Space rippled as the golden-haired woman supported the red-haired girl, step by step, toward a castle surrounded by birdsong and blooming flowers.
Who would have thought that amidst the ruins of Fuyukiâs city center lay a magus familyâs paradise?
And Angelica and Beatrice were its guardians.
The one they protected now stood at the crossroads, his expression dark.
Angelica knew it wasnât anger or fear that colored his faceâthis was simply how the young man had always been. Or perhaps, ever since he resolved to shoulder the duty of saving the world, he had lost the capacity to smile.
"Lord Julian..." Despite the suffocating pain in her chest, Beatriceâs eyes lit up with joy at the sight of him.
Julian Ainsworth.
The eldest son of the Ainsworth family, its current head. Once known as Julian Ichigi, he had served as student council president in high school, a friend to this worldâs Shirouâuntil their bond shattered over Miyu. One sought to sacrifice her to save the world; the other chose to defy the world to protect his sister.
And now, that grudge between him and Emiya Shirou had extended to the present.
The black-haired, blue-eyed young man raised a hand, silencing Beatrice. He stepped forward, placing his palm against her abdomen before raising an eyebrow.
"Your wounds have mostly healed, but Thorâs Divine Core is on the verge of shattering. If this continues, Mjölnir will go berserk."
Few in the Ainsworth family knew that Beatrice Flowerchild was a Double Holder, possessing the dual powers of Thor and Magni. Her ability to wield Mjölnir relied on Thorâs Divine Core.
If it broke, she would be left with only Magniâs brute strengthâunable to even control her own Noble Phantasm.
"You canât keep fighting. Return and restâand do not release your Install. If you do, the injuries suppressed by the Divine Core will erupt instantly."
As he spoke, Julian could no longer suppress the storm in his expression.
The King of Heroes, Gilgameshâhalf-god, half-man.
The Son of Thunder, Magniâinheritor of Thorâs Divine Core and weapons.
These were the Ainsworthsâ trump cards, obtained through countless Displacements, the foundation of Julianâs grand plan.
Yet before that returned man, Angelica had been repeatedly wounded, Beatrice brought to the brink of death with a single strike, her Divine Core fractured.
Even that monstrosityâthe one who absorbed Heroic Spirits into himselfâhad been silenced within seconds, ruthlessly crushed.
That was no longer Emiya Shirou. It was something else.
Yet whoever wore that face now marched upon the Ainsworths with iron and fire, unwavering in his vengeance.
Why?
Why?
Why?
"Why must you deny my myth? Deny the ending that was always meant to be?"
His voice, though low, reverberated through Ainsworth Castle, growing louderâuntil, with a crack, the bounded field split apart!
That long-suppressed question burst forth, rushing through the fissure to strike the intruderâs earsâ
And the white-haired young man looked up, his draconic pupils blazing gold!
"I will never hand Miyu over to you!"
The Ainsworths had placed their hopes of salvation upon the Holy Grail.
But in this world, the only Grail was Miyu.
And neither Shirou nor Sakatsuki would ever abandon her.
With those words, Sakatsuki made one thing clearâ
There would be no reconciliation between them.
"Lord Julian, stay back!" Beatrice raised Mjölnir, its broad face blocking the storm of blades. Even knowing her Divine Core was damaged, she could not retreat. "You must not be harmed!"
"Do not underestimate me." Julian emotionlessly drew a cardâone without an image, its surface instead covered in black, web-like patterns.
"Include: Nameless Shield."
A viscous, ink-like fluid spread, barely forming the shape of a shieldâyet it held firm against the rain of swords.
The process of creating Class Cards was not without missteps. Failures piled up.
But even the "dregs" left behind by Displacement Magecraft, the "concepts" rejected by the Throne of Heroes, were not worthless.
Even these shapeless blades and spears were records of heroes past!
Clangâ!
Amidst the shattering of metal, the black shield exploded. The young man, wielding a crimson demonic spear, shot forward like a meteorâ
With a single thrust, Mjölnir was sent flying.
Then, the scarlet spear-light swept sidewaysâaimed straight for Julianâs head.
"Lord Julian!" Angelica moved to intercept, but a displacement field abruptly teleported her a hundred meters away!
The instinct of death screamed in Julianâs mind. Yet at this critical moment, he did not flee.
Instead, gritting his teeth, he drew another card.
But could his activation speed match Sakatsukiâs unstoppable thrust?
Slashâ!
A thick, muscular armâstill crackling with residual lightningâsoared into the sky.
The mighty hammer of the Thunder God clattered to the ground.
"Lord... Julian..."
The red-haired girl gazed dazedly at her belovedâthen collapsed, unconscious.
Her right arm had been severed at the shoulder.
The stone embedded in her forehead wept blood, staining the earth with hues of twilight.
Thorâs Divine Core had shattered completely.
Mjölnir dimmed, its radiance extinguished. Only the core of Magni remained, pulsing weakly like a dying heart.
Beatrice Flowerchild, the Double Holderâ
âhad lost an arm and one of her Divine Cores.
Even after witnessing the girlâs devotion, Sakatsuki did not stop.
Tossing aside the charred remains of GĂĄe Dearg, he raised the Grand Bow once more, aiming at the stunned Julian.
Any past bonds belonged to Shirou. Sakatsuki and Julian had never metâand now, only death remained between them.
But before he could loose the arrow, another voice rang out.
Timid, yet filled with a childâs resolve.
"S-Stop! Donât hurt Julian-nii!"
A girl in a green school uniform and a frilly skirtâlooking every bit the foreign nobleâs daughterâsuddenly rushed forward. Somehow, she had outpaced Sakatsukiâs draw, spreading her arms protectively in front of Julian.
Her eyes, wide and glistening with tears like a frightened fawnâs, locked onto the young man behind the bowâstilling his killing intent.
The rage in his heart dissipated. Or perhaps, it was merely buried deeper.
Not because of the girlâs sudden appearance.
But because behind her, Julianâs face melted away.
A disheveled man with wild hair and a turtleneck sweater stepped forward, smiling wryly at Sakatsuki.
"It seems Julian has reached his limit."
"Oh? I didnât take him for the fragile type." Lowering his bow, Sakatsuki knew that with the appearance of the true head of the Ainsworths, killing anyone here would be difficult.
"Darius Ainsworth."
"Letâs talk," the man in flip-flops said, as if oblivious to Sakatsukiâs hostility and the carnage around them.
***
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