Continued:
The remaining of the day's lessons passed quickly for Shirou. Once the bell rang announcing the end of the last lesson of the day, he picked up his things and left his classroom.
"Emiya-kun!"
But, as he was walking down the corridors, a voice behind him called his name. Upon turning around he found a couple of familiar girls, and he would have greeted them, if not because they weren't human either.
This wasn't his day.
The girl who called him with a voice full of enthusiasm had brown-reddish hair and brown eyes. She was Meguri Tomoe, the Student Council's secretary.
And the other beauty that accompanied her was a girl with white hair and bluish-green eyes. Hanakai Momo, another member of the Student Council.
"Do you need anything from me, Meguri-san, Hanakai-san?" Still, he kept up appearances and addressed them in a cordial tone.
"Nothing special. We just thought, your reputation as the "Fake Janitor" has been gaining strength since lately, maybe you could fix a little problem we have."
She certainly was straightforward. Even Hanakai at her side looked ashamed.
"Since the janitor is busy on other matters, could you take a look at our air conditioning, Emiya-san?"
Shirou thought about it for a few seconds, but his body answered by itself. "Sure. Lead the way."
Even if they were not human, helping those in need was just part of his very being. Moreover, they had yet to give him any real reason to be on guard around them. His cautiousness was more due to his paranoia as a result of his experiences in his previous life.
The two girls in front of him looked at him with their eyes widened in disbelief.
"Wow! The rumors were actually true! He didn't even think twice!"
Meguri said her thoughts aloud, while Hanakai now seemed more ashamed.
"Are you sure it's not inconvenient?"
"Not at all. I actually have nothing to do now. Besides, helping others is not wrong."
His sincere response left them in shock again, but they finally took him to the Student Council room.
When they arrived at the place in question, after making a detour to pick up the toolbox from the janitor's booth, there was no one there. Apparently, the other members of the Student Council, including the president, were dealing with other matters.
After taking a look at the room, which looked more like the office of the president of a branch than the office of the Student Council, Shirou located the air conditioner.
"Any idea what's wrong with it?"
"Well, aside from it going puff and stopping working a couple of days ago, we don't have any clue. But this time of year hot air is still welcome."
"I see..."
Shirou leaned a chair against the wall to reach for the device and began to dismantle it to look for what was wrong with it.
Normally, he would use Structural Grasp to visualize the device's internal comparable components and know immediately which part was damaged or stopped working. However, turning on his magic circuits being less than two meters from two magical creatures wasn't the best idea.
This would be more complicated than usual, but nothing he couldn't handle. At least not compared to that time he had to fix an electrical generator that had been a few meters from where a bomb fell during his stay in Kazakstan.
And he didn't need to either, as he found the problem just by unscrewing the housing of the device. His eyebrow started twitching as he turned to look at the two girls who brought him here.
"Meguri-san, how long has it been since you've cleaned the filters on this thing?"
The secretary then turned to look at her partner with an eyebrow raised. "Were we supposed to clean them?"
Hanakai was just as confused. "The janitor was supposed to take care of those things, right?"
Shirou couldn't help but sigh. "I'll assume there was a huge miscommunication here."
He immediately proceeded to uncouple the filters and meticulously clean them with a rag.
A few minutes later, the filters were already clean as a whistle, but the rag in the toolbox was completely useless, so he decided to throw it away.
After that, Shirou reassembled the filters and bolted the housing.
"That's it?" Meguri asked surprised at how fast it had been.
"You better pray that it does."
Shirou pressed on the remote control, and a few seconds later the device began to blowing air. The three teenagers made faces of relief after seeing the result.
"Thank goodness... We managed to avoid the worst-case scenario."
"What would have happened in the worst-case scenario?"
"The compressor would have died, and replacing it would be very expensive. In fact, it would be cheaper to buy another air conditioner. You were fortunate that the central unit froze because it couldn't dissipate the ambient heat before the damage worsened."
Both girls' faces turned pale. "With our tight budget, Kaichou wouldn't have been amused by the news."
"You really saved us here, Emiya-san. How can we make it up to you?"
"Nah, you don't have to. I helped you because I wanted to. The fact that I could be of help is enough for me."
The room plunged into silence, with both girls not knowing how to respond to that, but then a fourth voice intervened.
"Although that is a very noble attitude, Emiya-san, I'll have to object."
Shirou's gaze turned to the door of the room, where three people had entered.
