This was a place where nothing existed except swords and Originium crystals.
"Authority... of a Feranmut?"
The moment the battlefield was transferred elsewhere, and confronted with terrain they had never seen before, the Emperor Blades' first thought was a Feranmut Authority.
A power capable of relocating an entire battlefield and replacing space itself was almost impossible for them to associate with anything else.
Perhaps some Originium Arts could achieve something similar, but such abilities were exceedingly rare.
Powers that transported enemies elsewhere did exist, but they usually had strict limitations on distance.
At the very least, everyone present was certain that this place was not Ursus.
The endless plain stretching to the horizon and the surrounding temperature alone made that obvious.
Even with the lingering flames burning nearby, the air was far warmer than anything found in Ursus.
"Authority? No. It is not something so grand. This is nothing more than magecraft."
Hearing the Emperor Blades' murmurs, Shirou pulled out the sword closest to him and replied.
Clang—
The sound of steel being drawn from the hardened earth immediately attracted everyone's attention.
"...The Red Devil!"
The moment they saw Shirou, most of the Emperor Blades were reminded of the red Archer who had once rampaged through Ursus.
With his overwhelming long-range firepower and relentless suppression, he had made life miserable for the guerrilla forces and surrounding armies alike.
The damage he caused had forced them to activate hidden pieces embedded within Reunion and ultimately led to Talulah breaking free from the Black Snake's control.
The consequences had severely weakened their plans and allowed Reunion to develop into what it was today.
Had the Black Snake not later assumed a new identity and regained influence over part of the Infected population, they would have eliminated the threat long ago.
"Hmph. Looks like that guy left quite a trauma on all of you. No wonder you were so desperate to get rid of me. You even mobilized this many Emperor Blades and troops... Should I thank you for all the hard work?"
Shirou was not surprised by their reaction.
Back when he borrowed power from the cards, he had worn the same crimson magecraft attire as Archer.
Although his appearance had later changed to a sleeveless black-and-red version resembling another incarnation of himself, his current outfit was once again very similar to Archer's.
The only major difference was the black sleeve covering his left arm.
If he slicked his hair back as well, he might actually trigger their post-traumatic stress.
Of course, Shirou merely entertained the thought.
If frightening them were enough to drive them away, there would have been no need to deploy Unlimited Blade Works in the first place.
"Hss... Then let us see whether your strength matches that mouth of yours."
The Emperor Blade whose sore spot had been struck raised his sword toward Shirou.
Here, they no longer needed to hold back.
But the same was true for their opponent.
What remained was a simple contest to determine who possessed superior skill.
A black substance different from the energy spheres they had used before began gathering in the Emperor Blades' hands.
Dangerous pressure surged toward Shirou like a rising tide.
"Emperor Blades of Ursus. Blades of the Emperor. I have heard that wherever you stand becomes the territory of Ursus itself."
Faced with the situation before him, Shirou remained completely calm.
As he spoke, he slowly raised the sword in his right hand.
As his arm rose higher and higher, countless swords around him seemed to be pulled from the earth by invisible hands.
One after another, they floated into the sky.
When Shirou's arm finally reached its highest point, every blade instantly changed direction.
All of them pointed directly at the Emperor Blades.
"Then tell me this."
"Can you turn this place into Ursus territory as well?"
Holding his sword aloft, Shirou needed only a single swing of his arm.
The countless blades filling the sky would immediately descend and pierce every Emperor Blade present.
Armor?
Exceptional defenses?
Even water could wear through stone.
And what now pointed at them were blades far sharper than water droplets.
"You..."
The Emperor Blades burned with anger at Shirou's continued provocation not only toward them, but toward Ursus itself.
Yet the current situation left them no room to vent that fury.
Just as they had been unable to ignore Rosmontis's relentless tactical equipment earlier, even Emperor Blades could not disregard attacks of this nature.
The difference was that before, they had feared damage to their armor exposing what lay sealed within.
Now...
They feared dying meaningless deaths.
The Emperor Blades did not fear death.
But dying without purpose was something they could never accept.
If they had to choose a fate, it would be to fight to the last drop of blood for Ursus.
Yet this operation had already been doomed to failure due to Rhodes Island's intervention and Shirou's actions.
As for the Black Snake, neither Shirou nor even Talulah were controlled by Black Snake.
One could say that their mission had ended in complete defeat.
If they all died here, if so many Emperor Blades were lost at once, what sort of blow would that deal to Ursus?
It was a possibility they neither dared nor wished to imagine.
Unfortunately, they no longer had the luxury of hesitation.
They had to admit it.
At this moment, Shirou held the absolute advantage.
There was only one path left forward...
"Everyone else, stand by. Hss..."
"...The next command is yours to give."
