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MP : 45 Different Paths
🕑 Added 2024-10-28 16:00:03 +0000 UTC"That's really impressive..."
"What are you referring to?"
"The development of events is truly unexpected. After all, even a man like that can ultimately find his own wishes. However..." The Count smiled knowingly, subtly indicating Kotomine Kirei.
"You can probably guess, but Emiya Kiritsugu's will has likely been shaken."
"In the current situation, it's not just Assassin; you've already lost Saber's valuable combat strength as well."
The Count clearly analyzed Amakusa Shirou's current predicament.
"What should we do next? Are we going to face both Lancer and Rider at the same time? That would just be self-destruction."
Hearing this, Amakusa did not respond immediately; he simply gazed up at the cross above, continuing his silent prayer.
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom comes, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
"Amen."
The cold moonlight shone through the skylight, illuminating Amakusa Shirou.
The silvery light brightened the entire area beneath his feet, appearing as holy and bright as the heavens, and he stood within this celestial staircase.
"…"
Noticing his silence, the Count did not press further. He raised a finger to conjure a flame and lit a cigarette for himself.
It doesn't matter...
This guy surely has other tricks up his sleeve, but those have nothing to do with me.
There's no need for me to get involved; I can just watch quietly.
"It can begin now..."
Amakusa Shirou said quietly, then slowly rose to look at the Count standing behind him.
"Sorry, Avenger, but I may need to leave first."
"Leave?"
The Count was taken aback for a moment but quickly guessed his plan.
"Are you going to take your own life?"
"Well, you could understand it that way, but I'd prefer to call it martyrdom." Amakusa Shirou smiled wryly.
"Martyr?"
"Hahaha... this truly suits your name." The Count grinned, his golden eyes revealing a hint of surprise.
"But can you really do it? You should be very aware of what kind of hell awaits you. Are you really going to use your will to fight against that evil? Can you win?"
"I will win; I must win. As long as I can achieve salvation, it doesn't matter if I fall into hell..."
"But you're right. If an ordinary soul enters, even a Servant will ultimately be swallowed by that evil."
"Even so, you still intend to enter?"
"This is not something that can be remedied by mere human awareness. You should know better than I... what lies within can even erode the self."
It is precisely because he understands humanity's malice that he seeks to save the world.
For Amakusa Shirou, he is more aware than anyone of the malice accumulated within.
But for that very reason, he must go...
"Yes, I certainly understand how far the accumulated evil can reach. I can roughly guess the scenes inside the Holy Grail; it has likely reached a level that can erode a Servant's will. However, there is always an exception... there is something that absolutely cannot be eroded."
"You mean?"
Amakusa Shirou took out a yellowed Bible from his bosom, smiling, "That would be the soul of a saint. The soul of a saint is a pure existence that no evil can corrupt; it can even purify all the world's evil and inscribe his will upon it."
"And what I must do now is to become a saint!"
Smiling as he spoke, Amakusa Shirou drew his katana and without hesitation, stabbed it into his chest.
Thud
This was the sound of the blade piercing flesh.
A splash of crimson ran down his body, staining the carpet beneath him.
"Ugh... this really hurts a bit."
Amakusa Shirou chuckled, then with his last ounce of strength began to unleash his Noble Phantasm.
His arms began to shimmer with different lights.
Dark magical energy surged in his right arm;
Bright magical energy surged in his left arm;
"Right Arm - Evil Eater; Left Arm - Xanadu Matrix"
Amakusa Shirou softly released his Noble Phantasm, as two spheres of energy... one light and one dark... began to compress continuously, eventually merging into his body.
These two lights, which had once summoned miracles for the followers walking a difficult path, transformed into a Noble Phantasm. It was the Almighty Key that could connect with any Thaumaturgy Foundations and thus utilize any type of magecraft.
Now, he would connect it with the Greater Grail, the ley lines of Fuyuki City, and finally with his own soul.
What he needed to do next was to eliminate the excess will from his soul, leaving only the purest desire for salvation, allowing his soul to reach the expected purity.
Only when an absolute good far surpassing that malice appeared could humanity be saved.
"Then, let the correction begin!!"
With a fierce shout, the magic circuits on his body began to operate wildly, and pale blue patterns instantly spread across every part of him.
Fiery magical power and terrifying corrective force gradually converged towards his brain.
"O merciful Lord, my life is in your hands; my faith is with you..."
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name; may your kingdom come to earth... "
He was a saint unrecognized by the world, a tragic saint that only existed in the Amakusa style.
Even among the faithful, those who knew his true name or acknowledged his merits were few and far between.
He believed he could not compare to those truly noble saints.
During the Shimabara Rebellion, he had stepped into hell, failed to save everything, and could not reverse the tragedy; he was not worthy of being called a saint.
Yet, despite all this, even being misunderstood by the world and unacknowledged by society, he still harbored the long-standing wish to save humanity.
For him, it did not matter if he would not be understood or recognized; it was unimportant even if no one knew of him, for he would now be with the Lord.
"Amen!!"
As the final prayer fell, the spheres of light and dark energy continued to compress, flowing along his magic circuits into his brain, and the Command Seals on his arms began to shine brightly.
[In the name of all the Command Seals in this body, I command you, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada... become a saint!]
Even as he experienced the pain of his soul being torn apart, Amakusa Shirou felt a sense of tranquility; his mind began to empty, and the once-obsessive desires seemed to vanish in that moment.
He seemed to see once again the most original version of himself, the purest version of himself.
"Hey, Amakusa, what are you still doing here? Everyone has been waiting for you for a long time." In a daze, he felt someone poke at the corner of his clothing. When he came to his senses, he saw those familiar faces.
Have you all come to take me…?
