Shirou Under Siege / Leaving the Fantasy Ocean World and Meeting Jeanne

"Are you done?" Shirou asked.

"What? You want to surrender? I won't accept that! As a two-legged sheep, you'd better hand yourself over obediently. I don't need that, so die! Let out a painful howl so I can enjoy it!" The wolf-headed man sneered.

The wolf-like nature is just a metaphor. Ultimately, human ancestors were never weak in ancient times; they were the nemesis of many animals. Just like canines and felines, the stronger ones that have survived to the present day have multiplied into many different species.

Indeed, if you're bare-handed, a person's fingernails and teeth can't compare to the sharpness of a wild beast. But this isn't a boxing match; it's a life-or-death struggle. In that case, any means necessary can be used. Not to mention, even Monkey will throw stones at people. If a human breaks a stick, that stone, while not as powerful as a lion or tiger, is almost as strong as a wolf.

In fact, aren't there many instances of Russians, known for their fighting spirit, chasing away bears that wandered into the street after getting drunk?

Since ancient times, human ancestors have driven away tigers and wolves and hunted mammoths. But it was just a lone wolf, not a pack, so there was nothing to back down from.

"Come here yourself, or I'll go to you. If you kneel down, I might consider letting you die faster. Hahahaha," the wolf-headed man said with a sinister laugh.

"Then let me show you who understands this world more deeply! My masterpiece!" As soon as Shirou finished speaking, a giant blue marlin appeared behind him, the same marlin he had encountered when he sank to the bottom of the sea.

Shirou raised his right hand, and blue light emanated from his palm. The halo resembled ripples on the surface of the sea. A straight, long, blue bone sword was held in Shirou's hand and raised high into the air.

This bone sword glows with a ghostly blue light. It was once part of the body of a sea knight, the 'Giant Blue Marlin,' who was both a friend and rival recognized by an old man of great qualities and spirit. After two days of fighting, the old man defeated the knight, but in the end, he couldn't save the knight's body from the jaws of the shark bandits, only returning to the fishing village with the knight's head and skeleton...

As a testament to the old man's heroic deeds of fighting for three days and three nights at sea, battling an unheard-of giant blue marlin, and fighting against hordes of sharks that would steal his food, and as a symbol of the indomitable spirit that "a man can be destroyed but not defeated," the knight's snout was removed and made into a bone sword, which was obtained by Shirou during the trial.

At that moment, the sky above the ship seemed to tremble, and cracks appeared faintly above, from which thick fog billowed out. Instantly, those around felt a bone-chilling cold. The sound of rushing water and crashing waves came from the air, and something enormous emerged from somewhere.

The wolf-headed man retreated in terror, feeling as if the sky had suddenly darkened, as if he had walked into a dark alley, a place where sunlight could not penetrate. The sunlight within hundreds of meters around him was blocked by something that had appeared in the sky.

Shirou's sword cleaved through the void, sucking the wolf-headed man into a small world. In the sky above this world, an iceberg appeared, a massive iceberg rising high with the churning seawater, crashing down on the wolf-headed man's head with the force of a falling torrent.

[The Iceberg Principle: Human language is like an iceberg in its expression of thought; the grandeur and magnificence of an iceberg lies in the fact that only one-eighth of it is above the water. — Ernest Hemingway]

Concise language, vivid imagery, rich emotions, and profound thoughts—the first two account for one-eighth, while the latter two are left for the reader to experience. The language shapes the imagery, the imagery contains the emotions, and the emotions contain the thoughts.

"The Old Man and the Sea" is Hemingway's masterpiece of minimalism. The language throughout is concise, yet it evokes a powerful resonance in people's imaginations. Every word used is essential.

Before Hemingway, Western literary styles were diverse, ranging from symbolism that pursued ornate language, beautiful style, and rhythm, to chivalric novels that emphasized a sense of exhilaration.

Since Hemingway, the writing style of Western writers has gradually shifted towards simplicity and directness. His writing techniques and insights have influenced writers all over the world, especially in the English-speaking world. The literary style of the creator's world he created has been passed down from then on, with Western literary style consistently employing a subtractive approach to writing works.

This involves revising the article multiple times, clarifying the facts, and removing any paragraphs that can be cut. Once this is done, the writing style will naturally be quite good. The next step is to consider the story's inherent appeal and its relevance to current trends.

Although online novels are more like a craft than art, pursuing a style that is completely different from that of online literature, which aims to satisfy readers with a large quantity of content, both online novels and online light novels are constantly adding content, maintaining a huge, padded new genre through a few interesting highlights and sensory stimulation.

