I am the protagonist

Looking back now, it's clear that space shouldn't be so easily opened with a finger. Even if it were possible, it wouldn't be so effortless to open it with a light touch. In other words, during the previous attempt, I might have used my magic eye to perceive the concept of spatial death, which allowed me to easily open the space.

Because I've interacted with space, I've witnessed its death. Similarly, the time I control is a concept; what if I could kill a portion of time?

Shirou is now very interested in this conjecture and hopes to verify it. He can now say that he has a better understanding of his skill; the power of these eyes is far more than he previously thought.

These magical eyes can easily accomplish many incredible things. The concept of death can truly be imbued into many things, even into many concepts. Everything has the concept of death, just as the world can collapse. A collapsing world is a kind of death concept, and Shirou can see these things that are fundamentally unattainable with his eyes.

At this moment, Shirou's gaze towards Archer was filled with intense interest.

"Let me see your strength again."

"...I am the bone of my sword."

"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."

"I have created over a thousand blades."

"Unknown to Death".

"Nor known to Life".

"Have withstood pain to create many weapons."

"Yet, those hands will never hold anything."

"So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."

A burst of flames spread outwards from Archer's body, engulfing everyone around him and drawing them into a strange world.

The dim sky, the yellow earth on the ground, and the various weapons buried there, along with several large gears floating in the distance, all indicated that this was not a normal world, but a world completely incomprehensible to humankind.

"Realistic Marble... a grand magic that materializes mental landscapes. Although it's not the first time I've seen Archer's Realistic Marble, I still can't imagine that it was created by one person."

A Reality Marble is no ordinary magic. Even within the Mage's Association, a Reality Marble can be considered a grand magic that is infinitely close to magic, and could even be classified as a forbidden spell. Such a grand magic cannot be performed by a single person. Maintaining the existence of such a Reality Marble requires an enormous amount of magical energy, and under normal circumstances, no Heroic Spirit could sustain such a grand magic.

Rin didn't believe Archer could withstand the magical energy required to maintain this Reality Marble. After all, all Heroic Spirits were no longer simply Heroic Spirits, but rather a combination of Heroic Spirit and human. This meant Archer had to pay for the magical energy to use the Reality Marble himself. Even for a Heroic Spirit like Archer, such a massive consumption of magical energy couldn't be sustained for very long.

Chapter Thirty-One: Complete Suppression of Archer

"A Reality Marble...?"

Shirou noticed that this was a dilapidated world, with everything in sight filled with black lines, even more so than the outside world. This world seemed much easier to destroy than the outside world, and from this, Shirou could see that a world created by one person still had many flaws.

There are many visible dead lines, more than I imagined... but that's not the key point right now.

Severing this Reality Marble was remarkably easy; it didn't even require any weapons. A mere touch of a finger on the dead end of that space would instantly shatter it. But was severing the Reality Marble the key? Shirou's priority now was to see all the weapons stored within it.

Shirou hasn't conducted more detailed testing on the "Perfect Imagination" skill yet, but based on the situation just now, this skill requires a basic understanding of the weapon in order to materialize it from the information in his mind. In other words, Shirou can only have information about this weapon after he has seen all the weapons here.

Just as he turned his eyes away, a flash of sword light obscured Shirou's vision.

With a wave of his hand, he deflected the sword light with a clang.

"You're really not being polite at all."

Shirou's gaze shifted to Archer opposite him. Shirou could see the heavy burden this man was carrying, but seeing it did not mean he could agree with it.

To deny the path you chose, to feel regret because of the results, to go back in time and kill your past self? Is this a thought that a normal person can understand? If someone has this kind of thought, then they must be either mentally unstable or truly stupid.

Don't you know about parallel universes?

Don't you know about the convergence of world lines?

The future is predetermined no matter what. For many people, the future is unchangeable unless they can see it. Only those who have the ability to change the future can change their own future. All others can do is passively accept it.

This approach is unacceptable, but their capabilities are certainly not lacking.

Shirou picked up his twin swords and charged at Archer, this time using pure technique rather than his Mystic Eyes.

Archer had no intention of taking the hit head-on. The spiral sword and the shattering of his twin blades had already shown him that it was Shirou Emiya's doing, and continuing to stubbornly try to block it was not the right approach. He then projected two more swords out.

Don't want me to get close? Then are you fast enough to do that?

Shirou focused his power on his feet, instantly gaining explosive speed, and appeared behind Archer in a flash.

Without any hesitation, he swung his long sword down at the man's back.

"laugh!"

Archer immediately used his twin swords to block behind him, but he still couldn't completely block it, and a bloody gash remained on his back.

