You call this a projection?

”It was the same during the Fourth Holy Grail War, wasn’t it?

Kiritsugu versus Kotomine Kirei; you, Saber, versus Gilgamesh...”

Arriving before the doors of the Fuyuki Church, Emiya Shirou suddenly halted, turning to look at Saber. ”Forgive me, Saber. Even though I summoned you under the pretense of seeking a wish from the Holy Grail...

In the end, I summoned you knowing full well that this wish is a scam—a lie destined never to fulfill your desire.”

In truth, Emiya Shirou had many excuses he could use to justify his actions. He could claim he was liberating Saber from the Alaya’s unfair contract, or that by making her realize the Grail couldn’t grant her wish, he was freeing her from the crushing burden of a King’s responsibility...

With his past-life memories, Emiya Shirou could find plenty of reasons. And all of them would be technically correct.

But being correct didn’t necessarily make it right.

Shirou’s sudden sentiment arose because this battle was almost a mirror image of the final showdown in the Fourth Holy Grail War. It was a contest between an Emiya and a Kotomine. It was a duel between Saber and Gilgamesh. And... it was a betrayal of Saber by an Emiya.

”I might not express this well, and it might even have the opposite effect.

But rather than chasing something only to be deceived, I suspect your Knights of the Round Table and your people would hate seeing their King like this far more than they would want your wish realized.

A King wants a better future for their subjects, but the subjects who love their King feel the same way—they want their King to find happiness.

They wouldn’t want a King who worked so hard in life to keep toiling for them even in death... I am certain your people would feel that way.”

Shirou spoke from the heart. ”That said, I am truly glad that my Servant is you, Saber.”

As he spoke, he utilized his projection through the connection with his ”source,” Archer. Or rather, because their origin and affinity were both ”Sword,” and Archer was effectively himself, the projection was exceptionally smooth.

The magecraft Archer had systematically studied in the future, along with the technique he learned during his own Fifth Holy Grail War (an experience similar to the Fate route) to extract [Avalon] from his body, were seamlessly acquired by Shirou through the projection.

He reached into his own chest and pulled out the [Avalon] that Emiya Kiritsugu had buried within him ten years ago, presenting it to Saber. ”[Avalon], the scabbard of King Arthur, and the source of the King’s immortality.”

”Even without liberating its True Name, simply carrying it allows the wielder to recover from any wound... Ten years ago, in the great fire, Kiritsugu saved me from the ruins.

At that time, what saved my life alongside him was your magical energy, Saber. That’s why I was able to recover from such injuries.

I’ve always wanted to say this to you—thank you, Saber.”

At the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War, when the war was technically over and Saber should have faded away, how did Emiya Kiritsugu manage to use her residual magical energy to activate Avalon’s healing? Was it the final link between Master and Servant?

Much like how Gilgamesh, after being bathed in the black mud, used that same link to resurrect Kotomine Kirei after his heart was crushed?

Despite being betrayed by Kiritsugu—who, instead of helping her win, used a Command Spell to force her to destroy the Grail—Saber never truly severed the connection until the very end. A fragment of her mana remained with Kiritsugu, which he then used on Shirou to activate the scabbard.

Whether Saber did it intentionally or simply forgot to cut the link, her action had indirectly saved Emiya Shirou’s life.

”This...”

Accepting [Avalon] from Shirou’s hand, Saber was momentarily speechless. Should she say she didn’t mind? Or say something else entirely? In any other Holy Grail War, a Saber possessing Avalon would undoubtedly be the guaranteed victor. But now, holding it again, she felt a strange uncertainty.

”Now that Avalon has returned to its rightful owner, we can challenge Gilgamesh and the others in our peak condition.”

With those words, Shirou formally stepped into the Church.

”Saber, I’ll leave Kotomine Kirei to you.”

”Understood, leave him to me... Eh? Shirou, what did you just say!?”

Saber, who had instinctively responded, took a moment to process his words. Her complex emotions vanished instantly, replaced by alarm. What did he mean, ”leave Kirei to her”? If that was the case, didn’t that mean the remaining Gilgamesh was being left to Shirou!?

”I cannot deny your strength as a magus, Shirou, but Gilgamesh is different from Berserker.

Even if Bazett were to strike again, Gilgamesh has seen it once; he won’t necessarily fall for the same trick!”

Having witnessed Shirou’s own method for bypassing [Fragarach] and possessing A-rank Instinct, Saber herself had already deduced how to counter the ”Answerer.” She found it hard to believe that Gilgamesh—an Archer with countless Noble Phantasms and a mastery of long-range combat—would be helpless against it.

”You’re right. Which is why I can’t rule out the possibility of Gilgamesh pulling out a Noble Phantasm specifically designed to counter you, Saber.”

After all, even the ”six-dimensional defense” of the supposedly invincible [Avalon] had been kicked through in another Type-Moon work by an incomplete Tamamo-no-Mae using the ”Polygamist Castration Fist (Kick?)” against an even higher eight-dimensional defense. With settings that often felt like the left brain fighting the right brain, Shirou didn’t dare assume Gilgamesh wouldn’t find a way through, just because he couldn’t in the original story.

”You’re thinking the same thing, aren’t you, Gilgamesh?”

Facing a certain direction deep within the Church, Shirou called out: ”No, it doesn’t matter what you’re thinking. Gilgamesh, I’m not going to let you lay a hand on Saber.”

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