Choosing not to use Seven Circles of the Burning Sky for defense was also because he did not know how many people the opponent had. The magical energy consumption to maintain the circles was far too great, and the table plus reinforcement was quite enough to handle bows and crossbows.
Originally, Swire had wanted to drag Shirou along to find a spot with others to dodge the sniping, but she stopped moving upon seeing Shirou's right hand and the patterns on the table.
Although she did not understand it, Shirou's operation seemed to be the use of Originium Arts.
In no time at all, Swire heard a thumping sound ring out from the table, and the table was not pierced through as she had imagined, but was steadily held up in front by Shirou.
From the glass of a nearby storefront, Swire clearly saw that the top of the table was completely clean, while crossbow bolts were scattered all over the ground, even somewhat deformed due to the violent impact.
Swire felt that the physics she had previously studied might have been eaten by a Perro.
How could a plastic table be so insanely bold? Originium Arts used for defense were not supposed to be used like this either!
40 Mood like riding a roller coaster
After Shirou was dragged away by Swire, the aquatic stall owner scratched the back of his head.
"It's like this again..."
It was not his fault that he looked fierce and terrifying, and thanks to that, he had left a bunch of strange legends in the Slums, but in reality, he really was just an aquatic stall owner who would go sell fish balls at night.
Really! Would everyone please believe him?
"Hey! That red-haired guy from just now..."
A man walked up to the aquatic stall owner and slammed the table, wanting to inquire about Shirou's intelligence, but after the owner raised his head, he could not speak anymore.
Mostly he was too scared to speak; if not for the last shred of dignity keeping him clenched tight, he might have needed to change a pair of pants.
"Uh... what's wrong?"
The owner put down the knife in his hand, looked at the other person, and asked.
"N... nothing, big boss, please continue your busy work, I... I'll leave first!"
As the words fell, the man slipped away, followed closely by several men holding weapons.
"Sigh, here they come again, but those guys..."
Looking at the man's appearance, the owner sighed with customary sentiment.
However, the few people he had just seen following behind the man all seemed to be carrying weapons, and their target appeared to be the person with Officer Swire.
"I should notify Officer Hoshiguma."
The owner took out his phone, dialed a call to report the situation here, and then looked with a worried expression in the direction Shirou had left.
He was just a common person of the marketplace, and this was all he could help with.
The man who had just slammed the table at the owner was still shaken with lingering fear, and the several men behind him also caught up, asking him:
"Second Brother, should we chase?"
"Chase, Longmen Curses he's the one who got Big Brother arrested! Give chase!"
The man addressed as Second Brother quickly adjusted his state and had the others give chase.
They had suddenly received news just a moment ago that the person who caused their big brother's arrest was near the Slums, and they had hurried over to confirm that he was indeed that guy.
"This side is in position, can strike at any time."
The phone in his hand transmitted a voice.
"Just beat them until they're injured, it wouldn't be good to kill them. Remember not to hurt civilians, or we'll break the rules."
Second Brother gave special instructions. Scuffles were frequent here in Lungmen, but as long as lives were not taken, they were basically turned a blind eye to, unless Infected caused malicious trouble.
Their big brother had been arrested precisely for causing malicious trouble as an Infected, which could only be said to be deserving of his crimes. The main point was that he was too greedy for money, and a tiny bit of petty profit had driven him to act.
If not for worrying that the subordinates' hearts would scatter, he couldn't care less about that big brother of his.
"The target suddenly walked over to his accomplice and said something... Oh, they're showing affection, never mind."
The person on the other end of the phone reported the situation at the scene, and then saw the female cover her ears and glare petulantly at the target.
"...Attack. Remember not to hit vital points."
Second Brother lit a cigarette and gave the instruction.
Anyway, it was just to vent some steam; just find any excuse to give them a beating.
With the first bolt fired by the crossbowman, the street brawl officially unfolded.
Bracing the reinforced table, Shirou simultaneously kept watch on his surroundings.
Such passive defense ultimately had its limits. What he needed was to bide his time for an opportunity and then launch a counterattack or make an escape.
However, the opponent was holding bows and crossbows, so the option of fleeing directly could basically be abandoned.
What could be done now was to make the opponent lose their combat and pursuit capabilities.
Through the rhythm of the attacks, Shirou could judge that there were roughly three opponents, and through some glass reflections, he could also determine their positions.
Trace on
Three short blades appeared between Shirou's fingertips. They were just ordinary short blades; Shirou had no intention of taking these people's lives, and using these ordinary short blades to restrict their movements would suffice.
Although he had no intention of taking the opponent's life, making the opponent suffer for a while would do.
"That is...?"
Looking at the blades of the several short blades held tightly between Shirou's five fingers, Swire rubbed her eyes, suspecting she had misseen something.
This guy could even do magic tricks? How did he suddenly conjure short blades?
However, Shirou did not answer Swire's question, instead throwing the short blades in his hand forward, throwing one at a time toward three different directions.
"Longmen Curses my hand!"
"Urgh ah!"
"Hum-hum-ah-ah-ah-ah!"
Listening to the screams and the sound of suspected metal objects dropping to the ground, Shirou grabbed Swire and ran.
The three short blades had successfully completed their mission, effectively rendering the hands of several crossbowmen unable to move.
Shirou seized the opportunity to escape with Swire, and his judgment was also correct: after the three crossbowmen were injured, another batch of people pursued them.
"Longmen Curses get him, Longmen Curses!"
The language was quite vile, to the point that even Swire could not bear to listen.
