DOTM: Chapter 598/600

Chapter 598: It’s a Bit Cold

Ethan held his pose for a moment, then silently withdrew his fist.

Looking at Scathach lying motionless on the ground, he pursed his lips helplessly.

"Hey, you over there, no need to get too worked up. I didn't hit her hard. Your teacher is just a little injured."

Cú Chulainn awkwardly rested his spear back on his shoulder. For a moment earlier, he had truly felt the urge to attack. Even though the gap between Ethan's strength and his own was so vast that he might not even be able to harm a single hair on him, he couldn't just stand by and watch his teacher be killed.

It was a bit surprising that Ethan didn't kill Scathach directly.

"Oh? Did you take a liking to my teacher? Although she's very picky about men, you should meet her standards."

"It's just that I happened to run out of strength."

That previous attack looked impressive, but its actual effect wasn't great. Ethan found that not only was his mental energy weakened, but he had also lost a considerable amount of his own mana. His ability to utilize energy had dropped to an all-time low. Aside from the time before he became a formal magus, it had been a long time since he felt this weak.

"Distorting the rules of a world is indeed not an easy task."

Although the Libra Cloth restored some of his physical condition and allowed him to regain a certain level of combat power in a short time, it also accelerated the "aging" phenomenon he had just suppressed. Most of the vitality he had previously replenished was consumed again. Now, the Libra Cloth could only barely maintain his physical peak. If he continued to use his mana recklessly to cast powerful spells, the Libra Cloth would no longer be able to sustain his body.

After all, maintaining and strengthening the body with the Libra Cloth required energy, and the energy balance within Ethan's body had fallen into chaos. He needed some time to rest and recover.

It wasn't that he had no way to solve this problem immediately, but when he cast that spell and put his body into its current dire state, he unexpectedly discovered something. That made him choose to stabilize the situation first rather than rush into treatment.

"Regardless, the immediate trouble has been resolved."

Although his move didn't kill Scathach, it did determine the outcome of this battle.

As the Queen of the Land of Shadows, now that the victory had been clearly decided, she wouldn't stubbornly continue to fight him to the death.

So Scathach wouldn't be a problem anymore. The only one who could still be called a problem was Madeline.

"Is there anything else you want to do?"

Madeline watched as Scathach healed herself with Rune Magecraft, clearly not intending to continue the fight. She knew this battle was over.

"What a pity, I haven't seen enough. Or perhaps I could summon other powerful Heroic Spirits from this world? It seems there's one not far from here. I imagine he'd be displeased with what you did earlier."

"I have no interest in continuing to play with you."

If Madeline still wanted to annoy him by relying on the Heroic Spirits of this world, Ethan would choose to leave immediately, then come back for revenge after recovering.

He didn't leave right away because his current condition wasn't good, and teleportation might cause accidents.

Madeline also didn't want to completely fall out with him. She straightforwardly admitted her defeat.

"You won this time. According to our previous agreement, this world is yours."

"Wait." Ethan frowned slightly. He suspected she was up to some trick again. "I told you, I'm not interested in betting with you."

"Whether you're willing to accept it or not, this world is yours. I won't take it back..." Madeline's projection could move freely as if teleporting. As she spoke, she appeared in front of him and reached out to brush against his Holy Cloth. "Or... you can consider this a down payment."

"It's impossible for me to accept your invitation."

"Don't say that so absolutely..." Madeline leaned close to his ear and whispered, "I'll be waiting for the day you kneel before me, kiss my toes, and pledge your loyalty."

"Even in your dreams, that day will never come."

Energy suddenly burst forth from his body. The powerful force directly blew Madeline's projection apart. Only her laughter echoed in the air, but it quickly faded completely.

"Tch, wasting my mana!"

With that energy burst, the Libra Cloth could no longer maintain his form. Ethan's appearance began to age again, and as he removed the Libra Cloth, he rapidly transformed into a seventy-year-old man, his hair turning completely white.

Ethan created a water mirror and looked at himself in the reflection, giving a speechless wry smile. "Compared to Merlin, all I'm missing now is a beard."