However, comics and doujinshi have something in common. Comics use vivid pictures and limited text. The size of a page is fixed, but the pictures are more attractive than the text. Many people just glance at the text, and some people don't even read the words when reading comics.

Therefore, keeping the dialogue concise and just right is also very important. So it can be said that comics have also been influenced by minimalism.

Shirou found the Blue Spearfish, which represented this ideal, in the torrent of the ocean. Through this ideal, he sublimated it into a special Noble Phantasm, which was then reproduced in his heart as a small world.

The wolf-headed man was pulled into the small world of rules, crushed by the falling iceberg. His proud, sharp claws and teeth were completely meaningless in the face of the behemoth. He could only be pressed to the ground by the iceberg, no longer able to make a sound.

"Did you understand? My understanding of the 'world'?" Shirou stepped out of the small world, put down the blue bone sword, and said calmly.

Chapter 699 Shirou Under Siege

This world is a fantasy world, but without the existence of magic in the setting, one cannot use Magecraft or other powers. However, there is a more fundamental power in this kind of world, a power that relates to the root of this fantasy world. If one can understand it, one can borrow the power of this world.

In a world formed by such a story, the one with the greatest power is undoubtedly the creator. In this competition, if it were a contest of physical abilities, Shirou, unable to use magic in this world, would probably have already lost.

Even when it comes to intelligence, Shirou feels he has no advantage, but when it comes to thinking about and understanding the world, humans have an absolute advantage.

Although he was not favored by the Pirate Queen from the beginning, and his rivals looked down on him, Shirou took advantage of this contempt and, with his bone sword, took down his enemies one by one without attracting attention.

Shirou swung his sword again, tearing open the void and sucking a shark-man into the space. Before the shark-man could react and understand what was happening, the iceberg crashed down from the sky and was crushed into the small world once again.

At this moment, warriors from all races were engaged in fierce combat, either killing their opponents or forcing them to jump off the spaceship. They were hundreds of meters in the air, and falling onto the sea would be no different from hitting a steel plate. Unless they could fly, it didn't matter what unique physical talent their race possessed.

The number of people on the deck was steadily decreasing, from 108 to 64, then to 32, and so on. By this time, Shirou could no longer hide.

"Hmph, that kid, still alive? Pretty tough, huh?" Pirate Queen Drake stood up and ordered her men, "Tell the guys down there to take out that human brat first, I don't like him!"

"Hey, boss, isn't what you're doing unfair?" A pirate standing nearby, also a hot-blooded man, asked the queen.

"I'm just mentioning it; whether they listen or not is their business. Besides, that brat wants to take my child away, but he doesn't have the strength. He might as well die here," Drake said coldly.

"That makes sense," one of the pirates said, suddenly realizing that his boss was right.

"Shirou! Go for it! Take down that seal, the long-haired pheasant, and Blackbeard!" Princess Eriri, watching the boy display his prowess from the top floor, excitedly cheered him on.

"Eh? Me too...?" Blackbeard pointed to himself, but the damage he suffered was more of a reward to him. "However... this feeling of indifference is quite nice... Hehehe."

At that moment, a sailor relayed the order, "The Queen has decreed! Everyone, annihilate the invading human brats first!"

The various tribes that had been fighting amongst themselves on the deck stopped and looked at each other.

"Humans?"

"Ah, that human from before."

"He seems to be from the security team, what should we do?"

"Let's kill him first!!!" The members of the Hundred Clans made their decision, their eyes flashing with ferocity, and they all turned to Shirou. A dozen or so powerful members of the Hundred Clans surrounded Shirou.

The parrot boy flapped his wings, unleashing a hurricane that relentlessly closed in on Shirou, cornering him and watching the spectacle with a wicked grin.

"Kill them!"

At this moment, Blackbeard also joined the battle. He raised the grappling hook on his severed arm, his face darkening as he revealed his ferocious side. After all, he was the famous pirate Blackbeard, and the only person he treated gently was a cute girl.

He had no reason to spare this group of sea creatures, beastmen, and birds. With a flash of claw light, several figures lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground. He was practically a god!

At that moment, Blackbeard arrived beside Shirou and joined the encirclement. Blackbeard sized up Shirou, then suddenly pointed a finger at Shirou and exclaimed in surprise.

"I remember your name. We met back in Chaldea... Oh right! You're Emiya! Back then, you spent all your time in the kitchen, hanging out with a red-haired housewife and a cat-eared maid. Illya-tan and Miyu-tan respected you, and several goddess-like girls were quite fond of you. Damn it... Damn it... Memories of jealousy and regret over being a 'normie' kept flooding back!" Blackbeard bit his handkerchief, black tears of blood streaming from his eyes, his entire body radiating murderous intent.

