Beta read and Co-written by Gamercrusher55
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-Fuyuki-
"Hungry…"
Those were the words that came out of Reika, words that were commonly uttered more frequently in these past few days. It brought forth a familiar sensation she hadn't felt for a long time. "...what am I even doing?"
For a while, the green-haired girl found the sensation of her heart thumping strange. The sensations of breathing, of looking through one's eyes at the world presented before her — her touch, her taste, her scent, and a whole other myriad of emotions…
Things that people would experience throughout one's life all seemed so dull to her. Too many of those senses would be memories others cherished and looked back to, but to her, to one who could not truly connect to them, they were no different than a blurry mess.
Why does one live? What was the purpose of life? She asked herself plenty of questions for a long time, but never got any answers.
She did not know what purpose her life had, and for a better part of her life, the woman just kept going along with whatever dragged her around to different places with different purposes.
Just coasting through life.
So many points in time did she wonder why her. Why did it feel like she happened to be the only one feeling this way… Was something wrong with her, maybe?
Every place she looked, every person she met, every single one of them had an ambition, a dream, and a purpose that they expressed so vibrantly. Was it because she had no family? Was it because of her abuse after she was adopted? Once again, several questions arose in her mind, but no answers to any of them.
Nothing.
Still, one major thing she learned was that in order to survive, one needed money. And unfortunately, this was her current predicament. Worst of all, for once, she was not the only one who needed it.
"Are you going out again, Miss Reika?" A child no older than five, one who had been amongst those whom she suddenly found herself carrying, walked towards her. Holding onto her hand with an innocent look on the girl's face, as the adult prepared to set off. "Will you be back soon?"
The way that, not just this child, but how they all looked at her, was something she could not understand. Despite not being their mother or a close relative, she was still curious about how these children did not hide how they looked at her. Caring about her in a way that she did not know how to handle. "Yes, I'll be back soon. Don't open the door for anyone else but me."
"Okay! I'll tell the others!"
She closed the door and walked out towards the grassy fields towards the town that lay in front of her. As her feet carried her, she watched as the wind blew across her cobblestone passage, as it stirred the open grassy plains by her sides. She could hear the echo of waves crashing against the nearby shore, looking at her side to see the ocean in the distance. She turned around to see where she and the children had been residing these past few days.
Their current place of residence was not exactly bad per se, just an old, tiny, rundown apartment building where the wall's paint had peeled off over the years, allowing dirt and grime to replace it. It was located at the farthest corner of the town, where barely any souls lived. This was the place those strange men brought her to, telling her to just stay put and avoid being spotted.
Though the more she thought about it as she walked, the more her head started to ache. She always felt like there was someone else beside them talking to her, a voice that she could have sworn belonged to a woman, but no matter how much effort she tried to remember, it always escaped her.
As if the figure itself was nothing but a blurry shadow. The men themselves, after bringing her here, never appeared again, and she had no way of contacting them, nor did she have any desire to do so honestly.
All she knew was that this was probably no different from another job, where at the end of it, she would get compensated one way or another.
So just like always, she just went along with the change of plans.
…
She's finally reached the shopping district in town and now finds herself walking into a small grocery store where a familiar, beautiful, and enchanting face greeted her with a smile. "Reika! It's nice to see you back. I was worried when you did not come over last time."
White hair as bright as snow, porcelain skin that made her resemble a doll, and beautiful eyes that would make any woman jealous or cause men to swoon over them just by how vibrant they were. She could tell that even under that apron, her figure must be curvaceous. She almost did not look human, and for someone like that to be working here, it certainly made the green-haired woman a bit curious. Even in her line of work, she rarely ever saw someone of this caliber. "Good morning, Miss Philia. I'll be taking the same as usual."
"Hey, I told you to stop calling me that. Just Philia is good enough. Also, I've already prepared it since you usually come asking for the same thing. Same as usual, though I added more vegetables this time. Don't worry, it's on the house. It looked like you needed a bit more nutrients." Several bags of groceries were placed on the counter, filled to the brim with the bare necessities of what she needed to survive.
Food and water were a luxury now, oddly enough, especially with all those mouths to feed. She thought back to when in the past she would casually drink wines with her client that had cost more than a car. "Thank you."
Opening up her wallet, a trace of worry started to emerge within the young woman's heart. Ever since she was saddled off with those kids back in the apartment, those men had left a sum of money at her feet for her to use before they left.
Though she did manage to find strange bills in their new home, they had traces of blood on them. Still, money was money, so she just ignored it and cleaned them up for use later on. Now that the sum had started to dwindle, and just from basic calculation, she figured all of it would be gone by the end of next week.
"Um…" Reika, looking at the beautiful albino woman running the register, an idea crossed her mind, but she wasn't sure if she should go ahead with asking it.
Perhaps that mysterious person would come back the day she would be out of money and give her more? Or maybe she could try to contact Sagara and see if he could lend her some, but… She remained uncertain if she should even do that. Though the individual mostly mentioned staying away from Atrum, and nothing about Sagara.
But "Hikaru" still stood close to Atrum. The situation felt tangled, and that only left her more adrift. "Is something wrong?" Philia asked, catching the hesitation on her face. Rieka glanced back at the woman and shook her head.
"Nothing, just thinking about something."
If she truly ended up going broke and nothing changed, then she figured she could just use her exotic experiences to go to one of the local nightclubs and offer some of her services in order to get some cash. The kids could probably manage to stay one night without her. They were not that hopeless. As for going to meet Sagara, she put that as her last resort.
'—Why am I hesitating so much?'
Sagara proved himself to be a kind man. Unlike her previous clients, he never turned aggressive with her. Not that any of them had ever laid a hand on her, at least not the way her adopted parents once did, but they never held back their words either. The moment she landed on their bad side, the derogatory insults in every way under the sun were thrown for the smallest matter.
But Sagara always proved himself to be kind and never yelled at her. At most, even if it was the other way around and he asked her for some change, he would just pay her back the very next day. Yet this weird sensation within her brain that was stopping her from going to find him only made it that much stranger. Like an invisible force pressing down on her rational thoughts, making her do things she usually wouldn't.
She tried to shake it off as she went back to her daily routine.
"Goodbye, Philia." She collected the bags and headed for the door.
"You too, Reika. Be careful. Recently, things have been getting a bit too hectic around town. It's best if you go home early and try not to get caught up in troublesome events. I'd advise you not to go out at night if necessary. Remember that thing that hit the town not too long ago. It sounds like the authorities are still having a field day over it. Not only that, but even before that, too many people had already been going missing around town lately, and now, with the government spread thin on manpower, it all only makes it more concerning. I even heard rumors that some of the missing had actually died."
