Under the afterglow of the setting sun, in the slightly dim courtyard, Shirou Emiya's dark pupils stared without a ripple at the adorable silver-haired little loli before him. A sense of inexplicable guilt surged into his mind, which he knew was a sequela left behind after absorbing Archer's memories.
In Archer's memories, the past self who participated in the Fifth Holy Grail War once came here with Rin Tohsaka and witnessed Illya being killed by Gilgamesh and the small Holy Grail within her heart being taken away.
Afterwards, upon learning of Illya's identity, the Shirou Emiya of that time inevitably fell into self-blame. After all, no matter what, Illya could be considered his only remaining relative in this world, and she had died right before his eyes.
"Shirou Emiya, do you know everything?"
Opposite him, Illya looked at the boy holding a black short sword with completely dark pupils. Her adorable face revealed a complex expression filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment as she looked at him. In Illya's eyes, it was Shirou Emiya's appearance that stole Kiritsugu Emiya, stealing the fatherly love that belonged to her, leaving her always alone in this ancient castle.
It was precisely because of this that Illya brought Berserker to Shirou Emiya at the beginning of the Holy Grail War, this nominal younger brother of hers, wanting to kill him who had taken Kiritsugu Emiya away from her.
"Berserker, kill him!"
"Roar!"
Along with Heracles' roar, his massive body appeared before Shirou Emiya with completely unmatched speed. The giant stone blade in his hand, named 'Shootdown Hundred Heads,' smashed towards Shirou Emiya with a terrifying whistling sound.
Boom!
In the next second, the entire earth trembled. A huge explosion accompanied by shockwaves swept across the surroundings, and the dust raised obscured the figures of the two.
"The Twelve Labors, huh?"
As the dust settled, Shirou Emiya, standing on top of Shootdown Hundred Heads, looked expressionlessly at Heracles, whose chest had been pierced by several tentacles at some unknown time. Logically speaking, even a Heroic Spirit would die from such an injury that pierced through the heart.
However, Heracles on the opposite side was completely unaffected. At this moment, he was staring intently at Shirou Emiya, waving his large hand and directly tearing off the several tentacles in his chest. The penetrating wound on his chest began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Even the tentacles that attacked afterwards could no longer cause any damage to Heracles; they were completely immune.
This was the Noble Phantasm Heracles condensed after experiencing the legend of the Twelve Labors of the Gods in his lifetime, possessing the ability to transform his own body into hard armor, nullifying any damage including Rank B, whether it be magical or physical damage.
In addition, the Twelve Labors also granted Heracles the effect of bodily resurrection after death. Heracles simultaneously stored eleven lives within his body. If he could not be continuously killed twelve times in a row, then he would be invincible.
Furthermore, the Twelve Labors also had the ability to 'nullify attacks,' that is, to completely nullify an attack that had killed him once.
In addition, due to Illya, as the Small Holy Grail, having a massive amount of magical power within her body to supply him, if Heracles could not be continuously killed twelve times in a short period of time, then the lives consumed by being killed before would be replenished under the massive magical power.
Heracles plus Illya, the two were completely a cheat-like existence.
"Roar!"
Just as Shirou Emiya was thinking about the effects of Heracles' Noble Phantasm in his memories, Heracles, who had already broken free from his restraints, roared and slammed his huge palm into Shirou Emiya's body. The powerful force caused a stinging sensation to appear on Shirou Emiya's face just from the force of the punch alone.
In response, Shirou Emiya silently blocked the short sword in his hand in front of him. Although the two projected short swords shattered the moment he was hit, Shirou Emiya also used Heracles' strength to create distance.
"Projection, start!"
In mid-air, Shirou Emiya threw away the broken short sword in his hand. A huge blood-colored longbow appeared, and then the longbow was fully drawn and aimed at Heracles below. An arrow flew out instantly like a meteor.
Below, Heracles, who had just raised Shootdown Hundred Heads to block in front of him, suddenly changed his expression and raised the Shootdown Hundred Heads in his hand, unhesitatingly aiming it at the arrow flying from above and throwing it out.
In an instant, Shootdown Hundred Heads collided with the arrow. The arrow exploded in mid-air like a cannonball, and the scattered fragments flew around like bullets.
Bang!
In the next second, Heracles raised his hand and steadily caught the Shootdown Hundred Heads that flew back, easily swatting away the few fragments that flew towards Illya. As for the fragments that hit him, they didn't even leave a trace.
