Although he had already put some distance between himself and them, Shirou could still hear W's cries of frustration.
Listening to the sound, he felt thoroughly refreshed.
Then again, perhaps it was simply because he had only just escaped from a block of ice, leaving his entire body feeling unusually cool.
This battle had not resulted in any casualties.
Well, aside from a certain "W" getting stepped on.
For some reason, despite having concluded that the Reunion members wearing red armbands were also suspicious, Shirou still could not bring himself to strike them seriously.
In the situation earlier, if he had fought at full strength from the very beginning, he could have dealt with them immediately and avoided being separated from the others.
But he could not bring himself to do it.
Instead, he had chosen to stall and drag things out.
Why?
Was it simply because they had some connection to Archer?
"This is Shiro—... The communicator and all my personal belongings have been frozen into ice shards? Was I trapped in the ice for too long?"
Pushing those thoughts aside, Shirou reached for his communicator to contact Amiya.
Only then did he discover that the device was still frozen solid, with over half of it shattered into pieces.
His small pouch had suffered a similar fate.
When he had jumped earlier, the ice-hardened pouch had torn open, scattering all of its contents.
Fortunately, his Mystic Code had survived.
Otherwise, Shirou would probably be standing around without any clothes right now.
Other than Shirou himself, the only thing that had remained intact was the Mystic Code he was wearing.
After confirming this, he decisively discarded all the frozen debris.
Most of it was already ruined beyond repair.
Keeping it on his person would only make him carry around chunks of ice.
He had already been chilled enough for one day.
He did not need any more.
"I seem to be pretty hard on communicators."
Watching the communicator hit the ground and shatter into countless icy fragments, Shirou could not help but make a small joke at his own expense.
Perhaps it was his fighting style.
Perhaps it was just bad luck.
Either way, he felt as though communicators and he simply had incompatible destinies.
At least he did not have to pay for replacements himself.
Otherwise, Penguin Logistics would have one more person complaining about being broke.
"I need to get over there and let everyone know I am alive. Otherwise, they will probably start carrying weapons into the city to search for me."
The issue of the communicator quickly left his mind.
After all, its purpose had been to report his status.
Since it was broken, he would simply have to find another way.
And he needed to hurry.
Because Shirou did not even want to imagine what Penguin Logistics might do otherwise.
Chernobog was already chaotic enough.
It certainly did not need any additional chaos.
Although his thoughts kept urging him to move faster and faster, his actual pace slowed more and more.
Eventually, he stopped entirely.
A Catastrophe was approaching.
Like the stillness before a storm, dark clouds were slowly gathering overhead.
Meanwhile, the mobile city known as Chernobog remained anything but quiet.
He could hear the crackling of flames.
He could hear the sounds of battle.
He could hear cries for help.
And screams.
At first, Shirou's highest priority had been ensuring that Rhodes Island escaped safely.
Because of that, he had deliberately ignored those sounds.
He understood very well that if he allowed himself to waver, it could affect the operation.
He knew how to prioritize.
But now, with the main Rhodes Island force having successfully withdrawn...
Could he finally do what he wanted to do?
The moment the thought appeared, it rapidly grew beyond control, spreading through his mind like wildfire.
When had it begun?
When he first arrived in Terra, most of his memories had been missing.
Even the ideal he had once treasured above all else had been pushed aside.
Perhaps he had even felt a faint resistance toward it.
Yet as he witnessed the memories of other versions of Emiya Shirou...
As he made decisions again and again, taking action each time...
As he saw the smiles of the people he helped...
He would always feel a warm sensation in his heart.
That feeling was called happiness.
The existence known as Emiya Shirou was deeply distorted.
He could only feel happiness when he saw others become happy.
That was why he constantly gave of himself.
Why he continuously helped others.
By the time he realized it, he had already sunk so deeply into that way of life that there was no escape.
Not that he disliked it.
Instead, he did his best to divide his time among everyone who needed it.
