Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

Even though it seemed incredibly dangerous, Joan of Arc was actually deliberately stalling for time.

It's true that she gained unprecedented power from the Mythic Mystic Code, but she herself is not good at direct combat, and is better at protection and defense. The greatest boost that the Mythic Mystic Code gives her is in defense, not offense.

Jeanne d'Arc's Noble Phantasm now possesses defensive capabilities that far surpass those of her when she was a Ruler.

However, Joan of Arc's offensive capabilities were extremely limited, and she did not possess any means to defeat BB.

BB was unable to defeat Joan of Arc, who possessed power equal to his own, in a short period of time, and Joan of Arc was also unable to inflict effective damage on BB.

The two sides are currently locked in a stalemate.

Of course, this stalemate will not last long. BB is just unable to deal with Joan of Arc for a short period of time, not that he is completely helpless.

Meanwhile, mushroom clouds erupted again and again from the monster horde, their powerful shockwaves spreading outwards in concentric circles.

Even Sakura, who was rushing up the stairs, was affected by the aftershocks. She clung tightly to the steps, afraid to move, lest she be shaken off by the impact.

However, even in the face of such a terrifying bombardment, the empty areas were filled by these monsters in the blink of an eye.

The area ahead remained pitch black, offering no hope whatsoever.

"Boom--!"

The ground was shaken and rose up.

"Roar roar roar roar roar—!"

The monster's roar grew closer and closer.

"Too much!"

Looking at the roaring monsters charging towards him, Shirou Emiya couldn't help but recall the days he spent exploring dungeons.

At that time, we were also facing an endless stream of monsters.

If those monsters hadn't all emerged from the black mud, Shirou Emiya would have thought he was facing a dungeon labyrinth that endlessly spawned monsters.

Because a significant portion of the monsters ahead are exactly the same as those Shirou Emiya encountered in the dungeon.

There were even traces of the floor owner appearing in the images.

The power of the Spiral Sword is self-evident. Although it has been blocked countless times, its terrifying explosion created a vacuum zone in just an instant, and a large number of monsters were reduced to ashes under such a terrifying explosion.

Even the created floor masters were unable to directly withstand the spiral swords fired by Emiya Shirou.

This attack, equivalent to an A-rank Noble Phantasm, was continuously unleashed by Emiya Shirou as if it were a consumable.

Even if some floor masters can withstand some of the damage from the spiral sword bombardment, it is impossible for them to defend against all the spiral swords that are fired so forcefully.

At this moment, Shirou Emiya could only be thankful that Mooncell's creativity didn't seem to be as high as BB's, or rather, it was currently being controlled by Jeanne d'Arc and couldn't reach out to adjust the monster's power.

Most of them are created by constantly building upon existing data, unlike BB, which meticulously crafts each level of the labyrinth master.

"Is retreating the only option?"

Emiya Shirou fired a sword arrow, piercing through a flying monster charging towards him from the sky. Taking advantage of the gap, he projected a spiral sword and continued firing forward.

And right behind him was the only way to get here—the staircase created by BB.

If he were on the stairs, Shirou Emiya would be virtually invincible.

The area around the staircase is imaginary space. If those monsters swarm up, most of them will definitely fall straight down, so Shirou Emiya doesn't need to worry about it at all.

Because the staircase was not wide, apart from the monsters flying in the sky, the rest of the monsters could not pose much danger to Shirou Emiya even if they rushed up.

But Shirou Emiya wasn't concerned with these things; what he was thinking about was Jeanne d'Arc's current situation.

The reason why the monsters haven't affected Jeanne much right now isn't because they haven't intervened, but because Shirou Emiya is expending a lot of energy on them. Their primary target is Shirou Emiya, not Jeanne.

If they find that they cannot launch a full-scale attack on Shirou Emiya, they may change their target and make Jeanne d'Arc their primary target.

In that case, Joan of Arc's disadvantage would quickly widen.

But after only a moment's thought, Shirou Emiya arrived at his answer.

Retreat.

Their goal was to hold off BB, not to defeat it. Jeanne d'Arc's Noble Phantasm was not yet unleashed, and she still had the ability to defend herself even when constantly attacked by those monsters.

Moreover, Joan of Arc has not yet used her Noble Phantasm at this moment.

However, if one is overwhelmed by monsters, there is basically no way to get out; invisibility and concealment of one's presence are of no use here.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

However, before Shirou Emiya could make a move, several sword arrows flew over his head, easily piercing through the monsters in the air before crashing heavily to the ground.

"Boom——!"

Just in front of Shirou Emiya, several terrifying mushroom clouds erupted from the ground amidst the horde of monsters.

It triggered a deafening explosion, bringing with it a terrifying shockwave that swept outwards and spread in all directions.

