Demolition in Progress

"Testing, testing. This is Emiya Shirou. Can you hear me? Natalia-san!"

As the rapid advance continued, Shirou's voice crackled over the radio. Natalia had no intention of going down with him.

"Hey, kid, stop clowning around. My equipment doesn't need that kind of idiot operation. First target is the Kajiamena Family. Since you talked it up so much earlier, you'd better back it up with action now!"

"Naturally!" Shirou's tone and expression brimmed with confidence. Sending him to wipe out ordinary mages was like using a cannon to swat mosquitoes.

Just relying on his Steel Skin, whether they could even break through his defense was a question in itself.

If he somehow screwed this up, he might as well go buy a block of tofu from the market outside, freeze it overnight in the fridge, take it out, and then smash his head into it until he died.

When he spotted the Kajiamena Family's gate, Shirou slowed down. Natalia found a vantage point and set up her sniper rifle, just in case Shirou's soft heart caused any trouble.

"Hey, Natalia-san, this is the target's lair, right?" Standing before the Kajiamena gate, Shirou looked up and down at the door. Its plain, unadorned surface exuded an ancient aura, estimated to be at least a hundred years old. For a classic wooden door to survive this long was no small feat.

But what did that have to do with him? Shirou was here to kill people, and maybe do some demolition on the side. This kind of old relic, clearly the type that clung stubbornly to its roots, had to be the first thing smashed.

"Open sesame—here we go!"

After triple-checking everything, Shirou, with zero sense of decorum, kicked the door.

Thud! The ancient door let out a dull sound but stood firm, not budging an inch. Shirou himself was pushed back a step by the recoil from that kick.

He glanced at the door with slight surprise, then took two steps back. He slid forward, planted his feet, spun, and delivered a side kick.

Thud! The door made a sound noticeably louder than before, yet remained completely unscathed. Two kicks in a row and it still hadn't opened—at least that proved the gate wasn't some shoddy construction.

But failing to open the door after all that effort made Shirou lose face. He scratched his head sheepishly and let out a wry laugh. "Looks like brute force alone won't cut it with mages. Guess I'll have to put in a little more effort."

Shirou extended his index finger toward the door. If you can't kick it open, what do you do? Emiya-senpai tells you: you open with a Light Cannon, of course!

The next moment, magical energy began surging from all directions, converging at Shirou's fingertip. For an instant, space itself seemed to freeze.

"Cero!"

As Shirou spoke the technique's name, the vast mass of gathered mana erupted, slamming into the door that had withstood two kicks without a scratch, with unstoppable force.

The door was still a door. Old as it was, it wasn't the floor of Ryuudou Temple or the bridge of Winter Persimmon—it couldn't tank a Light Cannon after barely holding up against two kicks.

The door was obliterated, and the force of the Cero kept plowing forward until it blasted through the back wall of the Kajiamena residence before finally stopping.

"Was that a bit much?" Shirou shook his head. "Ah, whatever. Who cares?"

In the distance, Natalia had already stowed her sniper rifle. After witnessing the power of the Cero, she could confidently declare Shirou's victory. This kind of strength was on an entirely different level from ordinary mages.

Shirou closed his eyes, using his perception to pinpoint his prey's location. Without caring what kind of place it was, he walked straight toward it.

He stopped in front of a wall. He could sense his target was very close—probably right behind this wall. At the same time, Shirou realized something else.

"The mana here is denser than elsewhere. A Magic Workshop?"

Fighting inside another mage's workshop was common sense to avoid. But one type of person existed specifically to break common sense: the overpowered protagonist. Like their Shirou.

Seeing a wall meant smashing it. Shirou's first thought wasn't of demolition crews but of a method from some migrant worker: "First use a small hammer to pick at the cracks, then a big hammer to finish it off."

But he didn't plan to use a hammer. After all, Shirou wasn't a migrant worker. By trade, he counted as a mage—or at worst, an assassin or an archer. The whole "big hammer, eighty bucks" routine was better left to Berserker-san.

Shirou's initial plan was to fire a Gran Rey Cero and level the Magic Workshop in one shot. This kind of light-cannon skill had overwhelming power and ample payload, perfect for countering all of a mage's flashy tricks.

But after thinking it over, Shirou realized something: he himself was technically a mage. And as a mage, how could he not get a little flashy himself?

Trace On!

After two bars of incantation, an ancient katana appeared in Shirou's hand.

Mage workshops were all equipped with barriers to prevent home invasions, so after a brief moment of thought, Shirou projected this blade.

Kuji Kanetsune. Last time Shiki showed it to him, Shirou had taken the opportunity to analyze its structure. Against barriers, Kanetsune had unparalleled advantages—it could even cut through the temple of a professional Barrier Master like Souren Araya. The Kajiamena family's barriers, mere extras in the grand scheme, were naturally no challenge.

Holding the Fake Kanesada, Shirou thrust it upward. When the tip reached its highest point, he immediately changed his move, flicking his wrist to twirl the blade, then swung a horizontal slash.

On the surface, Shirou had just cut at empty air twice. But in reality, the defensive shield covering the Kajiamena Magic Workshop was completely wrecked.

"Next up is this."

Shirou muttered, and a dark green magical energy coiled around the Fake Kanesada in his hand. This was actually an imitation of Kurosaki Ichigo's technique—wrapping the crescent part of Getsuga Tensho around the blade, so every slash carried the power of a Getsuga.

Shirou didn't know Getsuga Tensho, so he substituted a similar move: his Cero.

Boom! No slash imbued with Cero's power could be stopped by a wall, even one reinforced with countless Reinforcement-type spells.

Did you think everywhere was Ryuudou Temple?

After this strike, the Fake Kanesada in Shirou's hand finally gave out and snapped. Despite possessing his unique ability, Kanetsune's durability was no different from an ordinary blade. Using it to unleash a Cero-level blow was still too much of a stretch.

(Can't find the book title? Try searching by the author—maybe it just changed names!)