Though it left him exhausted.
Though it was tiring.
His heart always felt fulfilled.
Only during moments like those could he clearly feel himself.
Could he clearly feel that the person known as Emiya Shirou was still alive.
So...
When exactly had it started?
Had it begun during the Holy Grail War in which he fought?
Or had it started after arriving in this world?
At this moment, Shirou finally realized something.
Long ago, a large piece of his already-incomplete heart had been torn away.
But now...
That missing piece had returned.
And it had become even stronger than before.
Standing atop the building, Shirou quickly made his decision.
He was no longer the reckless youth he once was.
To borrow Croissant's words, he was an adult now.
Naturally, he wanted both.
There were no urgent matters demanding his immediate attention.
So his primary objective could be saving people.
But returning to the rendezvous point and reassuring everyone from Penguin Logistics and Rhodes Island was equally important.
He did not want them waiting for him.
Nor did he want them searching for him and getting caught in the Catastrophe.
"Since I have made up my mind, then let's do it!"
Once he had made up his mind, Shirou set off once more.
At the same time, a black longbow appeared in his hand.
The crimson figure leaped across the rooftops of Chernobog.
The arrows he released fell from the sky like meteors, saving countless people who were being hunted down.
Wherever his eyes could reach, his arrows struck with perfect accuracy, hitting those who were about to commit acts of violence.
If they were merely chasing others, Shirou would simply use his arrows to stop the pursuit.
If arrows were not enough to solve the problem, he would descend with Kanshou and Bakuya in hand and deal with it personally.
The Red Devil—
A title that sent chills down people's spines.
The name began spreading from mouth to mouth, eventually reaching Shirou's own ears.
There was no doubt about it.
At this point, Shirou had been forced to inherit that title.
One could consider it his reward for cleaning up the mess Archer had left behind.
Though personally, he had absolutely no desire for such an embarrassing title.
At first, only a portion of Reunion's members recognized this style of attack and the crimson figure standing atop distant buildings.
But as Shirou intervened more and more frequently, increasing numbers of people remembered that such a person existed on the frozen plains of Ursus.
The amount of magical energy he was consuming was actually quite small.
He was not projecting Noble Phantasms that required enormous amounts of mana.
Instead, he was using ordinary arrows and Kanshou and Bakuya, which had relatively low magical costs.
What suffered instead was his stamina.
Both Shirou himself and his crimson Mystic Code were covered in blood.
The outfit had already been stained with large amounts of blood before.
After several more battles, dried blood mixed with fresh blood, while layers of dust clung to everything.
At this point, Shirou looked rather disheveled.
He did not care.
His attention remained fixed on reaching his destination while doing what he believed needed to be done along the way.
His body was exhausted.
But mentally, he felt fulfilled.
"...All right, I believe it now. His marksmanship really is absurd."
Far away, the group waiting for Shirou had still not seen him return.
As a result, they deployed all of their remaining drones in order to locate him.
Since Shirou had never intended to conceal himself, Rhodes Island's drones quickly found him.
After reviewing the footage transmitted back by the drones, the Doctor's first thought was that Ace had not been wrong about Shirou being primarily a sniper.
If she had not personally witnessed Shirou instantly cutting down a stone giant with an enormous sword, she probably would have reached the same conclusion as Ace.
Seeing something with one's own eyes and merely hearing about it from others were completely different experiences.
"Is he clearing out the rioting Infected as he moves?"
Watching the drone footage alongside the Doctor, Scout quickly understood what Shirou was doing.
It was somewhat reckless.
But he did not dislike it.
Reckless because Shirou was still operating within a highly dangerous zone.
Yet he could not dislike it because Rhodes Island was essentially doing the same thing.
The difference was that they were currently positioned somewhere relatively safe.
If something went wrong, they could immediately evacuate using aircraft.
Some operators had already departed aboard land vehicles.
Those who remained were volunteers.
