"The next Water God?"
Shirou, who had already pulled out the Excalibur and was trying to unleash his full power to find a way to escape, suddenly stopped when he heard these words from the current Water God, Reida.
However, he did not completely retract the Excalibur, which was wrapped in cloth.
Because he couldn't be sure if the Water God's actions were a ploy to delay time or to make him lower his guard.
He had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
At the same time, while Shirou was internally wavering and wondering what the Water God was thinking, the Water God herself completely lowered her sword and made no further fighting moves.
The middle-aged old woman was looking at Shirou with a rather strange gaze, with an appreciative attitude, and slowly said, "You have learned the Still Water of the Water God Style. Although I don't know where you got the heritage, that alone makes you one of us in the Water God Style. And the Water God Style has always respected the strong. As long as you have enough power to defeat the current Water God, you can become the new Water God."
"This…"
Shirou was speechless for a moment at the words of the Water God Reida.
He actually knew the rules of the Water God Style.
Because the three major styles were similar in this regard. No matter what your identity, as long as you learned the sword techniques of the corresponding style and officially defeated the strongest person in the current style in battle, you could become the new Water God, Sword God, or North God.
However, even knowing this, Shirou couldn't agree.
Because he was essentially a Sword God Style inheritor, and he had always been learning Sword God Style sword techniques.
The reason he had just displayed the Still Water ability was simply because he used projection magic to project Sasaki Kojiro's skills, gaining a short-term boost.
In reality, Shirou's true abilities were far inferior to Sasaki Kojiro's.
If the Water God mistook his strength based on the power he projected, then she would definitely be very disappointed later.
Of course, that wasn't the biggest problem.
For Shirou, the Water God's invitation was simply impossible. That was because he was unwilling to join the Water God Style, and might even become an enemy of the Water God Style.
Because the Water God Reida wanted to protect Darius, and Shirou would undoubtedly not allow a villain like Darius to exist in this world.
"…"
Seemingly seeing through Shirou's thoughts, Reida's face did not show disappointment. She simply said frankly, "I know your hatred for Darius, and I can understand that. Actually, the reason I want you to become the next Water God is because of your sense of justice. For a Swordsman of the Water God Style, this pure will is even more precious than a Swordsman's heart, and it can guide you onto the right path."
"If you understand so much, Water God, why do you still protect Darius?"
Hearing Reida's words, Shirou finally couldn't help but ask.
He had actually felt very confused before, not understanding why the Water God Reida was so eager to protect Darius's safety.
Darius was clearly such a wicked person.
And the Water God was obviously a person with a sense of justice.
"You want to ask me why I protect Darius?"
A look of nostalgia appeared on the old woman's face. "That's just an insignificant story from the past, not worth caring about. It's just that the man saved my life back then, so I have to repay that debt."
"Repay a debt?"
In Shirou's confusion, the Water God told the story of her past with Darius.
It turned out that when Reida was young, Darius was not the villainous scum he was now. At that time, as the descendant of a great noble, he was handsome and talented. He was a well-known young talent in the royal capital and was highly regarded by all parties.
Reida was a Water God Style Swordsman with a bit of talent, and the gap between them was like heaven and earth.
The two would not have had any contact originally.
But one day, Reida provoked a noble descendant in the Water God Style dojo. Unhappy with the noble's attitude, Reida taught him a lesson with her swordsmanship.
As a result, the next day, the noble brought a group of guards and surrounded Reida, torturing her in various ways, even planning to break the hand she used to wield her sword, so that she could never wield a sword again in her life.
Just as Reida felt despair and wished she were dead, Darius suddenly appeared. Darius, who still had a sense of justice at the time, chose to save Reida's life, telling the noble to stop his wicked behavior.
With Darius's help, Reida saved her hands and successfully escaped the royal capital.
She then wandered around, refining the Water God Style's techniques to the extreme, and always remembered Darius's kindness. After inheriting the position of Water God, she wanted to repay the debt of gratitude she felt that towards him. She even had affection for Darius and longed to develop a further relationship.
But when she came to the royal capital, she found that the once handsome young man had degenerated into a fat, ugly noble. He had even completely forgotten the past when he saved her life.
The shattering of her illusions and the cruelty of reality made Reida feel extremely disappointed.
However, a debt of gratitude was still a debt of gratitude. Even though Reida knew of Darius's ugliness, she was still willing to protect him for the rest of her life.
For the Water God, good and evil could be offset.
If the good deeds were great enough, even a bit of ugliness could be forgiven.
"That's my principle."
Reida narrated the story of the past. "Darius's sins and his kindness to me are not the same thing. So even if I know his actions are wrong, I will still protect him. If you want to kill Darius, you must first find a way to defeat me."
"In that case, why do you still want me to join the Water God Style?"
Shirou asked in confusion.
The Water God Reida said calmly, "Because that is also unrelated to Darius's kindness to me. While I was saved by Darius, I am still the current Water God, and I need to find a future for the Water God Style. Although I have a good disciple, her talent is far inferior to mine, and she may only reach the Emperor level in her lifetime. If I want the Water God Style to surpass the Sword God Style, I need to find a stronger successor."
"You think I'm that kind of person?"
"That's right, my intuition tells me that you are strong, but not strong enough. So you need more training. If you are willing to join the Water God Style, I will train you as much as possible, making you strong enough to be on par with that Sword God Galfarion. By then, you can kill me and become the next Water God, and I naturally won't be able to stop you from killing Darius then."
"…"
Shirou didn't expect the Water God Reida to say such a thing.
