Bolter rounds became drops of a hellish, blue rain, BOOMING across the vast chamber as they came for Shirou.
He blurred in a zigzag pattern, appearing and disappearing at random places, Rho Aias' five layers constantly shielding him from the projectiles.
However, it wasn't from them he was running.
It was from the dozens of Spells that the Witch kept shooting at him, some of them indefensible by even Rho Aias.
Shirou coughed up another mouthful of blood as he jumped back, a pillar of pure green fire burning past him.
Not only was the fire itself of a strange color, but it also gave the impression that it would burn him to a crisp before his regeneration kicked in to save him from that scorched fate.
Suddenly, the green fire condensed and became a huge skull, opening its mouth to devour him alive.
Gritting his bloody teeth, Shirou turned around and ran, the Marines trying to cut off his escape route with their firing.
A few moments…
That's all Shirou needed to heal the three gaping wounds in his body.
Even now, the swords within him were sewing the damaged tissues like needles.
Of the hundreds, only three Bolter rounds had landed on him before Rho Aias had bloomed, defending him from the onslaught.
Those three shots had almost exploded him to smithereens.
If it hadn't been for his being prepared to tank a few blasts already, he would have definitely suffered a major blow, ending up dying to the Witch's subsequent attacks if not from the blue rain of death.
So, he needed his body back to its prime before he unleashed Kanshou and Bakuya upon the armored giants.
Not to mention, he couldn't use Avalon again to survive that strange lightning hurled at him by the Witch, either.
Saber was gone.
Shirou had managed to summon Avalon from within him during the Great Holy Grail War because of his connection to her, using the pact of Master and Servant as a primer.
With that pact becoming invalid after the War, he wouldn't have been able to call out the most powerful defensive weapon he had ever come to know.
However, Caster had taught him a way to call on Avalon's projection from the shield itself, using his Reality Marble as the basis.
It was nowhere near as remarkable as the real Avalon.
But, clearly, it was still more than capable enough to nullify a deadly Spell from a Witch who was a Pillar existence.
The only caveat in this was that it consumed an enormous amount of Mana, only short of casting a full Reality Marble.
Which meant if Shirou had to call on Avalon's projection again, then he would lose the ability to use his greatest trump card, probably going as far as failing to project a single offensive or defensive weapon.
It was not a risk Shirou could afford to take.
The good thing was, he was just too fast for the Witch to even aim her Spells at him.
So, he must run while constantly looking for a weakness in the enemies' ranks as his body healed itself.
Weakness… Shirou's mouth flattened into a thin line as he looked at the Marines through Rho Aias. These murderers are just too… disciplined to let me find that.
CRACK!
Finally, and suddenly, the third layer of Rho Aias cracked.
Almost simultaneously, the massive, ghostly skull, made of green fire, disappeared, giving up on the chase.
Shirou's heart skipped a beat.
Time slowed down as he realized that the soldiers had pushed him toward a corner without him even realizing, using nothing but their wasted firing.
Which meant it wasn't like their firing had failed to break through Rho Aias' third layer all this while, but they had been deliberately concentrating most of their attacks around it.
With Shirou so worried about letting one of the Witch's Spells come past Rho Aias and attack him, especially another one that attacked his mind, he had overlooked how many rounds were actually landing on the shield itself.
But why?
All Shirou had to do was look toward the murderers to know the answer.
The Witch with gray-silver eyes was levitating above the armored giants, a massive, transparent projection of a green-black coffin hanging behind her like a corrupt halo.
"Know that this place will be your grave, intruder!" Her words rang across the chamber as she held her Wand with both hands and raised it high like a sword. "I will judge you for your insolence, for I am the Witch of Endor! Accio Maxima Divinus!"
A chill ran down Shirou's spine.
It was not the like of which he had experienced out of fear and concern.
But it was quite literally a chill, his body and soul shaking from within as if…
Avalon… Shirou's pupils dilated. It's… reacting to something!
Suddenly, the space directly above him changed, making him snap his head up.
The white, domed roof had disappeared. A vast sky appeared in its place, sodden with gray clouds. Those gray clouds parted, and nothing but pure golden radiance rained, drenching everything in its holiness.
Avalon shook even harder, making Shirou cough up even more blood.
Yet, he dared not take his eyes off the sky.
He dared not look at anything but the tip of a sword — a sword seemingly as large as the world itself — coming out of that golden radiance.
"… Ex…" Shirou whispered, stunned beyond words.
Before he could even utter the name of the legendary sword, the sword became a beam of light, surpassing all logic, and landed right on Rho Aias.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The earth shattered.
Shirou's feet plunged deep into the ground.
Cracks resounded as Rho Aias lost its fourth layer, then its fifth, the mighty sword becoming clearer in Shirou's vision.
It was not a magical imprint or projection.
It was as real as it could get.
It was Excalibur!
Crack!
The sixth layer gave in.
Shirou raised his hands, still wielding Kanshou and Bakuya. "AHHHHHH!"
Yet, no matter how much he struggled, under the might of that legendary sword, it… failed.
With a final CRACK, Rho Aias burst apart.
Excalibur tore through space and landed on Shirou's chest.
Then, to the shock of the Witch of Endor, the blue-armored soldiers, and Shirou himself, instead of butchering him to the tiniest pieces, the holy sword…
… vanished inside him, as if it had never been solid!
*************
AN: Original Image of Shirou blocking Excalibur using Rho Aias is available.