Clang—!
Shirou swiftly spun his body, deflecting the surrounding blades, then dropped into a half-crouch and vanished from sight in an instant.
The attackers turned blank yet seemingly anxious gazes around the area, desperately trying to locate Shirou's figure.
Thud—!
A sharp impact resounded behind one of them.
In fluid, practiced motions, Shirou darted gracefully among the attackers with his reverse-blade katana, slicing through their formation like flowing water.
Panicked, they swung wildly around themselves.
Yet all that echoed were faint, muffled impacts.
Immediately afterward, one by one, they lost consciousness and collapsed onto the forest floor.
The scene was eerie—like they'd all fallen victim to some invisible demon's strikes.
This was another of Incursio's hidden abilities—stealth.
But before Shirou could use his stealth to dismantle the remaining stone golems, heavy footsteps suddenly approached from behind him.
Facing away from the massive golem, Shirou slightly tilted his head to one side.
Whoosh—!
The sound of rushing wind whistled past his ear. Shirou followed the airflow, smoothly twirling the reverse-blade katana in his hand.
A moment later, Shirou reappeared behind the stone golem, flicking the katana elegantly through a perfect flourish.
BOOM—!
A deafening crash followed as the seemingly invincible stone giant fragmented into countless rocky shards, exploding outward.
These golems weren't mere stone constructs; each contained a magical core that continuously supplied mana. This not only granted them movement but made their bodies harder than steel.
Moreover, as magical constructs, they didn't rely on eyesight to detect enemies. They tracked Shirou purely through his mana signature.
Yet these supposedly formidable constructs had shattered like brittle clay before Shirou.
From defeating the humanoid puppets to crushing the stone giants, it took merely seconds.
Shirou swiftly dealt with the entire squad without even raising much noise.
I can't stop here. The longer I linger, the less chance there is to save whoever's calling for help!
A sense of urgency rose sharply in Shirou's heart. He quickly moved past the fallen enemies, continuing toward his initial direction.
But a dreadful premonition welled up inside him.
The closer Shirou got to the direction he instinctively chose, the stronger his sense of imminent danger became, his skin prickling painfully.
His instincts warned him clearly:
Whatever awaited ahead was even more dangerous than Esdeath.
"That's—!"
Shirou abruptly halted. Before him lay a nightmarish scene—a forest of sharp black spikes.
Impaled upon these spikes hung numerous lifeless bodies, their blood dripping steadily onto the leaves below, casting sinister reflections beneath the pale moonlight.
"They're already gone."
Shirou's grip tightened fiercely on his reverse-blade katana as he stared at the corpses frozen in expressions of sheer terror.
Suddenly, an intense, stabbing pain flared from Shirou's side.
Without hesitation, he pushed off the ground and leaped aside.
Shnk—!
A pitch-black spike shot upward from the ground, moving so fast Shirou barely had time to blink.
Had he not reacted instantly, he would have been impaled like those bodies before him.
"What is—!?"
Before Shirou could finish his sentence, numerous cracking sounds erupted from beneath him.
BOOM—!
BOOM—!
BOOM—!
Black spikes burst violently through the earth, piercing the air at terrifying speeds far surpassing bullets. Forming a triangle, they sealed off all possible escape routes instantly.
Crash—!
Clang—!
The sound of collision and violent turbulence echoed through the silent forest once again.
The three black spikes, aimed directly at Shirou, clashed violently together, producing a thunderous tremor.
Yet Shirou, who should've been trapped, hovered above, having sprouted a pair of wings from the armor on his back.
Heart still racing, Shirou stared anxiously down at the spikes.
If he hadn't been able to fly, he'd undoubtedly be skewered by now.
I can't even pinpoint the enemy's position! Staying here is too risky!
Shirou quickly made a decision. Though unable to identify the attacker's exact location, the direction of the incoming attacks made their origin clear.
They had appeared as soon as Shirou moved toward the earlier cries for help. The enemy was clearly positioned somewhere ahead.
Waiting here defensively against these unpredictable black spikes was suicidal. Shirou excelled at offense rather than defense—and frankly, his armor might as well have been paper before these terrifying spikes.
With that realization, Shirou wasted no time. His wings flared, generating powerful gusts behind him.
He shot forward like an arrow released from a fully drawn bow, creating rippling shockwaves in the air.
However, he remained beneath the treetops to keep his sightline clear, racing through the gaps between trunks.
Ahead, Shirou saw two figures standing calmly among the forest of spikes.
Splurch—!
Shirou stared down in shock at the spike piercing through his abdomen.
When did it—!?
No room was given for him to react.
One after another, black spikes exploded fiercely from the ground, moving so fast they appeared as mere blurs.
This wasn't a speed Shirou could possibly counter.
Suspended in midair, Shirou desperately twisted his restrained body, even as crimson blood poured freely from his shattered armor, rapidly soaking the earth beneath him.
Clang—!
Unable to endure any further, Shirou's armor shattered and vanished completely.
Clap, clap, clap, clap!
Applause echoed leisurely, carrying the familiar arrogance of the powerful toward a fallen hero.
Barely conscious, Shirou strained to see the two figures approaching him clearly.
A blue-haired man in a formal suit, resembling those earlier attackers, and beside him, a gentlemanly figure—a white-haired man elegantly seated upon an imposing horse.