Chapter 627

"... Utterly boring."

Alcides stopped jumping.

Faced with the nine arrows coming at him, he swung his great bow with all his might.

During his lifetime, Heracles honed his Martial Arts skills to perfection.

Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, etc...

He possesses aptitude for all classes except Assassin.

In other words, for Greek Heroes, anything could become a weapon in melee combat.

Whether it's the stone pillars of the temple or the bow itself used to shoot monsters, both can become the trigger for activating the "Nine Lives" skill.

As Alcides swung his bow, the Hydra was torn to pieces the instant it closed in.

"What? How boring... As expected, a phantom is no match for a real monster."

"The game is over."

Alcides said expressionlessly, staring at the goddess with an even more confused look than before.

Immediately afterwards, his physique began to change --

With his sinister traits becoming increasingly apparent, Alcides activated the Noble Phantasm he had stolen from Jack the Ripper, "From Hell, the Mist and the Dawn of London."

Although he resembles a demon in appearance, Jack the Ripper's "demonicization" is different from the demons that possess humans to commit evil in a religious sense; it is a power closer to that of Phantasmal Beast.

Alcides, who already possessed exceptional abilities, was able to unleash power far exceeding that of Jack the Ripper.

He radiated a murderous aura from his eyes.

Just as the rays were about to pierce through the goddess's jade body--

A brilliant rainbow of seven colors spread out from Ishtar's feet, blocking the demon's heat rays.

A huge black shadow then appeared behind Alcides.

"As a way of repaying me for showing you the Mediterranean Sea monster, how about I let you see my children?"

"▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇----!!"

Emerging from the ground, the Berserker Humbaba roared and swung her steel arms, slamming the completely demonized Alcides directly into the earth.

Ishtar wore a pleased expression.

At that moment, she had no idea that death was quietly approaching her.

Snowfield, valley area.

"... The war has begun."

The people in the El-Melloi Classroom sensed the battle between Alcides, Ishtar, and Humbaba.

However, they had no time to deal with that now, because the police representatives they had invited had already arrived.

The chief's adjutant, Bella Levitt, arrived with more than twenty officers.

At almost the same time, Shirou and his group arrived.

"Thank you... thank you."

Haruri shyly lifted off her Shirou by Shirou.

She really wanted to say that she could dismount on her own, but it felt so good to be held by Shirou that she decided against it.

On the other side, Tiné dismounted from her horse, while Hippolyta showed a somewhat regretful expression.

Just then, a loud female voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.

"Shirou ~~~~~~???"

A graceful figure in blue passed through the group of people who were talking and rushed into Shirou's arms.

"Lu... Luvia..."

Shirou was held tightly in her arms, and could only stiffly call out his name.

I was originally going to pretend I didn't know him...

"Shirou ~ It really is you~!"

"Hmm..."

It's huge.

This is not just a feeling of sexual harassment; it's genuinely huge.

It's not that Luvia has large breasts, although they are indeed very large...

But Shirou's first thought was that Luvia was older than he had expected.

Her large bust and mature aura were completely different from the Luvia (16 years old) that Shirou last saw in his memory.

So, she must be in her early twenties by now...

"Hey you two, how long are you planning to keep hugging?"

A discouraging comment came from the side.

Shirou turned around and, among the crowd watching him and Luvia, noticed a face that was both unfamiliar and strangely familiar.

"... Tohsaka."

As Shirou had predicted, Rin Tohsaka, now an adult, was indeed a beauty.

The change from pigtails to long, straight black hair gives off a fresh yet mature vibe.

The scene quickly shifts to a composition showing Rin Tohsaka arguing with Luvia, with Shirou caught in the middle.

Upon witnessing this scene, the students in the El-Melloi Classroom murmured in hushed tones.

"Is he that 'Shirou'?"

"So he was a real person!"

"I thought it was just an imaginary boyfriend that Rin and Luvia had imagined..."

"Not necessarily. Maybe they're just poor bystanders caught in the crossfire. After all, it's the kind of thing Rin and Luvia would do..."

