On how PhDs become human evil

Bai Jie laughed.

"Ten years ago, you were summoned by Kiritsugu Emiya. I think the method he used at the time was relic summoning. Otherwise, given the hopelessly bad compatibility between you and Kiritsugu Emiya, it would have been impossible to summon you, the King of Knights."

Kiritsugu Emiya is a ruthless magician killer who will stop at nothing to use any dirty tricks, while Artoria is a knight who advocates fair duels. The two are like a straight man and a fujoshi. If it weren't for the summoning of the relic, Artoria would never have responded to Kiritsugu Emiya's summons.

"So here's the question: since it's a relic summoning, what kind of relic did he use?"

King Arthur didn't leave behind many relics. In the end, even King Arthur was just a mythological figure, a fictional existence. If it weren't for this Type-Moon world, she wouldn't have been able to leave anything behind at all.

"The answer is the scabbard you lost in your lifetime. It is a Noble Phantasm that will not be damaged even after thousands of years. Even Tokiomi Tohsaka was able to find Gilgamesh's relics, so it is not impossible for the Einzbern to find yours."

"So, where is that scabbard now?" Artoria asked.

"Ten years ago, because the evil of this world within the Holy Grail was released, Fuyuki City was engulfed in flames. Given Kiritsugu Emiya's desire to become an ally of justice, he must have thrown himself into the rescue operation, and I can assure you that he settled down in Fuyuki City after that."

"Furthermore, the mansion where you were summoned had the name [Emiya] hanging at the entrance, and considering the red-haired boy who summoned you, the whereabouts of the sword sheath are quite obvious."

"Ten years ago, Kiritsugu Emiya rescued that red-haired boy from the fire in Fuyuki City, adopted him as his son, and settled him in Fuyuki City. Given the situation in Fuyuki City at the time, even if he had been rescued, he would have been seriously injured. So, in order to save the boy, Kiritsugu Emiya gave him the scabbard in his hand."

"And now, ten years later, the Holy Grail War has begun. The boy who was chosen as the Master summoned you once again because your scabbard was inside him—I don't think it's a coincidence that a Servant has participated in two Holy Grail Wars in a row."

He shrugged, and a magic circle appeared beneath Bai Jie's feet.

"Well, you can practice here with the Valkyries for a while, or you can practice with Kiana. I'll go check on that kid and come back."

As soon as he finished speaking, Bai Jie's figure disappeared into the magic circle.

----------------------

Emiya Shirou feels he's been having a lot of bad luck lately.

First, there was the blonde girl who suddenly appeared when he was practicing magic in his warehouse a while ago. He was completely confused by what the girl said about "Master," "Servant," and "Holy Grail War."

Before he could figure out what was going on, the door to his house was smashed open, and a black-haired man who looked menacing rushed in with a white-haired woman. After saying only a few words, he tied himself up to blackmail the blonde girl. He even had two holes pierced in his body as a result, although they were later healed.

After the blonde girl gave in to the black-haired man and left, Shirou Emiya was left all alone and had to worry about how to repair the damaged door.

In the days that followed, Shirou Emiya suffered even more. He was constantly harassed by his school idol, Rin Tohsaka, at school, and was even attacked with magic. He was also followed by unknown people on his way home from school, making him live in constant fear.

"Ha, I've been really unlucky lately. I really hope nothing else goes wrong today."

With that thought in mind, Shirou Emiya dragged his tired body home. Just as he was about to go into the kitchen to cook himself a sumptuous dinner, he found that someone was already sitting in his living room, watching his TV.

Black hair, black clothes.

Emiya Shirou recognized the man; he was the one who had taken the blonde girl away from him some time ago.

"Ah, you're back. I've been waiting for you for so long, I'm so bored." Bai Jie, sitting on the tatami, greeted Shirou Emiya with a smile, as if he were Shirou Emiya's roommate who had lived there for a long time.

"Um...is there anything I can help you with? By the way, how did you get into my house?"

"I'll kick the door open and then put it back in, because I don't have a key to your house, so I'll be a bit rough."

No, normally this would be considered illegal intrusion.

Bai Jie patted the cookie crumbs that had fallen from his thigh while eating senbei and stood up: "Well, although it's a bit sudden, I've come to ask you to return something... Ah, no, that's not quite right. It's someone's stuff that I need to take back for her."

"...I've never asked anyone for anything."

"Yeah, I know, but it's probably in your hands."

"But--"

Pfft—!

Before Shirou Emiya could finish speaking, his vision was instantly stained crimson.

Section 459, Chapter 15: The Mother You Want, Shanshan

His vision was stained with blood; his eyes were filled with crimson.

Emiya Shirou's brain went blank for a second, and then his body fell backward like a puppet with its strings cut, a heart-wrenching pain slowly emanating from his chest.

what happened?

This is Emiya Shirou's only question.

"Hmm, this is quite a lot of bleeding. Is this kid's blood and energy really that strong?"

Shirou Emiya heard Bai Jie's voice in his ear, and in the distance, he could barely make out what Bai Jie was holding. Judging from its length... was it a knife? Or a sword?

No, that's not it. Why would he attack me?

"Pfft..."

Emiya Shirou sensed it; Bai Jie crouched down beside him and then put his hand inside his body, groping around inside as if trying to dig something out.

His body was being roughly pounded by Bai Jie's large hand, his lungs and stomach being washed like a dish being cleaned, making him want to vomit. As if one hand wasn't enough, Bai Jie inserted another hand within seconds. Shirou Emiya immediately felt as if his body was about to burst, and his throat was filled with blood.

(Huh? What's this....)

Suddenly, an incredibly comfortable sensation spread through his body, rapidly reaching his cut chest. Although his mind was still hazy, Shirou Emiya could feel his wound healing and the feeling of being filled inside his body gradually disappearing.

