The Holy Lance and Divine Bow Face Off / Gudako Gets Kidnapped

It had multiple limited forms; the one deployed now was the Scythe of the Grim Reaper:

It could automatically absorb ambient mana and devour nearby spirits, strengthening its wielder's physical abilities while also interfering with the use of magecraft to a certain extent.

The intense heat and stinging pain brought red liquid streaming from his eye sockets, but the analysis was successfully completed. Once he understood the essence of the Noble Phantasm, he could effectively reinforce and modify it.

At that moment, the Scythe of the Grim Reaper changed under the guidance of the Magic Eye. Blue, phosphorescent light flickered across its blade, then flames surged upward, transforming into a crescent-shaped blaze of deep blue.

The blue fire was not hot. It was not a flame meant to bring light and warmth to mortal life, but pale-blue fire that guided the dead. Its glow swayed in the wind with a faint rustle, like the soft call of an underworld god to its residents.

At that moment, the scythe received a fundamental enhancement. Both its absorption capacity and power increased severalfold.

"Awesome! Awesome! I've never felt this damn good before!!!" Aed let out an exhilarated shout, causing the dolls below to raise their heads one after another.

"I'm going in. Leave the Servants to you." With that, Shirou jumped down from the rooftop.

"Got it! Shirou-senpai, please be careful!" Gudako replied.

"Then let's get moving too!" Artoria and Black Saber nodded, changing into their battle armor.

Before the brightly lit gateway of Kabukicho, the Coloratura Dolls sang strange songs as they closed in on the Youth.

As the Youth landed, the Scythe of the Grim Reaper switched off its circuit for absorbing mana from the atmosphere and instead focused all its functions on absorbing the lingering souls within the dolls.

The scythe swung down in an instant, and the front row of Coloratura Dolls collapsed one after another.

The scythe had not struck the Coloratura Dolls on the ground, yet they stopped moving like machines that had lost power. That was because the thing sustaining their bodies had vanished...

The hearts within the dolls stopped beating. The half-dead lives finally found release, their souls slowly dissipating into the air and returning to primordial nature.

Through the effect of the crest, the Youth was connected to the Scythe of the Grim Reaper. As lingering souls were absorbed into the scythe, his body also received their mana. Pain, despair, wails, and all kinds of negative emotions filled his heart, while his physical abilities continued to grow stronger.

Coloratura Dolls from all directions stepped over the fallen empty shells and lunged at the Youth surrounded in their midst.

But they were too slow. They posed no threat at all.

With a light jump, the Youth instantly rose three meters into the air, avoiding the pincer attack of the approaching Coloratura Dolls. At that moment, he displayed speed that would have been impressive even among Lancer class Servants.

Then he twisted through the air, and the scythe in his hand became an arc of crescent moonlight, sending the dolls that had collided on the ground and gathered around him flying away.

There were still obvious bloodstains on both cheeks, but the Youth was completely unaware of them. His eyes looked upon the Coloratura Dolls with human eyes, yet they were as lifeless as those of dead fish, merely carrying out their orders to kill the intruder.

But the Youth could hear the mournful cries of the lingering souls inside the dolls' shells.

It hurts... It hurts so much, save me...

Living like this would be worse than being killed...

"Let me be free..."

In this world known as a demonic realm, nearly all the good people had already died, leaving only a few villains barely clinging to life.

But even those who had committed evil were not beyond redemption. Whether men or women, they still possessed some glimmer of humanity. At the very least, the desire to desperately keep living was not wrong.

Yet they had been forcibly stripped of their bodies and bound inside hollow dolls. The lingering souls within bodies that no longer had consciousness cried out in pain, begging for help and hoping for all this to end.

"Yeah. There are too many unreasonable things in this world. It's all right. I'll free you now," Shirou said softly.

The deep-blue flames surged high, becoming a flaming scythe blade over three meters long. It turned into a streak of light, and another row of Coloratura Dolls immediately fell.

Blue fire danced beneath the night sky, forming pale-blue lotus blossoms as the pitiful lingering souls were freed one by one.

