Before departing for Rhodes Island, after handing the intelligence Wei Yenwu had provided him over to Yith, Shirou had asked a question.
"Why are you giving me all of this information?"
He was genuinely puzzled.
This was supposed to be nothing more than a support-and-extraction mission.
So why did everyone keep handing him files like these?
"As a precaution, I guess? The Boss thought you might need them, so he gave them to you. I imagine Mr. Wei Yenwu was thinking along the same lines."
While reviewing the newly acquired intelligence, Yith thought for a moment before offering his opinion.
It was not that everyone was worrying excessively.
There had already been unusual activity in Ursus recently.
Providing the information was merely a reminder for Shirou to stay vigilant.
Penguin Logistics simply lacked extensive intelligence on Ursus, so they had dumped everything they had on him at once to give him a useful reference.
As for Wei Yenwu's reasons, Yith could only speculate.
Considering the complicated history between Wei Yenwu and Koschei the Black Snake, perhaps the man had noticed something.
Or perhaps he secretly hoped that if Shirou encountered the Black Snake, he would blast him into oblivion with some overwhelming attack.
Still, Yith leaned toward a simpler explanation.
Wei Yenwu was probably looking out for Shirou.
After all, the Lungmen Guard Department's sniping standards had improved dramatically recently, and Shirou had effectively become half of Chen's swordsmanship instructor.
Given Wei Yenwu's personality, he probably would not let go of someone so useful until every last bit of value had been squeezed out of him.
"But this is just a simple extraction mission right? I can understand preparing for the Black Snake, but the odds of running into an army or Emperor Blades should be pretty low, right?"
Upon hearing the phrase "just in case," Shirou felt everyone was overthinking things.
The Black Snake made sense.
The man seemed aware of Shirou's connection to Archer and had been targeting him repeatedly.
If Shirou knew who the Black Snake actually was, he would have preferred to deal with him immediately rather than endure constant harassment.
But the rest of it...
That seemed excessively far-fetched.
"Uh... the Boss said that for most people, this probably would not be an issue. But considering your luck, the odds of something going wrong are actually pretty high."
Seeing that Shirou seemed to lack any self-awareness, Yith tactfully used their boss as a shield.
After all, the Boss had genuinely said those words.
There was no reason for him to feel guilty about repeating them.
Shirou: "..."
"The Boss is not a penguin at all. He is a crow. How is he this accurate?"
The moment Shirou saw who had spoken, he instantly recognized the man's identity.
After being force-fed so much intelligence and seeing such a distinctive appearance, there was no way he could fail to recognize him.
His mind immediately flashed back to that conversation with Yith.
Grinding his teeth, he directed silent complaints toward the absent Boss.
However, he quickly entered combat mode.
At the same time, he began recalling everything he knew about the Imperial Guards—
The Emperor's Blades.
To simplify things:
They were among Ursus's strongest combat forces.
The combat suits they wore were less armor and more like seals restraining whatever was contained inside their bodies.
So he had to defeat this opponent without damaging him?
What kind of nightmare difficulty victory condition was that?
No...
It was not only Shirou who had to worry about whatever was sealed inside leaking out.
His opponent should be equally concerned.
Shirou remembered one fact very clearly.
Most Emperor's Blades shared one common characteristic:
They loved the land of Ursus with almost fanatical devotion.
Therefore, they would never willingly allow the thing sealed inside them to be released here.
That was Shirou's greatest advantage.
But it was not an absolute one.
Considering everything he had witnessed and the way events were unfolding, Ursus seemed determined to make a major move.
If that was the case...
Did this Emperor's Blade still consider the mobile city of Chernobog to be Ursus territory?
The answer was yes.
"Every Emperor's Blade is a nation unto himself. Wherever they stand is sovereign Ursus land."
That was the final assessment of the Emperor's Blades written in Wei Yenwu's intelligence file.
Shirou did not truly understand what that "nation" meant.
He only needed to know that it was something extremely dangerous.
"Hiss... judging from your expression, you seem to know exactly who we are, Red Devil of the Ursus."
The Emperor's Blade had keenly observed Shirou's reactions upon seeing him.
From those reactions, he confirmed that Shirou knew his identity.
Which was only natural.
Although he did not know why the man before him had become so young, he would never forget that face and that outfit.
