"At least thirty people. There are no hostages, but every one of them is armed. They have staffs and crossbows."
"There are also several drones, including Arts drones... tsk, what exactly are these people trying to do? Causing trouble at a time like this of all moments! Once we catch them, I am definitely going to interrogate them thoroughly!"
At the scene, Swire was explaining the situation to Shirou, Chen, and the others who had arrived as reinforcements.
Perhaps because of sleep deprivation over the past few days, her temper had become noticeably more irritable. Shirou could practically imagine those people being terrified half to death by the wind pressure from Swire swinging her meteor hammer around.
Still, it was none of Shirou's business.
If someone committed crimes, then they had to accept punishment. Besides, as a member of the Guard Department, Swire was simply doing her duty. There was absolutely no problem with that.
Probably.
In any case, Shirou had no intention of interfering. He could still distinguish things clearly. Back when he had been hit by that car and projected a coat over the enemy afterward, it had only been to prevent ordinary people's misunderstandings toward infected from deepening.
But now?
The ordinary civilians had already been evacuated from the area by the Guard Department. If she were not concerned about casualties among her own personnel, Swire could have simply pushed straight through the enemy positions.
However, she did not want any casualties, which was why she had called her mortal rival over to help.
"Understood... Shirou, take care of every visible target first."
Nodding, Chen rapidly formed a tactical plan in her mind.
The first step was simple: send the invincible Shirou forward first.
"No problem. Leave it to me."
After receiving Chen's instructions, Shirou focused magical energy into his eyes and looked toward the building where the infected were hiding.
His golden eyes immediately drew the attention of everyone present except Chen and her squad, because they had already arrested many criminals alongside Shirou and were used to strange things by now.
Besides, it was daytime. The sun was bright.
At night, however, those glowing eyes really were rather terrifying. Though compared to them, the criminals chased down by Shirou probably found them even more horrifying.
Still, Shirou's glowing eyes did not attract too much attention. After all, some races also had glowing eyes under certain conditions.
Shirou himself had absolutely no idea what everyone else was thinking. Right now, he was only thinking that everyone was still working hard, so he could not afford to hold them back.
Although the building was some distance away and the viewing angle was poor, Shirou still managed to catch the flight paths of several drones, as well as a pair of animal ears sticking out near one of the windows.
All he could say was that certain races really were at a disadvantage when trying to hide behind windows.
Here, Shirou specifically meant Sankta.
"Five armed drones, three Arts drones. As for the criminals, I can only confirm the positions of some of them. Should I eliminate them all?"
While asking the question, Shirou projected a longbow and pulled the bowstring taut, waiting for Chen's next instruction.
"Destroy the drones first, then provide cover for us. If necessary, you may directly engage them. Understood?"
Seeing that Shirou was already prepared to act, Chen immediately issued her orders and charged forward together with the squad.
The moment he received the command, Shirou released the bowstring and allowed the arrows to fly toward the drones in the air.
In an instant, all eight drones within his field of vision were destroyed. The explosions immediately alerted the criminals inside that the Guard Department had begun their assault.
One person near a window tried to stand up to observe the situation and attack, only to have an arrow pierce straight through their shoulder.
Even after piercing through the shoulder, the arrow still retained enough force to drag the person backward a considerable distance and pin them directly against the wall.
Shirou had intentionally infused the shot with extra magical energy.
The intense sense of unease he felt had made him especially cautious during this operation.
After covering Chen and the others as they entered the building, he also intended to infiltrate the place alone.
Though "infiltrate" was not exactly the right word, because he planned to walk in openly and directly.
Under Shirou's suppressive fire, Chen and the Guard Department squad successfully entered the building. The moment Shirou confirmed that, he immediately gripped the black longbow in one hand and charged forward.
"Swire! I am going inside to support them!"
Leaving only those words behind, it took Swire several moments to react.
"...He really runs fast."
Watching Shirou's back as he sprinted away in his Guard Department combat uniform, Swire muttered a complaint before taking control of the situation outside.
There was no point keeping Shirou outside anymore. It was better to send him in to support that damned dragon.