"Just now, how much of your peak strength did you use?"

Scathach had already stood up. Being infinitely close to a divine being, her resilience and recovery far surpassed ordinary humans and even Heroic Spirits long ago. Ethan's previous move only incapacitated her temporarily; she had already recovered in this short time.

Considering she had been completely unable to resist when she was struck, it would have been effortless for him to kill her. Therefore, she had lost this battle thoroughly.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Because I've never fought with my full strength."

Ethan's strength had always grown quickly. It had been a long time since he fought with all his power. The closest time was probably the battle with Ego, but with the help of the Space Stone, that fight had been very easy for him.

This time, however, in order to sever his connection with this world, he used moves beyond his current level, which resulted in considerable backlash.

"I'm quite looking forward to you recovering your full strength soon. If that happens, you can definitely fulfill my wish."

"At that time... what reason would you have to fight me?"

Scathach wouldn't fight someone without a suitable reason. She had used the reason of the Land of Shadows this time and generally wouldn't use it again.

However, that wouldn't stump this queen who had lived for who knows how long, just like in the past when she encountered opponents she wanted to fight.

"As for a reason... it's easy to find one."

Ethan shook his head and didn't respond. By then, he wouldn't even know which world he would be in. For Scathach to fulfill her wish of dying in battle against him, she would first have to find him.

No longer looking at Scathach rubbing her pale belly or Cú Chulainn reminiscing with her, Ethan turned his gaze toward Illya.

Illya had woken up at some point without him noticing. Because his body had become weak and all his attention had been focused on the battle and Madeline, he hadn't had the energy to pay full attention to his surroundings.

Seeing Illya, although covered in blood, standing there steadily and looking quite energetic, her "transformation" should have been successfully completed.

"Congratulations, you have become a true human."

Illya was stunned for a moment, seemingly just noticing the changes in her body. She couldn't feel the surging mana that should have been within her at all. All the magic circuits on her body had disappeared, and naturally, the Command Spells were gone too.

The connection with Ethan that she had clearly felt before had also disappeared. Having lost everything, Illya instead felt a sense of ease.

"Is that so? So that's how it is... But it doesn't matter... Anyway... I don't have much time left."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ethan reached out and ruffled Illya's hair. Her hat had fallen off long ago and hadn't been picked up. "You didn't have much lifespan left before because of your special constitution. Now you've become a true human, and your lifespan has returned to normal. Given your current physical age, you have at least several decades left to live."

The conversation between the two wasn't quiet, so everyone could hear it. Shirou realized at that moment that this girl, who looked only a little over ten years old, originally hadn't had much time left to live.

From this perspective, it seemed Ethan had done a good deed.

"I won't die?"

"As long as you don't want to die."

Illya was still a bit slow to react, staring blankly at her dirty little hands. While she was dazed, Ethan softly chanted a few mysterious words. She felt a wave of freshness wash over her body. All the dirt and grime vanished, and even her clothes looked freshly washed and dried.

"Phew... Even a small spell like this requires chanting to cast. My power is still continuously weakening."

Ethan had originally wanted to restore the Emiya residence to its original state, but considering his condition, he decided to save his strength.

To his surprise, the Emiya residence, which had become almost ruins after the continuous battles, slowly returned to its original state under everyone's gaze.

"Did you do this?"

Rin watched curiously as everything seemed to "reverse" and return to normal. Even the previously destroyed storeroom, the door Shirou had broken through, and the shattered glass were restored as if nothing had happened. While such magical sights weren't rare for magi, witnessing it happen on such a large scale was still shocking.

Ethan didn't speak. This was certainly not his doing; it was clearly Madeline.

"Is she hoping I'll stay in this world to recover?"

He wouldn't leave for now. He needed to stabilize his condition before leaving to avoid errors during teleportation.

Moreover, although Madeline had her eyes on him, she seemed to have her own principles, so it wasn't a situation where he absolutely had to flee.

"Berserker."