After all, three Emperor's Blades had fallen to this individual.
They had vanished within that pillar of light.
Completely erased.
Nothing remained.
In a sense, someone possessing that kind of attack was the perfect counter to Emperor's Blades.
Fortunately, the Red Devil of the Ursus had disappeared afterward.
Until several months ago, when reports from Lungmen began mentioning him again.
He had become younger.
And weaker.
The Emperor's Blade had watched him all the way here as he cleared out the infected rioters.
Compared to the past, his methods were far less terrifying.
"You have mistaken me for someone else. I have never even been to the Northern Plains."
Though he cursed Archer countless times internally, Shirou's expression remained calm.
His eyes stayed fixed on the man before him.
At the same time, he tightened his grip on Kanshou and Bakuya, remaining vigilant toward both the Emperor's Blade and the infected around them.
"It does not matter. Whether you are the Red Devil of the Northern Plains or the Red Devil of Lungmen, you will remain here today."
The Emperor's Blade had no interest in prolonging the conversation.
His presence here was not authorized to begin with.
The only reason he was acting now was because Shirou appeared to have uncovered certain truths.
To prevent him from interfering with their plans, the Emperor's Blade had decided to strike first.
"Sorry about that!"
Shirou raised his blades and smiled faintly.
"I have absolutely no intention of staying here today."
Seeing his opponent's hand move toward the sword at his waist, Shirou immediately raised his left hand.
The black blade in his left hand flashed with blue light and instantly transformed into a gunblade.
"!?"
The moment the Emperor's Blade saw what Shirou was holding, he visibly froze for an instant before darting aside at incredible speed.
Clearly, the possibility that Shirou could produce firearm-type weapons was not included in the intelligence he possessed.
"Do not think about running."
Seizing the opportunity created by his opponent's retreat, Shirou immediately pressed the attack.
Holding the crimson-black gunblade in his left hand and the white blade in his right, he charged forward while continuously firing toward the Emperor's Blade's path of movement.
At this moment, Shirou intended to overwhelm his opponent through sheer firepower and force him off the battlefield.
"Hiss... A gun, is it? I would like to see whether your ammunition supply is sufficient..."
The Emperor's Blade understood Shirou's intentions.
However, he found the idea naive.
There was no place on Shirou's body to store etched ammunition.
As long as the ammunition ran out, it would become his turn to counterattack.
That thought lasted only a few seconds.
Because he quickly realized that Shirou had never once reloaded from the very beginning.
Forget reloading.
Could a firearm of that size even hold close to a hundred rounds?
Then how was he firing nonstop without pause?
Combined with what he knew about Shirou's abilities, the Emperor's Blade suddenly realized something.
By himself, he might not be able to eliminate this man.
Not unless he fought at full power.
But if he did that, this entire area would become contaminated.
And even then, there was no guarantee he could defeat Shirou.
As damage began appearing on the protective suit covering his body, hesitation finally crept into the Emperor's Blade's mind.
"So it really is like that."
Watching the hesitation appear in his opponent, Shirou knew he had gambled correctly.
The Emperor's Blade clearly did not dare engage him directly if there was a risk of further damage to his suit.
Realizing this, Shirou decided to increase the pressure and help his opponent make up his mind.
The white blade in his right hand, Bakuya, emitted a blue glow.
Moments later, it transformed into another white gunblade.
Now dual-wielding firearms, his firepower doubled.
The area covered by his attacks expanded dramatically as well.
"What an irritating man."
Upon seeing Shirou wielding guns in both hands, the Emperor's Blade completely abandoned any intention of continuing the fight.
This man's methods of attack had already exceeded the boundaries of normal understanding.
He had no desire to waste any more time here.
According to the original plan and the state of the skies above, the critical stage was about to begin.
Having decided not to continue fighting, the Emperor's Blade rapidly withdrew.
"...Hah..."
Watching the man retreat into the distance, Shirou chose not to pursue him.
Earlier, he had worried that the Emperor's Blade might regroup and attack again.
This time was different.
The man was genuinely leaving.
And that was exactly the outcome Shirou had wanted.
Breathing heavily, Shirou surveyed the surrounding area.
The brief period of suppressive fire had left everything riddled with damage.