The overwhelming waves of fire and the astonishing impact mingled together, sweeping in all directions like a surging tide. All the demons in front were affected, and were swiftly annihilated by the terrifying shockwaves and fire.

Everything was engulfed by the wave of fire under this impact.

But this scene lasted for less than a few seconds before it was overwhelmed by the ever-emerging monsters, which rushed towards Shirou Emiya's location once again.

Just like what Shirou Emiya had done before, this terrifying power could only slightly hinder these monsters.

"Senior, reinforcements have arrived!"

Sakura's voice also came from Shirou Emiya's ear at that moment.

Without the mansion's assistance, Sakura, being an advanced AI, possesses the ability to communicate remotely. Furthermore, the surveillance here has not been taken away by BB. Standing on the stairs, she is fully capable of relaying the situation ahead to the student council members.

As a deafening roar echoed from ahead, a voice that greatly displeased Shirou Emiya came from behind him.

"Not bad, kid! You've got my style back in the day!"

Chapter 771 The Ever-Growing Monster

There is indeed a certain distance between each layer, but such a distance is nothing to the Servants.

However, within the maze, a significant amount of time is required to defeat enemy maze guards, solve puzzles, defeat the maze king, and find the correct path.

However, Sakura had uploaded the maps for floors 17 and 18 a long time ago, and the dungeon guards in those floors had been mostly taken care of by Emiya Shirou and Jeanne d'Arc.

The student council members can get here quickly without wasting too much time.

To be precise, it was Leo who instructed Shirou Emiya and Jeanne to set off ahead of schedule.

The road ahead is unknown. Whether we set off together or Shirou Emiya goes ahead, we need to obtain information about what lies ahead.

Moreover, he had great faith in Shirou Emiya and Jeanne d'Arc's fighting abilities, and hoped that they could be taken down by BB before reinforcements arrived.

To be honest, Leo felt that their support was no longer necessary.

In his opinion, Archer's strength should be roughly equal to that of Shirou Emiya.

It can be dealt with within minutes, and even if Archer arrives, the result will be the same.

"That's really slow—!"

Seeing the crimson figure leap down from behind and appear beside him, Shirou Emiya couldn't help but complain.

"Ha! That's fast enough, isn't it? Did you suffer a serious injury in such a short time?"

"If you think you can't win, quickly retreat behind me, and leave the rest of the battle to me!"

Upon hearing Shirou Emiya's words, Archer uttered a merciless taunt.

Both sides froze, ignoring the sword arrows that shot out from their positions, annihilating the monsters that surged toward them like a tidal wave.

This temporarily eased Shirou Emiya's predicament, but the number of monsters ahead was endless. Although their attacks were effective, they could not break through the endless monsters in front of them to provide support for Jeanne, who was fighting BB.

The monsters ahead grew stronger over time.

Originally, a single spiral sword could easily eliminate most of the monsters, but now, after each bombardment, some monsters are left alive, and those boss-level monsters require several spiral swords to deal with.

If this continues, they will eventually be suppressed by the monsters as well.

"Looks like we need to use it now!"

As Archer watched the countless monsters surging forth ahead, his brows furrowed, and a deep blue crystal appeared in his hand.

This is his mythical attire—

If used, it should be able to easily overcome this obstacle.

"then--!"

However, Archer did not use it immediately, but instead threw it at the man beside him.

Emiya Shirou seemed to have known all along that Archer would give him this thing, and without even glancing at Archer, he simply stretched out his hand and caught the blue crystal that was falling from the sky.

"Mythical Mythical Costume—"

As Shirou Emiya finished speaking, a suit of armor that looked incredibly futuristic, with a blend of holy light and sinful blackness, covered Shirou Emiya's body.

"This force—"

Feeling the power emanating from the armor, Shirou Emiya murmured to himself that the amplification it provided completely overwhelmed the [Death-Destroying Beast] he had projected.

This armor does not simply provide Shirou Emiya with great strength; more importantly, it enhances Shirou Emiya's essence.

Mythical Mystic Codes unlock the most primal limitations of Heroic Spirits, granting them their most primal power—the prototype power found in human genetic material.

Even though Shirou Emiya and Archer have different experiences and their futures may not be the same, in essence, they are both people named Shirou Emiya.

What he obtained was the power of the original essence of a person named Emiya Shirou.

Since Archer can be used, Shirou Emiya can also use it.

"Don't just stand there and stand there! I can't hold out much longer!"

Seeing Shirou Emiya with his eyes closed as if sensing something, Archer fired another spiral-shaped sword arrow and couldn't help but call out a warning.

"Ha! This way, we can hold out for a while longer, can't we?"

Emiya Shirou couldn't help but scoff, but his hands didn't stop moving, and intense magical energy fluctuations appeared on his body.

"Projection started (Trace on)"