They were? That threw a brick at her plan of acquiring more funds. If everyone's too scared to go out at night, then she couldn't offer her nighttime activities.
"Okay. Thanks for the tip," she replied back with an unchanging tone, keeping her face the same as usual and walking out of the grocery store before heading back.
…
She idly watched the city lights change to a more rural area as she made her advance. "Maybe I should really just talk to him then."
Perhaps he had been that mysterious voice, the one who told her to take the children away from Atrum. But then… Wwhy hide behind anonymity? Why go through the trouble of guiding her without letting her know it was him? None of it added up. More importantly, who exactly told her to get those kids out, and why did she listen without questioning it?
"Ngh!"
Her head suddenly hurt like a sledgehammer. The headache threw out any of the doubts she had, as she focused on anything other than that. Just as quickly as it came, once she changed the topic, it left.
Or maybe she simply overthought it. Why treat that man as if he were an enemy?
Whenever she thought about him in the past, and even now in the present, it was still associated with pleasantness. Unlike before, the emptiness that had usually occupied her had felt slightly different from the rest of the times since the day she had first spent the night with him.
Honestly, since the day she met that man named 'Hikaru', the host at the Shinjuku club they worked at, her life had once more been swept into a new direction.
For some reason, whenever he had asked her for something, she could just not refuse it. She didn't know why; she just couldn't. Be it her body, money, or any other menial favor he had asked of her for some reason, she had always ended up doing it.
She honestly didn't know how to associate it; at some point, her mind had closely categorized it with the definition of love, so she figured it was, which made her happy, having finally found it.
Who knew, maybe it actually was love, it would explain those odd feelings when he was by her side, she figured. Or perhaps, it could even lead to something more. Marriage? Childbirth? Divorce? Maybe those kids would be good practice.
Still, that was still far too distant in the future, and for someone who lived so passively, it was something Reika didn't bother herself with.
Still right now, she felt that as long as he was there, she could be happy at last. So maybe… finding him right now really would be her best solution.
Right as she made a turn and finished her walk on the road leading back to the old, beaten-up apartment complex, the young woman found several expensive cars parked right outside the apartment complex.
Familiar cars, in fact, that she had ridden here on since that day. The gruff men outside her residence that she'd only recently been in the company with, for some odd reason, made her heart tremble.
For what could be described as a faint sense of panic surged within her empty self.
"So this is where you were hiding. I have to admit, Reika. I never imagined that you, of all people, would even have the mental capacity to pull out so many moves that can even put me in a predicament where my life is at stake. I wonder who your helper was, and where I can find them?
Tell me it wouldn't be someone like a Master or a Servant, would it?" Something chimed inside her head before she turned to see the source of the voice that spoke from beside her. Leaning against a nearby sidewalk wall, smoking a cigar, a young man could be seen smiling at her the same way he used to, but now his gaze, which had originally carried pleasure when he'd gazed at her, instead had nothing but annoyance.
"Sa… gara?"
The chime in her head grew stronger, and the sight of him was the last thing she saw before she blacked out.
{Break}
Shirou was not surprised by the outcome of today's events; in fact, he was even prepared for it to go completely south.
Even this was on the low side of what he expected, since he expected they'd probably at least end up in a clash between servants.
Caster was a tricky individual, and her Master had a large amount of resources, but now with Rin by his side and her Servant, he figured that even with Caster's Territory creation giving her a field advantage, the four of them would end up overwhelming her somehow.
But rather than dealing with her and finding Sakura, they were now on the receiving end of a barrage of gunshots coming from all sides by Hyouma Sagara's men.
If there were two positive aspects he could take from this moment, it would be that the teenage mages next to him had finally stopped fighting with each other and that he was at the forefront of observing how both Luvia and Rin, people he considered skilled mages above him, would use their jewel magecraft to battle against several targets.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The green crystalline barrier shielded them from every single bullet with ease, as the projectiles kept striking the surface in quick succession. Most flashing rounds flattened on contact with the shield, while others slid along the curved surface of the spell before ricocheting into nearby walls, leaving chipped concrete and fragments scattered across the floor. None of the ricochetting bullets hit them, oddly enough, sliding off the air around the gunmen before it even reached them.
The steady barrage of bullets continued for several long seconds as the attackers emptied their magazines without pause, brass casings clattering and spinning across the tiles. The gunshots were deafening, and the only solace Shirou and his friends had was the jewel-like shield that deafened the sounds. Watching the onslaught press on, he noticed the bullets falling to the floor were giving off a faint light before fizzling out. Slowly, but surely, as if to reward their opponents' tenacity, cracks began steaming into view on Luvia's barrier from the points of impact.
"Enchanted bullets? This barrier will not hold for long if that's the case," the blonde muttered, raising a hand with several polished, high grade gems already resting between her fingers. Rin and he nodded in alarm, eyes fixed on the hairline tremors rippling across the barrier.
"I doubt Sagara used them with any hope of defeating us. He seemed completely caught off guard when I brought up Caster. This is most definitely a distraction meant to keep us occupied," Rin replied, adjusting her stance while gauging the rhythm of the gunfire as Luvia nodded in agreement.
"Well, we cannot allow that, can we?"
"You deal with the ones on the left. I'll handle the rest everywhere else."
"Hold on a minute. Why should I bother with the ones on the left? I should be the one to target the larger group, as the one who has actual battle experience." Luvia retorted, fired up, before glancing at Shirou as she grew a thin smile on her face. "Now, now, there is no need to show off just because dear Sherou is here today. We would not want to waste precious resources so uncouthly, would we?"
"Fuck off!" Rin likewise was like a short fuse ready to explode. It took every fiber of her being not to confront Luvia as she waited to explode on her attackers.
Despite the rather complex situation they were in, the two of them still found room to argue. Shirou felt he had grasped the basic pattern of how they interacted, and it wasn't something he was fond of, especially in high-stress environments like this. If left alone, this exchange could stretch on far longer than necessary, bullets or not.
'Should I…' A moment of hesitation befell upon the young man as he retrieved a magazine for his gun. Realizing these being actual bullets that he prepared to use against monsters and Servants — but against humans that means they would possibly kill them.
'Why didn't I get any rubber bullets or tranquilizer shots.' What irked him even more was not having any of that on him or his inventory at home. He'd been focused more on fighting monsters and Servants, not people. In a moment of hesitation, he tried to load his gun using projected rubber bullets, but as the projectiles formed within the chamber….
They all broke apart almost instantly.
'First time making these… I don't have enough practice nor know enough about its structural base.' He could not waste time doing this again and again for a tenth of a chance for success like before.
