Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

But what appears before us now is merely a forest that uses the name of a plain.

Tens of meters high, lush green grass rose from the ground, completely obscuring everything around it.

It's unclear whether my body shrank the moment I stepped into the arena, or whether the grass on the field was always this huge.

Looking around, all you can see is lush greenery, and there's absolutely no way to observe anything around you through the surrounding grass.

Even the scorching sun hanging in the sky could only barely provide some light to the passageway around Shirou Emiya through the countless standing wild grasses.

Amidst these dense thickets of grass, there are still well-maintained maze-like passageways.

As if to prove that this is a plain, the surrounding ground has no undulations at all, just like a straight ruler, extremely neat, an extremely hardcore plain.

What's even stranger is that the ground isn't just an endless expanse of land, but also a lush lawn.

However, the grass on the ground beneath my feet was not as tall as the surrounding bushes.

This maze is several times more troublesome and dangerous than the previous island.

If I had to explain why...

"XiXi!!! XiXi!!!!!"

The sound of a gentle breeze rustling through the grass came from all around the path, but Shirou Emiya knew very well that grass that was tens of meters tall could not possibly be moved by a gentle breeze.

Such commotion could only be caused by the monsters that have been created in this arena.

"Roar--!"

The grass was suddenly torn apart, and a beast like a tiger opened its blood-red maw, exhaling an extremely strong bloody smell. It leaped out from behind Shirou Emiya and bit down hard on Shirou Emiya's head.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Several gunshots rang out in front of Shirou Emiya, but he didn't turn his head; in fact, he kept his two guns, one black and one white, pointed straight ahead.

A being that resembled a mixture of four different monsters swung its sharp claws and tore towards Shirou Emiya.

Emiya Shirou's attack also hit the swinging claws, using a ricochet to accurately strike the monster that was attacking from behind.

It then exploded.

The forging skills learned in Orario can naturally be used to enhance one's bullets.

Fatal wounds won't defeat these monsters; only accumulating a certain amount of damage can solve the problem. So let's accumulate a certain amount of damage.

These bullets were all forged by Shirou Emiya in his room and were equipped with explosive properties.

The quantity was not large, only two or three magazines' worth. One reason was that bullets, after all, were not swords and would consume a large portion of Emiya Shirou's magical energy.

Another aspect is that the danger in this labyrinth is not the monsters, but the Servants.

These explosive bullets cannot effectively damage Servants; Shirou Emiya only uses them to deal with these monsters.

Even without enchanted bullets, Shirou Emiya could easily take down these monsters.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

After quickly dealing with the two monsters that suddenly appeared, the sound of piercing came from all around.

Shirou Emiya swiftly veered to the side, and two crimson threads swept past him before landing heavily on the ground.

"Darts!?"

As the darts hurtled towards him from the surrounding bushes, Shirou Emiya calmly projected a short sword with a chain.

Countless monsters were lurking in these bushes, and the constant shaking made it difficult to pinpoint their location.

Not to mention identifying ranged entities that can accurately see you through the bushes and launch an attack.

If there were beings with excellent visibility in the pitch black, then the area within these bushes, which are tens of meters high, would be an excellent hiding place for those Servants.

Especially for Assassin-class Servants, this place is probably their paradise, where they can kill the participating Masters without anyone noticing.

Shirou Emiya didn't have very good hearing, and from the noisy, constantly swaying grass, he could only barely determine the location of some of the monsters.

In most cases, Shirou Emiya reacts quickly and retaliates based on his long-standing combat experience when the monsters launch their attacks.

It was not a prediction made based on prior knowledge of the monster's location.

Although Shirou Emiya is able to avoid some combat through flight.

However, in such dense, overgrown grass, Shirou Emiya had no way to determine his location from the key by flying.

Flying away from the grass and looking down, all you can see is a lush green meadow. You can barely find the path hidden under the grass, let alone pinpoint the location of the key.

Chapter 569 The King and Warrior of Romania

Shirou Emiya can only try to reach his key using his own abilities and the rapier that enhances his luck.

He had considered simply plunging into the nearby bushes.

But no sunlight could penetrate inside; it was utterly dark, severely limiting visibility and making it impossible to discern one's direction.

Moreover, there are countless monsters that will launch attacks within it.

A spear in the open is easy to parry, but a hidden arrow is hard to guard against. Even legendary heroes can be caught off guard and hit by a sudden attack.