Who had spoken was a beautiful girl with short black hair, violet eyes, and her expression always fixed on a stoic mask. She was Shitori Sona, the famous president of the Kuoh Academy Student Council, also known as "Ice Queen" or one of the "three Onee-samas".
Behind her was another beauty with long hair, monochromatic eyes, right violet and left yellow, and her expression, like Sona, was always fixed on a stoic mask. She was Shinra Tsubaki, vice-president of the Student Council, and as such, she was always with Sona as her right-hand woman.
And finally, there was the only male member of the Student Council, who had just joined them not long ago. Genshiro Saji, a young man with short, scruffy blond hair and gray eyes, and by his manners, Shirou could see that, at least previously, he was not a role model as a student.
Meguri and Hanakai greeted them immediately after seeing them.
"Oh, hi there, Kaichou, Tsubaki-senpai, Gen-chan!"
"Is the faculty meeting over, Kaichou?"
"Yes. There weren't many points to discuss, so it was brief. But at least it served Saji here to see how such meetings work."
After answering Momo's question, Sona's eyes turned to look at Shirou again.
"Regarding what I said a moment ago, Emiya-san..." She walked to the desk at the back of the room, took out an envelope from one of the drawers, and handed it to Shirou.
He opened it with curiosity and found several bills. Seeing his eyebrow raised, Sona decided to explain herself.
"It's your compensation for all the services you've been offering to this academy since you transferred."
"I see... Still, I can't accept payment for something that anyone would have done in my place."
Hearing his reply, a frown appeared on the Student Council president's face. She pushed her glasses back making them emit an ominous glow.
"You know, the day you transferred to this school I did my research on your past, Emiya-san. Standard procedure."
Shirou did his best not to let his reaction be shown, as he prepared in his mind the blueprints of various anti-monster noble phantasms and black keys.
Although he was sure that there was no way for them to learn of his identity as a magus, much less as a reincarnated heroic spirit, perhaps his time as a mercenary with Kiritsugu made his presence unwelcome. He didn't really kill anyone during this lifetime, human that is, but that was hard to prove.
However, Sona's next words proved that, again, he was just being paranoid.
"Leaving aside the... questionable manner in which you spent your childhood, I am aware that your only foster father, Mr. Emiya, passed away recently. You live completely alone in a huge mansion that requires a lot of maintenance, and although the inheritance that your father left you is quite big, it won't last forever. I doubt finding a part-time job with your skills would be difficult, but that would interfere with your studies, wouldn't it?"
Upon hearing that, Momo and Tomoe made sad faces. Shirou on the other hand stood firm.
"That's true, but I don't really need it. I can manage to make my father's inheritance last until I get my college degree and get a full-time job. I'm used to living on the bare minimum."
That last might very well be the understatement of the year coming from the guy that used to sleep in the trees in his previous life, instead of renting a room in an inn, to save the money. However, this time, he ran into a person that was as stubborn as he himself.
"Still, I must insist on this, Emiya-san. It would be inappropriate for a student of this school not to be compensated for easing the burden on our janitor."
"But-"
"Stop with that goodie-two-shoes act, damn it!" The only male member of the Student Council ended up bursting. "If Kaichou says she wants to pay you, then shut up and accept the money at once!"
He approached Shirou with a very moody expression but was stopped by a single glance from Sona.
"Saji, keep your manners in presence of a guest."
"Ye-yes, Kaichou!" All his bravado disappeared in an instant, and he straightened himself as if he were a recruit being scolded by a military instructor.
Sona then turned to look at the boy with golden eyes silently, waiting for his answer.
Although it didn't feel right to be compensated for something like this, Shirou knew this conversation wasn't going anywhere no matter how much he insisted.
Breathing a sigh, he finally gave up. "Fine, I'll take it."
At that moment, an almost imperceptible smile spread on Sona's face. Shirou was sure he was the only one who could notice because he was right in front of her, and yet, it would have been impossible without his hawk-like eyes.
"Well, if there's nothing else you want to talk to me about, I'll get going..."
"Wait, I'd like to offer you a proposal."
Those words made him stop before turning around to walk out the door. "A proposal?"
She nodded. "Emiya Shirou, would you like to join the Student Council?"
Those words came as a surprise to Shirou, but more so to the others in the room. Even the ever-stoic vice-president widened her eyes.
"Kaichou-!?" Saji tried to complain but was silenced with another stern look from Sona.