The seasoned Emperor Blade stepped forward with his weapon in hand, signaling for the other Emperor Blades to stand down as he did so.
The death of one Emperor Blade and the death of an entire group of Emperor Blades were two very different things.
They had no other options now. If even the thing inside his body could not affect the man before them after his death, then surrender would be the only path left.
As for what they could use to persuade him?
That was probably something for others to figure out.
"Come then!... Emiya Shirou!"
He did not fear death. What he feared was dying without meaning.
Whether it was opening a path for the other Emperor Blades or staking everything on one final attempt to severely wound the enemy before him, either outcome was acceptable to him.
After all, even the worst possible ending was merely death.
Among the Emperor Blades, he was already considered a veteran. Even if he had not died in battle while expanding Ursus' territory, he would not have met a good end regardless.
That was the fate of the Emperor Blades.
Only now did he truly face Shirou head-on. No longer did he address him with another person's title; instead, he called him by his full name.
At this moment, he no longer regarded Shirou as someone's shadow. He genuinely viewed him as a worthy enemy deserving of respect.
Naive as he was, immature as he was, the young man had still forced them into this position through his own strength.
"..."
Faced with the Emperor Blade's willingness to embrace death, Shirou offered no particular comment.
Did he admire the man's courage?
Yes.
But that did not mean he would show mercy.
He knew some information about the Emperor Blades, most of it records of their activities outside Ursus.
For the prosperity of Ursus, they would stop at nothing.
Leaving everything else aside, what he had personally witnessed in Chernobog alone was enough for him to place the Emperor Blades in the same category as Gilgamesh.
Perhaps there were differences between the two in reality, but for Shirou, Gilgamesh represented the worst kind of person he could currently imagine.
Perhaps after witnessing more of the world, he would encounter people even worse than Gilgamesh.
But that would be a matter for the future.
As for now...
He did not need to think about anything. All he needed to do was answer the man's determination to fight.
That said, Shirou was not foolish enough to engage in close combat with sword in hand. There were still several Emperor Blades waiting behind him.
With a sweep of his arm, several swords and blades shot toward the Emperor Blade.
"Hiss..."
The weapons moved incredibly fast, and because they attacked from all directions, the Emperor Blade could only endure them head-on.
Clang—
The first blade was blocked by the sword in his hand, knocking it off course.
Boom—
For the second, he had no time to redirect the force still remaining in his sword and swing it again, so he gathered a small energy projectile in his free hand and blasted the approaching weapon away.
Clang—Crack—
The third blade met his sword once more. Although he successfully deflected it again, a small crack appeared in the weapon.
Crack—
Unable to gather another energy projectile in such a short time, he used the armor on his arm to forcibly block the fourth weapon.
The price was that the armor on his left arm shattered apart, and traces of a black substance began seeping out from within.
The fifth blade shattered his sword.
The sixth, seventh, eighth...
Until finally, several blades pierced straight through the Emperor Blade's body. From those wounds, enormous amounts of black mist burst forth like blood gushing from open arteries.
"Broken Phantasm!"
Seeing this, Shirou did not hesitate. He immediately followed up with a Broken Phantasm.
A massive blaze instantly engulfed the Emperor Blade before erupting upward as a small mushroom cloud.
Although the Noble Phantasms used were not particularly high-ranked, the destructive power created by stacking multiple explosions together was still considerable. At the very least, only a small amount of black mist managed to escape; the rest was completely obliterated by the blast.
Mana...
It seemed to be especially effective against this stuff.
Shirou had already noticed this when he unleashed the flames of Sul-Sugana earlier. Those flames had visibly erased portions of the black mist belonging to the Nation.
It had only been a tiny detail, but even while chanting, he had caught it.
After testing it with the Broken Phantasm, he finally confirmed it.
Damage caused by mana was exceptionally effective against these things.
However, even a Broken Phantasm fueled by numerous Noble Phantasms and a large amount of mana would still result in some leakage. With his current reserves of mana, Shirou probably could not eliminate every Emperor Blade before him.
Unless they all gathered together.
Which was obviously impossible. These people had already witnessed the power of the Holy Sword and would never give Shirou the opportunity to wipe them out in a single strike.
Perhaps... two or three Emperor Blades?
That was the number he could take down while ensuring that both the person and the armor were completely destroyed.
Of course, only he knew that piece of information.
He had to maintain an outward appearance of composure. He could not panic, nor could he show any signs of weakness.
"We admit defeat."
They had no choice but to back down.
After all, a vast number of swords still hung above them, aimed directly at their group.
Although some had been used during the battle, new blades would quickly appear from thin air and fill the gaps.
Under such circumstances, continuing the fight had become meaningless.
The Emperor Blades had long prepared themselves mentally for death, but someone who could completely erase even the demons within their bodies...
They had never encountered such a person before.
