[200] Heroic Spirits

"Servant—?"

The Dead Apostle, Colin Kidd, couldn't believe it. "Isn't he just a manga artist? How could he become a Servant? No... that feeling, it's definitely a Servant! But... what on earth is happening?"

It wasn't just the Dead Apostle; Diarmuid also looked surprised.

The person in front of them... transformed into a Heroic Spirit in the midst of the battle?

"Huff..." Kazuya also let out a breath, gripping his own hands tightly. Surrendering his body without resistance to someone else's control was a first for him.

"Let me go, I'm not a battle maniac." The Heroic Spirit spoke in Kazuya's mind. "It's not bad to take a little rest during this time. So, I'll leave the fighting to you as a bit of repayment."

"Do you... have memories?"

Kazuya thought, and two knives appeared between his hands.

One black and one white.

Kanshou and Bakuya.

"Ah, yes... Although I don't know much about others, every time, I carry a portion of my own memories. The rest is probably within the Throne of Heroes. So, my memories at any time are never exceptional, nor unexpected. Having all my memories... ah, this is probably an issue with the Boundary Record."

Kazuya knew this term.

Boundary Record.

That was another name for the Throne of Heroes.

Why do Heroic Spirits have various powers? How can they manifest the powers from legends? Even... abilities that don't belong to them originally get added to them.

Because... they are, in essence, data.

Since they are data, they can be modified...

Everyone exists within the Boundary Record, but after a certain period, they get deleted...

Because—even the saved data loses its value.

And those with saved value, without a doubt, are the heroes of human history, the Heroic Spirits.

The weak Heroic Spirits are probably unconscious, while the powerful Heroic Spirits... even though they are just data, possess a sense of self, power, and even if it is suppressible, a power that cannot be easily tampered with, a power that cannot be shaken even by human history.

"Do you have such experiences in your memories?"

"Yes, although I don't know what exactly happened, in my current memories, there have been three instances where my memories were experienced in parallel worlds. So, naturally, that means... well, the actual number of times probably exceeds three. Why? Are you curious?"

"Of course, very curious." Kazuya looked at Diarmuid, who took advantage of this time to tear off a part of his clothes to bind the wound on his severed leg, saying, "Tell me after we finish our battle—! Forceful curse words, I remember it should be pronounced like this?"

"Iam the Bone of my Sword——"

Boom!

A red flame covered the world.

The next moment, what appeared was a sword-filled wasteland.

This was the reality marble known as "Unlimited Blade Works."

The ground turned into a wasteland, with swords of all kinds piercing the earth. All of them were projections of the red Heroic Spirit. On the backside of the boundary were gears.

The presence within this reality marble was lightened.

Kazuya looked around carefully, but still couldn't find Lancer's Master.

He had no idea where that guy was hiding.

"Lancer, Diarmuid. Let yourselves die in this Unlimited Blade Works—"

"Huff..." Taking a deep breath, Diarmuid picked up his own spear with both hands. "Come!"

"Of course, but before that, there's a question. Do you know where your Master is?" Kazuya asked, activating his Stand ability. Whether he knew or not, the answer could be confirmed in an instant.

"Sorry, I don't know where my Master is. Even if I knew, I wouldn't say it in front of you, right?"

"I see." Kazuya nodded, extending his hand. The next moment, countless swords rose from the ground.

He could confirm that Lancer was telling the truth, that he genuinely didn't know where his Master was located. That Master was indeed cautious enough not to let even his own Servant know his whereabouts. "Well then... say it again. Die in this Unlimited Blade Works—"

The next moment—

A black rain of swords, covering the sky, enveloped Diarmuid.

For the first time, Kazuya attempted this.

Unlike before, where he just watched, now, he personally experienced controlling this countless rain of swords!

Treasured swords, magic swords, sharp swords, divine swords, demonic blades, famous swords, sharp blades, dull knives—

Everything was shooting towards the red Heroic Spirit holding dual guns!

The yellow spear resisted, and the red spear shattered.

Because of the severed leg, his movements were restricted. Because he wasn't a complete Lancer, his stats had decreased.

But—his bravery hadn't diminished a bit!

The red spear swept through, breaking all the sword blades that came into contact with it, regardless of what they were—

Gáe Dearg: Crimson Rose of Exorcism!

The effect was simple, making magecraft ineffective.

And, while the yellow spear resisted, before it could destroy all the swords—

Swish!

Swish!

Even with only one leg, he couldn't stop his movements.

Then, he threw the yellow spear in his hand towards Kazuya—

Clang!

"Take this! This is my last move! Gae Dearg——"

Ignoring the swords, Lancer let the rain of swords pierce him. In the end, he threw the red spear from his hand towards Kazuya—

Piercing through everything in its path, all the swords near that spear disappeared.

Then...

Right when it was about to reach Kazuya—

The spear...

Disappeared.

"Truly... regrettable." Diarmuid said. Slowly fading away as countless swords pierced him, sparks of light appeared around his body.

He was about to disappear... he was going back to the Throne of Heroes.

Even with a sense of regret.

There was no sense of failure...

Perhaps, this was what he wanted.

His Master was a Dead Apostle, doing things that went against his sense of justice.

And his purpose... before being summoned, he had sworn to be loyal to his new liege no matter what.

Two conflicting things...

Right now, it was all coming to an end.

In this loyal battle, he met his end at the request of his defeated Master...

This was the most fitting conclusion for him.

"If... next time, I hope... to be summoned as a true Servant... I also want..."

Before he could finish speaking, he had completely disappeared.

But... Kazuya knew what he wanted to say...

"That's what you call a hero..."

"Boring hero plot. However, using the reality marble like this greatly consumes my existence time, although I don't really mind. Was it worth it?"

"Of course." Kazuya smiled with a red face, waved his hand, and the reality marble disappeared. "Although opening the reality marble did not suck in that Dead Apostle who knows if he's nearby... but, heroes must have a death worthy of heroes. I personally like these dramatic things."

"As you wish."

Kazuya looked around and jumped onto a building a few times. "Well... even so, I can't find that Dead Apostle... it seems like he really ran far away... I don't know if there will be another chance."

Let's leave this place for now...

Kazuya thought.

After all, this was London, where the Clock Tower was located. With such strong magical fluctuations, it might attract someone. It's better to run away quickly.

"By the way... take this time to tell me about your impressions of the Throne of Heroes."

"Although I want to say it doesn't matter, there's not much to say about it."

"Just say whatever, it's just to pass the time—"

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