"There are signs of people inside the building on the left. Stay alert."
Having recovered a little, Shirou had become a human radar station while riding on the crossbowman's back.
If he pushed himself, he could probably walk on his own now.
The problem was that his walking speed would be about the same as an elderly man using a cane, so he could only continue relying on others to carry him.
Still, Shirou was not completely idle.
He had the crossbowman find a concealed location with a decent field of view, allowing him to use his eyesight and hostility detection to scout the enemies in the area.
The crossbowman then acted as his loudspeaker, relaying everything he saw.
"Tch... Are these people all tired of living? Wave after wave of them keep coming here to die."
After passing Shirou's information to the rest of the Yeti Squadron, the crossbowman lowered his body and complained.
"Their target is probably me, right? You all could simply—"
Shirou could more or less guess why these people kept attacking.
Shirou could clearly feel a gaze fixed upon him.
It was filled with malice, making him feel as though he were being watched by a snake.
It was not as if he had not tried to identify the source of the gaze.
The problem was that there were simply too many people wearing white masks.
He genuinely could not tell them apart.
If he had been capable of moving freely, he would have charged straight in and dragged the person out himself.
Unfortunately, his body still did not feel like his own.
Even raising an arm felt exhausting.
The other side had probably noticed his condition as well.
That was why they kept sending people to wear down Frostnova and the Yeti Squadron's stamina.
If they abandoned him, they could leave safely.
Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, the crossbowman interrupted him.
"Abandoning a teammate is not something we do. Besides, you just saved us. We are only returning the favor."
"But—"
Shirou tried to argue, but the crossbowman cut him off again before he could continue.
"There is no 'but.' You cannot even move right now. If you want to do something, figure out how to walk first. The weak do not get a choice."
Shirou: "..."
Fine.
He could not argue with that.
The meaning behind the crossbowman's words was simple.
If Shirou wanted Frostnova and the others to leave him behind, he would first need to be capable of moving on his own.
And that was obviously impossible.
Besides, right now he truly was weak.
Very weak.
Previously, he had spent his time in the relatively peaceful city of Lungmen, so he had never fully understood just how dangerous this land could be.
The strong preyed upon the weak.
In places where rules were vague or nonexistent, that was the absolute truth.
As long as one's fists were large enough, there was no problem that could not be solved.
That was a very Ursus way of thinking.
After Shirou fell silent, the crossbowman did not continue the conversation.
They were on a battlefield.
Anything that could distract them was best avoided.
Suddenly, Shirou seemed to sense something and lifted his gaze toward the distance.
"Enemy?"
The crossbowman was startled by the movement and immediately asked.
"No... reinforcements are almost here."
After thinking for a moment, Shirou recognized the feeling.
A version of himself from certain memories had often shared this kind of sensation with Archer.
Or perhaps it was more accurate to call it resonance.
There were no Servants here, however.
So Shirou guessed that Amiya, who possessed the Mana Crystal, was currently on her way.
Under the present circumstances, however, Shirou actually hoped Amiya and the others would not come.
But this was no longer only about him.
There were also Frostnova and the members of the Yeti Squadron, people he barely knew, yet who were still fighting for his sake.
As a result, all Shirou could do was pray that Amiya would bring plenty of reinforcements.
Ideally, every elite operator Rhodes Island had.
Otherwise, they might not be able to defeat those people.
"Reinforcements, huh? At this point, the Boss should also be on the way."
Hearing that it was reinforcements rather than enemies, the crossbowman finally relaxed.
He quickly estimated the timing in his head.
The other team that had escorted the students and refugees away should have reached the Azazel Clinic by now.
That also meant the rest of Reunion's members and leaders had likely received the news.
He could not speak for everyone else, but Talulah was definitely near the Azazel Clinic.
After all, that stronghold currently contained the most complete stockpile of supplies available to Reunion within Chernobog.
Being a clinic, it also contained precious medical resources.
Someone important had to remain there to oversee it.
"You cannot let your guard down. The real enemy has not shown themselves yet."
Seeing the relieved expression on the crossbowman's face, Shirou spoke up to remind him.
