Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

"Tsk!" Emiya clicked his tongue, tightened his footing, and darted into the bushes beside him.

Emiya is still able to run simply.

"Quick, give chase! Target spotted, fire signal flare!"

With a tech whiz like Dr. Fashion in the picture, signal flares are practically standard issue for members of the security force.

After all, Seryu was transformed under his guidance, and Seryu also has a lot of nostalgia for the guard she left, and hopes that Dr. Fashion can provide them with some help.

"boom--!"

Huge fireworks erupted high in the sky above the forest, and all the members of the guard team inside the forest gradually moved towards Emiya's location.

"Trouble!"

Emiya also saw the dazzling fireworks in the sky. Although darkness is an assassin's best friend, Emiya had never received professional assassin training.

I simply learned how to remove my own traces and scent.

After all, he and Night Raid were only in a cooperative relationship. Night Raid didn't need Shirou to go out and assassinate targets; they only told Shirou how to keep the base out of the Empire's sight.

Tatsumi was able to learn it very easily, and Shirou Emiya understood it even more quickly.

In the dark forest, Emiya could only keep running, trying his best to avoid being spotted by the guards.

But the sound of his running footsteps could not be masked, and Emiya's hiding places gradually became fewer and fewer.

More and more security personnel appeared around him, leaving him nowhere to hide.

The guards had already surrounded the general area where Emiya had escaped. As soon as Emiya's location was discovered, the encirclement would continue to shrink until Emiya was completely trapped in place.

If Emiya hadn't suffered such severe injuries and his magical energy hadn't been so depleted, he could have simply charged out with brute force instead of having to flee like this.

Emiya didn't need to defeat them all; he simply rushed out. It was clear that no one without special abilities could stop him.

But now, Emiya is not only seriously injured, but he can also not project any weapons. He can only hold the reverse-blade katana that he has already projected. He cannot break out of this kind of encirclement by brute force.

Suddenly, he saw a squad of guards ahead, and Emiya quickly lay down and hid in the bushes at his feet.

"What about others?"

Emiya's group caught up with him. In such a dark forest, unless one had Emiya's vision, the things one could see were extremely limited.

They could only vaguely make out Emiya's figure, but they had no way to pinpoint his exact location.

In the grass, Emiya leaned against the ground, his chest heaving as he struggled to control his breathing.

Two security teams are now standing on either side of him, talking.

Have you seen the fugitive?

The group chasing Emiya asked him questions.

"Could they have already run away?"

"Impossible. The entire area has been sealed off and surrounded. He can't grow wings, so how could he possibly escape?"

"It's possible it's hiding in the bushes right in front of us!"

At that moment, Emiya's heart began to race wildly.

He gripped his reverse-bladed katana tightly in his hand.

Is war inevitable?

Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Destruction of the Night Raid Base

"Shh-!"

With a single swing of the sword, a patch of grass above Emiya's head was completely severed, and Emiya could even feel the cool breeze blowing gently over his head.

"It's all dark down here, so there shouldn't be anyone hiding here."

The members of the other team looked down and replied to him with dissatisfaction.

"Over there—!"

Just then, shouts came from afar, and they immediately quickened their pace and rushed towards the direction of the shouts.

Emiya, who was lying on the ground, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

His back suffered extremely severe and extensive trauma due to the explosion.

His back was completely soaked in blood. Although it was impossible for the blood to form a scab in such a short time, the dark blood, under the cover of darkness, made the guards unable to see any difference.

Isn't the soil just as black?

Emiya never expected that the injuries that had left him so weak would now save his life.

"Wings?"

Emiya emerged from the bushes, carefully observed his surroundings, and began to ponder.

He can't project the "Possessed by Evil Spirits" to fly away directly, but he can climb trees, which can be considered a form of flight in a way.

At least for the time being, these guards were unable to deal with Shirou Emiya, who was moving between the trees.

He must leave as quickly as possible, otherwise, once the Hunters arrive, his chances of survival are slim.

With that thought in mind, Emiya didn't linger any longer. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Emiya gripped his reverse-blade katana and swiftly climbed up a nearby tree.

Even if his tracks are discovered, it doesn't matter. After all, not everyone can climb trees as fast as Emiya. Until someone with great strength arrives, Emiya is still quite safe moving in the trees.

