possibility.
After losing hope of returning to her original world, it would be hard for Nanahoshi to survive in this world with her personality.
"Is all of this Hitogami's fault?"
"Even though everything was planned by Hitogami, it was still me who made the mistake."
Old Rudeus looked regretful. "If I hadn't helped Aisha start the transfer magic circle, that terrible event wouldn't have happened. So, for the rest of my life, I've been looking for a way to make up for it. At first, I wanted to kill Hitogami and get revenge for you, Shirou, but I spent a long time and couldn't find a way. I couldn't even find his exact location, let alone kill him."
"Can't find Hitogami's location?"
"Yes, Hitogami seems to be blocked from the outside of this world for some unknown reason. He usually only meets us through dreams. To see the real Hitogami, you need to break out of the world's barrier, but that's impossible for humans."
Old Rudeus said, clenching his fist. As he focused his mind, the space around him became tense and the room started moving without any wind.
Feeling the old man's magic power, Shirou realized even more that Old Rudeus's strength should not be underestimated. He's almost as strong as the current Shirou, definitely at the level of a strong fighter.
But even Rudeus, with his strength, feels hopeless about Hitogami. This shows how hard it is to kill Hitogami.
Old Rudeus continued on his own, "I spent a long time studying magic and became a magician as good as the Dragon King Armor. I can control gravity magic and electric shock magic freely now. But even so, I can't reach Hitogami or get revenge for you, Shirou. But still, I think it's just that my ability isn't good enough. According to my research, magic in this world is all-powerful. Anything that exists in imagination can be achieved if you keep studying it, including magic to travel through time..."
As the old man spoke, his face suddenly turned very pale, as if his body was about to reach its limit.
He had dark circles under his eyes and his lips were turning blue.
But he still didn't stop talking, even speaking faster. "When I realized I couldn't beat Hitogami head-on, I started looking for other ideas. I didn't want to die like this, without protecting anyone I needed to protect, dying uselessly. I couldn't accept that."
Old Rudeus said, his eyes becoming sharper. But you could see his pupils gradually losing focus. The limit was coming closer.
"So I kept studying and finally discovered magic to travel through time. I thought if I could go back to the past, back to this very moment before everything happened, I could stop Hitogami's plan! In the end, I succeeded, but I also failed. I succeeded because the time magic really worked, but I failed because it cost me a huge price. I don't have long to live."
"So I have to tell you everything I've thought about in my long life, Shirou. Please, stop me. Stop that foolish me who's still being tricked and confused by Hitogami. Stop him from doing the foolish thing of releasing the transfer magic circle. Also, please live well. Only if you live will the Greyrat family continue to exist and our family members be united."
As Old Rudeus said this, his energy became weaker and weaker, but his eyes became brighter and brighter.
Because he had seen the Greyrat family after Shirou's death, unable to come together and falling apart, he felt deep emotion when he saw Shirou alive now. It was as if nothing had happened and the warmth of the past was still within reach.
But he also felt the countdown to his life, so he used his last bit of strength to say:
"Finally, let me talk about Aisha. The soul of Laplace is in Aisha. Try not to spread this news. Even though Hitogami will definitely cause trouble, it's better to keep Aisha's secret for as long as possible. Because once it's revealed that Aisha is the vessel for Laplace, the Greyrat family will face at least two terrible enemies, the Dragon God Orsted and the Dragon King Armor. Their goal is to kill Laplace, so they won't let Aisha, who has Laplace in her, live in this world."
"Shirou, before Hitogami reveals everything, you need to gather strong allies who can fight Orsted and Perugius. Only by getting enough strong people to help can you avoid the absolute isolation I experienced."
"During this process, you can even consider relying on Hitogami. Although everything is his plan, Hitogami probably doesn't just want to kill you, Shirou. He wants you to be enemies with Orsted or Perugius, so he can achieve his goal."
"Even though he's a complete villain, the Greyrat family is facing a terrible situation. We need to rely on every bit of power we can use to get through this most terrible disaster."
"..."
Old Rudeus said every word, expressing his thoughts from his long life.
These words were probably carefully considered and thought about for a long time, the things he needed to say if he could go back to the past and change everything.
And Old Rudeus never mentioned giving up on Aisha from beginning to end.
