"So, this is Night Raid's base?"
Standing atop the cliff and gazing down at the hidden building deep within the forest, Esdeath smiled faintly. She hadn't expected the chance to confront Night Raid directly to come so soon.
"Your instincts truly are extraordinary, Stylish."
Esdeath glanced appreciatively at Dr. Stylish beside her. To prevent Night Raid's escape, Stylish had already dispatched his infantry to encircle their entire base.
As for why they hadn't begun the assault yet—with Esdeath, the Empire's strongest general present—there was simply no need for him to act prematurely.
"Thank you for your praise, Lady Esdeath." Stylish bowed gracefully, humbly accepting her compliment.
"Among everyone present, he was the only one who immediately sought to leave. Clearly, he intended to alert his comrades."
After all, those who came to witness Esdeath's fights at the arena—be they nobles, prisoners, or fugitives—would never willingly leave without witnessing her overwhelming strength firsthand.
Who would think to leave unless it was to warn someone?
"And Night Raid's appearance shortly thereafter only confirmed my suspicions!"
Long before Night Raid arrived, Stylish had dispatched Eye and Nose to secretly follow Tatsumi, roughly pinpointing his route. To avoid suspicion, they hadn't investigated further.
Unlike last time, Stylish didn't recklessly provoke Night Raid alone. Instead, he prudently informed Esdeath.
The main reason, of course, was Shirou Emiya, who had proven himself capable of challenging even Esdeath.
"Have you made progress on analyzing Emiya Shirou's unique abilities?"
"His body contains a set of energy channels entirely different from ours, allowing him to manifest weapons almost equivalent in strength to genuine Teigu."
Standing by the cliffside, the two conversed. Previously, within her frozen time, Esdeath had repeatedly delivered her strongest kicks directly into Shirou's stomach.
When her technique ended, the cumulative force hurled Shirou to the ground like a meteor, shattering his armor completely and rendering him unconscious.
This time, Esdeath intended to finish Shirou decisively, but Stylish had intervened.
"Lady Esdeath, aren't you curious as to why he possessed something akin to a disposable replica of Incursio?"
"If we manage to decipher that ability, the Empire might possess limitless Teigu."
Stylish's reasoning had intrigued Esdeath. Indeed, she was curious about Shirou's power to produce weapons seemingly from thin air.
Why was Stylish certain Shirou himself produced these weapons, rather than Night Raid employing hidden counterfeit techniques?
Because Stylish had clearly observed weapons appearing abruptly in Shirou's hands—he had nowhere on his body to hide such weapons.
"I only care about results."
Esdeath's voice grew colder. She wasn't a researcher and didn't grasp Stylish's technical explanations. All she wanted was proof his research was worthwhile—after all, Stylish had snatched away her prey.
"Lady Esdeath, please test this paper."
Stylish gestured for Ear to hand him a rolled-up sheet of paper, then passed it to Esdeath.
She took the paper, casually unfurling it in her grasp, looking confusedly toward Stylish.
"No need to hurry, Lady Esdeath. You're about to witness something truly astonishing."
Smiling confidently, Stylish rolled the paper again, holding it out in front of himself.
"Lady Esdeath, please slash this paper. Not at full strength—it hasn't yet reached that level."
Clang—!
A slight vibration traveled into Esdeath's hand. Astonishingly, the rolled-up paper now possessed the hardness of tempered steel.
"How did you manage this?"
Stylish lifted his clothing, revealing a glass jar in a pouch on his abdomen containing a lump of pulsating flesh, connected by tubes directly to his arm. Blood flowed continuously through the apparatus.
"This is flesh harvested from the red-haired youth. I extracted his cells and cultivated them extensively. Eventually, I grew tissue with similar energy pathways."
He adjusted his glasses before continuing.
"I discovered this entirely by chance. This unique energy can reinforce matter—wood becomes harder, blades become sharper, and it can even strengthen the human body itself."
Stylish slammed his fist onto the ground. Fractures rippled outward immediately.
BOOM—!
Esdeath and Stylish leapt aside as the cliff they had stood upon crumbled from that single punch.
Stylish had successfully grasped a form of Reinforcement Magecraft Shirou himself had yet to fully master.
"Let's go. It seems the encirclement is complete. Tonight, not a single member of Night Raid can be allowed to escape."
Seeing Nose bouncing excitedly nearby, Esdeath understood immediately—the infantry had finished surrounding Night Raid's base.
Without hesitation, she leapt downward, sprinting toward Night Raid's stronghold.
Stylish smiled with anticipation, following swiftly after her.
---
"Search carefully! That shadow escaping the explosion earlier must still be nearby!"
Back when Shirou Emiya attacked the laboratory, the large-eared woman had already dispatched messengers to summon the Imperial Guard.
Of course, their response was notoriously slow. Only after Seryu's suicidal explosion did they leisurely arrive on the scene.
However, they had seen a shadow dart swiftly through their ranks in the immediate aftermath.
Cough—! Gasp—!
Shirou leaned weakly against a tree, breathing desperately, fighting to maintain control of himself.
His entire right arm was missing, cleanly severed at the shoulder.
In the final moments, Shirou had severed his own arm and pushed his breathing techniques beyond their limits, ignoring his damaged legs to escape the explosion's center.
Yet time had been too short. The blast's flames had caught him, searing away the flesh of his back. He felt as though he might lose consciousness at any second—forcing himself to use magecraft while completely drained of mana was excruciating.
Mana was a form of converted life force, originating from two sources—external and internal. External mana was challenging to access, so most magi relied on their internal reserves. Their Od.
Shirou drew exclusively on his Od.
Drawing excessively from internal mana damaged the body irreversibly. Now, he had pushed himself far beyond that point.
He had endured severe injuries, severe blood loss from his amputated arm, and this deep overdraft of his own life force.
It felt as though an invisible hand was gripping his throat, strangling him. Breathing became impossible—he felt he might lose consciousness forever at any moment.