Knowing that tricks like that wouldn't do a thing to Shiomi, Douman and Kirei didn't hesitate. They regrouped at once, swept the area for him, and then heard the sound of Shiomi alighting on the treetops.
"Grenades and submachine guns… now that takes me back." Shiomi stood on a branch without a scratch. "Back in the Fourth Holy Grail War, that man you were fixated on, Kiritsugu Emiya, fought in the same style, didn't he?"
"Fair enough." Kirei dusted off his vestments. "As far as I'm concerned, as long as it kills the target, any weapon is acceptable. Being obsessed with Magecraft and Mystery is just… old-fashioned."
Shiomi gave him a mild, almost friendly smile. "That really surprised me."
"Huh?" Douman didn't follow.
"I mean the idea that the two of you think a handful of people like this could stop me and my master." Shiomi's smile slowly drained away. His face went blank, and his eyes turned to pure, icy intent to kill. "Especially you, Kirei Kotomine."
The moment he heard that, Kirei Kotomine's eyes snapped wide.
Not because Shiomi had gotten under his skin, but because he'd sensed the danger.
Shiomi vanished the instant he finished speaking. A crimson flash of the spear struck from behind. Kirei threw up an arm to block, and if he hadn't reinforced his defenses specifically against the spear's power beforehand, he would've had to pay with that arm just to survive the blow.
Douman moved in the same breath, tossing out a talisman and rushing forward barehanded, his fingernails sharpened into unmistakable weapons.
All three collided again, and a chain of explosions tore through the already treacherous forest.
Scáthach heard it, but she didn't look back.
She worried about her beloved disciple, of course. But she also understood he no longer needed his master to worry for him.
All she had to do was focus on the enemy in front of her.
The twin Saber Dioscuri stood opposite Scáthach, brother and sister both panting, their bodies already covered in wounds.
Only a few dozen exchanges had passed, yet the twins, Olympian Divine Spirit Servants, looked this battered.
They had originally intended to join the naval battle and intercept Chaldea, but Kirei Kotomine had requested them from Kirschteria and had them lie in ambush on the island instead.
Castor, the older brother who'd complained this assignment was a waste of time, was finally starting to understand it was anything but trivial.
"What's wrong, twins?" Scáthach leveled her spear at them. "Is that all you've got? If you can't show me more than this, then you die here."
"Brother!" Pollux called.
That single word was enough. Castor understood what she meant.
"Fine."
The Mana around the twins surged explosively. The power coiled around their weapons flared even more violently than it had during their earlier clash.
They had to admit it. In terms of pure skill, they could no longer defeat the woman in front of them.
If they wanted to win, they had to use their trump card, their Noble Phantasm.
"Connecting Divine Core."
"Rousing Divine Core."
"We are power, we are light!"
"Love that shines across the heavens!"
Sister and brother chanted in turn, and then their voices merged into one.
"Poetic Praise of the Twin Gods - Dioscures Tyndaridae!"
A raging wind swept through the island's forest. The Phantasmal Species living there grew restless from the battle's Mana fluctuations and fled in all directions, some even rushing toward the island's villages.
Shiomi spared only a single glance. He saw his master become a purple meteor, crashing back and forth with the twins between the trees, whipping up a tornado that rose into the sky and continued to swell.
Anything that was even lightly brushed by that whirlwind shattered in an instant, ground down into fine powder.
"Master really goes all out. I can't afford to lag behind either."
Shiomi planted his foot on Ashiya Douman's head. The grotesque onmyoji beneath him was barely able to move anymore.
His arms were twisted, his legs bent at unnatural angles. He could barely maintain his shape, and by now he had completely stopped moving.
Kirei Kotomine clutched his waist, gasping heavily.
"This is truly surprising. Just what have you been through?"
Even so, Kirei was still able to speak with Shiomi without any difficulty.
"A lot. More than what any human should experience," Shiomi replied casually. "What is it? Want to try helping your companion again, like before?"
"There's no need for that." Kirei smiled. "This Ashiya Douman has reached his end. Our lack of preparation this time was our mistake. It's only Hecate Island. We'll give it to you."
"You really think I'd let you escape?"
Shiomi didn't bother to consider what Kirei Kotomine meant by those words. In the next instant, he flashed right in front of him, the crimson spear weaving an airtight storm, as though intent on tearing Kirei apart piece by piece.
Even injured, the priest still had enough leeway to cling to his life. During their brief exchange earlier, he had already used the Church's sacraments to apply emergency treatment to his wounds.
But that would only buy him time.
Unless there was backup—
A sharp tearing sound split the air from the distance behind Kirei. Out of the corner of his eye, Shiomi saw dozens of rockets of varying sizes streaking toward them.
"Heh…"
A pleased smile crept onto Kirei's bloodstained lips.
Shiomi's expression remained cold. When his crimson spear was knocked aside, he drove his free fist forward with full force, smashing it into Kirei's chest. The sound of ribs shattering rang out. That perpetually brazen face finally twisted, letting out a muffled groan of pain.
The impact sent Kirei flying once again, and at the same moment, the rockets came crashing down.
Another chain of violent explosions tore through the area, and the forest was soon engulfed in flames.
Standing amid the scorched earth, Ashiya Douman's body had already dispersed, and Kirei Kotomine was nowhere to be seen.
Scáthach walked over to Shiomi at an unhurried pace. Behind her, the twin Servants lay motionless in two separate spots.
"This side is finished. How did things go for you, my beloved disciple?"
"We were played." Shiomi let out a sigh. "Ashiya Douman probably wasn't the real body. No wonder he died so cleanly, without even trying to use his Noble Phantasm. As for Kirei Kotomine, he was likely rescued by his companions during that last wave of bombardment."
As for who had fired those rockets, Shiomi had a rough idea. But since they were hiding far away, there was no time to waste chasing them down.
"Don't dwell on it. They likely never planned to fight to the death in the first place and had their retreat prepared," Scáthach said, gently stroking Shiomi's hair in consolation. "The Crypters and the Alien Apostle are probably not of one mind. Otherwise, they wouldn't have allowed the twin Servants here to die by my hand."
"At least it wasn't a complete loss," Shiomi said with a faint smile. "I carved the Rune of Death into Kirei. Even if it doesn't kill him, he won't have the strength to come back and cause trouble."
As he spoke, he pressed a hand to his temple and closed his eyes, synchronizing with his familiar.
"Things are going smoothly at sea. Let's move, Master."
"Mm."