A dimensional journey starting from the Dragon Clan

"Sure enough, in the Holy Grail War, swordsmen are very common... isn't it?"

Regarding Ayaka who confirmed this to herself, Rin took a tactful approach.

"I saw him standing in a police car giving a speech before, and I thought there was something wrong with my eyes and head."

"...That's it..."

Ayaka immediately understood what she meant and sighed deeply.

On the other side, the swordsman remembered something and spoke.

"Oh, so...it's almost time to prepare for the repair costs of the opera house."

However, she only said half of her words before she stopped abruptly.

A strange chill passed through the bodies of everyone present.

"……What's wrong?"

"Be careful!"

The person who warned everyone was a young man named Sfen.

"Now...the smell around me is starting to reverse."

Although she wasn't sure about the so-called smell, Ayaka could understand what was happening.

"Is this coming from the southwest?"

The squinting swordsman warned everyone around him.

"Yeah, my magician also issued a warning."

"This underground...has received some kind of invasion...no...is it being swallowed up?"

············

The upper area of ​​the Temple of Ishtar.

■■■■Start turning the world upside down.

It is significantly different from black smoke and fog.

Rather than emerging, it is better to say that the surrounding light is sucked into a single point, seeping into the temple while expanding the realm of darkness.

Darkness surrounded Ishtar, stealing all light from His sight.

Even the flow of wind that touched the skin disappeared, and a black sharp blade was approaching from Ishtar's back.

But - the attack was easily neutralized.

Part of the wall of Ishtar's temple was controlled by 'Charm', and Ishtar resisted the invisible blade while remaining motionless.

The sound of the blade bouncing off the wall was sucked into the darkness, and two sharp blades approached Ishtar from completely different directions at the same time.

However, it cannot be reached.

Ishtar still did not move, using the stones and decorations floating in the air around her due to the charm effect to block the blade's combo attacks.

The blade of darkness released by the assassin has no concept of thickness. It stands to reason that whether it is a steel shield or the armor of a chariot, the blade can penetrate and take away the opponent's life.

Heroic spirits and magicians with strong magic defense can resist this attack. So far, the battle between heroic spirits is within the scope of common sense.

However, the wave of secret attacks did not stop.

After the two blows were sent out at the same time, the invisible blade struck at the goddess's head, feet and back at the same time.

There were three crashing sounds and he was sucked into darkness again.

Before the sound completely disappeared, the Four Slashes attacked Ishtar.

However, it cannot be reached.

Five slashes.

Six thrusts.

Ten Blades.

twenty.

one hundred.

one thousand.

In the end, the assassin used a full range of attacks. Not only the stones and decorations, but also the air itself, or the laws of physics, were charmed by the goddess, eliminating the cause and effect of the blade touching her skin from the world.

If the opponent were an ordinary heroic spirit, such an attack should have turned the opponent's spiritual base into darkness.

However, even though the person in front of him is just a remnant stained by this world, he is still a part of God's divinity that remains in this world.

There is no existence that a heroic spirit can deal with.

"I thought you were going to pull some kind of trick... What a boring trick."

In the darkness, Ishtar told the assassin.

"Do you think that by hiding my figure and voice in the shadows, I won't be able to cast my charm on the surroundings? It's useless. My charm has nothing to do with the five senses. Because this world is destined to be charmed by my existence."

‘Shadow’ causes the color and brilliance of the space itself to disappear, and the area expands accordingly. Ishtar raised his hands, intent on dispelling it.

"You are so arrogant, you man from the Dark Boat."

The words spoken by the goddess have transcended the category of words and spirits and become the principles of the world itself.

"If the opponent is an ordinary heroic spirit, he should be able to understand it to some extent. If you are determined, you might be able to kill the master without being discovered by the servants. For example, the Avenger who looks too strong, I can't I know very well whether you can deal with him, but his master is a human, so you should be able to deal with him with this trick."

It does not matter whether this is a human ideal or an ideal of other animals and plants.

The words of the goddess are ideal for the surface of the planet.

"but……"

The goddess Ishtar said that crows are white, so black crows will disappear from the world.

As a result, even if the crow species disappeared from the earth, no one would notice.

"Don't think that in front of the sky, there is a realm where shadows are cast."

In the form of negation of the seeping darkness, light appeared in the passage leading to the temple.

Blue, clear light.

A firmament was formed on the ground, and the star-like, light-colored and dazzling light illuminated everything around it.

