Chapter 18 Back in a Bit
The gale swept the metallic wreckage on the road surface into the distance.
Unlike Shirou, for the girl who had transformed into a whirlwind, bullets were meaningless. Even over-the-horizon sniping requires aiming in advance, but no one could see Saber's movements clearly. Her "Agility" parameter, bolstered by Mana Burst, was simply that fast.
If one were not of the Heroic Spirit class, they wouldn't even be able to aim properly. But the "privilege" of facing Shirou was clearly not something anyone on the field could handle.
Some attempted to target her, but the shots intended for her struck only empty air, the reports of the rifles sounding exceptionally hollow.
Weaving constantly around Shirou, allowing the numerous trajectories to be shattered by her localized storm, Saber took on the role of the vanguard.
"Shirou, what kind of place would make them feel that 'the mission will fail if they stay hidden'?"
"Ah, the kind of spot where if we take two steps back, they lose our position entirely."
Shirou ran, and in the instant of his stride, he slapped away two projectiles with the edge of his blade. The bullets, possessing abnormal penetrating power capable of piercing through anything in the physical world, were smashed into a nearby wall, reduced to scrap metal.
From his fingertips to the top of his head, every inch of skin and every bit of sensation was unnervingly clear and vivid. The dozens of "lines" of sight hooked onto him were so distinct they almost seemed visible. But Shirou knew that was merely a keen illusion born of his own mental calculations.
Maintaining the sprint, he left a third of the bullets to Saber. The remainder Shirou shattered with his twin swords, occasionally shifting his body out of range to let the rain of lead strike nothing but air.
Ahead lay a corner. Between the two passages to the left and right, Shirou chose to turn right. Saber kicked off a wall, leaping onto the crest of the opposite wall to cast a glance into the distance.
"Understood. Turn left at the next fork, then head straight. We should reach a blind spot for these fellows."
"Thanks, Saber."
Without needing excessive words, the two completed their tactical communication. Shirou's pace quickened, and he lunged left along the fork in front of him without a moment's pause.
"...Not as troublesome as I imagined."
He merely muttered this before making the turn.
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"'Not as troublesome as I imagined'!?"
The captain of Faldeus's squad felt his cheeks twitching. He knew a bit of lip-reading, so he could tell exactly what the youth's final sentence was.
'Brother, this is more than thirty sniper rifles firing simultaneously—it's a 360-degree, no-dead-zone kill floor.'
Although his own team only had about a dozen snipers, the other ten-plus gunshots were certainly from another team sent by Lord Faldeus; he could figure that out with his pinky finger.
As a highly trained unit, their firing intervals were sometimes within a single second. This guy was either dodging or parrying twenty ultra-high-speed rounds per second! To have a certain-death assassination attempt dismissed as "not troublesome enough"... the Faldeus captain's pride was riddled with holes.
The captain had started out refuse to give in, but now he was nearly beaten into submission. To be honest, he just wanted to escape this nightmare and go home for a good sleep.
Suppressing the twitch in his stomach, he commanded into his radio:
"Rifle units, prepare to deploy. Everyone else... uh, how should I put this... just try your best to snipe him dead..."
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"Oh no, oh no, oh no! We're dead, we're dead!"
The voice of the captain from Bazdilot's side was trembling.
"If this keeps up, Lord Bazdilot is going to kill us when we get back!"
He muttered words of terror far greater than those of the person being sniped while frantically reloading and pulling the trigger. As the gun roared, the captain's shoulder—which was being forcibly held together by reinforcement magecraft to withstand the recoil of the anti-materiel rifle—went numb.
Luckily, this bullet wasn't blocked by the whirlwind escorting the youth. However, the red-haired youth simply raised a hand, and the bullet turned into dust.
"Whyyyyy!?"
The Bazdilot captain knew very well that the power of that round was enough to punch through standard magecraft defenses. How could he just take it? And the youth was dealing with a dozen other shots at the same time he intercepted that one.
In reality, the number of snipers was already higher than planned. Although his own team had only a dozen people, the other ten-plus gunshots were definitely from another team sent by Lord Bazdilot; he could figure that out with his toes.
Yet, even so, the opponent had the spare energy to argue over what looked like a toy while casually nullifying the snipers... Was he trying to insult snipers everywhere?
The Bazdilot captain's eyes were bloodshot. He screamed into his walkie-talkie with all his might:
"If you want to live, speed up the fire! Survive! We have to stay alive!!"
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Shirou and Saber continued to run forward.
While Shirou was almost mechanically parrying bullets flying from chaotic directions, he watched Saber's agile form flicker before his eyes. At that moment, he felt his phone vibrate in his side pocket.
Shirou hesitated for a fraction of a second, then finally used the smallest possible movement to tilt the phone out of his pocket for a quick glance.
[Shirou, where are you? Are you okay? Please tell me as soon as possible!]
The sender was a certain Eldest Daughter of the Tohsaka family. He didn't know what had happened for her to send a message like this.
'Are you a worried mother?'
Shirou first let the phone slide back. After thinking for a moment, he let go of one weapon to reach for the phone. Using a technique called blind-typing, he sent a text without taking the phone out of his pocket. As a trade-off for keeping one hand occupied, he had to expend more physical effort to dodge the downpour of stray bullets.
One projectile ricocheted off an alley wall—this one was outside the lines he had visualized. However, a reaction speed that made an instant feel like an eternity compensated for it. After projecting a sword into the air, the bullet hit it dead center and deflected.
[I'm fine. Back in a bit.]
He sent the message and immediately regripped the manifested blade with the same hand.
The reason he said "back in a bit" was because neither he nor Saber were currently heading toward the hotel they originally intended to return to. Bringing enemies to one's own base while knowing they are in pursuit isn't bold—it's stupid. Even if they escaped the snipers, they'd have to confirm they'd shaken the tail before considering going back.
'Really, there was no need to worry so much about me.'
Shirou's expression softened at the thought of the relief Rin might feel upon seeing the message.
Then, suddenly sensing something, Shirou looked toward the rooftops behind the walls of the passage.
"They're here."
Five hundred meters away.
A dense array of dark, hollow muzzles—not from sniper rifles, but from a coordinated line—stood in perfect formation. Their muzzles were about to erupt with orange-red light.
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