Chapter 163: Hestia Grants Shirou Immortal Authority; Ryuu Faces Execution!
The wasteland of the Unlimited Blade Works stretched endlessly.
Shirou and the projection of Unlimited Blade Works stood at opposite ends, facing each other.
The moment Shirou took control of the swords scattered across the field, the 'Heroic Spirit EMIYA' projection of Unlimited Blade Works immediately furrowed his brow.
He hadn't expected that Shirou could rise above the very laws of the world and manipulate the swords within Unlimited Blade Works.
This shouldn't have been possible. The only way it could happen was if Shirou's own abilities had already reached the level of Unlimited Blade Works itself—or even beyond.
"Seems you've grown in ways never before seen since arriving in this world," said Heroic Spirit EMIYA, looking at Shirou.
Because he had always been sealed by the divine-power wound, his understanding of Shirou was limited; he didn't know everything Shirou had experienced or the changes that had occurred after coming to Orario.
In fact, Shirou now could not only project divine-constructed weapons but had also reached the realm of a demigod. For him, Unlimited Blade Works was no longer even a necessary technique.
Because of this growth and change, even when facing the nearly intrinsic power of Unlimited Blade Works, he was no longer purely oppressed by it. Instead, he could resist, and even surpass it.
However, even as Shirou demonstrated his ability to manipulate Unlimited Blade Works, the 'Heroic Spirit EMIYA' projection still maintained a nonchalant attitude.
He spoke coldly: "Even if you can forcibly manipulate this Reality Marble, so what? Having abandoned justice, you cannot wield this field at will. The sword you just swung—that was already the limit for you, wasn't it?"
"You're right," Shirou calmly responded to Emiya's denial.
Indeed, he couldn't fully control all the swords in Unlimited Blade Works. While he claimed that by relying on the origin, he could still use the power of Unlimited Blade Works, the number of swords he could manipulate via origin was limited. Without accepting EMIYA's justice, he couldn't freely control every sword.
Yet Shirou didn't feel he needed to control all the swords.
After all, this battle in the spirit world wasn't necessarily about deciding victory or defeat, nor purely a fight to the death. The essence of the battle was a struggle for mental dominance: whether Shirou could first seize control over Unlimited Blade Works, or whether the negating justice would tear his body apart first.
As long as Shirou could control most of Unlimited Blade Works' power before his body collapsed and his spirit was destroyed, manipulating the negating Unlimited Blade Works itself would be equivalent to victory!
"I am the bone of my sword. / Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."
Shirou began chanting without hesitation, focusing deeply and sensing all the swords around him, further manipulating all the weapons across the field of swords.
The projection of Heroic Spirit EMIYA immediately tried to block Shirou, preventing him from easily fusing with the power of Unlimited Blade Works.
To counter this, EMIYA continuously manipulated the surrounding swords, aiming them at Shirou's body.
To gain further control over Unlimited Blade Works, Shirou couldn't even dodge. He endured the agony of countless swords piercing through him, forcibly collecting the power he had once lost, relying solely on his will.
Thus began a tug-of-war on the mental plane.
This was an invisible battle of bloodless struggle, yet far more dangerous than any clash of swords and steel.
Especially for Shirou, everything felt like walking on a tightrope, always on the verge of falling into an abyss, facing true death.
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In the real hospital room:
Amid the chaos, Airmid frantically cast various healing techniques on Shirou, but none could heal the invisible wounds inside him.
Worse, as time passed, the effects on Shirou's body became increasingly obvious.
"Puchi!"
Blades began sprouting all over his body—terrifying spikes emerging from beneath his skin, growing in number with each passing moment.
The sharp swords had no softness at all, nearly harming Hestia and the other gods nearby.
"What on earth is happening?!"
Seeing sword after sword pierce Shirou's flesh, Hestia felt her scalp tingle with horror. The human body producing such lethal blades was terrifying beyond belief.
"This must be the 'bomb' inside Emiya's body," Airmid said seriously. "I don't know exactly what it is, but previously, the divine-power wound suppressed it. Now, with the wound gone, this even more terrifying thing has emerged."
"Then… what should we do?" Loki asked anxiously.
No one wanted to watch Shirou die, yet the blades sprouting from his body made it impossible to know how to stop this process.
Airmid pondered for a long moment before turning to Freya. "Goddess Freya, could your Familia's healer, Heith, come help?"
"Heith?"
"Yes. Although this bizarre illness in Shirou cannot be cured, continual healing magic can at least sustain his life. If we can temporarily heal the wounds torn by these blades, there is hope for recovery."
"I see… I'll contact Heith immediately."
Freya nodded decisively.
"Need a healer, right?" Loki immediately made a decision. "I'll find reliable healers in Orario. Until then, Airmid, you have to keep Shirou alive."
"I'll do my best."
Without hesitation, Airmid began chanting, releasing her healing magic.
Under her influence, the flesh torn by the swords began to rapidly regenerate.
However, every time Airmid healed one wound, more swords would erupt from Shirou's body.
Her efforts were like trying to plug a constantly gushing fountain: patch one side, another leaks.
But it was all she could do. Without her continuous healing, Shirou would bleed to death in no time.
"…."
