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Apocryphal Hero

Prologue

Echoes of blades clinging and clanging against each other resonated throughout the deserted field of swords as dust continued to fly in the air at the ferocious fight.

"ARCHERRRRRRR! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Rin yelled out in pure rage as she grasped the cage of swords encompassing her tightly while she continued to witness the impossible spectacle.

The said person with white hair and red and black clothing continued his assault without a word as the defender, Shirou, desperately tried to match the Servant's strikes in front of him blow for blow before getting kicked in his vulnerable ribs, sending Shirou flying twenty meters back in the lonely plain of blades as he tumbled over and over again helplessly on the rock and dusty terrain.

"S-Shirou," Saber whispered weakly on the ground as she tried to reach her hand out in her Master's direction, hoping with all her heart that this will not be the tragic end of Emiya Shirou's life and everything they had worked for.

"ARCHER!" Rin yelled without indignation as her eyes blazed with fury.

Archer, without a word, continued to ignore his prior Master as he made his way to the fallen form of his past self.

Shirou stabbed Kanshou into the ground as he tried to get himself back in a standing position while his legs kept failing from under him, constantly slipping in the process as Archer, his executor, continued his approach.

"W-Why are you doing this, Archer?" Shirou asked as he spat out a string of blood. They had just defeated Caster … and now this?!

"Just as you don't approve of me, I don't approve of you," Archer gave an unsatisfying answer, remaining all the more enigmatic to Shirou.

Archer was about to bring down the blade of death onto Shirou before Rin's voice broke through the solemn battlefield.

"Heed my words," mana began to concentrate around Rin as she uttered the words to create a Servant and Master pact in the Grail Wars.

"My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny."

Archer's eyes widened at the implications behind the words spoken as Saber lifted her head in realization at what Rin is doing.

"If you heed the Grail's call and reason," Rin continued as Archer quickly blocked an incoming blade coming at his direction as the once kneeling Shirou stood back up once again to attack Archer.

"Then answer me!" Rin shouted as she reached her hands out of her cage of swords to reach for Saber's as Saber lifted her foot and prepared to leap in Rin's direction.

Archer clicked his tongue in annoyance as his face made a gruesome expression of anger at the unexpected development.

"Do so and I will entrust my dest—" Rin was quickly interrupted when a dozen blades projected in the air in front of her as they all fired in her direction at lightning speed. Rin's mouth opened in shock at what is happening, and before a split second has even passed, the barrage of swords whizzed over her, leaving behind a shell-shocked but recovering Rin who had a deliberate shallow cut on her arm from the attack.

Like that, everything was over. Rin has lost her concentration, and consequently, the mana piled and pooled together have now dissipated back to the environment. Leaving behind a panting Rin and a still fatigued Saber beside each other with only a bruised and beaten up Shirou to fend for himself against the powerful Servant.

Archer sighed as he smacked away Shirou's sword as Kanshou left Shirou's hands and tumbled onto the ground with a pitiful clang, leaving a defeated and powerless Shirou who has exhausted all options.

"It's over, Emiya Shirou!" Archer stated with a raised voice as he pointed the blade at Shirou's face.

Shirou gazed up at his future self who he came to realize his identity just a couple minutes ago with resentment and hatred. To think his future self will stoop so low as to regret and attempt to wipe his own existence to the point of putting others in harm is something Shirou can never condone.

"No," Shirou whispered before speaking louder as he faced Archer's eyes with an unwavering and determined expression. "No, it's not over!" Shirou then gave a war cry as he projected once again the twin blades of Ying and Yang.

Archer face twisted in anger as he blocked the incoming strikes before making a counterattack at Shirou's torso which Shirou barely blocked as his projected blades chipped at the force.

"Argh!" Archer roared out as he leaped into the air and slammed the dual blades onto Shirou from over his head while Shirou crossed the twin married blades above him to block the inevitable blow. The desert terrain in the reality marble cratered at the immense force while Shirou's legs threatened to slip from under him at the power exerted by the Servant who isn't even at his full compacity.

Twisting his body around midair, Archer went for Shirou's side as he executed a series of lightning blows that appeared as a blur to the naked eye while Shirou went completely on the defensive at the overwhelming power before him. Right. Left. Top. Down. Beside. Shirou managed to redirect some of the blows, but however, with each blow and minute that prolonged in the battle, Shirou's shape continued to worsen as glancing strikes from Archer made Shirou wince periodically in pain.