Finally, the Youth stood atop a small mountain formed by the empty shells of hundreds of fallen dolls, the Scythe of the Grim Reaper resting on his shoulder.

"Hahaha! That hit the spot, that really hit the spot! Shirou, those eyes of yours are insanely strong! It's been ages since I've eaten this satisfyingly!" Aed laughed loudly, his eye open within the scythe.

At that moment, the girls fighting two Berserkers ahead of them struck down Empress Christina in one blow, and the battle was nearing its end.

Just as Shirou walked down from the mountain of dolls and prepared to go help them—

Whoosh!

A cold flash shot toward the Youth from behind.

At the critical moment, Shirou sensed the danger and sidestepped.

An arrow burning with dark-blue fire embedded itself in the concrete ahead. If he had not dodged, it would probably have pierced the Youth's heart.

Several more flaming arrows immediately flew toward him.

Shirou swung the Scythe of the Grim Reaper at the arrows.

The moment the scythe struck them, his palm shook. The arrows were extremely powerful, and Shirou had to exert considerable effort before he finally managed to block them all.

"As a Servant, you possess such superb archery, yet you chose to attack from behind. Are you an Assassin?" The Youth looked toward the darkness atop the building behind him.

"Come out! The stench of a black sewer rat has already given you away!" Aed shouted.

A black-haired, dark-skinned man stepped out of the shadows. A sinister smile spread across his handsome face as he said indifferently, "What? As long as I can kill you, there's no problem."

Ugly, ominous black mud showed through his clothes, and he held a peculiar bow in his hand.

When Shirou saw that it was a divine bow with blue flames burning along its string, he frowned. As an archery enthusiast, he recognized the man's identity immediately.

"Hey, hey, a final-boss-looking guy just showed up. And he's a huge monster that's smelly, black, and hard," Aed said with disgust.

"That is Gāndīva, the divine bow of Fire God Agni. Are you Arjuna Alter, the other side of India's famed 'hero blessed by the heavens'?" Shirou asked warily. If that was true, then the enemy before him was a top-tier Servant empowered by the Holy Grail.

Holy Lance and Divine Bow Showdown

In one of ancient India's two great epics, the Mahabharata, the Great Hero was one of the central figures. His importance could be said to fall only slightly short of King Arthur in the legends of the thirteen Knights of the Round Table. As a hero chosen by the gods, Arjuna was upright, brave, and skilled in battle. He embodied the most perfect Kshatriya of ancient India—the second caste, specifically warriors and nobles—and his image ran throughout the epic.

The epic told the story of two princes of the Kuru kingdom, Pandava and Kuru, fighting over territory. Kuru was the eldest, but he had been born blind and fathered one hundred sons led by Duryodhana. Pandava, meanwhile, had five sons, all granted through prayers to the gods, each possessing extraordinary abilities.

After Pandava died, Kuru seized the throne with the support of his hundred sons and drove Pandava's five sons into exile.

Arjuna was the third of Pandava's five sons. Together with his four full brothers—Yudhishthira, Bhima, Nakula, and Sahadeva—he married Draupadi, the Black Princess of a neighboring kingdom. After countless adventures, they gained the support of many nations and demanded half the territory from Kuru's hundred sons. When they were refused, the Great Kuru War began.

Pandava's five sons were all highly skilled in martial arts.

Meanwhile, Duryodhana, the eldest of Kuru's hundred sons, befriended Karna, a commoner born without father or mother. He granted him kingship, and the two formed a deep friendship.

Thus, the "hero of charity" and the "hero blessed by the heavens," half-brothers born of the same mother but fated for entirely different lives, entered a destined duel.

In the end, Pandava's five sons emerged victorious.

After the war, Pandava's five sons passed the throne down to their descendants. The five brothers and their shared wife, Draupadi, entered the Himalayas to cultivate themselves, eventually ascending to heaven.

But the Servant before the Youth was somewhat different. Unlike the Great Hero Arjuna, who did not wish others to see his smile, he wore a twisted and wicked grin without restraint.

"Not quite. Calling me Arjuna's other side, 'Black,' would be more appropriate. Hahaha! Shirou Emiya! I've been waiting for you for a long time. Though this city where you can freely slaughter and plunder isn't boring at all," the man said, the black mud on his body writhing like earthworms.