The majority of those who had left were either caring for the wounded or were injured themselves.
"That is probably the case. Otherwise, given his speed, he should have returned to rendezvous with us long ago."
Ace voiced his opinion while continuing to watch the footage.
The images transmitted by the drones were far from clear due to Originium concentrations and various forms of interference.
Still, they were sufficient to assess Shirou's condition.
"All right! Which direction is he in? Let's head out and drag him back!"
Nearby, Exusiai immediately grabbed her guns and prepared to charge out.
Only to be stopped by Amiya and Rosmontis.
"Calm down. A four-person team rushing in there would practically be suicide."
Holding back the restless Croissant, Blaze let out a sigh.
She understood their desire to rush in and bring their teammate back as quickly as possible.
But given the current state of Chernobog, was this really a place a four-person squad could enter safely?
Even Rhodes Island's main force had nearly suffered casualties while moving together earlier.
If the Doctor had not constantly calculated routes and directed operations throughout the journey, someone might genuinely have died here.
Of course, a major reason they had succeeded was because Shirou and the other dependable operators had opened a path forward.
"For now, let us prepare supplies."
Compared to the others, Texas remained relatively calm.
She began organizing items that might be needed later.
Water.
Rations.
First-aid kits and bandages.
Earlier, she had noticed a great deal of blood covering Shirou.
She did not know whether it belonged to him or someone else.
Still, there was no harm in being prepared.
The black feline operator was right.
If Penguin Logistics' four-person team charged into a confrontation with a massive crowd of Infected, things would not end well for them.
Large-scale frontal combat was not Penguin Logistics' specialty.
Therefore, what they should do now was hold this position and wait for Shirou to return.
Then they could give him a proper scolding.
Of course, all of this assumed that Shirou was not currently in danger.
If he truly found himself in trouble, they certainly would not sit by and do nothing.
"Understood!"
Upon receiving Texas's instructions, Sora immediately went off to prepare supplies.
"Amiya, can we have a drone deliver a communicator? The one Shirou is carrying appears to be broken."
After reviewing the footage several times, the Doctor concluded that Shirou's communicator had probably been damaged.
That would explain why he had not responded.
So the Doctor planned to send a drone carrying a replacement communicator.
Being able to contact him would be far better than simply watching helplessly from afar.
"Yes, that is possible. I will arrange it immediately."
After hearing the Doctor's request, Amiya promptly got to work.
The process was simple.
They merely replaced the camera mounted beneath the drone with a communicator.
It would undoubtedly affect the drone's flight performance somewhat.
But as long as it could deliver the device, that was enough.
Meanwhile, on Shirou's side—
He drove the blade in his hand into the chest of a Reunion member wearing a white mask.
This was already the... he had lost count.
Shirou was no longer sure how many people he had taken down.
Since he started fighting, the number had to be at least two or three hundred.
These were all people he had personally dealt with, one arrow and one blade at a time.
He had not relied on large-scale finishing techniques like Broken Phantasm.
And that did not even include those whom he had driven back or persuaded to retreat.
At the same time, Shirou began noticing something strange about some of the rioters within Reunion.
For example, the group standing before him now possessed combat capabilities that far exceeded those of the others.
Their coordination during the battle had also been remarkably good.
Most importantly, their equipment was exceptionally well-made.
Although they wore the same white coats and white masks as other Reunion members, hidden beneath them was a complete set of standardized gear.
They looked less like a mob and more like a highly trained...
Military unit?
The thought caused Shirou to swallow unconsciously.
If his suspicion was correct, then what was happening here was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
"Just who are you people...?"
The possibility sent a chill down his spine.
He wanted to gather information directly from the surviving individuals before him.
He hoped that he was overthinking things.
He hoped his conclusion was wrong.
Unfortunately, events always seemed to move in the direction he least wanted them to.
"You do not need to know who they are."
"Hiss... because you are going to die here."