Problematic Child from Honkai in Type-Moon

Walking down the streets of Fuyuki, the group eventually gave up on continuing the fight. It wasn't entirely unrelated to Fu Yuan's mood or Kariya Matou's physical condition, though perhaps a little.

The most important thing was that the streets were packed with people!

Because they hadn't set up any suggestion sorcery beforehand when the grand hotel was destroyed, the populace was now in a state of panic. Many people were banding together for warmth and safety.

It wasn't that they were lazy; it was just that none of them could cast such a wide-ranging sorcery!

The atmosphere grew somewhat silent as they returned to the castle. Irisviel had initially intended to hug Kiritsugu, but upon seeing Fu Yuan's arm, she changed her mind.

Kiritsugu Emiya's lips twitched slightly, but he said nothing. After all, he didn't treat Saber as an adult.

Just a child!

Hmph!

"A Yuan, what happened to you? How did you get so badly injured!"

Irisviel asked with great concern, then slowly began to heal him with her healing sorcery. Although the effect was barely perceptible, she didn't stop.

It could be said that she hadn't been this serious even when Kiritsugu's magic was depleted before.

Hmph!

Kiritsugu Emiya declared he wasn't envious at all and then carelessly pushed the door open, walking inside.

"Irisviel, look at Master!"

After Kiritsugu left, Fu Yuan's slightly strong expression instantly changed.

He complained to Irisviel about Kiritsugu's crimes in a voice tinged with tears.

"I only got this much injured when fighting with the other Heroic Spirits!"

He sniffled and then gestured a very, very small scratch on his arm.

"But, but Master gave stupid orders, and look what happened to my arm!"

Whether he felt this wronged now or not was unknown, but Fu Yuan certainly appeared pitiable.

Maiya, standing nearby, wanted to speak up for Kiritsugu, but since she hadn't accompanied them, she couldn't say anything.

Helplessly, she could only turn her gaze to Kariya Matou, who was still watching the show from the side, hoping he would say a fair word or two.

"What Saber said... isn't entirely wrong."

Kariya Matou nodded helplessly. Although it sounded ridiculous, the facts seemed to be just that.

But who could have imagined that the difference between Saber's various forms would be so great, and how could there be a Noble Phantasm that could harm itself!

And why were the Command Spells delayed!

Maiya: ...

Seeing Mrs. Emiya's increasingly unfriendly gaze, Maiya silently apologized to Kiritsugu in her heart.

Meanwhile, Kiritsugu Emiya, who had already sat down on the sofa, suddenly felt a chill down his spine, as if he were about to eat Irisviel's cooking again.

Hiss!

Thinking of this analogy, Kiritsugu instinctively started to panic.

However, he quickly calmed down, even though his intuition had always been accurate.

This is an illusion, this is an illusion, this is an illusion...

Kiritsugu was trying to hypnotize himself...

There were many ways to replenish magic. One was natural recovery, which was normal mana regeneration.

Another was to use external items, such as Kaineth's three magic cores.

Of course, eating could also help! Although it was a small amount, if the ingredients were good enough, it could be quite substantial!

Looking at the sumptuous meal placed before Kiritsugu Emiya, he raised his chopsticks with a slight tremor.

Although Irisviel said she didn't make it, from Maiya's guilty look and Kariya Matou's pitying gaze, he had already gotten the correct answer.

Looking at the table full of delicious food, Kiritsugu Emiya thought it definitely wasn't made by one person, because there was too much!

From Kariya Matou's reluctance to sit at the table, it was clear he hadn't made it!

From Maiya's eyes...! Was she hinting at something!

"Irisviel~ I'm hungry too!"

At this moment, Fu Yuan swayed Irisviel's arm, speaking in a childish voice.

After receiving affirmation from Irisviel's motherly gaze.

Fu Yuan directly sat down about four seats away from Kiritsugu Emiya and quickly moved the dishes Maiya had made to his side.

Although he hesitated slightly, Fu Yuan still brought over a few plates of the dishes Irisviel had made.

Then

Senses shut down!

Kiritsugu Emiya had actually discovered Maiya's cooking before Fu Yuan, but his hands weren't fast enough!

Kiritsugu Emiya's eyes snapped open, his pupils contracting sharply. It wasn't just because of his own predicament, but also because Saber remained completely unfazed!

What a tough guy!

Kiritsugu Emiya looked at the food in front of him with a hint of melancholy, a faint sadness washing over him.