"Even in a berserk, irrational state, he still has such terrifying combat instincts?"
In mid-air, Shirou Emiya turned around and landed on the city wall, looking at Heracles below. Even though he had been completely berserked due to descending as a Berserker, although he had lost his reason and former martial arts, it had further enhanced Heracles' already terrifying combat instincts.
"However, he is just a rampaging beast after all."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shirou Emiya squatted down and jumped into mid-air, and Heracles' huge body slammed into the place where Shirou Emiya had just been standing. In the splashing rubble, Heracles raised his head to look at Shirou Emiya above and immediately followed him.
In the sky, a series of intense bursting sounds rang out. The stone blade and the longbow transformed into deadly weapons in the hands of the two, frantically launching attacks towards each other's bodies.
In just a few seconds, Shirou Emiya, who had already blocked Heracles' attacks countless times, suddenly changed his expression slightly. Compared to Heracles' instinctual and well-honed skills, he was still a little weaker.
Bang!
With just one oversight, the longbow in his hand was actually knocked away by Heracles, and Shootdown Hundred Heads swung towards his body. It was too late to project a weapon again.
Crack!
In the next second, the sound of bones breaking rang out. Shootdown Hundred Heads, which was more like a giant axe than a sharp blade, slammed heavily into Shirou Emiya's chest. In just an instant, Shirou Emiya's chest caved in, and even his back clearly bulged out.
Boom!
As Heracles exerted force again, Shirou Emiya, who had been hit by Shootdown Hundred Heads, was violently knocked away like a baseball and crashed heavily into the courtyard below.
"Cough cough, even in an irrational state, he's still so strong?"
Shirou Emiya, whose entire body was sunken into the ground and whose chest had clearly caved in, looked at Heracles, who had landed beside Illya. Just by seizing a slight mistake in the battle, he had directly caused a fatal injury to himself. What terrifying combat instincts.
"Shirou Emiya, you've lost."
At this time, Illya walked to Shirou Emiya and looked at Shirou Emiya, who was coughing up large mouthfuls of blood and whose chest had completely collapsed, and said that with such injuries, it was impossible for Shirou Emiya, as a human, to continue to survive.
With Heracles' strength, that blow just now was enough to shatter all of Shirou Emiya's bones and internal organs.
"Sister, I haven't lost yet."
Raising his head, Shirou Emiya, his mouth full of blood, smiled at Illya. At the same time, under Illya's incredulous gaze, Shirou Emiya struggled to stand up, his body like mud. Then, a large amount of black mud surged out of Shirou Emiya's body, beginning to repair him.
“Berserker!”
Seeing Shirou Emiya's appearance, Illya instantly felt something was wrong. She immediately retreated behind Heracles, ordering him to kill Shirou Emiya directly. This time, she wanted him to tear his body to pieces, to see how Shirou Emiya could recover then.
“Too late!”
Looking at Heracles rushing towards him, Shirou Emiya suddenly raised his hand and aimed it forward. Terrifying magical power began to gather, and a pure black Lake Sword appeared. Then, he slashed down.
Instantly, the pure black magical beam directly submerged Heracles' body, grazed Illya's body, and pierced through the castle behind her, until it cleaved a distant mountain peak in two. Only then did the black magical beam slowly dissipate.
“Five times, huh? Adding the previous one, you still have six chances.”
As the Lake Sword projected from his palm shattered, Shirou Emiya raised his head and looked at the huge blood-colored skeleton in front of him. Flesh and blood were rapidly regenerating on the skeleton. In the short time it took Shirou Emiya to speak, Heracles had already completely recovered.
That attack had instantly killed Heracles five times. Only after the fifth time did Heracles' reborn body become immune to the Lake Sword's attack. If it weren't for the Twelve Labors' ability to nullify attacks, that attack would have been enough to completely kill Heracles twelve times.
“Berserker, attack!”
Beside them, Illya, now realizing that Shirou Emiya had become completely different from before, also began to get anxious. She clenched her hands in front of her and shouted at Heracles.
“Roar!”
Hearing Illya's voice, Heracles roared madly, charging towards Shirou Emiya with a terrifying aura like a frenzied beast. The violent magical power even made Shirou Emiya's expression change slightly.
Subconsciously taking a step back, he began to construct magical power and insect-like creatures. The moment Heracles was about to touch him, two giant swords, nearly a hundred meters long, fell directly from above, smashing into Heracles.