The Yeti Squadron had only been dealing with rioters so far.
Shirou knew very well that the true threat was not among them.
The owner of that gaze, along with the Emperor Blades, were likely the enemies they truly needed to be wary of.
That was why Shirou hoped Amiya would bring as many people as possible when she arrived.
Otherwise, the operators of Rhodes Island would also be placed in danger.
At this moment, Shirou desperately wished he could stand up and fight instead of remaining here waiting for rescue.
Meanwhile, on Amiya's side.
The group was currently engaged in battle with a force equipped with high-quality military gear. Judging from the uniform style of their equipment and their combat methods, Amiya was certain that these people belonged to an Ursus military regiment.
"These people are really troublesome. Texas! I am leaving the ground units to you!"
Magazine after magazine was emptied, and the halo-like wings of light behind Exusiai were almost leaving afterimages.
After all, she was the only sniper here.
Naturally, she had to deal with the more troublesome lightly armored units and aerial targets.
Rosmontis?
That was already beyond the scope of a conventional sniper.
In terms of sheer destructive power, she could easily be compared to Shirou himself.
She was definitely not someone Exusiai, whose shots merely produced harmless clanking sounds against heavily armored targets, could compare herself to.
Besides, Rosmontis had other responsibilities.
At that moment, she was working together with Amiya and Blaze to eliminate the enemies that appeared even more dangerous.
With Sora's support and everyone performing beyond their usual limits, dealing with these enemies should have been easy—
Except it absolutely was not.
The others were managing reasonably well, but Exusiai, who relied on firearms, was keenly aware that her stockpile of etched ammunition was being consumed at an alarming rate.
It was not the cost that worried her.
The problem was that there was no way to replenish ammunition here.
After several seconds of consideration and assessment, Exusiai decided to stop targeting ground units and save her remaining ammunition exclusively for the drones.
"Croissant, move up."
The moment she received her teammate's instruction, Texas immediately adjusted their squad's combat formation.
Originally, she and Croissant had been protecting Sora and Exusiai.
However, without sufficient firepower to delay the enemy, being surrounded was only a matter of time.
So Texas decided to charge directly into the enemy ranks and deal with the more troublesome casters and crossbowmen herself.
The task of protecting the others would be left to Croissant.
"Leave it to me!"
With a powerful swing of her massive hammer, Croissant knocked back every enemy in front of her.
They might be couriers, but they were couriers from Penguin Logistics.
Combat was something they excelled at.
After changing tactics, most of the pressure shifted onto Texas.
After all, she was the one diving straight into the enemy formation.
For her, however, it was nothing unusual.
After replacing several Originium light swords and eventually receiving support from Amiya and Rosmontis, the group finally managed to eliminate all of their opponents.
As for Blaze, she was currently pressing her chainsaw against an infected fighter dressed in Reunion clothing.
It looked like she was interrogating him.
"Amiya, are we still far from Shirou's location?"
After confirming that the immediate crisis had been resolved, Rosmontis turned to Amiya and asked.
At present, their direction depended entirely on the black crystal in Amiya's hand.
They did not have an exact location to follow.
Furthermore, Shirou himself was still moving, which only increased the difficulty of finding him.
"We are closer than before."
Closing her hand around the Mana Crystal and sensing it carefully, Amiya could feel that the pulling force was much stronger than it had been earlier.
That meant they were getting closer and closer to Shirou.
However, a new problem had emerged.
The pull from the Mana Crystal seemed almost too strong.
It had never reacted this intensely before.
Amiya did not know whether that was a good sign or a bad one.
Still, all they could do was continue following the crystal's guidance.
"We need to hurry. That guy confessed everything. Shirou's situation does not seem very good."
Before Amiya could tell everyone about her concerns, Blaze returned carrying her chainsaw.
The man she had interrogated had been kicked unconscious and left lying off to the side.
He was only an ordinary infected individual.
However, because his Originium Arts possessed useful support capabilities, he had apparently been selected to accompany this mixed force that included members of an Ursus military regiment.