"Heads up~!"
"Ah," not prepared for Luvia to address him, Shirou barely managed to react in time and catch a small palm sized bag thrown by the blonde. The sound of clicking from within made him raise his eyebrow, especially upon seeing its colourful content. "This… I can't use—"
"Those gems are already preloaded with a spell." She answered, giving him a sideglanced smirk. "Usually I prepare those for cases when I need to cast a difficult spell immediately, but thankfully I brought a surplus of them today. I've adjusted them so all you need to do is just channel a bit of your energy within and they'll react right as you throw them. One-action spells that take effect on command. A magical grenade basically."
"Oh, wow… that's…"
That was… unexpected, still very useful.
"Thank you, Luvia."
"Oh come on now, what's there to thank between the two of us? We're in this together!" She replied with a beaming smile on her face.
"Oi, don't fall for that fake smile, Shirou!" Rin on the other hand looked less than pleased. "She's just trying to earn your trust by sweet talking you., I have never even seen this bitch hold such a thing on her before today! She probably stole it from me! That was my thing, you Hyena!
"How dare you! You don't have a patent on charging prepared magical energy in Jewelcraft. If anything it is a common practice. Miss Tohsaka, such a strange accusation aimed at what can only bebut a gift from me to insure he remains unharmed." Luvia mumbled with a hurt expression. "Besides, what do you have to offer? Are there even enough gems in that pocket of yours to share? Do you want me to spare you a few?"
"Ugh! S-Shut up! I… I have enough…"
She definitely did not believe her own words.
"Regardless, thanks, Luvia. I'll use them carefully. Alright, on the count of three, remove the barrier," he said firmly. "I want you guys to create a diversion so I can get past them. While both of you handle the groups closest to you, I will make a run for wherever Sagara scurried off to. We cannot waste any more time; he's getting farther and farther away."
He practically had to raise his voice like a frustrated parent scolding unruly children. At the very least, they did not contest him further. "Trace On!" He activated his mental trigger and felt the gun's hammer in his mind's eye go down. He slowly started to strengthen every part of his body, focusing on increasing his durability and his leg speed so he could move quickly and fast. He was mindful not to reinforce his ears at the moment so they wouldn't go deaf from the unceasing gunfire.
He chose three seconds for a reason; The attackers had begun firing all around the same moment, which meant their magazines would likely run dry at the same time as well. 'Old school, standard Thompson submachine guns with drum magazines, C type? No, too small for that, looks like a L type drum, so capacity should be around fifty ammo.'
Kiritsugu had an eye for all types of guns. The old man had a submachine gun as well, so he had gotten some practice with the same type of weapon.
Those guns… Ah, I remember, World War II era American pieces, the sort that disappeared after the fifties, I think? I remember the old man saying that mages in general do prefer antiques for added potency, so combining magecraft with relic firearms fits, though few besides Dad would bother using guns at all. They are not typical traditionalists, most likely black market finds or hand-me-downs from long-dead veterans.'
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
They continued to shoot into them like mafia gangsters in an old western, as Shirou watched on. Seeing the opportunity coming, the redhead felt confident with his estimation and waited patiently.
"One, two… three!"
On the count, Luvia dismissed the shield, timed in sync with the gunfire, stopping for a brief period. On the opposite side, the armed men scrambled to reload, hands moving quickly for the next round.
Yet not quickly enough.
"Anfang! Fixierung, Eile, Salve!"
"Humph, Call! Aim, Volley, Fire!"
Both girls reacted at once with a volley of crimson black curses being fired off from their finger guns. They aimed their shots everywhere around him like they were the eye of a storm.
He did not even need to look back to see those numerous Gandrs flying from their hands as they hit their marks. The curses of illness incapacitate them in various ways, ranging from those who were able to hold their ground looking nauseous to those who were hit with particularly strong ones and blown backwards as if they were shot instead.
"Emiya-kun close your eyes!" Rin screamed out as she threw a swiss blue topaz in her hand into the sky. He did what she said without even hesitating.
"Stark Groß zwei!"
Upon those words, a blinding white light erupted so strongly that even Shirou could see it through his eyelids, not only that, but he suddenly felt slower.
"Go straight!"
"Right"
He relayed to Rin's statement with an affirmative as he started to run. He barreled through the light in a straight line towards Sagara's destination while everyone was distracted.
To be honest, he was a bit worried about running with his eyes closed, but that was the least of his worries right now. Furthermore, for some reason, with his eyes closed, he felt he could better sense it — smell it — a unique stench that existed all over the room, but one in particular he could tell fled farther and farther away as the others stayed in the room.
The stench of a sewer rat.
"Gaaah!!!"
"That brat had a flashbang on her!!!."
"Shit, reloa—eurgh!"
The bullets that were hailing down like raindrops in a stormy night now no longer caused nearly as much damage as early. This sudden change was caught by several of their attackers, who stared at their guns with shock, most likely having noticed the disrupted reinforcement within them.
"W-What happened to my gun's magical energy?"
"Shit, it must be that spell from earl—" the second fell with a curse, hitting his face.
'Ah, so that's why his reinforcement wore off." Shirou kept running until he felt one of Sagara's men blocking his way. Before he had time to think about it, he punched him as hard as he could in the gut, then gave him a punch to the face using all the normal strength that he'd accumulated over years of muscle training!
"Argh!"
The gangster, on the other hand, had not put that much time into his natural body as he collapsed to the ground.
"Gorilla, definitely a gorilla! A little warning before you cast a spell that nullifies mystics in an area effect. Especially when you have allies!"
Luvia's words pierced through the chaotic scene.
"Just keep talking! It worked, didn't it? Now, before they cast spells again or reload, let's take them out."
"I'll get this one!" One of the men had run straight at them like Shirou, aiming to grab Luvia with a furious roar. "Haarh!"
Much to his dismay, instead of catching a helpless girl, Luvia slipped neatly to the side, avoiding his grasp entirely. Her hand shot out and seized his wrist in a grip far stronger than her elegant frame suggested — enough to almost snap his wrist bones right then and there.
With a sharp pivot, she spun him as if they were partners at a ballroom dance, the motion smooth and controlled rather than rushed. Before he could regain his footing, she had already stepped behind him.
The next instant, the blonde secured her hold around the midsection of a man nearly three times her size. Muscles tensed beneath silk and lace. Then, with flawless form, she hoisted him clean off the ground and drove him down headfirst in a perfect German suplex.
The impact thundered through the floor, cracking the surface and carving a hole through the marbled floor where he landed, a powerful snap echoing from his bones. Those who had just recovered their sight could only stare, stunned into silence by the sheer force of it.
