Shirou had no intention of sharing these matters with anyone else. When someone came to the tent looking for Amiya, he simply put the card away and woke the other three as well.
"Sorry, were you resting?"
The visitors were none other than the elite operators Ace, Scout, and Blaze, currently Rhodes Island's strongest combat forces that could be deployed at their own discretion.
Shirou belonged to Penguin Logistics. He was technically an ally rather than a member of Rhodes Island, so there were many matters in which it would be inconvenient for him to become directly involved. Doing so would complicate the nature of the entire situation.
Of course, if circumstances deteriorated badly enough, nobody would care whether things became complicated or not.
Neither Rhodes Island nor Penguin Logistics were the type to stand by and do nothing.
"It is fine. We were only taking a short nap... Are you here for Doctor?"
Amiya was not particularly surprised by their arrival.
Having just woken up, however, she still looked a little groggy. Sitting beside an equally bewildered Rosmontis, the two of them made Blaze desperately want to rush over and hug them both while rubbing their heads.
Unfortunately, she could not.
She had been busy outside the entire time, leaving her covered in dirt and with snow-soaked clothing.
If she dirtied the little bunny and little kitty's clothes, they would have to bathe in this freezing weather.
They might catch a cold.
That was unacceptable.
"Partly. According to reports from our reconnaissance operators, a large number of armed groups have already gathered between Ursus and Chernobog. Their equipment is extremely sophisticated, and they are currently advancing toward Chernobog."
Ace swept his gaze across everyone in the tent and only spoke after confirming there were no outsiders present.
The situation could only be described as terrible.
At least several hundred armed militants were moving toward them. Even with Reunion and Penguin Logistics added to their forces, defending against such a force would not be easy.
Moreover, Ursus might be backing those armed groups from behind the scenes. Combined with the Ursus military watching from outside, their situation was becoming increasingly dangerous.
"Armed groups, huh?"
After quickly grasping the situation, both Doctor and Amiya immediately became serious.
Although Doctor had lost their memories, most matters within the camp during the past two days had been handled by Doctor. As a result, Doctor actually understood the camp's current condition better than Amiya and could understand why Ace had braved the snowstorm to report in person.
As for Amiya, under Kal'tsit's guidance she had already developed impressive tactical and command abilities.
However, her age remained an unavoidable weakness.
Yet under such pressure, Amiya showed neither panic nor hesitation.
Instead, she clearly voiced her own thoughts.
"Ursus probably will not target Rhodes Island directly. Their real target should be the infected rioters who destroyed Chernobog, or rather, Reunion.
"However, we all know those so-called infected rioters were manipulated by Black Snake, Kashchey. The current state of Chernobog is entirely his doing.
"But Ursus will not care about that. Or perhaps they do not need to care. Kashchey's ties with Ursus run extremely deep. It is safe to say that Ursus has provided considerable support for him to reach his current position."
Amiya combined the intelligence Talulah had shared with her own conclusions before presenting her analysis.
Kashchey's objective was actually quite simple.
He wanted to provoke a war between Ursus and Lungmen, or perhaps even Yan as a whole, in an attempt to restore Ursus's former glory.
Chernobog and Reunion were merely pieces on his chessboard.
According to Talulah's original understanding, she herself was supposed to be the one possessed and manipulated into leading Reunion's destruction under the banner of its leader.
However, with Archer's help, she escaped Kashchey's control.
Yet Kashchey apparently had no intention of abandoning either Talulah or the pieces he had already arranged. Instead, he simply adopted a different identity and hid himself within Reunion.
After all, the infected were a group whose emotions could easily be stirred, and they possessed considerable power.
As long as they were properly controlled, they could still serve his purposes.
As for whether other nations might eventually uncover the truth and condemn Ursus?
That was practically impossible.
No matter what happened, Ursus could simply place Reunion and the infected front and center, portraying themselves as the innocent victims.
Everything could be blamed on the infected.
"That is vicious."
After listening carefully to Amiya's explanation, Doctor felt a headache coming on.
Rhodes Island had seemingly already stepped into the middle of the game.
Technically, they could withdraw and wash their hands of the entire affair.
But that was clearly the worst possible option.
