After Shirou learned the basics of the Holy Grail War from Rin, she decided to bring him to the church so that he could gain a more detailed understanding of what the Holy Grail War actually was.
"Whoa! This place is so creepy! It is completely different from what I imagine a church to be! And what is wrong with that priest? He looks terrifying!"
The dark night and the lack of lights made the church especially eerie. Exusiai hugged herself and continuously rubbed her arms.
As a Sankta with faith, Exusiai had a certain understanding of churches and priests.
But she absolutely refused to acknowledge either this church or this priest!
"This angel has pretty good instincts! That man is definitely not a good person."
Illya chuckled after hearing the complaints.
"Were you not saying that it was almost your turn to appear, Illya? When are we leaving this place?"
Exusiai felt she could not endure another second. If this continued, she felt that even her halo would start losing its brightness.
Unlike Exusiai, who desperately wanted to leave, everyone else listened attentively.
"This priest... it feels like he wants Shirou to participate in the Holy Grail War. He also seems to understand Shirou very well. Every word he says targets exactly what Shirou cares about."
Frostnova gave her opinion.
He deliberately brought up the great fire from ten years ago and repeatedly mentioned the consequences if evil people were to obtain the Holy Grail.
It was obvious that he wanted Shirou to participate in the war, though nobody understood his true reasons.
And Shirou's attitude did begin to change. At first, he rejected this meaningless conflict, but in the end, he chose to become a Master and prevent ill-intentioned people from obtaining the Holy Grail.
"So the signs were already there at this point?"
Amiya was looking at things from a more distant perspective. What interested her was Shirou's psychological state.
Everything before had merely been minor incidents, but this decision clearly showed that Shirou's mentality had become somewhat unhealthy.
Even knowing that the road ahead was full of suffering, Shirou would still choose to walk it for the sake of others.
That was simply the kind of person he was.
Amiya did not bring this up aloud. Instead, she quietly remembered it and planned to record it after returning to Rhodes Island. Matters like these were rather personal and unsuitable for discussion right now.
On the way out of the church, Shirou and Rin had a brief conversation.
Unfortunately, the results were not very satisfying.
Rin's purpose in bringing Shirou here had been to help him understand the nature of the Holy Grail War and what it truly meant.
Yet Shirou still insisted that he would not become her enemy, giving Rin quite a headache.
Although Amiya and the others found Shirou's attitude somewhat awkward, they were more interested in something else.
Archer's attitude toward Shirou seemed rather unfriendly.
He constantly encouraged his Master, Rin, to oppose Shirou and never gave him a pleasant expression.
"Wait, wait, wait! Are they not the same person? Why does this guy have such obvious hostility toward Shirou?"
Blaze finally figured out what had been bothering her.
That was the look of someone wanting to eliminate another person!
It might make sense for other Servants, but between Archer and Shirou, it seemed absurd.
They were literally the same person!
"Is this like those jokes about traveling back in time to strangle your younger self?"
Croissant suddenly spoke up, having thought of those ridiculous internet memes.
In response, she was immediately subjected to "horn-pulling service" from her teammates, with Texas and Sora each grabbing one side and pulling outward.
After hearing Blaze and Croissant, everyone else naturally understood the strange relationship between Archer and Shirou.
However, there was no time for discussion.
Because a new enemy had appeared.
It was an abnormally large and muscular Servant.
Yet everyone's attention was focused on the girl standing before him.
Everyone: "?"
They knew Illya's entrance was approaching, but nobody expected it to happen so suddenly, nor with such overwhelming villainous energy.
Unlike the Illya standing beside them now in her pure white dress, the Illya in the memories looked like a lovely fairy, yet behaved more like a Sarkaz.
And the Servant behind her, carrying an enormous axe-sword, clearly looked like someone one should not provoke.
"Berserker..."
Looking at her past self and the giant behind her, Illya muttered quietly, completely ignoring the strange looks everyone else was giving her as they compared the two Illyas.
Following the command from the Illya in the memory, Berserker shattered the ground beneath his feet and charged directly toward Shirou and Rin.
Archer's arrows interrupted Berserker's attack and even forced him backward.
"So this is what Servants are like? This is ridiculous!"
Everyone was left speechless.
Unlike the battle with Lancer, Berserker's presence was overwhelming.
He casually batted away Archer's arrows with his stone axe, and even after tanking a small explosion with his body, he emerged completely unharmed.
That alone demonstrated just how absurd his physical strength was.
None of those present could confidently claim that they could withstand attacks of that level, even if they were fully prepared.
Moreover, despite his massive and heavy appearance, Berserker was astonishingly agile.
He exchanged blows evenly with Saber and even managed to suppress her through sheer physical superiority.
Even under the coordinated attacks of Archer and Saber, they were still unable to inflict any meaningful damage upon him.
Saber weighed her options and chose to move away from Shirou and Rin, drawing the battlefield deeper into the forest.
Seeing this, Rin told Shirou to leave before immediately following after Saber, leaving Shirou standing alone.
Watching Rin's retreating figure and hearing the explosions and clouds of dust stirred up by the battle, Shirou stared at his own hands and fell into hesitation.
Without even looking, everyone already knew what choice he would make.
Things unfolded exactly as they had expected. After only a brief moment of thought, Shirou clenched his fists and chased after them.
No one was surprised by his decision anymore, nor did they bother complaining. After all, these were only memories. If they really wanted to correct or criticize him, it would be better to say it to his face after returning.
Thunderous crashes echoed continuously through the forest, accompanied by towering clouds of dust that could be seen clearly even among the trees.
Looking at this scene, the four members of Penguin Logistics all began developing the same small question in their minds.
