Chapter 2

As gravity compressed the air within the area, emitting a dull explosive sound, and the terrifying pressure wantonly ravaged the narrow, confined corridor, countless crisp sword hums suddenly resounded across the battlefield.

"My heart is like iron, my heart is like glass—"

The world before him, accompanied by an inexplicable chant, gradually disintegrated. Welt frowned, and just as he was about to retreat, he found that the world behind him had also begun to crumble. Sword blades, whose forms were indistinguishable, began to chaotically block his escape route.

"Space... has been replaced? No, this is... similar to constructing a world bubble?!"

"My forged swords have reached over a thousand—"

"Unbeaten across countless battlefields—"

"Knowing no beginning, nor knowing any end————……"

The narrow, confined corridor of the space station completely vanished, replaced by a desolate snowfield. Upon this snowfield, countless sword blades gradually appeared. In the next moment, with the sound of metal being heavily struck echoing across the snowfield, the still somewhat blurry world completely solidified, constructing a real "new world" before Welt's eyes.

"Therefore, I am forged by 'Unlimited Blade Works'————!"

As the chanting finally concluded, Welt slightly raised his head, looking towards the youth standing amidst a mountain of blades and sea of swords on the hill in the snowfield ahead. He stood on the lonely snowfield sword hill, holding two dual blades, one black and one white, pointing in his direction from afar. A faint smile on his face, as if sensing his gaze, he suddenly laughed heartily, "Herrscher of Reason, are your weapon reserves sufficient?!"

Chapter 003: Friend or Foe, Choose! (3/4)

The world of swords, As far as the eye could see, it was a world filled with countless blades and swords.

They were casually left on the ground, piled up like discarded parts in a junkyard.

However, even though these swords were treated so carelessly, they were not inferior scrap metal.

Welt's gaze swept over these millions of swords. As a former Herrscher of Reason, although he had lost his Herrscher Core, his past discernment abilities were retained.

Every sword blade that existed here was not something ordinary people were qualified to wield. If placed in the Middle Ages, all the swords here would have possessed the qualifications to become famous swords. And in Honkai's armament classification, there were even hundreds of swords that could reach the rank of Gods' Seat.

And such swords were now casually discarded on this snowfield sword hill, just like ordinary swords. Welt could hardly imagine how terrifying an armed force could be organized with these countless swords scattered across the snowfield.

"Weapon reserves?"

Old Yang chuckled upon hearing this undisguised declaration of war, a hint of excitement appearing in his eyes after a long absence.

"I certainly can't pretend I didn't hear that."

Although for a long time he had used "Star of Eden" as a means of dealing with enemies, in reality, as a former Herrscher of Reason, Welt Yang's true strength was not merely controlling gravity like some inferior replica. His true power, from beginning to end, was "Understanding" and "Creation."

"Then let's play a little."

Hearing Welt's response, the youth on the sword hill let out a hearty laugh, then charged forward like a rushing gale. Following closely behind him, hundreds and thousands of swords soared from the ground, protecting him, "As you wish! Titan Legion————! Construct————!"

With the burst of Imaginary energy, hundreds of mechs dozens of meters tall appeared without warning behind this former Herrscher of Reason. They were the culmination of Anti-Entropy's technological crystallization, and each Titan robot possessed destructive power comparable to a Temple-grade Honkai Beast.

"Charge————!"

As the command fell, the spine-chilling engines started almost simultaneously, completing their initial startup at maximum efficiency. The combat AI, already programmed, immediately locked onto the charging enemies.

"Annihilate target! Confirmed————!"

"Beam Weapon, lock————!"

"Homing Beam, fire————!"

Beam weapons seemed to be the main combat armament of these Titan Legions. Shirou Emiya quickly began constructing defensive Noble Phantasms as he glanced at the beams shooting towards him, "Seven Rings of Heavenly Domination————!"

Layers of illusory lotus shields manifested in an instant, like a moving city wall, blocking those beam weapons while also allowing Shirou Emiya to continue his assault towards Welt's location without obstruction.

As weapons, the greatest advantage of swords is not simply treating them as thrown objects.

It is the threat they pose to people at close range.

Beyond seven steps, the spear is fast.

Within seven steps, the spear is accurate and fast.

But...

What if it's less than three steps away?

