41 - Blessed by the Father

"Sorry Cassie, but you should have known that I couldn't allow myself to lose."

The blind oracle's face was red, as all the mental fortitude she had built up for when she met Shirou again was utterly and completely shattered.

Wha-what does he mean by saying that he wants to "gobble me up"?! Is he being serious, or is he just joking?

She used her Aspect to look at Shirou through Sunny's eyes. His face was entirely blank, with not a hint of humor.

Does he see me that way? Why else would he be staring at me so intently?

————————————————————

Shirou watched in confusion as Cassie fell to the ground. It seems that her bravado from earlier was simply a one time thing.

Thank goodness.

Shirou was glad that one of his favorite pastimes hadn't been ruined.

All it took was for him to describe some random things he had heard people say to their significant others, and it seemed to have been enough.

He heard a knock on his door, which was then opened by Nephis.

…Isn't this my house?

Shirou watched as Kai and Effie entered the room. He kept his eyes out for any sudden movements from the barbarian. He didn't know if she'll accidentally end up punching a hole through a wall.

Said barbarian immediately ran up to him, and almost broke his back with how hard she had hit it.

He looked up at her as if she was the most abnormal being Shirou had ever met, and completely ignored her as he walked towards Kai.

"Wha- I'm right here, Metal Brain!"

"That's why I'm walking away. Hey, Kai. I'll have to insult you if my little sister appears, so don't take it personally."

Kai nodded somberly, as if he has experienced something like this before.

"I understand. It's good to have you back, Shirou."

Shirou looked back towards Effie, and pointed at the piles of food he had set up. She immediately leapt towards the food, and started to absolutely devour her consumables.

He picked up Cassie, and tossed her into his room. His bed would be much more comfortable than the floor after all. Effie seemed to be quite curious about what happened, as they all sat around the table.

"What happened to Cassie?"

"She couldn't handle this sharp tongue of mine."

Everyone in the room stopped moving. They all slowly turned their heads towards Shirou. Even Nephis had caught onto the double meaning. Sunny was the first to speak.

"…Shirou, you do know that what you just said can be taken the wrong way, right?"

"Right or wrong, it can be taken however one wants."

Shirou felt that he had made a philosophical statement. Unfortunately, nobody else in the room would agree.

"That makes it even worse!"

"What I am trying to say, Sunny, is that if Cassie wants it, she can get it."

"Do you mind explaining what this 'it' is?!"

"Well, it's all up to your imagination, I guess."

Shirou was much too tired to think about what he was saying, so he simply kept eating while replying to Sunny in a dry tone. Effie's laughter resounded through the room, causing Shirou to scold her.

"My little sister is sleeping. Stop making so much noise, or else I'll kick you out."

Effie completely ignored his warnings as she started to lecture him on how to use his words.

"I know you're inexperienced Metal Brain, but you should at least know that those types of words can be taken sexually."

"Huh? What do you mean inexperienced?"

Sunny and Nephis glanced at each other, sensing the chaos that was about to occur.

"I mean that since you're still young, you probably haven't ever gotten that far with a girl."

"Oh, that's what you mean. Actually, I did get that far."

Kai and Effie froze. Not because they were confused, but rather, they were more worried than anything else. Kai started to do some math aloud.

"If you're sixteen right now, and it has been two years since you got sent to the Dream Realm… fourteen at most?!"

He quickly snapped his head towards Shirou.

"…How old was the girl, Shirou?"

The boy in question was completely detached from the conversation, simply answering questions while he ate.

I'm getting pretty sleepy, considering I just woke up after two years.

"Huh? She was in her thirties."

Everybody went silent. They seemed completely horrified at this reveal. Sunny and Nephis had no idea that the age gap was this wide. The heir of death decided to speak first.

"Shirou. I'm almost one hundred percent sure that you were taken advantage of. Especially since it's a Saint, and you wouldn't be able to resist."

Effie shouted in disbelief.

"It's a Saint?!"

Shirou's brow twitched.

"Didn't I tell you to be quiet?"

Shirou yawned, as he looked towards Sunny.

"Speaking of Saints, how fast do you think that you can get one to anchor me to wherever you guys are at?"

"…Don't change the subject."

"Uh… what was it again?"

"About the Saint you slept with."

"Oh, Artoria? Well, she's actually a Supreme, but only sometimes."

"…You seriously got turned into a Sovereigns boytoy?!"

"What's a Sovereign? Also, I was on top, so please stop asking about this…"

Shirou yawned again.

The four other Masters looked at each other for a while. Nephis decided that she should inform him.

