On the snowy plains, atop the Penguin Logistics vehicle, Shirou continuously repeated the same motion.
Draw the bowstring to its limit.
An arrow forms on the bow.
Release.
The arrow shot out like a crimson meteor, piercing through the Iceburst Originium Slugs in the distance.
The entire process was monotonous, tedious, and constantly drained Shirou's stamina and magical energy. Even though each projected arrow did not consume much mana, Shirou had to reinforce his body to pull the bow faster and reinforce his eyes to see far, the sheer number added up would still tire him.
To make matters worse, after the slugs realized they were being attacked, they began acting as if they were being directed, splitting off a portion of their swarm and charging straight toward them.
A massive wave of Originium slugs surged forward.
Even with Exusiai's suppressive fire, their numbers were overwhelming. They continued closing in.
"Lungmen profanity… What the hell is this? Were Infused Glacial Originium Slug supposed to be dumb not? Since when do they coordinate attacks?!"
Croissant did not dare smash them head-on. Instead, she kept knocking them back, then immediately retreating so Exusiai could finish them off from a distance.
When these creatures died, they exploded, rapidly lowering the surrounding temperature.
That meant Croissant had to constantly keep her distance. Even with protective gear, prolonged exposure risked infection.
"Exusiai, cover me."
Texas wielded two Originium light blades. Unlike Croissant, she targeted the slugs' legs to immobilize them, then retreated to let Exusiai eliminate them.
But even with Texas and Croissant buying time, Exusiai alone could not suppress the swarm. Despite Sora's buffs and occasional interference, the team was slowly being surrounded.
"Ahhh! Eat my apple pie!!"
As Exusiai fired relentlessly, the halo above her head and her wings began to glow brighter.
Her burst of firepower bought Texas and Croissant some breathing room. Fighting enemies that exploded upon death was extremely taxing, especially infected creatures. One mistake could lead to infection, frostbite, or worse.
Sora continued supporting the team with her Arts, occasionally trying to disrupt the slugs but it barely helped.
Kill one, and more would crawl forward. It was utterly disgusting.
"…There must be a caster controlling them."
Texas threw one of her light blades, then drew her last pair.
Her weapons were Originium light blades activated via handles, they were easy to carry in multiples and to throw when needed.
Watching the slugs charge forward without fear, even ignoring explosions among their own, Texas identified the problem.
Originium slugs were easily controlled by casters. If they were wild, they would have retreated after the first volley from Exusiai.
But these kept advancing even through explosions, until they could no longer move and then self-detonated to create openings.
This was not normal.
"Ugh, that is bad. What do we do now?"
Croissant swung her hammer in a wide arc. It was not just a normal hammer, it was an electromagnetic impact hammer.
The burst sent everything in front of her flying. Unfortunately, it could not be used repeatedly.
"Texas, Croissant, fall back!"
From the roof, Shirou had already noticed the pressure mounting on the team.
It was not that they could not handle it, but the enemies were too troublesome. Only Exusiai had consistent damage output.
Without hesitation, Texas and Croissant retreated. Without their frontline control, the slugs surged forward even faster.
"Uwaaa! This is so gross!!"
Exusiai grimaced at the dense swarm approaching. Her trypophobia was kicking in but she did not stop firing.
With the frontliners gone, she could attack more freely but her ammo was running low.
"Shirou!"
Texas looked up. Around Shirou, countless phantom swords began to appear.
"Full projection… continuous layer deployment!"
As he chanted, the phantom blades materialized, raining down like a storm.
They annihilated slugs while forming a barrier, slowing their advance.
"Nice! That is a great move!"
Croissant cheered as swords fell like rain, piercing through the swarm.
The pressure on Penguin Logistics instantly eased, giving them room to breathe.
"Shirou! Target the caster!"
Texas quickly raised her binoculars to locate the caster. Without the controller the swarm would collapse.
"Got it!"
Shirou was now juggling three tasks at once:
Attacking distant slugs heading toward the village
Maintaining the sword barrage defense
Searching for the caster
Feeling his mana rapidly draining, Shirou gritted his teeth and abandoned attacking the distant swarm, focusing entirely on locating the caster.
He had already eliminated a large portion earlier. Combined with the village's preparations, the immediate threat there had lessened.
If he kept this up, he would run out of mana first.
And if that happened both the village and Penguin Logistics would be doomed.
"Shirou, your one o'clock!"
Texas spotted suspicious movement in the snow-covered forest and called it out.
Following her direction, Shirou quickly found several suspicious figures surrounded by slugs.
Without hesitation he drew his bow.
The arrow flew several kilometers, pinning one man to a tree.
The moment he was struck, the others began fleeing along with some infected creatures.
Shirou did not stop shooting.
Another arrow.
And another.
Each shot caused parts of the swarm to scatter.
With the final arrow piercing the target's chest, Shirou dropped to one knee atop the vehicle, catching his breath.
The caster was dead.
The slugs lost control and began to scatter.
The village held its line, facing infected creatures from the forest ahead and the remnants of slugs behind, but the defense remained intact.
