"Halt!"
Souren Araya extended his left hand toward Shirou, his five fingers loosely curled.
In an instant, an invisible pressure descended upon Shirou, making the hem of his clothes stir despite the lack of wind.
"You think this little pressure is enough to deal with me?" Since Souren Araya wanted to fight, Shirou would oblige him.
With his aura fully unleashed, the pressure brought by "Halt" was directly scattered by the overflowing magical energy.
"I've had enough of playing around. Let's end this game!"
With that, Shirou suddenly vanished, then abruptly appeared behind Souren Araya. He extended his index finger, compressing magical energy at its tip into a small mass before firing it at Souren Araya.
This was one of a Great Void's abilities: Bala, the weakened version of Cero. Although Bala's power was far inferior to Cero's, to the point that it had barely appeared at all, its practicality was beyond question. At twenty times Cero's speed, even Kisuke Urahara could not evade it easily. Could Souren Araya dodge it?
Of course he could not.
Since he could not dodge, he simply would not. Rather than waste time evading, he might as well use that negligible amount of time to prepare his defenses.
"Wang Xian, Kongou, Dai Tian, Top Sutra!"
Raising his left hand, Souren Araya directly deployed his barriers.
Because the "Fearless" and "Serpent Scorpion" barriers destroyed earlier by Broken Phantasm could not immediately recover, Souren Araya could only mobilize four barriers for defense.
The first barrier, Wang Xian, began to crack after holding for only a few seconds. It might have been merely a Bala, but that depended on who had fired it.
The Cuarenta Espada, a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar—Bala from someone of that level was hardly weaker than Cero from other Gillians.
Seven or eight seconds later, the Wang Xian barrier shattered. The Bala still retained its momentum and slammed straight into the second barrier, Kongou. Much like Wang Xian, Kongou also shattered after seven or eight seconds.
The Bala crashed unimpeded into the fourth barrier, Dai Tian. Having been slowed by Wang Xian and Kongou, it had weakened somewhat, but Souren Araya still felt tremendous pressure.
Souren Araya could not put his bitterness into words. He knew he had kicked an iron plate. Shirou had said that he would become an agent of the Counter Force in the future, so Souren Araya had instinctively assumed that the current Shirou was weaker than Emiya, who served under the Counter Force.
Unfortunately, Souren Araya did not know that he was not facing a normal person, but a genuine cheat. Every version of Emiya Shirou across every timeline was a cheat, but cheats came in different strengths, and their Shirou was among the very best.
About thirty seconds later, the Dai Tian barrier was broken by the Bala. By then, however, the Bala had lost its remaining force, and after briefly stalemating the final barrier, Top Sutra, it dissipated.
Souren Araya lowered his hand, not because the Bala had been blocked, but because, just as Shirou had said, it was over. Everything was over.
Shirou's cold blade rested against Souren Araya's completely unguarded neck. There was no protection from the relic here; this was an ordinary human body. As long as Shirou applied force, he could sever Souren Araya's head. Though Souren Araya, having awakened his Origin, possessed an enduring lifespan, he was at most an old immortal. A magus was still human; without a head, he would die just the same. Not every magus was an aberration like Old Bug.
"You lost." ("You won.") The two spoke at the same time.
They both fell silent for a moment before Souren Araya said, "Do it. Take my life."
To his surprise, Shirou directly dismissed his Projection. If Shirou had truly wanted to kill Souren Araya, he would have had plenty of chances to make him hand over his head the moment he got close. But Shirou had not done so.
"I refuse," Shirou said. "I don't like killing, and I have no reason to kill you."
Though an Arrancar fused with a Vasto Lorde-class Great Void capable of destroying heaven and earth had merged with his soul, Shirou remained the one in control. He still had some resistance to killing people.
But it was only resistance. From certain perspectives, killing was merely a means. Once someone crossed Shirou's bottom line, they would face his relentless pursuit, no matter the cost and without end.
"You were just fighting me to the death, yet now you say you hate killing?" Souren Araya snorted.
