Once we pass between the exceptionally tall trees, an unexpected sight appears before me.
"...A ruin...?"
"We should be able to hide here for a while.
Archer found this as a place to hide on our way here."
--The entire ground floor is taken over by trees.
The only usable rooms are on the second floor, and this is the best of those.
Miraculously, the windows are still intact.
I don't know how, but I can see the night sky from here.
"Hmm. It's pretty clean in here. Maybe someone was staying here until recently."
......Really, what kind of nerves does she have?
Stepping over the rubble, Tohsaka is dusting off the bed by the window.
"Shirou, this way. We have to lie Saber down. It's pretty tiring being held by someone."
"Oh--yeah, I'll be right there."
I lay Saber down on the old bed.
"How are you feeling, Saber? Can you still move okay?"
"...Yes, since Shirou carried me here. It seems I can still sustain my body."
"--I see. Then I guess there's only one problem left.
It's been an hour... We should have a bit more time even if Illyasviel comes after us immediately. No, we might be able to hide here until morning if they have trouble finding us."
"Oh----"
Her mumbling reminds me.
We were able to make it to this ruin, but what happened to Berserker and Archer?
He remained at the castle to keep Berserker there.
...It's been over an hour. So Archer should already have retreated from the castle as well--
"Tohsaka, what happened to him--?"
"----"
Tohsaka doesn't answer.
She just places her right hand on her chest as if holding something dear.
...That tells me of Archer's fate.
Tohsaka's Command Spell is on her right arm.
The Master and the Servant are connected.
As Saber sensed my danger, if the Master can sense the life and death of their Servant...
"...Tohsaka, he..."
"Yeah. And I told him he just needed to buy us some time.
He--was arrogant to the very end."
...Silence follows.
The silence that seems to last forever is...
"--But I won't let it be meaningless. Since I've lost Archer, I'll get Berserker here."
...Aborted by the sound of Tohsaka punching her left hand with her right.
"Mourning is over. I believe in acting if I have time to worry. Since it's come this far, I'm going to make sure you're resolved as well."
"...? Resolved? For what?"
"Resolved to beat Illyasviel... Berserker, of course.
We can't escape this forest with Saber, and it's going to take a long time even if we are to heal her. Illya will catch us either way."
"Do you get it? For us to escape the forest with all three of us, we have to defeat Berserker.
If we can't, we'll just share Archer's fate."
"--Beat Berserker...?"
That monster?
Beat that whirlwind of death that nullifies every attack and destroys all that it touches in a single blow...?
"------"
I can't even imagine that.
Anything that fights him will die.
Tohsaka must know that as well.
Is she saying we'll beat it in spite of that?
"-----No, that's not right."
What am I saying?
Tohsaka isn't saying we can beat it.
She has no such false hopes.
"Oh--I see..."
That's right. We're not going to beat him to win.
...I should have realized that immediately.
"Our only option is to beat him."
It's just that.
If we don't want to die here...
We have to beat that monster.
"That's right. But it's not that hopeless.
Even if it's Berserker, he should be wounded after fighting Archer. And I have all my reserve jewels, so if Saber recovers, I can come up with a few plans to beat him."
"--Looking at it from the other side,
Since Berserker is wounded right now, don't you think this is our best chance to beat Illyasviel?"
"...But is there a way to heal Saber? Won't it be hard to treat her in a place like this?"
"No, the location doesn't matter for Saber's treatment.
Saber is just weakened by lack of magical energy. If we replenish her stocks, she should be able to use her abilities like before."
Tohsaka's explanation makes me remember last night.
Tohsaka said that Saber's magical energy is almost depleted.
So to replenish Saber's magical energy...
"Look. If you want to save Saber, all you can do is to make her attack people and absorb their souls."
"Then there's only one answer.
--- Use your Command Spell, Emiya-kun. You should be able to avoid the worst case scenario with that."
...There are two Command Spells left.
I have to use this, make Saber attack people, and make her consume their souls to replenish her magical energy.
We can't beat Berserker unless Saber is healed. We'll be beaten if we don't beat him.
I sneak a glance at Saber, who is lying down.
...As we are now, we'll only make Saber suffer. But that means...
"...No, Tohsaka. I'm still against making Saber attack people."
"Yes. I agree with that this time."