"Phew, not bad."
Luvia rose gracefully, brushed a speck of dust from her dress, and struck a composed, almost theatrical pose as if she had merely concluded a performance rather than flattened a grown man into the ground.
"If you think a fine lady such as myself hasn't prepared herself from attacks by some ruffians like you, then you have been grossly negligent."
"The hell is she, a Forklift Lady!" A single man's whispered words managed to reach the main group's ears.
"Eh! Just a minute, a title like that is—"
Rin did not let the opportunity slip past her and took advantage of it, twistingand twisting the knife. "Ha! Forklift Lady? It suits you. Kinda sounds like the name of a wrestler entering a ring."
"What's wrong with that Rin Tohsaka!? Can you not think of a better stage in this day and age for noble combat? It's like a modern-day coliseum. Though you can only dream of entering such a stage."
"Haaah, don't kid around with me! If I wanted to, I could win the world championship belt with my Bajiquan! I'll show you what fists trained in Kung Fu by a sadistic asshole feel like."
Seeing them get distracted, some of the men tried to take advantage of this. Their movements were noticed by both women, who scoffed in unison.
"They probably think we are helpless without magecraft," Luvia muttered with a head shake, a sentiment shared by her rival. True to her word, their jewels in hand began to glow a kaleidoscope of lights as they held them towards both the men.
For even if Rin's spell silenced the weaker mysteries around them, it did nothing to stop the actual spells and dense energy condensed within their jewels.
Those who tried their luck and attempted to take on both of them were met with another barrage of spells, which instantly took care of the group when they were not even halfway to their target.
Shirou, who acted more like an observer, felt like he had gotten a better understanding of jewelcraft in general. 'I see, even if there's no magecraft around, they can still fight using the stored energy they already prepared beforehand, that's… unfair and scary. Suits them.'
Realizing the dangers of the situation, and now that flashbang had cleared away, the gunmen finished reloading and aimed at their now visible targets.
But it was already too late, more topaz were thrown and glowed bright lights before them.
The gems detonating upon impact created bursts of force, knocking men off their feet while fragments of stone and plaster from the surroundings erupted into thick clouds of dust. The explosions did not produce fires, but the concussive blasts produced echoes throughout the corridor and left ringing ears in their wake. Even if the attackers managed to reload, their vision had once more been reduced to shifting gray shapes and flashing lights.
Shirou forced himself to turn around, and without wasting another second, he rushed forward, boots sliding slightly on debris as he sprinted toward the direction he believed Sagara had taken. His breathing steady, mind focused as he followed the trail.
Bang!
"Shit!"
A single shot rang out from ahead, whizzing past him, nicking his strands of hair, flying everywhere.
"He has a gun too! Aim for him first. We'll deal with those two later!" Someone shouted from within the dust.
He could already see his shooter ahead of the corridor he took. Unlike the others, these ones appeared to be armed with more up-to-date assault rifles. 'An AK-47, best to assume the rest will have something similar. Did they keep these guys in the back, so they wouldn't get in the way of those using magecraft?'
Seeing their fallen comrades earlier had already shaken them. Now, with a new threat charging through the smoke, the reinforcement group either flipped nearby tables, shattering whatever was on them as they dove behind them or hid behind support pillars, unleashing another wave of gunfire. Bullets tore into the walls and floor around Shirou, forcing him to roll behind a nearby beam and press his back against it.
They laid down a non-stop pouring of gunfire, leaving no room to assess their position. A single try at a peak nearly earned him a bullet barreling down and hitting the edge of the beam where his head used to be.
'Damn! What should I do?' Every passing second, Sagara's trace kept thinning out till little remained to track down. 'Maybe I should have Rider scout him, no, not yet. I still need to be careful in case Caster gets here. As for these people, gotta find a way. Not much help if they're too clustered together, I'll need to find a different path.'
Bang!
A gunshot hit the beam he hid behind, dead center. It didn't strike blood, but it cut through it enough for him to feel it in his back. 'Damn, this place isn't gonna last long. Still, this is a tough beam if it wasn't for how well it was made; I'd be dead. Maybe I should reinforce it so that it can last longer.'
The gunfire became nothing but empty noise in his head, as a thought bubbled into his head. 'Let's take this one step at a time, then. No better place to try that out than now.'
The old man did hammer in him the importance of keeping a calm mind. Easier said than done, still, he had to give it a shot.
Several ideas crossed his mind.
Just throw a grenade and hope for the best? He only brought one and couldn't project replicas yet. And the success rate of hitting all of his targets was astronomically low.
"Oh wait, these!" Grabbing the bag filled with a handful of gems, Shirou carefully took out a bright green gem and observed its see through surface with uncertainty. "So I just… fill it with my magical energy or something? Is it like when I use Reinforcement?"
Wait…. Luvia didn't tell him what spell would be cast once activated. He had absolutely no idea on how the spell within would even activate in the first place. 'She called it a magical grenade…so they probably explode, right?' Even if it required just a simple channeling of his energy like what Luvia mentioned. "Is it the same type of spell those two are using?"
Back then, the most commonly seen sight was the gems exploding and others some turning into homing projectiles that practically followed their targets.
He couldn't exactly just walk next to the blonde and ask her what these gems did now.
He shook his head, deciding to trust her, he grabbed the smallest sized pure green emerald just for precautions and carefully filled it with energy. Following a similar pattern to reinforcement but without actually using the spell. He watched it carefully as he gently filled it with his magical energy.
"—!"
The gem actually started to glow, his heartbeat increased for a brief moment… it genuinely looked like he had managed to finally use a different spell. It would be a lie to say his countless past failures to learn something new did not dishearten him, but this made that light flicker once more.
Though did it count when Luvia prepared it for him, beforehand?
He threw it from behind his hiding spot just like Luvia asked him to and waited with anticipation and a bit of wariness.
"Hey, that guy tossed something!"
"Stay back! Keep your distance!"
'If it is an exploding gem then its power shouldn't be—'
Boom!
"Graaaah!"
His thoughts came to a sudden halt right as a thunderous sound came from the other side followed by a bright flash of light. A powerful gust of wind traveled in completely chaos that nearly swept him away despite standing beside a wall and behind a beam.
"..."
Shirou watched with a stunned face when one person got caught by the blow, his body being sent crashing to the ceiling and falling down with a loud impact. It was enough to make him flinch as he definitely saw the legs snap from that fall.
'A-Are th-they alive…?' Thankfully, that moment of dread barely lingered for his eyes managed to spot the rising and falling of his chest, making it clear that the guy was still alive.