Watching Shirou being torn apart on the hospital bed and Airmid's magic being rapidly depleted as she tried to save him, Hestia's expression grew helpless.
As Shirou's main deity, she wished she could do something—but she couldn't.
Hestia could neither use divine power, nor did her godly authority hold real meaning here.
As the goddess of the hearth, her authority was the so-called Immortal ability.
It could make fire evolve into a flame that burns forever.
Though her divine rank was high—said to rival even Ouranos in level—the actual expression of her power was effectively nonexistent.
At the very least, Hestia was completely incapable of using this power to accomplish anything extraordinary. Its only use was to make a flame, once ignited, burn continuously; as long as divine power persisted, it would never extinguish.
Compared to other powers with complex effects, Hestia's authority was so simple that even she felt helpless about it.
Sometimes she fantasized that if only she had a stronger power, she could, like Astraea, directly possess the ability to dominate gods of her level…
But the reason it remained a fantasy was simply that it was impossible to achieve.
Helpless, Hestia silently approached Shirou, whose body was being continuously pierced by swords, his flesh torn apart. She ignored the threat of the blades and forcibly took Shirou's hand, wanting at least for him to feel her warmth.
Although Airmid wanted to stop her, she was fully focused on continually healing Shirou, leaving her no time to intervene.
In this situation, Hestia silently stayed by Shirou's side, pressing her hand firmly against his arm.
At that moment, Hestia suddenly noticed flames appearing in her hand, seemingly out of nowhere.
It was as if she were manipulating the fire in a stove, keeping the flames burning eternally. She realized that she could somehow feel flames flickering inside Shirou as well.
Although she didn't understand why or what this meant, Hestia instinctively ignited the fire within Shirou.
Even if it was merely self-comfort, even if the act was meaningless, she wished for Shirou to burn like the flame her power had elevated—like the sacred fire of Olympus—eternally, unextinguished.
Of course, Hestia herself didn't truly believe that this act could change anything.
However, neither Hestia nor Airmid noticed that when Hestia ignited the flame within Shirou, his inner karma-fire began to blaze like a raging inferno.
The swords that continuously sprouted within Shirou's body were slowed in their formation by this fire.
Even though more swords still erupted from his body, the ever-burning sacred fire transformed Shirou's insides into a searing forge, melting all the swords as they formed.
This not only slowed the collapse of Shirou's body but also initiated a special process within him.
His body became like a furnace; countless swords were tempered and burned by the flames, gradually forming the rudiments of some concept.
Yet this process was destined to be grueling.
Not only was Shirou's body constantly on the brink of destruction, but his mind was also perpetually battling the will of 'Heroic Spirit EMIYA.'
This danger could no longer be compared to walking a tightrope along a cliff—it was as if Shirou were moving through an abyss.
With each step, the abyss's power devoured him further.
For that reason, the only things he could rely on were his steadfast will and the faint spark of fire ignited by Hestia's power.
Though that spark was extremely weak, it had never been extinguished.
It was just like Hestia's authority—Immortal.
Even the faintest flame would never stop burning.
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Shirou's inner struggle drew the attention of many gods and mortals alike. Not only Hestia, Loki, and Freya, but as his situation worsened, the gods gathered every possible helper they could find to bring healers capable of further stabilizing Shirou's injuries.
Ultimately, thanks to Airmid's powerful healing magic and the arrival of Heith from Freya's Familia, Shirou's body was able to avoid complete collapse.
Though his condition was still far from ideal, the most dangerous period had at least passed.
The next step was simply to wait—for Shirou to overcome the other self and awaken from his coma.
For this, sufficient time was required.
However, reality did not grant Shirou that luxury.
On the second day after Shirou began receiving treatment from Airmid, a major incident occurred at Babel Tower.
After the announcement from Goddess Astraea, the leader of Evilus, the Sword Demon Shirou Emiya, had not responded at all. The guild, after discussion, decided that the criminal wanted by the guild—Ryuu Lion —would be publicly executed in Orario's execution grounds.
Although Ryuu had once been a member of Astraea's Familia, her past accumulation of blood debts from defeating the Rudra Familia meant that the guild firmly declared she must face punishment.
The execution was set to occur three days later.
The person responsible for carrying out the execution would be no one else than Ryuu's former patron deity herself, the goddess of justice, Astraea.
Upon hearing this, the entirety of Orario was shaken.
Many people thought the action was too cold-blooded, that for Astraea to personally execute a former follower was inhumane.
Yet the goddess of justice, Astraea, seemed to have no emotional reaction.
She accepted the request without hesitation and stated that she would personally attend to carry out Ryuu's execution.
This news made the people of Orario respect Astraea even more, admiring her unwavering impartiality.
Meanwhile, Ryuu, imprisoned and hearing that Goddess Astraea would personally judge her, became deeply despondent.
She had already been confused and frustrated by Astraea's refusal to accept her proposals and forcibly imprisoning her. Now, with Astraea about to personally judge her, she felt utter despair.
Resigned, Ryuu completely abandoned all illusions and gave up all hope.
She accepted her fate, and the fact that she was about to be sanctioned by the deity she had revered, treating it as a punishment she was destined to face.
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