"..."
In the video, Artoria said nothing. She glanced at the void nearby, then after a pause told Shirou, "May fortune favour you. Leave Tohsaka Rin to me."
With that, she prepared to leave.
"Saber."
Shirou called after her, hesitated, then said, "I can't save you."
"Eh?" Artoria froze.
"That Grail… I don't think it's what you truly seek, so look carefully—next time, don't mistake it."
As he spoke, the camera showed the sky where the black-red liquid kept pouring from the hollow.
It seemed to imply that thing was the incarnated Grail.
"Shirou?" Artoria looked puzzled, not understanding why he said that.
"Sorry, I'm not saying it well." Shirou held his arm. "I… probably don't deserve to be your Master, so…"
Artoria gazed at him gently, shook her head and smiled. "Not at all. Shirou, you are my Master."
She turned away, voice firm: "I must fulfil my duty as a Servant. We can talk later."
With those words she leapt and left the battlefield.
Type-Moon/Fate World.
Gilgamesh frowned again; a bad premonition stirred—had Saber truly abandoned the human to deal with the Grail?
So next he would fight this human called Shirou?
Impossible—how could the boy win?
Naruto World.
Kakashi also frowned; long experience told him Shirou was unlikely to win. Even if he did, it would be a mutual-destruction outcome like Tatsumi's.
In the earlier clash Shirou had barely held off Gilgamesh's attacks.
If the opponent now drew that weapon called Ea, Shirou would surely die—no human could stop it.
But having seen what Tanjiro and Tatsumi pulled off, Kakashi kept the thought to himself.
Saying it aloud risked getting his face slapped!
His three students were cheering Shirou on; if he played the pessimist now and things flipped, it would be hilarious.
In the video.
With Artoria gone, Shirou focused on Gilgamesh.
"Heh-heh-heh… ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Gilgamesh lowered his head, one hand on his hip, his body trembling with laughter. Finally, he covered his face with his hand and laughed loudly: "Ahahahahahaha!!! Hahahahahaha!"
"Are you serious? You actually sent Saber away and made yourself a sacrifice."
Gilgamesh seemed tired of laughing now. He looked at Emiya Shirou not far away and said flatly: "Fool. Acts of self-sacrifice are nothing but hypocrisy. Still obsessed even now, you really are a stubborn hypocrite."
As those words fell, golden ripples appeared behind Gilgamesh; clearly, he was about to launch an attack.
He didn't want to waste any more time with Emiya Shirou; he wanted to kill him and then go find Saber!
"A fake, a hypocrite, huh." Emiya Shirou slowly lowered the hand clutching his left arm. A soft light appeared in his hand as he continued: "Indeed, I am a fake."
"Hmm?"
Gilgamesh sensed something was wrong.
"I was wrong." Emiya Shirou looked at the soft light in his hand and continued: "My Blade Works is not about creating swords."
"Voom—!!"
Magical lightning struck the ground.
Emiya Shirou looked at Gilgamesh, his left hand on his nearly ruined coat, and said calmly: "There is only one thing I can do, and that is to forge my own heart into shape!"
Having said that, Emiya Shirou threw away his ruined coat and raised his mana-infused right hand.
"I am the bone of my sword!"
"Blood is like steel, and heart is like glass!"
"I have crossed countless battlefields without defeat!"
"Yet although I have never tasted defeat!"
Gilgamesh looked at Emiya Shirou with a calm expression. From the golden ripples behind him, he fired several Noble Phantasms, attacking Emiya Shirou.
Just as the Noble Phantasms were about to hit Emiya Shirou, a shield shaped like a chrysanthemum appeared in front of him.
It blocked the Noble Phantasms that were about to strike Emiya Shirou.
Thus, Emiya Shirou continued his chant.
"Yet also never victorious."
"This person is always alone."
"Forging swords on a hill of swords."
"Therefore, this life has no need for meaning."
"This body! Shall surely be made of infinite swords!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Emiya Shirou slammed his hand downward.
"Boom—!!"
The earth seemed to split open, and flames surged from the ground.
In the next moment, the scene changed. Gilgamesh and Emiya Shirou arrived at a place that was both very familiar and yet strange.
Akame ga Kill World.
"That's...?" Najenda looked at this scene, a cigarette in her mouth, quite shocked: "The space has shifted?!"
Just a second ago, Emiya Shirou and Gilgamesh were fighting in a place that looked like a 'temple', and now they had directly arrived at a desert filled with 'swords'.
"This scene seemed to appear in Emiya Shirou's memories just now." Mine was also a bit surprised: "Could it be that he materialized a scene from his memories?"
"An illusion?" Akame suggested another possibility.
"Unlikely." Bulat shook his head slightly, his mouth also slightly agape as he looked at Emiya Shirou in the video: "Is this the Magus ability that 'Saber' mentioned earlier?"
"So powerful."
Tatsumi was also stunned by this scene; it was his first time seeing a power that could transport people to another space.
Type-Moon/Fate World.
Seeing this, Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow slightly, as if remembering something. Looking at himself and Emiya Shirou on the screen, he said: "Innate Territory? How interesting. Is this your trump card?"
"If Ea were released, your Innate Territory would shatter instantly like broken glass."
Gilgamesh appeared full of confidence; he had experience dealing with Innate Territory.
However, Gilgamesh's face soon fell, because he knew himself best. He knew that unless he was pushed into a corner, he would absolutely never bring out Ea.