After all, that damned dragon's condition today did not seem very good... her face looked somewhat pale. And there was no way someone like her would bother putting on makeup at a time like this, so something was definitely wrong.
Thinking about the intense workload Chen had endured at the Guard Department over the past few days, Swire reasonably suspected that the woman had overworked herself into actual health problems.
If not for Chen's personality, Swire would definitely have blasted her straight into the car and forced her to rest.
Otherwise, if they started arguing, things would become troublesome. The people inside might even take advantage of the distraction and escape.
Watching Shirou rush inside while holding the longbow, Swire subconsciously overlapped the image with how he looked when she first met him.
Putting everything else aside, just the sight of him wearing the Guard Department combat uniform was already incredible, alright?
Even if it was only temporary, once there was a first and second time, there would definitely be a third. As long as she kept trying, she could definitely recruit him over eventually.
At this moment, Swire felt that her previously abandoned recruitment campaign could still make a comeback.
Meanwhile, after entering the building, Shirou dismissed the longbow in his hand and replaced it with Kanshou and Bakuya, then contacted Chen through the communicator.
"I am already inside the building. Should I regroup with you all, or circle around to the rear?"
"Go around to the back. The enemy has quite a lot of weapons, and the casters' Arts are also very powerful... if we fight them head-on, it might become troublesome."
After hearing through the communicator that Shirou had also entered the building, Chen finally relaxed slightly.
This enemy was extremely cunning. Not only had they taken advantage of the terrain to ambush them, but with so many crossbows and Arts attacks, ordinary people would have trouble enduring it without Hoshiguma present.
Of course, Shirou could also join them directly on the front lines, but there was no need. They only had to launch a feint once Shirou was in position.
Chen had personally witnessed the explosive speed Shirou displayed during yesterday's operations. It would be a waste not to make use of it.
"Understood."
After receiving the instructions, Shirou began planning his route based on the map Swire had given earlier and the position updates from Chen.
"Should I go upstairs and break through the floor directly? Or just circle around normally and attack from the side?"
As he moved toward the upper floors, several rough plans had already formed in his mind.
In the end, he chose the latter option: a standard flanking attack from the side.
After all, he could not be certain whether the enemy had hidden anything else inside the building. Those gas cylinders from yesterday had left a deep impression on him.
And somewhere in his subconscious, he felt that choosing the first option might end badly.
The second plan was more ordinary, but also far safer. With his body enhanced through magecraft, as long as Shirou found an opening, he could suppress those people at incredible speed.
Before Shirou could continue refining the details of his assault plan, the enemy made the first move against Chen and the others.
A violent explosion erupted through the communicator, followed by nothing but harsh static. No matter how many times Shirou tried calling Chen, there was no response, forcing him to accelerate immediately.
Blue light flashed.
The Guard Department combat uniform on his body transformed into his red magical attire, while magical circuits spread across most of his body.
At that moment, Shirou's speed increased dramatically, though the magical energy consumption also became higher.
But with the situation so urgent, Shirou could not afford to care about that.
As the distance closed, he could already hear the sounds of battle.
He could even hear Chen shouting commands to the others in her loud voice.
The communicator still emitted only piercing static. Shirou guessed the enemy possessed technology capable of cutting off signals. Chen's side had probably lost communications as well, which was why she had resorted to shouting commands directly.
Thinking this through, Shirou decisively shut off the communicator, finally silencing the irritating noise.
After quickly evaluating the surroundings, he realized the building's interior was relatively narrow, making it unsuitable for archery or direct frontal combat.
Of course, he could still force it if necessary, but his movements would definitely be restricted.
However, bows and twin swords were not his only options. The true advantage of Projection Magecraft was the ability to adapt his weapons and fighting style according to the situation.
In the current situation... for long-range attacks, he could directly launch projected weapons remotely. But that consumed too much magical energy, and Shirou still needed to preserve some for whatever came afterward.
The next options were shortbows or crossbows, but Shirou actually had another choice with even lower energy consumption and good offensive power.
"Trace on"
A pair of black-and-white firearms appeared in his hands.
