Chapter 51: Taking the Magic Wand
Disturbed by the sudden explosion, Waver snapped out of his dream state and hurriedly sat up.
"What happened! Rider!?"
"That direction... it seems a battle has broken out. The fluctuations of magical energy are extremely violent..."
Waver's eyes widened instantly. He scrambled to take out the binoculars stowed in his backpack and began to observe secretly.
Then, he witnessed a scene beyond belief.
A crimson sword that sliced through space clashed with a spear of lightning. In that instant, the power unleashed destroyed everything in the vicinity. For a moment, heaven and earth turned as bright as day, as if a second sun had appeared, followed by the rising of a massive mushroom cloud.
"It looks just like a nuclear explosion... this is terrifying!"
Waver was utterly shocked, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.
He returned home in a state of dazed astonishment.
"I only meant to recover some magical energy... and I actually happened to see a scene like that...
I observed for a bit; the place where that large-scale explosion occurred was in the area of the Einzbern Castle we visited last night. It seems that after yesterday, most people can no longer hold themselves back."
Hearing the words of the spirit-form Rider, Waver Velvet's eyes widened.
"Can't hold themselves back, huh..."
"Exactly. And with that scale, they definitely unleashed their Noble Phantasms. That Lancer—to think his power could stand on equal footing with Archer. Back at the Mion River, he actually didn't use his full strength against Caster..."
There was a hint of surprise in Rider's tone.
Naturally noticing the surprise in Rider's voice, Waver immediately asked:
"Even you can't contend with them, Rider?"
"Well... without an actual encounter, it's really hard to say..."
Rider wasn't entirely sure how a real fight would go.
Although his "Ionioi Hetairoi" (Army of the King) possessed a vast army of Heroic Spirits, if he encountered an EX-rank Noble Phantasm capable of directly destroying a Reality Marble, his army would naturally be defenseless. But as for other types... it was truly hard to tell.
Rider's Noble Phantasm was not designed for dueling powerful individuals, but for waging war. Therefore, facing Heroic Spirits like Archer or Lancer, whose individual strength reached a certain level, the sheer quantity of a crowd became less important.
"Unless they only have that one Noble Phantasm. An EX-rank Noble Phantasm like that definitely can't be used consecutively; after all, while they are strong, their Masters' magical energy is limited."
Hearing Rider say this, Waver felt like he was being insulted.
"I'm sorry my magical energy is so low."
"Hey, I wasn't talking about you, don't take it personally," Rider said helplessly.
"I bet you just can't beat that Archer and Lancer. After all, their Noble Phantasms definitely aren't limited to just those two."
But before Rider could reply to his retort, Waver heard another elderly calling voice.
"Do you have a moment? Come over here."
The old man sitting on the roof called out to him.
"..."
Hearing the old man's call, Waver froze for a moment. He shot a glare at Rider beside him and then climbed the ladder to the roof.
"It's so cold at night, what are you doing up here?" Waver asked, somewhat puzzled.
This family actually had no relation to Waver at all.
The reason they behaved as if they were very familiar with him was simply because Waver had placed a "suggestion" magecraft on them.
He made them see him as their grandson, so that he could live and eat here for free.
However, to these two elderly people, it seemed his company made them very happy.
But no matter what, Waver knew clearly in his heart that they were only so kind because they were influenced by his magecraft and saw him as their grandson.
If he removed the spell, he would probably be heartlessly kicked out of the house immediately.
While Waver was thinking about these things, the old man spoke.
"Watching the sunrise."
"But it's still far too early for sunrise?" Waver looked toward the east. The starry sky was indeed beautiful, but sunrise was still a long way off.
"Hehe..." The old man chuckled.
"Waver, you've lived here for nearly a week, haven't you?"
Not understanding why the old man would suddenly ask this, Waver answered anyway.
"It's been a week."
When he first arrived, the Holy Grail War hadn't even started.
At that time, he had just stolen the catalyst his teacher, Kayneth, had intended to use, and fled alone to this remote little house in Fuyuki City.
He did all this just to prove himself.
Just as he thought of this, Waver's expression suddenly froze.
Wait—the "suggestion" spell he had cast was supposed to make them believe he had lived here all along.
Waver looked at the kindly smiling old man next to him in disbelief.
At the same time, he lamented in his heart.
'Ah... as expected, I really shouldn't have trusted my own level of magecraft.'
...
The Tohsaka Residence.
In the courtyard, under the moonlight, the figure of a youth standing against the light looked like a pitch-black silhouette.
In his hands, the black and white twin blades were stained with crimson blood; a chilling killing intent permeated the silence.
Kotomine Kirei clutched his bleeding neck and collapsed to his knees.
In front of him, the figure of the youth and the figure of a boy gradually overlapped.
"Ah... why didn't I realize sooner..."
If he had discovered it earlier, would the ending have been different?
In Kotomine Kirei's fading vision, images he had never seen before appeared.
He was dueling a man—the Magus Killer, whom Kirei had initially regarded as his greatest rival.
With the sound of a gunshot, the scene flashed again.
In the next moment, he stood in the ruins of a devastated city, observing the despairing screams and wails of the people—what exquisite joy.
His body grew colder and colder.
"No... I can't just..."
The desire to live that erupted between life and death was perhaps the most intense emotion Kotomine Kirei had felt in his entire life.
The next second—Kotomine Kirei died.
The moment Kotomine Kirei died, an object fell out of his coat pocket.
Shirou picked it up and found it was an exquisitely crafted ruby; it likely belonged to Tohsaka Tokiomi.
Continuing to the Tohsaka residence's magical workshop, Shirou saw the treasure chest mentioned in Rin's "Mage's Journal."
"This must be it."
Shirou reached out and opened the box. The items inside were basically no different from Rin's description.
The magic wand lay quietly inside, making it impossible to tell that this was the Mystic Code that would turn Rin into a magical girl.
Seeing this box with his own eyes, Shirou was basically certain.
This was the "Zelretch Box" handed down through the Tohsaka family.
The creator was Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, one of only five "Magicians" in the world.
Things that cannot be achieved by either magecraft or science are called "Magic," and the humans capable of causing them are "Magicians."
The Wizard of Gems was a disciple of the Mage King Solomon, one of the oldest magi active since before the Common Era, the ancestor of Jewel Magecraft, and the pinnacle of mineral-related magecraft.
Around the year 300 AD, a war broke out between the Mages' Association and "Crimson Moon," and Zelretch was a participant.
Although Shirou was no longer sure if the timeline he was in was the original one, the existence of the Wizard of Gems was a certainty.
Because this old man possessed the "Second Magic," and by relying on this magic, he could walk freely through multiple parallel worlds.
"I wonder if the old man will be angry that I took this chest..."
Shirou muttered to himself as he tucked the magic wand into his coat.
Inside this box, there was not only that magic wand but also a design blueprint and theory for creating the "Jeweled Sword."
Although Shirou wanted to study it, there was clearly not enough time right now.
After Shirou stored these items, a violent tremor came from the direction of the woods not far outside the Tohsaka residence.
A light as bright as the sun suddenly illuminated the surroundings, and Shirou narrowed his eyes in the blinding glare to see the scene of Karna and Gilgamesh clashing.
"I have to get over there quickly..."
Without staying any longer, Shirou hurriedly picked up his pace and rushed in that direction.
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