7 The Great Orcus Labyrinth IV

(A/N: Hello, my dear readers. It's been a while, I must confess that I fell into a hole (Hololive) that I never thought I would fall in and also because I had to work (;-;), so I must apologise for your inconvenience, in compensation, I will send my foot photos.)

(E/N: … Why not extra chaps or omakes for the fic…?)

(A/N: Only Gods knows… I need God's revelation to do that…)

(E/N: … Can you at least get update schedules to be more stable? People must've dropped this fic by now due to them thinking it was dead, and it is)

(A/N: *Looks away* I think not…)

(E/N: Bastard… Oh well, if you guys wanna join the server to force Duck/JeanneFan into making more chaps like a slave, come over here: https://discord.gg/t6NwEMyy. See ya till next chap!)

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(3rd POV)

Shirou struggled to keep standing and felt his strength leaving him each time he moved. But then the world turned grey and everything stopped. Before he could do anything, he heard two voices behind him.

He turned his head slowly towards the voices and widened his eyes.

'He is…'

Shirou immediately recognized the tanned man that appeared many times in his dreams, but he wasn't alone. There was a teenager that seemed to be the same age as him standing beside the man. He had pale healthy skin, moppy white hair and red eyes.

Shirou opened his mouth and tried to speak, but no matter how he tried no sound came out. And suddenly, he lost the strength in his legs and was about to fall, but he was caught by an arm.

"Don't speak right now, you are too injured," The tanned man said as he put Shirou down, "At this rate, you'll die if you are left alone."

Shirou gritted his teeth when he heard this. At this moment he felt powerless and subconsciously he wished for more power to fight and survive and go back to his home, then he looked at the man.

"But don't worry, you won't die. After all, that is why I am here," He said as he put his finger on Shirou's forehead.

Shirou widened his eyes and memories were entering his mind. Memories of the boy who wanted to become a Hero of Justice. The said boy was the sole survivor of a great catastrophe. The guilt of being the only survivor made him prioritizing others over himself and only finding happiness in helping others.

And at the verge of dying, his foster father that adopted him told his dream about being a Hero of Justice. There, the boy promised that he will fulfil the dream of his father and become a hero of justice like he dreamed to be.

When he grew up, he was dragged into a battle royal between 7 Masters and 7 Heroes from history without any knowledge besides the very basics of Magecraft, but even then it was still barely decent.

At the end of the war, he destroyed the Grail alongside his servant Saber and went to London with his friend to improve his Magecraft. After he followed his father's footsteps and became a freelancer.

At some point in his life, he made a contract with the Counter Force and finally became his ideal Hero of Justice. a Counter Guardian. From there, he travelled through time to protect human history.

But what he didn't know is that he needed to eliminate anyone who threatens human history, whether they are good or evil. And he killed and killed for the sake of many.

Soon he found out his dream was nothing but a mere fantasy and his borrowed ideals couldn't save anything. This brought him to despair so much that he wished that he never existed, so he waited for the opportunity to be summoned in an era where he lived and try to kill his past self, thus avoiding making the same mistakes that he made in the past.

This was the story of Heroic Spirit EMIYA, an alternative future of Shirou. Shirou looked at him with a questioning gaze as to why did he save him, if he wanted to kill him.

"I know you have many questions, but save it for later. You have to save your friends, right?" EMIYA asked.

Shirou nodded and EMIYA looked towards the teen and nodded. The white-haired teen nodded back and went behind Shirou and placed his hand on Shirou's back. His hand glowed and activated something inside Shirou.

"Also you will need this too, it will close the wound of your friend", he said while putting a potion in front of me.

Before he could do anything, Shirou widened his eyes as he felt something inside him unlocked and his body started regenerating so fast that it could be seen in the naked eye.

"We don't have much time before, "he" notices us,'' The white haired one said and he and EMIYA started fading in light particles, "We will meet again, Emiya Shirou," he said as they faded into particles..

The colours returned to the world again and everything started slowly moving again. Shitou felt his strength returning to his body and his wounds were almost closed. The hydra, despite not being an intelligent monster, instinctively took a step back and looked at it in surprise.

"Shirou?" Yue asked in surprise at Shirou's regeneration speed, which was faster than her own.

"We need to get outta here!" Shirou said while grabbing the potion before putting Hajime on his shoulder and Yue under his arm and started running to find a shelter.

The Hydra didn't let them escape so it started releasing fire breaths and lasers at them. After receiving EMIYA's memories, Shirou's Magecraft, senses and instincts were improved to a level that he shouldn't reach yet, so it was easy for Shirou to dodge each attack.

