Heracles's arrow seemed to have been remarkably effective.
"Julian, did you see that? This is our strength. Let me advise you—surrender while you still can. Back then, Sakura and I took on all eight of you by ourselves. Now you're all alone, while we've got a whole group here. You're challenging me alone, so I'm giving you the chance to surrender. That's generous enough, isn't it?" Shirou shouted.
The ice around Darius was removed. His expression was extremely ugly, as though he had never expected Shirou to possess such means.
"I'll give you three seconds. If you still don't say anything, I'll have Heracles keep firing Stella until you do! Three, two, one...!"
"Shirou Emiya, do you think this little trick can do anything to me? A new Age of Gods is about to arrive through my efforts. Can you smell the True Ether in the air?" Darius was furious, but he barely restrained himself as he shouted back at Shirou. Clearly, Heracles's arrows had frightened him somewhat.
"What new Age of Gods? Read and dismissed—utter nonsense. The Age of Gods belongs in history, not the modern age. If some damned god shows up in the modern era, I'll personally beat it back. If you create a new Age of Gods, I'll shove it right back down."
Though he said that, Shirou still remembered the term that had come out of the other man's mouth.
True Ether?
"Lord El-Melloi II, what is True Ether?"
Lord El-Melloi II lit another cigarette. This had already become his trademark gesture.
"True Ether is the magical energy of the Age of Gods. I truly hadn't expected it—so what maintains Fuyuki's Magic Concentration isn't anything else, but True Ether?" Lord El-Melloi II analyzed briefly. "Returning to the Age of Gods, or creating a new one—that