Shirou continued to forcefully block Archer's block, sending him flying.

Archer could only recover mid-air, the wounds on his back causing him so much pain that he could barely lift his hands. But at this moment, Archer was even more surprised by Shirou Emiya's completely abnormal speed and strength, who, despite being a human, had forcefully suppressed him as a Heroic Spirit.

[His speed and strength have reached unbelievable levels. Is this guy even human anymore? His magical energy is extraordinary, and he even uses projection magic better than me... This guy's cheating!]

Archer utterly despised this blatant cheating, yet felt a pang of resentment. If he had had such an opportunity in his lifetime, would he still have become a Guardian? Perhaps as an ordinary human, he would have faced far fewer restrictions.

"Shirou is also superior in strength and speed, and Archer is now on the defensive. Shirou is also stronger in projection magic. In the past, Shirou had a problem with magic power, but the current Shirou doesn't have to worry about that."

Based on the current situation, Saber no longer believes that Archer has a high chance of winning.

There may be many factors that can determine the outcome of a battle, but Shirou has a clear advantage in all the basic attributes. Even Archer's most proficient projection magic is no match for Shirou. All that's left is this Reality Marble.

But can a Reality Marble be maintained for a long time? Saber doesn't believe that Archer's magic can maintain the existence of a Reality Marble for too long.

"Yes, Archer has become very passive. Shirou is now in a stronger position. In addition to what Saber mentioned, Shirou also has his Mystic Eyes as an aid. Archer will be at a great disadvantage if he gets into close combat with Shirou."

Rin and Sakura also witnessed the situation on the battlefield, clearly seeing which side had the advantage and which side was at a disadvantage. However, this situation left Rin somewhat helpless, considering that she had arranged for Archer to train Shirou so that he would become stronger, but now Shirou had become even stronger instead.

"Shirou didn't even say anything? I was so nervous that I had to ask Archer to be his sparring partner."

“Rin, I think even Shirou wasn’t sure what he was capable of before. You should have noticed that Shirou was still quite clumsy when using weapons. The current Shirou is probably just acting based on his body’s memory.”

Rin, watching Shirou's battle closely, did notice that Shirou's body was a little stiff when he attacked, but this seemed to be decreasing rapidly.

"The stiffness isn't very pronounced... but you can still see some of it."

"That's how Shirou adapted to using dual swords in battle. If Archer had stronger physical abilities, he could have fought against Shirou. However, Shirou knew this, so he always used speed and strength to make Archer unable to fight back."

"Archer has already witnessed the power of Shirou's Mystic Eyes, and he certainly doesn't want to get close to Shirou right now. But the more he does that, the more Shirou will focus on him. Shirou won't let Archer keep his distance until he's fully adapted to the rhythm of the battle."

Just as Saber said, Shirou showed no intention of letting go of Archer during the battle, always sticking to Archer tightly and refusing to loosen his grip.

Archer's overwhelming power and speed forced him to passively take Shirou's attacks head-on, and each time he took an attack, his hands would go numb from the force of the impact.

[This guy! ]

Unable to contain himself any longer, Archer used his magic to create even more weapons and fired them at Shirou Emiya.

[You couldn't hold back so quickly?]

His twin swords didn't stop, deflecting all the incoming weapons. His eyes scanned the rest of the Reality Marble, and the structure of this weapon appeared in Shirou's mind. Little by little, through understanding and analysis, he imprinted a portion of the weapon into his memory.

It's almost my turn.

This part of the weapons may not be all the weapons in this bounded field, but it is enough to construct a world of swords.

Shirou deflected the last incoming weapon, then flung Moye Ganjiang at Archer, deliberately creating some distance between himself and Archer.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Shirou's Inherent World

"Being a sword is made in heaven."

As Shirou finished speaking, an astonishing burst of magical power erupted from his body.

"Blood as hard as steel, heart as clear as glass."

"Undefeated across countless battlefields."

Archer immediately summoned countless swords and blades to fire at once.

"Buzz!"

A magnificent scabbard suddenly appeared before Shirou, completely isolating him from the world. No matter how many swords there were, they could not cross the barrier of the scabbard to reach Shirou.

"What!?"

"That's... my sword sheath!"

The familiar scabbard appeared before Saber once again, but this time its appearance was utterly unbelievable. As the wielder of the scabbard, Saber knew that it possessed a certain degree of immortality, could rapidly heal wounds, and could also delay aging and death, yet she was still the only one who truly used it.

But what was happening before her eyes was completely beyond her comprehension. Shirou used her scabbard, the scabbard that only she could use.