“Senpai, be careful!”
Just when Shirou Emiya thought it was over, Sakura Matou's voice suddenly rang in his mind. At the same time, a large number of cracks appeared on the sword body in front of Shirou Emiya, and then the sword body exploded, revealing Heracles' violent figure in front of Shirou Emiya.
His ferocious face approached Shirou Emiya, and the scorching breath made Shirou Emiya feel a sense of suffocation. At this moment, facing Heracles head-on, Shirou Emiya clearly felt the opponent's powerful strength.
“Roar!”
The next second, Heracles grinned ferociously, his large hand directly grabbing Shirou Emiya's head. With a roar, he lifted Shirou Emiya's body like a sandbag, then slammed him heavily on the ground, then lifted him up again and slammed him down...
For a time, dust billowed throughout the courtyard. In the dust, one could vaguely see Heracles' violent figure constantly slamming Shirou Emiya's body onto the ground like a beast. In just a few seconds, the original ground had sunk dozens of centimeters.
“Roar!”
Suddenly, Heracles roared madly in the dust. The muscles in his arm holding Shirou Emiya's head bulged suddenly. With a burst of strength, he threw Shirou Emiya into the air, and then his tall body jumped up as well.
In mid-air, Heracles' left foot stood upright like a battle axe, his eyes fixed on Shirou Emiya's head.
With a roar, his raised left foot slammed heavily on Shirou Emiya's head with a shrill whistle. The two bodies crashed to the ground like meteorites. Under the terrifying force, the entire ground began to crack, and even the nearby castle began to collapse.
“Berserker?”
As the dust dissipated, Illya cautiously walked to Heracles' side, who was panting heavily, and carefully looked into the large pit in front of her. She saw that Shirou Emiya had turned into a pool of minced meat in the true sense of the word. Even his head had disappeared, and one could vaguely see only white liquid scattered on the ground.
“Is he dead?”
Looking at Shirou Emiya's headless corpse like mud, Illya hesitated for a few seconds before asking. Even now, Illya still had a feeling of unreality. After all, throughout the entire battle, she hadn't seen Shirou Emiya's Servant Saber. It was all Shirou Emiya, the Master, who was fighting.
“Wait, Servant!”
At this moment, Illya suddenly lowered her head and looked at her heart. If Shirou Emiya had really died, then Saber, his Servant, should also have retreated, and magical power should have flowed into the Lesser Grail in her heart, completing the final Holy Grail descent.
However, now Illya didn't feel any magical power flowing in. That meant either the Shirou Emiya in front of her wasn't dead yet, or there was another Master and Servant hiding in the dark.
“Roar!”
Suddenly, Heracles beside Illya roared, grabbed Illya, and jumped into the air. His eyes were fixed on Shirou Emiya below. Even now, without any reason and like a beast, he began to feel incredible.
He actually felt an aura similar to his own on Shirou Emiya.
“I almost died, that was close.”
At the same time, the Shirou Emiya who was originally like mud suddenly sat up. He made a sound even though he had no head. Then, flesh threads flew on his neck, and a complete head grew out again.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s the Twelve Labors, I analyzed Heracles' Noble Phantasm and reconstructed and copied it.”
Looking at Illya's incredulous face, Shirou Emiya said with a smile. Originally, this kind of thing was impossible for him when he was Archer, but now he was different. Even the Twelve Labors, which had mythological attributes, could be projected.
Although it couldn't compare to Heracles' original Twelve Labors, each projected Twelve Labors only had one life and didn't have the ability to nullify attacks. However, correspondingly, Shirou Emiya could project them infinitely as long as he had enough magical power.
It could be said to be a true immortal body.
“Now, the battle should end.”
Saying that, black chains appeared around Shirou Emiya, and a conical long sword was also held in his hand. These two things were Gilgamesh's Chains of Heaven and his strongest weapon, the Sword of Rupture, Ea.
“Illya, are you ready to accept your fate and become the vessel for the Holy Grail's descent?”
Holding the Sword of Rupture, Shirou Emiya raised his head and looked at Illya. In order to regain everything he had lost, he wouldn't show any mercy even to his sister in name.
However, Shirou Emiya didn't know that Lu Minghao was watching all of this with a happy face not far away. Originally, Archer's memories contained the truth about the Holy Grail, but Lu Minghao considered that this memory would hit his Master.
Therefore, he very considerately erased the memories about the truth of the Holy Grail from Archer's memories.
