20 Chapter 19: Clash of Courts

Godou thought that Shirou had been angry the first time they had met.

He was dead wrong. Shirou had only been irritated.

The danger that Godou felt that day was a candle to the inferno that he now sensed.

While Godou was paralyzed in fear, both of the European prodigies were massively readjusting their mental images of Shirou Emiya.

Erica had thought that Shirou was the type who always kept his cool, never letting his emotions interfere.

Liliana had heard bits and pieces from Voban's grumblings about Shirou and thought that he was soft. The power Shirou was giving off clearly contradicted that assumption. Not to mention what the younger sister of the 5th Campione said and demonstrated. She had chosen to follow Voban believing that there wouldn't be anything that could stop him, hoping she could limit the damages. She never imagined that the 5th Campione would stand squarely in Voban's path.

"Then remind me,"Voban said as he gestured, causing more wolves and Dead Servants to appear and charge at Shirou.

All of Shirou's court except Illya appeared and confronted the subjects of the 1st Campione.

Both the Italian mages could only feel their jaws drop without being able to raise them.

Saber was cutting through Dead Servants and wolves with ease using a red sword.

Rin was smashing the divine beasts and shades with black orbs that appeared in her hands.

Sakura was cleaving through the wolves and specters with what could only be described as black lines.

Rider's chain pierced and slew anything in her path.

The battle lasted under a minute and ended with Voban's servants being crushed without so much as scratching any of Shirou's court. Shirou spoke after the last wolf was smashed by Rin.

"I said that the next time you attempted anything like this, I wouldn't be as gentle as I was that day, Voban."

Voban seemed to reflect on the words, then spoke, "I can no longer call upon those Dead Servants you destroyed. You've completely severed them from my authority. How did you do it?"

"Your Undead Servant authority was taken from the god Osiris. In the legends, Osiris was killed by his brother Set and cut into tiny pieces. Set is the god of the red land, the desert. The weapons my court are using were made using iron with red sand from Egypt mixed in. It wasn't easy to do but this allows their weapons and magic channeled through them to be treated as an extension of Set when exposed to Osiris's power. When the souls of the Dead Servants are severed from your authority, they naturally go to the afterlife they would have been sent to if they weren't entrapped by your authority in the first place. Your authority can't recover them from there."

If their jaws could open any further, then Erica's and Liliana's would have. Everyone was shocked but only Erica and Liliana realized what such an act meant. It was believed that Voban's death would be the only thing that would free a Dead Servant. Yet the 5th did it without even using an authority. He did it in a way that theoretically anyone could. He beat an authority without even using magic.

The words Illya said earlier rang through their heads once more. All of their former beliefs were shaken and both realized that one of the unconfirmed rumors about the 5th might just be true.

To be specific, the rumor was that the 5th Campione was the favorite child of Pandora and could contact her at will. That was the only thing that they could believe that would allow for this.