Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

But he can't. He's just an ordinary high school student about to enter high school. Apart from knowing a little bit of simple magic, he doesn't have any special abilities, and he can't possibly kill enemies with his eyes closed like those heroes.

He does have some talent, but not in close combat. Emiya, however, feels he can accurately hit the target even with his eyes closed, without the target moving at all.

Moreover, if you close your eyes, you really have no way of determining the direction of the monster's attack.

If you were able to barely dodge before, and close your eyes, you might have had your heart ripped out by a claw, or your head easily severed off.

"Let's take a gamble. Either way, we're going to die. Let's gamble that he's never encountered anyone who has figured out his abilities, that he relies on his abilities more than his physical strength, and that he'll suddenly be flustered because he doesn't realize his abilities have no interference."

Emiya muttered to himself.

He naturally straightened his hand, which was holding the knife with bated breath, and stood upright in place.

"Have you already given up and are you planning to wait to die?"

Seeing that Emiya offered no resistance, the monster slowed down and appeared at the entrance of the inn.

"Yes, I can't beat you. Rather than suffer like this, I might as well just die."

Emiya didn't close his eyes immediately. Without the ability to sense the enemy's location, abruptly closing his eyes would leave him unsure of the direction from which the enemy would attack, leaving him with no choice but to wait for his death.

"Really? It's almost dawn, which is perfect since I was planning to finish this quickly. I'm really pleased to see your determination."

The monster didn't suspect anything. Even if Emiya had set a trap for it, Emiya couldn't possibly harm it.

Having already suffered such severe injuries and with blood flowing for some time, it's highly unlikely that he would have much strength to fight back.

Even if someone possessed the fighting prowess to break him in half, it would only be a minor injury for him.

How could a ghost be killed by such a knife? Unless it's the power of sunlight, there's no way he could be killed by such a little ghost.

As for what he just said about it being almost dawn...

That was just his explanation, though he wasn't sure if the little devil in front of him knew that ghosts couldn't be exposed to sunlight.

But there's still at least an hour until sunrise, which is enough time for him to kill Emiya countless times.

"Then I'm not welcome!"

"——————!"

The sound of shattering planks came from the monster's location. Its powerful force propelled its entire body toward Emiya, and its claws, poised for a thrust, easily sliced ​​through the air.

"Frontline attack!"

Emiya, feeling the howling wind in front of his face, tried to calm himself down. Only by calming down could he find a glimmer of hope in this desperate situation.

He seemed to be calmly facing death, his eyes closed, his body motionless, his hands still placed at his sides, showing no intention of raising his katana.

It made no attempt to conceal its attack route, and Shirou was even able to mentally anticipate that the monster's target was his heart.

He only needs to swing his katana forward before the monster hits him to be able to cut the monster that he couldn't reach before.

However, Emiya was not looking for an opportunity to attack, but rather an opportunity to turn the tide and win.

He won't have another chance to catch the monster if he fails to kill it this time.

Then it will certainly be more cautious in attacking me, and whether I open my eyes or close them, I will have no way to fight back.

The two of them were not even in the same league. If this monster hadn't been playing around when fighting Emiya, he might have died as soon as he reached the steps.

Who would let a sure-kill enemy escape after failing to strike them in one blow?

Normally, it's one move after another until the opponent dies.

Therefore, Emiya must cherish every opportunity to retaliate and strive to inflict greater damage in order to increase his own survival rate.

"Pfft——!"

Unsurprisingly, the sound of flesh being pierced rang out in the silent forest, and blood gushed from Emiya's abdomen, making its due contribution to the ground of the entire inn.

"If there is no way to find a way to attack visually, then fight by touch."

This was the best solution Emiya could come up with in such a short time.

If one wants to kill someone instantly with a thrust, without professional combat knowledge, the only places one can think of are piercing the heart, piercing the brain, and the next best option is piercing the chest.

For a small and flexible area like the brain, the heart is clearly a better choice. Even if it cannot be pierced, the heart can still pierce the entire chest.

A person pierced through the chest is essentially powerless to resist; they can't even breathe, so how could they possibly have the strength to fight back?

However, it is also difficult for a high-speed thrust to turn midway, just as a bullet cannot normally spin.

But this is the moment that Emiya is gambling on.

Just as the thrust was about to arrive, Emiya leaped diagonally backward, feeling the stabbing pain in his chest intensify.

He couldn't possibly outpace the monster in a split second as it retreated, its sharp claws still stabbing toward his chest.

Emiya's retreat could only slow down the time it took for the claws to pierce his chest, and that time wouldn't be too long.

In life-or-death moments, a person's potential will continuously rise.