"Although it is not a defeat."

"Yet we have not yet achieved victory."

I am all alone.

"The ice shattered on the Sword Hill."

"However, this life is not yet over."

"Even if it is a false body, it is believed to be a natural creation of the sword!"

The biting cold snow enveloped the entire Reality Marble as Shirou finished speaking.

An intense chill enveloped everyone, and under its influence, everyone regained consciousness, only to find that they were no longer in the original protective barrier they had just been in.

A bright moon hung in the sky, and a blizzard was falling. The ground was completely covered with ice and snow, which could even make people feel a strong chill.

"It's so cold... This, this is Shirou's Reality Marble?"

The entire landscape of the barrier is completely different from Archer's Realm Barrier, except for the swords scattered all over the ground.

However, the cold surroundings were a bit unbearable for both Rin and Sakura.

"Rin! Sakura! Don't use magic. The cold air here can freeze and absorb magic. If a magician uses magic here carelessly, he will be drained of his magic very quickly."

The two sisters immediately stopped using their magic.

Rin looked at the Reality Marble with a frustrated expression. Archer's Reality Marble didn't have so many additional features, so why did Shirou's Reality Marble have so many additional features?

"Saber, Rider, how are you two? If it's about freezing and absorbing magical energy, isn't your situation quite serious?"

"I feel a little uncomfortable."

Saber shook her head, but her steps began to falter. After being pulled into Shirou's Reality Marble, she felt her magical energy being constantly drained, and this situation made her feel very uncomfortable.

"I felt a little uncomfortable at first, but I feel better now. I don't know if Shirou deliberately controlled the absorption of magic power, but the amount of magic power absorbed at the moment of entry just now... was a bit too much."

The amount of magical energy absorbed the moment she was pulled into the Reality Marble was considerable, enough to allow her to use three Noble Phantasms. However, after the initial frenzied absorption, the situation has improved significantly.

Saber knew that it was much better for them, the Heroic Spirits, but not so friendly for ordinary mages. If this Reality Marble really went berserk, it could drain the magical power of hundreds of mages in an instant.

Shirou glanced around and confirmed that Saber was alright before he breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't expected that this world would still have the characteristics of the Dying Will Flame that he had used before.

Breakthrough at the zero point of freezing death energy.

Zero-point breakthrough modification that absorbs death energy.

These two skills are practically nonexistent in a world without death aura; in fact, they are both in a gray state, much like the Death Flame. However, the Inherent World seems to encompass all its past characteristics, fully revealing a part of its inner self.

Fortunately, the absorption and freezing abilities can be controlled, and thankfully I reacted in the first place.

Shirou was very fortunate that his reaction speed was fast enough. The moment he realized that this world would devour magic power, he took some control of it. Otherwise, the people who were sent in would have been drained by this world.

This scene made Shirou realize that he really should be more careful in the future, otherwise, similar things might happen again when he tries this skill. He doesn't need to give face to the person standing opposite him, but it's really not good for Rin and Sakura.

Their attention shifted back to Archer.

"Then let's get on with it."

Archer withdrew his increasingly serious gaze and focused all his attention on the amnesiac Emiya Shirou in front of him.

[The moment the barrier unfolded, a large amount of my magic power was absorbed. Was this also a phenomenon caused by the Reality Marble? No, even now I can still feel my magic power being absorbed. This Reality Marble is extremely incompatible with me.]

Archer, who has very little magic power, can only use a limited amount of magic power. This Reality Marble still has the ability to absorb magic power. If he spends too much time in this Reality Marble, his magic power may be completely drained.

This situation is overwhelmingly disadvantageous to me; if I don't retaliate immediately, I will be unable to resist.

Close combat is my overwhelming disadvantage.

Speed, strength, and reaction time are all my weaknesses, and this guy is also better at projection magic than me. My only advantage lies in my superior weapon proficiency, but his proficiency is much faster than I expected.

Can the winner be decided in one go?

Archer couldn't help but feel uneasy as he thought about the scabbard he had just seen on Saber's sword. Saber's scabbard was far stronger than his strongest defensive Noble Phantasm. That scabbard was a true Anti-World Noble Phantasm, but Archer found it strange that the guy could use Saber's scabbard.

Not just Saber's scabbard, but also that guy's ability to counter projection magic.

[Is a simple method not working? Then let's go all out!]

A crimson spear appeared in Archer's hand, and a large amount of magic power condensed around the spear, forming a visible red magic aura.

At the same time, Shirou also produced an identical crimson spear, which he also concentrated a large amount of magical power into.