"Eh?"
"I would have given that proposal if this was another place.
But we're in Illyasviel's yard. There are no souls here---there may be someone other than Berserker or Illyasviel in the castle, but going there to look is like going to die."
"...We need to escape outside if we want to make her consume souls. That's putting the cart before the horse."
Tohsaka nods.
I'm glad that I don't have to make Saber attack people, but then, how can we replenish her magical energy?
"But what can we do, Tohsaka? First of all, our problem is that I can't give Saber magical energy, right?"
"There is a way. Yesterday... it's the day before now, but I explained to you then.
There is one more method other than the sharing magic to give magical energy to your Servant. Back then... well, I didn't say anything because I didn't think it would end up like this."
"Hm----?"
I recall the conversation yesterday.
She certainly did say--
"...Well, a path should have been formed at summoning, so there may be other measures--"
...Something like that.
"...I remember. Something about there being another way since a path exists..."
...?
Wait, did I say something wrong?
Maybe I misheard her back then because I was shocked about making Saber attack people.
"Tohsaka. Is there a way?"
"...Yes. There are two things we can do which I can support. We'll have to take the rough measure in this situation."
"Look. Saber's lacking magical energy because the path between you two is imperfect. To heal her, we need to correct the path."
"That's the best if we can, but I don't know how."
First of all, we had that problem since Saber was summoned. We wouldn't have been in this trouble if the line to supply her with magical energy was established.
"It's simple. We just need to reconnect the spiritual path. That's the only way to repair the path without breaking the contract or resummoning her.
We need to transplant Shirou's Magic Circuit to Saber."
"?"
...Transplant my Magic Circuit into Saber?
"To renew the path between you two, we need to transplant spiritually important organs.
If Servants and Masters are borrowing the Holy Grail's power, we need to create an equally strong connection to create a path.
To do this, we need to transplant the Master's Magic Circuit to the Servant. We need to go that far to send Shirou's power to Saber."
Magic Circuit.
A mechanism magi need so they can use od to activate mana. This is the core of magi, and without this, one cannot create magical energy which is the source of magic.
It is more important than their life for magi. You can even call it the meaning of their existences.
I can give that magic circuit to someone else---?
"It's too dangerous to transplant the Servant's circuit to the Master. They're Ghost Liners, and heroic spirits at that. Their circuits only bring severe rejection response even when they're transplanted on dying people.
Then the only option left is to transplant your circuit into Saber."
"But that's the same as ripping the nerves out of your body. Then all the strain goes to..."
The one the organs are transplanted from.
Ripping out nerves means the same thing as ripping off your fingers and arms.
"......Hold on, Rin.
That is too much for Shirou---"
"But if we don't, we won't be able to survive. You should know that, Saber."
".................."
I take care as I gulp so they won't hear it.
...I have to get my priorities straight.
I have no time to hesitate if it's clear what needs to be done.
"Tohsaka. Will this work?"
"...I'll make it work. But making it work doesn't mean you'll be all right.
I have no intention of failing, but Saber will take your Magic Circuit if it succeeds. Your sense of loss and pain would be so great that you'd wish it failed."
"------"
"If your Magic Circuit is taken away, it means--"
My second nerve, the Magic Circuit, will be taken out. This means removing the part of my nerves, damaging the spiritual body's integrity, and creating a fatal defect as a magus.
The essential parts are written in the blueprint, but what happens if those parts are lost?
You can never "perfect" something that is lacking. My hope of becoming complete will disappear here.
Once Emiya Shirou loses his foundation called the Magic Circuit, he will stay incomplete no matter what.
I nod to myself.
I see.
Then it's much better to be able to save Saber.
"All right, let's do it, Tohsaka."
"That was quick! Oh, no. I don't mind that you're quick to make your decision, but do you really know what this means!?"
"I do. You told me, right?"
"There's no way you understand!
Listen. It's like I'm telling you to die as a magus to save Saber. So how can you nod back without any objections---"
"But I don't have any objections.
I'm agreeing because it's the best plan you came up with. You should be more confident in your own plan, Tohsaka. It's making me uneasy seeing you in such a panic.
And Saber can't fight Berserker unless we do this, right?"
"...That's right. That's what I've been saying."
"Right? And it's not like we made no sacrifices. We have to fight and win, since he bought this time for us."
