"Here I come, Master."
Shinji finally said this.
At the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War in late 1994, he made a promise to go to the Land of Shadows and end Scathach's eternity.
In the following period of time, he continued to work hard for this.
Five years of traveling laid a solid foundation.
Travel to parallel worlds, master the "origin", obtain the power of eternity, and embark on the road of magic.
In the five years after his return, he digested the gains from the parallel world bit by bit, grew at an astonishing rate, and became stronger by leaps and bounds, eventually becoming a truly strong man.
The Fifth Holy Grail War in 2004 was another turning point. In this war, he gained true miraculous power, completed the third magic, and stood at the pinnacle of the planet.
The five years after that were the final preparations.
Let your body grow to its peak, adjust your magic to perfection, and do everything you can think of.
Finally, he crossed the barriers of the world, stepped into the Kingdom of Shadows, and faced the Queen of the Demon Realm who had been waiting for him.
Five years + five years + five years = fifteen years.
So many things have happened in these fifteen years. Both the secular and mystical worlds are undergoing changes. The seven-year-old child has grown into a twenty-two-year-old young man.
Only this transcendent country, excluded from the rest of the world, remains the same, with the eternally unchanging monotonous colors of black, white and grey, and is so silent as if it were asleep.
The ancient seven-layer city walls and the city gates that imprison countless souls silently declare that this is the resting place of the dead and a forbidden place for the living.
Shinji Matou, who is no longer the same person as before, stopped in front of the forbidden city gate, listening to the wailing of souls while waiting.
Almost five minutes had passed, and the tightly closed gate still showed no signs of opening, and there was no sign of anything appearing on the empty city wall.
"Well, it seems that I have to go in by myself. If I can't go in, I won't be qualified to see her."
The young man, who was calmer than he was in his youth, came to a conclusion. He clenched his right hand as if he wanted to hold something, but he didn't really hold it. Instead, he lowered his head and muttered to himself.
"It would be a bit too monotonous to just go in like this. Well, this opportunity is rare, so why not make this long-awaited reunion a little more grand? The magic power reserve is also sufficient."
Shinji took a few steps back and drew a compound magic circle consisting of five circular magic circles on the ground.
"Very good, I haven't forgotten how to draw. Now it all depends on my luck today. Who will respond to my call?"
He cut his wrist and let some donated blood drip out, using it as a guide to activate the entire complex magic circle. The young man chanted the spell that he knew by heart in a nostalgic tone.
"────Announcement."
"You are my subordinate. I trust my fate to your sword."
"Obey the call of the Holy Grail, follow its will, and obey the laws of nature. You shall answer immediately."
"I swear here that I will be the only one who brings good to the world, and I will eliminate all the evil in the world."
"You are the one who hides in the shadows, you are the one who kills in the darkness, and I am the one who walks with you."
"The three great words that entangle you come from the Wheel of Restraint, the Guardian of Libra!"
That's right, both the magic circle and the chant are the summoning of the Heroic Spirits at the beginning of the Holy Grail War. The chant is the most well-known version, and the magic circle is a modified version of the magic circle used by the Thousand World Tree Clan during the joint summoning.
Although with Shinji's current abilities, he can complete the summoning of heroic spirits without such a complicated process, but this set of rituals has extremely important meaning to him and has long become a part of his life.
The moment my mind decided to summon a heroic spirit, my body moved naturally.
The surging magic power brought strong winds and lightning.
The connection between the magic circle and the Throne of Heroes makes every line of the magic circle emit dazzling light.
Soon, they appeared.
The embodiment of miracles, heroes who turn people's fantasies into flesh and reach the realm of being neither human nor inhuman.
There are five riders in total.
The first rider was wearing silver armor, carrying a big sword on his back, and his silver-gray hair swaying in the wind.
The second rider also had white hair and sharp eyes. The golden armor that covered his entire body and was integrated with his body exuded a sacred light.
The next two riders appeared almost at the same time.
The physique of the rider has reached an abnormal level. His tall and strong body reminds people of a giant, and his dark and strong muscles are like solid rocks. Just standing there gives people an extremely dull and oppressive feeling.
The other rider was of normal build, similar to the first two. His emerald green messy hair reminded people of the spring grasslands. The leisurely smile on his face and his calm demeanor showed off his heroic demeanor.
The last rider has the strongest presence, with golden hair, golden armor, an extremely luxurious appearance, and an extremely proud expression.
The moment he saw this figure, even Shinji today was a little stunned.
"Oh my, this is really unexpected. I didn't expect you to respond to my call, Hero King Gilgamesh."
"Because of Enkidu, I owe you a favor. I am also interested in fighting the owner of this place."
Because this is the outside world, Shinji specially modified the summoning ceremony, so the summoned servants all retain their previous memories, and this is the bond between Shinji and them.
"I see, that's a great help." Shinji smiled slightly, it seems that he is in good shape today, "Phineas, Karna, Hercules and Achilles, it's been a long time since we last met, thank you for your help."
Phineas, or Siegfried, nodded.
The same goes for Karna. Both of them are the quiet type, which means they have said hello and are ready to follow orders.
"Ah, long time no see." Achilles waved casually at Shinji and immediately turned his gaze to the giant beside him, "Are you Hercules, the great hero Hercules? You must fight me once."
"I don't mind, but now is not the right time. It's the teacher's teaching that you should do things at the right time."
Hearing Hercules say this, Gilgamesh couldn't help but glance at him.
"You're a Berserker, but you still have this much sanity?"
"Because I have made special adjustments to your spiritual bases, so that you can be as close to your prime as possible. After all, your opponent is Scathach, who has obtained an eternal body and is constantly getting stronger."
Hearing what Shinji said, Achilles immediately rubbed his hands, eager to try: "What are you waiting for? Let's get started. Should we break down the gate first? Who will go first?"
"Karna, I'm counting on you." Shinji nodded. "Legend has it that the Land of Shadows is a dark place that light can never reach. Today I will use the flames of the sun to break this legend."
"Understood." Karna responded and walked out, his eyes suddenly turning golden.