Meanwhile, Shirou had already caught up with Rin, only to be immediately scolded and suppressed by her. Although her tone sounded fierce, her intentions were obvious.
Yet at a time like this, Shirou's brain and eloquence suddenly seemed to improve. With only a few words, he managed to persuade Rin to continue onward.
It was a rather nice scene, but to those watching…
The atmosphere felt somewhat overwhelming.
"Shirou at this stage really does suddenly say some surprisingly good things! It is actually pretty entertaining!"
Blaze, being rather carefree, did not think too deeply about it. She simply found the younger Shirou more amusing to listen to.
Unfortunately, the Shirou she knew had already matured considerably. He was calm and much more polished in dealing with others.
It was certainly comfortable being around him, but she felt that something was missing.
"Ah… Blaze, you are right."
The others, who had not quite followed Blaze's train of thought, all nodded and managed to survive the somewhat awkward scene.
They had not eaten anything, so why did they suddenly feel a strange mixture of sweetness and sourness?
It had to be their imagination.
As Shirou and Rin regrouped and moved forward, everyone saw Saber and Berserker battling in the distance.
Saber skillfully used the surrounding obstacles to restrain Berserker's attacks while waiting for opportunities to counterattack.
Though unfortunately, it came at the expense of quite a few gravestones.
"Whoa… that swing just sent five graves flying."
Watching Berserker swing his axe-sword, Exusiai stuck out her tongue and commented.
"Be quiet."
Texas immediately stopped her.
It was supposed to be a thrilling battle, yet somehow Exusiai's attention was entirely focused on gravestones being launched into the air.
Was she a Sarkaz disguised as a Sankta? Her priorities were completely crooked.
"Um… I remember Shirou saying that the Holy Grail War is supposed to remain secret, right? But the roads earlier and all the destruction here seem a little too obvious, do they not?"
Sora timidly directed the question toward Illya.
It was somewhat out of place, but she had been curious ever since Archer unleashed that huge attack earlier. The only reason she had held back until now was because Illya had seemed absent-minded.
But after seeing this battlefield and hearing Exusiai's remarks, she could not hold herself back any longer.
"Oh, that? The Church handles those things, so I do not know much about it… though I do remember that priest especially liked using gas explosions or gas leaks as excuses."
After hearing Sora's question, Illya poked her cheek and thought for a moment before answering.
She really was not familiar with that side of things. Most of what she knew had come from Sella and Leysritt.
As for what she herself had been doing back then…
Ah, right.
At the time, she had wanted Shirou to suffer and make him experience pain in place of Kiritsugu, who had already passed away.
"Gas explosions?"
Sora only ended up with even more question marks over her head.
The road earlier was one thing, but where exactly were the gas pipes in a forest and a graveyard?
Did nobody find that suspicious!?
Sora was not alone. Plenty of others shared the same confusion.
Only when Saber thrust her sword toward Berserker did they finally snap back to reality.
After all, her declaration of attack had been loud enough, and the ground around the two Servants had literally shattered and risen into the air from the force of their clash.
Although Berserker caught the blade with his hand, the invisible sword suddenly revealed its true form. Magical energy burst from the tip and tore apart the entire left side of Berserker's body.
Only then did everyone finally see the appearance of Saber's sword.
"What a beautiful blade… It is hard to imagine that Miss Saber fought Berserker with such a magnificent sword."
The moment she saw it clearly, Talulah could not help but praise it.
For some reason, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity and affinity toward Saber. Everything about her simply felt pleasing to the eye, causing Talulah to unconsciously pay more attention to her.
"That sword looks familiar. Earlier, did Shirou not use this very sword to eliminate the Catastrophe?"
Unlike Talulah, Frostnova did not particularly care about the quality or appearance of swords.
However, she had seen that sword once not long ago, and the impression it left on her was unforgettable.
After all, it was a weapon capable of destroying a Catastrophe. Anyone would remember something like that.
"It is not over yet."
Just as everyone's attention was fixed on Saber's sword, Rosmontis seemed to notice something.
The black giant before them had not disappeared despite having half his body torn away. Instead, he slowly straightened himself up, and the shredded flesh was gradually regenerating.
"That is Berserker's Noble Phantasm, God Hand. To put it simply, he can revive twelve times."
Seeing everyone's dumbfounded expressions, Illya kindly provided an explanation.
Her version was even more straightforward than Saber's.
At first glance, a Noble Phantasm that granted resurrection seemed unimpressive compared to those that constantly blew up the battlefield and caused massive explosions.
But this was Berserker.
A monster who could tank arrows with his body and send entire sections of the ground flying with a single swing.
In gaming terms, he was the definition of a final boss.
And he had twelve health bars.
Each one thick enough to make people despair.
The four members of Penguin Logistics, who already knew the outcome of the Holy Grail War, simply could not imagine how Shirou had managed to defeat a monster like this and emerge victorious.
Surely some even more broken existence had appeared later and dealt with this boss?
But then, how exactly had Shirou won the Holy Grail War?
That question had become the one thing everyone most wanted answered.
Naturally, Illya understood this.
But she had no intention of spoiling the answer.
Knowing too much beforehand would only blur what truly mattered.
After all, this journey through memories had been carefully prepared by her.
Because Shirou had once again stepped onto that path.
And what awaited him at the end of that road was obvious.
She could not change what lay at the end.
But at the very least, she hoped to make the journey itself a little smoother.
If there were companions who shared his ideals walking beside him, perhaps he would not feel so lonely.
If possible, she still wished Shirou would think more about himself.
But unfortunately…
That was simply the kind of person he was.
Someone who showed kindness to everyone—
And was exceptionally harsh only toward himself.