Shirou eyed the creature in front of him. He had the feeling that there was another meaning behind this invitation. All the Student Council's members being magical creatures couldn't be a coincidence, and now she suddenly wanted to add a human to their group?
He smelled a rat here. Does she actually know he's a magus? Or is she showing her true colors and wanted to pull him into a shady business like human trafficking?
"Err... You're asking me something like this so suddenly... I mean, I've been here for just two weeks."
"Even though you've only been in this academy for two weeks, that was enough to decipher your personality. Despite not being the most social person, you are kind and helpful, helping those who ask without thinking twice. Such a person would be a very good addition to our Student Council. But of course, you don't need to answer immediately. Let one of our members know when you make a decision."
"I see... I'll give it a thought."
"Very well. See you later, Emiya-san."
Shirou walked out the door, his mind reviewing the options he had in his mind. He could politely reject their offer and see what was would happen, or he could accept to investigate them more closely. But, he didn't really see himself as a member of the Student Council, so he was more inclined toward the first option.
However, just outside the door...
"Oh, Emiya-kun. What are you doing here?"
...was received by a sweet voice that was accompanied by an aura darker than that of the other creatures attending this school.
Shirou was startled and had to make a great effort not to react by instinct and fire several noble phantasms at the two creatures in front of him.
Seeing that their facial expressions didn't change, he sighed inwardly. It seemed that he had managed to suppress his murderous intent in time. This really wasn't good for his mental health.
Now, speaking of the two people in front of him, who spoke to him was a beauty of foreign appearance. A characteristic crimson hair that fell to her waist, blue eyes, pale skin like a porcelain doll, and quite large "assets".
She was Rias Gremory, president of the Occult Research Club, the top 1 Onee-sama of Kuoh Academy, and the magical creature that emits the most ominous aura of the school, closely followed by Sona.
At her side, as usual, was another beauty with black hair tied in a long ponytail and violet eyes, and her "assets" didn't stay behind those of Rias. If he had to describe her, she would be the ideal "Yamato Nadeshiko".
Her name was Himejima Akeno, vice-president of the Occult Research Club, the top 2 Onee-sama of the Kuoh Academy, and for some reason, her dark aura felt different from the others.
She asked what he was doing, but he could ask her the same thing. If it wasn't for him knowing that they were all creatures of the same kind, the president of the OCR going to visit the Student Council so suddenly would be strange.
"Oh, Gremory-san, Himejima-san. I was told that the air conditioning was not working and I took a look at it. But it's already fixed."
"I see..."
That was the only answer he got from the two Onee-samas. Seeing that they didn't seem to want to start a conversation, Shirou gave a short greeting and walked past them.
If he had insisted more on talking to them, he would have realized that he had actually screwed up.
"Akeno..." Rias spoke with her face completely stiff.
"Yes..." The gentle smile of the Japanese beauty disappeared as she grabbed her arm to stop its trembling. "For a moment I felt I was going to die."
"So it wasn't my imagination... what... what was that?"
"I don't know... do you think it was Emiya-kun?"
"Well... I suppose Yuuto-kun and Koneko-chan's concerns were not unfounded, but still..."
"Yeah... Hard to believe that came from the Fake Janitor... Maybe it wasn't him and it was someone from Sona's group?"
"It's a possibility... Well, let's go inside."
The two entered the room, still somewhat affected by being hit by Shirou's murderous intent.
There they found the members of the Student Council already doing the daily paperwork. Sona lifted her head from the papers on her fancy desk and greeted them.
"You finally arrived, Rias, Akeno. What took you so long?"
"Let's just say we had a shocking experience... but anyway, what did you want to talk about, Sona?"
"Well, you are aware of the abnormal increase in supernatural creatures entering our territory, and the rumors about this so-called "slayer", right?"
Rias nodded. "Yes. In fact, yesterday we tracked down one of them, a vampire, but when we arrived, he had already been killed."
"Well, that saves me a lot of explaining." Sona then bent over to open a secret drawer from her desk and took out some documents she delivered to Rias.
Both Rias and Akeno frowned as they glanced at the pages. They spoke of a rather famous entity when it came to stray devils.
"As expected, the rumors ended up attracting a big fish. Friedrich Steiner, a German scientist who was part of the Waffen-SS during World War II, and creator of the chemical weapon called Nova 6. He was later captured by the Soviet Union and put in charge of mind-control experiments, but he was killed during the Cold War. He was eventually reincarnated by the Buné clan as a bishop, and his experiments became about mystical creatures, with chimeras being his obsession. He soon betrayed his master because his only interest was to continue his experiments and he wasn't interested in the least Rating Games."
