"Hey, I may have shown up a little late, but who gave you permission to lay a hand on my friend, you green-hatted bastard?" A tremendous force knocked away Arba's hand as it reached for Mikiya. He looked around, but found nothing.
"Idiot, where the hell are you looking?!"
The voice rang out again. Arba looked down and, sure enough, a young man was standing there.
At that moment, Shirou seemed to feel the deep malice of height discrimination.
"Shirou!" Mikiya cried out in pleasant surprise. Though he had never actually seen Shirou fight, he could still tell that Shirou was strong.
Besides, Touko Aozaki and Shiki both acknowledged Shirou's strength. Even if he did not trust himself, he should at least trust Touko Aozaki and Shiki, right?
"Red hair... you're the mage Araya mentioned." There was a trace of fear in Arba's eyes as he looked at Shirou. He knew perfectly well how strong Souren Araya was, and Shirou was even stronger than Souren Araya!
Arba felt utterly miserable. Usually, you beat up the little one and the old one comes for you. But he had beaten up the old one, only for the little one to come after him—and then an even younger one showed up. This was not magecraft at all!
"That's right! I am Emiya Shirou. Do you have a problem with that?" Shirou introduced himself openly. If Natalia had been here, she would definitely have seen that Shirou intended to silence everyone. After all, not everyone could understand stealth the way he did—as killing every witness.
"Kill every witness, and that's the best kind of stealth." That was what Shirou had solemnly told Natalia back then.
Arba took a step back, inwardly sensing trouble. His familiar had already been defeated by Touko Aozaki, while the guy in front of him was an overpowered cheat whose close-combat ability stood on the same level as Souren Araya's. Between a mage and a warrior, who was better at close combat? The answer could not have been more obvious.
"Hey, don't be in such a hurry to make your exit, Mr. Green Hat. After all, the performance is only just beginning!" Shirou used Sonido to appear directly behind Arba, frightening him into breaking out in a cold sweat. You wanted to mess with my brother, and now you think you can just run away? You think this is your wife and kids' place or something?!
What the hell?! At this speed, I did not sense a thing! Where the hell did that bastard Aozaki find a monster like this?! Arba was panicking, but he still tried his best to calm down.
"Is there anything else you need, Mr. Emiya?" Given the situation, waiting for Souren Araya was the best choice. Although Shirou had defeated Souren Araya before, this was Souren Araya's temple—his home ground. Within the temple, Arba had considerable faith in Souren Araya.
"The guests haven't all arrived yet. How can the host leave first, Mr. Green Hat?" As he spoke, Shirou looked toward the entrance. Following his gaze, a red-haired woman in a trench coat walked over.
"Ms. Touko Aozaki, you're not dead!" Mikiya said joyfully when he saw her. He did not know what had happened, but all that mattered was that she was alive.
Unlike Mikiya, Arba looked as though he had seen a ghost the moment he saw Touko Aozaki. After all, he was the one who had just killed her.
"No... how? How is that possible?! I clearly... Is that a doll? No, impossible! I'm certain I killed you just now! Why? Why are you still alive? Answer me, Aozaki!"
"Ah, from a certain perspective, you did indeed kill me just now." Touko Aozaki's tone was icy. She had maintained an iceberg-like demeanor from the beginning, but this time, the iceberg was simply colder.
"The principle of a dollmaker is that identical individuals cannot be created..."
"Hey! What kind of joke is this?! Could it be that you—" Arba trailed off, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"...Just as you think. By chance, I created another individual completely identical to myself. At that time, I thought, 'Now that I have this, don't I no longer need myself?'"
"Hey, that's enough, Touko Aozaki. If you want him to die knowing the truth, you've said enough already. Telling him too much won't do you any good!" Shirou cut in. He had no intention of wasting time listening to things he already knew.
"You bastard!" Touko Aozaki shot Shirou an unfriendly glare. If they had not known each other well enough for her to understand what he meant, she might already have attacked him. Though she could not beat Shirou anyway.
Shirou's words had their effect. Among mages, mystery always submitted to greater mystery. But once information leaked, that mystery would undoubtedly lose value. She really had gotten carried away. Coming to her senses, Touko Aozaki directly threw out her suitcase. Inside was a familiar created with a projector—the strongest familiar Touko Aozaki could produce at this stage.
The grotesque monster swallowed the screaming Arba alive, starting from his feet. Mikiya felt somewhat sickened by the sight, but did not show it. The scene of Arba smashing Touko Aozaki's head open had been far more disgusting than this. Compared to that, this was barely anything.
"So it has come to this after all, Aozaki." At that moment, Souren Araya's upper body emerged from the wall, giving off the distinct impression of White Zetsu from Naruto. "Aren't you going to fight?"
"No. Inside this building, I'm not your opponent," Touko Aozaki said bluntly.
"With the monster in your suitcase, you might still be able to defeat me."
"No. A loss is a loss. There's no need to try again." Touko Aozaki refused without hesitation, then turned to look at Shirou.
He shook his head. "I don't intend to fight either. You're Shiki's opponent, so she should be the one to deal with you. But before that—"
Shirou swiftly pulled out a Barrett and fired at Souren Araya without another word. Just as expected, Souren Araya blocked it with his left hand. The armor-piercing round, capable of easily penetrating tank armor, did not even scratch his skin.
"You really are impervious to blades and bullets!" Shirou immediately lowered the gun. Since Souren Araya had previously said that his left hand was impervious to blades and bullets, Shirou had merely wanted to test whether it was true.
The result was exactly as Shirou had expected. Neither blades nor anti-materiel rifles could inflict any damage on Souren Araya's left arm.
Yep, truly impervious to blades and bullets!
Huh? Was that expression a little off? Whatever! Everyone could understand it, couldn't they?