Shirou's group moved rapidly through the forest and soon arrived at a relatively flat area with few trees.
The location was ideal for Berserker's combat style, and compared to the forest, it also provided a much better environment for Archer's sniping.
Most importantly, there were far fewer blind spots here, allowing Shirou to get a clearer view of the surrounding area.
"Well? Shirou, can you still see where the black mud and Saber are?"
As she prepared emergency-use magecraft, Rin asked the question.
"Do not worry. They are not interested in us. They are still heading toward the place where the explosions are happening."
After surveying the area and confirming there were no immediate problems, Shirou finally spoke about what he was seeing.
He had buried all other thoughts deep inside.
Right now, he was focused solely on the task before him.
He could still distinguish what was important and what was not.
"Are they being attracted by the Servants' battle? Or is it simply instinct driving them to absorb the Servants' magical energy?"
Hearing Shirou's report, Rin fell into thought.
Beside her, Illya said,
"Probably both. First they were drawn here by the Servants' battle, and then they set their sights on the Servants themselves. In any case, the most important thing right now is getting Archer and Berserker to retreat.
"As much as I hate to admit it, that Servant's magical energy and combat ability are truly extraordinary. I am certain those things will be far more interested in him."
Illya was not speaking without evidence. She could clearly—
"Let us hope so... Archer has already begun withdrawing. We should make some preparations on our side as well."
Rin largely agreed with Illya's assessment.
The best-case scenario now was for the two Servants to retreat and gamble on whether the black mud would end up clashing with that Servant instead.
If that failed, they would have no choice but to leave the area as quickly as possible and think of another solution later.
At present, she had no idea what the priest was planning, so there was no way she would seek him out. If they did, there was a good chance they would all be wiped out in one move.
After checking the combat-capable jewels she still had on hand, Rin also discarded some of the documents in her backpack that were no longer necessary, trying to reduce the weight she had to carry.
BOOM—
An even louder explosion than before echoed from the distance.
Shirou was certain it had come from Archer's attack.
After all, he had personally experienced one at close range before, and the strange sensations constantly flowing through his Magic Circuits felt very similar to what he had experienced back then.
It made him suspicious.
Why did his Magic Circuits always react strangely whenever Archer fought?
Why were the incantations they used before casting magecraft exactly the same?
And why...
Why did Archer always seem to target him? Or rather, target him and his ideal of becoming an ally of justice?
An absurd possibility surfaced in Shirou's mind.
But he quickly pushed it aside.
Not only was that possibility ridiculous, but he and Archer were obviously not the same kind of person.
"Shirou, stop daydreaming! Get over here and help! They will be here soon!"
The moment the explosion occurred, Rin had already been preparing to flee.
Yet when she turned around, she found Shirou still standing there blankly, staring at the lingering smoke cloud from the explosion.
Annoyed, she walked over and smacked him on the head.
After being hit twice, Shirou quickly snapped back to reality and went to assist Illya's two maids in setting up several things that he did not quite understand.
"This is so frustrating! When is Shirou going to figure it out? He should just discover the truth already and learn all of Archer's skills!"
Watching Shirou seemingly realize something yet somehow fail to grasp it completely, Blaze felt extremely anxious.
Putting Shirou aside for the moment, Archer clearly knew everything yet insisted on speaking in riddles and making things more difficult.
It made her want to grab a chainsaw and have a very direct conversation with him.
Illya had already explained the relationship between the two, so Blaze knew Shirou absolutely had the potential to grow rapidly.
That was exactly why she felt so impatient.
Would it not be better to speedrun the whole thing? Why struggle through everything the hard way?
"You are being too impatient."
Hearing Blaze's complaint, Talulah gave her own opinion.
"If Shirou gains power through the wrong means, it will do him more harm than good.
"Besides, once Shirou obtains that power, he will almost certainly throw himself into pursuing his ideal afterward. Archer surely understands that."