Sona summarized the curriculum of the man in question, more for Student Council members than for Rias and Akeno. Everyone's faces paled hearing about such a monster.
"I see, several of his minions were spotted leaving and entering the abandoned factory just outside the city. The Archduke issued an order to hunt him down, but it is recommended that we work together because of his large number of minions, eh?"
"Yes, it looks like we'll have to introduce our new pieces between them sooner than expected."
Rias then looked at the clock in the room. "With the time it is, we should leave that and planning the strategy for tomorrow."
Sona nodded in agreement. "We have to be prudent as we have never fought with our peerages together. But changing the subject, since you met one of the victims of this so-called "slayer," tell me, do you have any leads on his identity?"
"The only thing we have confirmed is that, according to Koneko, he always leaves a scent of steel at the scene. And well... we may have a suspect..."
That picked Sona's curiosity. Rias' nonchalant attitude faded after mentioning that subject.
"And who is this suspect?"
"He was here a few minutes ago."
Not only Sona's eyes, but everyone's eyes in the room except for Akeno widened at hearing that.
"Emiya-kun!? No way!"
"The Fake Janitor!? Nah, I doubt that guy would even hurt a fly."
Leaving aside Meguri and Saji's reactions, Sona looked at her childhood friend with a raised eyebrow.
"I know the disappearances and deaths started at the same time he transferred to this school, and his past wasn't very normal... but do you really think he would be capable of that?"
"It is true that a human would be the last possibility you would think of when you think of someone who has exterminated all these creatures of different races. But Yuuto-kun told me he knows his way with a sword, and Koneko-chan feels a sense of dread when he is near. That and..."
Akeno resumed the explanation where her master left it. "When we come across him coming here and greet him, we felt a huge killing intent... Unless it came from one of you, he was the only person around. And he didn't seem to have noticed it."
"I see... Well, I suppose we could use our authority as heirs to dig deeper into who "Emiya Shirou" is. Should we keep an eye on him?"
"We really should. At least for the moment. If things get worse, then we should confront them directly. If we are wrong, we just have to erase his memory."
Sona sighed. Manipulating a person's memory wasn't something that should be done lightly, but at least her friend considered it a last resort.
"All right, let's do that."
The night fell again in Kuoh Town, and with it, the city's paranormal activity reached its highest peak.
Specifically, there were a couple of devils wandering the quiet streets of Kuoh on a bicycle. The rider was none other than Hyoudou Issei, while Asia Argento sat behind him with her legs to one side.
As devils, their job was to make pacts with greedy humans to earn points and raise their social status. However, as Asia had recently been reincarnated as a devil, she still had to hand out papers with magic circles engraved on them to potential clients so they could summon devils without the need of one of those shady rituals that involved sacrificing goats.
"Well, that was the last one. With this, we can go back to the club room." Issei sighed as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.
On the other hand, Asia looked at him with a sense of guilt. "I'm really sorry that you have to work so hard for me, Issei-san."
The young man gave her a reassuring smile. "It's no big deal. Since you don't know how to ride a bike, someone has to ride the bike for you."
"But I could do it on feet..."
"If you did I'd be very worried about you, Asia. You saw it yesterday. Looks like a bunch of monsters are entering this town, and there's also a guy out there who is killing them. It really looks like a science fiction movie. As Buchou said, walking alone at night right now is very dangerous."
Issei tried to sound as calm as possible, though he himself was somewhat afraid.
According to Rias, vampires aren't opponents to be underestimated. But in the short time between Koneko detecting the one yesterday and everyone gathered to confront him, this "slayer" had already exterminated him.
He didn't even leave a body, just bloodstains all over the floor and walls. Even if he was no longer as helpless as he was a month ago when he had just been reincarnated as a devil, the prospect of having to face someone like that was still frightening.
"Huh?" Issei's thoughts were interrupted as he noticed small arms wrapping around him from behind.
"It doesn't matter if a monster or that "slayer" attacks us, I know Issei-san will protect me."
The cheeks of the member of the "Perverted trio" blushed. The warmth of the embrace and the words of the ex-nun were really comforting. Her really trusting someone like him made him feel like she wasn't that useless.
However, any of those thoughts weren't what was in Issei's mind at the moment. Asia's modest "assets" were touching his back, which caused blood to start dripping down his nose.