His back told me to go.
I didn't like him, but he risked his life to protect Tohsaka. Then I can't be chickening out here.
"...Okay. Let's start, Shirou."
"Okay. Are you okay too, Saber...?
We're going to transplant my Magic Circuit into you."
"---Yes. If that is your decision, Master."
Her voice does not contain affirmation or denial.
...But her eyes look as if they're in regret.
I guess Tohsaka is going to prepare us for the transplant.
I don't know how from the first place, so I have to leave it to Tohsaka.
"We'll start with Saber. Shirou, can you keep your Magic Circuit on and stand by without getting too disturbed?"
...I close my eyes and turn over the artificial nerve in my body.
I can turn the circuit on and off without a problem, thanks to Tohsaka, but---
"---!"
A red flower entangles itself with a white flower.
Tohsaka gets on top of Saber, who cannot move, and casually, brazenly moves her fingers across Saber's slender body.
"...Wait, Tohsaka. What are you going to do to Saber?"
"I'm trying to get her to relax. The success rate is going to drop unless Saber relaxes."
"Oh... Oh, I see. I'm sorry. Continue on."
"Okay.
Then let's take off your clothes, Saber."
"Huh...!?"
"Wha...!?"
"Don't get so surprised about every little thing. We just need to take off part of your clothing. Transplant of Magic Circuit is integration of body and mind. We have to make sure of maximum contact and reduce any screening."
Tohsaka is serious and calm.
The only ones flustered are Saber and I.
"...Hold on, Rin. I can do this myself..."
"Don't say that when it's painful just to raise your arm. Oh, Emiya-kun. Could it be that you want to take her clothes off yourself as a duty of the Master?"
"You----"
I stop myself before I call her an idiot.
With the joke aside, that's something I'm not suited to do.
...I can't stay composed if I have to do such a thing.
"...Sorry. I'll leave her to you."
"Good. So, you take your clothes off too, Shirou.
Oh, you just need to take your top off. I'll kill you if you take your bottom off too."
I can't tell if she's serious or joking.
Anyway, it seems I need to take off as much clothing as I can to come in contact with Saber.
"Shirou... Could you please turn your back for a while?"
"Oh---O-Okay, tell me when you're done."
I turn around, take my shirt off, and fold it up.
I even fold the sleeves so I could put it in a drawer if I wanted to, and try to hide my nervousness.
"Hm... Are you all right, Saber?"
"Yes, I feel much more relaxed. But---"
...I have to calm down.
I try to suppress my fear while acknowledging how hard the transplant of the Magic Circuit is and how much loss and pain the process involves.
This is just a passing point.
The thing I should be scared of is the fight against Berserker after this---
"Okay, Shirou."
"---Okay."
"--------"
Saber's skin is like new-fallen snow, or marble.
With the front of her blouse hanging open, Saber is so beautiful it bordered on profane.
...I suddenly forget to breathe.
I've seen her skin before, but the Saber in bed right now is unlike any Saber I've ever seen.
".................."
"------"
...It's because of the weird tension.
With myself aside, Saber's acting strangely too.
Before, she was acting normally even when I saw her skin.
"This way, Shirou.
Get on here and get on top of Saber."
...It feels like I'm moving a borrowed body.
I'm walking to the bed, but stepping on the rubble doesn't feel realistic.
"Saber, I'll take it until you two sympathize.
...I'll have you do it after that, but make sure not to take too much. The less you take, the less burden there'll be on Shirou."
"...Understood. Please go ahead, Rin."
Their conversation doesn't come into my head.
I have my hands full on steadying my breath.
".................."
We get even closer. We're so close that our skin is almost touching.
I feel her weak breath.
I support myself with my arms, and my body is too close to her.
"---Auftrag wird ersetzt.
Das dritte Element wird als das erste gekennzeichnet, das Fleisch geht einmal zum Teil des Sternes zurück."
...Her spell starts.
I shake off useless thoughts and clear my mind so I can sympathize with Saber.
"Sie fliegen hoch, schnell, weit, zu
morgen.
Nie zurück schauen."
The only thing I can see is Saber's face.
She's already in meditation.
...I can't keep my eyes open forever.
I close my eyes reluctantly.