Soon, he found a hole where the floor had a wall and its materials were resistant enough to block the Hydra's attacks. Then Shirou put them down and kneeled near Hajime.

"This is bad…" Shirou muttered and took out the potion. The potion had a green liquid inside it and Shirou poured it on his injured eye and it started healing itself, although the blood was still there.

Then Shirou turned to Yue and said,

"Yue, please take care of Hajime, I have to kill that monster," Shirou said.

"No!" Yue protested, "If you go you'll die!"

"Don't worry, I am not the same as before," Shirou said while getting up.

"Eh?" Yue was confused and didn't understand what he meant.

Shirou didn't reply to her and got up while facing Hydra.

"Trace On…" Shirou muttered and searched for the ideal weapon in EMIYA's memories to kill the monster in front of him. He found himself in a desert stretching infinitely and stretched his arm forwards, soon he found it in the spam of milliseconds.

"Trigger Off," Shirou raised his left arm as his magic circuits glowed and Prana flowed through them.

"[Set. Nines Lives Blade Work]!" Shirou said, his irises turned green as a giant axe-sword appeared in his left hand. It was the weapon which was used by Herakles as a Berserker class Servant in the fifth Holy Grail War. Although the weapon itself didn't have a name, it allowed Shirou to use the combat technique that Herakles used to kill a Hydra; a nigh-immortal monster that could grow its heads back no matter how many times it was cut down.

*ROOOOOAR!!!!!!!!*

The Hydra instinctively roared in fear when it saw the weapon and attacked with more intensity at Shirou's direction.

*BOOOM!* *BOOOM!* *BOOOM!*

It exploded when it hit the floor and created a cloud of dust, but the monster didn't stop and continued bombarding them.

Suddenly, Shirou appeared in front of the monster using [Air Dance] and [Reinforcement]. The Hydra was startled and it stopped its attacks and wanted to defend itself, but it was too late for it.

Before it could do anything, Shirou slashed at it nine times. Moving at only what would be described as god-speed, a total of nine slashes struck the killing blow on the Hydra.

The first: Upper arm. A downward slash, severing the limb as a whole and with it sending.

The second: Collarbone. A deep horizontal cut, ripping all of the heads' throats to pieces.

The third: Windpipe. A vertical slash, opening up access to the chest area.

The fourth: Temples. A diagonal cut, splitting all of the heads into two.

The fifth: Diaphragm. A horizontal cut, a massive gash in its place.

The sixth: Rib. A diagonal slash, cutting open its chest.

The seventh: Testicles. An upward slash, striking below and connecting upwards.

The eighth: Thighs. A diagonal slash, severing two additional limbs.

The ninth: Core. Finally, a piercing thrust with Nine Lives extending out its back with its core destroyed.

The Hydra's body exploded and pieces of meat flew out of its body and fell into the ground. After making sure that the Hydra was really dead, Shirou sighed in relief before collapsing on the ground due to the tiredness that was accumulating in his body.

Soon after, Hajime managed to recuperate some of his strength and helped Yue to carry Shirou to a safer place.

(Shirou's POV)

(Shirou's mindscape)

(A/N: This isn't UBW, at least no yet)

"Ghr," I groaned as I felt light pointed in my eyes. I put my hand in front of my eyes but the light didn't lower.

"Can someone turn off the lights please?" I asked in annoyance as I opened my eyes and I saw that I was in a white room with a white haired-teen with a flashlight in his hand.

"Oh. You're finally awake!" He said as the flashlight disappeared from his hand, which made me feel annoyed for some reason.

"Who are you?" I asked in annoyance since I couldn't ask when I first met him.

He smiled warmly and took some steps back and put his hand in his chest.

"My name is Gabriel and we are currently inside your mindscape," He said as he bowed curtly.

"Then what are you?"

"I am the personification of the Multiverse's Counter Force. And… your friendly Random Omnipotent Being," He said with a bit of disinterest at the last part which made me freeze for a bit before I continued with a bit of politeness, I can't piss an Omnipotent being after all.

(A/N: There might need changes here if it isn't good…)

"And why are you here? Why did you help me?" I asked with suspicion since I somehow knew what he wanted after gaining memories from my alternative future self.

"I want you to become my Coun-"

"I refuse!" I said with a straight face. After knowing what happened to EMIYA, there is no way I would accept to be a slave!