Kariya Matou had made an excuse about needing to sleep and returned to his room when Fu Yuan sat down at the table. However, his door was left half-open, with a dog's head occasionally peeking out.

ps. The following is a book recommendation. There's too much text, and not enough space in the author's notes.

"Our brethren raised their weapons, buying us time with their flesh and blood..."

"Knowledge, technology, time, faith, psionics, genes, sorcery, arcane arts, the void, dimensions, reality..."

"We have... everything."

"We are no longer weak, no longer lambs to the slaughter, but hungry wolves with sharpened teeth..."

"Reality is anchored, time is ours to command.

Our thoughts and consciousness belong to ourselves..."

Humanity fought its way out.

When they heard this news, the other races still engaged in chaotic battles paid it no mind.

What kind of waves could a race that was crippled in a previous battle, with only three percent remaining, possibly stir up?

But they soon couldn't laugh anymore.

Because humanity was still slaughtering.

They killed from east to west, from south to north, from reality to the void, from the past to the future, from low dimensions to high dimensions...

They arrived, and they destroyed everything.

They left, they moved on, and they continued to destroy.

They didn't converse, they didn't reconcile, they didn't make any unnecessary moves; they just destroyed, and destroyed again, repeating, and repeating.

Humanity, as a species fond of repetition, showed its prowess in this regard, manifesting it fully at this moment.

This was madness, utterly unlike human behavior, more like that of monsters or beasts.

But Jiang Cheng didn't care, and neither did they. The purest revenge, the most exhilarating slaughter, and the most extreme madness.

This was all they wanted.

Nothing was more fitting for them, who had become monsters, than death and destruction, and nothing was more fitting to commemorate the ninety-seven percent that was lost.

So the slaughter would continue, and destruction would flourish eternally.

Until this damned world was turned upside down, until the blood of those bastards ran dry, and they were driven out of everything they could observe, crying and begging for mercy.

They would never stop.

"It's too ridiculous, truly too ridiculous. That person who remained calm no matter how desperate the situation, who planned step by step, who never shed a tear even in the greatest pain, who didn't grieve even when his best friend died..."

"He was crushed by the approaching hope and happiness."

[He remembered, he remembered it all]

[The maddening past caught up to him, whispering constantly in his ear]

[Don't trust humanity]

[Again and again]

"I can't trust them... everything will go back to how it was..."

"I have to do something... something..."

"Right, right, right, right! I remembered, the Mind Network Node!"

"Humanity only needs one voice... we can't repeat the past... we can't..."

"I have to help them... I have to fulfill my promise... I can't let it repeat... I promised them..."

"I can't let them have individual will... I can't just let things be anymore... I'll do it... let me..."

He remembered it all.

He was born into light, but because he had walked in darkness for too long, he could no longer face the sun's brilliance.

He ultimately lived in the darkness of the past, never truly emerging from it, from beginning to end.

And the most ridiculous thing was that others could be filled with hope precisely because he played the role of the sun, shining dimly in the darkness, allowing them to adapt to that light and embrace tomorrow.

But...

Has anyone ever wondered where the sun of the person who played the sun...

...is located?

Jiang Cheng is Jiang Cheng, after all.

No matter how weak he was, no matter how broken down, he was still the Commander. Even if he was struck in his weakest spot, even if he was crushed by heavy hope... he was still Jiang Cheng.

His mind was a mess. The impact of overwhelming emotions warred with his own will. Fragmented memories surged, blurring the past and present into an indistinguishable haze.

He sensed his current dangerous state but couldn't end his own life. The Mind Network Node still required his operation. If he died here, everything he had achieved would vanish like smoke.

He was the Commander, immensely powerful, incredibly strong, omnipotent...

He... could do nothing.

No one could pull Jiang Cheng out of his immersion in the past, because he had already died there. The one alive now was the Commander born from darkness.

He was darkness itself, a vestige of the past entrusted to the future, a chimera formed from hope and promises.

Perhaps, in the deepest recesses, a sliver of the original Jiang Cheng remained. But who could say how much that sliver amounted to?

Yet, just as the situation worsened and everyone was at a loss, Jiang Cheng himself emerged, greeting everyone as usual, as if nothing had happened.

Or rather, he didn't remember.

[They could still tolerate this, after all, they understood the situation. Whether it was Jiang Cheng or the Commander, they had always followed your orders, believed in and supported you, and would go through fire and water for you.

[But they could not tolerate the future you envisioned at that time.]

[A future where the sky had already brightened, but your corpse still rotted in the quagmire of the past.]