"These are dangerous." Shirou mumbled while watching the damage they caused to the surroundings and ceiling. Everything was a mess as men were knocked unconscious on the ground while the only two surviving guards got their bearings and kept their distance in case he threw any more of them.He stared at the bags of gems again wondering what the hell Luvia put inside them and genuinely worried that it could potentially take a life. "Best to save them for laternow."
Well that won't work now that their guard was up… Aside from this, what other option did he have?
Just rush ahead, guns blazing? No… not even that, with how much they kept firing, Rider would need to intervene regardless and make her presence known.
Ask Luvia for assistance? Then Rin would be down a helper; also, she'd get mad that he did not ask her. Vice versa for Luvia as well, best to not get those two involved. Not to mention, he wanted to show them that he could at least handle himself.
Damn it, all he needed was the general location of those people to get a clear shot!
This conundrum reminded the redhead of the time he had to find several broken scraps of metal inside a… car… engine… eh?
'Hold on, wouldn't… wouldn't that spell also be useful here? If it works with an air-conditioner or a bike, then it should also work here. The scale is vastly different, but the principles are the same.' In both theory and practice, though, it would have trouble being able to sense humans due to their natural magic resistance, not that he actually tried it from a far distance before to check.
'It's amazing how you can tell exactly what's wrong with the appliances just from a short time with them. Even the janitors can't spot anything, but it's almost like you already know where the damaged part is, so you can fix it.' A compliment from an old monk friend came echoing in his head.
Shirou took deep breaths, with a steady heart and calm mind, he repeated to himself. 'Here goes nothing.'
Slapping his hand against the surface, a brief use of Structural Analysis sent a pulse of magical energy throughout the beam, and further to all it was attached to.
An invisible ripple that quickly spread everywhere. Slowly but surely, painting a detailed layout in his mind.
He wasn't trying to get a super good read on it now, no, all he wanted was the general idea. Just like how a blind bat's sonar sends out echoes that come back to it after bouncing off whatever it hits, his magical energy pulsed over everything before coming back with a readout of whatever it touched. Beginning to map out the center part of the mansion in full detail using whatever came back. Not only did whatever magical energy it touched bounce back differently, but there was a telltale sign to how the living bodies interacted that was different from the objects, especially bodies with Od.
With both eyes closed, he linked the general direction of the men by both sound and simple guesswork.
Not just a single usage of Structural Analysis ended up being used; rather, dozens of them shot in quick succession as if it were a gun. Nearly overwhelming his mind with all the redundant information, but in those moments, the smallest of changes started to become more noticeable.
A small shift of the furniture or the carpet.
The increasing number of empty shells at certain spots.
His own ears were picking up their voices.
The layout also gave him an idea of the ideal place to find cover and how likely one would choose those spots.
All of this data coalesced together, giving him a very blurry but still useful image.
"Three… no, two of them near the wall behind me. Three more on the second level. One hiding in the adjacent room… Alright, let's try it out?" he muttered under his breath after tracking their positions by sound and brief silhouettes through the haze.
'You missed one on the second floor that got out of your range, but he was just someone running away after getting hit by one of the curses. So yes.'
With Rider's help, he felt more at ease and confident. He forgot he had a spirit by his side, who can go through walls and even sense things far better than any normal Servant.
"So that means six bullets, convenient. Remind me to thank Issei! Trace On!"
The exact number of bullets formed within the chamber of his gun, through projection, solidified with a faint metallic click. The success rate of their creations almost reached a guarantee stage, where nine times out of ten he would not fail.
"No signs of Caster yet?"
'No. Lancer is most likely also waiting for her to appear.'
Good, they needed to get done with this as soon as possible and leave before that woman got involved. After the bullets, he slowly began reapplying his reinforcement to every part of his body again.
He grabbed a nearby vase that had rolled over next to his feet, most likely from the thrown table, and threw it out. Two shots sounded behind the beam as they kept pinning him down. "Trying to keep me trapped until more of them arrive. I see… Rider, tell me if I'm aiming for the head or not."
Pointing at the wall, he pointed the barrel around his chest level.
'Not the head.'
Pulling the trigger twice, two reinforced bullets pierced through the beam like paper and struck their targets on the other side.
"Argh!"
A single cry sounded of pain, giving him a window of opportunity to rush out, as he charged. Before him, he found an individual lying on the ground with a hole dug into his bulletproof vest that would have left a severe bruise, and the other was hit in their shoulders instead.
"Don't worry, you won't die, but it will sting… a lot. Now the one above me is too preoccupied with Luvia and Rin, which leaves the other one who has me in his line of sight. But before that, let's finish things with you." He rushed forward, holstering sheathing his gun in its holster, as he met the sight of a shocked man who thought he still had time to get the jump. His primary hope was to handle them without necessarily killing people unless he had no other choice.
But if the time came, well, he hoped it didn't! He'd never killed a person before, so that wasn't something he was looking forward to.
The person ahead tried to raise his gun once more to shoot at him, but he grabbed onto the man's wrist and, with his other palm, grabbed onto the gun.
His finger was placed between the hammer and the chamber, preventing its ability to fire, but also making his reinforced digit sting with the pain of it slamming on it. He flooded a burst of uncontrolled magical energy into the weapon itself, performing an imperfect reinforcement that produced a result he had experienced all too well, countless times. The rifle cracked in red lines, which simply progressed farther and farther until destroying it right before the stunned hitman's eyes. So shocked that he had momentarily even forgotten the fact that he had a hole in his shoulder.
Unfortunately, the young boy did not have any time to celebrate as he kneed him in the stomach and used the hand he had just used to destroy the gun to punch him out, rendering his assailant unconscious as he collapsed on top of him.
He could already hear another set of footsteps stopping in front of him, accompanied by a fowl smell as he moved on to his next move.
Grabbing onto the man as hard as he could and lifted him over his shoulders. Gunshots echoed from the newcomer emer room as he came out to finish him off. A shot that had very well been originally aimed at him right through the guy's stomach. 'What a jerk!' Without wasting any time, he used all his body's strength and tossed his impromptu shield at the guy who just tried to kill his fallen ally.
It struck him with a resounding thud before his last bullets barreled towards his undefended body aimed straight at him. Too fast to react, he held up his reinforced arms as guards and braced himself — only for all of them to be deflected by a shimmering presence in the air. The last one in particular was crushed an inch before it broke his leg's skin.
'You were doing so well too. But you should have used him as a shield rather than tossed him at the other.'
Hard not to flinch at the sight, 'Um, t-there wasn't any need to go that far, Rider.'
A moment of silence passed with the purple haired Servant answering a second later. 'I believe otherwise,' she argued back. 'Do you truly believe those words, or are you just lying to yourself.'