His mind then began to play the images of those boobs, obtained after she had moved into his home a few days earlier. That triggered quite indecent thoughts, which he himself had to suppress by force.
To him, Asia was like the little sister he never had, so this kind of thinking made him feel really bad. But that conflicted with his hormone-filled teenage mentality.
"Right! I'll definitely protect your op- I mean, you! I'll protect you, Asia! Even if it costs my life!"
Although he couldn't see her because he had to look straight ahead while driving, a dazzling smile spread on the face of Asia.
Too bad the tender moment was interrupted when Issei had to hit the brakes suddenly.
"Kya!"
Poor Asia almost flew off the bike due to her inertia, but her driver's attention was completely focused on the thing that was a few feet ahead of them blocking their way.
The best way to describe it would be a werewolf from a '90s horror film. A six-foot-tall, bipedal being, covered in a thick bush of brown hair, and sharp claws and fangs.
But something was really wrong with it. Its tail was not like that of a normal wolf full of hair, but was scaly and ended in... was that a snakehead? Other than that, a pair of bony bumps sprouted from his back, like a pair of goat horns. It looked like a version of the Frankenstein monster but using animal parts instead of human parts.
Sweat began to fall on Issei's forehead as he dropped the bike and positioned himself between that thing and Asia.
As bizarre as it was, that monster gave off an ominous aura comparable to that of the last opponent he had to face. The fallen angel Raynare, the creature who pretended to be his girlfriend just to kill him.
"Hmph..." After observing them for a few moments, the thing snorted. "Just a pair of devils. Very weak at that. There's no way you are the one master is looking for."
Issei frowned. This wasn't the first time an enemy was looking down at him because of how little magic he had as a devil. He couldn't even use a magic circle to teleport himself to the place of his customers.
But after his fight with Raynare, he learned that your opponent underestimates you can be an advantage.
"Asia, stay behind me. I'll take care of this."
The girl nodded and went to hide behind a nearby light pole. It wasn't the best of places, but she had to stay close if she wanted to support her partner with her unique powers.
Issei swallowed saliva and took an unorthodox pose. This thing must have been one of the creatures that were coming into town lately, and it was clearly hostile. He would tell Asia to use her cell phone to call Buchou, but due to her secluded childhood, she barely knew how to turn it on and answer an incoming call.
He had no choice but to fight head-on in this place. He could only pray that the incantations Rias mentioned to him to hide their presence from humans while they did their work as a demon would work in this situation.
"Come forth, Boosted Gear!"
Answering his command, a red gauntlet appeared in his left hand. Its appearance resembled that of a scaled gauntlet with claws, a pair of yellow horns protruding backward from it, and a huge green gem on the back of the hand.
The monster's eyes widened upon seeing that gauntlet, but more than fear, it was by surprise.
"So the rumor that the Red Dragon Emperor joined the devils was true, huh? Well, I guess this calls for a change of plans. Instead of killing you both, I will take you alive. I'm sure master will be happy to experiment with your body."
After saying that, the werewolf got on all fours as if getting ready to throw itself against the devil. On all fours, the reason for the horns on its back was revealed. It was not that it had horns on its back. It had the head of a goat attached to its back.
However, Issei was no longer paying attention to the monster. Hearing those words full of cruelty, a painful memory resurfaced in his mind.
The weak and pale silhouette of Asia as her life was bleeding away because he could not save her in time.
He wasn't letting that happen again!
[Boost!]
The gauntlet's gem roared to life moved by his determination to protect the girl behind him, effectively doubling his power. But that wasn't anywhere near the amount of power he needed to beat this enemy. He had to stall until his power was doubled enough times.
But the werewolf wasn't going to make things easy for him like his previous opponent. The creature lunged at him at a speed that he could barely keep up with his eyes. Even though it was nowhere near Kiba's speed, this thing was fast!
He barely had time to lift the gauntlet to protect himself from the clutches of his enemy. But then...
"Rargh!"
"Huh?"
The roar filled with pain and confusion of the monster was followed by Issei and Asia's surprised voices.
The monster's charge was stopped completely when something pierced his arm. What pierced him did so with such force and speed that Issei would not be surprised if the monster's arm had been dislocated.
It looked like an arrow made of steel, but its shape was strange. Issei could distinguish a short red handle, and its main body was a rapier-like blade but twisted to take a more aerodynamic shape. It was like... a sword made into an arrow?
He didn't have much time to think about it.
Heart, lungs, right eye, neck, pancreas. It happened too fast for him to see. More of those "arrows" pierced every vital point of the monster.
