My Fates Codex of Type-Moon Chapter 3

Quick analysis, full replication.

In a fleeting span where time barely seemed to pass, Sakutsuki endured the stinging pain of magic within him and chanted in a low voice:

"Sword Barrel Full Open!"

A stream of azure light shot out from behind him, blocking Angelica's Noble Phantasm back into her treasury before she could even fire it.

"Again, before the shot, and not even inside a Reality Marble...!" Angelica, who had fought Heroic Emiya before, already recognized her opponent's next move. She pulled back without hesitation and raised a massive shield before her.

"Too slow!" His combat boots slammed the ground, his headband streaming behind him. The young man roared, braced his left hand on the giant shield, and vaulted into the air like a great bird soaring over the obstacle—then, in an inverted stance, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow!

The modified spiral arrow rested on the bowstring. No aim was needed. It shot forth like lightning under the golden Servant's furious, startled gaze.

"Caladbolg II!"

The moment the arrow left the string, Sakutsuki clenched his hand hard:

"Broken Phantasm!"

The spiraling arrow blazed with a thick flame of magical energy in the air, exploding once it reached a certain apex.

A devastating burst of destructive power erupted instantly, wrapped in firelight, billowing into a massive mushroom cloud. At the edge of the blast, a figure flew backward, the rolling inferno reflected in his pupils, a fresh arrow already drawn in his hand.

If his opponent could be so easily defeated by this combo, then his seven days and seven nights of escape would truly be nothing but a foolish joke.

And Angelica did not disappoint Sakutsuki, who stood on guard. Before the explosion's smoke had even cleared, her icy voice pierced the thick haze, accompanied by a vast golden ripple spreading outward—

"Come forth, Hell Scythe, Dust Saw!"

Heaven and earth darkened in an instant. Even Sakutsuki's pale golden eyes dimmed for a moment, overshadowed by two colossal, towering silhouettes—

Like spreading wings of dawn, burning with purifying flames, the legendary greatsword that could cleanse and eradicate all matter.

Like emerald carved into form, cloaked in black soil, the legendary boneless giant sword that could cleave through a thousand ravines and ten thousand mountains.

This was the extremity of the "melted, mingled domain" at the end of sky and sea, a divine construct that incinerated and purged even the seas of ten thousand worlds.

This was the absolute principle that separated heaven and earth, a divine construct that cut not merely with its blade, nor opened paths solely by its mass.

Their names were Hell Scythe, the Dawn Horizon that Incinerates All Seas.

Their names were Dust Saw, the Verdant Horizon that Cleaves the Thousand Mountains.

The twin swords of Zababa, the war god of Mesopotamian myth, crossed and fell at this moment, their majestic forms stretching for thousands of meters, bestowing divine judgment upon a tiny insect.

Sakutsuki reclaimed his gaze from the divine constructs, closed his eyes, then opened them. The brilliant golden light within them nearly overflowed.

"As long as I have enough mana, why can't I forge a divine construct with my own hands?"

The veins on his hands bulged. The white-haired, golden-eyed young man roared as if tearing heaven and earth apart:

"Aaaaaaah—!"

The killing intent of the blades stung his skin. In a daze, Sakutsuki's memories overlapped with Emiya's, returning to that first sensation of projection.

Yes, just like that.

Mana flowed through the circuits, analyzing the object's structure in an instant, and materializing his understanding—

Even if it's just the shell, it doesn't matter!

With a roar, Sakutsuki's hands finally wrenched open the invisible shackles. Mana howled and surged, coalescing behind him into two equally ferocious giant swords that clashed and collided with their identical siblings!

"Zzzzrrrraaa!"

"Booooom!"

After two thunderous crashes, the four giant swords plummeted like meteors. If judged purely by damage, the genuine Hell Scythe and Dust Saw had undoubtedly won, cleaving Sakutsuki's projected swords in two from top to bottom.

But such a victory meant nothing. Weapon performance wasn't the deciding factor in battle. For Sakutsuki, as long as he could deflect the trajectory of those two giant swords, his goal was achieved.

Angelica looked up at this grand spectacle, no joy in her eyes. She silently retreated, dodging the aftermath of the falling swords.