Having lost the protection of mana, Illya, who had finally realized she had become a true human, suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"I feel... a little cold..."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 599: Sister and Brother

Without her mana, Illya was now just an ordinary child in terms of physical age, and she was very sensitive to the cold. Standing outside for a while had already made her feel uncomfortable.

"Let's go inside... uh..."

"Huh? Didn't I introduce myself? My name is Ethan."

Shirou invited everyone into the house. In this situation, he still had many questions he wanted to ask.

He wasn't the only one. Everyone present had countless questions for Ethan, especially the Servants. This concerned their very existence.

They had originally thought that with the world's rules distorted, they would quickly disappear. But after watching the battle, they were still standing perfectly fine. The situation was clearly different from what they had imagined.

"Do you want to go in?"

Ethan turned to ask Illya. He expected her to refuse and choose to return to the castle outside the city. Speaking of which, those two doll maids should have also been erased by his rule-distorting attack, shouldn't they?

"Let's go in. I also have some things I want to ask him."

"Me?"

Shirou pointed to himself. He had felt strange for a while now. This little girl seemed full of hostility toward him, and he had no idea why.

"Then let's go in."

The living room of the Emiya residence became lively again. Compared to before, Scathach had joined them as well. She showed no intention of leaving and followed after exchanging a few words with her disciple, Cú Chulainn.

"Is there anything strange about that? I also have many things I want to ask this person."

She pointed at Ethan. In truth, Ethan also had many questions for her, such as what had happened to the Land of Shadows. Was it completely destroyed, or only partially damaged? Or had it merely suffered some disaster?

Regarding those fantasy realms that existed independently outside of this world, Ethan wasn't sure what effect his earlier attack had caused. However, judging by the fact that the Servants were still here, alive and well, it seemed that the Throne of Heroes hadn't been affected.

Everyone sat around the table, but no one spoke first. The Servants looked at one another, seemingly deferring to each other.

In the end, it was Shirou, as the host, who broke the silence.

He had been holding back for a long time. He wanted to understand what exactly was going on and what kind of situation he had gotten himself into. The events of this night had left him completely bewildered. And why was this little girl so hostile toward him?

Although Rin had already explained what the Holy Grail War was earlier, he still couldn't quite grasp it.

In response to Shirou's questions, Rin once again gave a simple explanation.

For example, the Holy Grail War was essentially a battle for supremacy between seven magi, each summoning a Servant and fighting until only one remained, in order to obtain the Holy Grail, an omnipotent wish-granting device capable of fulfilling any desire.

That much was easy enough to understand.

"But why me?"

That was what Shirou couldn't figure out. Although he had learned some basic Magecraft, he couldn't really be considered a magus, could he? Why was he inexplicably drawn into the Holy Grail War?

"Because after the Holy Grail War begins, if there aren't enough magi participating within a certain period, the Holy Grail will automatically select qualified individuals within the area and grant them participation eligibility."

This was Illya's answer. In fact, among the people present, no one understood the Holy Grail War better than she did.

"Why me?"

Even if the Holy Grail selected him, Shirou didn't understand why he was chosen. His magical aptitude was average, wasn't it?

Illya didn't answer. It wasn't that she couldn't think of an answer, but rather she didn't want to say it. Admitting it felt unpleasant.

Ethan, however, didn't care about such matters. Or rather, he deliberately brought it up in front of Illya to make her face these issues directly.

"Because your father, Kiritsugu Emiya, participated in the previous Holy Grail War. After that, he left something inside your body. Combined with the fact that there's a summoning circle for Servants in your home, it's no surprise that the Holy Grail designated you as the final Master."

While it might have seemed that Shirou was drawn into the Holy Grail War by chance, in truth, it was almost inevitable.

He carried Avalon within him, his adoptive father had participated in the previous Holy Grail War, and he had inherited some of Kiritsugu's magical legacy, even if only superficially. Moreover, Shirou's own magical talent wasn't bad. He had more Magic Circuits than many magi, and the number of Circuits directly determined a magus's strength.

With all these factors combined, it wasn't strange at all that the Holy Grail had chosen him.

"As for why Illya doesn't like you... it's because she's Kiritsugu's biological daughter."