Shirou bit his inner mouth as he could feel a tightness in his chest. Rider's voice came in more like a warning than anything else, one telling him that he was not being careful enough.
Putting that aside for now, his current senses pushed themselves to find a trace of Sagara. But his efforts were immediately put to a screeching half when a foul stench assaulted his nose.
"Urgh!"
Calling it disgusting would be an understatement, rather the stench proved itself to be absolutely foul, like rotten-meat, and putrid like a sewer. A mix of decay and the familiar hint of iron, though he wondered if the latter part was not from their current conflict. Rin and Luvia were not exactly gentle with their attacks as well.
'Smells like a rotten corpse.'
Having recalled his first interaction with the chimera monsters and the corpse of the security guard it consumed, Shirou instinctively came to a halt and turned in a particular direction to find it had been coming from one of the many rooms within the mansion.
'I shouldn't get distracted but… what if it's another chimera case?' Sagara had connections with Atrum so there being such a monster involved would not be surprising. 'I have to make sure more of those things don't ambush us or run free in Fuyuki because of this conflict.'
Pulling himself up, he followed the stench. But grew increasingly confused when he would stumble upon empty rooms with the trace itself almost leading him in circles. "It's coming from the walls." Rider mentioned, having also noticed what he had. "Old dried up blood and the rotting bodies of several people."
"People?" He did a double take at her words, for it only confirmed his worries. "Are you sure it's not a creature like a chimera?"
She shook her head. "I would know the smell of human blood."
"..."
He made no comments on that end.
"Here." With a single sweep of her legs, the woman easily destroyed the layer of bricks as if it were powder. Creating a human sized hole which led to a completely different room beneath the manor.
A room whose passageway was illuminated by an eerie red light.
"Are you going?" She asked calmly. "
"Just a quick check, but it'll have to be short, I can't risk Sagara escaping." With that, he ran deeper, the stench growing more pungent and the walls showing more signs of a massacre.
From the ceiling to the ground, no space got left untouched.
Blood, everywhere.
"—!"
At the end what greeted his eyes could only be described as pure horror.
A ritualistic sight with the floor's center covered in naked female corpses. Some were rotting, others were missing limbs, or just dismembered. There was blood all over, the most concentrated on the center's black magic circle.
Torches lined the side of the walls as they gave the place an unsettling glow. In the end of the room, a research desk filled with paper could be seen, and to the side containers with various human body parts included jars of pickled eyes and buckets with severed hands and legs. Most of the women had stab wounds located in their lower abdomen as if it was aimed to insure the target was their reproductive organs.
At the sight Shirou's mind locked down as if to activate a self-defense mechanism. He steeled himself as he subconsciously scanned with structural grasping for any booby traps. Soon finding some knives near the door gave off a strange sensation, one enough to make his skin crawl. "A cursed weapon?"
"Might as well be with what's around us. But a weak one nonetheless." Rider agreed with him, turning her head around to look at his clenched fists. "Best you not touch them. Curses are always tricky."
"...Fine. I won't." Raising his gun, several bullets materialized before each bullet shattered them into pieces. His actions making her lips twitch upwards ever so slightly.
"So many people," he murmured, now wondering if all those missing people from before he imagined getting devoured by the chimeras were present here. Carefully walking by one of the many, he briefly examined their faces just to see if they were the same people on the missing posters still plastered around Fuyuki. Judging by the state of decay, the bodies had been dead for a few days.
'...No wonder this smell was familiar.'
He subconsciously noted a shimmer behind his back. "I remember reading one of the old man's books talking about a former target of his. Black Magic, the Dark Arts… Witchcraft… call it what you will. A branch of magecraft that involves human sacrifice in exchange for power and actualizing mysteries."
"Even during my time it used to be somewhat similar amongst a handful of mages when seeking favor with the gods. I suppose some things never change, if those practices still remain used in modern times as well." Rider offered her input as she stood behind him watching over him as he looked at the corpses.
"Is the power acquired through this method even worth it?" He asked, closing a woman's eyes who had been staring into space. "This is wrong…"
"Who can say? I'm not a mage, but if you value my input, based on my own personal experience, it must have worked sufficiently enough to garner him continuing this practice. So, it's a viable method. Even Servant's low on energy may resort to becoming Soul Eater's in order to survive and reach adequate combat strength."
"You'd take lives to achieve your goal, Rider?"
The woman tilted her head slightly, "Would you hate me if it were so? Because, yes… I would. You should know that of all people, having seen my memories."
At first, his eyes widened in shock until her words settled in his heart. Especially the last ones, for those dreams were still quite fresh in his mind. So, he shook his head, "I wouldn't hate you. But I also believe there are better ways."
Before him was her emotionless gaze as she stood over him still blindfolded. He noticed that her hands were holding onto her spiked chain daggers battle ready, and realized she was defending him even now while he was in this state of shock. He slowly obtained a somber look, reminding himself of all the heroes Rider killed to defend her sisters, and what that inevitably led to.
"Sorry about the sudden question, that was insensitive… Come to think of it, dad used to talk about how saving others means choosing not to save other people as well. At the time I didn't really understand, maybe I still don't; but I think I'm coming to realize how hard this path I'm walking is."
A sigh escaped his lips, for even though it had not been that long since this battle started, he felt exhausted. Turning around to walk back, he heard Rider's words. "Shirou, you must recognize that at times you must respond in kind. Showing mercy is difficult for those going after your life, especially when you wield guns with the goal of sparing all."
His gaze instinctively lowered towards his weapons. "I-I know that. The old man taught me how to use them. They remind me of him every time I use them… because they brought me a step closer to where he once stood."
A smile made his way on his face recalling the many moments they spent together, even during Kiritsugu's last days, it always felt like he had more to teach him. "I used them against chimera monsters to save lives, against Servants because a part of me knows it will do little — even against humans."
Bazett's face came to mind.
"But I never pulled the trigger with the resolve to kill humans. I told him that and I intend to keep that part true. I can injure them or knock them out, but taking their lives is not how a Hero of Justice is supposed to act."
Rider's next question stopped him in his tracks for a bit. "...Will you face Zouken with that resolve? Is that how you intend to save Sakura?"
With both eyes closed, he pictured the moment he met that person. That person whose very nature went against everything natural, looking no different to a walking corpse. Shirou shook his head. "No, for without fail that one is different," answered the redhead simply, with an ounce of doubt in his tone.
Rider looked as if she was staring into his eyes, before lightening a pressure he didn't know was there as she seemed to be satisfied with what she saw.
"Alright then."
K-chack!
As they made their way back towards the entrance, an armed man wielding an assault rifle came to their door prepared to fire at them.
