The Craftsman's Way of Battle
This body had forged countless treasured swords and sharp blades. With just a single glance, he could see through the essence of a weapon—its strengths, and how best to wield it.
Naturally, he also saw all of the weapon's weaknesses and limitations.
While pursuing sharpness, it must also have enough durability to not be brittle, and enough flexibility to not bend uncontrollably.
In Perseus's hand, the magical sword Harpe was an unusual weapon resembling an eagle's talon. It had the length of a longsword, was single-edged, and the tip curved like a scythe.
For Shirou, who possessed the lifetime experience of a blacksmith, the moment he saw it, he immediately understood how it was used. The sword's length, the sharpness of its edge, its weak points—everything was analyzed clearly under his Eye of the Mind.
The enormous axe-sword in his hand swung like the heavy hammer of a blacksmith, and each blow struck at the most vulnerable angles of Harpe, as if intent on breaking the divine weapon outright.
With his complete understanding of weapons, along with overwhelming strength and skill, Shirou's every strike knocked away Harpe's curved edge and sent the charging magical beasts flying. Though surrounded on all sides, he forced the blackened man back again and again.
Perseus's body was continuously being repaired by the black mud, but his palms were going numb from the sheer force of Shirou's strikes. Though Harpe was a cursed sword whose wounds couldn't be healed, he hadn't been able to injure Shirou in the slightest.
Shirou's massive axe-sword now radiated heat like a god-forged hammer. Even a divinely gifted blade would eventually chip, crack, and break under such relentless pounding.
Perseus struggled to block under the overwhelming power of the axe-sword.
Suddenly, Shirou twisted his body and drove his right hand, holding the sword's scabbard, into Perseus's abdomen. With explosive force, Perseus was sent flying, rolling on the ground several times before coughing up a mouthful of black blood.
"Ah, sorry about that. Divine tools from the Age of Gods are rare to see. I got a little interested and studied its structure. Who knows? It might even be the work of the God of Smithing," Shirou said, lowering the arm holding his katana and gazing at the blackened Heroic Spirit's sword.
Until now, Shirou hadn't once used his right hand in the fight. But now that he'd seen enough, he understood everything.
He raised his left arm—wrapped in a red guard—and lifted the axe-sword high.
"Damn it! Damn it! Bite him to death!!" Perseus roared in fury, commanding the magical beasts with blood-red eyes to charge at the boy all at once.
Boom!!! The massive axe-sword swept through them again, sending beasts flying. Then he swung down with momentum, cleaving toward Perseus's head.
"Emiya! Don't think you can end this so easily!!" In that moment of crisis, Perseus finally regained his senses from the rage. He raised the Bridle of the Heroic Steed and summoned his black Pegasus.
His eyes glowed crimson as he unleashed the Noble Phantasm.
The winged horse flapped its wings and released black light. Its offensive and defensive power surged, knocking aside the falling axe-sword. With Perseus on its back, the black Pegasus soared into the sky. He was never a hero famed for close-quarters combat, but now—for the first time—he showed the true might expected of him.
A black comet descended from the heavens, forming a pillar of destructive light, aiming to pierce the earth—and Shirou along with it.
Shirou looked to the sky, calmly dismissed the axe-sword back into his Reality Marble, and raised his red-cloth-wrapped left arm. From his palm, a glowing pinkish-purple light erupted—transforming into seven radiant petals, like magnified cherry blossoms, forming a barrier before him.
——Rho Aias, The Sevenfold Ring of Heaven's Wrath
This was the conceptual Noble Phantasm born from the Trojan War, a shield used by the hero Ajax (Aias), cousin of Achilles, to block Hector's fatal spear strike. It was a seven-layered bronze shield wrapped in bullhide, each petal of which had the defensive strength of an ancient fortress wall.
The black comet crashed into the petal shield. With every impact, a petal shattered, but the comet's power diminished with each layer. When only two petals remained, the two forces stalemated in the air.
"How's that? Is this the end for you, vengeful spirit?" Shirou asked with a soft smile, continuously pouring maximum magical energy into Rho Aias. Within the void of his Spirit Origin, the Holy Grail provided him with limitless mana.
Perseus, riding his black Pegasus, saw that the indestructible shield could not be broken. He turned and roared:
"Surround the girls—Gorgon!"
"We're not done yet!" Perseus shouted as he changed tactics, steering the Pegasus to shift its trajectory. The black steed bent its legs and rammed the shield, launching Shirou into the air—dragging him upward into the sky.
"What?!" Shirou felt himself propelled skyward. Though the black comet couldn't break through the two remaining petals, the force of ramming both layers and lifting him into the air was formidable.
Even though Perseus was now corrupted in mind and soul, and his personality warped, he was still a legendary hero from the Age of Gods—known for his adaptability and the use of multiple Noble Phantasms.
In the next moment, an ear-splitting screech echoed from the lair. It sounded like a furious curse—or a mournful wail.
"RAAAAHHH!!"
"RROOAAARRR!!"
Thousands of monsters came stampeding from the lair, encircling the girls and cutting them off from Shirou.
"Shirou-senpai!!" Mash was the only one still holding her shield—she was thrown outward by the beast tide.
"Mash, go help Shirou! Leave this to us." Yukinoshita, possessed by Atalanta, pulled back her bow and loosed a full-draw arrow, piercing a beast's head cleanly.
"Yes! Once we finish off these monsters, we'll catch up right away." Yuigahama followed, activating her Noble Phantasm. Hundreds of golden swords rained from the sky, impaling monsters one by one.
"I understand! Please, don't get hurt, senpai!" Mash raised her shield and sprinted with all her might, chasing after the airborne Shirou.
"Don't worry—who do you think you're talking to?" Asuna's Doujigiri Yasutsuna crackled with lightning as four shadowy copies of her appeared, each wielding a different Noble Phantasm. The final bolt of lightning blasted through the beast horde.
"I know!!" Mash grit her teeth, raised her massive cross-shaped shield, smashed away a charging beast, and ran toward where Shirou had been sent flying.
Meanwhile, Shirou, now airborne and still being pushed higher by the Pegasus, realized the situation was becoming increasingly dangerous.
"This is a pain… I didn't expect a move like this," he muttered as he stepped onto the glowing petals of Rho Aias, released the Noble Phantasm, and leapt high into the air before it shattered.
"Hahahaha! Have you given up, Emiya?! Die! Repent in the Underworld!!" Perseus cackled wildly as the black Pegasus accelerated, breaking the sound barrier and turning into a black comet, speeding toward Shirou. The sheer velocity meant that even a graze would pulverize him.
But at that moment, Shirou projected a massive iron cross shield mid-air and hurled it down toward the Pegasus, activating a new Noble Phantasm:
——Lord Camelot, The Castle of the Distant Ideal
The shield was almost identical to Mash's, but this was a new projection Shirou had mastered by observing her with his magical eye. It was the Noble Phantasm of the Round Table Knight Galahad, the very core of the white-walled city of Camelot—a supreme defensive artifact formed from the round table where the knights once sat.
Unlike Mash's version, Shirou's Lord Camelot leaned more toward Galahad's original form. Though slightly weaker in defense, it possessed a shield-counterattack capability.
The black comet collided with the brilliant white light. When the black Pegasus forced its way through the shield, Lord Camelot released a blinding light, unleashing an energy equal to the comet itself.
A rainbow-like beam shot forth and shattered the black Pegasus, causing both horse and shield to vanish into the sky.