At the Same Time, at the Musashi Residence
Musashi Miyamoto had gone to Ryuudou Temple to seek revenge.
Shirou originally wanted to accompany her, but Musashi firmly stopped him, leaving him no choice but to stay home.
Sitting at the dining table, Shinji held a cup of barley tea, slowly savoring it. She glanced at the anxious Shirou, her eyes revealing a trace of sadness.
As someone involved in the Holy Grail War, she was well aware of what Shirou was worrying about. Because of this, a sense of hesitation and sorrow filled her heart.
Her fate was completely controlled by her overwhelmingly powerful sister, forcing her down a path where she was destined to become an enemy of the person she cared about most. It was beyond her control. Shinji felt like she was a leaf floating on the surface of the water, at the mercy of others.
Knock, knock, knock!
Suddenly, there was a series of urgent knocks at the door.
"That must be Sensei returning."
Shirou instinctively jumped up from the tatami, rushing to the entrance in just a few quick strides. However, when he opened the door, an unexpected person stood before him.
"Tohsaka!?"
There stood Rin Tohsaka, leaning against the pillar of his front porch. Normally, no matter where she went, Tohsaka Rin exuded the elegance of a noble young lady. But now, she appeared before Shirou in a completely disheveled state.
Her clothes were tattered and covered in dirt, and the black stockings on her long, shapely legs were full of holes as if she had been violently dragged across the ground. She had been, though not in any unspeakable way.
She was gasping for breath, her hand clutching her side, and through the gaps between her fingers, traces of blood could be seen.
"Musashi-kun…"
When Rin saw Shirou open the door, her pale face finally relaxed, and she collapsed to the ground.
"Hey! Tohsaka, what happened to you?"
Shirou's shout startled Shinji, who was in the living room. The two of them quickly carried the severely injured and unconscious Rin into the living room.
"An ambulance! We need to call an ambulance!"
Shirou picked up the phone, but Shinji immediately pressed down on his hand.
"Idiot. If she came all the way here instead of calling an ambulance herself, there's a reason she doesn't want anyone else to know."
With that one sentence, Shinji reminded Shirou that they were still in the middle of the Holy Grail War. Affairs between magi should be kept hidden from ordinary people as much as possible. After all, Rin's injuries were caused by a sharp weapon. If the hospital staff reported it to the police, things would get complicated.
"We'll have to find another way to treat her."
Shirou's expression turned grave.
"Shirou, what are you doing? It's so noisy…"
At that moment, a silver-haired, loli-sized girl appeared at the living room door, dressed in cute bear pajamas. She rubbed her eyes as she complained.
"Sorry, Illya, did we wake you?"
Shirou immediately showed a hint of guilt on his face. Ever since Berserker had been defeated by Ryou, Illyasviel had been taken in by Shirou and Musashi. She hadn't even returned to her castle and had been staying at Shirou's place ever since.
At that moment, Illya noticed the unconscious and heavily wounded Rin. Her face immediately lit up with a mischievous grin.
"Oh my~ Isn't this Rin? She looks so pitiful."
Shirou then remembered that the silver-haired loli in front of him was also an exceptionally skilled magus. He cautiously asked her:
"Um, Illya, could you help us?"
"Shirou wants me to heal her?"
Illya's delicate face showed a playful smile.
"Yes, please, Illya."
Shirou's face was filled with urgency.
"I can, but I have one condition… From now on, Shirou must belong exclusively to me."
Illya's face wore a sly grin that didn't match her youthful appearance.
"You little brat, what are you trying to pull?!"
Shinji immediately yelled in frustration, and the air suddenly filled with a sour, jealous tension.
"Miss Shinji shut your mouth."
Illya's crimson eyes glared at her, and Shinji, as if stared down by a venomous snake, instinctively shuddered and hid behind Shirou.
It seemed that, unbeknownst to Shirou, the two of them had had a previous confrontation, and it was clear that ordinary human Shinji had been completely outmatched.
Shirou, oblivious to the silent battles within his harem, hesitated only briefly before agreeing to Illya's demand.
"I understand. I agree."
