Heroic Spirit Emiya and Sasuke Uchiha

Sasuke Uchiha remained expressionless, offering no reply as he continued to fix his Mangekyou Sharingan upon Archer.

Seeing this, Archer's expression held a hint of helplessness, though he leaned against the balcony railing with a relaxed air.

"Although summoning a Heroic Spirit requires a certain medium."

"Rin Tohsaka, however, had not prepared one."

"Consequently, she was convinced that the Servant she summoned had no connection to her whatsoever."

"Yet, it is impossible for a Heroic Spirit to be summoned by mere chance; there must be a bond between the summoner and the Heroic Spirit."

"And if no catalyst has been prepared."

"The summoned Heroic Spirit will manifest carrying a catalyst related to the summoner."

"That is how it works."

Archer's experiences from childhood until the Fifth Holy Grail War were identical to those of Shirou Emiya.

However, compared to the current Shirou Emiya, the Fifth Holy Grail War that Archer experienced in his life was a world where the conditions at the start were almost the same, yet something was missing.

And that missing piece was precisely Sasuke Uchiha and several other factors.

In any case, after the Holy Grail War concluded, the Shirou Emiya of that time and the surviving Rin Tohsaka formed a collaborative relationship and departed for London.

After studying magecraft at the Clock Tower for an unknown duration, he parted ways with Rin.

Leaving the Clock Tower, that version of Shirou Emiya became a freelance magus, operating in regions such as the Middle East.

Having experienced the Holy Grail War, Shirou Emiya trained himself incessantly.

Yet, Shirou Emiya, who merely chased the dream of becoming an ally of justice, soon fell into a desperate situation where his own power was insufficient to save humanity.

During one accident, a power plant entered a runaway state due to a core meltdown; some workers fled, while others intended to do their best to stop the core's operation.

Shirou Emiya headed toward the core wearing inadequate protective gear, his skin melting from the high heat, his face becoming slack and distorted.

No matter how one looked at it, the situation clearly indicated that Shirou Emiya would lose his life there; alone, no matter how hard he tried, he could not prevent the tragedy and the subsequent disaster.

Even so, Shirou Emiya still used magecraft to barely maintain his body's motor functions, reaching the control rods only to find he had reached his limit.

What followed was beyond human capability; without a considerable miracle, the disaster could not be contained.

At this moment, the Counter Force appeared, admonishing Shirou Emiya:

"Are you certain you wish to save the lives of those in this vicinity?"

"Clearly, with your current self, that is an impossible feat."

"However, if you wish to save them regardless..."

"It is not entirely without a way."

"Will you sign a contract?"

"Furthermore, concluding this contract will not heal your body; the only thing that can be changed is the lives of those people nearby—your own life cannot be changed."

"Your infected body will likely live for a few more years before dying in agony."

At the time, Shirou Emiya did not even consider the offer; he only wanted to save those people.

Thus, Shirou Emiya signed a contract with the Counter Force, selling his afterlife to the Counter Force at the cost of becoming a Counter Guardian, triggering a miracle known as salvation.

His hair turned white due to the magical backlash, and his skin tone shifted to a tanned hue as a result.

Forsaking himself to save the masses, a hero was born.

Yet, even though Shirou Emiya was called a hero, the things he did remained unchanged.

Originally, Shirou Emiya's goal was never to become a hero; it was simply that the process required the power of a hero regardless.

To save a minority, or rather, for the sake of justice, he threw himself into battle with the resolve of death despite his powerlessness.

He became a demon who sacrificed the few to save the many, discarding his humanity and emotions to execute indiscriminate judgment.

Because of this, not only criminals but even the people themselves feared Shirou Emiya, this executor of justice who acted not for personal gain.

In the end, he was framed by those he had saved, met a miserable end due to the betrayal of his companions, and was sent to the gallows as the culprit behind the strife.

Even so, Shirou Emiya accepted it all.

After his death, Shirou Emiya became a Heroic Spirit as the contract dictated.

Although he met his death due to betrayal, he harbored no hatred for humanity; yet, ironically, the position the world granted him as a Heroic Spirit was:

A Counter Guardian who manifests when humanity causes its own extinction, slaughtering all humans in that location.

The result was that his actions were no different from those in his life, and finally, he was worn thin in an endless cycle, leaving only regret behind.

Realizing that it was that immature ideal of justice that had led him into his predicament, Shirou Emiya directed his resentment toward his past self.

Shirou Emiya wanted to escape the cycle, but a Heroic Spirit and the person in life are different existences; merely rewriting the past could not erase the original body on the Throne of Heroes.

Therefore, Shirou Emiya wanted to use the contradiction of 'killing his past self with his own hands' to amplify the distortion, thereby causing the hero known as Shirou Emiya to vanish.

Everything mentioned above is the life of the Heroic Spirit Shirou Emiya, and thus, the Archer who now stands before Sasuke Uchiha.

Hearing these words, Sasuke Uchiha's expression remained almost entirely unmoved, his Mangekyou Sharingan gazing indifferently at Archer:

"So what?"

"Kill the current Shirou Emiya?"

"If you want to, that should be easy enough to accomplish."

"Besides, what does any of this..."

"Have to do with me?"

Leaning against the railing, Archer nodded in undeniable agreement:

"True."

"But compared to him..."

"Sasuke Uchiha, I find myself wanting to understand you more."

"If I miss this chance, who knows when the next one will come."

In his life, Archer, as Shirou Emiya, never encountered Sasuke Uchiha during the Holy Grail War that took place in Fuyuki.

He only met Sasuke Uchiha after becoming a Heroic Spirit.

For a Heroic Spirit to manifest in the world again, they must either respond to the summoning of the Holy Grail or be dispatched by the Counter Force to save the world.

Back then, the salvation mission assigned by the Counter Force.

Was to erase Sasuke Uchiha.

However, by the time Archer manifested, Sasuke Uchiha had already repelled countless Heroic Spirits.

Even Archer himself could not gain any advantage against Sasuke Uchiha and was ultimately forced to retreat.

But the Sasuke Uchiha from that time was different from the one Archer saw now.

What left a deep impression on Archer was Sasuke Uchiha's left eye.

At that time, only his right eye was a Mangekyou Sharingan, just as it was now.

His left eye, however, featured concentric circular patterns with six tomoe in the center of the pupil.

It was clearly an eye of a higher grade than the Mangekyou Sharingan; some Heroic Spirits could not even withstand the power of a single glance from him.

Because Archer had been eliminated too early, he did not know what the outcome had been.

But the person known as Sasuke Uchiha had been thoroughly etched into Archer's memory.

So much so that the moment Archer saw Sasuke Uchiha in this Holy Grail War, he immediately recalled everything that had happened back then.

However, Archer did not speak of these things.

It was not that Archer did not want to.

He simply could not.

Hearing that Archer was interested in him, Sasuke let out a cold sneer, his Mangekyou Sharingan shifting toward the corner of the rooftop:

"Archer."

"Compared to that, there might be something else more important for you right now."

Archer naturally noticed it as well.

Lancer was perched on the iron railing of the Fish Fresh House rooftop, a spear slung over one shoulder, waving a friendly greeting to Sasuke with his free hand.