001 - What Makes it Hard to Go Home ?

As soon as Rei laid eyes on Gorgon standing beside the purple-haired woman, his expression shifted, becoming sharp and serious. The tension in the air thickened as he assessed the threat in front of him.

"Gorgon? The youngest of the Gorgon Sisters from Greek mythology? Didn't they have the power to turn someone to stone?" Sakura said, her voice laced with surprise and concern as the realization set in.

"This is bad," Rei muttered to himself, eyes narrowing. "None of you are compatible with fighting her. You can't deflect her Mystic Eyes of Petrification." He was already calculating the odds. Without something like Avalon's protection, the others stood little chance against an opponent like this.

Saber could have withstood Gorgon's gaze if she had Avalon, but Rei hadn't had the chance to replicate the Avalon inside Shirou's body yet. Time was running out, and the threat was immediate.

Without hesitation, Rei unleashed his power. *BOOM*. A wave of energy radiated from him, shaking the very air around them. The sheer force of it made the ground beneath tremble, and everyone in the vicinity could feel the overwhelming surge of his might.

Rei's hair instantly changed to a bright blue, and his entire body became enveloped in a radiant blue aura, crackling with lightning that arced around him.

"!?" The others were visibly stunned as they watched the drastic transformation unfold before their eyes.

"Eternal Ascendancy," Rei said, his voice low but filled with immense power. His presence now dwarfed everything around him, even the terrifying Gorgon. This was no ordinary transformation—it was something far beyond the reach of mortal strength.

The girl in front of them, who had been grinning maniacally, immediately stopped when she saw Rei's transformation. Despite her broken mind, she instinctively felt the danger radiating from him—an overwhelming power that could not be ignored.

Rei's voice echoed through the air, calm but laced with deadly intent. "Eternal Weapon: Gun of Eternal Splendor" he said, and a massive, ethereal gun—colored in shimmering hues of purple and blue, adorned with twinkling stars—materialized above him, quickly moving into his grasp.

[IMAGE]

Without hesitation, Rei aimed the weapon directly at the two women, ready to fire. The sheer power gathering at the tip of the gun could be felt by everyone present, a force that could obliterate whatever stood in its path.

But just before he could pull the trigger, a voice cut through the tension. "Wait, Rei!! Don't kill her! I know her!" Shirou leaped in front of Rei, hands raised in a pleading gesture. "She's the girl I usually offer my cooking to! She's not like this… something's wrong with her!"

Rei paused, his finger still on the trigger. His blue aura flickered for a moment as he looked down at Shirou. His expression remained unreadable, though the power around him didn't diminish.

"She's dangerous, Shirou," Rei said firmly, but he didn't fire yet. The overwhelming energy continued to swirl around him, but he waited, clearly giving Shirou a chance to explain further.

"Please! There must be a way to help her without… killing her," Shirou insisted, his voice desperate but filled with resolve.

Rei's gaze shifted back to the girl and Gorgon, his eyes narrowing as he considered Shirou's plea.

Before Rei could act, distracted by Shirou's desperate plea, the girl and her Servant used the opportunity to escape, disappearing into the shadows.

"Rei, they're running away!" Saber called out, noticing their retreat.

"Tch!" Rei clicked his tongue in frustration, nearly pulling the trigger before they vanished. Deciding against it, he powered down, letting his ethereal gun fade from existence. Afterward, he swiftly cleaned up the alleyway, removing the blood and repairing the damage caused by both the earlier battle and the immense pressure of his aura.

Meanwhile, Saber turned to Shirou, demanding an explanation. "Master, why did you stop him from killing them? They're incredibly dangerous for humans."

Rin, still tense from the confrontation, added, "Yeah, Emiya, you were acting really strange back there."

Rei finished his clean-up and walked back over, his sharp gaze locking onto Shirou. "We should go. That noise might attract attention."

They all agreed, except Shirou, who remained silent, deep in thought about the events that had just transpired. Finally, without saying a word, they allowed Rei to teleport them back to the Emiya residence, the tension from the encounter still lingering in the air.

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After they arrived at the Emiya residence, it was Rin's turn to interrogate Shirou, demanding an explanation for why he had stopped Rei.

And after a long explanation, they finally understood why.

"*Matou Shinki? Is she Shinji but female? Is this another Sandalphon case?*" Rei thought to himself, recalling how in another timeline, Sandalphon had been female and had a preference for tea instead of coffee. The similarities between the two situations were uncanny.

"So you met her when you got injured during a part-time job? And because you felt bad for her, seeing how skinny she was, you decided to give her food every day?" Rin questioned Shirou, trying to make sense of the story.

"Yes," Shirou could only nod after being grilled by Rin for what felt like hours.

"Master, that still doesn't justify stopping Rei from killing her. Didn't you see how gruesome the previous scene was? From the looks of it, she was enjoying killing them, painting the entire street with blood," Saber added, her sharp gaze making her point clear.