They could guess what the veteran Emperor Blade had been thinking. He had placed his hopes on the demon inside his body causing at least some trouble for Shirou after his death, forcing him into a compromise.
But it was now obvious that Shirou possessed a method capable of completely annihilating those demons.
For them, that was not good news at all.
To avoid a meaningless death, surrender was probably their only way out.
"Giving up already? What makes you think I will spare you?"
Seeing events unfold exactly as he had anticipated, Shirou continued playing the role of the "dominant" party, applying even more pressure.
"Hiss... Black Snake still has another vessel outside."
Faced with Shirou's threat, the Emperor Blade, who had been designated by the veteran to take command, thought for a moment before deciding to sell out Black snake.
It was one of the few pieces of information he could think of that Shirou might actually care about.
"Black Snake? Another vessel?"
Hearing the Black Snake's name, Shirou frowned slightly.
He had sensed that unpleasant gaze earlier and had originally assumed he had failed to clean everything up properly.
Now it seemed that what remained had been another vessel.
"Yes. Besides taking over your body, Black Snake originally intended to continue lurking within Talulah as well."
Seeing that Shirou appeared interested in the information, the Emperor Blade briefly sorted through what he knew before speaking.
Although Black Snake was loyal to Ursus, their losses in this operation had been far too severe. In the end, it was all due to flaws in Black Snake's plan.
Because of that, he felt little resistance toward betraying the Black Snake to this extent.
As long as the truly critical information remained secret, it was fine.
"I see. So your plan is to sell out Black Snake in exchange for the lives of your group?"
Shirou accepted that possibility quite readily.
Especially after hearing that Black Snake had intended to possess not only him but also Talulah.
That sounded entirely consistent with the impression he had of the Black Snake.
"...Yes."
After a brief silence, the Emperor Blade finally responded.
He practically forced the word through clenched teeth.
There was humiliation, resentment, and anger mixed into that reply.
If those swords were not still pointed at them from above, and if he were not carrying the expectations of his fallen senior to lead the others out of here, he genuinely wanted to charge forward and self-destruct together with Shirou.
Every time this man spoke, he went straight for the most painful point possible.
Once or twice was tolerable.
But this had already happened so many times that he had lost count.
Infuriating.
Absolutely infuriating.
What was even worse was that he had to suppress it all.
"I understand. But could I not simply kill all of you and then go deal with the Black Snake afterward? At the end of the day, none of you are trustworthy. For all I know, this surrender could just be a pretext for causing more trouble later."
Shirou did not notice the hatred in the man's tone.
What concerned him more was whether this surrender was genuine or merely an excuse to seize hostages and create problems afterward.
Inside Unlimited Blade Works, everything was under his control.
But once the Reality Marble was dismissed and they returned to the real world, that would not necessarily remain true.
When dealing with people like this, he always assumed the worst.
"Hiss..."
This time, the Emperor Blade was genuinely furious.
Shirou could even see the man's clenched fists trembling.
"We have our pride as well. Do not trample on our bottom line again and again."
However, the Emperor Blade quickly suppressed his anger and spoke in a low voice.
"Pride? Heh. Instead of talking about that, why not show a little more sincerity?"
Shirou merely let out a cold chuckle in response.
As soon as the words left his mouth, everyone except the Emperor Blade who had been speaking with him began gathering energy spheres and smashing them into their own armor.
Without holding back in the slightest, each of their suits of armor cracked to varying degrees, and thin wisps of black mist began seeping out from within their bodies.
The Emperor Blades dropped to one knee, pressing their hands against the damaged sections of their armor as they spoke:
"Is this... hiss... hiss... enough?"
Their voices were extremely weak.
"That is good enough."
After briefly examining their condition and confirming that they had lost a significant portion of their combat capability, Shirou withdrew most of the Noble Phantasms suspended overhead.
To be honest, attacking them now was still an option.
However, they had only partially lost their ability to fight, not completely. If he made a move now, they would likely make one final desperate stand.
Besides, Shirou still needed them to point him toward the Black Snake's location.
The current situation was already the best possible outcome from his perspective. If he continued pressing them, they would probably become truly desperate.
He had no desire to experience that feeling again.
It had been thoroughly unpleasant.
"I hope you keep your word. Otherwise... you know what will happen."
As he spoke, Shirou summoned a Caladbolg from above, the threat behind the gesture unmistakable.
He silently thanked Yith for teaching him negotiation techniques.
He had originally believed he would never use them in his lifetime, yet here they were proving useful.
The Shirou of the past would never have imagined a day when he would need to deceive people or threaten them.
Well, actually, the Emperor Blades in front of him did not really count as people.
In his eyes, they were closer to humanoid suits of armor at best.
Threatening people was not exactly a good thing.
But if the target was not really human, then there was no problem with it.