But...

"Shing!" The blade traced a cold, sharp arc.

"What...!" Angelica spun in shock, trying to block the sudden flash of steel with her vambrace.

Amid flying golden fragments, she stumbled backward, blood gushing from her left arm, which had lost all strength to lift.

"As expected, the ability to displace space is way too convenient." Sakutsuki, having struck from ambush, held his black-and-white twin blades. Without waiting for Angelica to rise, he charged again, slashing at her vital points.

"Admit it—right now, I'm the stronger one!"

A miscalculation.

A colossal miscalculation.

The golden-haired woman lying on the ground turned her head with difficulty, watching the white-haired youth crash toward her like a cold wind.

The doll named "Angelica" held no emotion called "regret," but this humiliating truth had indeed pushed her to the brink of crisis.

Influenced by the power of the Hero King within the Class Card, even if she could suppress all emotions, she had still unconsciously fallen into the trap of underestimating her opponent, overlooking the greatest difference between the man calling himself "Sakutsuki" and that Shirou Emiya—

The crystallization of a thousand years of Einsworth wisdom: Displacement Magic.

As long as he could displace space faster than she could, he could strike at her before she could retreat.

She was not entirely unaware—she had been on guard before the battle began. Yet in the heat of combat, why had she forgotten this crucial variable?

...Perhaps the Hero King of ancient Babylon was more than willing to see her defeated.

To that immensely proud Servant, the Einzbern who had forcibly stolen his power were nothing but despicable usurpers.

The thought lasted only an instant. Before the young man's blade could close in, Angelica acted.

"Chains of Heaven!"

Ripples spread layer upon layer, countless chains lunging like serpents, swiftly encircling Sakutsuki.

The response to this Noble Phantasm was the man's resounding roar:

"Wishful thinking!"

In the blink of an eye, projected blades trembled. Sakutsuki swung Gan Jiang and Mo Ye in his hands, shifting his footing slightly, and the displaced space sent the flying chains astray.

Before an ordinary human, the Chains of Heaven—said to bind even gods—were merely sturdier chains.

"You're nothing but a counterfeit who stole the Hero King's power! You have none of his majesty, none of his solitude, none of his pride—you lack the capacity to wield the Key of the King's Law!"

Shouting loudly, Sakutsuki broke free from the overlapping chains, but his opponent was no longer in sight.

When he looked up, what he saw was the golden ripple heralding the opening of the treasury!

"Tch!" Wheeling his blades, he used the impact of their collision to roll out of the Noble Phantasm's range. But before he could rise, new weapons flew at him from the side, determined to run him through!

"Rho Aias!"

Seven petals spread wide, soon torn to shreds under the storm of blades. Yet in that brief stalemate, Sakutsuki retreated, reappearing some distance away under the effect of Displacement Magic.

"Angelica..." The white-haired young man's eyes were sharp as a hawk's. He quickly spotted the golden figure standing atop the Chains of Heaven, sweeping his right hand across before him to project an endless array of swords.

"Sword Barrel Full Open!"

But contrary to expectation, the figure on the Chains of Heaven was easily felled by the rain of blades. What landed before Sakutsuki was a lifeless puppet.

Just like the one that had fallen before Angelica before.

"Damn it!" The moment he realized he had been outmaneuvered, a heavy broadsword slammed down, striking his hastily raised guard and sending him flying with ease.

Tumbling across the rough ground, Sakutsuki scrambled to his feet. His left arm hung limp, while Angelica—holding a greatsword in her right hand alone—approached him unhurriedly.

"Just as I suspected—your magical power has risen abnormally, but in exchange, your physical ability has fallen far short of before."

As she spoke, Angelica drove the greatsword into the ground. Vast earth-aligned mana erupted into a forest of spikes, launching the unsteady Sakutsuki into the sky.

Before her greatsword could descend, Sakutsuki barely managed to project a shield before him. Then, like a baseball, he was sent flying by the batter's brutal swing, spitting a mouthful of blood midair before crashing into the nearby mansion.

Planting his blade in the ground, he forced himself up, wiped the blood from his lips, and couldn't help a bitter laugh.