And——a shadow appeared in the light.

"You look much better now."

It was an assassin wearing a skull mask, and his body was penetrated by countless lapis lazuli stones that were reorganized into blade forms.

His spiritual core was shattered, and he could no longer feel the pulse of being a heroic spirit.

"It seems like it's your ears that hear the evening bell, right?"

Shadow is a shadow, a phenomenon, and therefore cannot exist in light itself.

Not from the eyeballs but from the world itself, the assassin tried his best to steal the light, but was easily defeated by the power of the goddess.

Or rather, that’s what the goddess thinks——

The Goddess has a fundamental misunderstanding.

The assassin's expanding shadow.

Invisible slashes that appeared countless times.

This is definitely not the nature of this assassin.

"...?"

The expression on the goddess Ishtar's face disappeared.

At this time, he finally noticed something unusual.

The feeling of destroying the assassin's spiritual core is unmistakable.

However, no fragments of the spiritual base's collapse could be seen.

No, it’s not just that—

First there was doubt, then a little wavering, and finally bitter impatience. The goddess's expression and demeanor changed.

"Are you... intending to distort 'reason'?"

"No."

The shadowy assassin made a sound.

The voice of someone who was supposed to be dead rang out.

The spiritual core was shattered, and the voice of a person who should not exist whispered in Ishtar's ear.

The sound coming from the goddess's ears is like the reverberation of a whisper somewhere in the distant past. Because of the distance, it reaches the goddess's ears in layers (valley echo).

"I will end the (temporary) journey of the Servant who was burned as a copy here."

The words should be spoken completely new, but it gives the impression that they are words that were told a long time ago.

"...!"

"Borrowing a fragment of the infinite shadow, now is the moment to return to the realm of Youming"

Along with these words - an astonishing number of 'shadows' were produced from the assassin's remains.

The shadows spread out like an explosion of darkness and began to swallow up the light again, dyeing the sky born in the temple into a deeper darkness than the night.

A unique skill that transcends the spirit of speech and suppresses gods.

This is not a power that a single assassin can control.

But the real assassin did it.

A self-sacrifice Noble Phantasm that was activated for the first time using his own 'death' as ​​an inducement.

The result of activating the Noble Phantasm is not death, but a cause and effect determined as a result of death.

The ultimate secret of his own skills as Hassan of the Netherworld, who has assimilated with the ‘Shadow’——

Assimilating the concept of 'death' that exists in all times and in all situations with his own spiritual base, the Noble Phantasm that only Hassan can use has now appeared in the world.

"—Meditation Nerve—(Zabaniya)"

············

Once upon a time, there was a ■■.

A completely different group from what would later be called the Assassination Order.

In other words, through the hands of people without any faith, a ■■ was raised as a sharp blade to realize their desires - the 'Shadow', possessing all magic and curses, alchemy and science, and was transformed into a ■■■ , experienced countless ■■■, and finally gave birth to his own organization ■■■■■. It was only the kind-hearted ■■ and the pure heart of faith that ■■ had that extended a helping hand to ■■ who was about to fall, so ■■——

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ Nothing

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■Kill

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■It’s hopeless

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■cannot be saved

■■■■■■■■■■■■Looking

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■─────────── ───

So, he embarked on a journey to Rivendell.

His target is the temple deep in the mountains, which governs the narrow space between the underworld and the present world.

Most of the past has already melted and disappeared into the depths of nothingness.

His past melted and disappeared from the spiritual information that should have been etched in the world as a heroic spirit.

In fact, the memory of the star cannot be deceived, but even if the world perceives it, it is the same if it is not recognized by anyone.

Of course - including himself as a heroic spirit.

What remained in his heart was only his semi-systematic self and the ideals he devoted himself to before his death.

--"asshole!"

Before his death, he arrived at the mountain temple during his journey. There was a great being in the temple.

——"What do you want to grab with those hands that are branded with the shadow of not allowing destruction?"

——"Do you think that you can get salvation by atonement first? You know clearly that your enlightenment cannot reach anywhere, but do you still hope to wander in the cracks of darkness forever?"

Although he is a human being, he is shadowed by the shadow of the underworld itself, the embodiment of death.

The moment he met this gentleman, he understood that ‘I will always be this gentleman’s shadow’.

Not making up one's mind, but accepting it.

Why would I be shaped into a unique existence that is different from ordinary people? It is clear that life is meaningless and we are not afraid of death, so why continue on?

