Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

Saber gripped the holy sword, which was radiating golden light, with both hands, and a smile played on his lips.

"Don't hold us back..." I'll return those words verbatim.

"Swordsman, if you can't hold on any longer, remember to tell me, and I'll help you out."

"Don't worry too much. Mind your own business, Holy Sword Master."

Shirou and Saber bickered as they charged towards the vast array of monsters.

"——————!"

Golden starlight and pitch-black aurora light instantly illuminated the forest in the dark night.

……

……

"...So strong."

Irisviel stared in disbelief at the two men's bloodied and heroic figures.

The holy sword and the demonic sword moved like mowing grass, unstoppable, sweeping away wave after wave of otherworldly monsters that surged forward.

The endless horde of tentacle monsters surged forward, only to be slain the two the instant they reached them.

Having just fought a monster, she knew very well that the alien monsters were not enemies that were useless except for their numbers.

Full of vitality and magic, with a structure that is more like a weapon than a living being, its entire body is covered with deadly teeth and suckers, and it is a demon born to ravage humanity.

However, in the face of the Holy Sword Wielder and the Demon Sword Wielder, the monsters could only be the ones to be trampled upon.

Minutes later, the forest had turned into a filthy swamp.

They fell in swathes like harvested wheat, piles of corpses and mountains of flesh mixed with scattered entrails and bodily fluids, creating a chaotic scene more horrifying than hell itself.

The monster's internal organs emitted a nauseating stench, forming a highly poisonous miasma. Any human without magical training would likely die from rotting lungs if they inhaled even a single breath.

With the help of the projection of "Excalibur Morgan" and Lady Avalon's magic, Shirou received a tremendous boost in power.

However, he did not use his trump card, the "Dead Count Shapeshifter," and in terms of physical ability, Shirou is still far behind the three knights.

Even so, Shirou still managed to display a battlefield prowess that was in no way inferior to Saber's, thanks to his own swordsmanship and experience.

What's most astonishing is his seamless teamwork with Saber.

But this was clearly their first collaboration, and they had even spoken for the first time today, yet they acted as if they were comrades-in-arms who had fought side by side for many years.

Every movement and every substitution was fluid and seamless, as if it had been rehearsed beforehand.

In Irisviel's eyes, it was practically the latest Hollywood action movie.

As for the two parties involved, they are even more aware of the tacit understanding between them.

Beneath Shirou's bone mask.

Beyond Saber's dignified beauty.

Both sides wore barely perceptible smiles due to the pleasant and exhilarating battle.

In just over ten minutes, they had eliminated more than five hundred monsters.

Even so, the number of tentacles did not decrease at all.

Even after fighting to such an extent, Artoria's elegant beauty remained undiminished.

Shirou's expression was obscured by his mask, but his natural breathing suggested he was also completely at ease.

Saber jumped back a step and spoke to Shirou, their backs touching.

"Did you notice, Demon Swordsman, it's that magic book in Caster's hand?"

As long as he still possesses that magic book, the number of monsters will continue to increase endlessly.

Shirou nodded and said "Mm".

As Saber slashed down the monster that lunged at Shirou's left, a mischievous smirk played on her lips.

"It seems you didn't notice, Demon Sword Master."

Shirou swung his sword, severing the demon on Saber's right side in half, and retaliated without giving up:

"Looks like you're so tired you're starting to talk nonsense, Holy Sword Wielder."

Shirou had actually discovered the truth long ago.

He understood the principle the moment he saw Caster.

Caster's human-skin grimoire is essentially a magic core.

Similar to the "Royal Command Spell" on Shirou's hand, it not only stores enormous magical power but also contains a pre-programmed spell.

Caster himself doesn't even use magic; he relies on this book to perform magic.

Prior to this, he had opened a portal to another world in the forest through a ritual of human sacrifice.

As long as the magic book continuously provides the magic power to maintain the spacetime tunnel, you can keep summoning monsters.

This is the truth behind Caster's tireless and endless production of tentacles.

"Now that we know the secret of the monsters' infinite reproduction, there is only one thing we can do."

Saber turned her head to the side and spoke to Shirou in a slightly provocative and expectant tone.

"Since you hold that sword, you should be able to do the same thing as me, right?"

Saber's words were vague, but Shirou immediately understood her intention.

"You'll clear the monsters off the road, and I'll deliver the final blow to Caster."

Saber nodded: "Okay, let's do it this way. Show me your aurora again."

They didn't even make eye contact; they simply pressed their backs together to confirm each other's thoughts.

"What are you two whispering about? Is it a dying prayer?"

Caster stood about 100 meters away from the two, constantly hurling sarcastic remarks.