Precisely because he was only an ordinary infected person, Blaze had managed to get everything out of him simply by revving her chainsaw a few times in front of his face.
Unfortunately, he did not know much.
All he knew was that the people above him were trying to find the person who had stopped the Catastrophe.
To accomplish that, they had mobilized every available force within Chernobog.
Even so, that information was already enough for the group.
After all, they knew exactly who had stopped the Catastrophe.
Once they learned that Shirou's situation was extremely dangerous, nobody even bothered treating their wounds before continuing onward.
As the distance closed, Amiya could clearly feel the Mana Crystal in her hand growing increasingly restless.
At the same time, the sounds of battle became audible.
"There are a lot of people fighting over there. What should we do? Push straight through?"
As someone with extensive field experience, Blaze could tell from the sounds alone that a huge number of people were gathered ahead.
Footsteps and the clash of metal never ceased.
The scent of blood in the air was also thick.
There were many enemies, but that was not a major concern for her.
She had completed missions far more difficult than this.
Compared to those, charging in and pulling someone out was nothing.
"Do not act recklessly. Those are not just infected rioters in there. There are other factions involved as well."
Hearing Blaze's suggestion, Amiya frowned slightly as she replied.
Blaze was genuinely the type of person who would do something like that, which was exactly why Amiya felt the need to warn her specifically.
The strategy Blaze had proposed was the worst possible option.
Unless there was truly no other choice, Amiya would never allow Blaze to carry out such a plan.
It would be sending her to her death.
There were not only infected fighters and Ursus soldiers inside.
There was a very real possibility that Imperial Guards were present as well.
The Imperial Guards of Ursus, the Emperor's Blades were enemies even Dr. Kal'tsit treated with caution.
Amiya still remembered the deep frown on Kal'tsit's face when she had spoken about them.
Anything capable of making Kal'tsit frown like that was certainly not something their small group could handle easily.
Even if they could win, the price would likely be enormous.
"Got it, got it."
After receiving Amiya's verbal warning, Blaze immediately raised both hands in surrender.
Under the circumstances, she did not believe Amiya was exaggerating.
Besides, when the little rabbit became serious, even Blaze found her intimidating.
"..."
Once Blaze quieted down, Amiya began considering a battle plan.
Countless possibilities flashed through her mind.
Most of them, however, were extremely dangerous.
They simply did not have enough people.
That severely limited the strategies available to them.
BOOM—
Just as Amiya was deep in thought, a massive explosion echoed from the distance.
At the same time, the temperature around them rose several degrees.
What had been merely chilly moments before suddenly became hot enough to make people sweat.
"Was that Shirou?"
Upon hearing the explosion, Exusiai's first thought was that Shirou had started firing again.
"No. That was not Shirou. Someone is using Originium Arts, and it is a very powerful fire-type Originium Art."
Texas immediately rejected Exusiai's guess.
After all, she had clearly seen flames engulf a building before it exploded.
As far as she knew, Shirou could not do that.
While it was possible he had revealed yet another new ability, Texas knew that in battle Shirou generally preferred relying on the weapons and techniques he used most often.
"Fire... could it be Talulah?"
Looking at the building that now had a massive hole blasted through it, Amiya immediately thought of her.
After all, they had spoken over the communicator before the Catastrophe.
That was why Talulah was the first person who came to mind.
According to everything they knew, Talulah possessed fire-based Originium Arts with tremendous destructive power.
BOOM—
A second explosion followed shortly afterward.
Several nearby buildings burst into flames.
The surrounding temperature rose even further, while the orange-red glow of the fire illuminated the area.
"...We are going in directly. We need to find Shirou as quickly as possible."
Feeling the pull of the Mana Crystal in her hand growing stronger and stronger, Amiya pressed her lips together before choosing the most straightforward approach.
The commotion over there was enormous.
It had already drawn the attention of countless people.
That also meant moving on their side would become much easier.
Moreover, the Mana Crystal's reaction was becoming increasingly intense.
The pull had become so strong that even Amiya felt as though she might lose her grip on it.
It was almost as if the crystal itself desperately wanted to return to Shirou's side as quickly as possible.