Shirou smiled at the end, even as the crowd called for his death, never knowing the truth, never knowing what he had sacrificed for them. Till the end, he had been the unthanked hero of justice.

He didn't fight it. It was his time to go. The repeated abuse of his body over the last few years had led to him living in a constant state of agony. Even if they weren't to hang him, he wouldn't survive the month, he was in no condition to save anyone with his life, so maybe he could bring some peace of mind with his death. He hadn't planned this, but he wouldn't fight it.

There was no point to hold on any longer. He had already somehow outlived his friends and family. Saber had died in the Grail War. Years later, Illya and Sakura had died from the things that had been done to their bodies. Rider had passed on along with her Master. Rin had experimented with the Second True Magic and disappeared from the world.

Now it was time for Shirou's name to be added to the list.

A public execution, people all around shouting for his death while some politician said something or other. Shirou honestly wasn't paying attention anymore. Even with all the hate around him, Shirou was at peace with himself as they fitted the rope around his neck and placed a bag over his head.

He stood on the platform and the man pulled the lever, causing the block to fall out from underneath Shirou's feet.

He had the momentary sensation of falling… and followed by a much different, if not still familiar feeling. The feeling of the Second True Magic. A magical pressure pressed in on him from all sides and he felt like he was being sucked through a drinking straw.

Seconds later, Shirou braced himself as the feeling vanished and he came impacting against the ground. "Grr…" Shirou grumbled. Pain shot up through his body as his old battle wounds protested the unexpected trip. His ears picked up several voices all around him, each agitated, though none were speaking a language that the magus understood. Not that he expected too.

Another world. He had just been summoned to another world. But how? Why? As Shirou took in a deep breath, the heavy scent of miasma reached him.

"Please… save us." The honeyed voice of a young woman reached him, surprisingly in Japanese.

The pley penetrated into Shirou's mind, triggering something deep within him. His magic circuits opened wide and his heart pumped harder.

*Boom!*

Rubble pelted Shirou's body as something demonic smashed through the wall of the room. A strill, horrible voice echoed through the room, speaking words that Shirou didn't understand.

With a display of unbelievable strength, the metal cuffs on Shirou's hands were torn to pieces before he reached up and removed the bag from the top of his head, revealing his cocky smile.

"It seems I'm not permitted to die just yet."

Princess Yuriko Rumooku clasped her hands around the control rod in prayer as she activated her 'Unique Skill', the [Power to Connect Worlds]. "Please. Please." She begged, as the gateway opened.

This wasn't going to work. They had already done this seven times before. She could summon people from other words, but they hadn't ever been Heroes. After the last time, seeing the children she had ripped away from their families, she had built up the courage to put her foot down, refusing to ever summon anyone else ever again. She had sworn never to do it again, regardless what her brother, the King, and the Minister said to try to persuade her. She didn't want any more deaths on her hands.

Only, with a Greater Demon assaulting the capital, they had no choice. They needed a Hero or a miracle. If this did not work, the Kingdom of Rumooku would…

The royal knights had gathered to guard her during the summoning, to protect her in case that something uncontrollable came through the gate again.

It was a pointless exercise. If salvation didn't come through that gateway, then they would all die.

The gateway's opening was met with the usual blinding flash of light, something that Yuriko had simply become accustomed to, even if it still took her eyes a moment to readjust.

Hearing a grunt of discomfort, she knew that the summoning had been a success, even if her eyes couldn't yet see any more of the man than a large silhouette. "Please… save us." She begged as the sounds of destruction grew closer.

It wasn't until her eyes regained their focus that she let out a gasp of horror.

In front of her, getting up from his knees was a tall man with broad shoulders. He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit, with his hands cuffed in front of him, a leather bag over his head and a severed rope around his neck.

A prisoner. She had summoned a criminal who was moments away from execution. An extremely dangerous man.

Memories came back to her. Memories of her previous life, where she had been just an ordinary elementary school girl in Japan. Where she had been viciously murdered for no reason at all by a psychopath. Through the last thirty years, every time she slept, she always had nightmares that the man would come back. That he would somehow find a way to follow her into this other world. Chills went up her spin as she staggered back. She was more afraid of this criminal than the Demon itself.

Or so she thought, until the wall of the summoning chamber exploded outwards and the Demon itself came in. The hulking red creature, easily three times the size of a normal man, with a distorted face, spiral horns and long claw like hands. A pair of wings partuded from its back as it forced its way into the room.

"Found you." It said with a sort of weezing hiss. "I found you, Princess with the [Power to Connect Worlds] skill." The knights attempted to attack it, but it was no use. Even their Mithral weapons couldn't even scratch the monster's body, and the difference in their levels was too great.

