Chapter 5 -:5

Chapter 5 -:5 "Freed Sellzen"'Of all the times to forget an umbrella...' he muttered, part of him considering using projection to trace one, only to scoff at the idea moments later, imaging the look on Rin's face at such a use for his one skill, his good mood souring instantly at the memory of his first true mentor in Magecraft. 'Where did it all go so wrong?' he wondered, gazing up at the cloudy sky, part of him wishing it would wash his memories away, just like it had that day Kiritsugu had pulled him out of the fire. If he closed his eyes, he could still see them, see the faces of the people he'd vowed, and failed, to save, from Saber, who had vowed to fight on his side only to die with his dagger in her chest, to Sakura, poor, beautiful, broken Sakura, who had tearfully voiced her love for him as he cleaved her head from her shoulders. He remembered Shinji's terrified screams and Kotomine's mocking praises. He recalled Lancer's feral grin, Archer's judging gaze. He'd lost count of the times the memory of Berserker's mad howl had shaken him from his fitful slumber. And most of all, he remembered Ilya's sad smile as she lay dying in his arms. He'd cast aside his dreams for her, forsworn the borrowed ideals of a hero of justice, sacrificed friend, foe & even his left arm, all for the sake of preserving the smile of a sister he'd never known, who had spent her entire life hating him for a crime he'd never knowingly committed. It hadn't been enough, after everything he'd sacrificed, it hadn't been enough to save the one person he'd wanted to save above all else. He recalled snapping, unleashing all the grief, all the anger, all the resentment he had on the Golden King that stood in his way, wordlessly voicing his denouncement of such a world with each blow. It could not have been called a wish, he had been in no state to coherently voice such a thing, but the sheer fervor with which he denied the world around him struck a chord with the taint at the core of the Greater Grail, giving it all the incentive it needed to manifest a wish. He had denounced the world that had crushed his dreams, so Angra Mainyu sent him to a new one. A pained cry snapped him out of his thoughts, quickly followed by the familiar sound of live steel digging into flesh. As if on autopilot, he found himself racing through the rain, urged on by the fading cries for help, pulling up short just as he reached the scent of blood, his eyes narrowing as he peered around the corner. Lying face down in a growing pool of blood was a Priest, the back of his vestments laced with numerous cuts. Standing over the man was another, younger priest, this one wearing a black overcoat & a crazed expression as he leered at a blonde youth in a Kuoh Academy Uniform sans the blazer. "Yoo-hoo~" the grey-haired priest called out, his features crazed and mocking as he smiled at the blonde teen "It's been a while, hasn't it? Did you miss me? Prince Shit of the Shitty Devils?" "Freed Sellzen-!" The blonde spat, Shirou's eyes widening as he recognized Kiba Yuuto, the unofficial 'Prince' of Kuoh Academy, and one of several 'nonhumans' he'd seen associating with she-who-must-be-avoided "What rock have you been hiding under all this time?" "It must be fate!" the priest, Freed, crooned, his voice sending shivers of disgust up Shirou's spine as he gyrated perversely "I can't help but shed a tear at such a joyous reunion!" "Unfortunately for you, I'm not in the mood for any of your bad jokes." Kiba muttered, Shirou's eyes widening as a magic circle appeared before the blonde, a sword manifesting itself in his hands. "That's perfect!" Freed, cackled, waving his own sword overhead, the blade lighting up with a golden aura even as he leered at the blonde "I was getting bored just running around killing priests...!" "That light-!" Kiba exclaimed, his handsome features twisting in a mixture of alarm and utter loathing as he gaped at the weapon in the deranged priest's hands "That aura...it can't be-!" "Oh but it can!" Freed countered with a sneer "Nice timing! As penance for your previous actions against my noble self, let's see which is stronger: Your piece of shit Demon Sword, or my Holy Blade, Ex-Cali-Bur~?!" The Sky was crying... And I'll end it there for now. As you can guess, this isn't the usual 'Shirou' thrown into the DxD verse fic. No, this one follows how I'd perceive a Bad End(?) for the Legendary Lost Ilya-Route to go. And considering most of Ilya's route was absorbed into Sakura's, it makes sense that Shirou would come out of it with Archer's arm. Now, let me get some things out of the way. First: - NO. Shirou will NOT be joining a peerage. It's been done to death by people with a lot more talent than myself & I have nothing against it but for this story Shirou will remain 100% human...or as human as a man made out of swords can be. Secondly:- Shirou won't be spamming Noble Phantasms. Even UBW Shirou couldn't do that without Rin's help and this one has Archer's arm latched onto him. At the very best he can trace simple weapons but other than Kanshou & Bakuya anything else will require the use of the Artificial Phantasm. Thirdly:- S~eaʀᴄh the NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As you might have surmised, things got pretty fubar this route. I'll go into more detail as time goes on but let's just say Shirou's choices had huge consequences, as expected of a protagonist. Needless to say, those consequences have made Shirou different from his canonical self somewhat & so explain any deviations from character. Fourthly:- There will be considerable changes. Normally I'm not one to rock the boat but in the wake of the aforementioned catastrophe I've decided to live a little and have altered certain events, as would be expected of throwing a wrench as considerable as Emiya Shirou into the works. No spoilers but let's just say bitches gonna die. So friends don't forget powerstone thankyou..