These were Talulah's own conclusions, based on her understanding of Archer and what she had seen so far.
"That actually makes a lot of sense..."
Blaze was not difficult to convince and quickly understood what Talulah meant.
As observers, they only cared about the present situation.
But Archer, as the person directly involved, was thinking much further ahead.
To put it another way, if it were her, she would probably make the same choice.
Forcing an immature version of yourself to confront a cruel reality was a rather harsh thing to do.
Besides, there were not many peaceful days left anyway.
Unless it was truly urgent, there was no need to rush things.
"But has Saber really become an enemy? She kept staring in Shirou's direction just now!"
Once that topic had run its course, Exusiai immediately started a new one.
That was Saber they were talking about!
She had been Shirou's strongest combat asset earlier, and now she had become an enemy. Just thinking about it was nerve-racking.
"Is it possible that she was simply looking at him?"
Frostnova replied.
She was not inclined to view the situation through overly optimistic lenses. If Saber truly cared that much about Shirou, she should have acted the moment they met rather than continuing to move alongside the black mud.
The black mud overflowing from the Holy Grail was extremely effective against Servants.
The kind of thing that could destroy them upon contact.
"Ugh... this is so complicated!"
After hearing Frostnova's explanation, Exusiai felt a headache coming on.
At this rate she was actually going to have to use her brain.
How had a Holy Grail War become this complicated?
It was supposed to be a battle between seven Servants and their Masters. How had it turned into such a tangled mess?
Could people not be a little more straightforward?
For example, why not just use a huge pile of explosives and settle things that way?
"The answer is practically being shoved in your face. Try thinking a little harder."
Seeing her teammate acting like this, Texas let out a helpless sigh.
While they were discussing things, Shirou's group had finished their preparations.
Although they knew these measures probably would not have much effect on a Servant, being prepared was still better than having nothing at all.
At the very least, they might be able to use them as traps and catch their opponent off guard.
Not long after everything was set up, a red figure appeared within Shirou's field of vision.
Following closely behind was a towering black figure.
"Archer!"
The two were moving quickly. Before Shirou even had the chance to say anything, both Rin and Illya had already spotted their respective Servants.
Both of them bore signs of battle to varying degrees.
Compared to Berserker, however, Archer looked considerably more battered.
But as Berserker's Master, Illya knew that her Servant had used his Noble Phantasm during the fight.
Because of that, she had completely abandoned any inclination to underestimate their opponent.
After regrouping, Berserker naturally took up a position behind Illya, while Archer briefly reported what they had learned about the Servant they had encountered.
As soon as Archer described the enemy, Illya immediately realized who he was talking about.
"An Archer left over from the previous Holy Grail War? Why is that guy still around? If he wanted to experience a second life, why interfere in another Holy Grail War? This is so infuriating! Who on earth summoned that Servant?"
After processing such a large amount of information, Rin felt as though her brain was reaching its limit.
She voiced her frustration directly and, in passing, directed her anger toward the Servant's former Master.
"If I remember correctly, that Archer should have been the Tohsaka family's Servant."
Hearing Rin blame the previous Master, Illya responded with a rather subtle expression.
Rin's face immediately twisted for a moment.
Then she turned toward Archer and began confirming every piece of information about the enemy.
A Servant's weaknesses could be discovered if one possessed enough knowledge and intelligence about them...
The prerequisite, however, was having enough power to exploit those weaknesses.
And clearly, neither their Servants nor Shirou possessed the strength necessary to contend with that opponent.
A Servant who possessed countless Noble Phantasms.
How were they supposed to fight that?
A Noble Phantasm was essentially a Servant's ultimate trump card.
Yet that man possessed an entire collection of them.
What kind of outrageous rich collector was he?
It was enough to make people jealous.
And according to both Archer's and Illya's information, he apparently had even stronger Noble Phantasms that he had not yet revealed.
Without even resorting to his true trump cards, he had already been capable of handling two Servants at once.
