Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

Take a nap.

"How can you sleep at your age? The contract isn't even finished yet!!!"

Just as Shirou Emiya's consciousness faded, a mechanical voice filled with rage echoed in his mind.

"Drink—! Ha—!"

Suddenly, a breath filled Shirou Emiya's lungs, and he sat up in alarm, looking around at his surroundings.

A handful of dirt hit him on the head, knocking Shirou, who had just opened his eyes in terror and gasped for breath, down.

"You're not dead yet!?"

It was a voice that Emiya knew all too well. He tried to turn his head to look, but found that his body was completely unable to move.

But soon he was able to see who was speaking beside him.

A strand of light blue hair fell down from above, and in Emiya's incredibly weak eyes, his pupils suddenly contracted.

"How come she's not dead!?"

In Emiya's last memory, the reverse blade in his hand should have already reached her neck, and she would have had no way to dodge such an attack.

He will only be cut down by his own blade.

Emiya Shirou suddenly closed his eyes and began to recall the details of that battle.

Just as Shirou Emiya's reverse blade was about to sever Esdeath's neck, a very strange light appeared beneath their feet.

After that flash of light, Shirou Emiya lost consciousness.

That was his final, all-consuming attack.

"You survived having your heart pierced and your breathing stopped for three days. If it weren't for the fact that your body is so normal, I would suspect that you are a person who has been modified."

Only after Esdeath pulled him out of the mud did Shirou Emiya realize where he had been lying.

It was a pit, and a stone tablet was erected on top of it.

The inscription reads: "The grave of a warrior named Shirou Emiya."

"Don't worry about it. You are someone I respect, a warrior with a golden spirit. I would like to erect a tombstone for you, even if we are enemies."

Esdeath picked up Princess Emiya and slowly walked towards a thatched hut that looked like it had just been built.

"Why don't you kill me?"

Although Emiya has lost all ability to resist, he is still able to speak.

"If this were my first day on this island and I saw you still alive, I might have cut off your head without any hesitation."

Esdeath made no attempt to conceal her thoughts, just as Shirou Emiya, despite being paralyzed, did not hide the murderous intent in his eyes.

Humans are social animals, and no one can endure such loneliness. Even the strongest in the empire could not bear it, having not had a single fellow human to talk to for three days.

She didn't know if she would live on this island forever, unable to leave, but she knew in her heart that it probably wouldn't have a big impact on her in the short term.

But as time went on, she didn't know what crazy things she might do.

Therefore, when Esdeath saw Shirou Emiya come back to life, her first thought was not to kill him, but to save him, even though Shirou Emiya harbored strong murderous intent towards her.

If Emiya wanted to fight her again, Esdeath would surely be willing to accept the challenge.

The moment Emiya awoke, the flame-like marking on his forehead seemed to shrink, leaving only a small portion on his forehead.

Shirou Emiya didn't know what it was, and Esdeath was even less likely to know.

But she wanted to know, seemingly by instinct, that Esdeath could sense that she too could have those lines appear on her forehead, just like Shirou Emiya.

The mark is an ability that greatly enhances the combat capabilities of those who use breathing techniques; patterns that symbolize the activation of the mark will appear on the user's body.

For a person to develop facial markings, their body temperature needs to reach 39 degrees Celsius and their heart rate needs to exceed 200 beats per minute. At this time, the body will feel extremely hot, as if it is about to burn. Whether or not one can survive after entering this high-risk state is the dividing line that determines whether or not facial markings will appear on a person's body.

Skin marks are a way to prematurely deplete one's lifespan, and those who develop skin marks rarely live past 25.

However, Shirou Emiya's breathing technique was combined with his own magic circuits, and with only 39 degrees Celsius and a heart rate of over 200, it was simply not enough for Emiya to meet the conditions for activating his magic mark.

Therefore, only under extreme surges can Shirou Emiya awaken his own unique mark.

Among all breathing techniques, the sun breath is the initial breath, the origin and foundation of all breathing methods.

Yoriichi Tsugikuni created the Sun Breathing technique based on his own understanding of breathing techniques, and shared it with his older brother Kokushibo and other members of the Demon Slayer Corps.

However, others are unable to learn Sun Breathing because they cannot withstand the power of the sun.

After that, Kuniyoshi guided them to develop other breathing styles based on the Sun Breathing, including the five basic styles of "Water", "Lightning", "Fire", "Rock" and "Wind".

No matter what kind of breathing technique it is, it can never be separated from the Breath of the Sun. Even if Emiya separates from the five basic breathing techniques with the Breath of the Sword, or Kokushibo creates the Breath of the Moon that can adapt to him.