"Huh? You have memories of Chaldea?" Shirou asked Blackbeard in surprise.

"Enough talk!" Blackbeard raised his grappling hook and suddenly unleashed an astonishing speed as he lunged forward.

Surprisingly, Blackbeard didn't charge at Shirou, but instead rushed into the midst of the battle among the hundred races of beastmen, unleashing a flurry of punches and claw attacks, tearing through their flesh.

"I didn't come here to make a girl cry, but to protect this lovely girl! Emiya-kun, the Princess... I entrust the Princess to you. You must make her happy," Blackbeard said, giving Shirou a thumbs-up. It would have been even better if he hadn't been covered in blood and tears.

After saying that, Blackbeard suddenly turned around, hugged the parrot boy who could unleash hurricanes, and jumped off the deck with him.

"Blackbeard!" Shirou shouted, trying to stop Blackbeard, but all he saw was that resolute figure, truly a warrior, considering this was a hundred-story building.

"Let go of me, you bastard!" The parrot boy, unable to spread his wings while being held, roared angrily at Blackbeard.

"Look closely, you're quite cute, parrot. Your chest is all fluffy and warm," Blackbeard said, looking at the parrot boy with a smile.

The parrot boy trembled in fright and cried out, "Eek... Someone, please help me!!!"

At this point, only ten fighters remained surrounding Shirou on the deck.

There are powerful whales, giant squid with strong tentacles, monsters that can open their mouths on three sides, highly venomous jellyfish, and bizarre insects—all of them appear ferocious and terrifying.

"Although someone tried to sabotage us, we still have an absolute advantage. Humans are strong, but we still won!" the giant squid said with a wicked grin, its tentacles twisting and swaying.

"Stop talking nonsense! Kill the humans, then we can continue our slaughter!" said a member of the whale clan.

"Attack together! Kill them!" The enemies of all races rushed towards Shirou.

"Shirou... be careful!" Eriri was at the top, couldn't help but feel a little worried for Shirou.

"Let's fight there!" Shirou didn't give them a chance to react. He swung his bone sword, directly engulfing all ten of his opponents into the small world, and the iceberg crashed down.

Chapter 700: Leaving the Fantasy Ocean World and Meeting Jeanne d'Arc

This time, Shirou didn't hold back. The fluctuations in the small world were directly reflected on the spaceship. People saw shattered ice fragments fall onto the deck, and the other contestants were all dead beyond any doubt.

"Who else?" Shirou gripped his blue bone sword, scanning the spaceship's surroundings. He met the gazes of the people on the ships of the hundred races around him without fear, his sharp edge fully revealed at this moment.

The onlookers from all the different races were shocked, never expecting that the humans, whose physical strength was generally inferior to that of the other races, would possess such abilities.

"Such powerful abilities!" the pirates exclaimed in surprise.

The inhabitants of the fantasy world refer to the power of creators as authority. After all, to them, the author is probably like Creator God, and it is not wrong to regard the power of creators as the authority of gods.

However, Shirou prefers his own name, 'reason,' to 'power,' which is the 'way' of nature and the 'principle' of the fantasy world.

As the creator, one needs to be able to understand the concept of the world, rather than creating it without emotion. If the creator himself is emotionless, how could the creatures he creates possibly have emotions?

Shirou had previously entered some smaller fantasy worlds where the inhabitants lived entirely according to the story. When the story wasn't involved, they were somewhat like puppets on strings, perhaps just like artificial intelligence, which couldn't yet understand emotions and hadn't reached perfection.

However, the more exciting and substantial the fantasy world, the more vivid and lively the characters become.

Just as artificial intelligence with genuine emotions, not simulated but born from the heart, will inevitably emerge in the future, the fantasy world will certainly be inhabited by beings similar to humans. Those beings who reach that level can be considered inhabitants of a parallel world.

The doujinshi created by Jeanne d'Arc and Queen Marie appears to be of superior quality. It's no wonder it's Japan's biggest event, and the top works there are rare gems, even in the entire history of ACG creation.

"Good! Well done! Looks like I underestimated you, kid!" Pirate Queen Drake said with a loud laugh.

"Well done!" The surrounding pirates laughed.

Shirou's change from his previous low-key demeanor to one of sharp wit actually earned him the respect of the pirates.

"Your Majesty! This kid is from the Ocean Defense Force, he's not with us!"

"He's the enemy, yet he dares to come here and provoke us. Let's kill him!"

