(Shirou pov)
"I'm home."
The moment I stepped inside, Illya came running.
"Onii-chan!" She wrapped her arms around my waist, looking up at me expectantly. "...You didn't forget, right?"
I let out a small chuckle. "What kind of brother do you think I am?"
I handed her a CD of her favorite magical girl series along with a few figurines.
Her eyes lit up instantly.
"You did remember!" She beamed, kissing my cheek before running off. "Thank you!"
"Lolicon." Leysritt said lying at the sofa inside the living room.
"It's siscon," I corrected without a hint of shame. "Anyway, I got you something too."
I handed her a PS5.
Her eyes widened, and without wasting a second, she immediately started setting it up, making Sella's eye twitch.
"I also ordered something for you," I added, glancing at Sella as I lay on the sofa. "You'll have to wait until tomorrow, though."
Leysritt sat at the edge and lifted my head onto her lap. "This is more comfortable than a pillow," she said.
"I told you, I already have a girlfriend." I flicked her forehead.
"And?" she replied without hesitation.
"...That's exactly the problem."
Before she could say anything else, Sella passed by carrying laundry.
"It's not like it's forbidden for you to have a harem," she said calmly. "You're a magus now."
Leysritt and I both looked at her.
That sounded like something Mom would say.
But Sella?
Yeah… it felt like she just declared the world was ending tomorrow.
"What?" Sella looked at us, clearly annoyed by the way we were staring at her.
"Well… did something happen?" I asked, glancing at Leysritt as I scratched my cheek in confusion.
"I don't know." She shook her head. "She's not acting like usual."
"Hah…!" Sella let out an irritated breath. "And what exactly do you think my 'usual self' is?"
Seeing her getting worked up, Leysritt and I looked at each other for a moment, then silently agreed.
Yeah… she was back to normal.
"About the harem… I don't think I'll do that," I said, glancing at Leysritt apologetically. "I've still got a lot of things to do, things I need to finish."
I paused, trying to find the right words.
"I don't even know when I'll be done. I might disappear out of nowhere, and come back just as suddenly. Or worse," I let out a quiet breath, "I might not come back at all."
My relationship with Iroha…
That's something I'll have to end once I find a way back to my original world.
Even if I don't have all my memories of my past self, there's this lingering feeling of something unfinished.
Like there's something I'm supposed to do.
Something I lost.
I want to see someone, but I don't even know who.
Grow stronger?
…No, that's not it.
Master my magecraft?
That's already too easy.
Taking a deep sigh, I stood up from her lap pillow and said, "I'm going to my room."
_______________________
(3rd Person View)
A man stood in silence, staring at the lifeless body of a baby.
The world around him felt hollow, as if even the air had abandoned him.
Behind him, a colossal beast charged forward at an unnatural speed, its massive spear aimed straight for his heart.
He didn't move.
Tears stained his face, yet his eyes remained empty, devoid of emotion.
Then, slowly, he raised his hand.
A crimson pattern flared to life behind his back.
A stigmata.
Before the beast could reach him, silver chains erupted from the air, wrapping around its body in an instant.
"ROAR!"
The creature bellowed, tearing through the chains with brute force, shattering them like fragile glass.
The man didn't flinch.
Like a machine, he formed a sword in his hand.
The spear came crashing down.
He swung.
Steel met force, and in that instant, the impossible happened.
Instead of being thrown back, the man stood unmoving, while the beast was hurled away, its massive body slamming into a building and reducing it to rubble.
He leapt forward.
A single slash.
No resistance.
The beast was split clean in half.
Silence fell for a moment.
Then—
More came.
Dozens of monsters, each one resembling the fallen beast, emerged from the shadows.
The man tilted his head slightly.
That empty gaze…
It sent a chill through the weaker ones.
But the rest roared, falling into a frenzy as they charged toward him.
Swords began to appear in the sky.
One.
Ten.
Dozens.
They spun slowly above him, like a storm waiting to descend.
"How dare you…"
His voice broke the silence.
He clutched his head, his expression twisting for the first time.
"Stop it…"
His voice trembled.
"Stop saying it…!"
The swords trembled with him.
"Humanity this… humanity that… humanity's sins…!"
His voice snapped.
Madness, grief, and fury. All those feelings collided at once.
As if the the sky answered his anger.
Blades rained down.
The monsters didn't even have time to scream.
They were pierced, shredded, erased, like grass beneath a storm of steel.
When it ended, over a hundred beasts lay dead.
And yet-
The man stood there, untouched. His golden eyes glowed under the sun, and his emotionless stare sent shivers down the spine of the white beast standing within his gaze.
Not a single wound on his body.
Only tears flowing out of his eyes.
"Honkai…"
He looked up at the sky, his voice trembling with rage.
"Who gave you the right to judge humanity? I don't even know what you are! You killed someone important to me right in front of my eyes, and you still dare to blame humanity?!"
His fists clenched tighter.
"What kind of twisted logic is that? And who told you to test us? To take everything from me?!"
His voice echoed into the empty sky.
"I swear on my name… Emiya Shirou…!"
His eyes burned with something beyond anger.
"I will destroy you."
His voice steadied.
"If I can't… then I'll make sure someone else can."
_______________________
Darkness.
Silence.
Then- Light.
Shirou's eyes slowly opened.
He was back in his room.
The ceiling above him was familiar and yet unfamiliar.
The quiet hum of the house, the presence of others in the other rooms… everything felt real.
For a moment, he didn't move.
Memories flooded in.
Not a single fragments...Not only the feelings... But everything.
Those battles.
The losses.
And his promise.
His hatred.
His helplessness.
He closed his eyes again.
A small smile formed on his lips. "...I see."
There was no anger in his voice.
No regret.
Only peace, accepting everything just like a person achieving nirvana.
He exhaled softly.
The weight in his chest and mind, along with the lingering hunger for strength that had been there for so long, slowly faded.
He decided to let it go.
All of it.
The burden of the past
The oath he once clung to with desperation.
Because he had already entrusted everything… to the one who could carry it forward.
To her.
"Then I'll leave the rest to you."
His voice was quiet, but firm.
No hesitation.
No doubt.
He opened his eyes again, calm and clear.
The storm within him had settled.
For the first time, ever since his reincarnation he was at peace.
"This time… I'll enjoy my second chance at life," he murmured. "The past can stay where it belongs."
Shirou stood up and glanced at the window. It was still night.
With a smile, he felt as if he were floating on clouds. Unbeknownst to him, a red mark began to glow behind his back, as though he had finally broken free from the chains that once bound him.
"I feel free," he said.
He leapt out the window and landed on the rooftop, standing beneath the glow of the full moon.
"I understand it now," he murmured.
The mark on his back flared, burning and shining like a living flame.