Shirou's Return from the Fae Kingdom

Saber gripped the holy sword radiating golden light in both hands, a smile playing on her lips.

"Don't drag me down'... I'll return that phrase to you.

Demon Sword Wielder, if you can't keep up, just tell me. I'll help cover your share of the effort."

"Unnecessary worry. You should focus on yourself, Holy Sword Wielder."

Shirou and Saber, bickering all the way, simultaneously charged towards the countless monsters.

"------!"

Golden starlight and pitch-black aurora instantly illuminated the forest in the dark night.

"...So strong."

Irisviel watched their blood-soaked figures with wide eyes.

The holy sword and demon sword were unstoppable, like scythes cutting through grass, mowing down wave after wave of otherworldly monsters.

Hordes of tentacle monsters surged endlessly, only to be sliced down the moment they approached the two.

Having just fought these monsters herself, she knew clearly that these alien monsters were not enemies who were useless except for their numbers.

Full of vitality and magic, with a structure that resembled weapons more than living beings, their entire bodies were covered in deadly teeth and suckers. They were demons born to ravage humanity.

Yet, before the Holy Sword Wielder and Demon Sword Wielder, the monsters could only be the ones ravaged.

A few minutes later, the forest had transformed into a foul, muddy swamp.

They fell in swathes like harvested wheat. Piles of corpses and mountains of flesh mixed with scattered organs and bodily fluids, forming a chaotic scene more terrifying than hell.

The monsters' internal organs emitted a nauseating stench, simultaneously forming a deadly miasma. Any human without magical aptitude would likely die from their lungs rotting if they inhaled even a single breath.

By projecting "Excalibur Morgan" and using Lady Avalon's magic, Shirou received a tremendous boost in power.

However, he hadn't used "Dead Count Shapeshifter," his trump card. In terms of physical abilities, the current Shirou still had an unbridgeable gap with the three Knights.

Even so, Shirou, relying on his own swordsmanship and experience, displayed a battlefield presence that was in no way inferior to Saber's.

What was most shocking was their tacit coordination.

Despite this being their first time working together, and even their first conversation today, they acted like comrades who had fought side-by-side for many years.

Every movement, every covering action was fluid and seamless, as if they had rehearsed it beforehand.

To Irisviel, it was like watching the latest Hollywood action movie.

As for the two involved, they felt the tacit understanding even more keenly.

Beneath Shirou's bone mask.

Above Saber's dignified beauty.

Both wore subtle smiles of satisfaction and exhilaration from the comfortable and thrilling battle.

In just over ten minutes, they had eliminated over five hundred monsters.

Yet, the number of tentacles showed no sign of decreasing.

Even after fighting so fiercely, Artoria's beautiful visage remained completely unharmed.

Shirou's expression was hidden by his mask, but his steady breathing indicated he was also under no pressure.

Saber leaped back a step, her back against Shirou's, and spoke.

"Did you notice, Demon Sword Wielder? It's that Grimoire in Caster's hand.

As long as he holds that Grimoire, the monsters will increase endlessly."

Shirou nodded with a "Hmm."

Saber, while cutting down a monster lunging at Shirou's left, playfully curled her lips:

"It seems you didn't notice, Demon Sword Wielder."

Shirou swung his sword, bisecting a monster to Saber's right, and retorted stubbornly:

"It seems you're talking nonsense from exhaustion, Holy Sword Wielder."

Shirou had actually discovered the truth long ago.

In fact, the moment he saw Caster, he understood the principle.

Caster's Grimoire, made of human skin, was essentially a Mana Core.

Similar to the "Dead Count Shapeshifter" on Shirou's back, it not only stored immense magic power but also contained pre-programmed sorceries.

Caster himself didn't even use Magic; he relied entirely on this book to perform it.

Before this, he had opened a portal to another world in this forest through a ritualistic sacrifice.

As long as the Grimoire continuously provided the magic power to maintain the spatial rift, monsters could be summoned indefinitely.

This was the truth behind Caster's tireless, unending production of tentacles.

"Now that we know the secret behind the monsters' infinite reproduction, there's only one thing we can do."

Saber turned her head, her voice carrying a hint of provocation and anticipation as she spoke to Shirou.

"Since you're holding that sword, you should be able to do the same thing I can, right?"

Saber's words were vague, but Shirou immediately understood her intent.

"You clear the path of monsters, and I'll deliver the final blow to Caster."

Saber nodded. "Yes, let's do that. Show me your aurora again."

They didn't even need to exchange glances; their backs pressed together, they confirmed each other's thoughts.

"What are you two whispering about? Your final prayers?"

Caster stood about a hundred meters away from them, spewing taunts.