Emiya pressed down hard on the claws that were thrusting forward with his left hand, and a line of crimson blood appeared on Emiya's chest.

At the same time, his right hand, holding the katana, did not stop moving.

By examining the arm that was piercing his abdomen, he determined the location of the monster that was now in front of him, based on his memory of the monster's shape.

His right hand, holding the katana, sliced ​​through the air and thrust it fiercely towards the location of the monster's brain that had been constructed in his mind!

Touch is also a way to determine location!

"Ugh! Aa ...

End of Chapter Six

The katana pierced the monster's head with perfect accuracy.

Pain has almost no effect on ghosts, but that doesn't mean ghosts can't feel pain.

Pain is almost nothing more than a tickle to a ghost.

After all, once you become a demon, you will inevitably suffer various beheadings, being cut in half at the waist, and so on. If you still have the same sense of pain as humans, it will greatly affect your fighting ability as a demon.

Therefore, the act of Emiya's katana piercing his brain did not actually cause him much pain.

However, Emiya's actions did not stop immediately after he stabbed into the brain.

As they continued to crash backward, the monster's claws easily pierced through Emiya's entire abdomen without any resistance. Blood gushed up into Emiya's throat, and the strength in his hand gripping the sword began to wane.

"We cannot let our guard down here!"

Emiya opened his eyes, swallowed the blood from his throat, and gripped the katana that was already embedded in the monster's brain.

The monster, its head pierced, stared intently at Emiya in front of it with murderous intent, its other hand forming a five-clawed shape as it launched a powerful attack towards Emiya's head.

In that life-or-death moment, Emiya did not choose to dodge, nor did he have any way to dodge.

He lacked the nerves for supersonic reflexes, nor the ability to slow down everything around him when he was thinking.

In such a short time, he couldn't multitask, thinking about how to complete one thing while also dodging another.

What kept Emiya focused at such a critical moment of life and death was—

"cut!"

The katana, having undergone enhancement magic, has become incredibly sharp, capable of easily piercing the ground and cutting through rocks.

Not to mention demons, whose physical defenses are not much better than humans.

"Ughh ...

The samurai sword that had pierced its head easily sliced ​​it in two from top to bottom.

Perhaps it was the favor of fate, or perhaps it was the blessing of bad luck, but the main consciousness of the monster that was split in two was on the left side of his body, the side that had pierced through Emiya's abdomen with its hand.

In that instant, the claws that were originally aimed at Emiya's head lost their force and slowed down.

Ghosts can control their separated bodies, but it takes a certain amount of time to do so.

Just as Tanjiro used his axe to separate the demon's head from its body, and after the body fell, it took some time before he stood up from the ground to fight, there is a certain interval of control when one's main consciousness is separated.

Although the controlled body later possessed a certain level of basic judgment and combat ability, it was far from having the clear logical thinking of the main consciousness.

However, the right side of the body still had momentum to attack Emiya's head, but the body, which had been cut in two, was unable to maintain its balance.

The right side of his body grazed Emiya's head and fell to the ground.

The left side of his body, which had pierced Emiya's abdomen, propelled him violently against the hotel wall due to inertia.

Emiya could no longer hold back the mouthful of blood in his throat, and it gushed out.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!!!"

Unable to stand, half of its body collapsed in front of Emiya, roaring incessantly, seemingly enraged to the extreme.

Just like when Tanjiro cut off the head of a demon, the demon's head suddenly grew hands.

A hand suddenly grew from the cut surface of his severed body and recklessly stabbed towards Emiya's position.

But Emiya wouldn't let him succeed.

As soon as he spoke, Emiya knew that the monster in front of him was not truly dead. He bit his tongue and once again picked up the katana in his right hand and swung it forward.

"Shh-!"

The samurai sword, sharp as a knife, easily severed the attacking arm and the arm that had pierced Emiya's abdomen.

The demon, already consumed by rage, didn't use his special abilities. He had only one thought in his mind: to kill it, tear it to pieces, and make it his meal.

If he hadn't already replenished a lot of energy, he probably wouldn't have been able to recover like this in such a short time.

Emiya, who had just severed his arm, didn't stop there. He quickly cut off the half of the head from the body lying on the ground and kicked it out the door with all his might.

He was kneeling on the spot as if he had been dragged down by a heavy weight.

Emiya cannot pull out the hand that has pierced his abdomen, otherwise he will bleed to death quickly. He can only pray that he can find a doctor to save him before he slowly bleeds to death.

The premise is that the monster is already dead.

Suddenly, he remembered something, gritted his teeth, and let his body fall to the side.

Sharp claws swiftly slashed across the spot where Emiya had just been standing.