The answer is...

"Crane Wing Drop!"

At a distance of only ten steps from Welt, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye in Shirou Emiya's hand were suddenly thrown out, locking onto Welt within the Titan Legion. Witnessing the black and white dual blades flying towards him, Welt simply smiled, moving two or three steps to the side, concealing himself behind the Titans.

But as he moved, the sword blades suspended to Shirou's left and right and in the sky suddenly shot out. Hundreds and thousands of streams of light, like speeding comets, crashed down from mid-air.

If they were ordinary swords, at most it would be like a volley of arrows. But what gathered here were not ordinary swords; among them were famous demonic swords and holy swords from history. Even without the boost of legendary status from their homeland, the inherent quality of these holy swords and demonic swords was extraordinary, even products forged with techniques related to mythology.

Spiral Sword.

Red Dog of the Plains.

Gram.

Hrognir.

These weapons, originally existing only in the myths and epics of ancient demigod heroes, were all replicated by Emiya, who resided in the Throne of Heroes. When he communed with the man on the Throne of Heroes, he gained "everything" belonging to Shirou Emiya, the guardian of Alaya. He even transcended the constraints of space-time concepts, replicating not only himself but also the "Nameless," "Muramasa," and "Alter" versions of Shirou Emiya.

The swords that rained down from the sky, like meteorites, continuously bombarded the Titan Legion where Welt was hiding. Conventional thermal and kinetic energy could not inflict much damage on the Titan mechs.

Under the onslaught of these demonic and holy swords, they possessed almost no ability to resist, as if being easily cut by scissors. In just one exchange, dozens of Titan mechs were reduced to wreckage, completely devoid of any operational function.

"...Quite peculiar Imaginary energy."

Welt, having retreated to a safe zone, observed the "strange energy" covering the "sword artifacts." While undoubtedly "Imaginary energy," its constituent elements were not solely "Imaginary energy." If anything, it bore a slight resemblance to the "Honkai Energy" from his homeland, with other elements mixed in. Although its purity was slightly inferior, it possessed other characteristics.

"A new energy composition that replaces Honkai Energy?"

"Does it grant greater adaptability to artifacts?"

Raising his hand, Welt controlled the Star of Eden to shoot down all the attacking black and white dual swords. He then leaped onto the head of a Titan mech, looking once more at the man who had annihilated nearly half of his Titan Legion in mere breaths. He slowly spoke, "While this arms race is somewhat interesting, I don't have much time to play with you right now, so... we need to settle this."

"I don't think it'll be that easy to decide, Mr. Welt, who likes doing sit-ups."

Meeting the gaze of the Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy, who seemed prepared to fight with all his might, Shirou Emiya replied with a light chuckle, "You're too much of a rogue. You even survived that place called the Sea of Quantum after losing your Herrscher Core. I don't want to get on your bad side."

"Your Star of Eden's Zero Nominal Power Release can create a pseudo-black hole. Frankly, I can't withstand attacks like black holes. However... if I slightly alter the settings within this Imaginary Territory of mine to make the Imaginary energy inert, we can probably sit down and have a good chat."

"Now, allow me to borrow some words from an old acquaintance you've met before..."

"Friend or foe, choose!"

Chapter 004: Please, you must join our team. (4/4)

"... Was that your objective from the start?"

In the space filled with inert Imaginary energy, Mr. Welt sat down somewhat helplessly, honestly waiting with Shirou for the time limit of this "World Bubble" to expire in the snowy plains.

To be honest, he hadn't expected this guy to resort to such a cheap tactic.

When he first transferred the main battlefield to the interior of this strange "World Bubble," he hadn't noticed anything. Although the efficiency of Imaginary energy usage had decreased, it didn't significantly impact his combat capabilities.

After all...

He had a considerable amount of Imaginary energy to draw upon at that time. It wasn't until he was provoked and created the Titan Legion in one go that Welt belatedly realized he had been tricked.

He had used his ultimate move, depleted his mana, and this person had also restricted his mana regeneration.

What could he do?

Welt looked at the staff in his hand, then at the famous swords and blades scattered across the battlefield, and abandoned the idea of revealing his hidden hand-to-hand combat skills.

He was getting old, and it wasn't suitable for him to spar with the younger generation, was it?