The werewolf flew away like a rag doll, with parts being blown off his body and staining the entire street with blood and debris. The battered body stopped rolling on the asphalt and was completely inert about ten meters from the two devils.
[Reset.]
Issei took his right hand to his mouth to avoid throwing up his dinner upon seeing such a scene, his loss of concentration making the power that the gauntlet gave him fade. On the other hand, Asia was left trembling and paler than a ghost.
Not only was the monster brutally slaughtered in just a few seconds, but those "arrows" gave off a really ominous sensation. It was even worse than being in front of those light swords exorcists used. They seemed to be trying to consume or purify the monster, but the monster's regenerative capacity seemed to be giving them problems.
In fact, now that he looked at the thing closely, although the main head had been damaged, the goat head and the snakehead were still alive. Dying and writhing in pain, but alive.
That didn't last much.
Another projectile struck the creature, this time one that looked like a silver blade, and emitted an aura several times more terrifying than the previous ones. Issei was sure he almost pissed his pants.
The force of the impact created a small explosion, and the creature's body was completely pulverized.
The only thing remaining on the streets was only a small crater, with the ominous "arrows" scattered around, and the last of them nailed to the center. But before the two devils could move a muscle, the "arrows" broke and vanished into specks of blue light without a trace.
In his confusion and astonishment, Issei turned to look in the direction from which the "arrows" came. If the sniper really wanted them dead, they would already be, but in his state of hysteria, he turned to try to defend himself in case of attack.
The attacks seemed to come from a high-rise building... several miles from their position.
A normal person could never distinguish the figure at the top of that distant building, but Issei wasn't a normal person. He was a devil, a creature of the night, and therefore his vision was several times better than that of an average human during the night.
Although he couldn't distinguish the general features of the figure, apart from the enormous black bow that they carried, he recognized an important detail.
"That's... Kuoh Academy's male uniform!?"
He immediately reached for his phone in his pocket and dialed his master's number. For the first time, his mind wasn't distracted by the fact that having the number of the top 1 Onee-sama of the Kuoh Academy was a dream come true.
A few seconds later, Rias' voice was heard on the other side of the call. "Issei? Is something-"
But before she could say another word, Issei cut her off and began to speak hysterically. "Bu-Buchou! We got him! I was handing out pamphlets with Asia and a thing attacked us, and then that thing was killed and-!"
"Wait, slow your roll! Issei, I need you to calm down and take a deep breath. Asia is with you, right? Are you both okay?"
He turned to look at Asia, who was still in shock, but other than that she was fine.
"We-well yes, we're both in one piece."
"Good. That's a relief. Now, come back to the club room, and you'll tell me what has happened with calm and detail then."
"Yes! We're on our way!"
Shirou watched as the pair of devils rode off on their bike from the top of the building with his enhanced vision.
It was really weird watching a couple of magical creatures go around handing out pamphlets, but at least they weren't hurting anyone. Or at least, those pamphlets did not cause any mysterious disappearance or "gas leakage".
The same couldn't be said of the five chimeras he had already killed that night. A truly alarming number.
Until now he hadn't had to confront more than two creatures per night, which was already worrying. And besides, those guys didn't seem to appear randomly like the others. They seemed to be coordinated, combing different parts of the city at the same time.
That could only mean one thing. There was a mastermind behind this, and it goes without saying that they were looking for him.
"Great, just what I needed. Some weirdo wanting to dissect me. Some things don't change no matter what kind of world I find myself in."
His golden eyes combed the city again in search of any creature that moved. He would have to settle this matter before his body began to fail for lack of hours of sleep.
But, it was then that, after his mind stopped being focused on the chimera and the two devils, he finally realized the weak presence that was right behind him.
He immediately loaded another black key into his bow and turned to shoot it to the presence. The key of providence pierced what looked like a big eyeball with a pair of bat wings, killing it instantly.
Shirou approached to inspect it more closely. Without a doubt, that must have been some kind of familiar, and by its constitution formed by putting pieces of different beings together, it didn't belong to one of the creatures attending the Kuoh Academy. It belonged to whoever had created those chimeras.
That... complicated things a lot. So far all the creatures that had seen him use his magecraft had died seconds later. The exception would be Issei and Asia, but he doubted that they could see him from so far away.
And now a weirdo doing experiments with chimeras knew about his identity as a magus.
This was definitely not his day.
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13891233/2/Reenacting-a-legend