As Angelica had said, Sakutsuki's current body—while far surpassing the former Shirou in magical power—was nowhere near the level of the "Great Hero" who had nearly merged with the Servant Emiya... at least a full tier below the peak version in his memory.

Sakutsuki had no idea this was due to the Counter Force's punishment lowering his parameters. But regardless, his current state forced him to fight like a Caster. It was precisely his abnormally swollen mana reserves that gave him the confidence to strike back before fleeing, to break into the heart of Einzbern Castle and steal those Class Cards.

—And that had sealed tonight's victory.

"Speaking of which, I'm back here after all..." Pausing to look around the walled courtyard, Sakutsuki let out a soft laugh, his eyes full of nostalgia.

This was the northern residential district of Miyama Town in Fuyuki City—land held by the Fujimura-gumi yakuza group.

His father had once slept peacefully here. He himself had spent his childhood and youth here. And the time he had shared with his sister Miyu was all crystallized in this place.

This was the Emiya Residence.

"...So, can we take this fight somewhere else, dear Miss Angelica?"

Pulling himself from his memories, Sakutsuki turned to the golden figure walking boldly through the gate and asked with a smile.

"No." The answer was an unyielding refusal.

Staring at the white-haired young man's upright figure, Angelica declared without a trace of emotion:

"I've wasted enough time on you, Shirou Emiya—or rather, Sakutsuki."

Amid a tremor that made heaven and earth groan, the spinning golden-red divine sword once again stood before the golden Servant.

"As I said before—your existence has a flaw."

Raising the blade of creation, Angelica continued her final verdict:

"To the final myth of old humanity that we seek to paint, you are a stain—that hateful ability, that inexplicable right to wield magecraft, and the absurd situation of stealing our magical crystallization..."

The sword's edge vibrated, and the wind created a fault line. Even its mere aftershock nearly tore off Sakutsuki's headband.

"Let me cut it all away!"

With her final words, the primordial sword named "Enuma Elish" roared into motion once more, churning up a dazzling red vortex from above!

Even seeing this sight for the second time, the former Shirou Emiya—now Sakutsuki—was still shaken to his core.

Instinctive projection analysis: failure.

No Noble Phantasm capable of surpassing it existed.

The weapon bearing the name of heaven-and-earth's creation was now gathering power, ready to tear this tiny stumbling block called Sakutsuki to shreds.

Unlimited Blade Works could not be chanted in time, nor could it be sung. A mere Reality Marble was more fragile than paper before this blade.

But how could Sakutsuki, who had long known of this weapon's existence, possibly come unprepared?

The Shroud of Magdalene fluttered loudly. The youth, now with hair turned fully white, stared ahead without a trace of fear, his golden eyes fixed solely on the shape of that sword.

One was burning through the power of his own future; the other had stolen the Hero King's Enuma Elish.

One fought desperately to stay alive; the other stood in the way for the sake of a mission.

This battle held no glory, no dignity—there was no pride to speak of.

So he would rack his brains, stop at nothing, and sacrifice everything.

As long as he could... defeat it!

The brief charge ended. Angelica shouted the true name of her Noble Phantasm, swinging down her intact right arm with force:

"Enuma Elish! "

At the same moment, Sakutsuki moved.

"In these seven days and nights, I haven't just been running!"

"Displacement Magic, activate! "

The mana accumulated over time from the Ley Line surged in an instant, racing through the magic circuits he had long since laid down, tracing circles of magic arrays at seven points.

And at the core of these arrays—aligned with the ancient Indian chakra doctrine and following the principle of "fullness"—stood Sakutsuki, raising his left hand high in the Emiya Residence!

The torrent unleashed by Enuma Elish came to a halt before the crimson magic array that rose out of thin air in front of Sakutsuki. Under the combined operation of the seven great spells, the violent mana was continuously broken down, then channeled along invisible pathways into the arrays, where it canceled out against the pure mana of the Ley Line.

"A super-scale magic array constructed using Displacement Magic?" Angelica recognized the principle at a glance, her expression still cold. "It's useless. Even if you've displaced Fuyuki's Ley Line into the core of your array, this ultimate destruction—it will annihilate everything!"