"Another black mud Heroic Spirit? What exactly is your purpose in coming after me? You even chased me into another world. You're really persistent," Shirou asked with a frown.

"Purpose? There's no such thing! If I have to say one, it's revenge. Killing you won't solve anything, but since that's the mission I was summoned for, you should just die!" The man named Black showed his most wicked smile and rapidly drew his bowstring, firing several blue streaks of light.

The blue arrows were blessed by divine fire and traveled at astonishing speed. In an instant, they reached the Youth, locking onto five points at once: both hands, both feet, and his torso.

Shirou spun the Scythe of the Grim Reaper into a rapidly rotating circle and knocked the blue arrows aside.

"Hehahahaha! You're in such a strange state right now, aren't you? Well, as a Faker, I suppose it isn't impossible. But where's your beloved Projection Magecraft? Your black-and-white twin swords? Why are you using a scythe? Are you planning to become a Vaishya, the third caste, and farm?"

"This is way too ridiculous. If you kneel and beg for mercy now, maybe I'll spare you. Hahaha!" the man cackled.

His laughter abruptly stopped.

Four iron swords suddenly appeared out of thin air and plunged down toward the man's mouth, while four more iron swords rose from below toward his body.

The divine bow clashed with the iron swords in a burst of sparks. The man hurriedly used his bow to block the flying swords one by one.

"If it's swords you want, I have as many as you need. But can you handle them?" Shirou asked with a faint smile.

"I take that back. You've really pissed me off. I'm definitely killing you! I'll make you bleed to death in the most painful way possible." The man glared coldly at the Youth, killing intent stirring the black mud across his face.

"I think that's the one thing you can't do!" Shirou swung his scythe and charged at the black mud Heroic Spirit.

Having absorbed hundreds of spirits, the Youth burst forth with tremendous speed under the reinforcement of his Mystic Code.

But the black mud Heroic Spirit's instantaneous bursts of speed were even faster. Whenever Shirou was about to catch him, he would pull away again.

After several exchanges, the Youth could only barely fight the black mud Heroic Spirit to a draw through Projection.

"Hey, is that all you can do? Looks like you really aren't the real Arjuna. You won't be that hard to deal with after all, huh?" Shirou taunted.

"Hehahahaha! You really dare to say that! Then how about trying this! Die! Die! Let Shiva's wrath take your lives here—Hand of the destroyer god, Pāsupata!" The man activated his Noble Phantasm, releasing a dazzling sphere of light from his hand and sending it into the sky.

An aura of destruction leaked from the white light, as though it would reduce everything it touched to nothingness.

"Aed!!" Shirou shouted.

"Got it!" The eye on the Scythe of the Grim Reaper opened wide. It changed form, releasing the multiplied energy it had absorbed earlier and instantly opening the second stage of its seal.

"Holy Lance, release your anchor—O lance that shines at the end, Rhongomyniad!"

The Holy Lance in the Youth's hand radiated brilliant golden light, becoming a massive pillar of gold that crashed into the white light.

Even against the power of the destroyer god, it displayed an invincible force.

The golden light overwhelmed the white light, the sacred golden pillar pushing it toward the black Servant behind it.

"It's not over! In the karmic flames of Fire God Agni, turn to dust—Roar of the Fire God, Agni Gandiva!"

At that moment, the other side of Arjuna activated his second Noble Phantasm as well: Roar of the Fire God, Agni Gandiva, and Hand of the destroyer god, Pāsupata.

The blue flaming magical cannon and the white sphere of light overlapped, colliding with the brilliant golden light unleashed by the Holy Lance. The massive masses of energy continuously expanded, blue light and golden light respectively enveloping each side and dyeing the surroundings in their colors.

At that moment, the area was flooded with intense light. On one side, both high-rises and earth turned blue; on the other, everything gleamed gold. The ground shook, wild winds howled, and the small mountain of hundreds of dolls was swallowed by the radiance. Under the crushing pressure of the collision, it rose into the air and was reduced to dust and debris in an instant.