Shirou then realized how much hope and love the old woman in front of him had for the Water God Style.
In order to revive the Water God Style, she could even win over enemies and cultivate a new Water God who surpassed her at the cost of her own death.
Regardless of whether these words were true, just this attitude made Shirou respect her.
Of course, Shirou still couldn't join the Water God Style.
Not to mention that he didn't actually know the Water God Style's sword techniques. Even if he did, he wouldn't kill the Water God at the cost of eliminating Darius.
Good is good, and evil is evil.
If an innocent person is sacrificed in order to eliminate evil people, then the good deed will be distorted by the wrong ideas.
After all, Shirou was different from the Water God. In his opinion, good and evil could not offset each other.
"I'm sorry, I won't join the Water God Style."
Shirou therefore decisively rejected the Water God. At the same time, he prepared to pull out the Sword of Assured Victory wrapped in cloth, determined to fight to the death and not do anything against his conscience.
"What a pity."
The Water God also seemed helpless about Shirou's choice.
But she didn't attack, but silently shook her head:
"You can leave."
"What?"
Shirou was surprised when he heard the Water God say such a thing.
The Water God Reida said silently, "You are a talent who has the potential to surpass me and inherit the Water God Style. I will not kill you, nor will I cripple your sword-wielding hand. For me, the best thing is to let you continue to grow until you can surpass me one day."
"Even if I kill Darius then?"
"Cultivating a stronger Swordsman and protecting Darius are not conflicting things for me."
"…"
The Water God's attitude shocked Shirou.
She lived too clearly.
In her twilight years, the Water God Reida no longer had any confusion or doubt about life.
She would not change any decision she made, nor would she get lost in her choices.
Shirou had great respect for such a Water God.
But Shirou still didn't approve of her behavior of protecting Darius.
He and the Water God Reida would still have a battle sooner or later.
After making this judgment, Shirou turned and left.
"By the way, can you leave your name? If you want to hide it, then you don't have to say it."
Considering that she had let him go, Shirou thought for a while and replied to the Water God Reida's request, "Emiya, just call me Emiya."
"Emiya… okay."
Seeing Shirou's departing figure, the Water God Reida nodded silently, and then turned and returned to Darius's mansion.
"Water God!"
Seeing the Water God arrive, many guards greeted her.
The reason why no one disturbed the battle between Shirou and the Water God was because the Water God had notified them in advance that no one should interfere in this battle.
And most people also believed that with the Water God's strength, she would definitely be able to take down Shirou, so they obeyed.
However, what everyone didn't expect was that the Water God did not defeat Shirou. Not only that, but she also allowed him to escape unscathed.
This was almost unbelievable to ordinary people.
"That man is too cunning, perhaps a Swordsman of the North God Style, difficult to track."
The Water God Reida said with a calm attitude.
And ordinary people didn't dare to doubt her lies. After all, this was what the dignified Water God had said, and no one could question it.
The Water God then went inside Darius's mansion and found Darius, whose lower body was severely injured and could even be said to be disabled, lying on the ground, receiving treatment from a recovery magician.
The blonde girl Tristina was squatting beside him in confusion, with a mixture of lingering fear and an unspeakable anticipation on her face.
After all, Tristina had glimpsed Shirou's figure and deeply imprinted the characteristics of the man who saved her.
"…"
When the Water God saw Tristina like this, she vaguely felt like she was seeing her past self.
So she said without hesitation, "You should be a child who was captured from a noble family, right? If I'm not mistaken, your parents should have abandoned you."
"I…"
Tristina was speechless at the words of the Water God Reida.
She knew the situation at home very well, so she could completely understand that when Darius came to threaten them and forced them to hand her over, her family would definitely not hesitate too much.
However, this also meant that they had personally pushed Tristina into hell.
"If you have nowhere to go, would you like to join the Water God Style dojo?"
The Water God Reida said silently, looking at Tristina's appearance, and added, "In this way, you might have a chance to repay the person who saved you."
"Repay a debt? Can I really do that?"
Tristina's eyes lit up immediately, and her suspicion of the Water God weakened a lot.
"Of course, as long as you become strong enough, and the person you want to repay hasn't changed…"
As she said this, the Water God Reida glanced at Darius, who was still wailing, and couldn't help but feel a little complicated.
And Tristina didn't hesitate at all. She said almost without hesitation, "I, I am willing to join the Water God Style!!"
"Okay."
The Water God nodded.
She had just rescued Tristina on a whim.
She wasn't a partner of justice like Emiya, otherwise she wouldn't have allowed Darius to do evil. But if she could, she would also try to save those in need of help.
Moreover, seeing Tristina, she always had a feeling that the girl in front of her would become a bridge between Emiya and the Water God Style in the future.
The Water God Reida still hoped that Emiya could join the Water God Style.
In this way, the Water God Style would have the strength to compete with the Sword God Style!
Besides that, it might have just been a simple sense of pity. Reida had made too many mistakes in repaying her debt because she hadn't really been able to repay it.
She hoped to see someone take her place and complete what she had failed to do.
In this way, life wouldn't leave too many regrets.
…
Shirou's night attack on Darius's mansion, severely injuring Darius, and also fighting with the current Water God Reida, successfully escaping from the Water God. All of this was too exaggerated, and quickly spread from the mouths of the guards.
Even at such a late night, these indescribable deeds quickly spread throughout the royal capital, and even continued to spread to other places in the Asura Kingdom.
Because everyone hated Darius, most people respected Shirou very much, and even called him a hero in the night, a messenger of justice, spreading throughout the entire Asura Kingdom.
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