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IBHJ Chapter 680
🕑 Added 2024-01-21 01:38:05 +0000 UTCStaring into those bright wine-red eyes, he noticed something. The flame he usually saw in his eyes was gone.
This is one strange dream. The Council is probably messing with me, he quickly judged. He then put on an appropriate expression and responded to Scathach's words:
"Sorry shisho...I am feeling a bit nervous."
"It's alright, Shirou. After all, this is the final battle. As long as you stick to the plan for dealing with Gilgamesh, this Holy Grail War will be over soon," she said gently with a smile.
Deal with Gilgamesh? So it really is the 4th Holy Grail War! he realized.
With this in mind, he nodded, "I understand, shisho."
"Then let's begin. Go ahead with your plan, Shirou. I'll carry it out earnestly."
"My plan...I'm sorry, shisho. I'm feeling a little dizzy and I've forgotten some parts of it," he sat on her thighs and scratched the back of his head, looking a bit silly.
Hearing this, she gently replied, "Take a look in your plan book then. I remember you put it in your right pant pocket."
Shirou reached into his pocket, and there was indeed a small black notebook inside.
How interesting, he thought, raising his eyebrows. If this was the Council's doing, then he had to compliment them for understanding his personality so well.
He did like to carry a pocket notebook, as it made recording his inspirations and planned schedules more convenient.
Alright, let's see what tricks this dream is trying to pull. He flipped open the black notebook.
There were no detailed settings of this dream recorded, only some strategy plans. Among them were several Servants that had appeared in the 4th Holy Grail War - Artoria, Iskandar, Diarmuid - and plans for dealing with them.
Everything seemed a remake of the war. It was as if this dream world was constructed using that war as a model.
However, one very strange thing caught his eye. His gaze landed on a name:
Caster - Scathach!
Shirou was somewhat surprised. This dream seemed to follow the model of the 4th Holy Grail War he knew, but there was one key difference. The identity of Caster had changed from him to Scathach!
He casually flipped through the pocketbook, occasionally feigning confusion as he asked her some trivial questions. Gradually, he pieced together the oddities of this dream.
First, it did seem to use the 4th Holy Grail War as a template. Second, the divergence that made this dream peculiar compared to his real experiences was that Scathach had apparently agreed to his request to take his place as Caster and become his Servant.
And the time progression of this dream wasn't the first night when the war began, but rather the third, or perhaps final night.
This was so because Shirou and Scathach had already eliminated all other teams, leaving only Archer - Gilgamesh left to deal with.
What surprised Shirou was how the other teams were dealt with in this dream. The setting was that he had directed Scathach using his own tactics to eliminate all the other teams. And the plans to take out each team...made him rub his eyes in disbelief. Weren't these the ideal strategies he had devised before?
Diarmuid was directly stabbed to death by Scathach during the first night's warehouse battle, and his Master, Kayneth and his wife Sola-Ui were killed when Kiritsugu blew up their hotel before shooting them dead.
After that, Shirou mobilized the entire police force to pursue Kiritsugu citywide, luring him to the police station. Then they ambushed Kiritsugu there, forcing him to use a Command Spell to summon Artoria. This allowed Scathach to duel Artoria one-on-one and succeed in killing her, while also finishing off Kiritsugu.
Then, by tracing Kiritsugu's base using the police, they confiscated the RPG launcher he had stashed in his hotel. They used it to bombard the Church where Kirei and Risei were hiding, killing them. And through threats, deception, and lies, they managed to recruit Assassin Hassan to their side.
After that, they launched a sneak attack on Waver's stronghold with Scathach. Using two Command Spells, Shirou forced Iskandar to repeatedly retreat and reengage, draining his magical energy until he could no longer sustain his Ionian Hetairoi. Then they sent in Assassin Hassan to assassinate Waver. This forced Iskandar to expend his final Ionian Hetairoi, allowing Scathach to slay him.
However, according to the setting of this dream, Shirou didn't kill Waver. Instead, he made Waver sign a Geis Scroll, sparing his life in exchange for two favors.
Then, in the early hours of the second night, he launched a surprise attack on Einzbern Castle with Scathach, who coincidentally encountered and killed Berserker Spartacus along the way.
Shirou kidnapped Irisviel and tied her up in Einzbern Castle before leaving.
When dawn broke on the third day, only Gilgamesh remained to be dealt with.
Glancing at the unfinished plans scribbled in the notebook, Shirou had already deduced the settings and background of this dream.
And as for how to deal with Gilgamesh, he had already guessed the strategy, even without checking the notebook.
Because this was simply the ideal plan he devised during the 4th Holy Grail War!
It was just that in reality, Scathach hadn't responded to his request for help, and his own abilities at the time were insufficient to execute this ideal strategy. So he'd had to modify his plans repeatedly until that eventual outcome came to be.
Yet this dream accurately reproduced that ideal plan of his!
"While I don't know who created this dream, I have to compliment them. To recreate this long forgotten master plan of mine so perfectly..."
Shirou stroked his chin thoughtfully, as was his habit when thinking something. But the very quality of this dream made him increasingly suspicious it was one of Merlin's pranks.
Yet on second thought, if Merlin was behind it, he likely would have already popped up to gloat and show off.
In other words, could this actually be the Council's doing?
No, that conclusion seemed too hasty.
Shirou shook his head. He decided to go along with the plans in the book for now, just to see what tricks this strange dream was trying to pull. Then he could figure out how to wake himself up.
Of course, the most important thing was...this could make up for his regret over being unable to carry out his ideal plans during the 4th Holy Grail War.
Since the ideal plans had already reached this point, even without any special abilities in this strange dream, Shirou was certain that Gilgamesh was doomed to die.
Wait, he didn't completely lack special means. At the very least, deep in his heart, the invisible whirlpool of "Mortal Awakening" still remained, spinning chaotically, like a raging maelstrom capable of crushing everything...
Apart from Caster turning into Scathach, he discovered another difference from reality — Ryuudou Temple.
The Enlightened One who was supposed to exist there had disappeared. Of course, that was natural. The true identity of the Enlightened One was a Bodhisattva, and the Saver-class that descended using a Saint Graph was the limit of what could be recorded in the Throne of Heroes. He could come and go freely. Even in this bizarre dream, replicating the Enlightened One would be impossible.
Of course, the Devil's Bodhisattva might be able to do that. Since she was the Beast, possessing the [Nega-Saver] skill which countered the Saver and Ruler classes, simulating an Enlightened One was not farfetched. But oddly enough, although the Devil's Bodhisattva had the Nega-Saver skill, she was still extremely afraid of the real Enlightened One.
Shirou believed this dream was unable to properly simulate the Enlightened One. However, the answer he got was very strange. In this dream, it wasn't that the Enlightened One didn't exist, but rather the moment "Shirou" had summoned Scathach, the Enlightened One who had been at Ryuudou Temple for six years left.
He even left a message with the temple's abbot for "Shirou," saying "We have no karmic bond."
Although it was very strange, if understood as part of this dream's setting, there would be no problems. However, even with the Enlightened One gone, it didn't matter, because in this dream, he had already reached the ending of the fourth Holy Grail War!
Comments
Moe
This is just a though sense Shirou an enlightened figure(?) as the Eternal King then would he be a Saver Class or Pretender Class because he pretend to be Arthur Pendragon?
DatPerson
Man’s boutta be thrown into GER return to zero
JeanMartin Freites
Seems like Shirou is now officially aware of what's going on. For the most part anyway.