As one would expect from a Servant, one second the man tried to aim for him, and the other he stood there lifelessly with a nail dagger piercing through his chest making him cough up blood. With a single flick of her wrist, the chains wrapped onto the body and flung him all the way to the back as his body smashed into the outside hallway wall, where his figure slumped down to the ground unresponsive.
"You…" Seeing the guy get pierced so brutally momentarily stunned the boy, his eyes widening at her actions. His heartbeat quickened, a sense of nausea bubbled at the top in an instant, nearly making him get struck by a projectile. Remembering the sacrificed people in the prior room was one thing, but to witness one get taken out so swiftly by someone on his side. "Was there really a reason to go that far…"
"It's quick and efficient. To make sure he is down once and for all," responded the woman briefly.
"... Rider."
Aside from calling her name, his mouth opened and closed several times, words failing to come out, something she noticed and continued to reply after blocking more bullets with her chains. A silent conversation exchanged between them, especially after she had seen his reaction inside the room and let out a sigh.
"I'll give it a try, but no promises." She said it almost reluctantly. "But if I have no other options, then I'll do it."
Knowing how precarious the whole situation proved itself to be, he also understood better than anyone at how absurd his request sounded to anyone let alone a Servant. Any other mage would see him as insane, foolish and naive by how much effort he was willing to put into something that could easily come back to bite him.
'I can't stop her forever. She's right, if I'm not good enough, Rider will be left with no choice. And I don't want to use a command spell to stop her all the time, otherwise I won't have any left. Not to mention she's so fast, by the time she's done it, I won't even be able to process the order.' With several bullets filling the chambers of his gun, Shirou took a moment to calm his erratic heartbeat with the weapon's slide pressing against his forehead. "Haaaah. Alright, I'll take it from here, I'll also try my best on my end, that's a promise. Just keep watch on Caster or other Servants if they appear."
Truthfully, with Rider beside him, he was certain she would be capable of handling all of them easily without killing them if he asked.
But now, he just wanted to use this moment to sharpen his own skills, mind and to also show her that she did not need to worry about him that much.
"Fine, but on one condition."
"Eh?"
That came out of nowhere, while not expecting to hear Rider accept his words so easily — the redhead did not want to waste this opportunity and agreed with a firm nod. "Anything."
"A risky thing to say."
"I trust you."
Another firm response without a hint of doubt, one that made the woman chuckle and lighten the atmosphere between them.
"I want to say that's a bad idea, but I have come to understand that I may have an equally naive and suicidal Master." She answered calmly, making him counter with his own words but figured now would not be the best of times. Rider leaned towards him, both her hands pressing the wall behind him while her purple hair cascaded around their faces that were barely an inch apart.
Creating a wall that separated the chaotic environment around him.
"If you do manage to handle this without my help, then I'll reward you. But if I'm forced to intervene… you'll get punished." Her tone may have sounded quite sensual, but the meaning behind her words, the last one, made his skin crawl.
"C-Can I ask what's the punishment?" He asked cautiously.
Instead, she smiled and began to disappear in her spiritual form, leaving him with a handful of words. "You'll find out eventually."
"..."
The meaning behind her parting phrase was not lost on him, making the man feel a mixture of anger and a desire to prove her wrong.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots echoed from above announcing that the others were shooting at him from above the stairway.
He backtracked back to the hidden door for cover, as Rider deflected any bullets that may have hit anything vital. Taking a deep breath he took one last look at the man before closing the hidden door, and rushing to another nearby beam for cover. Now that the room was sealed again his sense of smell once more locked in on a now fading stench of rat. If he didn't pick up the pace he could lose Sagara's trace entirely.
Staying calm and using his Structural Analysis to map out the area again finding three to four new additions aimed at him. Finding the blind spots where bullets wouldn't reach him going forward and taking cover there all the while still shooting at those ahead to keep the pressure off him.
Some of his bullets hit their arms, and others hit their legs.
His hands tightened around his gun, eyes lowering at the first person bleeding out on the ground in the distance. The bullet wounds themselves were around his shoulders, making them not necessarily fatal. But had the aim been just a bit different…
'No, concentrate!'
His own stern voice screamed within his mind.
These people were much more susceptible, or fragile, and just a misplaced shot could easily cost them their lives. 'Same as back during archery class. Focus on targets, empty my mind and do not let any distracting thoughts mess up my aim.'
The sacrificial room, the two girls causing havoc, Rider, and even his own discomfort. Everything started to leave his mind one by one. With nothing but the goal of reaching the end of the hallway and taking down these men without killing them.
A cycle began to form; structurally grasping his surroundings, locating the enemies, getting into position and shooting. Each individual only required one or two bullets, one aimed at their weapons and the second at their knees or arms.
This repeated again and again as he started gaining ground as he finally made his way to the endpoint of the smell, the courtyard slowly.
Bang!
A bullet left the barrel, this one aimed at one of the last men that charged at him not with a gun but instead a sword?
"Huh?"
Seeing his own bullet shatter against the metallic surface, he nearly got pulled out of his state of focus.
"Not so confident now are you!?" The unknown man shouted, hacking the saber in a downwards motion, an attack that ended up getting blocked by his guns, sparks flying in the air as the edge of the blade practically touched his forehead with how much force was behind it.
"Hn!" A small trail of blood flowed down but he managed to stop it in time. 'Too strong!'
The guy just kept pushing down with more force. Shirou realized staying unmoving was unwise so he quickly raised his leg and launched a powerful kick to his opponent's abdomen. "Ugh!"
With some distance finally created between them, he took the opportunity to shoot more bullets.
Clang!
Clang!
All of which got blocked by the individual, shocking even further.
"Hehe," the unknown man chuckled at his reaction. "All of you gun users are so predictable, I've trained for decades dealing with the likes of you. No matter how fast you shoot, I'll be faster to block it."
Just to prove his point, he charged again headfirst, blocking every shot with ease. "Hah!"
Even reinforced bullets failed to break the weapon. Forcing Shirou to dodge rather than risk another head on collision. Every slash cutting through the surrounding walls with ease as if it were butter. Each time the sword slid across the surface, it pushed him back one step at a time.
"What's wrong? I noticed you aren't aiming for vital spots. Don't make me laugh, kid!"
Each clash just served to further frustrate Shirou, for his opportunity to aim and should start to become less and less the more aggressive his opponent became. Forcing him in a corner to just block again and again.
It almost made him compare this moment to his battle against Bazett… but then again, he could not even block a single attack of that monster.