However, being able to reduce the exposure of one's whereabouts is also excellent, at least it can save Emiya a lot of trouble.

Emiya was able to climb the tree so quickly because he had excellent physical abilities, and he also had a lot of experience climbing trees before, so he was very good at it.

"Is the Empire over there?"

Once he reached the top of the tree, Emiya's view opened up, and he quickly located the Empire.

The forest was incredibly dark, while the Empire was brightly lit. Even so, it was still easy to find the Empire's location quickly, let alone with Emiya's extraordinary eyesight.

"cough--!"

The injury was still taking effect, constantly tormenting Emiya.

He gritted his teeth and kept leaping between the trees.

The guards under the tree only felt a lot of leaves falling, but when they looked up, they found no trace of them.

The darkness gave Emiya an excellent opportunity to move.

------Dividing line------

Emiya clutched his stomach and quickly slipped into the alleys of the Empire's streets. It was precisely because of the Empire's corruption that their security and checks were practically nonexistent for Emiya.

Emiya even knocked out two guards standing on the city wall and jumped into the interior of the empire without anyone noticing.

If it weren't for the Imperial Arms, such a poorly defended country would have been wiped out long ago.

Following his memory, Emiya found a secret passage leading to the forest where the night raid was taking place through a small alley. He quickly slipped inside and activated the passage's self-destruct mechanism.

The entire secret passage collapsed rapidly and silently, without even affecting the street above.

"What on earth is going on?!"

The sight before him filled Emiya's eyes with disbelief, despite the great hardships he had endured to reach this place.

An enormous meteorite will bury the entire night raid base, and raging flames continue to spread all around.

The entire area where the night raid took place was engulfed in flames.

The ground was littered with the corpses of infantrymen and shattered ice shards.

This area appears to have witnessed an epic battle, with no part of the land remaining intact.

The overwhelming stench of blood assaulted Shirou Emiya's senses.

This place is like a hell, with corpses strewn everywhere.

"Susanoo, huh? Next time, I won't let you leave so easily!"

Standing in the front square of the Night Raid base, Esdeath flicked the blood off her rapier and murmured in a certain direction.

When Esdeath launched her night raid, Najenda had already gone to the Revolutionary Army and was not at the base at all.

The [Demon Possession] provided by Emiya can only be absorbed by the bodies of Brand, Akame, and Leone.

The appearance of the four [possessed by evil spirits] was indeed extremely shocking, and also created a strong sense of oppression.

But apart from Akame and Brand, the others couldn't even touch the hem of Esdeath's clothes.

Even Leone and Tatsumi, who were clad in the "Possessed by Evil Spirits" armor, were unable to keep up with Esdeath's fighting speed.

It wasn't that they couldn't catch up with Esdeath in terms of speed, but rather that their combat awareness and experience were incomparable to Esdeath's.

Esdeath is basically able to change her attacks before they can react, leaving them completely defenseless.

The body can keep up, but the mind cannot.

Only Akame, a former member of the Imperial Assassination Squad who had experienced countless battles, and Brand, a former general, were able to fight her.

The battlefield was divided, and the rest of the people not only had to face the infantry, but also the large number of ice knights created by Esdeath using her Imperial Arm.

The others wouldn't find it particularly troublesome to deal with just the infantry, but with the ice knights controlled by Esdeath, they basically couldn't spare any hands to fight Esdeath.

Just as they were fighting, a very strange wind blew by.

All the infantrymen, and those not wearing the "Possessed by Evil Spirits" armor, fell to the ground.

Of course, Esdeath remained standing in the same spot, completely unaffected by the colorless and odorless wind.

The situation suddenly reversed.

The infantryman has fallen, but the Ice Knight is still able to move.

They couldn't possibly abandon their defenseless comrades and engage Esdeath in battle.

While protecting her companions, she also fought against them. For some reason, Esdeath's rapier had become even sharper, making it difficult for even the armored Brand to withstand her attacks. If he wasn't careful, his defenses would be breached.

Just when Esdeath and Dr. Fashion believed victory was assured and that annihilating the Night Raid was only a matter of time, Najenda arrived riding on a dangerous bird species.

Without any hesitation, he used the skill called "Manifestation of Calamity".