Finally, as if an eternity has passed, the seemingly infinite number of blows came to a stop as Shirou panted from exhaustion with blood dripping everywhere from his body. If Shirou didn't die from Archer's soon to be fatal blow, then Shirou would definitely die from blood loss if he doesn't do something quick about it.

"This is the end, Emiya Shirou. This is the result behind the failure of the ideals you borrowed that were never yours!" Archer roared as half a hundred blades came out of the desert landscape and began floating in the air, forming a straight line above Archer with all the blades directed at the tattered form of Shirou as the blades vibrated and glowed with energy.

"ARCHER!" Rin yelled out in rage as she repeatedly punched her fist on the steel cage without care for her own wellbeing.

"SHIROU!" Saber yelled as she attempted to stand up only to fall once more.

Lowering his raised hand as if signaling the blades, swords of all calibers and kinds obeyed Archer's command as they rained down from the sky onto Shirou.

Shirou, looking at the impossible obstacle before him, nevertheless stood back up once again as he made his last stand.

"ARGH!" Shirou shouted aloud as he swung his right blade down on a flying projectile with pinpoint accuracy as Shirou smashed the second projection into oblivion and redirected its fatal path.

Re-projecting the dual Chinese swords, Shirou went on the offensive as he continued to swing his blades as fast as his reinforced muscle would allow him.

Finally, a flying sword made past through his defenses as it stabbed mercilessly into Shirou's thigh as Shirou involuntarily knelt down on one knee in pain. Shirou could dimly hear the alarmed cries of the friends he came to treasure, however, Shirou was given no time to think as more blades continued to rain down from above.

Without hesitation, Shirou diverted a blade away from him as he smacked the next one with his right sword. A dozen swords later which passed by in just a split second, another blade dug into Shirou's right arm, making his grip on the projected blade inevitably slacken as more swords came shooting out at him with supersonic speeds.

Futilely trying to beat the man in front of him, Shirou brought up his left blade only to have his wrist pierced and severed completely by the next projection.

"Ah," Shirou groaned as he gritted his teeth, bearing the overwhelming pain that would have already sent any normal man into the sweet bliss of unconsciousness.

It was over. There was nothing more he can do. For the sake of defeating Archer and surviving for the sake of himself and his friends, Shirou has tried everything he can do. Giving a last glancing smile at Saber and Rin as both of their eyes widened in horror when a blade shot out towards him, Shirou received the killing blow as the next blade punctured through his heart without resistance.

Nothing happened for a couple seconds as a stunned and agonizing silence dragged on before Shirou. With blood slowly dripping out his mouth, Shirou began to cough up pools of blood in front of him before he dropped down to his knees as he collapsed onto the ground.

"S-Shir-rou," Rin stuttered in disbelief as she covered her mouth with her hands as trails of tears made its way down her face without stopping.

Saber, too, was also in a state of disbelief as she gripped Excalibur with all the strength she could muster as her eyes too, began to moist and tears slowly came out of her eyes involuntarily due to the immense pain and sorrow to see her Master, but more importantly, a friend lying beaten and dead.

"A-Archer," Shirou whispered aloud as blood continued to flow out of his body without rest. "even b-before d-d-death, I know m-my b-borrowed ide-eals are w-worth d-dying for!"

Suddenly, as if Shirou's words acted as a catalyst or trigger of some sort, a black spot formed on Shirou's heart as it slowly expanded, continuously growing larger and larger in size while the gaping hole sucked everything in its path like an unending vortex.

"Impossible!" Archer exclaimed in disbelief. "The Grail?!"

The now black hole, as if acting as the very force that's power only exists far away in the cosmos, the hole began to suck everything in its path as Archer had trouble escaping from the clutches of the Grail's luring force.

"A-ah … AHHHH!" Shirou finally yelled out in immense pain that he has never felt before in his life. His Magic Circuits flared to life as he eyes shone and his veins bulged incredibly large at the sheer mana forced into his body, alternatively crushing his very self.

"SHIROU!" Rin yelled out, attempting to save him but to no avail as Rin clenched on her own lifeline by grabbing the cage of swords, her body flying in the wind as the black hole unceasingly sucked the air in the Reality Marble.

Finally, as if the very ground and foundation of the world is being sucked up in the hole, the black hole produced by the Grail gave its final "breath" as the world of swords was sucked up and absorbed away into oblivion inside Shirou's body as Shirou instantly winked away from existence.

Dropping down from her parallel position from the ground, Rin hit the concrete floor side first as Saber laid still staring at the spectacle before her, now both no longer in the plains of swords but back in the partially destroyed basement of the Church.