"Es gibt niedrig, ist langsam, ist nah
und in die Vergangenheit.
Nie vorher betrachten."
My senses are becoming vague.
The sense of floating that I feel every night when I constructed the Magic Circuit.
The feeling of my mind escaping my body and being flung away.
But it goes in the opposite direction this time.
It usually goes out my back.
But my mind is escaping out of my chest right now.
"......"
The five senses are functions of the body.
My sense of hearing should go away since I'm out of my body.
But...
My ears are hearing Saber's breathing sharper than before.
The gentle breathing is starting to become lively.
The sound of the rapidly beating heart.
The sound of blood flowing through the veins.
"I" slip out the shell called Emiya Shirou and slide into her body.
"------"
My mind sinks even deeper.
I converge, swirl, shrink, and become a strong crystal to enter her.
The beat, warmth, breath.
I touch her mind, not her body.
"------Shirou."
A voice like a bell.
I answer the voice.
My mind completely breaks away from my body.
---My senses completely transform.
I have no arms, legs, or self. I run naked.
It feels like I'm running back in time.
It rather feels like I'm being left behind.
---It accelerates.
Body, personality, order, law.
I become a dart and penetrate through numerous barriers between boundaries of individual.
Sparks fly from the circuit.
The sensation of reaching the speed of light freezes me.
---It's as if passing by human life in a second.
The concentrated life is heavy and therefore, cruel. No matter how the life is, it passes by in an instant. It's unbearable to stare at it direct on. Therefore, my emotion is anesthetized and freezes.
This is what it's like to go on a journey with only the mind.
I realize what an excellent insurance the weight called the body was.
Visualization of foundation of magic.
Digitalization of human.
Several hundred organs are connected using several billion connections.
The infinite complex pattern is a highway made of simple repetitions.
The distant future that eventually is.
It's like a vehicle going through an illuminated city without any life.
---Here, the present time passes by at lightspeed.
Eternity in an instant.
I pass through the final boundary.
Beyond this is inside her.
I will see the Magic Circuit owned by the existence called
Artoria---
"------, ---"
The change is extreme.
The fast world filled with light is cut off in an instant. It's dark and heavy here.
Pressure compresses my outline. The air is too dense, and it feels as if I'm underwater.
My body is slowly sinking, accompanied by pain as if squashed by a strong force.
......The path is deep, and I can't see the bottom.
It feels like I'm falling through massive darkness into an even denser darkness.
The fact that I instantly went past thousands of miles feels like a lie.
Now, I'm suffering for an eternity to go a mile.
I feel no hope nor light ahead.
"------"
Is this really Saber's Magic Circuit?
It's greatly different from mine.
They say the shape of Magic Circuit and the number of paths are different for each person, but this is different.
It's not about scale or ability.
It seems Saber's Magic Circuit is fundamentally different from that of a magus---
The path rumbles.
Each time, my small self is almost crushed.
...I don't know what kind of Magic Circuit Saber has, but I know that the sympathizing spell is working.
...This isn't a failure. This place is dark and heavy unlike Saber, but this isn't an impure place.
It's so full of life.
The flowing air is blood and also a swirl of magical energy.
"---, ------"
I realize that I've forgotten to breathe. It may be because there's no need to.
The sinking is painful, but not life-threatening.
...I look up at the darkness I fell through, and it feels like it's a distance I can't go back.
First of all, I can't see anywhere in this darkness.
Even a slow fall seems infinite.
The weight of the air changes.
The speed of decent decreases even more.
I narrow my eyes at the brightness of the darkness.
There is an end to this infinite path.
I feel Saber's warmth and breath.
...That's the final destination.
I reach the source of Saber's Magic Circuit, the mental world at her cent---
---But.
The scenery is beyond my understanding.
The core of a star.
The embodiment of fire that breathes deep underground is here.
Not a sound.
The red surface of the lake is swirling, but stays silent without splashing around.
A huge shadow is in the bottom of the lake.
The eye of fire perceives the small intruder.
A foreign body is still a foreign body even if its master allowed it inside.
In this core...
My mind is only a piece of trash that disturbs its function or a piece of wood to light the fire.
"------"
I swallow my breath that I do not need.
I stare at the full scenery.
This is Saber's Magic Circuit.
Her heart that exceeds humans and is fundamentally different from ours which is imagined from lines and circuits.
