IBHJ 1275

"How could another version of me possibly take orders from someone else?" Kiara stared at the dark nebula in disbelief. She could tell that after the Beast had issued a command, her counterpart within the nebula had directed the attack against Shirou.

That's what she found impossible to believe, because from everything she knew about herself...

She would never follow anyone's commands.

The only ones who could direct her actions were herself and her own desires.

"That's a question you should ask yourself, Kiara Sessyoin," the Beast said, turning to look at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember that night? Think carefully," the Beast said, licking his lips. "Remember the sacrifice."

When she heard this, Kiara's breath caught in her throat as if she'd been plunged into ice. She instinctively wrapped her arms around herself.

Her small body trembled.

The Beast noticed Kiara's reaction and smiled with satisfaction. Then his form began to fade.

"You're not getting away! Gungnir!" Skadi manifested her spear and hurled it toward him, but it passed through as if he were a ghost, embedding itself in the ground.

The Beast gave a mocking smile as he completely disappeared.

And with him, the dark nebula vanished as well.

"Damn it!" Skadi gritted her teeth in frustration, but there was nothing she could do.

Although she was more powerful than Beasts, she couldn't reach his dimension.

"Kiara..." Ayaka looked at her with concern.

She could see that Kiara was trembling and the light had gone from her eyes.

Ayaka bit her lip.

...

"He certainly ran away quickly," Shirou said with a frown, staring at the spot where the Beast had vanished. He hadn't even used his full power, yet the Beast had already fled.

"This indirectly proves he's noticed your transformation, Shirou," Skadi said, looking at him.

He nodded seriously.

The Beast shouldn't have feared him, much less Eternal King, yet he had fled in panic.

This could only mean that their enemy had realized Shirou had developed [Savior of Mortal].

"And also..." she turned away, sadness crossing her face.

He followed her gaze to the pile of villagers who had been reduced to dried corpses.

"How cruel," she whispered.

"Yes, but they actually consumed [eternity]..." he said with a deep frown.

Unlike Mordred killing [eternity], the dark nebula formed by Demonic Bodhisattva had directly devoured it!

It seemed impossible.

Glancing at Kiara, Jeanne, and Ayaka who had been attacked, he thought for a moment before saying, "Let's head back to Tír na nÓg first. The Empire must have detected the Beast's appearance here by now."

Skadi nodded. With a wave of her hand, she opened a gate to Tír na nÓg. Shirou and the others quickly followed her through. In a flash of light, they vanished, returning to Tír na nÓg.

Shortly after they left, Apostle Pendragon arrived at the village with Lucius, Aife, and an army of soldiers.

"This is horrible," one soldier said quietly as he looked at the shriveled bodies scattered across the ground.

Lucius frowned. "Could Pan-Human History have done this?"

After all, only Mordred's sword was known to eliminate [eternity].

"No, I don't think so," Apostle Pendragon said as she carefully examined the corpses. "These villagers have no wounds. They weren't killed—they had their [eternity] extracted from them. And the method used is similar to... no, not just similar—it's identical to the Poison of Corruption!"

"The Poison of Corruption?" Lucius stared at her in shock. "Are you serious? The Poison of Corruption is something only His Majesty possesses!"

"No one understands that Poison better than I do." She stood up and remained quiet for a moment before looking at Lucius and Aife. "You two should return first and inform Agravain about what happened here."

"What about you?" Lucius asked.

"I'll investigate whatever entity took away their [eternity]," she replied.

"Understood. Be careful." Lucius nodded. After they buried the villagers where they fell, he led the army away, but Aife remained behind.

"Why didn't you leave with them, Aife?"

"You can't give me orders, Morgan," Aife replied with a cold smile.

Hearing this, Apostle Pendragon paused before asking hesitantly, "Do you still remember?"

"Remember what?" Aife asked.

"Nothing. Never mind." Apostle Pendragon shook her head.

"This is absurd," Aife said with a shake of her head, then broke into an excited smile. "Something that possesses the same poison as His Majesty... it must be an incredibly powerful monster. And hunting powerful monsters is exactly what gets my blood pumping!"

Apostle Pendragon began searching for traces of the Beast. While Skadi and Shirou couldn't detect anything, Apostle Pendragon could track the mastermind by following the trail of devoured [eternity].

This wasn't particularly difficult for her. After all, this kind of tracking was something she'd done countless times in the past.

....

"The [eternity] was devoured?" Agravain asked flatly.

"Yes," Lucius confirmed with a nod.

"I'll report this to His Majesty," Agravain said. Then, noticing two absences, he asked, "Where are Morgan and Aife?"

"Morgan said the method was very similar to His Majesty's poison, so she went with Aife to investigate further," Lucius answered truthfully.

At this, the typically composed Agravain frowned. "Similar to the poison of corruption... Morgan said this?"

Lucius nodded. "Is that a problem?"

"No, it's nothing. I need to report to His Majesty now. You should return to your post at Badon Fortress, Lucius."

"Understood."

Agravain watched Lucius leave, then closed his eyes in thought for a moment. "Could Morgan still remember the journey from 100 million years ago?" he muttered to himself. "The probability is less than 3.1%, since she doesn't have my neural database. Besides, my database contains no information on Artoria Pendragon. Morgan—this former slave controlled by barbarians—where would she get a sister from?"

"Based on data analysis, there is definitely another force operating in the shadows. This must be the power behind the [Council]. The optimal course of action is to inform the Emperor about this situation first."

With this decision made, Agravain turned and entered Camelot's pure white tower, making his way directly to the imperial palace in the sky.

......

Back in Tír na nÓg.

After arranging for Nightingale to examine Kiara and the others, Shirou pulled Ayaka aside. "It's time you told me everything about Kiara and Demonic Bodhisattva, Ayaka."

"Fujimaru Shirou, how did you..." Ayaka covered her mouth, looking at him in surprise.

"You, Manaka, and my sister have all been hiding something about Kiara. Most people can see this, but nobody likes to pry into others' secrets, so they don't ask questions. But now that Demonic Bodhisattva has become that man's weapon, I need answers."

Indeed, everyone in Tír na nÓg was a historically famous hero. Apart from Berserkers whose brains were all muscle, and people like Adam and Astolfo who didn't think too deeply, who among them lacked insight?

Ayaka hesitated briefly, then looked at him with a serious expression. "I need you to promise not to tell Kiara about this conversation."

Seeing how solemn she looked, he nodded.