If Rhodes Island left, Reunion and the refugees sheltering in the camp would likely become the next pieces to be sacrificed on the board.
Amiya and the others would never stand by and allow that to happen.
Because of that, Doctor did not even bother suggesting withdrawal.
Instead, they looked toward the others, hoping to hear their opinions.
If there was any alternative, Doctor did not want to make the worst choice available.
"Armed groups and military forces? If that is all we are dealing with, there should not be much of a problem."
Shirou frowned.
He knew his current condition would allow him to project approximately five Caladbolgs at full power.
If used properly, that should be enough to force the enemy to retreat.
The only problem was—
"Are the Emperor's Blades among them as well?"
For Shirou, the Emperor Blades were the truly troublesome opponents.
It was not that he could not defeat them.
The issue was that they were essentially walking sources of contamination.
If he used too much force, there was a very real possibility that the substance existed inside their bodies would rupture and spill out.
Contaminating Ursus territory would be one thing.
Contaminating his allies would be far more problematic.
Shirou did not fully understand what existed within the Emperor Blades, but based on the information he had obtained, he was certain it was nothing good.
Ideally, those things should never be allowed to emerge.
But what if an Emperor Blade could be eliminated instantly?
Back then, after being affected by absorbing the Originium converted mana Archer had apparently been pursued by Emperor Blades and a large military force. He had used Saber's Noble Phantasm to annihilate all of them in a single strike.
That meant that with sufficient firepower, it was entirely possible to destroy both the Emperor Blades and whatever lurked inside them at the same time.
"If there is only one of them, I could try gambling on it and project the Holy Sword."
But if there were two or more Emperor Blades, things would become troublesome...
He would need to ensure that all of them were within the attack's effective range.
In short, if they were only facing ordinary soldiers and armed groups, Shirou was confident he could drive them back.
If Emperor Blades were involved, however, things became much harder to predict.
Without Emperor Blades, a display of explosive firepower would be enough to intimidate them into retreating.
With one Emperor Blade, a beam attack would serve as the deterrent.
With two or more...
He would have to adapt according to the situation.
"We have not detected any so far, but it is best to assume they are present. After all, Shirou, you already encountered one inside Chernobog."
Scout replied.
Everyone present had at least heard rumors regarding the Emperor Blades.
As far as they knew, one Emperor Blade had already appeared in Chernobog and had fought Shirou before.
"Are they really that troublesome?"
Doctor, one of the few people unfamiliar with the Emperor Blades and someone who relied heavily on gathering information to assess a situation, raised a hand and asked.
"The Emperor Blades are Ursus's highest combat force. If there is only one, Scout, Blaze, and I could probably keep it occupied. But defeating one would still be difficult."
Ace gave a simple explanation.
There were too many uncertainties in battle, and they were currently operating inside Ursus territory, where the overall situation heavily favored the enemy.
The three elite operators could likely hold an Emperor Blade back for a time, but actually defeating one would require considerable effort.
If Rosmontis joined them, they might be able to kill it.
However, they were merely explaining the Emperor Blade's strength to Doctor. There was no need to bring that up, especially since Doctor did not fully understand how terrifying Rosmontis became when she fought seriously.
"So three elite operators can only contain one?"
Doctor now had a rough idea of just how powerful an Emperor Blade was.
After a moment of thought, Doctor turned toward Shirou.
This was the man who had dismembered a giant stone statue in an instant with an axe-sword and had even shattered a Catastrophe.
As far as Doctor knew, he represented the absolute pinnacle of firepower.
His answer would determine their course of action.
"What I can do depends on whether we take the unknown contamination inside them into account."
Shirou answered.
"If we ignore whatever is inside them, I am confident I can kill one directly.
"If not, I would need to project a different weapon and destroy both the Emperor Blade and the contamination inside it at the same time."
Shirou added the most important piece of information regarding the Emperor Blades, making everyone understand that the real problem was what they carried within them.
"Contamination?"
Amiya recalled that Kal'tsit had mentioned something about it before, though she had never gone into detail.
"An Emperor Blade's armor exists to restrain whatever is inside it. Once that armor is damaged, the thing within may leak out and potentially engulf the surrounding area.