All questions were answered.

He became the shadow of the adult in front of him.

Just like that, all the doubts that I thought I would carry all the way to Hades disappeared.

He did not sob because he was moved, nor did he become timid in the face of the dense death. He just made such a decision calmly.

There is only comfort in my heart.

I don’t know what I was created for, but I’m finally where I need to be.

——“Then——hand over your head!”

The words of condemnation shone with silver light.

And the sharp and loving wind that passes through the neck.

The last thing he felt while alive shone too vividly in the memory that was drowned in shadows.

This is clearer than anything else to the Spiritual Ki, who is mostly trapped in the shadows.

That's enough.

Lives on as a curse that forever lingers in the shadows.

This alone is enough reason to embark on an endless journey of suffering.

The endless road is not a curse, but a blessing after a long journey.

In other words, his spirituality was no longer human at that moment.

Then--

His life ended, and a 'shadow' was deeply imprinted on the world.

············

In front of the Temple of Ishtar.

"This is……?"

Enkidu noticed that further changes were taking place in the temple.

My sense of breath, which has become assimilated to the world, now clearly detects abnormalities.

The aura that had just leaked out disappeared again.

However, Enkidu still sensed something unusual.

What he sensed, heard, and saw were abnormal conditions that could not be compared with forgetfulness.

The breath of the world itself disappears abnormally.

Part of the divinity that filled the interior of Ishtar's temple abruptly disappeared like a wormhole.

Not only that, the area where the aura disappeared slowly expanded, and the world itself disappeared without a trace.

Colors, sounds, smells, magic power - the divine energy that filled the interior of the temple was swallowed up by the shadow. Enkidu, who saw this scene, stopped his movements instantly.

The Berserker seemed to be the same way. It turned its huge body, instantly turned its attention away from Enkidu, and released a 'disaster' light towards the interior of the temple.

From the top of Halle's head, the goddess Ishtar's front side passed through the rainbow-colored light.

However, when the rainbow light hit the 'shadow' in the temple, no explosion or shock wave was produced, not even a breeze was produced, and it disappeared silently.

"..."

Now was a good opportunity to attack the berserker who had his back turned to him, but instead of attacking the berserker's defenseless back, Enkidu applied magic to the huge golden chain above his head.

"Berserker!"

Noticing this, Harley gave instructions to the berserker.

If she had been before receiving the goddess's protection, she might have lost consciousness due to the light of disaster passing over her head.

However, she is now the chief priest of the goddess Ishtar.

There is no need to worry about Ishtar behind his back.

Because through the connection of the ‘goddess’ protection’ that transcends the magic link, Harley understands that the berserker will not harm the goddess.

She didn't know whether it was due to this kind of protection or pure growth. She suppressed the fear she felt instinctively and wanted to complete the mission as a disciple of Ishtar with the Berserker.

"It's not a spearman or the assassin behind me! Stop that 'chain'! There must be something inside 'that thing'!"

"I feel the same way, let's do it!"

At this time, the goddess's voice sounded from behind Harley.

"! Goddess Ishtar! I am extremely grateful..."

Harley looked back at the goddess and took a deep breath.

Around the goddess Ishtar, the passage leading to the interior of the temple completely lost color and light, leaving only a dark space.

It's not clear whether it's space or walls. In short, since there is no light feedback, it is completely impossible to determine the depth.

Not only the light, the echo of the sound, but also the dark boundary line that cannot be sensed by magic.

As long as he takes a step, his body will disappear, and this certain feeling hits Harley.

Ishtar did his best to suppress the Shadow Realm, which wanted to expand its influence here.

Incredibly, the Noble Phantasm released by that assassin-like being was evenly matched by Ishtar as a god.

"As you expected, the dangers are the harpoons and chains."

Ishtar said this as if to reassure Harry, who was wide-eyed.

As if to say that Everything is OK, the goddess calmly issued instructions that had nothing to do with the 'shadow'.

"If it's a harpoon and chain of that level, it would be better to let that waste change his form. It would be a more powerful Noble Phantasm. However, such a mechanical device specially constructed on the top of a tall building...even if it is a defective product, it will be a more powerful treasure." There is some kind of intention..."

Before the goddess could finish speaking, the 'shadow' started to move explosively.

The nothingness that erodes the light is the world's own resistance to Ishtar's rule——

The shadows within the temple took on physical form and began to erode the surrounding light.