"Can you tell me now what you plan to do with that child?"

Welt stared at Shirou and asked, "Your objective has been achieved. Can you answer my question now?"

"Sure, but answering your questions comes at a different price. Teacher Yang, I'm actually very interested in the profession of Nameless."

"I'll introduce you to Himeko later."

"Good brother, I knew I wasn't wrong about you."

Hearing the man's erratic way of addressing him, Welt helplessly patted his forehead. However, he gained a piece of useful information from the man's words.

If one of his objectives was to join the Astral Express...

Then March 7th and the others should not encounter too much danger.

"The reason I held you back was to give a Doomsday Beast ample time to get acquainted with the other members of the train crew."

"Asta is a member of the same organization as me. The Stellaron Hunters... I assume Mr. Welt is no stranger to them."

Although the universe contained vast and boundless intelligent planets, and countless organizations and groups were born like flowing water, in terms of sheer fame, most organizations that made a name for themselves in this corner of the universe had some connection to beings like the "Aeons."

For example, the Xianzhou and "Lan," the Abundance followers and "Yaoshi," the Genius Society and "Fuli," the IPC and "Klippers."

Whether directly or indirectly, any group with even a slight connection to an Aeon was qualified to raise their banner in the universe.

The Nameless of the Astral Express were the same. Even though the "Aeon of Preservation" had gone missing or even perished, the entire universe had not forgotten His great deeds. When the Nameless appeared on the "planets" connected by the stellar tracks, they were, in the vast majority of cases, treated as honored guests.

Of course, This excluded some remote planets that were not "connected to the internet."

As for the Stellaron Hunters, many people knew that the traces of the "King of Nothing" existed behind them. Furthermore, many of their members were "interstellar fugitives" listed on the IPC's bounty boards. Although they couldn't compare to the notorious destructive pawns like the Destruction Gang, they were still a notorious organization.

"A slave to fate, Acheron's script, is that it?"

Having heard a little about the operational logic of the Stellaron Hunters, Welt slowly narrowed his eyes.

"Why would he arrange a script for you and Stelle to join the Astral Express?"

"How can a mere extra like me speculate on the director's intentions?"

Shirou Emiya waved his hand with a smile. There were some things he couldn't say too openly. After holding back the old man Welt, Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng would have their joining the Astral Express practically guaranteed after overcoming the trial of the Doomsday Beast. By then, this old man probably wouldn't forcefully object.

"That child's memories have been wiped clean. While some impressions of us remain, they're essentially a blank slate. What kind of picture and colors will eventually be drawn upon that slate depends on the members of your train crew and everything she will experience from now on."

"And I, Mr. Welt, possess an ability that neither you, nor Himeko, nor even Pomeranian can refuse."

"What ability?"

"The ability to recharge the train, to give you a chance to return home. What do you think that ability is, Mr. Welt?"

Upon hearing this, the old man was stunned. After a moment of silence, he suddenly grabbed Shirou Emiya's hands and said with great enthusiasm, "Please, you must join our team."

"Shirou Emiya, that name sounds like a natural-born Nameless."

"...You can call me by my nickname, Redp."

"Wonderful, truly wonderful! An auspicious meaning of pioneering washes over me. You are destined for this path of pioneering."

"Excellent! I've drifted for half my life, regretting not finding a clear organization. If you don't despise me, I wish to pledge myself as..."

"Alright, alright, enough clowning around. Your background, kid, seems a bit too complicated."

"The key is that you, old man, understood it all. Quack! Is this the power of fifty years of surfing the web? Truly powerful, so powerful!"

As the two bantered, the maintenance limit of the Imaginary Territory was reached. After all, very little "Mana" was allocated for the Imaginary Territory's operation beforehand. Perhaps it was due to a connection between the two worlds, but after arriving in this universe, even though he hadn't immediately stepped onto a Path, Shirou Emiya could still barely manipulate the Imaginary energy that permeated every inch of space.

This was because that so-called Imaginary energy seemed to be Great Source Mana (Divine Era Aether).

By using a small amount of "Lesser Source Mana (Odo)" to leverage the nearly infinite "Great Source Mana (Mana)", Shirou Emiya, who was originally just a small fry under this starry sky, instantly gained the capital to contend with some powerhouses.

"It seems your script is complete."