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IBHJ Chapter 342
🕑 Added 2023-06-29 03:54:07 +0000 UTC"Shirou..." Luvia uttered softly, her voice barely above a whisper.
And indeed, standing before them was none other than Caster, Fujimaru Shirou!
He bore an uncanny resemblance to the child from the Fourth Holy Grail War.
"Shi... Shirou! There are two of you!" Arcueid exclaimed, clearly taken aback.
Shirou's brow furrowed with a mix of surprise, doubt, and confusion. He was not only surprised by the sight but also filled with a deep sense of uncertainty. He was still alive, and his records shouldn't exist within the Throne of Heroes. How was it possible for him to be replicated in this manner?
He turned his gaze towards Waver, "What is that?"
"It's you from the Fourth Holy Grail War."
"I get that part. But what exactly is it?"
"It's a Heroic Spirit that has manifested through a Class Card. However, that particular card is pretty strange. It doesn't have the name 'Caster' or any other thing; it's completely blank."
"A blank card?" Shirou's brow furrowed in confusion.
Just then, Arcueid interjected, her voice tinged with excitement, "Shi... Shirou, is that 'you' our enemy?"
"Yes, but why do you ask?"
With a hint of eagerness, she replied, "Then let me handle that enemy—!"
"Hold on, Arcueid..."
Before he could finish his sentence, she impulsively darted towards Caster.
How should she kill this "Shirou"? Was there even a question? After being stood up and treated like a fool for so long, it was clear that she would tear him apart! From head to toe, she would reduce him to shreds!
Altrouge, having listened to the conversation between Arcueid and Shirou, couldn't help but raise her head, eager to join in the fray.
However—
With a resounding thud, Arcueid, who had charged forward like a cheetah, was suddenly struck by an unseen force. Like a shooting star, she was sent hurtling through the air, crashing into a sculpture and becoming buried beneath its rubble.
Shirou sneered, "You fool! Haven't you realized it yet? That thing specifically targets Dead Apostles!"
Altrouge, clutching the unconscious Gray, cowered in fear. She retreated to a dark corner, cradling her head and trembling. Instead of directing her frustration towards Caster, it was wiser for her to focus on protecting herself.
"Roarrrrr——!!" Caster let out a resounding roar, and his six arms lunged forward to attack him.
"This king can't be replicated so easily!" Shirou scoffed coldly as the black mud surged throughout his body. Summoning six black hands, he swiftly countered Caster's assault.
Two identical figures, each with six black arms, clashed fiercely in mid-air, leaving the onlookers utterly stunned. Among them, Luvia's expression became incredibly complex as she watched the spectacle unfold.
How could she possibly put into words the scene before her? It felt like witnessing a grown-up version of a boy battling his own younger self.
Initially, Shirou had assumed that this Caster's power would be comparable to that of Gilgamesh or Iskandar, and that he could easily overpower him.
However, as they exchanged blow after blow, he gradually realized that the strength exhibited by this Caster exceeded his expectations. It became clear that this wasn't a mere counterfeit, easily overcome and dismissed.
Though he didn't know who exactly had copied him, Shirou couldn't help but feel disappointed. Couldn't the replication be a bit more accurate?
His own black mud, All the World's Evil, represented the collective embodiment of humanity's malice. Yet, the black mud possessed by this imitation, Caster, was nothing more than magically polluted sewer water in terms of similarity. Aside from its color and fluidity, it lacked any curses or healing abilities.
Shirou understood the immense difficulty in replicating All the World's Evil. But if it couldn't be replicated faithfully, then what was the point of attempting to replicate it at all? It felt like pouring all the filthy water from the sewer onto his reputation, tarnishing his good name.
Unbelievable! Shirou felt an overwhelming urge to smack the culprit who had replicated him and wash their face in the putrid sewer water.
Even All the World's Evil seethed with intense anger.
However, there was no denying that this Caster possessed formidable strength. The hands of black mud was able to hold its own against Shirou's black hands. Yet, the source of this strength didn't lie in the black mud itself. It stemmed from Caster's high magical energy, much like it did after the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War.
