They've already fought their way through the Holy Grail War, and you still call them dragons?

It seemed that she was too disdainful to announce her name. She slowly raised her palm, and black air swirled around her fingertips like clouds, slowly reaching towards Eri in the middle of the water.

"Oh—you're also the hero this little girl admires, but she's now my miko..."

Whoosh-!

In a flash, before the shadowy figure could even reach out, Emiya had already drawn his bow and arrow. An arrow shot through the air, flying straight towards the shadowy figure's head. The arrow whistled through the air, and Emiya roared:

"Eri, come here!"

Bang! The shadow's quick reaction caught the speeding arrow. Eri, who had swum obediently, was grabbed by Emiya's wrist and pulled towards him. They both dived underwater, splashing water everywhere, and the surface instantly returned to calm.

"Humanity's martial arts are mere trifles. And the thought of escaping by diving into the water is sheer wishful thinking!"

The black shadow just curled up a scornful smile at the corner of his mouth, and the next second, the arrow suddenly exploded, and the fantasy collapsed!

A powerful flash of light accompanied a massive explosion. The water instantly boiled from the intense heat, splashing and steam rising. The shockwave from the explosion blew the shadowy figure violently away, and her body slammed heavily against the metal wall of the platform with a resounding thud. The metal wall dented slightly under the impact.

Taking advantage of this gap, Emiya had already swum to the other side of the tunnel with Eri. Without a second thought, he quickly led Eri up the ladder and onto the opposite platform. He then immediately turned his body, his eyes warily gazing in the direction of the shadow.

A dark figure slowly climbed up the wall, a dark aura swelling around her, so dense it practically became tangible. Her figure loomed even taller in the darkness, and the aura spread like billowing smoke, swirling between heaven and earth and obscuring the lone light overhead. The entire underground tunnel seemed enveloped by her aura, transforming it into a murky, ghostly den.

"You idiot, how dare you! I am a god! I am a mortal and I respectfully call you a hero, but you dare to challenge the throne of God?" Her golden eyes became more and more dazzling in the darkness, like two dazzling suns, emitting a heart-pounding light.

god?

Emiya's gaze hesitated between the black shadow and Eri, who was standing beside him with a look of uncertainty on her face. Could the god that emerged from Eri's body be a fragment of Izanami?

"Those who insult the gods will die—"

The shadow's voice was like thunder, shaking the very air. Her golden eyes radiated a powerful mental pressure, like a physical sword or axe, piercing Emiya's mind. Emiya felt his head swell, and the scene before him seemed to distort. His body swayed uncontrollably, nearly losing his balance.

Fortunately, Eri, who was standing next to him, pulled Emiya up and saved him from falling headfirst into the water. Emiya quickly lowered his head and concentrated, trying to stay awake.

"Strange... You didn't die instantly like that idiot just now," the shadow's tone revealed surprise. "You're not an ordinary vampire. Did you devour a higher-level dragon?"

Emiya was stunned when he heard this, and then he suddenly realized.

"Swallow? Is she referring to the dragon blood bathing ritual that Melyuchina helped her perform after she slew the dragon in Shenzhou?"

However, looking directly at the Kamui was still too dangerous. Emiya stared intently at the shadow's feet, avoiding direct gaze with her golden eyes. He raised his katana slightly, the tip of the blade pointing towards the shadow's eyes, and assumed the "Ping Qingyan" stance of the Tennen Rishin-ryu, lowering his body slightly.

"Since you are so stubborn and resist to the end, death will be your only ending..." The black shadow began to expand her invisible domain. The huge and invisible spiritual elements flew and combined under the delicate operation. The alchemical skill called "spiritual recasting" was used by her to perfection.

A large amount of divine energy emerged from the darkness, spreading out of the area with the black shadow as the center, showing a surging and mighty momentum... and then completely disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"—?"

The black shadow was stunned for a moment. What was going on? The deification experiment conducted on Yamata-no-Orochi in the Night Food Plain was almost successful, but her deification failed from the beginning?

Is it because it's impossible to become a god in the real world? If you try to shape it purely in the spiritual realm, will it be corrected?

However, Emiya had no idea what the black shadow was thinking. He was under great psychological pressure. What he was facing now might very well be the legendary Supreme Mother Goddess Izanami. Even if it was just a small and extremely incomplete fragment, it was not something that a mortal could compare to.

