Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

"protector?"

For some reason, Kotomine Shirou stared blankly at Emiya Shirou and uttered these words.

The fusion of magic is mutual. Shirou Emiya understood him, and Shirou Kotomine also sensed something unusual from the magic flowing from Emiya.

Under normal circumstances, when He enters into a contract with someone, He will also provide some power, rather than simply signing a document without offering any assistance.

This energy will manifest in various ways, such as enhanced physical fitness or more mature use of magic; these are all manifestations of the contract.

Although it seems that the contract did not give Shirou Emiya any improvement, it still left a mark on his body.

The general meaning is that Emiya has already signed a contract, and no other being can take it away from him.

Meanwhile, Shirou Senme sensed the traces left behind by Shirou Emiya through his magic.

He looked at the red-haired boy in front of him, who was covering his head, with great confusion.

Having once served as Ruler, he also received many messages from the Holy Grail, one of which was knowledge about the so-called Guardians.

But the boy in front of me has no spirit origin, so he can't possibly be a heroic spirit or a guardian sent by Him.

Suddenly, Kotomine Shiro seemed to realize a possibility.

His eyes started to look different too.

The boy in front of him may have already signed a contract with Him, but he has not yet died and has become one of His official guardians.

Chapter 157 The Holy Grail War Officially Begins!

"Save humanity!"

Emiya gazed at Kotomine Shirou before him, his expression unreadable. He was at a loss for words to comment on such a wish.

"Well, have you made your judgment yet, Master of the Knight King?"

A pure smile appeared on Kotomine Shirou's face, and his gaze met directly into Emiya Shirou's eyes.

The two of them stared at each other silently in the dimly lit room.

"Your wish is truly great, so great that I have the utmost respect for it."

Emiya also made no attempt to hide his feelings and expressed his admiration for Kotomine Shirou.

Emiya Shirou deeply admired such a grand vision and such dedication.

Having such thoughts and putting them into action is enough to qualify someone as a saint.

Saving others and bringing them redemption is what Shirou Emiya has always been doing.

However, Shirou Emiya and Shirou Kotomine are somewhat different. Shirou Emiya saves people one by one, while Shirou Kotomine intends to save the "human" race.

Hearing Shirou Emiya sincerely express his admiration, Shirou Kotomine smiled knowingly and extended his hand once again.

However, this time, Emiya did not grasp it.

"But I refuse—"

Kotomine Shiro's hand froze in mid-air, and the smile on his lips also froze.

"Does humanity really need to be saved?"

Emiya Shirou had no idea how Kotomine Shirou planned to save humanity, nor what he would be like after he had saved humanity.

He wanted to know, but he also didn't want to know.

Shirou Emiya didn't sense anything amiss about Shirou Kotomine's words or actions.

He also didn't receive any strange messages that made him wonder about Kotomine Shiro's wish.

Shirou Emiya simply felt from the bottom of his heart, "Does the word 'save' truly apply to humanity? Has humanity really reached the point where it needs to be saved?"

"Why doesn't humanity need salvation? War? Crime? The struggle for power? Using any means to achieve one's goals! Being able to slaughter one's own compatriots at will! Humanity has so many inherent flaws that have plunged countless people into misery. Why doesn't humanity need salvation? Why must these evils exist in the world?"

Kotomine Shiro's tone became agitated as he looked at the person who clearly understood him yet responded to him in this way.

We are clearly the same kind of people, so why, why don't you understand me? Why don't you understand my actions?

During the Shimabara Rebellion, he witnessed firsthand just how despicable, base, and cruelly powerful humanity could become. They were like this even towards their own kind. If they were dealing with people of different skin color and cultures, to what extent would human cruelty be amplified?

In addition, these sixty years of ups and downs have given him a deeper understanding of the nature of humanity, and he has become more disgusted with humanity as well as more fond of it.

"But isn't it precisely because of these despicable evils of humanity that humanity has been able to continue in this way?"

Humans are inherently dualistic beings; they feel fear when faced with terrible things, anger when faced with injustice, and greed when faced with things they like.

These are things that even Shirou Emiya himself cannot resist. For example, he doesn't like pufferfish tea and still wouldn't accept it.

