Chapter 28 At Least Keep the Girl from the Cruel Joke
There was a moon in the sky.
It was the same moonlight as that night when destiny began to flow. But it was not the moon of the night Shirou and Saber met; it was a brilliant, high-hanging moon that illuminated the aberrant.
His heart throbbed violently, every cell in his body restless with fear.
The "Emaciated Giant" stood upon a distant skyscraper's peak.
Only half of his body was visible, his magnificent giant bow held at his side like a perfect work of art.
His unclothed upper body was shielded by mysterious cloth, and even his face was hidden behind a heavy shroud.
As if shaken by some impact, his magical aura was unstable. But in the moments of its full eruption, Shirou could clearly sense a terrifying spectacle, like an ocean suspended in the heavens.
This undeniably powerful Heroic Spirit had chosen—not Shirou—but Illya as his target.
This giant... who was he? What the hell was he thinking?
Shirou had no time to ponder; the second arrow followed immediately.
Ignoring Shirou, the emaciated giant drew his bow a second time.
"..."
A probing shot—at least, it was such for him.
"Wait!!"
Perfectly synchronized with his movements, Shirou immediately pulled the string of a projected bow.
He used only ordinary magical energy arrows, but his internal armory was screaming a warning: if he didn't use a distorted Noble Phantasm as a broadhead, he wouldn't be able to block the shot in time.
In other words, the gap between them was so great that such measures were mandatory.
In a simultaneous strike from both Shirou and the emaciated giant, the two opposing meteors collided, emitting a chaotic, vibrating roar.
In the result of the mutual cancellation, Shirou's dynamic vision caught it—a crack had appeared on the Noble Phantasm serving as his arrow.
Cold sweat poured down Shirou's face as he locked eyes with the assailant.
Though there should have been a layer of cloth between them, Shirou could clearly tell the giant was scrutinizing him.
"You are quite remarkable for a human, to take my arrow head-on."
The giant spoke.
He seemed to have the intent to converse, but Shirou couldn't imagine him saying something so mundane. This was just a basic magical arrow, fired without sufficient draw time—nowhere near his full power. What was there to be "remarkable" about?
It felt like ice water being poured over Shirou's medulla oblongata, yet his nerves felt as though they were burning.
This familiar suffocating sensation gave Shirou a strange sense of déjà vu.
A sword and a giant, a weak human... as several images under the moonlight flickered into his mind, Shirou clutched his forehead and forced himself to suppress his stray thoughts.
Lacking the leeway even to reply, Shirou managed to squeeze out only one word:
"Run."
Turning his head, Shirou found Illya staring blankly at the giant atop the skyscraper.
Her expression was one of pure confusion.
"Illya, run, quickly!!"
It wasn't until Shirou shouted that she snapped back to reality.
"I can't just abandon Shirou and run away!"
Illya's eyes widened, and she answered with a voice that sounded like she was crying.
Illya could never forsake Shirou. Thus, faced with an impending death-trap, Shirou instead became calm.
"Illya, I'll buy you time. Go find a Servant to help me."
Shirou's underlying meaning was—if the girl stayed here, she would only be a burden. If she wanted to help him, she had to find Saber or Rider.
Though it hurt Illya to hear, the priority was for her to stay alive.
Furthermore, Illya's method of extending her life did not rely on Shirou. Even if something happened to him, Illya would not die.
With his attention entirely focused on the skyscraper two kilometers away, Shirou could not perceive Illya's specific expression.
Illya seemed to say something, and seemed to run off in the direction of escape.
That impression was too blurred.
Only the image of the giant raising his bow remained clear. That fellow intended to draw and fire once more.
"How could I ever let you have your way!?"
To protect what he could not afford to lose, a power surpassing that of demons and gods erupted.
Shirou projected a [Pseudo-Hrunting], instantaneously copying two more out of thin air. The continuous fire of three arrows exploded almost simultaneously.
Without being unleashed, the arrows—using high-level Noble Phantasms as shafts—acted as decoys. They struck toward the emaciated giant's bow, forcing the Heroic Spirit on the skyscraper to abandon his draw and prioritize intercepting them.
He fired.
Lacking a full draw, the number of arrows split from his magical energy was—five.
Three canceled out the Noble Phantasms, while two bypassed Shirou, chasing after the girl.
"Full Projection: Continuous Tracing."
His pupils tracked the un-cancelled portion, and his Magic Circuits pushed into overdrive.
A rain of high-grade Noble Phantasm swords, created on the fly, stabbed backward like cold light. Replacing the momentarily stiffened Shirou, they shot down the remaining two arrows.
As the extreme maneuver ended, Shirou's movements immediately regained their freedom.
His body stumbled for a moment, and before Shirou could catch his breath, the magical energy gathering in the air immediately formed distorted tracking arrowheads on the giant's bow.