This was Shirou's first time using Kanshou and Bakuya's gun form in actual combat.
Nothing like what he had imagined happened. The weapons simply fulfilled their role as firearms.
Feeling no abnormalities, Shirou relaxed slightly, then rushed forward and aimed toward the enemy.
Aim.
Pull the trigger.
Several bullets flew through the battlefield, passing between the Guard Department members currently fighting and Chen, who was dragging a teammate aside for cover, before hurtling directly toward the enemy.
After hearing what sounded like gunfire, the enemy reacted quickly and raised a shield in front of themselves.
Unfortunately, the infected holding the shield did not hear the expected metallic clang.
Instead, he felt intense pain erupt from his abdomen.
Lowering his head, he saw several holes torn straight through the shield he had reinforced with Originium Arts.
"How... is this... possible..."
Before losing consciousness completely, the infected looked up at the culprit who had punched holes through both his shield and body.
The figure held an enormous firearm in each hand. Their massive size, combined with the blades attached to them, made anyone who saw them lose the desire to fight.
As burning pain spread violently through his abdomen, the infected collapsed unconscious.
"Shirou?"
When Chen first heard the rapid gunfire from behind them, her immediate thought was that everything was over. They had been flanked from both sides.
Still, she immediately dragged the teammate beside her into cover, one hand already gripping Chi Xiao in preparation for the worst.
Yet the scene she imagined did not happen to the Guard Department side.
It happened to the enemy instead.
Some members under Chen's command also carried firearms, but theirs could not fire continuously, and even breaking through the enemy's defenses was difficult for them.
But what had she just witnessed?
The massive shield that had been reinforced with Originium Arts and had blocked huge amounts of the Guard Department's firepower earlier now had several holes blasted through it?
It was... rather sudden.
Still, that level of firepower reminded Chen of someone, so she cautiously called out Shirou's name once.
"It is me."
The moment he heard Chen's voice, Shirou immediately appeared beside the cover where she was hiding.
His decision to attack immediately earlier had been unavoidable. The airflow had felt strange, which meant someone had been gathering Arts energy. If he had regrouped with Chen before attacking, they likely would have had to face the enemy's Originium Arts first.
Without knowing what kind of Arts the enemy was using, Shirou did not dare take that risk.
Although he himself could probably withstand it, things would become troublesome if the target was not actually them.
Rather than gamble on what kind of Originium Arts the enemy possessed, Shirou chose to directly interrupt the casting by opening fire.
That burst of gunfire had punched holes through every ambusher hiding there, leaving them incapable of fighting for quite some time.
"What is... that?"
Watching Shirou suddenly appear beside them, Chen did not even pay attention to how he had changed back into that outfit again.
Mainly because she was already used to it by now. More importantly, the two firearms in his hands were far too eye-catching.
"Uh... these are small firearms."
Faced with Chen's question, Shirou answered honestly.
Although the size seemed somewhat questionable, these really were technically pistols. And if they were pistols, then they should count as small firearms, right?
"..."
After hearing Shirou's answer, Chen fell silent.
Not just Chen, but the nearby Guard Department members who overheard him also went silent.
Putting aside whether those things could even be considered "small firearms," what kind of small firearm could directly blast through a massive shield?
One nearby Sankta member of the Guard Department silently concluded that this was definitely not Laterano-standard weaponry.
"Ahem. Mainly because there was not enough room here to properly use a bow, so I switched to firearms instead."
Seeing everyone's awkward expressions, Shirou decisively withdrew the magical energy from the twin guns, causing them to dissolve into particles of light before casually explaining himself.
In any case, the ambushers here had already been dealt with, so there was no reason to continue holding the guns. He might as well dismiss them.
"Fine. In any case, that helped us a lot. Someone over there was about to cast a large-scale Arts attack. Fortunately, you interrupted the spell in time."
Thinking about Shirou's abilities, Chen quickly accepted reality.
She had already seen enough ridiculous things from him by now. Bullets piercing through shields, bodies, and walls in one shot was apparently not that big of a deal anymore.
At this point, even if Shirou suddenly told her those things could explode as well, she would not have been surprised.