It didn’t take long to clean the Archery Club. Shirou’s body seemed to know what to do, so he just went through the motions on autopilot. When he was finished, the sun was only just about to set. There were a few hours at least before the showdown between Lancer and Archer.
Shirou closed the Archery Club doors and settled down in a corner of the room, away from any windows.
If he wanted to get past the war alive, he needed to prepare a hand. There were far too many dead ends in the visual novel where things could go wrong. All of them were born from a lack of power, so he had to fix that.
“Trace on.”
Eyes closed, Shirou muttered that aria and used structural grasp on his own body.
At once, an image appeared in his mind. A faithful recreation of his body, highlighted with lines. A circuit of them appeared throughout his body, creating a closed loop. However, the lines were faint. If they had been lights, it was like their battery was on low, the verge of flickering out.
“So that’s the damaged and inactive circuits.” Shirou muttered.
Twenty seven. That was the number of the lines glowing throughout his body. However, each of them was faint and barely glowing with energy.
There was another light as well in addition to those lines. Instead of faint and flickering, this one was strong and pulsing. However, it glowed a deep red instead of a soft light green like the other lines. Staring at it, Shirou could instinctively sense that it was wrong. Not only that, but the line was directly along his spine.
“Ah.”
He realized it. The artificial magic circuit he made to use magecraft. The placeholder to offload the magical energy.
Dangerous. A single glance could tell him as much, even without the text popping up warning him.
It was dangerous. However, it was also powerful, considering that it was what allowed him to use the structural grasp at the moment.
But now that he realized his circuits, that could be fixed. Although it was metaphysical, the nature was analogous to circuitry in reality. From the memories that the man who became Emiya Shirou possessed, there were better ways to align them. The natural circuits were faint and damaged. Because of that, their capacity in serial was low. But parallelism could help. And with a network of artificial circuits…
Shirou focused. He analyzed the crimson line of his artificial circuit and then slowly began redirecting the flow of magical energy along other nerves than his spine. A slow spiderweb spread out, just like blood capillaries. That powerful crimson light also began to fade, along with his vision of his body. However, he could still see it, and he could also feel it in his body. A searing sensation like molten steel crept across his back and into his limbs.
Time passed for Shirou with intense focus. But finally, the crimson lines connected with his natural magic circuits. At once, the burning in his body vanished, replaced with a comfortable warmth. In addition, the vision that had faded snapped back into clarity. His body, once possessing only faint lights, was now aglow with magical energy, both crimson and emerald as the artificial and true magical circuits forged a powerful network of energy.
Shirou opened his eyes and let out a low breath. At the same time, he clenched and released his hands. “Passive reinforcement?” He muttered.
There was power in his body now that wasn’t there before. While he couldn’t test it quite yet, he could feel that he was much stronger. It was like he shed weights, his body feeling extraordinarily light. At the same time, his senses were clearer, sharper.
And just in time.
The sound of clashing steel echoed from nearby in the school courtyard.
“Time for the night of fate to begin.”
With those words spoken, Shirou got up and left the Archery Club, locking it behind him. At the same time, he made his way towards the sounds. Even as far as he was from the center, he could see the sparks flying through the air, the night being lit up by flashes of light from the clash.
Shirou slowly approached, careful to not make a sound. After reaching a trash bin, he ducked behind it to observe the battle.
There were two people fighting. One was a man with gray hair and a stern gaze. He wore a crimson coat and cloak over black form-fitting armor. In his hands, left and right, there was a pair of black and white curved swords. The other was a man with blue hair and form-fitting armor of the same color. He wielded a crimson spear and fought with ferocious blows.
Shirou knew the outcome of the fight, but still found himself drawn in.
The spearman continually disarmed the man in red and sought a lethal blow. Yet, before the crimson spear could inflict it, the man’s sword returned in a flash of light to parry the strike.
Calm and rational battle logic faced off with insanely skilled spearmanship.
Shirou sat there and soaked it all in. His mind whirred by watching the fight and countless ideas sprung into his head. At the same time, the form of the man’s blades and the spearman’s lance settled into his mind. Kanshou and Bakuya. Gae Bolg. Noble Phantasms, weapons reaching beyond humanity and into the realm of legend. Concepts crystallized into physical form.
Unconsciously, Shirou began projecting a version of the weapons. Conjectures and hypothesis were being tested at a mile a minute, and partial steel projected itself in his hands. But that was his downfall. When he tested converting Gae Bolg into a blade, the length of the projection clattered against the trash bin.
Instantly, the clashing steel came to a halt. A moment later, a voice boomed out. “Who’s there?!”
Shirou didn’t stick around. He instantly turned and ran. The way out of the school was through the front, but blocked out by Lancer, Archer, and Rin. That left the back of the school and the woods. But to get there, he’d need to get through the school first.
Wind blew past Shirou’s ears as he ran. He didn’t hear anyone chasing after him, but knew better than to stop. Even if he didn’t hear anything, Lancer would be following him. And with that man’s speed-
“Yo.”
A voice echoed from beside Shirou.
His eyes widened and he instantly pivoted. At the same time, he swung his bag at Lancer, hoping it served as a small diversion.
The heroic spirit batted the bag away, but it gave Shirou a brief second to react. With that, he leapt backwards to open up distance between him and Lancer.
The Servant stared at Shirou, a smirk on his face. “You’re pretty fast for a human. Surprisingly calm, too.” Lancer held out his hand and materialized Gae Bolg. “A pity that you got involved in something you shouldn’t have seen.”
A cold and mercenary act. The moment Gae Bolg appeared, Lancer had closed the gap, thrusting out with the crimson spear towards Shirou’s heart.
But he knew that. Following the trajectory of the spear as well as borrowing foreknowledge, Shirou dodged. He twisted his body at the last instant and then kicked forward to close the gap. Spears were fatal at range, but up close their effectiveness diminished. No, instead of diminishing, it became a detriment!
“Hah!” Shirou threw a punch at Lancer’s face.
“Hoh?” Lancer quickly spun his spear to parry Shirou’s punch. “You’re quick on your feet in more ways than one, huh?”
The force from the blow caused Shirou to spin. Yet, he wasn’t set sprawling. Maybe it was the aftermath of his connected circuits or observing Lancer’s movements, but he managed to borrow the momentum from spinning and threw a roundhouse kick.
The attack connected. However, because of the sheer physical difference between the Servant and Shirou, all it did was make Lancer shift to the side a bit.
Shirou’s eyes widened. He thought that his reinforcement would be enough to close the gap, but he was far too naïve about it.
Lancer stared at Shirou, an amused look on his face. “Pretty good kick. If I was an ordinary person, that might have got me. Unfortunately for you…” Lancer vanished, disappearing from Shirou’s eyes. In the next moment, the Servant’s voice echoed from behind Shirou. “…I’m not.”
A sharp pain in his chest, followed by a bloom of crimson blood as Gae Bolg pierced through his heart from behind.
“D-damn… it…”