Looking at his hands, which were gradually being pushed away, Bai Jie finally confirmed his deduction.

"You were killed by my attack but didn't die immediately. You retained a considerable degree of consciousness and are even starting to recover... It seems that Avalon is indeed inside you."

"But judging from its appearance, it should be a conceptual artifact. Come to think of it, how could such a large scabbard be stuffed into a person's body? I'm dumbfounded."

However, now that it's confirmed that Avalon is inside Shirou Emiya, everything is much easier. It's just a matter of creating a conceptual Noble Phantasm, and Bai Jie has plenty of ways to do that.

"Alright kid, I'm going to take that thing out now. It'll hurt a little."

Bai Jie placed his hand, which was shimmering with magical light, on Shirou Emiya.

(Ouch? What do you want to do? — It hurts!)

Emiya Shirou's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden, intense pain. An indescribable pain erupted from his body in an instant, spreading throughout his entire being in the blink of an eye.

Emiya Shirou didn't know what it felt like to have his skin peeled off, but he felt that his skin and muscles were being peeled or torn off piece by piece by Bai Jie. This pain, which exceeded the limits of normal people's tolerance, almost made him lose consciousness!

This is practically the same as the Lingchi torture, one of the Ten Great Tortures of the Qing Dynasty!

What made Shirou Emiya even more desperate was that the healing power was still working under these circumstances. Logically, such excruciating pain should have caused Shirou to lose consciousness on the spot, but that power kept him conscious at all times, preventing him from even losing consciousness and forcing him to endure all the pain completely!

"Ouch, it looks like it really hurts."

Seeing Shirou Emiya's face contorted in pain, Bai Jie couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache. But even so, the stripping of Avalon couldn't stop. This thing had coexisted with Shirou Emiya for a full ten years, and the connection between the two was just like that of a little girl—tight as a rock!

After what felt like an eternity to Shirou Emiya, Bai Jie finally saw an object enveloped in light.

"Boom boom boom!"

The beams of light symbolizing the connection with Shirou Emiya were torn off one by one. No matter what pain Shirou Emiya suffered, Bai Jie grabbed the body that was enveloped in light.

It was a sword sheath.

The scabbard, shimmering like gold, is mainly gold and blue in color. It is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, and it is obviously not meant to hold ordinary swords.

Inside the scabbard, Bai Jie could feel an incredibly powerful magical reaction.

It can now be definitively concluded that this is the sword sheath, Avalon, that Bai Jie was looking for.

"Just by holding it in my hand, I can feel how powerful this scabbard is. Even I couldn't break it so easily."

Avalon is the ultimate defensive artifact that can isolate all interference. No matter what kind of interference it is, it cannot affect Avalon or the people it protects. Bai Jie's methods are indeed endless, but if it comes to breaking through the defense of this artifact, Bai Jie will probably have to be completely serious.

"As expected of the strongest defensive Noble Phantasm in this world, I really don't know what was wrong with Artoria back then to throw away this scabbard."

Bai Jie put the sword sheath into the alternate dimension and looked at Shirou Emiya, who had fainted from the pain on the ground. To be honest, the fact that he didn't die from the pain in that situation was truly remarkable.

"Well, I'll treat you. Consider it payment for keeping the scabbard safe for ten years."

Bai Jie casually tossed him a few healing spells, then used a spatial teleportation technique to leave Shirou Emiya's house.

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"..."

"..."

On the streets of Fuyuki City, Bai Jie and someone stared at each other, looking at each other blankly.

A few minutes ago, Bai Jie came to the streets of Fuyuki City because he had nothing to do if he went back too early, intending to stroll around for a while before returning and to bring Kiana some cakes.

However, he encountered an unexpected person after only a few minutes of walking around.

"Ah... how should I put it... um... long time no see?" Bai Jie said to the person in front of him.

If people who know Bai Jie saw him stammering like this, they would be shocked. The Bai Jie who has a silver tongue and can talk his opponents into silence is now speechless!

Across from Bai Jie, someone responded, "I never expected to run into a bastard like you... I was thinking of observing for a while longer."

Golden blonde hair, captivating red eyes, an overwhelming presence and aura that could dominate the entire scene, coupled with his self-proclaimed title... The person Bai Jie encountered on the street was none other than Bai Jie's formidable rival from ten years ago—

"Gilgamesh. — You're still alive in this world."

"Hmph, the filth flowing out of the Holy Grail allowed me to regain my physical body and live in the world as a human again. In a way, I should thank you."

"No, no need for thanks. By the way... what's wrong with your body? Are you a woman?"

Bai Jie was certain he wasn't seeing things; the domineering king from ten years ago was now appearing before him as a woman.

What's going on here? Did Gilgamesh go to Thailand for surgery during those ten years?

Section 460, Chapter 16: Science students...that was so ridiculous!

As always, in the Fuyuki City park, Bai Jie and Gilgamesh casually found a place to sit down.

With his eyes constantly scanning the female Gilgamesh in front of him, Bai Jie stroked his chin like an connoisseur, nodding occasionally as if he greatly approved of Gilgamesh's current body.

Gilgamesh frowned, his expression showing displeasure, and his arms, which were crossed over his chest, involuntarily moved upwards: "Are you so interested in my current body, you evil dragon?"

"I'm just curious how you managed to transform from a man into a woman. Although I know there are many magic tricks that can change gender, but you... I feel like you're even psychologically feminized?"

Gilgamesh's face immediately darkened when this matter was mentioned.

The fact that he had become a woman made him so miserable that he wanted to die. Although there was nothing about his body that he was ashamed of, it didn't mean he wanted to become a woman.