Emiya Shirou Doesn't Want to Work Overtime [228]

At the precise moment Shirou Emiya halted, the chained shortsword hovered right in front of him.

The second set of Incursio Armor instantly finished assembling.

An immense pressure surged throughout Shirou Emiya’s body, a sickly sweetness filled his throat, as if something was about to burst out from within like a fountain.

His figure shifted slightly in mid-air, narrowly evading the dolls’ fierce strikes as they plunged downward past his body.

Crackle! Crackle!

A sound like electricity sparked from the corner of Shirou’s mouth.

"[SWORD BREATHING, THUNDER FORM: THUNDERCLAP AND FLASH]!"

He stomped violently on one of the falling dolls, lightning-fast, generating a powerful shockwave that rippled through the air.

With the dual Incursio Armors and Thunder Breathing enhancing him, Shirou’s speed in that instant was truly lightning incarnate.

A silver meteor streaked across space, accompanied by howling wind currents, as the two serrated katana swung fiercely downward toward Friagne’s head.

Even wielding weapons not his own, Shirou Emiya could fully display his mastery.

He would never show mercy to Friagne. To spare him, allowing him to live and cause more senseless deaths—Shirou Emiya could never permit such a thing.

Friagne never expected a mere human could suddenly rush directly before him, delivering such a ferocious attack.

He had severely underestimated a human, and now his face contorted hideously. Facing Shirou’s swift strike, Friagne barely had time to summon the white cloth swirling around him to shield himself.

Riiiip——!

The sharp tearing sound came from before Friagne’s body, pure white flames flaring up on either side of him.

Both of Friagne’s arms were cleanly severed by Shirou’s blades, as swiftly and neatly as slicing open a watermelon.

The serrated Nichirin Blades weren't as razor-sharp as ordinary Nichirin swords—their damage came primarily from violent tearing.

Thus, upon encountering the white cloth’s initial resistance, the serrated blades failed to immediately shred through it completely.

This alone prevented Shirou Emiya’s deadly strike from cleanly severing Friagne’s head, merely taking off his two arms instead.

Yet how could Shirou possibly waste such an opportunity? Having cut off Friagne’s arms, slicing his head clean off next wouldn’t pose any trouble.

“Aaaaaah——!”

Friagne instantly recognized his desperate situation even before Shirou Emiya could react. The white cloth around him rapidly condensed into a giant fist, thrusting violently toward Shirou’s abdomen.

He intended to push Shirou away, to widen the distance between them.

Such speed would be enough to push Shirou back before his blade reached Friagne’s neck.

It was a life-and-death race against time.

Shirou Emiya had relied entirely on momentum to reach this position; Friagne needed only a slight gap to escape immediate death.

But Shirou Emiya, clad in double Incursio Armors, was frighteningly swift. At the very instant he realized he couldn’t sever Friagne’s neck with another strike—

Before that white cloth fist struck him, Shirou violently kicked toward Friagne’s abdomen.

Friagne, the notorious Crimson Lord known as the "Hunter," shot backward like a cannonball, air shrieking sharply around him, smashing heavily into the ground.

“Ugh—!”

Friagne felt his entire body go numb, gritting his teeth, swallowing the groan rising to his throat. He desperately stabilized himself amid friction against the ground.

Flames rapidly blazed over the two severed stumps of his arms, restoring them instantly.

As long as sufficient Power of Existence remained, the regeneration speed of Crimson Lords was astonishingly terrifying.

After knocking Friagne back, Shirou Emiya immediately dispelled the second Incursio Armor. Just seconds later, wounds appeared all over his body, blood continually seeping through his skin.

Yet as Friagne stared upward at Shirou Emiya, shock involuntarily crossed his face.

Shirou Emiya had not simply plummeted straight to the ground.

From the back of his armor unfolded two pairs of wings. Shirou Emiya transformed mid-air into a missile, hurtling directly at Friagne below.

“It can even fly!?”

Friagne never expected the armor could grant flight. This realization instantly reduced what little advantage he had left to absolute zero.

Back when Shirou Emiya was still in the Empire, Tatsumi, in order to intercept Liver’s descending water-blade attack and protect innocents aboard the ship, caused his Incursio Armor to evolve wings.

Tatsumi had soared into the sky, seeking to stop Liver—although, in the end, he was hurled into the ocean by the attack.

Since Shirou Emiya later projected Incursio Armor himself, naturally, it retained this flight capability.

He simply hadn’t encountered many situations requiring aerial combat.

After all, flying with Incursio Armor was still slower than Shirou’s ground speed.

A playing card—the Ace of Spades—appeared in Friagne’s hand.

He originally believed he wouldn’t need any Treasure Tools to handle this human, but clearly, he had severely underestimated him.

Though it wasn’t entirely his fault; after all, humans in this world at most assisted Flame Hazes. A human with this level of fighting power was something Friagne had never encountered.

“Just who exactly are you?”

Friagne, rising from the ground, spread the cards in his hand and called out to the charging Shirou Emiya.

Countless playing cards shot toward Shirou Emiya one after another. If even a single one struck, Shirou would explode in mid-air like fireworks.

This was one of Friagne’s proudest Treasure Tools.

A human with strength like this couldn’t possibly be unknown. How could he have no information whatsoever? It wasn’t as if he truly hid himself away in deep mountain forests.

Friagne was incredibly well-informed about the outside world; otherwise, how could he have known of the imminent arrival of the Flame-Haired, Blazing-Eyed Hunter?

Yet Shirou Emiya merely replied flatly:

“I’m just a passing-through Kamen Rider (lol).”

“The one who’ll kill you!”

Having witnessed battles between Heroic Spirits, attacks of this speed were hardly impressive to Shirou Emiya’s eyes.

At least, it wasn't so fast that he felt entirely unable to block it.

But before Shirou Emiya even reached the cards, a sharp whistle suddenly sounded from overhead.

Whoosh——!

A blazing crimson figure abruptly streaked through the air, trailing brilliantly burning flames, slicing apart the playing cards aimed at Shirou Emiya in a single stroke.

Shirou Emiya halted abruptly, staring at the fiery red-haired figure who had suddenly appeared before him.

Then, a youthful yet powerfully imposing voice rang out:

“You’re the ‘Hunter’ famed for collecting Treasure Tools and hunting Flame Hazes, right?”

The girl pointed an exceptionally long katana at the battered-looking Friagne.

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This is a fan translation of 卫宫士郎不想加班 by 此世无存. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!