‘ Ah– Don’t worry Aragaki-san, I got a bit too overconfident there. I’ll be more cautious next move I make. ’
His over excitable personality was both a blessing && a curse when it came to fights like these. Although he was eager to exterminate shadows it was too easy for him to overlook such small details. If it wasn’t for his teammates, as well as his persona, he could have very easily been incapacitated there.
Battler seemed to have been relying on his persona far too much. It was easy for him to exhaust himself during the dark hour. It wasn’t that he was afraid to get close to the shadows && hit them himself, but he just enjoyed summoning his persona far too much, it was a complete rush to him. Something about the evoker && the persona itself felt like a release of all pain for him. However, he would restrain himself this next move to avoid falling into exhaustion.
‘ Hey, I’m gonna need back up on this, think you can lend a hand? ’
He grinned towards the hierophant expecting him to accept his proposal && attack their foe together.
“Tch, you better. I’ve got enough babysitting to do as it is.”
Shinjiro’s eyes moved to glance at Akihiko’s back a short distance ahead of them as he said that. Just as his words implied, the older male always took it as his responsibility to keep an eye on the boxer - especially so when fighting Shadows. Keeping up with the Emperor’s constant dashing ahead was a task in and of itself, but having his mind now plagued with worry over everyone else’s safety as well would more than likely stress him out to no end. He could remember the pressure he felt himself under back in the day with only himself, Mitsuru and Akihiko in the team - how on earth would he be able to handle the concern over eight more members? That’s why he wanted to make sure everyone knew to look after themselves at least to some degree, to lighten up his burden and that way better stabilize Castor. Not that he would ever admit something like that as the reason behind his characteristically worried and cautious behavior.
Though Shinjiro could feel himself grow somewhat exhausted from the relentless climbing and running from floor to floor inside the Tower, he did everything in his power to not let it show. He could have blamed the two year long break for his weakened shape, but knew the true reason to be something else completely. Still, it seemed that he was doing a good job at acting as though nothing had changed since his top physical condition two years prior, Akihiko hyping up the Hierophant’s apparent supreme strength and everyone else comfortable relying on the young man as a useful team member. In the end it was exactly what Shinjiro wished for; to fool others into thinking he wasn’t at all fazed by the intensity of the leader’s routine. Even just the thought of losing to any of the others in endurance was quite embarrassing, though thankfully Castor remained powerful in that area regardless of the circumstances. He could have had it worse, considering his constantly declining state of health, even if it was impossible to ignore that the young man was definitely pushing himself to his limit each Dark Hour spent climbing the tower. Well, if he was going to do this, he might as well go all the way…
Another pack of Shadows then crawled toward the two right as Akihiko disappeared behind a corner and while Minako appeared too busy defeating another weaker Shadow somewhere behind them, making Battler’s request at teaming up to defeat it sound not only reasonable but indeed quite necessary. Shinjiro knew from experience this particular Shadow-type’s weakness to be physical skills, which made the job as if meant for him. The Magician couldn’t have been luckier to be joined with someone as reliant on brute physical force as the exact person he was requesting help from. This realization caused Shinjiro to smirk mockingly at the other male’s question - now almost sounding like a dare - before responding in an amused tone.
“Heh. I don’t think I can, I know I can.
— You’re askin’ just the right person.”
His playful confidence now resembled the image of his younger self perhaps more than any other time, surely a sight to witness for anyone who may not have seen it before. Forming his usual stance Shinjiro took position, placing the evoker on his temple and ready to summon the horseman. Steel eyes focused on the target with a harsh stare as he pulled the trigger.
“— Castor! ”
