Shirou Emiya Stands on Terra Chapter 42

Shirou Emiya knelt halfway on the car, hooking his feet onto the rack installed on the roof. This allowed him to stabilize his body better and prevented him from being blown away by the wind.

"Haa... Are they on both sides?"

After standing on the car roof, Shirou's view widened. He could now see the convoy behind him to the rear right, which he hadn't seen earlier due to his line of sight.

"Shirou, isn't that too dangerous? I'll tie you with a rope!"

Exusiai leaned her upper body out of the car's sunroof, looking at Shirou kneeling on the roof and complaining. Meanwhile, she tied the rope Sora had brought to Shirou's feet.

The other end of the rope was tied to the passenger seat. This would prevent Shirou from being blown away with a "whoosh" to some extent.

Unfortunately, the wind was a bit too loud, and Shirou couldn't clearly hear Exusiai's complaint. He only saw her tying a rope around his feet.

This is good. This way, I can unleash something big.

Turning his head, the people behind them were about a kilometer away. Shirou could clearly see that they were all wearing the same black clothes, and each of them had a weapon in their hands.

Swords, guns, staffs, staves, shields, hammers – they had everything.

Coupled with Texas constantly changing directions earlier, and these people still stubbornly following, there was indeed a big problem with these individuals.

However, to avoid accidental injury, Shirou decided to greet them first.

As for how to greet them?

"Trace on—"

A long black bow appeared in Shirou's hand.

"???"

Exusiai looked at the bow in Shirou's hand, completely bewildered. Didn't he only have twin swords?

Oh, right. If he only had twin swords, then his job adaptability shouldn't include Sniper and Caster. This seems to be a mistake they made when they weren't sure back then.

Exusiai watched as Shirou held the bow in his left hand, while a strangely shaped sword was gradually forming in his right hand.

"Sister Exusiai, what's the situation up there?"

Croissant's head squeezed out from the sunroof beside them. The two of them were slender, and the sunroof had been designed to be quite large, so there was more than enough space for both of them to squeeze through.

Croissant intended to give Shirou earphones so he could stay in contact. Although in such a windy environment, earphones would likely only produce a lot of static, Shirou would at least be able to hear what they were saying.

Then she saw the sword gradually forming in Shirou's hand, its appearance resembling a spiral.

"Hm?"

Croissant turned her head, looking at Exusiai, trying to get an answer from her.

"Don't look at me, I don't understand what he's doing."

Facing Croissant's death glare, Exusiai shook her head, indicating she didn't know.

"What do you think Shirou plans to do with that bow and that strange sword? Shoot it like an arrow?"

Croissant lowered her body slightly so she wouldn't be affected by the strong wind outside, allowing for normal conversation.

"No, no, no, shooting a sword like an arrow is too fantastical, isn't it? Setting aside whether it could hit the target accurately without fletching, the weight alone would be a problem, right?"

Exusiai felt that Croissant was overthinking things with her wild imagination.

The most crucial part of an arrow is its fletching. Good fletching allows an arrow to hit its target more accurately. Without fletching, even stable flight would be an issue for an arrow, let alone using a very heavy "sword" as an arrow?

"But... Sister Exusiai, Shirou really seems to be using that thing as an arrow."

Croissant gently nudged Exusiai, pointing at Shirou, who was already preparing to nock the spiral sword onto the bowstring.

Crimson magic was gathering towards the spiral sword in his hand.

"In the name of Laterano, Shirou, are you really planning to use that thing as an arrow? How could it possibly fit..."

Exusiai was about to complain about Shirou's action of using a thick sword as an arrow, but she stopped complaining when she saw Shirou making the spiral sword thinner.

"Did you say something, Exusiai?"

Shirou turned his head and asked. He had been concentrating on projecting the spiral sword and seemed to have vaguely heard Croissant and Exusiai saying something, but the wind was too loud, so he hadn't heard clearly.

"I said it takes you over thirty seconds to fire one shot. How long will it take you to clear them out?"

Exusiai immediately changed her tune and said loudly. She had gone from questioning whether Shirou could even shoot the sword as an arrow to saying his attack speed was too slow.

"Sister Exusiai, that's not what you just said."

Croissant, standing beside them, looked at Exusiai changing her words with a look of disappointment at her teammate.

"This? Don't worry, I'm just warning them first. One shot is enough."

Shirou turned his attention back to the rear. He wasn't aiming at the convoy anymore, but somewhere further ahead.

After all, it was just a warning. The best way to warn someone in this wilderness was with an explosion. If they still insisted on pursuing him, then he wouldn't hold back.

Speaking of explosions—

It was impossible not to mention Archer's Pseudo. Spiral Sword and its good partner, Imaginary Break.

Shirou remembered very clearly the explosive effect Archer created using the Pseudo. Spiral Sword.

"Pseudo. Spiral Sword!"

He released the bowstring, and the Pseudo. Spiral Sword shot straight towards where Shirou was aiming.

"No way, isn't that way too crooked?"

Looking at the arrow's trajectory, Exusiai quickly estimated where it would hit.

She suspected Shirou was playing her. Where had his previous hundred-percent accuracy gone?

Croissant, standing beside her, didn't understand, but she had a feeling that Shirou's arrow—no, this "sword"—wasn't just a simple shot.

After firing, Shirou immediately grabbed onto something for support and shouted loudly:

"Hold on tight!"

Before Exusiai and Croissant could react, they saw a mushroom cloud appear where Shirou's spiral sword had just been fired.

