You call this a projection?

To be honest, even Saber hadn’t expected Emiya Shirou to be so reckless. To think that while he himself had not yet moved away from the side of [All the World’s Evil] (PS: The range of [Pseudo-Crazy Diamond] had dropped to an E after falling one rank), he used a Command Spell to order her to release her Noble Phantasm?

More importantly, having already begun preparing to release her Noble Phantasm upon hearing his verbal command, she was then forced into an immediate release by the Command Spell. She didn’t even have time to react. By the time she finally realized what had happened, the light cannon into which [Excalibur] had transformed was already blasting toward Emiya Shirou’s position.

This time, the well-prepared Emiya Shirou was lucky enough to dodge the attack. But what about next time?

Even if bait tactics are sometimes unavoidable in the heat of battle, the target of that bait cannot include Emiya Shirou as the Master. This is not just because she, lacking the [Independent Action] skill, would also quickly vanish if Shirou died. It is also because, as Emiya Shirou’s Servant, she has the duty to protect him. This holds true even if, given Shirou’s own strength, he doesn’t technically need her protection.

As she spoke, Saber seemed to recall Shirou’s ”terrible” track record of always charging at the front. She stated even more firmly: ”Shirou, I hope that the next time you make such a decision—or rather, a decision to recklessly clash with an enemy Servant—you will consult with me first.”

Judging by her tone alone, it was clear she was being very serious about this matter.

”Sorry, sorry, it was my fault this time,” Shirou replied quite sincerely. ”I truly did underestimate the power of your Noble Phantasm, Saber.”

However, faced with Shirou’s apology, Saber—who had been the one to point out his fault in the first place—looked at him with a face full of surprise. Her previous intensity vanished completely, and she stared at him as if she were meeting him for the first time.

”...Uh, what is it, Saber?” Shirou asked, feeling a bit strange under her gaze.

”No, it’s nothing,” Saber retracted her gaze. ”It’s just that I thought you were a very stubborn person, Shiro.”

After all, counting every minute, Saber had known Shirou for less than a day since being summoned to this era. The impression he had given her was always that of someone very assertive. Not only the other Masters in the Holy Grail War, but even the Servants—and even the Servants of other Masters—would follow Shirou’s lead.

Naturally, Saber assumed that Shirou, being related to Kiritsugu Emiya, would be just like him. She never expected Shirou would actually apologize to her—to his own Servant.

”However, I am glad that you chose to listen to my suggestion,” Saber said. ”It would be even better if you could listen to my advice when facing other Servants as well. Instead of charging in alone every time, it would be better to let me, as your Servant, fight the enemy Servants.”

At this point, Saber couldn’t help but grumble a bit. As Emiya Shirou’s Servant, despite several Servants in this war having already been retired, she had yet to experience a single proper, straightforward battle against a Servant.

And it wasn’t that she hadn’t encountered other Servants. It was that almost every Servant she did encounter had been dealt with by her Master, Emiya Shirou? This was simply ridiculous!

However, facing Saber’s complaint, Shirou—who had been apologizing so sincerely just a moment ago—now only gave a wry smile, clearly having no intention of addressing the grievance directly.

In the original timeline, his strength wouldn’t have allowed it, so that was one thing. But now, with his memories of a past life and the help of the system, he had copied and projected a vast reserve of Stands. There was no way he would let a girl like Saber stand in front of him to fight his battles this time. This wasn’t about chauvinism; it was simply Emiya Shirou’s inherent nature to stand in front of others.

Therefore, hearing that Saber seemed ready to continue her lecture, Shirou quickly shifted the topic: ”By the way, Saber. Do you know who you just defeated? To be honest, if that fellow had truly been defeated by us, this Holy Grail War might have headed toward a future that even I couldn’t predict.”

”Just now? I recall you referring to it as Angra Mainyu?” Hearing a topic related to the Holy Grail War, Saber was indeed drawn back in. She replied, ”But Shiro, although I don’t know much about that Zoroastrian evil god, such a deity shouldn’t be so weak.”

Saber, whose era and the Britain she ruled were the last remnants of the Age of Gods, had a very clear understanding of the power of gods. Every single one of them was a synonym for ”powerful.” Even a goddess of love unrelated to combat could swing a hammer as heavy as the Earth to attack. Yet the Angra Mainyu they encountered...

”Correct. That wasn’t the true Angra Mainyu, but an ordinary person given that name—a Servant summoned by the Einzbern family during the Third Holy Grail War,” Shirou confirmed. ”And of course, he was the culprit behind the Holy Grail’s pollution.

But now, after being pulled out of the Grail by some of my special abilities and defeated by your Noble Phantasm, his soul did not return to the interior of the Grail. Instead, I intercepted it using a certain method.”

Even though being caught in the blast of [Excalibur] was a bit embarrassing, just as the range of [Pseudo-Crazy Diamond] refers to the distance at which the ability is activated (once successful, the target is affected regardless of how far it moves), [Pseudo-Atum] functioned

similarly. It didn’t lose its effect. Instead, it successfully activated its ability, turning the defeated soul of [All the World’s Evil] into a Class Card.

”In other words... it seems the Holy Grail can be used again.”

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