Enjoying jumping high, shooting arrows, or doing things that allow you to focus and lose track of time when you're in a bad mood is inherently a form of greed.

These good and bad qualities together make up who we are today, and it is precisely because of the existence of evil that the quality of good appears even more noble.

If one loses evil, are they still themselves? Will they still have their own consciousness?

These are all unpredictable events.

Emiya had witnessed too much evil in the Empire, and he himself had been guilty of it. He wished that evil in the world could be eradicated.

But he knew it was impossible. The Imperial General Esdeath, who enjoyed torturing and killing her enemies, was extremely gentle and tolerant towards her subordinates and people.

In order to resist the corrupt empire, Leone, due to a shortage of funds for night raids, resorts to deceiving a boy who has just come from a small village.

If they hadn't happened to be on a mission and rescued him, the boy would probably have died from his injuries and been unable to avenge his friend.

Because of desire, humanity has been constantly fighting among itself, and it is also because of desire that humanity has been able to progress to where it is today.

"If these evils were lost, would humanity be unable to develop? Would humanity be unable to continue?"

"I do not know."

Emiya shook his head, not because he answered Kotomine Shirou's question, but because he didn't know the answers to either question.

He didn't know if humanity could have thrived without evil. Shirou Emiya had never seen such a world, nor could he know whether humanity would be happy in a world without evil.

He himself was someone with an extremely weak sense of human happiness.

Emiya looked directly into Kotomine Shirou's eyes once again.

“I will not refute your wish, because I do not know if a world without evil would be a better place, or if humanity would truly become happier.”

"Have you ever thought about what would happen if humanity eliminated evil and ceased to be human? What if eliminating evil led to the extinction of humanity? No one has ever achieved this. How can you be so sure that humanity will be happy if it eliminated evil?"

If Kotomine Shirou eliminates evil, humanity becomes happy, and everything ends well. If he fails, and humanity's evil is eliminated, humanity will no longer be human.

Will Shirou Emiya regret not stopping him?

Perhaps salvation brings destruction, but salvation itself is not wrong.

Shirou Emiya doesn't think there's anything wrong with Shirou Kotomine's wish; his starting point has always been justice. However, Shirou Emiya can't gamble the future of all humanity because of his wish; he simply can't do it.

Moreover, at present, Shirou Emiya does not believe that humanity has reached a point where it needs to be saved.

"It's not that I think your wish is impossible, but simply that we can't gamble the future of humanity with it!"

A sword made of chains immediately appeared in Emiya's hand.

"So, now we're enemies!"

Kotomine Shiro's voice began to carry a hint of sadness.

Their eyes, too, became full of light.

The words had barely left his lips.

"Rumble..."

With a loud roar, the whole room began to shake.

No.

It wasn't just this room that was shaking, but the entire city of Mirenia.

"This is…"

Emiya Shirou's eyes narrowed slightly.

Kotomine Shiro then spread his arms and said with a smile.

"That's enough of the small talk."

"It's time to begin."

"The true Holy Grail War."

Chapter 158 The Courtyard Floating in the Air

"Smack—!"

As soon as Kotomine Shirou finished speaking, his figure shifted and disappeared from the room. A sound that seemed to be something breaking came from Emiya Shirou's ears.

A bone-chilling cold crept up Shirou Emiya's spine, and the cold sweat on his forehead frantically reminded him of the terrifying things that were about to happen.

"Buzz!"

The sound of the air vibrating echoed in Emiya's ears.

"Possessed by evil spirits, capable of countless transformations!!!"

At the very last moment before Shirou Emiya uttered his words, an incredibly dazzling light surged from the window in front of him almost instantly, and terrifying energy, like a vast ocean, completely engulfed Shirou's room.

Emiya could sense the terrifying magical power contained within that beam of light.

The oppressive force it contained far exceeded that of Atalanta's Noble Phantasm, which Emiya had previously faced.

Under such a terrifying beam of light, Emiya had absolutely no chance of escaping.

A shield appeared in front of Shirou Emiya just as the beam of light was about to make contact with his body.

The terrifying torrent, carrying immense force, slammed Emiya onto the ground.

All that could be heard was a loud scraping sound coming from behind Emiya.