"I do not know all the details, but one thing is certain: even the Emperor Blades themselves fear what is inside them.
"At the very least, within Ursus territory, they do not want those things escaping.
"As for Penguin Logistics..."
Shirou paused briefly.
"The term they use to describe what is inside them is: evil."
As he spoke, Shirou pulled out a sheet of paper and sketched an Emperor Blade.
He pointed out several distinctive features, much like the information package Yith had once provided him.
"That is... pretty abstract."
Looking at the pitch-black stick figure and the pipe-like tubes covering its body, Doctor could not help commenting.
"As long as you can understand it, that is enough. Do not focus on the details."
Shirou knew perfectly well that his drawing skills were not impressive.
Besides, the current circumstances hardly allowed him to sit down and produce a detailed illustration.
As long as people could recognize what it was supposed to represent, that was sufficient.
"Then that really does make things difficult. We are in a very passive position."
Realizing that their previous remark had escaped before their brain had properly engaged, Doctor hurriedly changed the subject.
Putting aside the abstract drawing, the Emperor Blades were already a nightmare to deal with.
They possessed top-tier combat strength and carried something akin to a living contamination bomb inside them.
Any commander would develop a headache facing opponents like that.
Still, based on Shirou's explanation, as long as he was given enough time, he could find a way to eliminate them.
In that case...
Perhaps the situation was not actually as hopeless as it seemed?
Thinking about Shirou's previous accomplishments and the complete confidence with which he dismissed armies and armed groups, a single sentence repeatedly echoed through Doctor's mind.
We need to find a way to deploy the invincible Shirou.
There was no way this battle could be won without him.
Without Shirou, a tactical retreat would almost certainly be the only option.
Was this guy basically a walking Catastrophe?
Oh right.
He had shattered a Catastrophe before.
Never mind, then.
The real question was where to place this invincible Shirou on the battlefield.
"What about the others?"
Seeing Doctor scribbling furiously across the notebook, the group wisely chose not to interrupt their train of thought and continued their discussion elsewhere.
Taking advantage of the pause, Shirou asked about the whereabouts of the Penguin Logistics members.
"After they finished helping me earlier, I told them to get some rest. I did not bring them along."
Blaze lowered her voice as she replied.
"That is good."
Knowing that the members of Penguin Logistics were resting somewhere inside the camp instead of working out in the blizzard, Shirou finally felt relieved.
Although they usually looked rather unreliable, when it came to work, the four of them never cut corners.
They were the type who would drive straight into the middle of a gang shootout just to make sure a delivery arrived on time.
Granted, after they drove through, the gangs would end up completely wiped out while the four of them emerged entirely unharmed.
Still, it spoke volumes about their dedication to their jobs.
When there was work to do, they would complete it with absolute seriousness.
When there was no work, they would immediately collapse onto a sofa and spend the day playing video games.
"Still, are you really that confident, Shirou? You do not seem to take those armed groups seriously at all."
With the serious discussion finally over, Blaze let out a sigh of relief and returned to the familiar demeanor Shirou knew.
She plopped herself down between Rosmontis and Amiya, serving as a walking heater.
Of course, she did not immediately throw her arms around them.
She kept a little distance instead.
The moment Blaze sat down, the temperature inside the tent rose to an incredibly comfortable level.
Rosmontis could not help yawning. Curling up with her knees hugged to her chest, she transformed into a mysterious white fluffy bundle and leaned against Shirou's arm.
Being dragged into a highly serious military discussion immediately after waking up was asking quite a lot of her.
"Exusiai once said that there is no problem that cannot be solved with an explosion. If there is, then use several more."
By now, Shirou had become somewhat accustomed to Rosmontis's behavior.
He merely adjusted his arm slightly to give her a more comfortable place to lean against.
At the same time, he borrowed one of Exusiai's famous sayings in an attempt to lighten the mood alongside Blaze.
"...That actually sounds pretty reasonable. It suits you too."
Upon hearing Shirou's response, Blaze was initially about to point out that nobody had that much explosive ammunition in reserve.
Then she remembered something.
The Shirou sitting in front of her seemed to be, more or less, a walking armory.
In that case, never mind.
Please, by all means, use as much firepower as necessary.