You call this a projection?

Standing beside Berserker’s corpse, Emiya Shirou used this practical action to respond to Illya’s previous words.

’Berserker is the strongest? Then why is Berserker the one lying on the ground right now?’

”Illya, you want to say that Berserker hasn’t actually lost yet, right?”

He looked at Illya, who was still stubbornly pouting, and at Berserker, who, despite being split in two, still radiated an incredible amount of magical energy.

Even without the information provided by Lancer, Shirou, possessing memories of a past life, knew clearly that Berserker’s immortality Noble Phantasm had activated.

—[God Hand (Twelve Labors)]!

This was the innate Noble Phantasm of Heracles manifesting in the Berserker class—an immortality that was both a ”divine blessing” and a ”curse.” Simply put, it transformed his flesh into muscular armor, allowing Berserker’s body to ignore all attacks of Rank B and below. Furthermore, after being defeated or killed by an attack exceeding Rank B, he would return from death and gain resistance to the specific attack that previously killed him.

In a magical ritual like the Holy Grail War, where most summoned Servants carry only one Noble Phantasm and the total number of participants is only seven, being able to resurrect eleven times is a massive advantage. Moreover, because Illya’s magical energy as a Master is so far beyond the norm, these lives can even slowly recover after being consumed.

Unless he encountered a Servant capable of pulling out a mountain of Noble Phantasms, or a specialized weapon that could kill all the lives stored within [God Hand] in a single strike, Berserker truly could rely on this Noble Phantasm to stack resistances until no other Servant could even scratch him.

The reason Illya remained defiant even after seeing Shirou slay Berserker, and still believed Berserker was the strongest, was likely because of this.

But...

”Broken Fantasm!”

Before Berserker’s cloven body could gradually close and finish resurrecting, Emiya Shirou had already thrown the [Pseudo-Anubis] in his hand onto Berserker without hesitation. Then came the familiar detonation—destroying the projected weapon to trade its internal accumulated power for a momentary massive explosion!

BOOM!!

”That’s the second life, Illya.”

Shirou said, ”With the eleven resurrections of [God Hand], how many does Berserker have left now?”

”He won’t lose...” Illya said.

”?”

”Berserker won’t lose to anyone!”

Her voice went from a low murmur to a high pitch. Having snapped out of the shock of seeing Berserker defeated twice by Shirou in such a short time, Illya shouted loudly: ”Because he is the strongest in the world!”

”ROOOAAAR—!!”

Was it Illya increasing the magical energy transfer to Berserker? Or was Berserker responding to Illya’s feelings after hearing her words? Whatever the answer, the Berserker who was slowly recovering didn’t just complete his resurrection instantly—the moment he finished, he aimed a powerful cleave directly at Shirou.

”Shirou!”

Even Saber, standing behind Shirou, couldn’t help but want to rush forward to help.

”Wait, Saber. I’m fine.”

The insight provided by Mind’s Eye (True) allowed Shirou to react in time while simultaneously stopping Saber’s advance.

”This is a matter between me and Illya.

After all, unlike Illya, even if you were willing to stay after the Holy Grail War ends, Saber, I don’t have enough magical energy to maintain your existence in the physical world.

So if I truly used your strength to defeat Illya, she probably wouldn’t accept the result anyway.”

What was the reason for Illya’s distorted personality?

Emiya Shirou, with his past-life memories, understood it well. He knew that even as the ”greatest masterpiece” of the Einzbern family, she was only a masterpiece. In the eyes of the Einzberns, she wasn’t even human.

Strictly speaking, in this homunculus workshop built by the disciples of the Third Magician to achieve the Third Magic, there were no longer any people who could be called ”human.” There were only the homunculi who continued to operate the workshop after the disciples left, and the various attempts they made to reproduce the Third Magic. Naturally, it was considered a matter of course to subject Illya’s body to countless magical modifications to make her better suited as the Grail.

This was likely why, in the original story, after the Holy Grail War ended and she no longer needed to fulfill the duty of the Lesser Grail, Illya and Matou Sakura quickly became friends.

Their experiences were similar. Through constant modification and the pain of shouting for a savior who never came, they had gradually sealed away their own hearts.

What could be done to make an Illya like this open her heart? Shirou didn’t know. Or rather, would a ”belated salvation” even have meaning for her?

But...

”World’s strongest? Don’t make me laugh!

If you want to keep hiding like this, Illya—if you think it’s fine and intend to hide behind Berserker for the rest of your life—then I will strike Berserker down again and again!”

—Trace on!

The incantation caused [Pseudo-Anubis] to appear once more in Shirou’s hand. And just now, since Shirou (not Berserker) had destroyed [Pseudo-Anubis] once with a Broken Fantasm, the Stand’s ability to ”judge and evolve” had triggered again.

This new [Pseudo-Anubis] would surpass the previous one.

”At the very least, I want you to have the courage to stand before the Einzberns and say that you actually don’t want to do this!”

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