The average level of the Royal Knights was around level 30, while the Greater Demon was a level 70.

The monster batted the brave men and women aside like they were nothing more than insects, sending them flying into the walls with horrible crunching thuds.

"You are going to be coming with me now." The Demon said, reaching out to grab Yuriko.

The princess closed her eyes and screamed, too afraid to run. Her legs gave out as she felt herself pulled into a strong grip.

"Ahh!" The Demon shouted... in pain. "What? How!? How did you!?" The Demon was clutching at a stub, where its arm used to be.

Yuriko's eyes opened and she looked up to find the man in the orange prison uniform, his white hair free from the sack that covered it before, showing his handsome features. He was holding her close in one arm, while holding a beautiful white sword in the other, only made less beautiful by the slick black blood that coated its surface.

"Are you alright?" The man said, glancing down at Yuriko, only for his eyes to widen.

Yuriko's veil had fallen off when he pulled her away from the Demon, revealing her unblemished pale skin, and her violet purple twintails and teal eyes.

His surprise at her appearance disappeared in an instant as he pushed her back. "Order the others to stay back. I'll handle this myself." As he said it, he started to walk towards the Demon, a black sword appearing in his now vacant hand, mirroring the white one.

Yuriko was speechless as her [Check Status] skill triggered, allowing her to judge the man's stats.

Name: Shirou Emiya

Level: 1

Race: Human (Sword?)

Age: 42

Skills:None

Titles: None

"Wait! There is no way a level 1 can…!" Yuriko started to cry out to the man in Japanese, but he ignored her.

The white haired man moved at speeds that few among the knights could match, dashing straight towards the Demon.

The monster was just as stunned as Yuriko herself as the man quickly closed the gap. "What the hell!? How does a level 1 move so fast!?" The Demon shrieked as it tried to fend off the man's swords, only to lose another couple of fingers.

Realizing it was in danger, the Demon started to expel magical energy, causing bright purple flames to erupt from its body.

"O Steel, devour the hated flames! Totsuka no Tsurugi!" Shirou shouted as he summoned up an extremely long polished blade that seemed to shine with a light that came from within. The flames were sucked into the blade, unable to pass it by, as the white haired man took refuge behind it.

While this was happening, the severed arm of the Demon jumped up, a large grotesque eye in the middle of its palm. The thing attempted to attack the swordsman from behind, only to have its body skewered by three long black knives that appeared out of thin air, piecing its body and causing it to burst into flames.

"What are you?" The Demon said in shock as it struggled to regrow its severed pieces while maintaining its attack.

The only response it got was for the swordsman to throw his twin swords at it. The Demon was surprised, but still managed to lurch its massive form out of the way of the spinning blades, only to then be hit by the follow up attack.

The massive katana whistled as the white haired man rushed towards the unbalanced Demon, swinging the long blade. The sword passed through the monster was unnatural ease, cutting it clean in two at the waist. But rather than stopping there, the white haired man continued to swing, cutting it again into four pieces, and then eight, then sixteen. With each swing of the sword, each piece was again split into two equal parts, until there was nothing larger than a human head.

The man was still not done.

Six black blades appeared, encircling the remains of the demon as the man began to chant in a language that the Princess didn't recognize.

The long knives began to glow, exposing writing written within the blades, and as they did so, the Demon's remains caught fire as well, continuing to burn with pale blue flames until there was nothing left but its magic core.

With the battle over, the swords disappeared, dissolving into specks of light. The white haired man began to groan, rubbing his arm. "Damn… Overdid it." He hissed, before his eyes once again moved towards Yuriko. The knights didn't know what to do any more than the princess did as the man approached her. "Rin, is that you?"

"W...who?" Yuriko replied, her eyes wide.

The man seemed to wilt a little at her response. "I guess not. I suppose she would have never shown me an expression like that one. Seems like I was summoned by a frightened little girl." He chuckled miserably.

Little girl!? She wasn't a little girl! She was 40 years old, not including her time before reincarnation!

Alright, so maybe she hadn't been very specific when she asked God for [Eternal Youth] and had been stuck as a seventeen year old for the last twenty-three years, and maybe she was a little on the shorter side, but she wasn't a little girl!

Besides, like he was one to talk, his status said he was 42 years old, but other than the white hair, he looked like he was in his early twenties! There wasn't any extra hair on his arms or chin...

"Doesn't matter. I, Emiya Shirou, upon your summons have come forth, and so now I ask of you, are you… my… Mas..." Before he could finish, the man's legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground before her.

Yuriko gave a small cry of panic as the man's head hit the stone ground and blood dripped out from between his lips, as well as from his nose. "Someone, get the healers!"