Shirou fell silent. Saber was right—there was no excuse for stopping Rei, not after witnessing the carnage. His ideals of becoming a hero of justice would force him to kill her to save more people, but that reality was hard to swallow.

"Matou... that name sounds familiar," Sakura muttered, trying to recall where she had heard it before.

"That's the family where you were supposed to be adopted, Sakura," Rei informed her.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock as the weight of Rei's words sank in. The idea that she could have ended up like Shinki—broken, consumed by darkness—shook her to the core. She looked down, trembling slightly, before finally speaking.

"I… It's just like the dream i usually get…?" her voice was quiet, but it carried a mix of fear and disbelief.

"Dream? What dream are you talking about, Sakura?" Rin asked quickly when she noticed the expression on Sakura's face, a mix of unease and sadness.

"Umm…" Sakura hesitated, not wanting to tell them about the nightmare that once consumed her—a nightmare of endless suffering, pain, and darkness. A dream that reflected the horrors she would have lived through if she had been adopted by the Matou family. In the dream, it was only when Rei appeared that everything changed. He destroyed the nightmare and freed her from that fate.

But in the end, Sakura decided to tell them. She explained the dream, how everything was filled with suffering, how her body was used and violated, and how she was twisted beyond recognition.

When she finished, everyone was silent for a moment, trying to process the horror of what she had experienced in her dreams.

"What? That's what would've happened if you had been adopted by their family?" Rin's voice trembled with anger as she clenched her fists. She could barely contain her rage. "And that *stupid* father wanted to give you to them? Without even researching their family first?" Rin practically shouted, her anger directed not only at the Matou family but at the decisions made by their father.

Saber, standing nearby, shook her head, her eyes cold. "Such behavior is truly despicable."

Shirou, meanwhile, was gritting his teeth, his fists clenched tightly. "So that's what happened to Shinki… I can't believe I let her go through something like that. I should've just let her stay at my house from the beginning." His voice was filled with guilt and frustration, and he pounded his fist into the wall beside him.

Rei stood quietly as everyone processed the heavy information they'd just received, his attention elsewhere. He could sense a powerful presence approaching, something unlike anyone from this world or even from DxD. The question was, who was this person coming at such speed? It definitely wasn't another Servant—none of them were this strong.

"Saber, there's someone coming fast. I'm going to check who it is," Rei suddenly said.

"Someone? Is it another Servant?" Saber asked.

"Definitely not. I'll go see first, you stay here with everyone and protect them," Rei replied, walking toward Shirou, who still looked regretful after learning about Matou Shinki.

Before leaving, Rei stopped in front of Shirou and said, "I need something from inside your body," and without warning, he plunged his hand through Shirou's chest.

"What the hell are you doing!!!" Rin screamed in shock at the sight of Rei seemingly stabbing Shirou.

"Don't scream like that, Rin. I'm not hurting him. Well, I know it looks like I'm stabbing him, but trust me, it's not painful," Rei said calmly.

Saber, unbothered, added, "Yes, Rin. If Rei wanted to kill Master, we wouldn't be able to stop him anyway."

Rin stared at Saber in disbelief before muttering, "You know, Saber, I'm starting to wonder who your real master is right now."

It didn't take long for Rei to finish what he was doing. After pulling his hand out of Shirou's chest, Shirou immediately checked for any wounds, but he found none.

"Sorry about that, Shirou. I was just replicating something," Rei said casually.

"No, it's fine. I was just surprised… but what exactly did you do?" Shirou asked, still trying to understand what had happened.

"This," Rei said as he extended his hand. "Creation: The Everdistant Utopia Avalon." Instantly, a bright golden light appeared above his outstretched hand, forming a Scabbard made of gold and adorned with blue enamel. It looked more like a symbol of royalty than a mere weapon, exuding a sense of nobility and grandeur.

"My Scabbard!?" Saber immediately recognized it, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"Here," Rei said, tossing it to Saber. "Use this to protect everyone, or at least to make you capable of using your full power." Without waiting for a response, Rei vanished, moving quickly to intercept the mysterious figure approaching.

Not long after, Rei arrived at the place where he had previously transformed Saber into her Alter form. He stood there, doing nothing but waiting for the other person to arrive. He wasn't too worried about the stranger's power; his real concern was if he use his real power like with Gilgamesh, Alaya and Gaia they wouldn't stop pestering him, urging him to leave.

It was strange—those two usually hated each other, but now they were agreeing on something.

As Rei pondered this, someone suddenly landed in front of him.

A woman with long blonde hair, dressed in a luxurious, unique outfit, and possessing striking red ruby eyes, stared at him intently.

"Huh… who is that?" Rei muttered, clearly not recognizing the woman.

This world was different from the *Fate/Stay Night* world he had once watched years ago. Many unfamiliar people had begun showing up.

"Foreigner," the woman said suddenly.

"Who are you?" Rei asked.

"Archetype: Earth or Original One," she replied in a tone that made it clear she didn't really care.

"...what?"