The Hunt Continues

After staying with El-Melloi for a few days, Shirou and Natalia resumed preparing for work.

Although they had gotten along reasonably well with Webber during that time, their relationship remained that of employer and bounty hunters.

Besides, the person who had posted the job was Lady Reines. It had little to do with Webber, so the work had to continue.

After last time, Natalia had gained a general understanding of Shirou—if Kiritsugu was a born killer, then Shirou was a born hunter.

He possessed absolute strength, yet he was never in a hurry to kill his target. He would indulge himself first, then carry out the necessary slaughter.

It had to be said that this was a rather vile habit. It even made him seem less like a human and more like a beast. And Shirou's method of killing was extremely straightforward: he stabbed people to death.

It was not that there was anything wrong with that approach. When magi fought, killing with a single blow was ideal. It effectively avoided all kinds of fancy tricks, and Shirou's methods specialized in dealing with fancy tricks.

But Shirou's movements were far too practiced. This was not something that could be brushed off by asking, "Why are you so skilled at this?" His direct killing motions were as practiced as bodily instinct. That clearly was not something an ordinary person could do.

And then there was his immense amount of magical energy—enough to make ordinary magi despair...

Natalia had no idea where Kiritsugu had dug up such a little monster, nor what exactly Shirou was, nor whether that was good or bad. So she decided to let nature take its course.

That was the Emiya Family's style as well. As long as nothing went wrong, they would not interfere.

This target had been designated by Reines. Its name was rather amusing to Shirou: the Buffilo Family.

Hey, buddy, do you have some brother family named Buffett? Did you make your fortune trading stocks too?

Moreover, this family was stubborn as hell. They were currently the ones clashing most fiercely with El-Melloi head-on. Even now that El-Melloi had regained the majesty of one of the Twelve Lords, they had never backed down.

In Shirou's view, this peculiar family perfectly embodied the spirit of "take life and death lightly; if you don't submit, fight." It suited his tastes. Besides, taking things lightly was good—they were all headed for the funeral home anyway.

The Buffilo Family was also a fairly orthodox mage family. They followed the old traditions and stayed properly tucked away in the mountains.

Yet they had never considered bringing their family out of those mountains. A poor household from some remote mountain region was actually having the time of its life taking on El-Melloi. Who knew where they got the courage?

Shirou's formation this time was the same as last time. Shirou would charge in from the front. Put simply, he would kill gods that blocked gods, kill Buddhas that blocked Buddhas, tear down doors that blocked doors, smash walls that blocked walls, and cut a path straight to the target before making him hand over his head with his oversized blade.

Natalia would still prepare to snipe from the rear. Though it was still for emergencies, this time it was to ensure that no one escaped alive.

According to the information Reines had provided, the Buffilo Family specialized in earth magecraft. Shirou could only sneer at that.

Screw that. According to intelligence from Tokiomi Tohsaka, the great scapegoat of the Nasuverse, the Matou Family used water magecraft too. Yet after his daughter went there, she discovered—

What kind of goddamn water magic looked like arthropods?!

That was why magi intelligence was complete bullshit. This line of work boiled down to two words: mystery!

If it was public knowledge, how the hell could it still be called a mystery?!

Even a kindergarten kid's pet cat knew that!

Shirou decided to take the airborne route this time. He could fly, after all. Not using an advantage like that meant there was probably something wrong with his head.

What? Why had he not flown last time? Wasn't it for the sheer power of that line, "Kick open the front gate"?! Though in the end, the gate had been blown open rather than kicked open.

"This prey looks much tougher than last time. What do you think, Natalia?" Shirou asked over the radio. I think with my scope, Natalia naturally could not be that cheeky. That was merely Shirou's own imagined reply. "Something's wrong. You'd better be careful, kid. I have a bad feeling telling me this won't be simple."

Natalia's voice came through the radio. Shirou knew she would not lie at a time like this, but he still asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Professional instinct. Do you believe in that?"

Believe it or not? Of course he did! Intuition was a mysterious thing in this world. Better to believe it existed than to assume it did not.

"Of course. When was the last time you had this feeling?"

"The time Kiritsugu's plane blew up and fell out of the sky with me in it," Natalia replied after giving it serious thought.

"That really isn't a good feeling." Shirou wiped away cold sweat that did not exist. "But there's one thing you can rest assured about, Natalia. My old man could abandon the people around him for the world, while I'm exactly the opposite—I could destroy the world for the people around me!"

"Quit being an idiot, kid. Deal with what's in front of us first!" Seeing signs of Shirou's chuunibyou acting up again, Natalia immediately scolded him. She really did not understand it. He was such a fine kid—he could fight, show off, and cook—so why was he so embarrassingly dramatic?

"YES, SIR! On it right away!"

Shirou's voice rang in Natalia's ear. She rubbed her forehead. This kid's chuunibyou was terminal. He was beyond saving.

Standing dozens of meters in the air with Hierro, Shirou was deeply grateful that he did not have acrophobia. Otherwise, never mind what came next—just looking down would have been enough to make him fall.

Trace on!

Shirou projected Fake Kanesada once more, raised it over his head, and began free-falling. This was the first form of Assassin's Creed—the Leap of Faith!

When steel coins dropped from a height of more than ten meters, they hit with the force of an anti-materiel rifle. That showed just how powerful the acceleration was.

Even tiny coins had such destructive power. A Shirou-sized body falling straight down naturally smashed out a huge crater.

As for the barrier, it had already been rendered useless. Before Kanesada, any barrier was nothing but decoration!

The moment he climbed out of the crater, Shirou discovered a problem: he was surrounded!

The shit-yellow things around him were earth Golems. Not only did they show up constantly in all kinds of game events, they existed here too!

There were at least eight hundred of them by Shirou's estimate, and the one beside him had already swung a fist larger than a washbasin at him. If that punch landed, the fist itself would basically be ruined.

With a whoosh, Shirou used Sonido to evade the punch that was destined to shatter. Then, with another whoosh, he appeared behind the Golem that had tried to smash him. One knife-hand strike—crack—and the Golem broke apart.

That had been a reflex, a habit developed from gaming. These were Berserker-class enemies, after all. Deep down, Shirou simply assumed they could deal damage.

So, what should an Assassin do when he fell into an encirclement?

Of course, he should go on a rampage!

This was the ultimate technique of Assassin's Creed: Rampage!

Clock Tower

The Lord of Bartholomew was standing with his arms crossed, furiously berating his intelligence personnel. "Are you people in the intelligence division being paid to do nothing? One of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors—the damned Ortolocke! He's been in Clock Tower territory for a month, and I knew about it before you did!"

The elderly Lord Barthomeloi took a few breaths. Seizing the chance, someone with a little more courage stepped forward. "Lord, what do we do now?"

Lord Barthomeloi calmed himself, glanced at the man, and said, "Gather all the capable people in the house. Also notify the Department of Zoology. This time, we're going hunting for a True Ancestor!"

"Yes, Lord. Understood."

Wait!

"Is there anything else, Lord?"

"What's your name?"

The man froze for a moment, then immediately answered, "Rolleia, Lord. My name is Rolleia."