"We must use the fastest speed to determine the outcome with one move!"

His heartbeat was like a war drum, and magic power flowed to every part of his body as his powerful heart pumped blood.

And what he held tightly in his hand was not Miyamoto Musashi's sword - Musashi's Noble Phantasm, Myo-o Hosei, was too tall. Although it had enough power to support the sky and the earth, it had no room to display its power in the sewers, and it might even cause a landslide in this area - but it was the projected famous sword "California Kiyomizu".

That is, the sword carried by Okita Souji, a talented swordsman who was active in the Shinsengumi during the late Edo period.

Emiya stared between his opponent's feet. Although he had no idea why he had suddenly stopped moving, he knew he had to seize this fleeting opportunity. Suddenly, he soared from the platform, the floor tiles beneath his feet cracking in an instant, and his figure had already disappeared!

"One step beyond the sound, two steps without a break, three steps without a sword!"

His figure was so fast that it seemed to have crossed the boundaries of space. In just a flash, he rushed to the front of the black shadow.

There was an indescribable look of astonishment in the shadow's eyes. She had been lurking around Eri, but she had never seen Emiya perform such techniques and sword moves.

This move is Okita Souji's "Shrinking the Earth". It is not a magical method to reach the realm of gods, but a technique that combines many phenomena such as footwork, body movements, breathing, blind spots, etc.!

“…Wu Ming—Three-stage Thrust—!”

As Emiya shouted, the tip of the California Clearlight Blade in his hand thrust straight out. His movements were smooth and fluid, without any hesitation, as if he had become one with the sword.

The moment the blade thrust forward, the dark energy surrounding the shadow was suddenly dispersed, and the surging spiritual realm seemed as fragile as thin paper before the blade. The blade's trajectory passed far beyond the sound, silently blooming three overlapping cold lights in the darkness!

The shadow tried to reconstruct the domain for defense, but was ruthlessly torn apart by the blade in the instant it was completed.

The secret of the three-stage thrust is that the first, second, and third thrusts exist simultaneously in the same position. Even if you block the first thrust, you will still be pierced by the second and third thrusts in the same position!

This contradiction causes the tip of the sword to be "saturated with events", making the three-stage thrust an undefendable sword technique!

There is no doubt that the tip of the knife flashing with cold light was irresistible. It silently pierced the chest of the black shadow three times at the same time, hitting the heart directly.

Then, Emiya dodged behind the shadow, swung his blade, and gently released a blood-splattering blast. Drops of blood arced through the air before dissipating into the darkness. Simultaneously, the shadow let out an inhuman scream, and a large amount of black blood violently spurted from its body.

Emiya turned his head and looked back. He needed to be alert that the other party might have some means of regeneration or immortality. After all, according to Japanese mythology, Izanami, the mother goddess of creation, entered the Land of the Dead and became the god of the underworld of Yomizu-no-Okami after her death.

"Cough...cough..."

However, the black shadow had no regenerative ability or immortality. After suffering trauma, she coughed up more black blood, and her body even showed an unstable tendency to disintegrate.

"Such a weak god." Emiya thought to himself, "This is too weak." Even a fragment of a god shouldn't appear so weak, especially since the other party should be one of the supreme gods in mythology.

This is not right. What happened?

Chapter 205: Doctor, the Miraculous Bringer

She was careless and didn't dodge.

"Cough cough..."

The shadow's voice was weak and hoarse, a whisper squeezed from the depths of her throat. Her figure gradually blurred, as if pixelated. The spilled black blood scattered in the air, transforming into wisps of black mist that filled the tunnel and gradually melted into the darkness.

"...?"

Emiya was filled with doubts. Why was the enemy so weak? This was completely inconsistent with her self-proclaimed status as a "god".

However, now was not the time to delve into this. He raised the California Clearlight again, the blade gleaming coldly in the dim light. Although he was unclear about the specifics, it would be wise to eliminate her while she was weak.

Whoosh!

Emiya swung his sword, the blade slicing through the air with a sharp whistling sound. The blade headed straight for the shadow's neck, its fatal trajectory unwavering.

However, just as the blade was about to touch the shadow, her body trembled violently, as if she had suddenly regained vitality from the brink of death.

