Shinji was just messing around.
While homunculi indeed tend to be rigid and lack flexibility, they're not so foolish as to follow an enemy's orders. As for Berserker Heracles, who had lost his reason, there was no way he would listen. Even someone as experienced as Acht found it difficult to control him, let alone Shinji, who had no connection to him whatsoever.
The reason why they appeared in a left-to-right formation of men and women was simply because the conference room was to Shinji's left.
It was that simple.
Heracles' excessively violent fighting style meant that his allies had to keep a distance. Given Heracles' massive size and the normal design of the villa's corridors, the head maid didn't lead her maids down the same path as him. Instead, they took a detour from the other side.
Thus, Heracles charged from the left, while the combat maids leaped down from the right corridor.
Their thought processes also ensured that none of them would pay any attention to what Shinji was saying. The head of the family had given the order to engage, and so they had to engage.
The first to act was Heracles.
"■■■■■■■■——!"
With his signature roar, he swung his axe-sword, and a storm erupted.
Shinji, who was about to be swept into the storm, remained unfazed, as two red streaks of light shot into its center like lightning, forcefully halting its expansion.
There was no need for Shinji to say anything. The war-loving Queen of the Land of Shadows had already stepped forward to face the challenge.
"Servant against Servant. You go and do what you need to do."
"Thanks, Shishou. I'll come find you after I finish my task. Don't end it too quickly."
"That depends on how long Heracles can endure."
As Scáthach spoke, her twin spears whirled even faster.
"Just don't use your Gae Bolg Alternative, okay?"
Shinji maintained his casual posture, hands in his pockets, as he walked deeper into the villa.
At that moment, a giant sword swept toward him from the side—it was the head maid, and the giant sword was her weapon.
"Stop right there!"
Without moving his upper body, Shinji lifted one leg and stomped on the sword, driving it to the ground. No matter how hard the head maid tried, she couldn't pull it out. Shinji leaned in toward her, smiling.
"Upon closer look, you do resemble her quite a bit. Miss, could you tell me where Acht is?"
The head maid didn't say a word, responding with her fist instead. At the same time, the other maids, armed with various weapons, launched attacks from all directions.
Seeing this, Shinji stopped holding back. First, he delivered a knee strike that sent the head maid flying, along with her fist. Then, using the momentum, he leaped into the air, landing on the second floor before the other homunculi could attack.
Though he had appeared relaxed earlier, Shinji had never forgotten his primary mission—to find Acht and secure the Lesser Grail. His earlier teasing of the head maid wasn't just out of curiosity about the Einzbern mass-produced homunculi, but also a strategy to divert everyone's attention and create an opportunity to escape.
Given Shinji's current strength, not even ten squads of combat maids would be able to defeat him. However, engaging in battle with them would inevitably slow him down and waste time. Because of his relationship with Justeaze, Shinji wasn't keen on killing them outright, which made the fight more complicated.
Rather than engage in such a restrictive battle, it was more efficient to break through directly. Whether the combat maids stayed behind to surround Scathach or chased after him didn't matter to Shinji. He didn't regard them as a threat, and neither would Scathach. Considering the homunculi's combat instincts, they'd be hard-pressed to even find an opening to launch an attack against someone like Scathach.
After landing, Shinji moved swiftly, using both hands and feet. He punched through walls and sprinted along the shortest path toward his target—Scathach had already marked Acht with a tracking rune during her reconnaissance, so his location wasn't a secret.
In a straight line of violent destruction, Shinji punched through seven or eight walls and two floors before finally arriving in a dimly lit corridor, where he found the person he was looking for.
An old man, dressed entirely in white—whiter than even the female homunculi. While the female homunculi had a bit of red in their outfits, this man's attire was pure white, save for a few golden threads.
There was no doubt—this man was Jubstacheit von Einzbern, often referred to as Acht.
The old man instinctively raised one hand to shield himself from the dust falling from the ceiling that Shinji had just destroyed. In his other hand, he held a stone-supported object wrapped in several layers of sealing spells and barriers, impervious even to mental scans. This only further confirmed Shinji's suspicion.
"Found you, old man!!"
"Enemy attack!"
It was only at that moment that the homunculi finally reacted, entering combat mode. Their rigid thinking and lack of flexibility had left them unable to anticipate that the enemy would pursue them in such a way.
Even Acht, who had lived for two centuries, was caught off guard. Though his mind was a bit more agile, all he could do was mutter,
"What on earth are Angelica and the others doing, to let him break through so quickly?"
"Huh? Angelica?"
Shinji paused for a moment, surprised. Isn't that Gil-chan's name?
The so-called Gil-chan wasn't referring to a gender-swapped Gilgamesh, but rather a female homunculus from the parallel world of Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya, who had obtained most of Gilgamesh's powers and Noble Phantasms through a process akin to Class Card Summoning. However, she wasn't created by the Einzberns, but by another family, the Ainsworths.
Considering that Shirou, Sakura, and Shinji also exist in that parallel world, it wasn't too surprising that there was an Angelica in this world as well. Still, with the real Gilgamesh already present, it was unlikely Angelica would turn into Gil-chan unless Shinji somehow involved Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg and managed to get his hands on that world's Class Card Summoning system, and then teamed up to take down Gilgamesh, turning him into a Heroic Spirit card.
—Wait, now that he thought about it, that would be pretty cool. Of course, with Zelretch being so determined to disappear from the scene, this was nothing more than a pointless daydream, and one that wouldn't interfere with the current mission.
"So, that lady's name is Angelica, huh? Nice name. Don't worry, I didn't do anything to her or her companions—I just gave them the slip. Though, by now… oh, they're catching up fast. They're quick and decisive. I wasn't hoping for you all to follow me."
Before Shinji could finish his sentence, the sound of boots stomping on the floor above echoed through the villa. In this building, only the Einzbern combat maids wore such loud, high-heeled boots—it seemed they had ultimately chosen not to intervene in the battle between top-tier Servants and had instead decided to deal with Shinji, who seemed like a much weaker target.
Shortly after, the sound of weapons slicing through the air reached his ears, and a large sword came slashing down from above.
The attacker was none other than this world's Angelica Ainsworth.