"On my turf, no fool dares to defy the rules I've set!" Queen Drake declared domineeringly, surveying the surrounding ships of the hundred races.

Sensing the queen's murderous gaze, all the surrounding tribes suppressed their anger towards Shirou and lowered their heads.

"Queen, aren't you going to stop me?" Shirou was already prepared for a fight, but he didn't expect the other party to agree so easily, so he couldn't help but ask.

Pirate Queen Drake scoffed, "Hahaha, you underestimate me. The rule of pirates is survival of the fittest. If you're stronger than all of us combined, then what's wrong with marrying me, let alone my daughter?"

"I wouldn't dare," Shirou replied with a forced laugh. As expected of a lawless pirate, this was probably what unbridled freedom meant. This was probably what the most disrespectful, lawless, shameless, and morally corrupt bandits of ancient times were like.

"Hahaha, if you dare, you'll have to see if my fleet agrees," said Pirate Queen Drake with a hearty laugh.

"Hahahaha! Every man who dares to marry our boss is cursed to death!" The pirate next to him also burst into laughter, "Wow!"

Then he was kicked away by the Pirate Queen.

"Then, Your Majesty, Eriri, I'll take you with me," Shirou said cautiously.

"Take her away, take her away. Anyway, girls grow up and leave home, she's always siding with outsiders, she's practically jumping off the cliff, there's no use keeping her. Just bring her back to visit when you have time, or I can come find you." The Pirate Queen waved her hand dismissively.

Pirates rode hoverboards towards the lookout tower to pick up Princess Eriri.

"I'm not either..." Eriri blushed as she was taken down from the roof of the ship and retorted.

"Yes." So Shirou took Eriri's hand as she was lowered from the top, and they boarded the small airship that the Pirate Queen had prepared for them, descending to approach the small sailboat below.

After Shirou had helped Eriri onto the small boat, he finally spoke:

"Luckily, she's not your biological mother."

"Shut up! Mind your own business!" Eriri gave Shirou a light tap, but as she turned her head away, she muttered under her breath, "If my mom were this easygoing, that wouldn't be bad..."

In the heart of the ocean, there is a giant tree rooted in the deep sea, stretching from ten thousand meters below the surface all the way to the horizon.

The World Tree is a concept. People imagine it as a tree, and thus it takes on the appearance of a tree. The roots, trunk, branches extending from the trunk, and leaves on the branches can all be seen as representing a world.

Every world is unique, yet closely interconnected. Withered branches will affect the growth of those around them; one side absorbs abundant nutrients and grows lush, while the other side inevitably becomes sparse due to malnutrition.

Shirou and Eriri sailed closer to the World Tree. The seed in their hands gradually changed, faintly emitting a light. Seeing this, Shirou rowed even harder, and the closer they got to the World Tree, the brighter the seed became.

Eventually, the light from the seed shone bright enough to transform into a portal, through which Shirou and Eriri, in their small boat, entered. They returned to the real world.

"We're... back?"

Shirou and Eriri remained close together, looking around at the bustling crowd, brightly colored posters of various cartoon characters, life-sized cardboard cutouts, and occasional cosplayers passing by. They realized it was all part of a comic convention.

"Seriously, where did all these monsters come from? Eri Kashiwagi's name is being overshadowed and barely recognized," Eriri said sullenly.

"Alright, you've done your best, and the works are selling very well now. Cheer up, teacher~." Shirou said, patting the blonde girl's head.

However... if Eriri is very strong, and the two of them get caught up in the world of her doujinshi, what kind of story would unfold within it?

"Don't call me by my pen name here." Eriri leaned back, bumping her back against Shirou, and said with a soft snort.

It turned out that the ST. Orléans comic book club had already sold out all their books and was about to close. Marie, revered as the Princess of the convention, was speaking to her fans like an idol:

"And finally, everyone shout together! 3, 2, 1... viviefrance!!!"

"Oh! Long live France! Long live Orléans!" The people gathered in front of the stall raised their arms and shouted loudly.

After all, they are two super beautiful girls, full of personality, and wearing swimsuits. Even the most beautiful idol stars of the moment can't compare to the charm they exude.

After a while, the excited crowd finally dispersed. Led by Marie, they planned to stroll around the comic convention together and then go for afternoon tea.

Shirou and Eriri only set off to leave after they saw that there was no more disturbance in the surrounding space.

Just then, a beautiful girl's voice called out to Shirou from behind.

"Hey, wait a minute, you two in front, hold on a second." It was the holy maiden with golden braids who approached, clasped her hands together, and apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, I wanted to help you, but in the blink of an eye, you disappeared. Thankfully, you're alright; thank God for his protection."