Chapter 563

"Creak..."

As Shirou Kotomine finished speaking, the gate behind him opened, and two figures, a man and a woman, walked in.

【Name: Semiramis; Class: Assassin; Gender: Female; Alignment: Lawful Evil.】

【Strength: E; Endurance: D; Agility: D; Mana: A; Luck: A; Noble Phantasm: B.】

【Class Skills: Presence Concealment C+, Territory Construction EX, Item Construction C.】

【Personal Skills: Familiar (Dove) D, Divinity C, Double Summon B.】

【Noble Phantasms: Hanging Gardens of Babylon (EX-rank Anti-World Noble Phantasm, effective range 10-100m, maximum targets 1000), Pride of the King's Wine (B+-rank Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, effective range 1-20m, maximum targets 10).】

【Name: William Shakespeare; Class: Caster; Gender: Male; Alignment: Neutral Balanced.】

【Strength: E; Endurance: E; Agility: D; Mana: C++; Luck: B; Noble Phantasm: C+.】

【Class Skills: Territory Construction C, Item Construction.】

【Personal Skills: Enchant A, Self-Preservation B, King's Theater C.】

【Noble Phantasm: 'The Hour of Opening Has Come, Let There Be Thunderous Applause' (B+-rank Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm, effective range 1-30m, maximum targets 1).】

Extra Feng Xi: "You really went all out to deal with me."

Needless to say, the Empress is a cheater on her home turf, the Hanging Gardens. Now with Shakespeare, who doesn't act like a human, assisting on the side, Shirou Kotomine himself is no pushover either.

Although Shakespeare's ability requires knowing the opponent's history to exert its maximum effect, who knows if he might cook up some tragic story to disgust people.

"I think we can have a good talk now."

Shirou Kotomine still had a gentle, faint smile, appearing very harmless, but Extra Feng Xi was not foolish enough to let his guard down like that.

Extra Feng Xi: "Are you trying to use your tongue to make me hand over the Holy Grail?"

"I just want to use a more peaceful way."

Shirou Kotomine said slowly: "Then, can you tell me what wish you are taking such great pains to seize the Holy Grail for?"

Extra Feng Xi: "A wish? I haven't thought about that yet."

Shirou Kotomine: "Oh, that's rare. I thought you, like other magi, would want to reach the Root through the Holy Grail."

"The Swirl of the Root, the ultimate knowledge, a dreamlike place that humans can never reach in a lifetime..."

Extra Feng Xi sighed: "But that is also a place where humans cannot set foot."

It should be said that only those chosen by the Root can come into contact with it; others will only be erased, such as Ryougi Shiki and the Root Princess.

In the history of the Type-Moon world, several people have reached the Swirl of the Root, but the moment they arrived, the evidence of their existence in the world was erased, equivalent to being deleted from history, as if this person had never appeared.

The Swirl of the Root is the 'cause' of everything; those who touch it without authorization simply cannot withstand that massive 'effect'.

Extra Feng Xi indicated that he hadn't lived enough yet and didn't want to go looking for death.

Shirou Kotomine: "It seems you have some understanding of the Root, so you are somewhat afraid of it."

Extra Feng Xi: "You don't intend to just keep babbling with me like this, do you?"

Shirou Kotomine: "Of course not. Would you be willing to hear my wish?"

Extra Feng Xi: "Go ahead."

Is this guy, Shirou Kotomine, trying to persuade himself with his wish?

Shirou Kotomine: "I want to save this world."

Extra Feng Xi: "..."

Shirou Kotomine: "... Do you have nothing to say?"

Extra Feng Xi: "No, you continue."

Extra Feng Xi looked like he was just watching the performance quietly.

Shirou Kotomine: "Alright, I hope you can understand."

"Life in this world has no meaning, death has no reason, and even such a process is meaningless to the world. To put it bluntly, what the world wants is just that tiny choice, right?"

"In my life, I heard many laments from the people and believed that I had to do something. Driven by this anxious thought, I made the wrong choice. What a grave sin, what stupidity..."

"It wasn't the Shogunate that killed them, but me, Shirou Kotomine himself!"

"Even so, did their choices have no meaning? Should their lives be thrown into the trash can? No, that's not it. Then how should this be proven? Is it enough to just hate someone? Can the people gain salvation by taking up weapons to resist the Shogunate?"

"All they wanted was peace; they didn't want to hurt others. It's just that if they didn't do so, they would be driven to a dead end. Of course, defeat is also a matter of course; victory is for the few."

"I have been lost, thinking that if only I could hate. Hate the people who killed them, thinking how fleeting the joy would be if I could take their heads..."

"But I understood that hating them is the same as hating the people who followed me. They were just ordinary humans, and the Tokugawa family was no exception."

"Even so, I still have hatred in my heart. It is whispering to me to just follow the most natural passion of a human being."

"Hate everything, or, pity everything."

"I choose to pity everything."

"What must be twisted is my own heart, using a hammer to beat the hot heart, forcing the twisted heart back. Self-transformation, to forget hatred, to convert hatred. Even though I hate so much, even though the murderous intent is so strong..."

"Even so, I still swore to pity them, to cherish them."

"This is a desperate betrayal, a betrayal of the man named Shirou Kotomine."

Shakespeare, while recording, said excitedly: "That's great, it's really great, this is truly wonderful material!"

"Hmph!"

The Empress glared at him fiercely, then looked at Shirou Kotomine with gentle eyes.

Shirou Kotomine: "Hatred will not disappear, and my way of existing as a person remains there. However, I have cast it aside, sealed it, and turned a blind eye to it."

"I see, I am a saint."

"I believe that humans will one day reach 'there'. However, to reach there, much will be lost."

"Regrets accumulate like snow; is there anything I can do? Do I have a way to heal people's sorrow?"

"I have found the only shortcut to correctly save humanity and head to where we are going."

"That is the crystallization of miracles, a solitary ritual positioned outside the world."

"The Heaven's Feel, the name of the Third Magic, and its result is 'Materialization of the Soul'!"