Her movements were as swift as lightning. She dodged sideways and then leaped up, landing lightly on the water. Emiya's blade only severed one of her arms. Black blood gushed out from the severed arm, turning into more mist and dissipating into the air.

"For this mortal who slays a dragon and blasphemes against God, I will take your revenge for today."

The dark shadow uttered harsh words in a gloomy tone filled with strong hatred, and his golden eyes flashed a cold light in the darkness.

"A final word of warning: although the miko is left to you, she will ultimately sacrifice everything for the gods... Now that the contract has been made, she will never escape her destined fate."

As the words fell, the shadowy figure gradually vanished into the water, its bright golden eyes vanishing with it. The surrounding darkness, shrouded by a black aura, began to dissipate, and the dim light overhead once again shone down, illuminating every corner of the tunnel. Like smoke blown away by the wind, the black aura gradually dissipated into the air, leaving only silence.

Emiya stood in place, vigilantly sensing his surroundings. Only after confirming that the black shadow had completely disappeared did he relax his tense nerves a little.

He hurried back to Eri's side. Strangely enough, Eri had become unresponsive and passive since the beginning.

Emiya lowered his head to examine her face. Under the dim light, Eri's features appeared exceptionally soft, as if filtered through an arcing filter. Yet, a hint of weariness appeared on her face. Her eyelids drooped slightly, as if ready to close at any moment. Her body swayed slightly, as if she had lost the strength to even stand.

"Eri?" Emiya called softly.

When Eri heard his voice, she instinctively relaxed, her body tilted and she was about to fall down.

With quick eyes and hands, Emiya leaped forward and caught her firmly. Her body was as light as a feather as she collapsed into his arms, her breathing steady, yet she looked incredibly exhausted.

Emiya reached out and checked her breath and pulse, confirming that her vital signs were still stable and there were no signs of weakness.

Thinking about what Black Shadow said at the end, Emiya always felt that this matter was far from over.

----

The University of Tokyo Medical Hospital is renowned worldwide for its comprehensive medical facilities, advanced medical technology, and research capabilities, ranking first in the entire island nation. Pure white fluorescent lights illuminate the emergency room lobby late at night, and the air is thick with the scent of disinfectant.

"Name."

"Hilbert Jean Ange," the old man straightened his tie. His black suit, once neat and clean, was now stained with mud, making it look a little out of place. "By the way, let me register the patient's name. Fingel von Frings. If you're related, he's my student."

"Okay, okay," the doctor raised his head and pushed his glasses up. "Your Excellency is saying... your student has fallen into a coma for unknown reasons, and you don't know the process, is that right or not?"

"Yes," Anger nodded. "Young people at this age can't help but want to do something out of the ordinary. As teachers, we have to provide a safety net for these adventurous students."

He downplayed it, as if Fingle's coma was just an ordinary accident.

There was no way, Ange knew in his heart that the truth of the matter could not be revealed to the public. Ange couldn't say that his student and his beloved car had mysteriously disappeared - perhaps he had gone to another world and then fell head over heels in the mud in the suburbs outside the city, right?

The doctor picked up his pen and wrote in a flamboyant handwriting on the medical record. Then he grinned and said with a hint of ridicule:

"You understand students. To be honest, I've taught several classes of interns at the University of Tokyo's medical department. Those fledgling medical students always left messy medical records during their patient consultations and embarrassed me during interdisciplinary discussions at case discussions. But there was nothing I could do; in the end, I had to clean up the mess."

The doctor rambled on about his frustration as a former Tokyo University medical student, having graduated from the university hospital and become a senior doctor, only to have to face a group of naive young people. He wrote a few more strokes, then looked up, as if suddenly remembering something, and asked:

"Oh, I almost forgot to ask, Mr. Ange, which school did you attend? With such a profound attitude towards student education, your school must be top-notch."

"Oh, I'm the president of Kassel College of North America," Ange said with a faint smile. "We're a private university, so we don't claim to be world-class. I'm passionate about education, and our philosophy is elite education, while also allowing students to fully develop their expertise."

Ange handed over his business card and said, "Our college is also sincerely recruiting highly skilled and outstanding staff from all over the world, including from this island nation. For example, our psychological counseling instructor Masashi Toyama holds a doctorate from the University of Tokyo."

