Chapter 7: Broken Phantasm
Leaving Matou Byakuya's now-cold body behind, Shirou turned and began searching the entire Matou residence for Sakura's whereabouts.
After practically searching all the rooms on the first and second floors, Shirou finally found the still-sleeping girl in the innermost bedroom on the second-floor corridor.
Waking from her hazy sleep, Sakura felt a mix of confusion and fear towards the unfamiliar Shirou.
An expression of fright emerged on the girl's small face. Her slender limbs curled up on the bed, and her eyelashes trembled slightly.
Shirou did not utter any foolish words about saving her. Instead, he reached out and took the girl's hand, forcefully pulling her up, and spoke in a somewhat cold tone.
"Matou Zouken is dead. Starting today, you will live with me. Understood?"
Upon hearing this, Sakura's body involuntarily trembled.
The person who could kill that Ojii-san (grandfather) terrified her.
Precisely because of this, even though her body was shaking, Sakura remained subservient throughout, making no unnecessary movements. She neither cried out nor tried to escape, and was simply led out of the Matou house by Shirou.
Upon leaving the Matou residence, Shirou turned back to look at the hollow structure silhouetted against the moonlit night.
He held Sakura's hand with one hand, while the other slowly raised and pointed at the Matou house.
"Trace on..."
Under the weaving of pale blue magical energy, a silver-white long sword swiftly projected outward and flew into the Matou house.
Then, Shirou's raised hand clenched sharply into a fist.
"Broken Phantasm!"
Boom---!!!
A violent explosion followed, and the surging magical energy rapidly diffused outward!
In this Miyama Town, far from the city, a small mushroom cloud quietly ascended.
The bright fire momentarily turned the entire Miyama Town into daylight.
"One B-rank Noble Phantasm consumed one-third of my magical energy... If it were an A+-rank Noble Phantasm, it would probably instantly drain all my magical energy."
Shirou, who had already left Miyama Town with Sakura, murmured this on the road.
Although he had gained the power of a Heroic Spirit now, the strength of Heroic Spirit Emiya was not enough to compare with the top-tier Heroic Spirits.
Even so, he could stand on undefeated ground against most enemies.
"If it weren't for the tracing characteristic of 『Unlimited Blade Works』, I truly wouldn't be able to destroy these Noble Phantasms without hesitation."
Excluding EX-rank Noble Phantasms, such as Gilgamesh's 「Enuma Elish」 which is impossible to replicate, and Divine Constructs like Saber's 「Excalibur (Sword of Promised Victory)」, Shirou could analyze and replicate all other Noble Phantasms.
For A-rank and lower Noble Phantasms, the only difference in replication was the amount of magical energy consumed.
However, the power of 『Unlimited Blade Works』 is a characteristic of a Reality Marble.
The spell Reality Marble, which rewrites reality with the practitioner's "inner world," is the "magecraft" closest to "True Magic."
A Reality Marble is a sub-species of Materialization of the Soul (Empty Dreams), a Bounded Field where the practitioner's inner world is materialized, causing the real world to be encroached upon.
Unlike Materialization of the Soul, the form of a Reality Marble cannot be freely determined.
Because it is formed from the practitioner's unique inner aspect, the practitioner cannot willfully influence the structure of the Bounded Field. However, a Reality Marble can influence non-natural things, making it superior to Materialization of the Soul in this respect.
The Reality Marble was originally an ability usable only by Spirits and Demons.
But through long years of accumulating techniques that allow the creation of a personal inner world, it has become possible for a few high-level practitioners to create a Reality Marble.
The majority of the Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors can use Reality Marbles, but overall, the number of mages capable of performing this great magecraft that alters the world is not large.
Moreover, the inner world created by a mage is subject to "natural" elimination by the World's Will (Gaia).
Therefore, maintaining a Reality Marble requires enormous magical energy, causing it to be maintainable for only a few minutes.
Shirou's Unlimited Blade Works transforms the space around him into a space that gathers all "sword" elements of the world, allowing him to easily project any sword he has seen once.
"If I can solve the problem of insufficient magical energy, my strength should increase significantly..."
Although Shirou understood this, he did not currently know how to do it.
"In any case, trying to acquire more knowledge of magecraft should be helpful."
While pondering these things, Shirou had already returned home with Sakura.
Since the Orihara parents were still asleep at this time, he didn't have to worry about being questioned.
After bringing Sakura to his room, Shirou used Hypnosis to make his parents perceive Sakura as the daughter of a distant relative staying with the Orihara family.
Although even with Hypnosis there was a chance of being seen through, fortunately, given the kind and gentle nature of the Orihara couple, even if they eventually discovered the truth, they would likely be willing to let Sakura stay with the Orihara family.
Of course, this needed to be done gradually. The Hypnosis was used now to prevent the Orihara couple from being dragged into the Holy Grail War and to subtly plant positive feelings towards Sakura in the Orihara couple.
After using Hypnosis to ensure Sakura could stay at home with peace of mind, Shirou returned to his room and looked at the girl sitting blankly beside his bed.
"By the way, if you miss home, I can also take you back."
Tohsaka Aoi and Tohsaka Rin were staying at the Zenjou family's residence, so there was no need to worry about encountering Tohsaka Tokiomi.
When a child is in an unfamiliar place, they would naturally think of the closest person; for Sakura, that should be her mother Aoi, right?
However, in response to Shirou's current question, Sakura did not show any longing to see her mother. Instead, she looked somewhat nervous.
"No... no... I don't want to go back."
The girl's small body trembled slightly, seemingly terrified of returning to that house.
The parents who personally sent her to the Matou family probably now appeared like devils to Sakura.
Afraid of being abandoned again, Sakura frantically shook her slender arms, and her purple eyes became misty with tears.
"Don't chase me away... Onii-san, I won't cause you any trouble..."