They could not transcend the founder of breathing techniques, the Sun Breathing method created by Kunimoto Ichiichi.

Sun Breathing can emit energy identical to that of the sun, possessing immense destructive power against demons. It can also directly imbue the blade with energy, forming a burning crimson blade—the "Crimson Blade."

This is why, at the very last moment, the reverse blade of Shirou Emiya's sword, which was not a Nichirin Blade, was always tinged with an extremely vivid red.

So, if Emiya Shirou uses the Breath of the Sword, but not the Breath of the Sun, does that mean he can't draw upon the power of the sun?

the answer is negative.

Breathing techniques can draw upon the power of the sun, but as the most powerful breathing technique, Sun Breathing is more direct and can more directly utilize the sun's energy.

At the final moment, empowered by magic, life force, markings, and soul, Shirou Emiya himself burned fiercely like a sun falling to earth.

The afterglow of the sun cannot be frozen by ice.

Chapter 101 Uninhabited Island

"Where is this place?"

Emiya did want to fight back against Esdeath, but he didn't even have the strength to turn his head, so how could he possibly break free from Esdeath's grasp?

"The house I built."

Esdeath gestured with her eyes towards the house ahead, answering Shirou Emiya.

"..."

"I know, what I want to ask is, where are we right now?"

Emiya rolled his eyes at Esdeath. She was so sharp at sensing attacks when she was a warrior, so why couldn't she react to the question he wanted to ask?

"do not know"

Esdeath shook her head and led Emiya to a bed she had casually made out of straw mats.

As the most feared and powerful woman in the empire, the Imperial General, you can't expect her to build a proper house or weave straw mats.

That's really overthinking it.

She could live in the wild like a wild animal, but building a dwelling was truly a challenge for her.

She only studied wilderness survival, not architecture.

Esdeath showed no gentleness whatsoever, simply tossing Emiya onto the bed, very much in line with her style.

You could even hear the sound of Emiya hitting the ground.

"..."

Emiya did not react in any way. On the one hand, he could not feel any pain in his body at all, and on the other hand, even if he felt pain, he would not be able to react.

However, there was still a response; Emiya stared intently into Esdeath's eyes, as if to say something to her—

"Stop with all that fancy stuff. If you want me dead, just do it. I will never give in."

Of course, Shirou Emiya didn't mean it that way; he just felt that everything was very sudden.

He didn't die.

Esdeath did not kill herself.

They found themselves and Esdeath inexplicably in an incredibly strange place.

This left Shirou Emiya somewhat bewildered.

In reality, despite Shirou Emiya's desperate efforts, he failed to kill Esdeath, or even seriously injure her.

Does that mean he accomplished nothing?

They didn't get any intelligence about the Empire, and they didn't kill Esdeath either.

Emiya Shirou fell into deep thought.

"Don't worry, I won't attack you here!"

Esdeath seemed to think that Shirou Emiya was still worried that she would harm him, so she patted Shirou Emiya's unresponsive shoulder and said to him with a smile.

That previous battle was the most exhilarating one Esdeath had ever fought. She used all her trump cards and all her fighting skills clashed together, the two of them tearing at each other like wild beasts.

This was the battle Esdeath had always wanted, and even though she was ultimately defeated by Shirou Emiya, Esdeath had no regrets at that moment.

After the battle had progressed to that point, Esdeath's Imperial Arms was nothing more than a secondary weapon to her.

Just like in the original work, when she fought Akame, she created an ice wall like an arena so that she could fight Akame one-on-one at close range.

Most of the time, he uses his Imperial Arms to help himself gain an advantage in close combat.

Instead of recklessly using the power of ice to wear down Akame, or cautiously exhausting the Revolutionary Army members, they chose to do so.

Esdeath is capable of either annihilating the entire Revolutionary Army in a battle against Akame, or recuperating after their defeat and then fighting Akame again.

Her primary goal is intense and exciting battles; victory comes second.

Rather than simply overwhelming enemies with the power of her Imperial Arms, Esdeath prefers close-quarters combat with those who can rival her.

This is why Esdeath always rushes forward to engage in close combat whenever she fights Shirou Emiya.

The kind of beast-like collision between bodies is the kind of battle Esdeath seeks.

Instead of two people fighting a long-range war of attrition.

Esdeath considers herself the strongest, but she also doesn't deny her own defeats.

Emiya Shirou's success was not because his strength reached Esdeath's level.