Facing the combined assault of two Servants, Shirou's eternally gentle gaze finally turned serious. He first signaled to Semiramis with a look, indicating she need not intervene, then drew the sheathed katana tied at his waist.
The end of the scabbard met the vampire's claws just right, using the powerful force of the claws to push back the hilt and parry Shinji's scythe.
"Using force against force? The predictive power of Mind's Eye is truly terrifying."
Shinji wasn't surprised that his first strike was deflected; he knew well the effects of Amakusa Shirou's Noble Phantasms.
Additionally, the right and left arms respectively trigger abilities similar to the skills "Mind's Eye (True)" and "Mind's Eye (False)," and they enhance baptism chants.
Mind's Eye (False) is based on the sixth sense and combat intuition.
Mind's Eye (True) is based on experienced combat judgment.
With the aid of these skills, Amakusa Shirou can also perform a certain degree of future sight, making the optimal choice to block Shinji and the vampire's attack wasn't difficult.
However, Amakusa Shirou is ultimately not a combat-type Servant. Even with the assistance of the Mind's Eye, without sufficient physical attributes and skills to support it, he can't fully utilize them.
The simplest way to defeat him is to avoid any tricks and overpower him with sheer force!
Body enhancement, mana burst, maximum strength—slash!
On the other side, the vampire's actions were more straightforward. His other claw struck out even faster and more fiercely than before.
Shirou didn't dare block; he flipped and jumped down from the staircase he was on.
Neither Shinji nor the vampire was willing to let him go. One stepped into the air to pursue, while the other turned into mist to chase. Though their motives differed, both were resolved to kill the obstructing priest as swiftly as possible.
Upon landing, Shirou did not continue to evade. He held the katana horizontally in front of his chest, with his left hand gripping the scabbard and his right hand on the hilt.
"Then, Caster, I'm going to use this."
"Yes, yes, please do! Please use it to your heart's content!"
At the moment Caster's excited voice echoed, a formidable magical power emanated from within the scabbard that no one could ignore.
The next second, the katana was drawn!
"Like a torrential rain accompanied by thunder!"
Accompanied by Shakespeare's recitation, scenes painted by words transformed into reality.
The lightning was the flash of Shirou's blade, and the torrential rain was the motion of Shirou's slashes.
In an instant, Shinji's vision was filled with dazzling flashes of the blade, making it impossible to distinguish the real from the illusory.
By the time he discerned reality from illusion, the katana, sharp as the Scythe, was already before him. With just one strike, it threw Shinji off balance in mid-air.
At this moment, Shakespeare's second verse burst out.
"Like a storm accompanied by raging flames!"
Shirou's blade turned, his left index and middle fingers tracing the back of the blade, where orange flames began to coil and rise.
A powerful wind, born of magic, exploded from the hilt, feeding the flames, and the flames, in turn, empowered the wind. With a swift motion, a fiery tornado was drawn, enveloping the vampire who had just shifted from mist to solid form.
Amidst the vampire's increasingly shrill screams, Shirou twirled his blade in a flourish.
"Vampires, besides fearing holy symbols and purification, also fear flames. This is why the medieval church loved burning heretics. Though not every vampire fears fire, a vampire born from fantasy certainly does. Aside from fire, they fear garlic, silver, flowing water, and—Caster!"
"Like the blazing sun of a summer afternoon!"
Shakespeare closed his eyes and recited loudly. The magic imbued in the katana changed once again due to the skill Enchant.
Light!
A blinding light!
An intensely scorching light!
As Shakespeare described it, the hottest summer, the peak of noon, and the most fierce sunlight.
This sunlight was enough to scorch one's eyes, and no one dared to look directly at it.
Shinji, who had just gotten up to continue his attack, felt a sharp pain in his eyes and had to pull down the brim of his hood to block the intense light from affecting his vision.
The vampire, still trapped in the fiery tornado, fared even worse. Apart from his seemingly endless screams, more and more black shadows were emerging from his tattered body, only to disintegrate into ashes under the sunlight. The shadows once controlled by the vampire were more than half gone in an instant.
"This is the greatest nemesis of vampires. Even the True Ancestors would be affected by sunlight, let alone a vampire born from Dead Apostle legends. What you thought was your trump card is your greatest flaw."
Subjected to such insults, the vampire wished to tear Shirou to pieces, but he could barely make a sound now. He could only watch helplessly as his hateful enemy raised the katana and approached him bit by bit.
"Farewell, Vampire Dracula—"
Just before the katana touched the vampire's chest, the previously steady blade began to waver.
Not just the blade, but Shirou's arm and even Dracula's own body started to tremble.
Shirou steadied himself and glanced toward Shinji, who was not far away. He saw that at some point, Shinji had put away the Scythe and switched to the Spear of Ishtar. The earlier trembling had been caused by the power of this spear.
"He must not die!"
Before my objective is achieved, he must not die!
Bearing the pain in his eyes, Shinji threw the spear, forcing Shirou to dodge. At the same time, he positioned himself in front of the vampire and quickly pulled off the cloak he was wearing, draping it over the vampire.
The Cloak of Hades could interfere with light and render one invisible, thus protecting the vampire from the sunlight's harm.
With the sunlight no longer suppressing him, the vampire's powerful regenerative abilities finally kicked in. His body, riddled with wounds from the sunlight, began to heal at an astonishing rate, leaving Shirou in awe.
"You surprised me there. I never thought the Cloak of Hades could be used this way. You certainly keep giving me surprises, Black Assassin."
"You're too kind. There are many things about you I don't understand either," Shinji replied, his expression rigid like a sculpture.
"Why don't we sit down and have a chat? I'll buy you a drink."
"Sorry, I'm in a hurry."
"Is that so? That's quite troublesome, then."
Shirou sighed dramatically.
"To be honest, you've already exceeded my expectations by getting this far. If it were the old me, I might have been at a loss. But this won't do—I'll have to cheat a little myself."