Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

On the battlefield, it's either you die or I die; there's no room for conversation.

Only endless strife!

"Oh!"

With a deafening roar, the massive boulder fell from the sky and crashed to the ground, creating a powerful gust of wind that sent soil and rocks flying in all directions.

But this wasn't the only place that was hit by the rocks.

Emiya looked up at the sky, where dense black dots resembled raindrops.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Countless stones rained down from the sky, and everyone around Emiya, whether dressed in thick animal hides or light iron armor, collapsed in the terrifying downpour.

Blood splattered like mosquitoes being swatted, exploding the moment the stone struck them, and their limbs were torn to pieces and flew in all directions.

However, what surprised Emiya even more than the terrifying attack was that neither side showed any intention of dodging.

Just as the man dressed in animal skins decapitated the person in front of him with his machete, a swift stone smashed him into pieces.

The warrior wielding a katana charged straight at the man in animal skins who was fighting others, seemingly unfazed by death. Before his reinforcements could arrive, he became part of the entire battlefield.

Countless warriors, seemingly oblivious to the corpses piled up around Emiya, charged towards him.

Layer upon layer of blood covered his body, emitting an extremely heavy, pungent smell that constantly stimulated Emiya's taste buds.

Emiya was no longer able to think effectively.

When people are killed, they die.

Emiya would not give up living just because the person in front of him could kill him.

Even though Emiya wanted to stop this pointless battle, there was nothing he could do.

This is not a deadly battle that can be stopped by an individual's strength. With Emiya's current power, he has no ability to stop such a war except to get more blood on his hands.

Blood splattered everywhere, limbs dangled, and the white snow was instantly stained crimson.

Even the slowly falling snowflakes were imbued with a chilling aura, becoming extremely biting.

But even such biting cold could not stop their slaughter.

"I'm sorry, Alma!"

A young man, cut in half at the waist by Emiya, stared at a picture of a blonde woman holding a child, his eyes streaming with crimson tears.

Can I achieve happiness?

A middle-aged man, who appeared to be slightly older, clutched his bleeding abdomen, which had been pierced by Emiya, and gazed at the incredibly scarlet sun in the sky with a pious expression.

"You! You'll die a horrible death!!!"

A burly man, instantly beheaded by Emiya, lay on the snow, his blood-soaked head rolling repeatedly, his expression one of extreme anger and resentment fixed on him until the very end.

In the midst of the constant fighting, Emiya's hand holding the Nichirin Blade began to tremble!

Is this a partner of justice?

Chapter 54 The Eve of the Second Battle

Night fell once again.

Here at night, there are no ghosts that treat humans like dirt, no bustling streets, only the bright moon hanging in the sky, carrying endless bloodshed.

After a day of fighting, the two sides seemed to have reached an agreement to withdraw their troops.

Nighttime was not the time for them to fight.

However, Emiya, who does not belong to any faction, can only remain alone on the battlefield.

At this moment, at Shirou's feet, there was a mountain of corpses, and Shirou held a broken Nichirin Blade in his hand, which was stuck into a corpse next to him, supporting his body on one knee.

Several swords were stuck in front of him and behind him, but even so, Emiya kept his eyes wide open.

His eyes were completely stained red with blood.

But he did not die; Emiya could still feel the vibrant life force emanating from his body.

Emiya slowly stood up, and the Nichirin Blade in his hand slowly dissipated into the air with the cold wind blowing by.

"Why am I still alive?!"

Looking at the various corpses around him, their deaths extremely gruesome, Emiya fiercely grabbed the weapon that was already embedded in his chest and pulled it out without the slightest hesitation.

"Ugh—!"

The intense pain of his muscles being torn apart made Emiya unable to help but cry out.

He can endure such intense physical pain, but he doesn't need to endure it all the time.

While one can endure excruciating physical pain to fight the enemy during combat, there is absolutely no need to do so when healing oneself; it serves no purpose other than making oneself feel even worse.