"You should probably know, since you're already being scouted."

"Huh? By who?"

"Well, everyone wants you. You'll probably be on the news soon, since you just woke up."

"…Sunny, did I actually become famous?"

Lost From Light sighed in exasperation.

"Yeah."

Nephis tried to get back to the original topic.

"Actually, one of the great clans in particular is extremely interested in you because of your Aspect. They don't know that it's Divine, but they definitely believe that you have one of the best weapon-based Aspects."

Shirou was surprised to hear that Nephis knew about his Aspect rank.

"Did Sunny tell you about our Aspects?"

"Yes. I also have a Divine Aspect."

…What type of unfair lineup is this?!

"Anyways, Clan Valor will try to do anything to bring you into the clan. Mainly through marriage, as they would want to bring your genetics into the bloodline."

Huh?

"Wait. What do you mean 'marriage'?"

"They'll probably offer up one of the woman in the clan to become your wife. If they value your Aspect that much, it will probably be the current heir."

…Selective breeding?! With humans?! In this day and age?!

Nephis continued.

"Currently, there are three Great Clans. Two of them are led by a Sovereign. Ki Song for the Song clan, and Anvil for Valor. The third one is Asterion, but he isn't attached to any clan. They have conquered the Fourth Nightmare."

"…For real?"

Sunny was the one who answered.

"For real real. We were actually negotiating with the princess of Valor before you woke up. For some reason, she seemed to want to avoid you. Probably some sort of strategy to recruit you."

What a coincidence.

Shirou sighed at the utter info dump that he just had to accept into his cranium. Suddenly, there were modern day Supremes, princesses to worry about, and a whole lot of politics.

My life used to be so much simpler. Kill the Nightmare Creature and save the person in danger. Now I have to worry about marriage proposals.

"Well, it's not like I have to accept, right?"

"If you don't affiliate with any faction, they'll never give you a chance to become a Saint. They don't want Saints that they can't control after all."

…Now that's an issue. I'll have to borrow something of your's, old man.

"…How much power do you think a lesser clan would have?"

"Not much, as they would be tied to or absorbed by a Great Clan."

"…What if it was the Emiya Clan?"

They all looked towards Shirou in confusion. Nephis curiously asked:

"The clan has been dissolved for ten years, so it wouldn't really be an option. However, in a hypothetical scenario, it would have enough influence to stand alone. If it still existed, and you had joined it, they would feel threatened by Chronos Rose. He is the perfect killer after all. Not even a Sovereign would be completely safe."

Shirou smirked at his genius. He held up his bottle of soda out.

"Well, in that case, let's have a toast."

Sunny blinked.

"Uh… why exactly are we toasting?"

Shirou yawned for a few seconds.

"Ah. You see Sunny, today is the day of the revival of the Emiya Clan. With me as it's head of course, but they don't need to know that."

It took a few moments for the cohort to comprehend what he had just said. Sunny caught on first, as he suddenly started to frantically look around, sending his shadows out to scour the mansion.

"Oh! Don't worry Sunny, the old man died a couple of years back. He had a pretty nasty flaw. You know, he's kind of like you, but less crazy, and way smarter."

Sunny slowly turned towards Shirou, complete horror on his face.

"…Chronos Rose is… your dad?"

"Yep."

"…How the hell did he create an idiot like you?"

"Rude. And he didn't. I'm adopted."

Kai suddenly realized something, as he asked Shirou something.

"Wait. If Chronos Rose is dead, how would he be able to protect you from the Great Clans?"

"Well, they don't know that."

"…Huh?"

Shirou leaned on his fist.

"They don't know anything about him. Whether he's dead or alive. His real name. All personal information about him doesn't exist. All that is known is his Clan, his True Name, and the fact that he's killed Saints without any trouble. They also know that his Aspect is speed related, which will be useful for what I'm going to do."

Shirou sighed as he kept drinking his orange juice.

"The point is, they have no reason to believe he's dead. They wouldn't know my father and Chronos Rose are the same person. All I have to do is say that I'm the heir of the Clan, and I have ways to prove it. Once I tell them that the old man is Chronos Rose, they'll immediately assume that the dead body is just a fake. It would be weird for a Saint to die in such a mundane way. Especially since he was pretty young."

Shirou yawned once more.

"Basically, the Great Clans will assume that he's alive, and will have no way to figure out that he's dead. They won't be able to connect the dead body with their image of Chronos Rose, and they would never get the chance to see him since he is so elusive."

The room went silent for around an entire minute.

Huh? Was there an issue with my plan?

