Whoosh—!
Just as Xia Mi was barely holding on under the torture of the Yamata no Orochi, the sound of arrows whistling through the air suddenly came from afar.
Rumble!
But rather than arrows, they looked more like blazing trails of light, nine colossal beams shaped like dragons tearing through the sky.
It was the Noble Phantasm once said to have been used in the subjugation of the Hydra, "Nine Lives," unleashed in a storm of devastating arrows.
Moreover, Herakles could replicate the so-called "Nine Lives" style with other weapons beyond a bow, forming similar strikes. Its essence was a ninefold consecutive attack, as if all assaults overlapped into one and were unleashed at extreme speed.
The nine overwhelming lights crashed into the Orochi, each beam striking one of its bodies, tearing scales and flesh apart in bursts of blood. The monster flailed with its massive tails, howling in agony, its blood spraying wildly. Yet the thick divine essence and regenerative power within it accelerated the closing of its wounds at a terrifying speed.
Xia Mi gripped the rainbow-hued Sword of the War God tightly, watching as the newcomers appeared—Shirou, Erii, Herakles with Fingal on his back having just fired his Noble Phantasm, and lastly Aso, the Master.
She had thought that since she had first met Shirou in the guise of Attila, crossing blades with him, he would surely place her among his enemies rather than come to aid her.
That was why she had resolved to act alone and deal with matters herself.
But unexpectedly, the White King's movements had been even faster, and the experiments she carried out within Nibelungen had progressed at an unbelievable pace, forcing her to face the Orochi alone—an immense monster nearly impossible to kill effectively. Despite her desperate resistance, she could do nothing to stop it.
Ah, life is unpredictable, sausage wrapped in intestine.
"You all… what are you here for?" Xia Mi faced Shirou and the others, shifting into Attila's detached tone. "Enemy or ally?"
"If you're willing to let us join in the subjugation of this beast, then for this battle alone, we can be temporary allies," Shirou replied, stepping forward to negotiate as this was their second encounter.
But for Xia Mi, there was an odd sense of estrangement in treating a familiar person as though he were a stranger, making her lips twitch slightly.
Her gaze stayed fixed on Shirou, her eyes flickering with hesitation. For some reason, seeing him come to her aid amidst falling stone and surging black mud reminded her of the quiet chamber at the Emiya residence, of those peaceful afternoons when he had taught her history and mythology like a kind upperclassman, holding nothing back.
At last she spoke. "Very well, temporary allies… that is a good civilization."
Shirou-senpai, when you discover my true identity, will we still have a chance to live those peaceful, worry-free days like before?
———
At Genji Heavy Industries' headquarters, ever since the Ghosts had launched their sudden raid, the building had lost all its usual calm, plunging into chaos.
First came the shrill alarms. Many instinctively rushed to the elevators, but then the lighting and elevator systems went dead. Countless automatic doors shut due to the alert protocols, trapping people near the shafts.
The headquarters was full of ordinary employees. They only worked under the Yashiro family's corporate umbrella and had no clearance for deeper secrets.
Yet now, they found themselves staring at "ghosts" seemingly from another world.
"Ah—!!"
A group of uniformed female clerks, blocked by the elevators, screamed. Someone had shone a flashlight, catching sight of a shadow behind them.
The pitch-black shape revealed itself in the beam: a pale, serene face framed by a waterfall of long, dripping black hair, below it a grotesque mix of scaled claws and a serpentine tail.
It watched them quietly, like something long starved of fresh prey. Its enormous mouth split open, revealing razor fangs and a forked tongue as it savored the growing terror on their faces, eager to feast—
Shing!
A silver blade flashed. The so-called "ghost," a Dead Apostle, was beheaded by the sharp strike of Spider-Cutter.
"Don't stay here," came a voice—it was Gen Uryuu, arriving through the emergency passage. "Use the VIP elevator in the corner. It has an independent power system, unaffected by the outage, and its protection is top-grade. It'll take you to the designated safe zone."