When it comes to magical attributes, Caster's magical attribute is estimated to be at an impressive A+ level. On the other hand, Shirou's magical attributes tell a different story.
Despite his reluctance to acknowledge it, ever since the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War, he has often found himself lacking in magical energy. Over the past year and a half, he has devoted a significant portion of his accumulated magical energy towards taming Scathach.
It's true that if we were to consider magical energy alone, Shirou wouldn't stand a chance against Caster. However, it would be a grave mistake to determine the victor solely based on magical energy.
In the midst of the Fourth Holy Grail War, what truly struck fear into the hearts of those who encountered Shirou wasn't the ominous black mud or his overwhelming magical energy. It was a single word that sent shivers down their spines—Dirty!
However, the Caster standing before him then was nothing more than a replica conjured through the use of the Class Card. Despite possessing immense magical energy, this replica lacked a soul. This crucial detail meant that it was devoid of Shirou's most potent weapon.
A Shirou who refrained from playing dirty was akin to a soulless Shirou! Similar to the Eternal King with the Berserker class, this flaw posed a critical weakness that simply could not be ignored!
Shirou's true strength resided in his ability to play dirty, whereas the Eternal King drew power from unwavering will. Hence, a Shirou who refrained from using underhanded tactics amounted to nothing.
"Thud, thud, thud!"
As the clash of the twelve arms echoed through the air, Shirou calmly buried the black mud into the ground, causing numerous black hands to emerge, grabbing Caster's body.
He then projected six replicas of Caliburn, skillfully merging them into a single concentrated beam of radiant light that perfectly struck Caster.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!"
Caster instinctively tried to use the black mud to defend himself, but the intense beam of light effortlessly obliterated his upper body, revealing a white card.
The black mud surged, as if attempting to shield Caster's upper body, but the black hand entrenched in the ground, swiftly lashed out and snatched the white card, yanking it free.
"Crackle, crackle, crackle!"
The card served as the core of these Heroic Spirits, a vital essence akin to a Saint Graph. Once extracted, Caster's body shattered like fragile glass and dispersed into spiritual particles.
As for the magically corrupted black mud, it underwent a complete transformation into filthy black water, seeping into the ground and emitting a foul stench.
Shirou examined the white card, confirming Waver's claim—it was indeed blank. However, what caught his attention even more was the absence of any signs of spontaneous combustion or self-destruction.
"It's a physical card," he murmured, perplexed by the implications. He held the blank card, deep in thought.
Amidst the debris, Arcueid emerged, crawling out and looking around in bewilderment. She questioned, "Is it over? Where's that little Shirou?"
Shirou carefully tucked the blank card into his pocket, keeping it close. He glanced at her and responded, "I've taken care of him."
She frowned, "Is self-destruction your idea of fun? It would have been far better if you had handed him over to me."
Complaining, she struggled to free herself from the wreckage. "And speaking of which, what was that creature that attacked me? It didn't even have the guts to face me head-on, hiding like a coward. So infuriating!"
Altrouge weakly chimed in, "Y-Yes, I completely agree!"
"There's a chance that the creature is still lurking nearby. Stay on guard."
Arcueid laughed nonchalantly, while Altrouge cowered in fear, not wanting to experience the sensation of having her head blown off again.
Shirou glanced around, and true to his expectations, everything that had been in disarray just moments ago had reverted back to its original state.
After a brief moment of remaining vigilant, it appeared that the entity had no intention of launching another attack. So Shirou guided Arcueid and the rest of the group back to the castle.
Right now, most of the six Heroic Spirits had been taken out. Only one of them was left. And if things hadn't changed, if this was indeed a recreation of the Fourth Holy Grail War, that final Heroic Spirit had to be Artoria Pendragon!
Comments
JeanMartin Freites
It really is funny to see the acknowledgment that a Shirou that does not play dirty really has no soul.
Creepy_Wanderer
Wouldn’t shiro be able to absorb the remaining magical energy of the shadow servants after defeating them?