Archer, standing in front of both Rin and Saber dismissed his dual blades back to pure mana as his back slackened, lowing his guard temporarily.

"W-What was t-that?" Rin stuttered out at the unbelievable sight.

"It's the Grail," Archer answered without a trace of doubt. "Take this from a person who's seen it firsthand before."

"That … can't be the Grail!" Saber spoke aloud in exclamation though it was clear that she is still weak and in pain, both emotionally and physically.

"The Grail's corrupted," Archer continued, seeing no use in hiding the information any longer at this stage.

"But … w-what was t-that? W-where … is Shirou?" Rin asked, her eyes still wide in disbelief and denial as the wet marks on her face remained.

"Nothing matters," Archer spoke evenly with disdain as he turned around to face both Saber and Rin. "Emiya Shirou is gone and I am still bound by my contract. I have no purpose in staying here any longer," Archer announced as he made his way out of the gloomy basement of the church building.

"W-was that … a paradox," Rin continued to brainstorm, desperately hoping to understand what's going on, and if possible, reverse its effect.

Archer paused his footsteps at Rin's mumbling. "Don't bother finding him, Rin," Archer spoke sternly with his back facing them. "He's dead. And if he isn't, the Grail would have destroyed his very identity."

"W-what do y-you mean?"

"If he's alive," Archer continued, "he will be the last enemy you hope to face – the reincarnate of all the world's evil," Archer finally revealed. Back in the timeline he was from, Sakura was used as the vessel of the Holy Grail, if anything similar happened to his past self, Archer was not sure how long will his past self remain himself before the Grail overtakes his mind and drive him to the depths of insanity.

"I-Imp-possible," Rin stuttered out as Saber also opened her mouth in horror at the revelation, both incapable of responding appropriately.

Archer didn't say anything as he resumed his footsteps.

"Archer," a voice said in a deadly whisper.

Turning his head around while looking back at the downcast Rin who is clenching her fists placed on her lap impossibly tight, Rin continued. "I will KILL you!" Rin howled out at the end as indescribable fury etched across her face to reveal the unimaginable agony she is suffering.

Archer eyed Rin for a second longer before breaking eye contact and looking back in front of him. "It doesn't matter," Archer said dismissively. "I will be gone in less than two days."

With that said, Archer left the Church, leaving behind a completely heart-wretched Saber and Rin at their fallen friend whom they have come to treasure.

"I w-will avenge you, S-Shirou," Rin said between chokes as more tears came out of her eyes. "I will avenge you," she whispered again, making a solemn promise to herself.

Saber nodded silently, her eyes full with determination in carrying out the mission as Arturia gripped her blade with the sole thought of obtaining the Grail, undoing all the mistakes that had happened here. And if Archer was not lying about the Grail's truth, Arturia will continue her contract with the World for eternity until she can accomplish her duty and promise as a king and a Servant.

Although things will never be the same again, but Shirou … he will be eternally etched in their hearts as a part of their soul forever, no matter the circumstances or what Fate is going to throw at them.

Shirou had wanted to become a Hero of Justice, but Fate decided to turn the tables on the righteous miracle boy from the Fourth War. Even before death, Shirou had said he will never regret the path he will be taking regardless of the hardships that will surely be coming in his way. That was just the way he is. A man without a sense of self and always putting others before himself.

"You idiot," Rin muttered under her breath before she curled up into a ball in her seated position as she sobbed in the lonely deserted underground basement.

Illyasviel abruptly woke up from her futon as she panted in fear and horror at what dream she was forced to witness. Looking to her right, Illyasviel noticed a "get well" card saying that Shirou and Rin went out for a quick errand and will be right back. Illyasviel's heart lurched in dread and terror at the implications as she hastily removed the blankets over her that Rin and Shirou had prepared.

"O-Onii-chan," Illyasviel weakly croaked as she crawled on the wooden floor in pain and the lack of strength as she desperately tried to reach the paper thin sliding door before her, "w-where are y-you?"

Thank you for reading and please review!

Please do note that the Shirou here is mostly from the Unlimited Blade Works route with some of the Fate route added into it as seen with Illya's involvement here in the prologue.

Also, please make sure to check out my other stories as well which can be seen in my profile page. The most popular story being Fate Blade Zero, a fiction where Shirou goes back in time to the Fourth Holy Grail War at the end of the Fifth War. Details can be read under the description/summary of the story page. Thank you very much! – SteelBlades333