"What?"

Shirou was so shocked that he tried to stand up, forgetting his injuries. As a result, his leg hit the table, and he winced in pain, rubbing his knee repeatedly.

"Kiritsugu... Einzbern..."

Artoria looked at Illya in surprise. She had always assumed Illya was just another homunculus created by the Einzbern family. Since all of them were modeled after Justeaze, it wasn't unusual for them to look alike.

But she hadn't expected that the girl before her was actually the daughter of those two. Looking closely, Illya's features indeed bore traces of both of them, not just one.

As a special Servant, Artoria's situation was different from others. When most Servants were summoned, a replica that met the class requirements would descend. Even their personalities and ages were only partial representations of the original Heroic Spirit.

When those replicas returned, the memories wouldn't directly merge with the main body. For the original, those experiences were more like watching a story unfold from an outsider's perspective.

Artoria, however, was different. Time had been frozen for her at the moment before her death, and she had participated in the Holy Grail War as a special Servant. Each time she was summoned, it was her true self descending. Because of this, she couldn't become invisible like other Servants, and the memories of every Holy Grail War she took part in were her own.

Therefore, she remembered Shirou's father, Kiritsugu.

"Kiritsugu... I remember he often went out when I was little... Could it have been then..."

Shirou clearly misunderstood. He thought Illya was the result of Kiritsugu's mistake while he was away. In reality, judging by her true age, Illya should be his older sister.

"Hmph, ignorant fool!"

Now that the truth had been revealed, Illya no longer pretended to be the little girl who called Shirou "big brother." She now displayed the authority of an older sister.

"I don't like you because I can't understand why he would abandon his own daughter and adopt you instead."

"Abandoned you... and then adopted me?"

"Shirou, the Einzbern family is special. She isn't an ordinary human, at least not before Lord Ethan changed the world's rules."

Artoria had already grown familiar with her Master earlier. Because the name "Emiya" brought up unpleasant memories, she chose to call him directly by his first name.

"So, it isn't strange that her actual age is older than yours."

"I see." Shirou finally understood the situation. So this little girl across from him was actually his older sister? He didn't know how to feel about that.

Happy? He should have been happy to have a family member.

Disappointed? Why would Kiritsugu abandon his biological child?

Various emotions tangled together, leaving him silent.

"Illya, your father never abandoned you." Ethan had wanted to help her resolve this for a long time, but until now, he couldn't say anything. Even if he had, Illya wouldn't have believed him.

Now was the right moment. There were people here who could verify his words.

"Your father tried countless times to take you away, but by then, he no longer had the power to break through the barrier surrounding the Einzbern castle."

"... "

Illya didn't quite believe him, but Ethan pointed to Shirou and Saber across the table, telling her that they could confirm whether what he said was true.

Shirou had mentioned earlier that Kiritsugu often went out when he was little, which could be considered indirect proof that he might have been trying to rescue his daughter.

Neither Shirou nor Illya understood why Saber was suddenly brought up.

"Mr. Emiya was indeed injured during the Fourth Holy Grail War."

Artoria then admitted that she had been Kiritsugu's Servant and had participated in that very war.

"So that's how it was... Kiritsugu didn't abandon me?"

"Yes."

Seeing Illya burst into tears, Ethan gently patted her head in comfort but said nothing more. She had held it in for far too long, and crying it out would make her feel better.

Shirou had no more questions for now. Although the other Servants were surprised that this Saber had participated in both the Fourth and Fifth Holy Grail Wars, that matter could wait.

Including Scathach, they all wanted to know how much impact Ethan's rule distortion had on this world.

"To be honest, I can't be sure. Seeing you all sitting here perfectly fine and chatting with me, I can only say that the effect of that move was vastly different from what I expected."

Aside from the result being far from what he intended, Ethan could also sense that several powerful forces were actively correcting the rules he had distorted.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 600: Hidden Dangers in the Body

Ethan wasn't sure what this world would ultimately become. All he knew for certain was that the Einzbern family was finished. Even if those forces managed to rewrite the world's rules back to their original state, what had disappeared would remain gone. They wouldn't be resurrected just because the rules were restored.