Sunny started to slowly clap, complete admiration on his face.

"…Is there something wrong?"

"No. In fact, everything is just so, so right! That was one of the simplest, yet greatest manipulation schemes I have ever seen. A simple trick of using unknown knowledge and what the public would expect, in order to control the very perception of the world itself. From one manipulator to another, I am deeply impressed."

…If only you were a woman, Sunny.

"Anyways, I should probably get to sleep. I would appreciate if one of you would contact the Saint at your citadel. I'd need to go to the Dream Realm at some point."

As the cohort left Shirou's place, he decided to finally get his rest, as he walked into his room.

Oh.

Cassie was still here.

Shirou left the room to go to the shed. He felt his power increase to that of a Transcendent, as he summoned the [Bountiful Bed], and jumped into it.

He summoned Cerise out of his soul sea, and allowed her to enter his blood. He decided to check the runes of his Blades.

Blades: [Ingvild of the Storm], [Lumen Draconis], [Cerise, Heir of War].

Name: Ingvild of the Storm

True Name: Leviathan

Rank: Ascended

Class: Titan

Soul Core: [7/7].

Soul Shards: [7000/7000]

Aspect: [Storm Priestess].

Aspect Rank: [Divine].

Aspect Description: [There was once a priestess who carried the blood of the Storm God. Wherever she walks, the sea parts and storms disperse. She had achieved a higher level of divinity after offering herself to a Divine Sword. THE WORLD SHALL WITNESS THE REBIRTH OF THE SEA SERPENT.]

Attributes: [Spark of Divinity], [Undrowning], [Master of Storms], [Reforged], [Scales of the Sea Dragon].

Aspect Abilities: [Galebreathe], [Sea-Sunk], [Vorpal Blade], [Sea Goddess].

Aspect Legacy: [Soulstorm]

Soulstorm Description: [A Storm rages within the depths of your soul. You can enforce that Storm upon the world, and control it as you see fit.]

Soul of Currents: [Claimed]

Soul of Direction: [Locked]

Soul of Winds: [Locked]

Soul of Thunder: [Locked]

Soul of Depths: [Locked]

Soul of Disaster: [Locked]

Soul of Darkness: [Locked]

Noble Phantasms: [Storm Ruler].

After completing the Second Nightmare, Ingvild had received a True Name, while also becoming a Master. Unfortunately, she was stuck as a sword.

Shirou checked her new Aspect Ability.

Aspect Ability Name: [Sea Goddess]

Ability Description: [Life beneath the sea follows your command.]

…She can just control aquatic Nightmare Creatures now, I guess.

Shirou realized how powerful such an Ability was, as she could just order them to kill themselves. However, it was most likely limited by rank, so she couldn't command an Unholy Titan.

He checked the next Blade.

Creature Name: Lumen Draconis

Corruption Rank: Corrupted

Corruption Class: Titan

Soul Shards: [2994/7000]

Creature Description: [Blessed by the moon itself, Lumen Draconis will search for true power, no matter the cost.]

Corruption Attributes: [Dragonkin], [Moonspawn], [Reforged], [Boundless Determination].

Corruption Abilities: [Glintstone Sorcery], [Moonblade], [Dragon Communion], [Full Moon Sorceries].

Communions: [Death Lightning], [Ancient Lightning], [Flame], [Frostbolt], [Earth].

Noble Phantasms: [Darkmoon Greatsword].

Draconis had not reviewed any new runes, but he had become a Corrupted Titan. The sheer destructive force that he carried was not something that should be played with. However, it seemed that Draconis was weaker than most Corruted Titans. Although he mostly fought in close combat, his specialty was the sorceries and communions he wielded, giving him a large variety of abilities.

Shirou then checked Cerise's runes.

Creature Name: [Cerise, Heir of War]

Corruption Rank: Fallen

Corruption Class: Titan

Soul Shards: [6538/7000]

Creature Description: [A descendant of the War Goddess, who fought for the freedom of herself, and countless children. The toll was too high however, and her soul couldn't handle it.]

Creature Attributes: [Flame of Profanity],[Titan of War], [Bloodborne], [Reforged], [Blood Thief].

Creature Abilities: [Blood Manipulation], [Blood Inferno], [Blood Conduit].

Noble Phantasms: [Chikage].

Nothing had changed with her runes, excluding the fact that she was getting close to reaching her maximum potential as a Fallen Titan. Shirou still hadn't figured out how to increase her rank, but hoped that he will figure it out one day.

Shirou decided to finally go to sleep, since there was not much left to do.