He was undoubtedly a formidable enemy.
The question was whether he had already encountered that thing.
If he had, they needed to run immediately.
If he had not, then they would have to make their stand here.
They could not allow the battlefield to reach the city.
And in terms of speed, there was no way they could outrun a Servant.
The stronger the enemy was, the more important it became to eliminate him here and now.
The black mud was deadly to them.
By the same logic, it was deadly to him as well.
They had to seize this opportunity.
At the very least, they needed to take down one major threat.
What if the two sides joined forces?
Then they might as well wait for death.
They could barely handle one of them.
Adding another, even more troublesome enemy to the equation would make the situation completely hopeless.
After gaining a rough understanding of the situation, Rin told Archer to remain on standby and get some rest, while assigning lookout duty to Shirou.
Perhaps it was a natural talent, but Shirou's eyesight was surprisingly excellent. The task could not have been entrusted to anyone more suitable.
In any case, he did not understand the magecraft-related preparations they were setting up.
As for the duty Rin had assigned him, Shirou took it extremely seriously.
After all, a single moment of carelessness could cost him his life.
Not just his own, but everyone else's as well.
They had effectively entrusted the safety of the entire group to him, so there was no way he would treat the responsibility lightly.
Although Servants could sense magical energy, what if their enemy attacked from long range?
Being cautious was always the better option.
Shirou considered countless possibilities.
The one thing he never considered was that their enemy did not regard them as a threat at all.
Before long, Shirou spotted a blond-haired man in a black walking through the forest.
His appearance matched the Servant Archer had described earlier.
The moment Shirou confirmed his arrival, he alerted the others while keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the man.
The stranger walked slowly through the forest with both hands in his pockets.
It was almost as if he were merely taking a leisurely stroll.
Yet Shirou could see that their gazes had already met.
The instant their eyes locked, Shirou saw the man mouth two words.
Then the space beside him distorted slightly.
A golden ripple appeared, and from it a golden sword shot toward Shirou at incredible speed.
"Trace, on—"
In that instant, Shirou knew the sword was a Noble Phantasm.
And he also knew that he himself was the target.
Hurriedly projecting Kanshou and Bakuya, he barely managed to block the attack.
"Fall back."
Resisting a Noble Phantasm with Shirou's still-immature Projection Magecraft was far from easy.
Had Archer not stepped in and knocked the weapon aside, Shirou would likely have been injured.
The crimson-clad Servant stood in front of him, wielding the same pair of black-and-white blades.
Both of them stared toward the enemy in the forest.
"Archer! Follow the plan!"
After Rin shouted the reminder, Archer nodded and advanced.
Berserker charged forward as well.
As for the battle plan, Shirou had not heard all the details clearly.
He only knew that Berserker would do everything possible to hold the enemy in place, while Rin would look for an opportunity to use a Command Seal and enable Archer to unleash his Noble Phantasm at the right moment.
It sounded simple.
Actually carrying it out was another matter entirely.
After all, Shirou had already found it difficult to deal with a casual attack from the enemy.
He could scarcely imagine what the man would be like when fighting seriously.
Then, in the next moment, Shirou saw countless golden ripples appear behind the enemy.
One after another, swords, spears, and various weapons emerged from them.
"You have got to be kidding me... This is basically cheating!"
Looking at the more than one hundred weapons floating behind the man, Rin felt utterly overwhelmed.
Some things sounded manageable when described in words.
Only when seen with one's own eyes or experienced firsthand did one realize just how absurd they truly were.
The sheer number was ridiculous.
And judging by how relaxed he appeared, this was clearly not even his full strength.
"So, instead of fleeing, you chose to stand and fight?"
The golden Servant's voice was filled with disdain.
"Who gave you the courage to do that, mongrels?"
As his words fell, the countless Noble Phantasms behind him launched forward all at once, streaking toward the two Servants like a storm of weapons.