If the full swarm had reached them, the village would have been overwhelmed, caught between two forces and destroyed.
"Good work. Take a break."
Sora handed Shirou a thermos of warm water.
After the caster was eliminated, the slugs on their side had scattered. The remaining ones were cleaned up by Exusiai.
The biggest contributor this time was undoubtedly Shirou.
From spotting the anomaly, to suppressing the swarm, to eliminating the caster…it was all him.
Still, everyone played their part.
Especially Exusiai, she had nearly emptied all her special ammunition. Her wallet would definitely feel it later.
"Thanks."
Shirou took the thermos.
Ordinary water bottles had long since frozen solid. Only the thermos remained usable.
He took a sip slowly letting the water warm his body while checking his condition.
His mana reserves were running low.
If he had been able to use Broken Phantasm directly, he was confident he could have wiped out the entire swarm with just half the mana.
But unfortunately, he could not even use Noble Phantasms with slightly larger effects, for fear of triggering an avalanche and causing an even greater disaster.
Compared to magical energy consumption, what weighed on him more was physical and mental exhaustion.
Right now, Shirou only wanted to get some proper rest.
However, he still chose to stand up, raise the black bow in his hand once more, and draw the bowstring.
Although the crisis of the Originium Slugs had already been resolved, the village was still resisting the creatures from the forest as well as the remaining Infused Glacial Originium Slug.
Inside the village, within a tent at one of Reunion's strongholds.
Alina assisted Mephisto in treating the wounded. She had received information early on that the creatures in the forest seemed restless, so she had organized everyone early to set up defensive lines.
This wave of attacks was far more intense than before, but Reunion had prepared well, so things had remained under control.
That was until infected creatures joined the battlefield, causing problems for Reunion's defensive lines.
If they were just ordinary infected creatures, they would not have been too hard to deal with. However, from all signs, these infected creatures were being controlled by Casters from behind the scenes.
Moreover, Alina had just received news that a large number of Infused Glacial Originium Slug were flanking from another direction, forcing her to split part of their forces to establish a temporary defensive line on the other side of the village.
"Of all times, everyone is away right now…"
As a teacher, there was no way Alina could properly command such a large-scale battlefield.
Most of her command experience came from observing other leaders, and only superficially at that.
She could make preparations in advance but when faced with sudden situations like this she found herself at a loss.
Fortunately, Faust and Mephisto were still here. Faust had been trained by Patriot and FrostNova while Mephisto possessed healing Originium Arts. Both played significant roles in this defensive battle.
"Teacher Alina, all the Casters have been eliminated. The infected creatures have also retreated."
Faust appeared beside them. By now, the two were already used to his sudden appearances.
"You are not injured, are you?"
Alina finished bandaging and looked at Faust, briefly checking if he was hurt.
"I have no injuries. By the time I arrived, the Casters had already been pinned to the trees by arrows. And now, the rampaging creatures in the forest and the other infected creatures are being taken out one by one by someone using arrows."
Faust replied.
"Arrows…?"
Hearing Faust's words, Alina stepped out of the tent and saw streaks of crimson light flying through the air, striking the creatures attacking the village with precision.
"That messenger from yesterday… Mr. Shirou. He is related to that Mr. Archer, isn't he?"
Faust followed her out and asked.
At first, he had only thought they looked similar, but even after interacting with him alongside Ino, he still could not be certain.
Compared to the Archer he knew who always wore a red coat, Shirou was clearly shorter and lacked that sense of an old experienced man. Instead, he seemed more approachable.
"Perhaps."
In response to Faust's question, Alina once again gave an ambiguous answer.
She took out a small pouch and retrieved a stone that emitted a red glow.
This was the only thing Archer had left behind when he departed.
She understood that Archer and Shirou were connected. After all, the stone reacted when Shirou arrived and combined with their similar appearances, it was hard not to link them together.
Thinking of this, Alina removed her glove and glanced at the red pattern on the back of her hand.
It was the head of a deer, though one of the antlers was somewhat blurred.
To her and to all of Reunion, Archer had been a reliable comrade. Though sharp-tongued, he had always helped with Reunion's affairs.
From participating in battles and rescuing infected miners who had been abused, to taking care of children, Archer had done everything with dedication.
Because of this, she had wanted to invite Shirou to join them. However, he already seemed to have companions, and their bond appeared quite strong.
Her suggestion that they should stay by his side more was only because she had once glimpsed part of Archer's past.
She believed that with companions around him, Shirou would be fine.
As for her, she would continue to stay with Talulah, to prevent the Immortal Black Snake from rising again.
"May you find what you seek upon this land."
Alina said, clasping the red stone in both hands.
As if responding to her words, the red stone emitted a faint glow before dimming again, returning to how it was before Shirou arrived.
At the same time, the crimson meteors in the sky disappeared, and the creatures attacking the village, along with the infected ones, were gone.
In the distance, Penguin Logistics' vehicle continued to move slowly across the snowy ground.
Having expended a great deal of magical energy, Shirou was now resting inside the vehicle.