"You said it yourself. That was a fight to the death. It's the most naked instinct carved into humanity's soul! Because one side finds the other an obstacle, they begin fighting. That is what humans are," Shirou said.
"Perhaps you are right. And where there is fighting, there will be sacrifice. But those sacrifices are meaningless. Have you never considered stopping it all?"
"You're too old for eighth-grader syndrome, old man!" Shirou immediately said. While Souren Araya was still considering what that meant, Shirou continued, "Besides, humans are like this. Because they possess power, they crave conflict. It isn't as though there is no way to stop it—you could kill all seven billion people on Earth. But that would be putting the cart before the horse, creating an even greater sacrifice to avoid sacrifice."
"You seem to know a great deal about such things."
"Can't be helped. There's an elder in my family who once tried to destroy the world for the sake of world peace," Shirou said. Then he asked, "And your target? Ryougi Shiki?"
Souren Araya gave Shirou a surprised look. He should not have told anyone about that.
"There's nothing surprising about it. Shiki possesses the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Everyone with those eyes has a constitution connected to the Root. There probably aren't many magi who could resist the Root's temptation," Shirou explained.
That made sense. Souren Araya asked again:
"Is your target Fujou Kirie?"
"You could put it that way." At least, that was true for now, Shirou silently added.
"I can give up Fujou Kirie. I have also prepared the materials concerning the double existence. I can hand all of that over to you. In exchange, you are not to interfere with my plan," Souren Araya said.
Since there was no conflict in their goals, there was room for negotiation. That was often how things worked, and this was no exception.
"No problem!" Shirou agreed without a second thought. A protagonist like Shiki was not someone a curry priest villain like Souren Araya could handle. Shirou was already impatient to see Shiki run Souren Araya over head-on.
"Even so, I have to give you a warning. Never, ever set your sights on the people around me. Otherwise... even if I go to hell, I'll take you with me, Souren Araya!"
Souren Araya merely nodded at Shirou's warning before vanishing from the rooftop. Shirou did not know whether Souren Araya had taken his words to heart, but they were not merely a warning. Since Shirou had said it, he would certainly do it. That was his creed.
After Souren Araya left, Shirou also departed from the hospital. Thus ended Shirou's first negotiation with Souren Araya.
To be honest, Shirou did not bear much ill will toward Souren Araya. If he had truly wanted to kill him, a single Gran Rey Cero could have sent that curry priest straight to heaven. Trying to block Gran Rey Cero with only six barriers would have been nothing but a fool's dream. It was a move Aizen had explicitly forbidden within Las Noches, as even its aftershock could damage Las Noches's buildings. If Shirou had unleashed Gran Rey Cero here, the hospital would probably have ceased to exist.
The second reason was Kirie. After all, Souren Araya had supported her for more than ten years, and it was only Kirie who owed him. It would not have been right to kill Souren Araya without a word. Then again, with Shirou's awkward personality, he probably would never bring this matter into the open for the rest of his life.
The tallest building in Kanbako City: Fujou Building.
Shirou sat at an unguarded corner, his calves naturally dangling in the air, looking rather as though he wanted to jump. Kirie, in spirit form, floated beside him. Shirou said to her, "This is the highest place in Kanbako City. How does it feel?"
"It's a view I've never seen before."
"Even so, this city's scenery is only this much. I'll travel to other corners of the world and seek other sights. Some will surely be more beautiful than this, but some may be uglier as well. Will you travel with me?"
"Of course. Since I promised to become your companion, isn't it only natural that we move forward together?"
"Is that so? Hehe!" Shirou gave a silly grin. "I understand."
After stretching, Shirou added, "Tomorrow, I'll help you complete the paperwork for leaving the hospital. I've found a way to heal your body, though we'll only know whether it works after you try it. And as for your ability, I've also prepared a method to develop it. We'll do that alongside the treatment!"
Shirou rattled on and on while Kirie quietly listened beside him. Finally—
"Hey, Shirou..."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"...Thank you."
"Huh? What are you talking about? Aren't we companions? Isn't it only natural for companions to help each other?"
"Yes, we are... companions!"