The Noble Phantasm Shirou projected now was called [Hrunting].
A demonic sword that sniffs out the scent of the enemy's blood, automatically tracking them and never ceasing its attack until it is destroyed.
However... there wasn't just one.
There were eight.
The time required for rapid fire was still too long. The final result would be just like before: Shirou's attacks could not fully cancel the emaciated giant's strikes. He had to be faster. What Shirou had to do now was fire all the demonic swords simultaneously.
Not magical arrows, but Noble Phantasms—treasures of the world—all fired from a single bowstring, aimed at a single enemy. Even for non-human archery, achieving this would be considered a revolutionary attempt.
But Shirou wasted no time evaluating his archery; [Hrunting] would track the enemy automatically. Shirou only had to fire.
The [Hrunting] arrows, turning into a mass of red light rays, poured out in a swarm, assailing the Heroic Spirit.
Shirou had no delusions that they could pierce that giant; simply put, he would intercept them.
Normally, the correct way to fire [Hrunting] would be to concentrate all of one's magical energy into a single arrowhead. The power, speed, and hardness of the Noble Phantasm Hrunting are proportional to the magical energy input. When the time comes to complete it, as long as Hrunting is successfully fired, the opponent is already within the killing zone.
The enemy must first intercept an attack capable of "killing the earth," but that is not the end. A Hrunting brimming with magical energy is extremely difficult to destroy. The earth-killing strike is endless; even if parried, it will circle back. Once fired, it will surely pierce through futile resistance—unless a large-scale Noble Phantasm exceeding Hrunting's rank is used for Noble Phantasm Destruction. But once Hrunting is fired, its speed no longer allows the enemy the gap to successfully unleash their own Noble Phantasm.
The effect of eight arrows was often inferior to that of one. This was because the amount of magical energy Shirou could inject in the same amount of time was constant; eight arrows meant the magical energy for one was divided into eighths.
The speed was insufficient, so they were easy to dodge; the power was insufficient, so they were easy to block. Even with the increased quantity, they were at most a slight nuisance—something to be avoided with a bit of concentration. It was impossible for them to cause fatal damage to an opponent stronger than Shirou.
But Shirou didn't plan to wait for the Heroic Spirit to intercept them.
The moment he confirmed Hrunting had been fired, Shirou projected a long chain. With the chain dancing lightly, he used a bizarre technique that did not belong to him to swing his body toward the nearest building.
The moment he made contact with the floor, using the chain as an aid and the exterior of the building as stairs, Shirou rapidly ascended toward the heights.
—Do you wish to reach my height?
The Heroic Spirit made a swift judgment.
He had already shot down all eight arrows.
The hardness of the Noble Phantasms made them sturdier than flat-fired arrows, increasing the threat to the Heroic Spirit—but that was all. It was effortless.
The Heroic Spirit was about to draw for a new round to lock onto the girl's direction, only to find all the arrows beginning to float and lunge toward him once more.
"I see. That kind of tactic."
That was the "troublesome" characteristic.
As large beads of sweat flew, the bow tightly gripped in Shirou's hand remained pointed at the Heroic Spirit.
Eight Hrunting arrows, though unable to deal actual damage, would prevent the emaciated giant from being able to aim properly at the target person. Unless the Noble Phantasms were shattered, this situation would persist for a long time.
Shirou's feet had already stepped onto the top floor of the building.
With another swing, he projected a stone axe this time. Using the leg strength forcibly increased by the stone axe, he used it as a springboard to leap toward the building closer to the giant.
Then, in the mid-air where there was no foothold, Shirou beheld a despairing sight under the moonlight.
The shroud-clad Heroic Spirit... indifferently allowed the eight arrows to chase him.
His gaze was about to lock onto the girl who was fleeing.
The giant didn't react.
He wouldn't even react to that!?
To stop his new strike now... it was too late.
The blood in his whole body froze. At this life-or-death moment for Illya, the strategy Shirou could instantly devise in his mind was very simple, and he had no other choice.
The tactic using Hrunting had lost its effect. Shirou unhesitatingly lowered the bow he had been locking on with. The eight arrows fell like birds that had lost their wings.
Without stopping his body, which had turned into a stalling projectile, Shirou hung in mid-air and bet all his remaining strength on a shout that reached the skyscraper's roof:
"Why are you attacking Illya, Heracles!!"
The Heroic Spirit stopped for a moment. With an unreadable expression, he turned toward Shirou.
It was exactly the result Shirou wanted, yet Shirou's face was as frozen as if he were about to sleep forever beneath a tombstone in the night.
It was enough that he alone knew this.
Shirou only hoped that Illya hadn't realized it yet.
At least, he hoped to keep the girl away from this cruel joke.