No matter the appearance, one should not take anyone lightly even in the case of greater numbers.
You never know when one would come across a monster, and that precisely what he was in the yes of the members of the White Fang in front of him.
Shirou knew that as a spirit, he could choose to simply dissipate his physical body in the midst of combat, but he never considered what kind of effect that would have on the others around him. In a battle between Servants in a standard Grail War, it wouldn't have had mattered if he shifted into spiritual form because the Grail War was a battle between spirits to begin with. He would not have had been able to avoid an enemy Servants attack even if he was intangible.
In this case, he hadn't been up against Servants, but regular people, so the point was moot.
He didn't consider the perspective of the White Fang.
How were they supposed to defeat an opponent who their attacks could not even hit? Bullets, explosions, aura, none of it was working. It was like they were dealing with a phantom, one with the ability to form countless blades out of nothing.
Swords.
So many that none dared to move.
Sharp and hanging inches away from their necks, there was no room at all for a counterattack.
Yang was speechless.
Her gaze was darting left and right, from him, and then to the masked individuals around him. It was like he could literally see her brain gradually processing what she was seeing.
For the most part, he simply ignored her to get the situation around him under control first.
His question to 'explain what was going on' was still present in the air, and finally the masked individuals began to take action.
One by one they each removed their masks to show distinct animal traits which made them easily identifiable as Faunus. Their faces beneath looked terrified, and many were beginning to cower.
"Sorry, we're sorry," the Faunus that bowed her head low in apology was Charlotte. She was holding the gun that Jed had given her in her hand, and out of everyone present, she was the only one with a full magazine of bullets. She hadn't been able to will herself to fire at another person. "Please don't hurt us. W-We had no other choice," she pleaded.
Shirou frowned in response but did nothing else.
The fact alone that Charlotte had been unable to even fire at him showed just what kind of personality she had. A Faunus like Charlotte had no business being involved in an armed attack. Scrutinizing everyone else, the majority of them were far from trained or experienced murderers for that matter.
Their current appearance resembled something more like pulling a stranger from the streets, giving them a gun, and then tasking them with assassinating someone.
"Explain," Shirou gave them the benefit of the doubt.
Charlotte gasped while first gesturing towards the sword in the air.
He nodded, and promptly dismissed his projections just as Yang was about to try touching one.
As soon as the swords were gone, Jed who had been near Charlotte since the beginning ran beside her to divert his attention. It didn't do much good though because Charlotte placed a hand on Jed's shoulder and shook her head. They simply couldn't win.
"The situation's like this," Charlotte began to explain in detail what she knew.
Jed helped fill in the blank spaces that Charlotte was unaware of.
YOU ARE READING
The Huntsman of Red V2
AdventureGuardian, Protector, Hero, and perhaps something more, that was what he had always meant to her, but to others he was simply known as the Huntsman of Red, Remnant's final hope. This story is not mine, it belongs to Parcasious