This place is a reactor core. If a magus's body is a machine which creates magical energy, this place is a factory which creates magical energy.
But the core isn't active.
The starting key to make the core turn- the source of energy to provide the first turn is not there.
There is such a great amount of magical energy and an enormous magical core, but there isn't enough magical energy to activate the core.
---It rises to the surface.
The stalled sea of gasoline.
No matter how much undiluted magical energy there is, it's meaningless without a fire to burn it. It doesn't matter how small the fire is. This core will resume activity once the path to send magical energy is connected.
---For that...
A thing transcending human knowledge awakens.
The many paths running across the lake swirl up.
The red atmosphere shoots up and becomes pillars.
Or is this how it is inside a thundercloud?
The raging sound of the waves is so huge that I already cannot perceive them with my hearing.
Just like how something so huge cannot be seen, its roar is just like silence.
The thing appearing from within the blazing core is an embodiment of all the threats to mankind.
---It has been said...
The king is a red dragon symbolizing Britain.
The child of the sacred star, carrying phantasmal blood in a human body.
Dragon.
The symbol, fear and king of the numerous phantasmal beasts.
Appearing sometimes as evil and sometimes as a god, the highest of all beings.
That is what is in Saber's unconsciousness.
It is an absurd "true nature" that is appropriate for the best Servant.
The cauldron is opened.
The too-brutal fang fills my vision.
Resistance is meaningless.
A mere human cannot defend against it.
A mere human's intelligence cannot think of running away.
"---Ah."
It must have been that hungry.
With bloodshot eyes, it bites down on food that is small as dust and---
Eradicates all words.
---Come to think of it...
Why isn't food on the table alive?
It doesn't even need to be said.
It cannot bear it if it's alive.
We know that food is better fresh, but it's still dead because it's too cruel to keep it alive.
In short...
Despite appearances, edible meat preserves the dignity of life.
Screams and rage boil up.
I forget who I am and roar like a beast.
I appeal my pain.
Hatred builds up.
I resist with bare sensation.
As I'm bitten on... I beg for mercy like a sinner being crucified.
My senses vanish.
I drop all goals and meanings.
Keeping sanity here is as distant as the time of creation.
"---------"
Excessively powerful pain and pressure.
...And...
The instant I can only perceive this creature as a monster...
...I recall her figure.
Hanging her head, believing that I can withstand this hell.
"------,"
I recall the meaning of this pain.
I exhilarate the significance of this anguish.
I fully realize why I came to this place.
"------"
I breathe out and stop resisting.
The one I should fight against is not the dragon's fangs, but the pain within me.
I didn't come here to get away from the pain.
I'm here to save her from pain and to answer the trust she kept many times.
---Thus.
As I cannot fight, I'm here to give her the best answer I can give.
...There's no pain I can describe anymore.
I'm not reaching out to my destroyed senses.
I stay quiet as if I'm asleep and sharpen my senses.
Eternity is an instant here.
...If that is the case, I can stay conscious if I can withstand the pain even for an instant.
All right---then.
I have no fear.
I shall dedicate this pain to you, the one who is fighting.
---Pain disappears in an instant.
The red dragon is gone, and my consciousness rises.
Did it grow light because I lost some of it?
As if returning to the surface, I get away from the core against my will.
Wait.
I have to check something before that---
"------Oh."
How warm.
The core is burning golden with a low sound.
The delicate Magic Circuit is glowing with all the colors of the rainbow, restarting the circulation.
The fire has been lit.
Even though I may be an amateur magus, I was able to fulfill my role as her master.
I surrender my body to the soaring wind.
I catch a glimpse of a distant memory.
A figure holding a sword, and a figure dancing in the field.
Which did I find familiar...?
"......"
I feel the sun on my eyelids and open my eyes slowly.
"------"
I check my body with my dizzy mind.
My limbs are still there. I don't feel any wound on my body.
...Maybe the pain went away when I endured it.
My mental wound that could've been a trauma is healed as well.
"...Ah... Shirou."
I hear a weak voice from under me.
"...?"
The feeling of her soft skin instantly makes me realize who she is and what we're doing.
"Oh---!"
Saber is lying on the bed with an untidy blouse, and Tohsaka is curled up and asleep.