Even the infected individuals he had subdued earlier, the ones he suspected were actually Ursus soldiers in disguise had vanished.
The bodies were gone as well.
Only large pools of blood remained to prove they had ever been there.
"The Boss really does have a crow's mouth! And Wei Yenwu too!"
The moment he thought about how both his boss's and Wei Yenwu's concerns had come true, Shirou felt miserable.
Who could have possibly predicted it?
A supposedly ordinary mission had somehow spiraled into this many complications.
At least Shirou certainly had not expected it.
All he felt now was a headache.
Naturally, he blamed the other three people involved and completely ignored Yith's comments about his luck.
"How can anyone possibly have luck this terrible...?"
After recovering slightly, Shirou muttered a complaint under his breath.
At the same time, he reinforced his limbs with magical energy and launched himself from the shattered battlefield below onto a nearby rooftop in a single leap.
Bzzzz...
The moment he landed, he spotted a drone flying toward him from the distance.
It belonged to Rhodes Island.
A reconnaissance drone.
He had seen plenty of them throughout the day.
The first time he spotted one, he had nearly shot it down by reflex.
Fortunately, he had stopped himself in time.
With his communicator destroyed, any contact with Rhodes Island would now have to rely on drones.
"There seems to be something attached to it... Is that a communicator?"
Since the drone was flying directly toward him, Shirou simply remained where he was and waited.
He had already noticed that this particular drone appeared to be carrying something.
Before he could even retrieve the communicator attached to it, a voice erupted from the device.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH, APPLE PIE!"
It was Exusiai.
Even though the communicator was still some distance away, Shirou could hear her shouting perfectly clearly.
For a brief moment, he seriously considered ignoring the thing entirely.
But after thinking it over, Shirou reminded himself that he was still on a mission.
He could not just do whatever he wanted.
"This is Shirou speaking."
After scanning the surrounding area one more time, he finally removed the communicator from the drone and answered.
"This is Doctor. The person you were fighting just now was...? The footage transmitted from long range was not very clear, but we did capture images of you fighting someone who looked extremely troublesome."
"He has already retreated. I did discover something, though. Earlier, I encountered people who appeared to be Ursus soldiers disguised as Reunion members attacking civilians."
Shirou did not immediately bring up the Emperor's Blade.
Instead, he chose to first report the presence of apparent Ursus personnel hidden among Reunion's ranks.
"...There is too little evidence for me to draw a definite conclusion. However, based on the information available through PRTS, Ursus may be trying to completely reshape Reunion's image into that of a violent organization composed entirely of Infected individuals."
After hearing Shirou's report, the other end of the communicator fell silent for a long time.
Even Exusiai's voice, which had been serving as constant background noise, disappeared.
Only after quite some time did the Doctor finally voice her hypothesis.
Truthfully, even she was not entirely convinced by it.
The price Ursus was paying seemed far too high.
Sacrificing an entire mobile city just to push the already-marginalized Infected even further away from the general population?
It was difficult to believe.
"I cannot really say. It feels like there are too many layers to all of this. By the way, have you all not evacuated from Chernobog yet?"
Shirou did not completely understand the Doctor's explanation either.
The events unfolding around them had already surpassed anything he could have imagined.
Still, as long as he understood that Ursus was up to no good, that was enough for now.
The topic could be set aside.
Dealing with that strange Reunion squad and then fighting the Emperor's Blade had already consumed a considerable amount of time.
Looking up at the dark clouds gathering overhead, Shirou found himself worried about the others.
"The injured operators have already been evacuated. Those who remain are operators who want to resolve the situation in Chernobog. Some intend to assist with disaster relief after the Catastrophe passes. And a few specifically stayed behind to wait for you."
The Doctor briefly explained the current situation.
At present, the majority of Rhodes Island personnel were positioned on the outskirts of the area.
Even if the approaching Catastrophe proved particularly severe, they would be able to board aircraft and retreat immediately.
Some Rhodes Island operators had originally hoped to help bring the current crisis under control.
However, once they learned that Ursus military forces might be involved, the nature of the incident changed completely.
This was no longer something Rhodes Island could directly intervene in.
As a result, their primary objective had shifted.
Once the Catastrophe passed, they would move in as quickly as possible to provide aid and relief to Chernobog.
After all, that was what Rhodes Island had always done.