The energies unleashed by the Noble Phantasms canceled each other out. The entire street was engulfed in blinding light, and nothing could be seen.

At that moment, a shadow rushed toward the black mud Heroic Spirit. Before the dazzling light faded, Shirou leaped high into the air and swung the Scythe of the Grim Reaper at the black mud Heroic Spirit's neck, intending to reap him.

Gudako Has Been Kidnapped

Within the light that had not yet fully faded, the sharp scythe blade was less than ten centimeters away from the black mud Heroic Spirit's neck.

One second later, the victor would be decided.

At that instant, Black revealed a vicious grin, like a cunning fox that had toyed with the hunter. Rather than retreating, he charged forward. With his mana fully unleashed, the black mud Heroic Spirit blessed by Fire God Agni erupted with fierce blue flames from his back, propelling him forward like rocket thrusters.

Because it damaged his body, he normally used this ability only to increase the speed of his arrows. But with black mud repairing his body now, the damage could be minimized, allowing him to repeatedly use it on himself and turn the battle around.

This time, too, he used that ability to seize victory.

Before the scythe blade could cut him, the black mud Heroic Spirit accelerated instantly and rushed before Shirou. The arrow nocked on his bow pressed against Shirou's abdomen.

For an existence of his level, close combat did not hinder his archery in the slightest.

He drew the bowstring and fired. A powerful blue afterimage pierced straight through the Youth's body. The blood-soaked arrow tore through his back, leaving a huge hole as it flew away, while blood gushed out in torrents.

"Uwaaah!!" Shirou's eyes widened as his head drooped weakly. Blood continuously dripped onto the ground—some coughed from his mouth, while more poured from the wound and flowed across the ground, pooling in the depressions. His life could be felt draining away...

"Hahahaha! Looks like I won. Savor that unwillingness, then die!" the black mud Heroic Spirit laughed, his twisted heart experiencing supreme pleasure.

"Cough, cough... I finally... caught you!" The Youth, who had been hanging his head, suddenly reached out and grabbed the hand holding the black mud Heroic Spirit's bow.

"What?" The black mud Heroic Spirit stared in shock at the Youth, who should have been dead. He had clearly destroyed the source of mana sustaining his Saint Graph, and with a hole blown through his stomach, even a true Servant should have vanished by now.

Yet at that moment, the Youth's hand gripped him tightly.

At that instant, he sensed danger from the Youth. He tried to pull away and retreat, but the Youth's powerful grip held him fast, making escape impossible.

"Let go of me!" Blue flames erupted across the black mud Heroic Spirit's body again as he struggled with all his strength to break free from the Youth's grip.

"Don't even think about running!" Shirou endured the searing pain of the flames, his left hand still tightly gripping the black mud Heroic Spirit's arm and preventing him from moving. His right hand clenched the scythe, then swung down with all its might.

"Damn it, Aaaaaaa!" The black mud Heroic Spirit's body was cut by the sharp scythe blade, torn open from the abdomen before finally being severed in two. After two dull thuds, he fell to the ground. Blue soul fire rose from the wounds, burning the core within.

At the cost of being wounded, the Youth won this difficult battle.

In truth, after coming to this world, meeting Artoria, and forming a contract with her, the sheath within the Youth's body had indeed been activated, even though it was only a verbal contract.

With Black's body healed by black mud, his movement speed was simply too great. Even if Shirou managed to get close and defeat him, Black would still escape.

Of course, Shirou had no better method.

He had merely taken a gamble with the only way he had that might allow him to defeat his opponent.

"Unfortunately, the goddess of victory is on my side now. I have no reason to lose." Shirou held his abdomen and looked at the black mud Heroic Spirit on the ground as his wound gradually healed.

"Why would a Faker like you have something like that inside you? Hehahahaha!" The dark-skinned man laughed as though mocking something.

As if remembering something, the black mud Heroic Spirit said with a malicious grin, "By the way, even if I disappear, the Demon Pillar is waiting for you. Since this is a commission from the Counter Force, you should properly take Emiya's place—the Emiya who was supposed to appear here—and finish this job."

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked, looking at the black mud Heroic Spirit who had already begun to return.