The old bug was the same. Illya and Matou Sakura wouldn't return to their previous states either, at most regaining their lost Magic Circuits.

As for the Holy Grail, it had been destroyed by the previous rule changes. This meant that the Holy Grail War, a ritual specifically created for the Third Magic, was completely annihilated.

If no magus created a new Holy Grail, then even if the world's rules were restored, the Holy Grail War would never happen again.

"This doesn't affect us, right?"

"Pretty much."

Scathach rubbed her temples, feeling annoyed. Out of several spaces independent of the world, it seemed only her Land of Shadows had been affected. Was there some conspiracy hidden in this?

Ethan had already guessed the reason. It must have been Madeline's doing, her purpose obviously being to lure Scathach out.

"What's the situation with your Land of Shadows now?"

"It's turned into barren wasteland, not even ruins, just slightly better than complete nothingness."

What frustrated Scathach the most was that she had nowhere else to go, which was why she was staying here.

"That's really... quite miserable."

"Compared to how you look right now, it's not so bad."

After talking for a while, Ethan felt his condition worsen. Even his back unconsciously hunched a bit.

He didn't use Magecraft to conjure a mirror again. Instead, he asked Shirou where the mirror was and went to look at himself.

If he had looked like a seventy-year-old man when the battle ended, he now clearly looked over eighty. Though he could still be called a handsome old man, his weak, aged appearance was very obvious, like he was in the final stretch of his life.

"I need to solve this problem quickly."

Returning to the living room, Illya had recovered and was looking up at him.

"Is the situation very bad?"

"Not too bad. I need some time to deal with this problem."

Just as Ethan was considering whether to use the effects of the Titan Potion to stabilize his condition, a spatial rift suddenly appeared beside him, and then a message was transmitted.

The moment the spatial rift appeared, Ethan knew who was sending the message, so he readily accepted and checked it.

"It seems I need to leave for a bit."

"Are you leaving?"

The moment the spatial rift appeared, the few Heroic Spirits all sensed how powerful the being on the other side was. Cú Chulainn and Emiya, in particular, recognized this as one of the powerhouses who had helped Ethan distort the world's rules earlier.

Artoria, on the other hand, felt this aura was completely unfamiliar yet strangely familiar, which puzzled her greatly.

Only Illya cared about the fact that Ethan was leaving.

"Just going to chat with a friend."

Ethan originally wanted to ask Illya if she wanted to return to the castle in the suburbs. He instantly remembered that the two maids had been erased, and Illya living alone in the castle seemed a bit lonely. It might be better for her to stay here. At least she had her brother Shirou to look after her.

"Will you... come back?"

Ethan looked at Illya. In truth, he didn't need to come back here.

For him, this trip was just a vacation where he had unexpectedly encountered some situations. This world wasn't suitable as a base either.

So leaving completely and not returning was a perfectly normal choice.

"You want me to come back?"

Illya didn't speak, just pouted and glared at Ethan.

"What a difficult child."

"I'm not a child!"

Ethan waved his hand, ignoring the displeased Illya, and said to Shirou, "Get along well with your sister. I'll be back soon."

Unlike his previous uses of teleportation, Ethan didn't use the teleportation circle on his left hand. Instead, he connected with the spatial rift that hadn't completely dissipated. As he input spatial energy, the rift suddenly expanded, finally becoming a vibrant blue energy gate.

Unlike the teleportation gates Ethan usually used, looking into this gate from where he stood, he could only see surging blue energy and couldn't see what was on the other side. But he didn't hesitate at all, stepping directly into the teleportation gate... only, just as he stepped in, it seemed someone pushed him from behind?

"... "

After his vision was filled with blue for a moment, Ethan quickly saw a familiar scene. This place, full of various plants, filled with the scent of earth, grass, and flowers, as well as that familiar house, and the old man standing in front, quietly waiting for him.

"Oh? This place is quite pretty!"