"I knew that you were gonna refuse, but listen to me first okay?" He said while scratching the back of his head. I just stared at him while waiting for his explanation.

"*Cough* *Cough* I want you to become my agent or a Counter Guardian, but unlike Alaya, I don't protect humanity itself, but rather the alternative timelines that are different from the original one and the Counter Guardian's job is to protect the [Main Elements] from irregularities."

"And how is that different from being Alaya's dog?"

"Although the Counter Guardians have the same concept, we have different methods. Alaya puts the balance of humanity in priority and protects it even if "she" uses humans as tools to protect it. While I think having a contract where both parties are beneficial will be better for both of us."

"And how will it be beneficial for me?" I asked since it was better for me to have more information.

"You can gain more power, knowledge, favours and many others, but of course, the more difficult the job is the more rewards will be. So what do you think? You will gain the power to save your sister if you accept this"

"What do you mean about Illya!? What will happen to her!?" I raised my voice.

"You will know if you accept the contract," He smirked.

I gritted my teeth and sighed to calm down and think calmly.

"Fine, but I have my own conditions." I said in a calm tone.

"It's fine as long as it isn't too absurd." He said.

"After I become your Counter Guardian, I want EMIYA's memories from all timelines."

This was something that I thought of now, I am an alternative version of EMIYA, with a different story and ideals, but that doesn't make me the only one, I am sure there are also others of "me". And if my guess is correct, then there are also different EMIYAs, and it will increase my arsenal.

"That's impossible without killing you with an informational overload and destroying your soul. At the best I can only allow you to have it from 2 timelines for now."

I nodded, after all, it was better than none and I didn't expect him to accept it easily.

"And finally, I want the contract to end after completing a number of jobs."

He pondered about my condition and nodded.

"That's acceptable, however, I will be the one to decide the number of jobs required." I nodded and he continued, "Now that we finished with the terms, we will proceed with the contract", he said as he extended his arm and a blue ball formed on top of his hand. From the ball, several lines came out of it and entered my body.

I felt something changing inside me and felt more powerful.

"With this, our contract is sealed. I bid you farewell, Emiya Shirou", he said as he waved at me.

"Wai--!" I shouted as I still had a question to ask him but suddenly I felt dizzy.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we will meet again…" I couldn't hear what he said and passed out while memories were entering my mind...

(In ???)

'Where... am I?' I thought.

There were new memories inside my head, it was like remembering something from the past.

I felt something soft and warm on my entire body, especially in my hand. It was a nostalgic feeling as if I was sleeping in a bed… I immediately opened my eyes in panic since there was no way there was a bed in the labyrinth, right? But then I was covered by a white blanket and laying on a soft bed.

"Where... am I?" I asked myself.

"Uwa~" I heard a moan when I tried to move my hand.

'Nani dafaq?' Sweat was forming on my forehead and slowly moved the blanket with my other hand.

Next to me was Yue, who was naked and sleeping peacefully.

"Humn~" She moaned again when I tried to remove my hand from her thighs.

'Damn, I can't let this continue, my Excalibur is already raised and I can't shoot my beam now, I have to wake her up before it happens.'

"Yue... Yue, Yue!"

"Mmmmm..." She mumbled under her breath.

I shook her body trying to wake her up, but no success and my hand was already getting a little wet and I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks.

(A/N: Before you say anything, Shirou is a normal teenager, if you wake up with a sexy loli baba next to you, you will feel embarrassed and blush right?)

(E/N: *In the distance, Sakura was getting far too annoyed now for some unknown reason*)

'You leave me with no choice. Sorry, Yue.'

I used [Lightning Field] to generate electricity in my hand and placed it on her back.

"Wake up Yue!"

"AWAWAWAWA!" Yue twitched as the electricity jolted her awake. She quickly let go of my hand and opened her eyes. She sat on the bed and looked around her, finally noticing that I was awake too.

"Shirou?"

"Yes, it's me, Shirou, Good morning Y-" I was embarrassed seeing her naked and tried to avoid eye contact with her, but I was suddenly embraced.

"Shirou!" She launched and hugged me as she nudged her head on my torso. "I'm so glad you're alright!"

Both of us were naked, so I could feel her soft skin rubbing against me and there was a sweet aroma around her. I tried my best to not feel aroused and to maintain my calm, but then I saw her sobbing in my chest, so I didn't push her away.

"Sorry... I probably worried you and Hajime, didn't I?" I said while gently patting her.

"Yeah… You sure did..." She hugged me tightly for a while.

