The explosive flames lighting up the darkness gradually settled, and Zouken Matou quickly regained his vision.
He finally saw the one who had intruded upon this Magecraft ritual.
Calling him an intruder wasn't entirely accurate. After all, he was a guest invited to stay at the Matou residence.
Shirou Amamiya.
Zouken Matou was shaken to the core.
How is this possible!?
Someone had entered the Matou workshop, his Magecraft domain, and he hadn't noticed at all?
Though long past his prime, he was still one of the finest Magi in the country.
Especially in the field of curses, there were only a handful who could rival Zouken Matou.
Dozens of barriers and layered curses protected this workshop. On top of that, swarms of Blade Wing Insects had been deployed for surveillance and defense.
To Zouken Matou, those insects were an extension of his senses. Even the faintest draft in the underground passage should not have escaped his notice, let alone a living person.
And yet, this boy had reached his back without making a sound?
More than that, what truly drew his attention was Shirou's appearance.
Chains coiled tightly around the red-haired boy's slender arms, the links biting into his skin.
In his small hands, he held a pair of curved blades wreathed in roaring flames, their seemingly eternal fire illuminating this dark insect hell.
Zouken Matou narrowed his eyes, instinctively sensing danger.
Blades of Chaos?
That was what the boy had called them.
Even after living for over half a millennium, the old Magus had never heard of such a thing.
The overwhelming presence emanating from those flaming twin blades far surpassed any Mystic Code or divine weapon he had ever known.
And yet, he had never even heard of them?
The truth was—
Even Shirou himself didn't know their origin.
...
...
"As expected… no matter how much mana I pour into them, I can't make the blades ignite."
The blonde girl known as Aesc the Savior, Morgan, studied the chained twin blades with a puzzled expression.
As a Fairy of Paradise bearing a certain mission, Morgan, though slightly inferior to Shirou, also had a natural affinity with swords.
And yet, the strange chained blades Shirou had projected were rejecting her.
"Hmph."
Morgan puffed out her cheeks in clear displeasure.
"Don't get jealous of a weapon," Shirou said with a wry smile.
"Who's jealous?" Morgan shot him a glare. "Shirou, where did you see those two blades?"
"I don't remember."
"You don't remember?"
The red-haired boy nodded honestly.
"I have no memory of where they came from. At some point, they were just… there, in my mind."
Shirou could store every prototype (sword) he had ever seen within himself, and reproduce them when needed.
But there were also some weapons he had never seen before, yet somehow felt as if they had always existed deep within his memory—
And this pair of [Blades of Chaos] was one of them.
"I see. You really are something else."
Morgan looked at the red-haired boy intently.
"But listen carefully, Shirou. These chained blades haven't shown their true power yet."
Shirou blinked. "Really? I like them a lot. They perform well in all kinds of battle situations. You could say they're the weapon that suits me best."
Morgan shook her head. "That's still not their true power."
Shirou sighed, sounding a bit dejected. "Sorry for being just a third-rate Magus and a self-taught swordsman. You're pretty strict, Morgan."
"That's not what I meant! Honestly… Shirou, you're clearly exceptional, yet you keep putting yourself down. I really don't like that about you."
Morgan let out a small sigh, then asked seriously:
"Shirou, do you know what a 'god' is?"
"My homeland… the ones from the human world?"
"Exactly. The beings referred to as 'Gods' or 'Divine Spirits' in Proper Human History don't exist on our Fairy Island.
So… in the world of the fairies, the [Blades of Chaos] can't bring out the true power they hold."
Shirou gave a quiet "Mm," gently running a hand along the blade.
"Even so, I'm still choosing them."
At that, Morgan smiled, both gentle and resolute.
"I knew you'd say that. That's the Shirou I know."
...
...
"…Hah."
Shirou Amamiya took a deep breath, trying to steady his pounding heart.
How was he supposed to put the emotions surging within him into words?
He had thought he would never again have the chance to hold these twin blades.
And yet, as if playing a cruel joke, fate refused to let him return to an ordinary life.
The Pilgrimage, the Autumn War, the final battle against the Great Calamity…
Just gripping the hilts was enough to make sealed memories flood back into his mind.
In that instant, something about Shirou Amamiya changed.
From this moment on, he was no longer a boy immersed in peaceful city life.
He became the King of the Fairy Knights who unified Britannia through absolute power.
Within his pupils burned an unquenchable flame, one that could incinerate every vile insect.
"Aaaaaaah!!"
A girl's scream rang out through the workshop.
Left at the edge of the pit, Sakura Matou lost her footing and slipped, falling straight down.
Even before she hit the bottom, the lust worms stirred, as if sensing prey about to arrive. They shrieked in unison, surging like a tide of black sludge.
The grotesque swarm rushed toward where Sakura Matou would land, but—
The sound of chains rang out across the underground workshop.
Just as she was about to fall into the swarm, a chain shot toward her.
It was the [Blades of Chaos].
Shirou swung his right arm, hurling the curved blade. The attached chain shot forward and wrapped tightly around the girl's waist.
The chain blade, stretching over ten meters, moved like an extension of his arm.
Precise and swift, it was the culmination of everything Shirou Amamiya had honed through relentless effort.
"Sakura."
"Shirou-nii-san!"
The red-haired boy pulled Sakura Matou back, catching her securely and holding her in his arms.
But it didn't stop there.
Shirou swung his free left arm, repeating the motion as he launched the other curved blade.
The burning blade slammed into the bottom of the pit, pinning itself into the ground while cleaving several lust worms in an instant.
"!"
Zouken Matou seemed to realize something.
His withered face twisted in fear as he screamed hysterically:
"No! Stop! Boy, stop… Do you have any idea how much effort I put into this—"
"All I know is that pests deserve to die."
Shirou Amamiya muttered in a low voice.
A flicker of flame burst from his palm, racing along the chain like a lit fuse, reaching the blade in an instant—
"Boom!!"
With a thunderous explosion, the insect pit Zouken Matou took such pride in was instantly transformed into a blazing inferno.
Crackle…
The vile lust worms were reduced to ashes.