"It really is the principal. Nice to meet you."

The doctor took the luxurious business card, which was inlaid with delicate gilded patterns on the edge. His gaze lingered on it for a moment, and his tone suddenly became solemn, his words very polite. "Principal Ange, rest assured. Your student, Finger, will definitely receive the most comprehensive examination and the most accurate diagnosis here."

"Thank you. I'm busy now. If there's a diagnosis or Finger shows any signs of waking up, you can contact me anytime by phone."

After chatting for a few words, Ange hurriedly got up and left. When he reached the hospital entrance, he happened to meet a man carrying an unconscious girl.

The man's steps were hurried, his face filled with anxiety. In the light streaming in from the hall, one could clearly see that the man and woman had red hair, a rare sight in the world, that stood out like a faint firework in the bright light.

"Excuse me, old man, please give me the way!"

Ange stepped aside and glanced back at their backs as they entered the courtyard.

----

Emiya rushed to the emergency room with Eiry on his back. He felt that the old man he had just bumped into at the door looked at him as if he recognized something... But Emiya had no time to delve into these details at the moment. His mind was quickly filled with thoughts about Eiry's safety.

The last threatening warning left by the black shadow before it disappeared was like a thorn that pierced his heart deeply, making him feel uneasy all the time. So he couldn't wait for Eri to wake up and quickly brought her here for examination.

"Okay, okay, I'll make a note of it. Unexplained coma, right? Huh? Why is there another comatose patient being rushed to the hospital today? This night shift is truly a nightmare."

When the doctor heard Emiya's report of a reason that was very similar to Ange's, he couldn't help but mutter something in a low voice.

"Okay, okay. We'll arrange a medical examination right away. Oh, I'm missing one item. Could you please fill in the details of your relationship with the patient?"

After saying that, the doctor glanced at Emiya again, then asked tentatively, "They should be brother and sister... right?"

Emiya moved his lips and hesitated for a moment, "Uh... yes."

"Okay," the doctor lowered his head and continued to take notes. "Is there anything else you need? You can choose to stay here and wait for the results, or fill in your contact information and the hospital will notify you by phone."

"No, I'll just stay and wait."

Time passed slowly during the long project inspection.

During the boring wait, Emiya did not feel sleepy. His mind kept replaying everything that happened tonight. At this moment, his phone suddenly vibrated, breaking the silence.

He took out his cell phone and saw Su Enxi's name on the screen. After the call was connected, Su Enxi's voice came from the receiver:

"Hey! Master Emiya, I heard that the Holy Grail War is supposed to be fought at night—what a blessing for those who stay up late! So I hope I didn't disturb you by calling so late!"

"We've almost finished dealing with things here, and we should be arriving in Tokyo soon. How's the situation over there? Do you need any assistance? With just the command, San Wu Niu will be dispatched to lead the charge for you!"

Emiya said briefly, "I do need help. It's a big deal."

"Eh...what exactly happened?" Su Enxi realized Emiya's serious tone and stopped joking.

Emiya lowered his voice, "It might be related to God. Let's talk about it when we meet."

After hanging up the phone, Emiya thought about the Holy Grail War again. He quickly sent a message to Charlotte, asking if she was safe there.

Less than a minute later, Charlotte's reply popped up: "The Holy Grail War is not the end of the world. How could I be in danger every other day? Could you please stop disturbing me so late?" The message ended with an emoji representing boredom and wanting to sleep.

"..." Emiya looked at Charlotte who was still at her workstation late at night, had a lot of things to do, replied to messages immediately, and was ready to chat at any time, and thought to himself that she was really working hard.

And the real Holy Grail War scenes, don't they usually take place at night? Everyone's busy with their own things during the day, so who would want to have a fight with you in broad daylight?

Time passed by minute by minute, and after an unknown amount of time, Emiya finally received the examination notice. The doctor came over with a strange expression on his face and began to mutter, "I've never seen such a healthy case."

"Doctor, what's going on?"

"Oh, it's you. Your sister has woken up and is over there. She is making a lot of noise in the ward. Can you please not fill in false information next time? I really thought your sister was a mute!" The doctor waved his hand impatiently and pointed in a direction.

"Oh, thank you, doctor!"