It took some minutes for her to calm down and separate from me. I asked about our current situation. It seemed that after I collapsed, a door appeared in one of the walls and opened itself. At first, they were cautious and waited for hours for something to come out, but nothing happened, so they decided to enter although still with their guards up.

What they found was the Maverick's lair. A comfortable place that almost made you forget that you were at the depths of a labyrinth with an endless swarm of monsters and that was where we were currently in. They made sure that there were no enemies and then carried me to one of the bedrooms, she stayed there with me and Hajime slept in another room. She fell asleep when she was taking care of me and "supernaturally" we were both naked.

I just sighed at her since I knew her antics and got up from the bed and put on some clothes that I found in the closet while also trying to hide my Excalibur from her, even though I knew it's useless.

"By the way, how's Hajime?" I asked to hide my embarrassment.

"The potion that you gave healed most of his injuries, although he lost his right eye." She replied with a sad voice while putting her clothes on.

"I see…"

When we finished dressing, we left the bedroom and searched for Hajime, it didn't take long to find him as he was exploring first.

"Hey Hajime, are you alright?", I greeted him.

"That should be my line, you idiot!"

"Sorry sorry," I said while chuckling a little, "I am fine as you can see, what about you?"

He just smiled, "Ignoring the fact that I lost my right eye, yeah I am fine. HAHAHA!"

""HAHAHAHAHA!""

We both laughed while Yue sighed and shook her head.

"Let's explore this place first," I suggested and I received a nod from both of them.

In the ceiling, there was a bright orb that functioned as an actual sun and it was so real that if it wasn't for the fact that we were underground, I would have mistaken it as the real sun. There was also a small waterfall with a small river at the end with actual fish inside it living inside the river.

There was also a mansion next to the river and we obviously explored it with our guards up. On the first floor, there was a huge bath that looked like a pool and a kitchen. On the first floor, there was a kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms. The furniture showed signs of not being used for a long time, but it was clear their owner took good care of them.

On the second floor, there were a lot of locked rooms that even Hajime's [Transmutation] couldn't unlock. We only found some sort of a library and a workshop, but even then we didn't have access to them as the bookshelves and the door inside the workshop were locked. We tried many means to open them, but none worked, so we just gave up and would try in the future.

After exploring the second floor, we climbed the stairs to the third and last floor, which only had a single room in front of the hallway. I pushed the door and saw a large magic circle implanted on the floor and it was the most complex I have seen so far.

Not only that, there was a corpse sitting on the luxurious chair next to the magic circle and surprisingly, it didn't smell as rotten. The corpse consisted only of bones and at first glance, it was a human skeleton. It was wearing a grand robe of black and gold and there wasn't the slightest hint of dust or grime anywhere on the robe. The impeccable cleanliness of the corpse made it seem more akin to a haunted house prop than something actually scary.

It was splayed out on the chair in a relaxed pose, with the skull's empty sockets staring down at its own figure. Almost as if the person it had once been had simply sat down there and died that way. The skeleton and magic circle were the only objects in the room.

'Why'd this person decided to die here and not in their bedroom?'

If it was me, I would prefer dying in the bedroom while laying on the soft bed than die while sitting on this chair.

"Looks suspicious... What should we do?" Yue seemed concerned about the skeleton as well.

"Yue, you once said that this was Maverick's lair, right?" I asked, to which she replied with a nod, "Then this corpse must belong to one of them, but the strange thing is…"

"Is that he died peacefully like that as if he was waiting for someone, right?"Hajime finished my sentence, indicating that we had the same thoughts.

"Well, if we want to find a way out, this room seems to be our best bet. Even Hajime's [Transmutation] couldn't do anything to the locks we found in the library and the workshop, so... this is the only thing left to investigate. Hajime, Yue, be ready for anything. I will be counting on you if anything happens,"

"Okay, be careful."

I took a step forward and entered the magic circle, but nothing happened, so I kept walking slowly until I stopped in the middle of the magic circle. Then suddenly the magic circle activated and the entire room was filled with light.

I instinctively closed my eyes and avoided the intense light. A second later, the light bright down and I slowly opened my eyes and saw a young man wearing the same robe that skeleton was wearing. I immediately entered a battle stance, but after a few seconds I relaxed a little since I didn't feel hostility or malice coming from him. And not only that, but also because the man itself wasn't real, it was like a hologram.

'They're probably the same person', I thought while glancing between the man and the corpse.

I silently glanced at the hologram, waiting for something to happen. And finally, he began to speak.

"I congratulate you on overcoming my trial…"