The Aesthetics of Fingers Slowly Slipping Away

Lu Mingfei nodded, committing Emiya Shirou's instructions to memory.

"Then," Lu Mingfei pulled out the black crystal, "how do I use this thing? If I'm not mistaken, this should be what can take me home, right?"

Emiya Shirou smiled and took out an identical black crystal.

"Yes. We call it the 'Parting Black Crystal.' As long as you pay a certain amount of Runes, it can tear through space and take you back."

Only then did Lu Mingfei understand. So the thing in his hand was basically a pay-to-use "return crystal."

"And the Runes you pay increase as you grow stronger. The way I understand it, the stronger you become, the greater your mass, and the more Runes it costs to travel through space..."

Emiya Shirou spoke slowly.

"I get it."

Lu Mingfei nodded.

"Then how do I come back? Do I resurrect at a Site of Grace after I die?"

Emiya Shirou was startled and shook his head repeatedly.

"How could that be, Lu? If you die in your original world, then you're truly dead."

Afraid that his somewhat unreliable friend would get himself killed in his original world, he hurriedly explained.

"Our ability to resurrect only works here. In our own worlds, we're still ordinary humans, and many items can't be used due to differences in the laws of the world, such as the Flask."

"But the source of our power is the same. It won't disappear."

Lu Mingfei froze.

"Then how do I come back?"

Emiya Shirou explained.

"The Runes you pay each time are actually for a round-trip ticket. The 'Parting Black Crystal' has... well... a cooldown. Usually, after three to five days, it will recover its power. Then you can freely choose whether to return."

"Oh, oh."

Only then did Lu Mingfei fully understand.

"I have one last question. Brother Shirou, can the Tarnished Old Finger and Tarnished Summon Finger be used in the real world?"

Emiya Shirou nodded slowly.

"They can."

Lu Mingfei sat cross-legged beside the Site of Grace, pouring Runes into the black crystal. The joy in his heart was practically overflowing.

Suddenly, a familiar ripple reached him.

"We meet again, Tarnished."

Melina's figure slowly emerged amid the golden light of the Site of Grace.

"I'm sorry. I had actually been observing you all along, wondering whether you were truly guided by the Site of Grace...

"And whether you would step forward to challenge hardship.

"As it turned out, I had worried for nothing. From the very beginning, Torrent believed in you...

"I was not sincere enough.

"There is one matter in which I can guide you—

"The Roundtable Hold. It is where Tarnished who have received guidance—heroes, in other words—gather.

"I can take you there."

Melina spoke slowly in her ethereal voice.

Lu Mingfei was utterly confused. He had thought Melina had come to help send him home, so he merely nodded blankly.

"Then, please give me your hand. Just for a moment, let me touch you..."

Lu Mingfei obediently held out his hand.

The next second.

Under the girl's gaze, Lu Mingfei's hand vanished from her fingertips.

Another world, the Three Gorges.

Lu Mingfei opened his eyes.

Starlight poured down from overhead. As far as the eye could see, the sea was pitch-black—no islands, no land, only endless water.

He looked down at his feet.

A familiar white sailboat.

Then he raised his head and looked ahead.

A familiar... devil in a black suit and lace cravat.

This wasn't reality at all, damn it!

This was the little devil's illusory world, where Lu Mingfei had been before he left. He clearly remembered the very second before his departure: Lu Mingze had reached out and slapped Lu Mingfei's palm, saying, "The contract is established," and then he had lost consciousness.

Everything after that had happened in the Lands Between.

"Yo, brother," the handsome young man with golden eyes said with a smile. "Welcome back."

"I really came back."

Lu Mingfei looked up at the brilliant stars overhead, momentarily dazed.

Like a dream.

Day after day of fighting and struggle, blood and tears intertwined, always moving forward alone, and the friends he had met—Galle, Boc, the old knight...

Back in his original world, Lu Mingfei finally no longer had to keep his nerves taut. He no longer had to use "going home" to encourage himself onward. He no longer had to repeatedly force himself forward at the edge of collapse.

He let out a long breath, and his entire body relaxed at once. The range of his ever-active "Perception" shrank, and he no longer needed to keep a weapon close at hand at all times.

Lu Mingfei had often wondered how he would react when he returned.

Would he burst into tears, throw his head back and laugh, or silently weep...

Now, he only felt relieved.

I went there. I saw them. That was all.

Lu Mingze smiled as he watched the black-haired young man standing before him, his face calm.

Last time, he had been desperate and lonely. This time, he was still lonely, but he had grown accustomed to it.

Lu Mingfei quietly enjoyed the windless sea. After a long while, he finally turned his head, lava-like gold flowing through his eyes.

He stared at Lu Mingze and asked, word by word.

"So this... really had nothing to do with you?"

Though he had not said what matter he meant, both of them understood perfectly.

Lu Mingze shook his head.

"Brother, you are my precious client. I'm still counting on taking your soul after four transactions. A devil wouldn't do something so thankless and exhausting."

Lu Mingfei was not surprised. He had long decided that this had nothing to do with the little devil. He had merely asked in passing.

"You devils are well-informed... Do you know what exactly happened? Does that place really exist?"

Lu Mingfei asked.

Lu Mingze tilted his head.

"Customer, buying information from us devils has always come at a price. But since this was my failure, I'll tell you this time."

"What captured you was the power of the Stars."

"As for whether it was real..." He smiled meaningfully. "Brother, you already have the answer in your heart."

Lu Mingfei's pupils contracted slightly.

"The power of the Stars? What does that mean?"

Lu Mingze gave a soft laugh.

"The Stars do not refer to a specific existence, but rather... a kind of rule. Brother, you must know that there are many worlds between heaven and earth, like stars in the night.

"That place is one of them. So is this place."

Ripples suddenly spread across the sea. The starlight reflected in the water, turning into countless flickering points of light.

He snapped his fingers, and two distant points of light suddenly brightened.

"There are rules between worlds as well. If some supreme being comprehends such rules, they can transform them and make use of them... But I imagine more than one being is involved..."

Lu Mingze's voice suddenly became ethereal.

Lu Mingfei was completely lost.

"Could you explain that more clearly? What supreme being?"

Lu Mingze spread his hands and replied shamelessly.

"Stop asking, brother. I'm just a pitiful local devil. I don't have the authority for this kind of thing. I've already told you enough today. You should worry first about that red-haired girl outside, the one with a pierced chest, nearly ninety percent blood loss, and who's practically dead."

Lu Mingfei paused, then sighed.

"Nono is my friend. Of course I haven't forgotten her. Besides, didn't a quarter of my life get exchanged already? You wouldn't violate the contract, would you?"

"I have one last question."

"Are you... really a devil?"