Gritting his teeth, knowing full well Rider was watching him, he once again brought up his gains, the motion making his opponent send a mocking glare as he followed the path of the barrels and already tried to block that area ahead.
"..."
But no bullets were fired.
"What?" Confused, he watched as rather than bullets the very gun itself was thrown right at his face. A throw easily taken care of as his blade easily cut through the weapon. "Giving up? Then I'll make it painl—!?"
Light flashed, and in the next moment, a sharp pain spread across his abdomen, eyes widening with shock as he realized he was slashed. Looking at his opponent's arms, he saw it… A black hilt of a weapon that was still in the process of being formed.
The world had gone into a snail paced crawl for the redhead as his mind worked in overdrive. Instincts taking hold and pulling out this surprise move on pure reflex. Blue particles of light could still be seen gathering in his hand as it finished solidifying. Shirou realized he cast Projection, and that he was once more using the same trump card that had saved him those prior two times this half a year. He expected what to appear to be his first choice of blade back then, the katana he had seen back in the museum. Though it carried a name, it was not a Noble Phantasm or a Mystic Code. But still it was high quality, and had been his first choice back when he needed it the most against those monsters.
Before now he had only used Kogarasumaru twice so far in life or death situations and considering that he really wasn't proficient in the skill enough to rely on it yet, he had put it on the back burner while he focused on his firearm combat. But still, while it wasn't the style he was used to, It had proved effective every time. The Usage proved to be as effective as the last, even against a failed Basmu creation.
Yet as his mind pictured the perfect weapon for evasion,, what he saw that appeared was not Kogarasumaru or even any other blade he had used in the past. Instead, much to his confusion, a single black blade came into existence. Its appearance alone made him recall the different thoughts and emotions he felt that day, a moment of wonder and awe poured over him as one of the most perfectly crafted creations that made prior blades look dull appear in his hand.
Flawless.
Right now he realized how hopeless it was to try to match those unbreakable weapons Archer had used to casually disregard his own attacks. How he had cut through his katana back then as if it were paper.
A Noble Phantasm, a weapon only used and summoned by Servants. What chance would he have to get his upon them? None.
But even if that were the case, even if his creation ended up being nothing but a mere imperfect copy of a masterpiece. As long as it served his purpose, as long as it could cut and cleave — then a simple lifeless replica would suffice.
Just like his guns, his ammunition and his gear. He just needed to use it for one moment, similar to how he pulled the trigger once and watched as the projectile. He followed a similar pattern and used it. His grip tightening around the hilt, the handgrip almost melting into his own hands perfectly and a strange sensation washing over him.
"Gah!"
As the rest of the blade formed, the red hexagonal patterns almost gleaming within his grasp, his attack I had already sent the man backwards. With a window of opportunity presented to him, he wasted no time jumping towards him, the black replica raised above as his opponent brought his own sword to block his attack.
The blade met, expecting a loud clang, Shirou had already pushed all his strength for a battle of attrition. Yet the past repeated itself with him being on the other side, for before his eyes the edge cut through the saber. With him realizing the mystic code offered no resistance only for his copy to have reached the arm and cut through flesh.
Both individuals watched in disbelief at the arm floating right between them for a fraction of a second before it fell to the ground.
"Aaaarh—keugh!"
The moment of surprise barely lasted for either man, for one screamed in absolute pain and the other struck his leg at his head with enough strength to knock him out in a single attack. With no defenses applied, he lost consciousness and fell to the ground, blood pouring from the wound while Shirou watched as the replica dispersed into motes of blue light.
"Shit!"
Unlike his prior targets, leaving this one bleeding would only result in one outcome. With a quick use of his belt squeezed around the upper arm to stop the bloodflow, Shirou continued down his path.
Today, he accompanied Rin with the goal of retrieving Sakura and maybe finding some clues on her whereabouts, not to cause a massacre. One of his main reasons to participate in this war in the first place was to avoid as many unnecessary deaths as possible, and these people also counted.
"Huh?"
"Gah
Despite these thoughts he pressed on with no hesitation, as he pulled the trigger, the bullet leaving the barrel and digging through both into the enemy's weapon and managing to wound the arm. He advanced bit by bit, gaining more ground as he hardened his mind to survive, only stopping when suddenly in the middle of a corner on the ground beneath him, a light lit up revealing a giant magic circle.
"Rider!"
Chains wrapped around him, and immediately pulled him away just in time before the area he just stood detonated, damaging a large chunk of the villa and even dragging some of the unfortunate subordinates in friendly fire.
"A trap. Don't get impatient, Shirou."
"I'm sorry, but I'm worried he'll escape if we don't hurry up."
"He can't run away from Servants. Lancer is already keeping a watch on him, and I can already tell where he is. From the looks of it you have to."
She was right, as Shirou noticed that Sagara's trace had stopped getting farther away and was now becoming clearer. It looks like wherever he was going, he reached it. "You're right, I guess after what I just saw it's just difficult for me to stay calm."
Deciding to trust her words, he let Rider deal with the few that remained at this time, making sure to tell her to just knock them out. Thankfully, she did follow his orders, but her method of holding back involved a single kick that ended up shattering nearly every bone on impact, possibly rupturing organs. At least that was better than death… Being on the other end of her kicks during training assured Shirou he could attest to that.
Though unbeknownst to him the targets would disagree with that thought if they weren't in agony right now.
"I must say, Miss Tohsaka, you truly have improved since the last time I saw you. Now you're nearly at the level of my sister. But threat not, I'm sure you will eventually catch up to me somewhere in the next decade, hohohohoho~!"
"What the hell are you blabbing about!? My spells were faster than yours and caused way more damage!"
"Caused more damage it seems but still it was no different from blindly firing a barrage of curses. Unlike my Gandr shots that were more precise and actually hit my intended targets while also having the benefit of conserving my energy more so than your shots."
"Ha! At least my fighting style was way better than yours. You just went ahead to hug any man who got close to you before ramming them into the ground like a ram. I would expect nothing less from a harlot like you."
"Hug!? How uncultured of you to describe my precious Lancashire in such a crude manner! At least it's more elegant and powerful than your slapping sprees, you deformed gorilla!"
"What the hell did you say!? I'll show you what it means to be slapped! You pompous, drill hair bi-!"
The two continued to bicker to each other, as all their assailants on the ground either cowered in fear or were downright unconscious. Continuing to progress down the hallway as they continued to shove each other, shoulder to shoulder.
Shirou, catching sight of them heading towards him, sighed in exasperation.
While in the midst of reloading his gun, the last subordinate in the area was finally taken out, kicked unconscious in the head by Rider.
(Had to cut the chapter in 2 parts cause of webnovel word limit. Check 47.2 for the rest.)