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Prologue: Anomaly through the Kaleidoscope

Shirou felt his body tremble at the sight of the gray-skinned giant moving under the soft veil of night.

Berserker.

The mere presence of that servant brought him an enormous oppression, he felt as if he could turn him to mush at the flick of a finger.

The gigantic sword-shaped piece of slab he was carrying was particularly disturbing.

- Emiya-kun! -

His companion's shout brought him out of the clouds, in that small instant that he had been distracted the giant Servant had started a fight with Saber.

It was disconcerting.

Because this felt all too familiar to him.

...As if he had already gone through this same situation, ignoring Tohsaka, ignoring Saber, Berserker and the white-haired girl.

- What the hell! - A voice loaded with fear and uncertainty escaped his mouth.

No.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.

No. It shouldn't be possible. This definitely shouldn't be happening!

Shirou's eyes widened like saucers as despair filled them.

His hands went to his own head holding it with all his might as he tried to take in what his eyes and ears had caught.

Music in the background that matched the situation....

A text that narrated her thoughts, Rin's and Saber's...

And worst of all

[𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙧]

[𝙍𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙍𝙞𝙣].

The options

Looking at it from another point of view they should have been normal things in games like the ones Issei had tried to convince him to play, those so-called Visual Novels.

Why could he see them floating in the air?!

Tohsaka looked at him strangely for his sudden panic attack, even Saber seemed to have been briefly taken aback by the unexpected shout.

That single moment was enough to seal his fate, Berserker had already made his move.

The previously bright options dimmed and soon the next thing Shirou saw was none other than Berserker charging at him at high speed.

Tohsaka let out a choked cry as he fell to his knees.

Saber began to fade away as a reluctant expression made its way onto her beautiful face.

- Bad luck to you~ Onii-chan~ - And in the sweet voice of the white-haired girl.

Shirou Emiya faced the fate of being crushed to mincemeat on the cold streets of Fuyuki.

.......

Unfortunately for the Emiya, that was not the end, no... it was only the beginning.

This is where it all began.

- Welcome to the Tiger dojo, rookie! Are you ready to start a new game?! -

All roads led back to this place.

- Yosh! Thank you for visiting the greatest sensei and presenter! Nyaaa~ -

[𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚]

With no chance of victory and yet with the will to keep fighting....

Thus began Shirou's journey.

And his quest for the one and only "Happy Ending".

.....

𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱.

- I ask you, are you my Master? -

Her shining blonde hair tossed lightly in the currents of the night wind.

His regal and gallant figure inspired confidence, courage and power.

The ideal King was once again before him.

- Tch. What I've been missing - The Lancer muttered under his breath as he stood in a battle-ready stance.

- ...Saber - Shirou called her name with surprise as if he couldn't believe that the person before his eyes was real.

Certainly, this was comforting.

...Or it would have been if it wasn't for the texts that appeared on the side in front of him.

𝕀 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕥 𝕊𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕣, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕀 𝕜𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕕𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤.

Frowning at the headache he felt, Shirou tried to organize his thoughts.

As his expression became more and more serious, he nodded towards Saber, telling her to fight with Lancer.

The two Servants soon began a battle.

The red-haired man's ramblings were not long in coming as a name popped into his head.

- 'Fate/Stay Night?' - Bitterness filled him completely in the face of the sad reality - 'Nasuverse?' -

It didn't matter if he denied it or rather wanted to try, in his heart he already knew the answer.

Was he really a fictional character.

Every person he met? Issei, Taiga, Kiritsugu, Tohsaka?

Each one of them is fictional?

Was Fuyuki's fire really unavoidable?

With one and a thousand questions that kept coming endlessly to her terrified mind.

Each doubt adding to the previous ones began to gather into a kind of chimera that threatened his own sanity.

The boy decided to step forward.

He could feel the pain in his head increasing along with a growing anger stirring in his chest.

Even if he wasn't aware of the details, even if the information he had was deficient.

Shirou had come to understand something.... There is no such thing as a true happy ending, every victory or peaceful ending is plagued with the bitter taste of a defeat.

A devastating fact for someone who pursues the dream of being a hero of justice... Or at least he did.

While he had no idea how it had come to pass, he was clear about the fact that a version of him had abandoned his dreams, which left him a little puzzled.

Why? Why would he give up the one thing that drove him forward?

𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆.

With an almost imperceptible sigh Shirou began to move towards the same direction where Saber and Lancer were fighting.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐬.

His magical circuits came to life, igniting with blue-green sparks.

Her lips moved in what seemed like a silent utterance, words charged with power were spoken with great conviction.

- ...𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗢𝗻 -

UBW responded to the intentions of its grieving owner, the forge was now open.

The previously blocked potential would at last be exploited.

He would save them all no matter what.

Not as a hero of justice, not as an Archer, and definitely not as the second Magus Killer.

This time it would be just 𝗘𝗺𝗶𝘆𝗮 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗼𝘂.

Chapitre suivant