The opponent Shirou and Saber were currently fighting was arguably his Noble Phantasm, the "Tome of the R'lyeh (Prelati's Spellbook)," rather than himself.

Caster himself seemed like a spectator watching from a safe zone. He appeared relaxed, occasionally interjecting curses and taunts to provoke his enemies, and that was enough for his attacks to be considered delivered.

"Taste terror! Plunge into the abyss of despair!

You will be drowned and suffocated by these monsters without honor or glory!

This must be an immense humiliation for heroes!

Ah, ah... Now let your beautiful face contort in agony, Saint!"

"Unfortunately, I am not a hero."

"Unfortunately, I am not a saint either."

Shirou and Saber took a step forward almost simultaneously, and it was the Holy Sword Wielder, the girl, who unleashed her attack first.

"Gale Force Hammer (Strike Air)!!!"

Brilliant golden light erupted, and the gale that swept up from the sword compressed the surrounding air, forming a magic-infused shockwave that shot in a straight line towards Caster a hundred meters away.

Thousands of detestable monsters formed a wall of flesh between Saber and Caster, but they couldn't even react before they exploded and scattered before the slash-like wind impact.

In an instant, hundreds of tentacles were torn apart, but the "Gale Force Hammer" showed no sign of weakening, crushing Caster along with them—

But a multitude of giant tentacles suddenly erupted from the ground in front of Caster.

This was Gilles de Rais's preemptive defensive Magic. Of course, he wouldn't appear on the battlefield so defenselessly.

"—Bang!"

The tentacles, as thick as ancient trees, still couldn't stop Saber's wind slash.

Although they were pulverized and exploded, they served as a temporary shield, buying their master time to escape. Caster scrambled away from the range of the "Gale Force Hammer."

However—this was within Saber's "Instinct" as well.

From the beginning, she never expected to kill the seemingly mad but actually cunning Caster so easily.

It was enough to break through his defensive Magic.

The rest would be left to the person she trusted.

"Hah, hah, hah..."

Caster, bracing himself on his knees, relieved to have escaped, looked up to taunt them again, only to see the figure of the harbinger of death.

"Vile King—"

The air surged, and magic boiled.

Shirou raised his reversed Holy Sword and roared the name of Britain's tyrant with a calm fury.

"Hammer (Vortigern)----!!!"

The second impact, following "Gale Force Hammer," struck.

Though it was already night, a color darker than the night itself appeared.

It was a dark aurora that absorbed all light.

It ravaged the land and forests like the breath of an evil dragon ravaging the island, burning everything around it to scorched earth.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

Gilles de Rais screamed and disappeared into the light.

The evil dragon's breath continued through the forest, pierced the sky, and finally merged into the night.

When the dark light faded from everyone's sight.

All the otherworldly monsters turned into pools of blood, and the tentacle legion from before seemed to have never existed.

In the silent forest, only Caster, with most of his body burned, and the "Tome of the R'lyeh" lying on the ground remained.

"Eek... It's not over yet, I haven't saved Jeanne d'Arc yet..."

Perhaps it was due to absorbing enough life force from the Fuyuki citizens earlier, but Caster, with only his upper body remaining and even his Spirit Core shattered, was still not dead.

He crawled stubbornly towards the Grimoire.

Just before he could reach the "Tome of the R'lyeh," Shirou pinned Caster's hand to the ground with his sword. Then, instead of picking up the evil human-skin grimoire himself, he took it from the wailing Caster.

No matter how despicable Caster was in life, after death, he dissolved into beautiful golden dust and scattered in the wind.

When a Servant returns to the Throne of Heroes, their Noble Phantasm is also annihilated.

But, strangely, the "Tome of the R'lyeh" did not disappear.

Shirou's curiosity was piqued, and he decided to thoroughly study this peculiar grimoire.

"Let me see, what language is this... It's not English, I can't understand it at all...?"

"Hehe, that's Italian, you know?"

Shirou turned his head and saw Irisviel appear behind him with a smile. As she bent over, her long hair almost brushed his cheek.

"Can you read Italian?"

"Yep, are you interested in this book? I'll read it for you."

The silver-haired homunculus placed her hands on Shirou's shoulders and began to read the text.

It seemed to be a book detailing strange creatures from ancient times. The writing was obscure and exuded an inexplicable eeriness.

"Irisviel."

Saber approached with a displeased expression. "Are you two just going to stand here having a book club?"

After just surviving a deadly battle, these two were reading in a literal sea of corpses and blood. They had no sense, did they?

Looking at the displeased Servant, Irisviel covered her mouth. "Oh my, Saber, are you jealous?"

"Wh-what...!"

Saber glanced at the black-haired youth pressed close by Irisviel and retorted with a frown, "Why would I be jealous of you?"