"Sorry, I kept you waiting."
He slowly closed his eyes and then stopped breathing, falling into a deep sleep within the church.
He would not wake again.
Along with him, that noble soul also rose and returned to the Holy Grail.
If realizing his long-standing wish required someone to bleed, then he would not hesitate to make that sacrifice.
Such a guy...
Watching the gradually dissipating spiritual particles, the King of the Cavern exhaled a puff of smoke. The cigarette he had between his index and middle fingers had burned down to nothing.
"From the moment you decided to sacrifice yourself, you have become a true saint, a saint that belongs only to you..."
…
At Fuyuki City Station.
Tokiomi Tohsaka, who had already arranged for the subsequent matters, was waiting with his wife and daughter for the last train to Tokyo.
Now, he had changed out of the red suit he had always worn, replacing it with a set of ordinary casual clothes. The sternness and tension that had once marked his face were gone, replaced by a gentle expression as he looked at his wife and daughter.
His eldest daughter, Rin Tohsaka, suddenly tugged at his sleeve, a bit puzzled, and asked, "Father, why did you suddenly take us on a trip? School hasn't even broken up yet."
Tokiomi rubbed Rin's little head and leaned down to comfort her softly, "Don't worry, Rin, I've already arranged for your time off. This time, our family is going to Tokyo for a while. What's wrong, Rin? Aren't you happy to travel with Sakura and Mother and Father?"
"Happy!" Rin immediately replied, then took Sakura's hand and began joyfully running around.
Watching his lively eldest daughter made Tokiomi smile as well.
"Tokiomi..." Aoi Tohsaka looked at her husband with some concern.
Although she didn't know what was happening, she could sense that something was off.
First, Tokiomi had arranged for her and their daughter to stay somewhere else, and then Kariya had written her a farewell letter, saying he was going on a long trip.
But she still felt uneasy.
When she tried calling Kariya again, she found that no one was picking up anymore.
Now her husband seemed like a different person, no longer as reserved as usual, and he had chosen to take her and their daughters on a trip like an ordinary family.
These anomalies made her feel uneasy; she was genuinely afraid.
"Don't worry, Aoi. Go spend some time with Sakura and Rin; I'll be back soon."
Tokiomi patted his wife's hand to reassure her and then slowly rose, walking around the corner of the station. A young man with blonde hair leaning casually against the wall shot him a cold glance.
Gilgamesh coldly questioned, "Tokiomi, do you know what you've done?"
"Of course, my king."
Tokiomi sighed, a mix of resignation and relief in his smile. "I lost the Command Seals, chose to give up the Holy Grail, and abandoned the Tohsaka family's long-standing wish..."
"I'm sorry, Archer, no, the great King of Heroes, Gilgamesh. I deeply regret the things that happened before."
"What are you referring to?" Gilgamesh stared at the distinctly different Tokiomi.
"My king, I believe you've already noticed. My respect for you wasn't genuine; it was merely to curry favor for your power. Or rather, from the beginning, I've only viewed you as a tool."
"My original plan was to wait until I obtained the Holy Grail using you, then immediately activate the three Command Seals to force you out."
Tokiomi admitted this quite candidly, surprising even Gilgamesh.
"I didn't expect you to say that, Tokiomi. Aren't you afraid I might kill you? You don't even have Command Seals anymore."
That's right; Tokiomi's deception had been clear to him from the very start.
It was simply a matter of being enthralled by his own power, using him to achieve his goals. To Gilgamesh, Tokiomi was merely an uncontrollable tool.
But what was going on with this guy now? Such a significant change had occurred in such a short time...
It was unpleasant, very unpleasant. This feeling of being abandoned made him quite upset.
Especially during this period of his life.
"It doesn't matter anymore. I've completely lost." Tokiomi shook his head slightly, a bitter smile on his face.
"Once I lost to someone I could never defeat, I lost all my pride and qualifications to continue participating in the Holy Grail War. Perhaps it's true what he said, I'm not a qualified magus, nor a qualified father."
"As for long-standing wishes, I believe future generations will do far better than I have, after all, isn't it the nature of magus to rely on continuous inheritance…"
'Can you truly take up and let go?'
'I see, I see. It turns out this is the enlightenment that comes after experiencing loss.'
This feeling made him vaguely resonate with it.
If his older self had seen Tokiomi's change, he would have surely empathized.
In a daze, he seemed to see the figure on the throne that was still striving earnestly.
"Fuhahahahaha... so this is your choice, Tokiomi Tohsaka. Not bad, not bad. Though foolish, the result is satisfactory to me."
Recalling himself, Gilgamesh suddenly burst into laughter.
"Humans truly only cherish what they have after experiencing loss, but once they let go, they feel exceptionally light. It's not too late for you to understand this now."
"Be grateful, you encountered me during this period. Had it been the former me, you'd probably already be dead."
"Face your choices properly. My contract with you ends here..."
It was precisely because he had seen so much ugliness that he felt disappointed with the world... but at this moment, he saw a faint light.
Even humanity didn't seem entirely hopeless; he was gradually beginning to understand why he would become that way in the future.
Loneliness ages people; arrogance leads to destruction.
So-called enlightenment and growth likely refer to this sort of thing.
"My king… I appreciate your generosity. Although I have lost my Master, with the three Command Seals and the class of Archer, I believe you can still reach the end of this Holy Grail War."
"Hmph! Of course. Do you think who I am? If I hadn't seen your initial pretense, I would have ended this boring game on the first night."
"However, it's not too late to end it now. It's up to you to decide, Tokiomi."
Gilgamesh snorted coldly, then his body transformed into spiritual particles and disappeared, leaving Tokiomi standing in place, breathing a sigh of relief.
"What a stubborn king..."