He swiped a card at the scanner before the VIP elevator. With a beep, the lift that normally only served the family heads and honored guests opened now for the clerks.
They quickly thanked him, but in the dark, they couldn't see his face. Ordinary staff had no chance to meet the young master of Genji Heavy Industries, let alone recognize him by voice.
"Was that wise? We may have wasted precious time we could have used to cut down more of these monsters."
After ensuring the employees' safety and finishing off the Dead Apostles on that floor, Uryuu turned and found Watanabe no Tsuna emerging quietly—he had been doing the same on other floors.
Uryuu reached into his pocket for cigarettes but found none. He had left his "Mild Seven" in the office. He sighed.
"…Genji Heavy Industries has always promised never to abandon a single life, even in times of crisis."
It wasn't only a corporate promise. When he accepted the position of acting family head, he had enshrined this into the new rules of the Yashiro clan.
"I see," Watanabe nodded, his blade gleaming faintly blue in the dark. "You are a demon-slayer with justice in your heart, not one who kills demons merely for the act itself."
"Justice…?" Uryuu chuckled bitterly. "I'm only driven by a sense of duty I cannot discard."
What justice could this family possibly claim? He had seen the truth long ago in the Enforcement Bureau: demon-slayers were killers, sacrificing the few to preserve the happiness of the many.
"Look at this corpse." Uryuu kicked the Apostle's severed head over, revealing a pale young woman's face. "Does this look normal to you?"
Watanabe examined it closely and frowned. "The face of a young woman, skin pale, water-logged and rotten—like a drowned ghost."
Uryuu paused at the term. Then he remembered: Watanabe was a man of the Heian era.
"No. Modern aquaculture uses tanks to raise aquatic life in massive water bodies. But if these things had been bred outside, the Bureau would've detected them long ago."
"Then someone is raising demons?"
"We can't say yet. First we need to confirm their source."
He opened his communicator and called Maruyama Construction's director. "Have you pinpointed the cause? These demons couldn't just appear out of nowhere."
"Yes, Acting Head! No signs of intrusion at the ground floor entrances. But on several elevator shafts and traction systems—except the VIP elevator—we found scraping damage. After full inspection, the prime suspect left is our drainage system, the 'Iron Dome Cathedral.'"
The Iron Dome Cathedral was Tokyo's massive underground flood drainage system, Maruyama's pride. Its twelve-meter-wide tunnels could carry staggering water volumes.
And coincidentally, these serpentlike Apostles were clearly adept at infiltrating via water.
"Truly, there are no coincidences." Master and retainer now knew the enemy had entered through the sewers. They turned to head for the source.
But just then, a deafening blast shook the building. The entire skyscraper quaked violently!
"Report! Acting Head, the thirteenth floor!" a panicked voice shouted over his comms. "Guards say—the whole floor's been sliced apart!"
———
Shing—!
In Shirou's hands, Duan Long Tai no longer swung like a cannon battery. He attacked head-on, the enormous blade tearing through the Orochi's scales! Splatter! Blood gushed forth!
The ancient bronze sword was entwined with fire and ice, carving a path of azure flame and frost hundreds of meters long across its hide, halting its regeneration.
Though still far from a mortal wound, Shirou quickly sidestepped—
"Now!"
Herakles loosed another "Nine Lives," nine meteoric arrows streaking down. They pierced deep into the Orochi's flesh and, as Shirou withdrew, detonated like siege weapons, exploding in light and fury.
The Orochi shrieked in pain, its massive body scarred, its tails gathering divine energy once more.
But then came the roar of waves.
Rumble!
The group looked up—the sea itself was surging, a colossal wall of water rushing from the distant edge of the city. The white surf struck the walls and poured into the ancient stronghold, as if to wash it away entirely.
Xia Mi's face lit up. Norton and the others outside had succeeded!
(End of Chapter)
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