"Asfi, these people are a death squad!"
Lulune, unable to maintain her composure, screamed at the top of her lungs.
Under the enemy's self-destructive attacks, the Hermes Familia was suffering heavy losses — several members were on the brink of death, barely clinging to life unless someone could protect them.
Before the suicidal squad, who used their own lives as weapons, the Hermes Familia members cried out in agony.
"Serle!!!"
Hearing her companion's scream, Asfi turned her head sharply.
She saw her friend being grabbed violently by an enemy — a Flame Stone in his hand already glowing with a deadly light.
Serle won't make it!
Asfi thought, despair flooding her heart.
But in that very instant, a shadow streaked across the battlefield and struck the death squad member's wrist.
The blow was so powerful that the man's wrist was severed instantly, his hand flying and crashing against the wall.
Boom!
A violent explosion erupted, followed by a scorching wave of air that swept across the area.
Through the flickering smoke and flames, Shirou's figure emerged — twin swords in hand.
He moved like a phantom through the crowd, cutting down his enemies with precise, merciless strikes.
Unlike the fighting styles used in the dungeon,
this was a style made purely for battle against humans — a style born for one purpose only: to kill.
This was the true essence of Shirou's swordsmanship.
The battle experience he had gained in this world, combined with the memories and techniques inherited from the Heroic Spirit EMIYA, formed the foundation of his power.
---
"Do not fear death!"
From the rear of the battlefield, the hooded figure who had earlier spoken with the masked man raised his voice, rallying the zealots.
"Life after death is our eternal wish! Swear your loyalty to our god!"
Upon hearing that declaration, the death squad's eyes blazed with fanatical fervor, their fighting spirit surging.
Watching the scene, the robed man nodded in satisfaction.
"You seem pleased…"
"What?"
Hearing a voice behind him, the man instinctively swung his blade backward.
But as he turned, a sword pierced his heart.
"You won't be welcome in the afterlife."
"Wha…?"
The man's eyes widened in disbelief — but he had no time to think. His vision faded to black as he collapsed.
Drawing Kanshou and shaking the blood off his blade, Shirou lifted his gaze toward the white-haired man — his eyes burning with killing intent.
"How ridiculous," the masked man muttered.
After exchanging a brief glance with the silent Shirou, he raised his arm and ordered coldly:
"Go, Violas!"
The ground trembled as soon as the words were spoken.
Then, one after another, grotesque creatures — the Violas — burst out from beneath the ground, swarming the battlefield in overwhelming numbers.
"What a spectacle."
A surge of magical energy burst forth, and under Shirou's power, Kanshou and Bakuya transformed into massive blades — one in each hand.
"As expected, using these two in their larger forms is the best way to deal with monsters."
Narrowing his eyes, Shirou charged headlong into the creatures.
"Damn it! How are we supposed to handle this?!" Asfi exclaimed.
She struggled desperately to fend off both the suicide squad's advance and the onslaught of monsters.
The situation was growing hopeless.
To face the monsters, they needed to form a defensive line.
But the suicide squad was still there!
If they grouped together, they'd become perfect targets for self-detonation!
This impossible situation had the entire Hermes Familia trapped in a vice.
Things couldn't get much worse.
Fortunately, the monsters made no distinction between ally and enemy — attacking both the Hermes Familia and the Evilus cultists indiscriminately.
As a result, many members of the suicide squad perished under the creatures' assault.
"What should we do now? Can the Archer help us?"
Instinctively, Asfi thought of Shirou — who had already saved them countless times.
But when her eyes searched for him, she saw him locked in fierce combat with the monsters.
"What a nuisance…"
Shirou struck down a monster before him, sending it crashing to the ground.
As he watched the creatures surrounding him, he thought grimly:
"It really is a nuisance…"
That was Emiya Shirou's honest thought at that moment.
These monsters kept their magic stones inside their mouths.
Unless they bit down, there was a small window to kill them with a single blow.
But their main attack method was to thrash their massive bodies wildly.
To strike their heads, Shirou would have to jump — but the uneven terrain gave him poor leverage.
Even if he did leap, he'd be vulnerable the moment he landed.
As for projected weapons, he had to admit: the stronger his enemies became, the less effective those weapons were.
Projected blades were simply too slow.
They couldn't match the speed of high-level warriors — they only worked against clumsy monsters.
But these new creatures were highly sensitive to magic.
Whenever they sensed Shirou's projections, they flailed violently, dodging or knocking his weapons aside.
In truth, this had been a recurring problem since Shirou's power had grown.
With his current strength, a bow and arrow were far faster and more efficient than projected swords.
Fortunately, in the world of Danmachi, adventurers fought mostly against monsters, not humans.
To overcome this flaw, Emiya Shirou knew he needed to find a world where battles were fought against humans — where everyone used magic, or at least something similar to his magecraft.
Although the "magic" in Danmachi could be called such, it was essentially a form of mental energy.
Without the use of spells or magical formulas, it couldn't amplify an adventurer's power.
As a result, skills like "magical energy release" simply didn't exist there.
Shirou needed a world where the mastery of magic was far more refined.
"Muspelflamme!"
He projected a bow and a flaming arrow — currently his most powerful attack in such an enclosed space.
Boom!
The resulting explosion devastated the enemy line.
The monsters hit by Shirou's strike were instantly torn apart, leaving nothing behind.
However, others — though burned and blackened — still moved with terrifying speed.
"So even if they're burned, their combat ability barely drops…?"
Shirou's eyes narrowed.
He had suspected as much, but seeing it confirmed left him speechless.
He knew well that unless these creatures were cleaved in half — or reduced to ashes by the explosion's core heat — they would keep fighting.
Superficial burns alone meant nothing to them.
"Then why not use the bow and arrows? At least that way, I can take them down one by one without worrying about magical inefficiency."
He projected a regular arrow, took aim at the spot where the monster's magic stone was — and released.
The arrow pierced through the target cleanly, shattering the magic stone.
The creature exploded into ashes.
"As expected… I still have to kill them one at a time. It's not that easy to wipe them all out at once."
Facing that reality, Shirou let go of any pretense.
Instead, he planted his feet firmly on the ground and kept firing arrow after arrow, cutting down monsters without pause.
His stance no longer resembled that of a traditional archer —
but rather that of a warrior who had already transcended human limits.
---
(End of Chapter)
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."