Shirou gasped and tried to grab the spear. Before he could, Lancer pulled the weapon out.
Blood and bits of flesh scattered. At the same time, a deep chill settled in Shirou’s bones. But that didn’t last long. Soon, the feeling of countless needles piercing everywhere throughout his body emerged.
Shirou lost all strength in his body and collapsed on the floor.
He heard Lancer sigh and say, “Nothing personal, kid. Blame your bad luck.”
After that, Shirou heard a faint breeze. No doubt it was Lancer leaving.
Damn it.
Was this it? Was he going to die just like that?
No. He wasn’t.
Shirou forced his body to calm down and grasped the situation at hand.
His heart was ruptured and Gae Bolg’s curse was coursing through his veins. In his mind’s eye, he could see it in the form of crimson energy piercing throughout his body. But at the same time, something else was showing up to counter it. Tiny golden goblets of light.
Avalon.
He had lost a lot of blood, but he wasn’t dead yet. Even if his heart was gone, he could reconstruct it. That was the impression Shirou felt from seeing the wound. But the curse stopped him from doing anything. So the first course of action was erasing the curse.
Shirou focused his will on those golden lights. At the same time, he analyzed the nature of the curse.
Conclusion? He couldn’t get rid of it. It was too powerful and the golden lights were too weak. However… he didn’t necessarily need to get rid of the curse, did he?
There were three magics that Emiya Shirou excelled at: projection, reinforcement, and structural grasping.
Projection was out of the question at the moment, but the other two weren’t.
Slowly, painfully, Shirou focused on the crimson energy and willed his magic to bind it into his bones, his veins, his flesh, his blood, his very cells. Like carefully opening a bottle set to explode, he released the pressure from the energy and wove it into his very being.
Around the time he finished, a familiar female voice sounded from above him.
“Oh no. No, no, no. It can’t be.”
He couldn’t place it from the sound, but he knew who it had to be: Tohsaka Rin, the Second Owner of Fuyuki and Master of Archer.
“Hmph.” A cold masculine voice echoed. “Leave him be, Master. He was the one foolish enough to-“
“Shut up, Archer!” Rin’s sharp voice reverberated and the man’s voice cut out. In the next moment, Shirou felt a pair of hands gently turn him over onto his back. After that, a soft voice said, “It really is you. Stupid Emiya-kun…! Why didn’t you go home?”
“…So, Master. What are you planning to do? Lancer already took care of the witness, so are you going to dispose of the body?”
“I said shut up, Archer!”
Shirou heard his shirt being ripped apart. At the same time, a soft hand brushed against his chest.
“…He’s not dead yet. His heart is shredded, but we got here in time. If I reconstruct it, he should live.”
Shirou heard fabric shifting, and then something clinking in the air.
“You can’t be serious, Master. You’re going to waste that on him?”
“…Sakura is going to be sad if you never make it home, Emiya-kun. I won’t forgive you if you let that happen so…”
Rin trailed off.
At that point in time, Shirou’s consciousness faded. When it returned, there was a garnet gemstone in his right hand and a pool of dried blood beneath him. He let out a groan and then forced himself up. “Damn. That was a pain.” He muttered.
A quick structural grasp told him that his body was back to peak condition. Even better, in some aspects since he had assimilated Gae Bolg’s curse into his being. “Still, that Rin really is a softie, huh?”
He had mixed feelings about that. Still, there wasn’t time for it. First of all, he had to get rid of the blood stains…
===
After picking the lock to the supply closet and mopping up the crime scene of his death as well as picking up what remained of his bag after attacking Lancer with it, Shirou made his way back home. Up the mountain path, across the night streets… it was a good thing that it was so late. If anyone was around to see him, they would have called the cops.
The trek back inside the Emiya household went without a hitch. But he knew that it wouldn’t be that way for long. Lancer would be chasing after him soon enough to finish the job.
Then, before that happened, he needed a weapon. Something to fend off the Lancer.
Shirou stepped outside into the Emiya courtyard and made his way to the center. There, he closed his eyes to envision it. Something that could defeat Lancer or at least make him reconsider attacking.
Emiya Shirou’s projection… a six step process.
Judge the concept of creation.
Hypothesize the basic structure.
Duplicate the composition material.
Imitate the skill of its making.
Replicate the accumulated experience.
Bind the illusion into a blade.
The concept… it would have to be a sword.
The basic structure… a simple one-handed sword with a proper hilt.
The composition material… the concept of ‘unbreakable’. Adamantium.
Imitate the skill of its making… a blade trained by the heart alone. A reflection of Shirou’s being.
Replicate the accumulated experience… the combat techniques that Archer showed off, the footwork that Lancer possessed, a synthesis of their skills and the memories that Shirou recalled before becoming ‘Shirou’…
Bind the illusion into a blade.
Shirou opened his eyes and grasped at the handle of a sword yet to exist. The moment his fingers wrapped around the air, something solid formed.
It was a crimson sword. Simple and one-handed with a leather grip like Kanshou and Bakuya, but with a Western guard and double-edged blade.
Bells chimed, echoing through the empty courtyard. Barely a moment later, a breeze swept through the air and a presence emerged.
Shirou raised his sword and pointed it in front of him.
There, Lancer emerged. An amused smirk was on his face and he said, “Well I’ll be damned. Not often that I get to a kill a person twice in the same night. Or was the first death a fake-out?”
“You tell me. Did you really aim to kill, or was that last stab just a love tap?”
“Hoh? So the boy speaks after all. And here I thought you were one of those cold and silent types.” Lancer grinned and spun Gae Bolg around before settling in a combat stance. “Considering that you’re armed… ready for round two?”
“I dunno. Are you?”
Lancer laughed. “I like you kid. But.” His expression sobered up. “This is where your luck ends.”
Like before, Lancer vanished beneath Shirou’s gaze. No, it wasn’t that he vanished but that his speed was too fast for Shirou to track.
But he didn’t need to see Lancer to react.
Reversal of cause and effect. The curse embedded within Gae Bolg that prevented healing and doomed one to death. As a result of assimilating it inside his body…
“What?”
…Shirou only needed to think about dodging for it to happen.
Lancer’s thrust missed by a hair’s width. At the same time, an opening emerged in the Lancer’s guard. With that opening, Shirou slashed with his sword.
The Servant swept his spear up to parry. But-
“Too slow!”
The curse of causality triggered for Shirou. With the intent of ‘the attack will connect’, his sword blurred around Gae Bolg and pierced Lancer’s side.
Blood splattered against the ground and Lancer disengaged, opening up a gap between him and Shirou. Standing a distance away and clutching his bleeding side, Lancer stared at Shirou. “…That’s some unique magic you’ve got going on there. And here I was thinking you were just an exceptional fighter.”
Shirou raised his sword again and said, “Considering who I’m facing, I think a few tricks are more than in order.”
“Hoh? So you know who I am already, huh, kid?”
“Of course. With that damned curse of causality in your spear, how could I mistake you for anyone else, Cu Chulainn?”
“Tch. Well, I guess I should have seen that coming.” Lancer let out a feral grin. “Guess that just means I can’t mess around any more to silence you.”
Shirou didn’t respond. Instead, he focused his attention inwards for a brief moment, reinforcing his limbs and nervous system to better react. It wasn’t anywhere near enough to beat Lancer, not yet, but it should be enough to fend him off-
“Let’s see how long you last, kid!”