The comments from the young Magecraft watching from the sidelines made Shirou frown.

Seeing Shirou's stunned expression, Rin Tohsaka smiled sweetly.

"Long time no see, Shirou... You're finally back."

Shirou: "..."

What does "Finally back" mean?

Normally, it can only be assumed that Rin Tohsaka mistook someone for someone else.

She was so careless that she couldn't even see the age difference and confused herself with "Shirou of this world".

But...

Why? Shirou always felt that she hadn't mistaken him for someone else, and that those words were indeed spoken to him.

Book 8: 391 Hippolyta, the Fallen Woman

Shirou wanted to ask Rin and Luvia what had happened in this world, but now was clearly not the right time.

The Magecraft in El-Melloi Classroom were like elementary school students on a field trip to the zoo, observing him as if he were a giant panda.

Rin Tohsaka and Luvia's attitudes toward her familiarity with him were also strange.

"Wouldn't it be better to act nonchalant and not show any confusion?" Shirou thought to himself.

Meanwhile, dozens of kilometers away in the factory area, the battle between Ishtar and Alcides became intense.

Explosions echoed continuously, and occasionally, large bursts of light could be seen illuminating the entire sky.

"They say they want to join forces, but what exactly do they want?"

Shirou gazed at the distant battle and asked a question.

Rin Tohsaka crossed her arms and said, "You're working with this self-proclaimed god, aren't you, Shirou?"

She glanced at Haruri out of the corner of her eye, who immediately became wary.

"Is that so? Mr. Shirou has already formed an alliance with the goddess."

Haruri shouted before Shirou could answer.

Upon hearing her declaration, the El-Melloi Classroom erupted in quiet murmurs once more.

"Really?"

"Have they already formed an alliance?"

We were a step too late?

"Hey, Tohsaka, this isn't what we agreed on."

"But Tohsaka and Luvia will be responsible for persuading him, right?"

Feeling somewhat offended to be discussed like this by someone he had just met, Shirou frowned in annoyance.

How rude of these guys... Waver, aren't you being too lenient with your students?

Luvia quickly interjected, "Shirou, our goal is to end this Snowfield Holy Grail War."

"Ah, I already heard about it from Rider on my way here."

Rin Tohsaka chimed in. "The being that calls itself 'God' is doing something outrageous..."

If she succeeds, Human History will come to an end.

"I know that, but we don't intend to go that far."

As he said this, Shirou looked westward towards Snowfield.

The area is now surrounded by an endless wall of clouds.

It's almost unbelievable that this scenery exists on Earth.

Accompanied by the roaring wind, a gigantic cloud wall, as if the end of the world had arrived, loomed over the sky, threatening to engulf the entire city.

If Gugalanna and Ishtar were to fully regain their peak power, destroying current human civilization would be an easy task.

Of course, Shirou wouldn't let that happen; he planned to reclaim it once Gugalanna fully manifested.

However, the Magecraft in El-Melloi Classroom might not believe him.

Shirou tells Rin Tohsaka that he can control the goddess's actions, and that he is willing to join forces with her, but the goddess cannot be targeted.

Rin Tohsaka nodded after hearing this: "Since Shirou says so—"

Even if you tell us to believe in that "god," there's absolutely no guarantee of that.

One of the students in El-Melloi Classroom interrupted.

Luvia frowned. "Shirou has already vouched for him, so we have no choice but to believe him."

"Even if you and Tohsaka choose to believe him, he's someone we've only just met. How could we possibly believe his words so easily?"

"That's right, and didn't he also have a Berserker Master with him? That girl has been with the goddess from the beginning, hasn't she?"

--Negotiations have reached a stalemate.

More than half of the students in El-Melloi Classroom shared the same thought; he was simply stating what everyone was thinking.

Then, it was Shirou who broke the silence.

"That's true. To you, I'm just someone you've met for the first time. It's only natural that you can't trust me."

"Shirou..."

Luvia's eyes lit up, as if to say, "I believe you!"

The person in El-Melloi Classroom frowned and asked, "What are you trying to say?"