"Longmen Curses don't let me catch them, or I'll definitely Longmen Curses them."
Swire cursed while running, which to Shirou looked like running fast and cursing fiercely.
However, Swire was from the Knights of the Round Table, so Shirou did not dare to voice a single complaint, concentrating instead on thinking about where to run.
He was terrified that if he said the wrong thing, he would be dealt with by Swire along with the people behind them.
"Shirou, where do you plan to run?"
Watching the flow of people grow scarcer and scarcer in the areas Shirou was leading her through, Swire could not help asking.
"Running to places with fewer people. Although that group has no intention of harming others, they will still wreck the vendors."
Shirou answered Swire while running along the route in his memory.
"Can't you neatly and cleanly knock them flat? Just like you did right now."
Having seen Shirou's short blade throw just moments ago, Swire no longer looked down on the other party's combat capability at all.
It was she who had been too superficial; a true big boss used a plastic table as a shield and casually pulled out a few short blades to flatten the enemy.
"...I'm afraid of hitting too hard, mainly because the terrain around here isn't very suitable, and there are civilians."
Facing Swire's question, Shirou thought about it slightly.
The things he could use were either ordinary weapons or Noble Phantasms. The former required a bit of time and good terrain to wage battle, while the latter, although it could resolve the situation all at once or even with a single shot, made it hard for Shirou to guarantee those people could hold out until receiving medical treatment.
Therefore, finding a favorable venue for himself meant he wouldn't need to worry about so much; his main fear was that the fallout of the battle would drag others in.
"...Fine."
Swire could not refute Shirou's answer.
Her mood was like a roller coaster, going from full of confidence at the start wanting to find clues, to discovering Shirou might not be as strong as imagined, to actually being attacked, and then discovering Shirou could genuinely fight.
She swore that if she came next time, she would at least bring her meteor hammer.
At least she wouldn't end up like now, utterly helpless against those foul-mouthed roughnecks behind them, forced to run away like this.
41 Let's begin, the best...
Running to a slightly more open area, Shirou finally stopped his footsteps and turned around to look at the people who had been chasing him and Swire all along.
Unlike the slight panting of Shirou and Swire, the dozen or so people holding weapons who had chased them up panted basically like Perros.
"Do you think if we ran for a while longer, we could directly exhaust them to death?"
Looking at the appearance of the few, Shirou softly asked Swire.
"Do you take them for real fools? If they can't run, won't they retreat?"
Giving Shirou a huge eye-roll, Swire felt Shirou had asked a redundant question.
"Don't you guys be too arrogant! We're going to avenge Big Brother! Charge!"
Seeing that the two not only stopped but also seemed to be treating them as a joke, the leading lackey grew furious! He rushed toward Shirou holding an iron rod, and the remaining few followed closely behind.
Most of the weapons in their hands were merely club-types or short blades, and Shirou did not see long-range weapons like bows or crossbows.
Confirming the opponent's numbers, weapons, and the terrain where they held the advantage, Shirou also quickly thought through how to fight in his mind.
After all, having been suddenly attacked, no matter who it was, they would definitely be angry, and Shirou was of course no exception.
Placing the shopping bags on the ground, Shirou opened his arms.
Trace on─
The magical energy on Shirou's hands manifested black and white radiances respectively. As the light faded, the dual-yin-and-yang swords Gan Jiang Mo Ye appeared in Shirou's hands.
"I didn't expect the first battle of Gan Jiang Mo Ye here to be against petty thugs?"
Weighing the weight of Gan Jiang Mo Ye in his hands, Shirou muttered to himself. This was the first time since he had his own memories that he had fought using Gan Jiang Mo Ye.
Several thugs also stopped in their tracks upon seeing two blades appear in Shirou's hands.
"...Are we still fighting?"
One of the lackeys weakly asked. Leaving aside the fact that those two blades didn't look like ordinary weapons, just the opponent suddenly conjuring two blades made him feel things weren't looking good.
People who could use Originium Arts were not people they could afford to provoke.
"Fight, of course we fight! We have so many people, are we really afraid of just one guy?"
Although the leading lackey's heart had already shrunk back somewhat, looking at his brothers at his side, he still pressed forward without turning back.
"Although I don't know who the big brother you keep mentioning is, since you've carried out actions that harm others, you should also have the psychological preparation to get hurt yourself, right?"
Tipping his body slightly forward, Shirou's gaze also turned sharp.
Gan Jiang Mo Ye in his hands transmitted the memories of their original owner—that is, Archer—when using them.
As Archer's most frequently used Noble Phantasms, just holding them allowed Shirou to feel how many battles they had accompanied Archer through.
Swire, standing to one side, distinctly felt that after Shirou grasped the black and white dual blades, the aura emanating from his entire person changed a great deal.
And that kind of aura... she had also felt it on Ch'en during serious combat.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself down slightly, Swire watched as Shirou hoisted the dual blades and charged into the crowd.
Facing the various weapons assailing him, Shirou swung the blade in his right hand. The blade-light formed a half-moon shape, shattering all those weapons closing in on him.
Shirou's goal had never been to kill the opponent, but to make them lose their combat capability.
Yet simply shattering their weapons was still not enough.
"My leg! My leg!"
The blade in his left hand lightly swept across the legs of two of them, and a massive gush of blood instantly spurted out. Shirou had already exercised considerable restraint; if he had wanted to just now, the other party would have had to spend the rest of their lives relying on crutches or prosthetic limbs.
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