The opponent that Shirou is fighting against Saber now is more accurately described as his Noble Phantasm, "Prelati's Spellbook," rather than Shirou himself.

Caster treats himself like a spectator watching from the safe zone. As long as he appears relaxed and occasionally throws in a curse or a sarcastic remark to provoke the enemy, his attack is considered successful.

"Taste the horror! Fall into the abyss of despair!"

You will be overwhelmed and suffocated by these monsters that have no glory or honor!

This must be an immense disgrace for a hero!

"Ah...now let your beautiful face be contorted with pain, Saintess!"

"Unfortunately, I am not a hero."

"Unfortunately, I am not a saint either."

Shirou and Saber took a step almost simultaneously, but the girl who wielded the holy sword was the first to be freed.

"Strike Air!!!"

A brilliant golden light burst forth, and the whirlwind whipped up from the sword compressed the surrounding air, forming a magical shockwave that shot straight toward Caster, a hundred meters away.

Between Saber and Caster was a wall of flesh formed by thousands of abominable monsters, but they didn't even have time to react before they exploded and scattered in the face of the slashing wind.

In the blink of an eye, it had torn apart hundreds of tentacles, but the "Wind King's Hammer" showed no signs of weakening, crushing Caster to pieces as well.

However, a large number of giant tentacles suddenly burst out of the ground in front of Caster.

That was a defensive magic spell that Gilles de Rais had set up in advance; of course, he couldn't possibly appear on the battlefield so unprepared.

"——Bang!"

Even tentacles as thick as trees could not stop Saber's wind slashes.

Although it was blasted to pieces, it served as a temporary human shield, buying its master time to escape. Caster scrambled away from the "Wind King's Hammer" attack range.

However—this was also within Saber's "intuition" to predict.

From the very beginning, she never imagined that she could kill the seemingly insane but actually cunning Caster so easily.

All that's needed is to break through his defensive magic.

The rest is up to someone you trust.

"Haah, haah, haah..."

Caster, who was resting his hands on his knees in relief that he had escaped death, had just raised his head to continue his taunts when he saw the figure of the angel of death.

"The humble king——"

The atmosphere surged, and magic boiled.

Shirou raised the Reversal Holy Sword high and calmly roared out the name of the Tyrant of Britain.

"Vortigern!!!"

The second impact following "Wind King's Hammer" is coming.

Even though it was already night, colors deeper than the darkness appeared.

That was the dark aurora that absorbed all light into it.

Like the ravaging breath of an evil dragon that wreaks havoc on an island nation, it ravages the land and forests, scorching everything around it and turning it into scorched earth.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah!"

Gilles de Rais screamed and disappeared into the light.

The evil dragon's breath pierced through the forest, soared into the sky, and finally merged into the night.

After the dark light faded from everyone's sight.

All the otherworldly monsters turned into a pool of blood, and the tentacle army from before seemed to have never existed in the first place.

In the silent forest, only Caster, whose body was mostly burned, and the "Snail Annihilation City Text" lying on the ground remained.

"Alas... it's not over yet, I haven't been able to save Joan of Arc..."

Perhaps because he had absorbed enough life force from the citizens of Fuyuki, Caster, who was now only in his upper body and whose soul core was shattered, was still alive.

He stubbornly crawled toward the direction of the magic book.

Just before he could reach the "Snail Annihilation Castle Tome," Shirou pinned his hand to the ground with his sword, then picked up the evil human skin grimoire in place of the agonizing Caster.

……

……

No matter how despised she was in life, Caster turned into beautiful golden dust and vanished in the wind after her death.

When a Servant returns to the Throne of Heroes, their Noble Phantasm will also be destroyed.

But strangely enough, the "Snail Annihilation City Text" did not disappear.

Shirou's curiosity was piqued, and he decided to study this wondrous magic book carefully.

"Let me see, what language is this... It's not English, I can't understand it at all...?"

"Hehe, this is Italian?"

Shirou turned around and saw Irisviel standing behind him with a smile, her long hair almost brushing against his cheek as she bent over.

Can you read Italian?

"Hmm, are you interested in this book? I'll read it aloud for you."

The silver-haired android placed its hands on Shirou's shoulders and began reading the text.

This appears to be a book recording strange creatures from ancient times, written in obscure language, exuding an inexplicable eeriness.

"Irisviel."

Saber walked over with a disgruntled expression: "Are you two planning to stand here and hold your book club forever?"

Having just gone through a fierce battle, these two are actually reading books amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood. They're just too crazy!

Seeing the displeased Servant, Irisviel covered her lips and said, "Oh dear, Saber, are you jealous?"

"Varied……!"

Saber glanced at the black-clad boy who was pressed close to Irisviel, frowned, and asked, "Why should I be jealous of you?"