Even a seasoned warrior can be killed by a new recruit who has just stepped onto the battlefield.

Not to mention Emiya Shirou, who had only been fighting for a year.

After several hours of fighting, Shirou Emiya finally found his own key, and the demon entanglement on his body bore several marks from being torn by sharp claws.

The key is generated in advance, and there is no way to move the key if other keys exist.

The only benefit of luck for Shirou Emiya was that it greatly reduced the time it took him to find the key.

By sheer luck, they found the correct path to the keypad.

However, since the surrounding area is covered by grass, wouldn't it be easier to find the location of the key by setting it on fire?

Shirou Emiya had only considered the possibility; he did not intend to actually set the fire.

"Huh? You found the key? Hehehehehe—"

Just as Shirou Emiya was about to go find the orb that would allow him to leave the arena, a gaze with a sticky, different feel from murderous intent stared intently at him.

It was a voice that sounded mature, frantic, and weak.

Sometime later, that excessively thin clown, whose battle name was Lanlu-kun, and her Special stood there.

It was a figure with a red cloak draped over his shoulder, pale white hair, and covered in jet-black armor, seemingly unapproachable and full of sharp spikes.

A fierce fighting spirit erupted from Emiya Shirou the moment he saw the man, engulfing him completely.

The man before them was frantically displaying his overwhelming fighting spirit to Shirou Emiya.

However, for some reason, Shirou Emiya sensed an extremely familiar aura emanating from this man.

It felt like I had seen him somewhere before.

Almost the instant he saw his face, Shirou Emiya thought of Lancer, Vlad III, the leader of the Black Faction he once belonged to.

Shirou Emiya can say with absolute certainty that he is an incomparably revered king, and also an object of his respect.

However, the person in front of him resembled Vlad III, whom he knew, preventing Shirou Emiya from making an immediate judgment.

After all, the Vlad III he knew exuded the aura of a king, the presence of a true king.

The white-haired man before them resembled a seasoned warrior, radiating an unimaginable fighting spirit; he was a true warrior.

For a moment, Emiya Shirou dared not make an accurate judgment about it.

"It's a miracle!"

Before Shirou Emiya could make any move, the white-haired man standing next to Ranji spoke first.

His expression was extremely agitated, almost manic, as if he had lost his mind and wanted to say something.

Besides the intense fighting spirit towards Shirou Emiya, his eyes also held an incomprehensible rage from Shirou Emiya.

"It's a miracle! It's a miracle! How could I say it wasn't a miracle!"

"Is that so, my nemesis! What a fate, what a trial!"

"I was betrayed on my wedding night by the partner I had dedicated my life to!"

"I offered my soul to my faith, only to be beheaded in return!"

He roared, denouncing the world's injustice towards him and the betrayal of his faith.

"Hmm, they worked so hard, yet they were assassinated by nobles from their own country?"

Lanlu seemed completely unconcerned that they were revealing their information to Emiya Shirou. Facing the white-haired man's anger, she responded with a clown-like smile.

The words and tone sounded as if mocking the tragic fate of his own servant.

However, he showed no anger at Lanlu's words and continued speaking to Emiya Shirou.

“Yes, my faith has been shattered so completely. I have lost God’s love, been denied by God’s love, and all that’s left is my fallen reputation!”

The white-haired man suddenly stretched out his hand as if trying to grab something.

"But—! Even though they were created as innocent monsters, these hands finally received true love!"

"Isn't that right, my wife! A poor woman who refuses to eat because of overeating, who can only eat what she truly loves!"

"Just meeting you makes my gun pound with excitement—"

When he said that he was created as an innocent monster, Shirou Emiya realized that the warrior in front of him was Vlad III, whom he knew well.

If Shirou Emiya had never met Vlad III, he would have had no way of concluding this from just a few words.

It was only because of his appearance, and the fact that he claimed to be an innocent monster created by Vlad III—Dracula, another infamous title of Vlad III—that Shirou Emiya was able to confirm the identity of the madman before him.

However, perhaps due to the parallel universe, this Vlad is quite different from the one he knows.

According to the information collected by Shirou Emiya, there are two versions of Vlad III's death. One version says that he died in a battle against the Ottoman Empire.

Another theory is that he was assassinated by rival Wallachian nobles.

The head was preserved with Ottoman military honey and taken to Constantinople, where it was displayed on a stake.

When Shirou Emiya was at Black Square Castle, in another villa, he asked Danic about Vlad III.