"By my Laterano, protect me."

Exusiai almost lost her footing and fell back into the car. Fortunately, Croissant, standing nearby, grabbed her, preventing her from falling in.

"Concise and powerful Longmen Curses."

Croissant held onto Exusiai. Although she had considered that Shirou's sword might not be just a simple attack, she hadn't expected it to be like this.

Who could have predicted this?

After the shockwave of the explosion passed, Shirou could see that the cars had stopped and had no intention of continuing the pursuit.

"All done, they've stopped."

Shirou said to the still stunned pair, while also closing Croissant's jaw, which had fallen open.

"Shirou, you... I... this..."

Exusiai thought for a long time but couldn't come up with anything to say. After stammering for a while, she decided to reboot her brain and update her worldview.

60 Croissant, you should just stick to eating bread.

After Shirou's mushroom cloud stopped the pursuers, Texas drove the car a significant distance further before stopping.

It wouldn't have made much of a difference if Shirou had just gotten in directly, as the sunroof on Exusiai's side had already let a lot of dust into the new car.

However, considering the rope tied to Shirou's leg, it would have been difficult for him to get in through the sunroof. It was more practical to stop the car and let him in, allowing them to tidy up the interior and for everyone to clean the dust off their faces and hair.

"Shirou, what did you just do! That explosion was so loud!"

Sora asked Shirou, wiping her face with a wet towel.

When she had asked Exusiai and Croissant inside the car earlier, their explanations had been vague.

Something about Shirou pulling out a strange-looking sword and then it exploding when he shot it.

That description was too abstract! She couldn't understand it at all.

Sora had only seen Shirou climb onto the car roof, Texas driving, and Exusiai and Croissant looking out the sunroof. All she could do was grab a rope and have Exusiai give it to Shirou.

Then there was a loud boom, all within about a minute.

After that, she saw Exusiai and Croissant return to their seats with strange expressions, saying the problem was solved.

This made her incredibly curious about what had just happened! What could have made Exusiai and Croissant wear such expressions?

Texas, beside her, also looked very curious. Although she didn't say anything, her constantly wagging tail and twitching ears showed her emotions.

"It's nothing... I just shot an arrow to warn them."

Facing Sora's curious question, Shirou patted his Penguin Logistics jacket, shaking off the dust, and answered Sora's question.

"An arrow? Was it an arrow or a long sword? Clarify! What kind of archer can cause an explosion like that! Even Praise be to Laterano didn't cause a mushroom cloud like that!"

Exusiai couldn't help but jump out and retort. As a Laterano citizen, she had only seen mushroom clouds like that a few times, and Shirou just casually threw one out?

"Sister Exia, I've discovered something. Every time you complain about Shirou, Shirou fulfills your complaint. Why don't you complain about Shirou becoming rich! And then have him bring us along to make money!"

Croissant thought about how in the past, whenever Exusiai complained about Shirou, Shirou would somehow fulfill her complaint in an incredible way.

So, she had an idea: have Exusiai complain about Shirou becoming rich. Then, if Shirou became rich, they wouldn't have to work so hard!

"You're thinking too much, is your head full of bread?"

Shirou delivered a chop to Croissant's head. Many things were just coincidences, and he couldn't believe this bread-lover wanted to get rich through such superstition.

Shouldn't this bread-lover, whose head was full of money, just be thrown away?

"Is that your most destructive move, Shirou?"

From her teammates' descriptions and the mushroom cloud she saw in the rearview mirror, Texas could roughly deduce it.

She hadn't expected Shirou to have such a skill. With such a skill, he could become a powerful person in any faction. Yet, he was here taking care of them at Penguin Logistics?

This was truly bizarre. Texas even started to wonder if Shirou had ulterior motives, but she quickly dismissed the thought.

If Shirou truly had other intentions, he could have completely hidden his strength, so this theory didn't hold up.

"Most destructive... I suppose so?"

Shirou thought for a moment. The Spiral Sword was probably a great weapon against groups, but as for Noble Phantasms, they each had their own characteristics, and many couldn't be compared directly. Every Noble Phantasm had a suitable occasion for its use.

"You should...? Shirou, you'd be really popular if you went to Laterano. Creating mushroom clouds with your bare hands, that's practically a Laterano dream."

Exusiai's mouth twitched slightly. She genuinely envied Shirou's long-range attack methods, especially the ones that came with explosions.

If she could do that too, then heavy armor units would be nothing but trash in front of her!

Just thinking about it felt amazing!

But it was just a thought.

"Let's get in the car first. We've already lost quite a bit of time."

Seeing that her teammates had mostly finished organizing, Texas said, gesturing with the map.

They had deviated slightly from the original route, but not by too much. The main reason was their current stop.

Upon hearing Texas's words, the group quickly packed their things and got into the car.

"I feel like my presence in this team is becoming more and more negligible."

Exusiai, sitting in the passenger seat, lay back in the chair with a serene expression.

"Sister Neng, please don't think that way... At least you can still shine and contribute!"

Patting Exusiai on the shoulder, Croissant said.

"...Croissant, you still eat bread, right?"

Even Shirou couldn't stand such a heartwarming scene and shoved the bread Sora had given him into Croissant's mouth.

Croissant chewed the bread Shirou had stuffed into her mouth.

Mmm, it was still a croissant.

"Shirou, can you materialize anything?"

Texas asked from the driver's seat. She had only had a brief understanding last time, and now it seemed Shirou could do more than that.