Probably because Old Rudeus witnessed Shirou's determination to protect Aisha at all costs, he knew that Shirou's mind wouldn't be changed. Or maybe he himself had developed the desire to do anything to protect his family.
Shirou didn't interrupt Old Rudeus from beginning to end.
Because he was sure that the other person didn't have much time left and that everything he wanted to say was his last wish in life.
In fact, after Old Rudeus said all of this, he seemed completely satisfied and said quietly as he was dying:
"Talking about how to fight with you, Shirou, really brings back memories... After the Asura disaster happened, I was always blaming myself. I even forgot to fight with you, Shirou. I couldn't help in the fight against the Dragon King Armor and Orsted. That became a regret in my life. Luckily, I got a chance to change everything. If I could, I really wish I could go to the upcoming battlefield with you and fight alongside you... But my time is up."
"Even though we couldn't fight together, everything you said helped me a lot. Thank you, Rudy."
Shirou looked at the old man, whose mind was blurred and who seemed to be about to fall asleep forever, and sighed quietly.
And Rudeus, hearing that familiar name, smiled with satisfaction and said sincerely:
"I'm the one who should be thanking you, Shirou. When I first came to this world, I was so weak and confused. I almost went down the same path again. You were the one who always guided me and became my role model. You kept me from getting lost again and I always aimed to become like you. Even though my life was full of failures, I never gave up on following the path you left behind. What you said to me before the fight against the Dragon God Orsted influenced the rest of my life... If it weren't for that, I probably would have fallen completely and become a villain who did whatever I wanted with my power."
"That's not true. It's all your own hard work."
"Hard work is important, but the direction of hard work is even more important. You guided me in the right direction, on the right path."
The old man looked at Shirou with admiration, but just then, his eyes suddenly flickered and lost focus.
His hands dropped weakly and he said tiredly, "But... the current me hasn't received your teaching yet... He's still a foolish, confused coward... I hope you can guide me again, Shirou. Tell that ignorant me what's most important, what things must be done even if it means giving up your life... Even though everything will change, the future will be different, I hope that me can experience the same things as I did and not go down the wrong path..."
After the old man said this, his body moved and he slid off the chair.
Shirou was shocked and quickly went over, finding that the other person was unconscious and completely lifeless.
When Shirou touched the other person's body, he was even more shocked. Compared to his strong appearance, the old man's body was unbelievably light.
Roughly guessing, it was probably less than forty kilograms.
Shirou carefully lifted the other person's long robe, finding that the clothes underneath were completely empty, meaning that the other person's body was completely hollow.
The time magic didn't seem to bring Old Rudeus to this time completely intact, only keeping a part of his body. This caused him to be on the verge of death as soon as he appeared.
The reason he was able to talk for so long was probably because of an indescribable, terrifying willpower, which kept him going until now.
"..."
For this, Shirou sighed again, putting away the old man's body, thinking about burying it in a suitable place later.
Just then, he noticed that the old man had a thick notebook in his hand. The notebook looked very old, used for a very long time.
Shirou opened the notebook and found it filled with diary entries, briefly recording what happened to Rudeus every day.
The diary entries started recently and were all about unimportant little things. But as he turned the pages, the heavy content became more and more complex. It was basically what the old man had just talked to Shirou about the future, but the records in the diary were more detailed, even including his personal thoughts.
Shirou then turned a page, which happened to be the part about his death in the battle with Orsted.
The diary entry was very short, only one line: Shirou died. Everyone is very sad. Our tears are almost dried up.
Although it was just one sentence, there were no more entries for the next six months.
It was as if everyone in the Greyrat family had turned into walking corpses in those six months, with nothing worth recording.
With this, Shirou closed his eyes and closed the diary.
He needed to find time later to read this diary carefully.
But before that, he needed to deal with the old man's body. After that, he also needed to check on Rudeus and Aisha.
If everything Old Rudeus said and everything recorded in this diary was true, then he should be able to sense something from those two.
Whether it was Rudeus, the apostle of Hitogami, or Aisha, who had the Demon God Laplace in her.
If he didn't want the Greyrat family to fall into despair, if he didn't want everything Old Rudeus said to happen, he had to take action in advance!