The purple-haired beautiful girl wearing tight-fitting clothing of an unclear material, with skin faintly visible and no protective effect whatsoever, was very casually looking around, completely lacking the self-awareness of an uninvited intruder.

"The way you look now... you're just missing a snow-white beard."

Merlin didn't mind the intruder at all, just kept staring at Ethan.

Compared to how he used to look, the current Ethan was a rare sight. It was foreseeable that he wouldn't maintain this appearance for too long. He would soon solve his problem and return to his normal state.

"And then I can live in seclusion here with you, right?"

"I'm not living in seclusion. I often travel around and see things."

Merlin waved his hand, inviting Ethan to sit on a nearby wooden chair. As he waved, the plants beside where there had only been two chairs facing each other grew rapidly, quickly forming a third chair.

Ethan, having sat down, actually let out a long breath. Seeing him like this, Merlin sighed, "Your situation is quite bad."

"So I need to solve it quickly."

Scathach walked around, but she didn't presume to go into the house. After circling around, she sat down on the newly appeared chair and curiously observed Ethan and Merlin.

She felt her power was severely weakened. Many spells couldn't be used in this world, and her mana circulation wasn't smooth enough.

With her vast experience, she immediately understood that she had arrived in a completely different world.

The Magecraft system of the Nasuverse, or rather, the magical system, is based on the Root. This makes the magi or magicians of the Nasuverse more like users of power rather than owners, because the Root is the special entity that possesses these abilities.

Therefore, when leaving the range that the Root can influence, the Nasuverse, many spells and Magecraft become unusable.

Considering the special nature of the Root, it's not just spells and Magecraft that become unusable. Many special powers in the Nasuverse involve the Root.

After everyone sat down, Merlin first briefly greeted Scathach, then began discussing Ethan's physical condition with him.

"Actually, this is an opportunity for you." With a wave of Merlin's hand, various fruits and juices appeared on the wooden table in front of them to entertain the two guests. "I think you've realized this yourself."

"I was too naive to think I could just keep progressing toward the peak previously."

Ethan's previous progress and rate of improvement could be described as astonishing. In just a few decades, he had gone from having nothing, strictly speaking not completely without foundation, to reaching his current demigod level. This rate of progress was something anyone should be proud of.

He himself was originally quite proud of this and was pleased with his achievements.

But this special situation suddenly made him aware of hidden dangers he hadn't noticed before. Although his strength had been rapidly increasing, he had been stuck at the demigod level for a long time. While his power was constantly improving, there was a distance to becoming a true god, as if there was a mountain peak he couldn't climb over.

At that time, he thought it was just insufficient strength and that he just needed to keep improving.

"In the past, I thought the potions I created were very perfect. Although they didn't make me instantly stronger, they retained infinite possibilities... Now I realize that what I thought was perfect was just due to my ignorance."

The reason for his slowing improvement came from Ethan's method of advancement. Using potions to enhance his potential, although the effect was good every time, each use left some special toxins in his body.

He had indeed tried his best to create powerful potions to enhance his potential, but to say they were perfect, he could only say that his vision and knowledge at that time were too shallow, which was why he had that judgment.

This time, casting Magecraft beyond his strength, with the help of the two masters, the Ancient One and Merlin, while allowing him to touch upon a higher level of power, finally made him discover the hidden problems within himself.

"Actually, these problems are nothing. Compared to everything that can be gained, such a small hidden danger is negligible for many people."

"Exactly. Even if I had known about these hidden dangers, I would still have done it. For me at that time, there was simply no better choice."

Ethan didn't feel regret. If he hadn't done that, he wouldn't have been able to grow to his current level in such a short time. He might have run out of lifespan as just an ordinary magus.

Moreover, these hidden dangers were not unsolvable. They just required a long time to gradually eliminate them.

Besides slowly eliminating the hidden dangers in his body over a long period, another method was to reincarnate with his memories and mental power, while his mana could be temporarily stored in some special containers and retrieved at a suitable time.

However, Merlin had specifically called him over, clearly having another way to help him solve this problem, so he didn't have to choose to delete and restart.

(To be continued.)