Illya's eyes gleamed with a strange light.
"Shirou, are you sure you won't regret this?"
Shirou didn't hesitate as he replied.
"No, I just want to save her right now!"
Illya's eyes sparkled as she nodded slightly.
"All right, let's get started. Shirou, take off Rin's top."
"Okay… Wait, what!?"
Shirou let out a startled cry.
Illya, however, looked impatient.
"If you don't remove her clothes, how am I supposed to examine her wounds?"
"But, wouldn't it be better if Shinji-chan did it…"
Shirou's voice trailed off as Illya interrupted him forcefully.
"Hurry up. If Rin dies from blood loss because of your delay, don't blame me~"
Illya's face remained mischievous, while Shinji, on the other hand, was left fuming but too afraid to speak up.
"I-I-I got it!"
With that, Shirou extended his guilty hands toward the unconscious and vulnerable girl. Meanwhile, the silver-haired loli stood nearby, her face showing an evil grin.
...
Let's leave the steamy situation at the Musashi residence aside for now.
The Fifth Holy Grail War, now in complete disarray, was approaching its final showdown. The remaining participants were:
Nguyen Ryou and Medea Lily (Caster).
Matou Sakura and Salter (Rider).
Matou Shinji and Medusa (Assassin).
Three pairs of Masters and Servants, two major factions.
Although Ryou didn't know the exact situation, the detection magecraft Medea had set up at the Greater Grail clearly showed that four Servants had already been eliminated. Only three Servants remained. Even though he didn't know who the Masters were, as long as he controlled Ryuudou Temple and the Greater Grail, the remaining two were bound to be his enemies.
To prepare for this final battle and strengthen himself as much as possible, Ryou was studying the [Root Gem] he had taken from the core of the Greater Grail.
However, unlike the golden [Root Gem], which released vast amounts of energy with just a little activation, the silver [Root Gem] was like a pool of stagnant water. Aside from its initial resonance with the golden [Root Gem], no matter how much mana he poured into it—even with Medea's help—it remained completely unresponsive.
Could it be that it needs energy from another [Root Gem]?
A bold idea suddenly emerged in his mind. His gaze instinctively shifted to the golden [Root Gem].
Ryou quickly summoned Medea to assist him.
Medea set up various defensive spells herself, and in case anything went wrong, she could also use the abilities of the Temple to suppress the situation.
As expected, when the two [Root Gems] were brought close to each other, they reacted. The previously stable silver gem suddenly came to life, and silver light began to flow across its surface.
Gritting his teeth, Ryou actively channeled his mana to stimulate the golden gem.
Sure enough, if the silver gem was like an indifferent old man, unmoved by anything, then the golden gem was like an easily angered youth.
As soon as he released a small amount of mana into the golden gem, it immediately exploded with activity. A huge amount of unknown energy surged from the gem, rushing into his body.
Fortunately, having experienced this once before, Ryou remained calm this time. Enduring the nearly unbearable pain that threatened to tear his body apart, he used himself as a conduit, guiding the unknown golden energy into the silver gem.
The moment the silver gem was stimulated by the golden energy, it radiated a brilliant glow. A silver light ring spread out from the gem, forming a bowl-shaped dome that quickly expanded to cover the entire room.
Ryou was shocked. The defensive spells that Medea had set up showed no reaction at all.
Luckily, the light ring didn't seem to have any harmful effects. It was more like a marker outlining the area.
Next, a phantom clock face made of silver light appeared, with three hands of light—the hour, minute, and second hands—emerging from the center of the silver gem.
Ryou felt as though time itself was now under his control.
"Stop."
On impulse, he issued the command with his mind.
To his surprise, the second hand stopped moving, and the world within the silver light ring instantly became monochrome, devoid of all color.
Aside from him and the two [Root Gems] in his hands, which still emitted their golden and silver glows, everything else had turned black and white. Even the magical formation Medea had set up, along with Medea herself, lost all color and stood frozen in place.
Time had stopped.
Since time could be stopped, could it also be reversed?
For a brief moment, the image of a certain purple-skinned big villain flashed through his mind.
"Reverse..."