But even such intense pain could not alleviate Emiya's inner torment.

In just one day, he went from being a member of the Demon Slayer Corps who protected humanity from demons to becoming a murderer who killed countless people.

Many of the warriors who died at Emiya's hands had wives and children they loved deeply, and close friends. Many of them may have harbored lofty ideals, and some may even have had golden ideals like Emiya's.

But at this moment, they were all cut down by Emiya's sword, with no chance of survival whatsoever.

Looking at the mountain of corpses in front of him, Emiya felt a sweet taste in his throat.

A spurt of blood gushed from Emiya's mouth.

Emiya dealt with them like an adult dealing with children, but what if hundreds or thousands of children with knives charged at this adult without fear of death?

Even the highly skilled Emiya was unable to withstand all the attacks under such circumstances.

Moreover, he did not use any breathing techniques; the entire battle was accomplished through his own body's autonomous actions.

Breathing techniques were developed to combat demons; their original purpose was not for fighting between people.

However, when faced with extreme danger, Emiya's body reacts even faster than his mind.

This reaction becomes particularly sensitive after treatment.

When they were in the forest, Shirou's reaction was simply that if someone ambushed him, he would be able to react and retaliate.

But now someone ambushed him, and his body reacted in time to launch a counterattack.

These are two completely different situations.

Emiya also sensed that the item inside his body seemed to have changed in effect.

His wounds were not directly healed; instead, some golden lacquer-like substance seeped out and covered his wounds.

As time passed, the wounds gradually healed, and the golden paint gradually disappeared.

This was completely different from the recovery of his injuries when he woke up.

However, Emiya didn't have much time to think about these things.

His mind was in turmoil.

Whether it's towards that ball of light, towards oneself, or towards the people one has killed.

This is war, and no matter how many people are killed in war, it is perfectly normal.

Moreover, Emiya simply wanted to survive in this chaotic battle.

He was just an ordinary person who accidentally wandered into the battlefield, so why should he bear such a heavy burden of guilt?

But Emiya wouldn't think about these things, much less use them to comfort his soul.

All he knew was that he had killed people. He had originally lived for those who had died, but now his hands were stained with the lives of many more.

Emiya dragged his weary body across the battlefield.

The entire war zone was eerily quiet, save for the occasional cawing of crows that flew down from the sky to feed; the only other thing on the snow-covered ground was the thick stench of corpses and blood.

Even the heavy snow couldn't mask the intense stench of blood.

This is what it means for blood to flow like a river.

Even the ground beneath Emiya's feet was sticky.

Throughout the entire battlefield, Emiya did not see a single intact corpse.

Following the moonlight, Emiya wanted to escape this area. He didn't want to stay in such a place any longer; he was afraid he would go mad.

But things didn't go as planned.

Even after walking all night, Emiya was still surrounded by mountains and seas of corpses, not only because the war was extremely widespread.

Emiya discovered that no matter which direction he went, he would encounter the camps of both sides.

Each position has hundreds of people on duty.

There was no way Emiya could get through the heavily guarded camp.

Left with no other choice, Emiya found himself completely surrounded by two armies, like a trapped beast.

Areas without interconnections are basically blocked by cliffs.

A towering cliff stood before Emiya.

Even if Emiya used his breathing technique to run on the wall, he couldn't reach such a high cliff.

Emiya also witnessed the outcome of a battle fought by hundreds of thousands of troops on such a snowy plain.

The scene was horrific, with corpses strewn everywhere.

He also found people dressed in animal skins frozen like ice sculptures in many small battlefields.

And some people wearing light armor who were almost all cut in half at the waist in an instant.

It seems this is the result of the generals from both sides slaughtering each other everywhere.

Emiya makes no comment on those who committed these murders; this is war, not the peaceful era he lived in.

On the battlefield, mercy to the enemy is cruelty to oneself, and history books have written a lot about war.

Emiya knew all this; he just couldn't get over his own mental hurdle.