Chapter 597
"It's about time to begin."
Haruri looked in the direction Shirou was gazing.
He seemed to sense something, but the girl couldn't perceive anything.
We need to hurry.
Shirou hugged Haruri's waist and leaped dozens of meters in one step, arriving at the top floor of a building.
There, they saw a landscape unlike anything they had ever seen in modern civilization.
"Could that be Cerberus, the three-headed dog of hell...?"
The girl was dumbfounded.
A gigantic, three-headed monster, about the size of an adult Africa elephant, loomed on the road at night, its body shrouded in swaying, eerie blue mist.
Then, on the monster's back stood the figure of a man holding a giant bow.
"The three-headed dog is his familiar. Haruri, what do you think that guy is?"
The girl paused for a moment, then spoke her mind, "Archer? He's holding a bow."
"But Archer has already been confirmed as Gilgamesh."
"Huh? But... but...?"
"It's certain that his 'character' as Heroic Spirit won't be inferior to Gilgamesh's."
Shirou asserted.
Confronting the three-headed demon dog and its master were dozens of police officers in uniform, armed with melee weapons.
These police officers are also involved in the Holy Grail War...
Shirou immediately understood the situation, because the weapons these police officers carried were similar to Noble Phantasm.
The police officer spoke with the figure on Cerberus's back, but they seemed to have reached an agreement, and the black-clad Heroic Spirit launched an attack.
The arrow, released as a threat, pierced the asphalt and exploded, creating a small crater nearly ten meters wide.
Police officers standing nearby were caught in the blast, and several of them lost consciousness.
After that, the black-clad Heroic Spirit drew its bow—aiming at the hospital beside the road.
Could it be that an enemy Master is hiding in that hospital? Shirou immediately thought.
To attack a hospital at night so stealthily, this guy is a demon as wicked as he looks.
Just as the black-clad Heroic Spirit attempted to attack the hospital, the police also launched an attack, throwing weapons at him.
"Tsk..."
The black-clad Heroic Spirit frowned.
What is Cerberus doing?
He had ordered his familiar to bite these people to death, but there was no sign of the police force's numbers decreasing.
No, it actually feels like it has increased.
"... Hmm?"
The black-clad Heroic Spirit noticed.
The number of police officers has indeed increased significantly since then.
To go further, Cerberus "did indeed work according to its master's instructions."
Its three large mouths were each holding several human bodies in their jaws, and even the dozen or so police officers pinning it down were still trying to resist.
Seeing this, the police seemed to realize that something was wrong.
"Hello, hello..."
"Who were those people who were eaten?"
Just as the Black Heroic Spirit frowned upon hearing the police officers' confused murmurs—
A dozen more policemen appeared before him and charged at Cerberus first.
Those people weren't carrying any weapons that resembled Noble Phantasm; they were just holding pistols and batons, and they were haphazardly challenging Cerberus.
They seemed to be vying to be eaten.
"How is this possible? What is going on...?"
Nothing is impossible.
Turning around at the voice coming from behind, he saw an ordinary-looking policeman standing there.
It seems that the police officers rushing towards the three-headed dog were all his clones.
As he gazed at the scene of countless clones like himself being devoured, he spoke with a maniacal laugh:
"I have always called myself a sinner from hell, a murderer with no way to atone for my sins."
"Let the hellhounds keep gnawing and tearing, that's just right."
As the imposter policeman spoke, his magical energy surged rapidly.
"The Noble Phantasm is about to be unleashed."
"Why?"
Upon hearing Shirou's words, Haruri immediately focused her attention and widened her eyes.
The next moment--
"The evil fog vanished with the dawn of London (From Hell)!!"
Jack the Ripper the Ripper has unleashed his Noble Phantasm.
Thus, a hellish scene unfolded between the hospital and the church.
The surrounding area was shrouded in thick fog, and the roadside trees had all turned into an unfamiliar blue-black plant.
The crater created by the black-clad Heroic Spirit is filled with crimson magma and emits highly toxic fumes.
Human-faced bats fluttered in the air, and flames resembling imps surrounded the traffic lights.