The phantom clock of light began to turn again, but this time, it moved backward. Under his control, the second hand rapidly reversed. Soon, the minute hand followed, slowly moving backward.
In short order, the magical formation Medea had set up vanished. Everything had returned to its original state.
Time had indeed reversed.
Time-stopping and time-reversing abilities were now confirmed. Ryou didn't test time acceleration, though. He felt that if he continued experimenting, the golden energy might cause his body to explode.
It seemed that the only real limitation was the strength of his physical body—his endurance stat, to be precise.
Despite his endurance being as high as A-, Ryou still couldn't handle using the golden gem for more than five minutes.
Even though he could only use it for five minutes, he was more than satisfied. No matter what world you were in, time and space manipulation were always considered top-tier, overpowered abilities.
It seemed that the [Root Gems] lived up to their name, possessing truly terrifying power. However, since he didn't have a way to properly identify them, Ryou could only explore their usage through trial and error for now.
It was obvious that using such a powerful artifact without fully understanding it was extremely dangerous. Ryou had no idea what taboos or restrictions might be associated with using the [Root Gems]. One wrong move, and even the EX-ranked Noble Phantasm [Reversa God of War], which granted immunity to damage, might not be able to save him.
Identifying the [Root Gems] was necessary. Mastering their full potential became his top priority.
After all, the image of a certain purple-skinned big villain snapping his fingers and wiping out half the universe was deeply ingrained in everyone's mind—and greatly admired.
Maybe... I should create an Infinity Gauntlet of my own.
No, since these are Root Gems, it should be called a Root Gauntlet, right?
I wonder if I could ask Miss Ryougi Shiki to knit me one...
Ryou pushed aside his many concerns and began reducing the flow of energy. As he cut off the energy supply, the golden and silver light rings slowly retracted, and time returned to normal.
"Master, shall we begin?"
Medea seemed completely unaware of what had just happened. Her consciousness had been reversed to five minutes earlier, the moment she was about to set up her magical formation.
Ryou quickly stopped her and explained the abilities of the [Root Gems].
Medea's eyes widened in surprise.
"Master, if you're able to control time, doesn't that mean... you've already mastered Magic?"
In the world of Type-Moon, Magic was different from other worlds. What was called magic elsewhere was mostly referred to as magecraft here. True Magic was something that couldn't be achieved no matter how much time or effort was put in, such as parallel world travel or the materialization of the soul.
In the current Type-Moon world, despite being filled with powerful entities and countless magi, only five True Magics existed. Their rarity was unimaginable.
Just then, Medea's face suddenly turned a shade of red.
"M-Master, you didn't... use the time stop to do anything weird, did you?"
At first, Ryou was confused, but when he saw her shy, blushing face, nervously fidgeting with the hem of her robe, he was taken aback.
Then, as a seasoned veteran, he immediately understood.
Seeing her in such a state, Ryou couldn't help but feel a sudden urge to tease her. His expression changed, and he put on a mischievous smirk.
"How could I miss out on such a perfect opportunity?"
Medea's body trembled.
"Master, what did you do!?"
"Oh, nothing much. I just helped a certain lovely lady, who couldn't move, by loosening her clothes and checking her body, that's all."
As Ryouspoke, he put on an incredibly wicked expression and even pretended to sniff his hand, looking as if he were savoring something.
Boom!
Medea's face turned completely red, and steam began to rise from her head.
Ryou couldn't help but chuckle.
Girl, aren't you a bit too innocent? You're so easy to tease. Do I seem like the kind of person who would drug a girl and then take advantage of her?
However, he quickly realized he might have gone too far. The steam from Medea's head disappeared, and black mist began to rise from her body instead.
In silence, she rapidly cast a series of support and enhancement spells on herself, and then...
"Master, prepare to die!"
Medea raised her staff and brought it down toward his head. Even before the staff hit him, the wind pressure alone made his face sting.
Judging by the sheer force, Medea's strength must have already broken through to A-Rank!
"Medea, calm down! Calm down, please!"
"Your excuses are useless! Die, Master!"
PS; Ryou: I am inevitable.