Tohsaka's... all right, but Saber has been under me dressed like this.
"G-Good morning, Saber."
"Yes. Good morning, Shirou."
An awkward greeting.
Saber slowly gets up and fixes her blouse.
...Crap. We're conscious of each other and can't look at each other in the eyes.
"Y-You can get up now?"
"Yes. I'm able to receive your supply of magical energy now."
...It seems Saber's back to normal.
The frailness when I carried her here is gone now.
"That's good... So the transplant of Magic Circuit succeeded, huh?"
"Yes, so, um... Can you put your clothes back on, Shirou? For some reason, it's hard to talk to you when you are like that."
I look down at myself.
"Oh---I see, you're right, you're right!"
I quickly reach out for my extremely folded-up clothes.
Tohsaka folded up my clothes... No, I'm the one who did it.
Why did I fold it up this much---?
"......Oh."
I vividly recall the ritual last night.
I sympathized with Saber and transplanted my Magic Circuit deep inside her.
It looks like Saber's back to normal, but what about me?
"------"
Tohsaka said that my body and mind would not be able to handle losing the Magic Circuit, but there's no big damage nor do I feel any big sense of loss.
...I'm a bit scared, but I check my Magic Circuit.
I dread looking at how much of it is missing, but the fight against Berserker is waiting.
I have to know the condition I'm in.
"......Huh?"
...Weird.
The Magic Circuit is a bit dull, but I don't see any damage.
It was bitten to pieces, but my Magic Circuit is still there.
I guess there's nothing wrong with it for me to use the "strengthening" spell.
"...I see."
The Magic Circuits I rarely used probably were taken away.
I only activate one to four circuits for strengthening. I can't use any large-scale spells, so I've never fully activated all my circuits.
It seems the Magic Circuits transplanted into Saber were those circuits I rarely used.
"...Shirou?"
...I can still use the strengthening spell just fine.
But my body's fatigue and dullness as if I'm in water is because my "full ability" has degenerated.
In its place, I feel that I'm connected deep down to something important.
I can't clearly tell where, but there's a weak link between Saber and I.
I've obtained something big and warm in place of my lost circuits.
"---I am sorry, Shirou."
I hear Saber's apologetic voice from behind me.
"I have tried my best to take the minimal amount of your circuits.
But that minimal amount was too much to take from any person. If I have left a scar on you, I cannot even think of how to apologize to you.
This is a mistake on my part. If I was not so useless, you would not have---"
"That's not true. You don't have to apologize.
First of all, all this was caused because I couldn't supply you with magical energy.
But it's settled now. I can supply you with magical energy now.
...Yes, I can now proudly say that I'm Saber's Master."
"But Shirou..."
"You don't have to worry about my Magic Circuit. It's something I don't use anyway. I actually feel better now than when I had it."
"......"
Saber doesn't look happy.
...Crap. I don't know what to say now.
Saber's healed, and I survived in spite of losing my Magic Circuit.
Saber's Magic Circuit, and the dream of light and wind and Saber's youthful days. And on top of that, we spent the night dressed like that---
"------"
Calm down, calm down.
That was a ritual for us to survive.
...I have to calm down. I may make a mistake in the oncoming fight like this.
"......Hm......"
Her breath pauses and she lets out a voice.
It seems Tohsaka woke up.
"G-Good morning, Rin."
"Y-Yo. Morning, Tohsaka."
Her hair moves, and she raises her head.
Tohsaka's not a morning person, so she's like a different person right now.
"Thanks, Tohsaka. It succeeded."
"Yes, my magical energy is replenished, but Shirou is..."
"No, I only lost about three tenths of it, so it's fine. I should be all right."
"T-Three tenths...!?
I minimized how much I took, but I still took three tenths...? How greedy of me---"
"Greedy, huh? I know you were hungry, but I wish you would've shown some manners."
"---!"
The awkward mood disappears since Tohsaka joined in.
...Now we're really back to normal.
"I see, then--let's go."
Tohsaka yawns once and stands up.
The battle is near.
Berserker and Illyasviel are waiting on the other side of the silent forest.
We'll lose many significant things we exchanged last night unless we break through that hurricane of death.
...The connection with Saber created in my heart.
To protect it, we have to defeat the strongest enemy---
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Originally Posted by asterism42