There were even hallucinations of buildings blackened by coal smoke, reminiscent of London's alleyways—
However, the Heroic Spirit atop Cerberus ignored the surrounding landscape that had transformed into a demonic realm, its eyes fixed intently on its enemy.
That thing was about five meters tall.
Blue-purple skin, jet-black wings, long arms that reach to the knees, and cold, gleaming claws.
Sharp, twisted horns and teeth protruded from the head, which resembled a skull transformed into Magical Beast.
Haruri had seen similar characters in all sorts of entertainment works.
"The truth about Jack the Ripper is that he was a demon from hell...!?"
That's just one explanation for the truth about Jack the Ripper.
While gazing down at the battlefield in the middle of the road from his elevated position, Shirou began his lecture on Heroic Spirit.
"The so-called Heroic Spirit are those whose Spirit Origin is altered by people's and the world's perceptions."
Like Vlad III, who was equated with vampires due to his terrifying legends, he also possessed vampire attributes and abilities after becoming Heroic Spirit.
Mr. Shirou's tone was as if he had actually met the Grand Duke of Romania... Haruri thought to herself.
"Jack the Ripper is probably more famous as a horror legend than Dracula, so it wouldn't be surprising if his Spirit Origin was mixed with something else."
The perpetrator in Whitechapel was a Scotland Yard policeman, which is why he was able to transform into the appearance of a policeman.
The doctor who killed the prostitutes was a misogynist, which is why he was able to transform into the appearance of a doctor.
For over a century, people have made numerous speculations about the existence of Jack the Ripper.
All those possibilities became a facet of the serial killer.
Is there any possibility that...?
Was Jack the Ripper lying in his provocative letter to the police? Was he truly a demon "from hell"?
Because of the legend Jack the Ripper, his Spirit Origin also gained the power to transform into a demon.
"This is ridiculous..." Haruri's mouth was half open.
"Heroic Spirit are such absurd beings," Shirou said with a smile.
The battle between the hellish demon and Cerberus was over in an instant.
The heat beam shot from Jack the Ripper's eye pierced through the demon dog's body.
Then he flapped his wings and flew over, slashing down with his claws and tearing the other to shreds.
With a deep "thud!", Cerberus collapsed to the ground and lay still.
"I'm going to be killed!" Haruri shouted.
Having killed Cerberus, Jack the Ripper the Ripper pressed his advantage, slamming the black Heroic Spirit on its back into the ground with a claw.
However, the black-clad Heroic Spirit did not panic in the slightest despite being cornered.
"Let me give you a compliment... What you've built is indeed valuable."
He used his free hand to grasp the demon's claw that had dug into his shoulder.
Jack the Ripper tried to pull his arm back—although he was several times the size of the Black Heroic Spirit, he was no match for him in a contest of strength.
The black-clad Heroic Spirit seized the demon's claw and spoke.
"Using 'Nine Lives' to fight them is possible, but... your power isn't just about taking down worthless things."
"...?"
"Nameless killer, you have value to be taken, so I will reverently usurp your rights."
"Reincarnation Pandora: The Reincarnation Pandora!!"
What exactly happened?
What followed was beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.
Jack the Ripper reverted to his police officer form, while the Black Heroic Spirit transformed into a demon.
Just as he solemnly declared, he rightfully seized Jack the Ripper's Noble Phantasm.
"..."
Haruri Polzak, who witnessed everything from beginning to end, could only describe her feelings as shock.
He accepted a deal with someone in order to seek revenge and participated in the Holy Grail War.
Only today have I finally begun to understand, even slightly, the ritual I participated in.
In this battlefield filled with nothing but madmen and monsters, how could a shallow little girl like myself possibly win?
She remembered what Shirou had said a few minutes earlier.
The resolve for revenge...
Do I have such a thing?
All I have is a frivolous attitude of self-abandonment; that kind of thing can't be considered enlightenment.
Haruri looked at the boy beside her and noticed that he also looked very surprised.
"It's Heracles...!?"
Having abandoned the dignity of a hero and the power of a demigod, the dark demon raised his bow.
Faced with Jack the Ripper, who possessed a thousand faces, the Black Heroic Spirit achieved an overwhelming victory.
Just as he was about to execute his defeated foe, who had taken everything from him, a magical gust of wind swept across the road.