IBHJ 1262

"Give me back my freedom!"

The first time Arcueid shouted, it was from genuine frustration—pure emotion. But as she continued yelling, she discovered that chanting protest slogans was actually quite entertaining, so she started to get creative.

One moment she sounded righteously outraged, the next sweetly persuasive...

She shouted with flair, with technique, with an impressive range of delivery that made Artoria's eye twitch.

Clearly, once she realized the Incarnation wasn't going to harm them, the naturally playful golden retriever decided to have some fun.

Yet surprisingly, her antics were having a noticeable effect on the Incarnation.

She stared at Arcueid helplessly, feeling a massive headache coming on. If she were dealing with someone like Shirou, she could handle it with logic. If facing an enemy like a Beast, she could simply destroy them. But confronted with Arcueid essentially throwing a tantrum, she was completely stumped.

"Stop shouting. I understand," the Incarnation finally said.

"Give us back our—wait, what? You're giving us our freedom? That's not how this works! You need to be a proper villain! You know, with an evil 'kekeke' laugh and everything. Then I can counter you with my brilliant arguments. How else can I show off my impressive fighting spirit? Come on, grab my neck! Threaten me!"

The Incarnation just stared in silence.

"You may go anywhere except Earth," she finally said coldly.

She felt that spending another minute dealing with Arcueid might actually give her a brain hemorrhage, so she decided to compromise.

"Hey! You didn't even do the evil 'kekeke' laugh. What kind of villain are you..."

Before she could finish her complaint, the Incarnation placed a crown of thorns over her head.

Instantly, Arcueid felt all her strength drain away. Her body crumpled to the ground as she lost consciousness.

"Arcueid!" Artoria quickly knelt down beside her, supporting her fallen body. She looked up at the Incarnation with concern. "What did you do to her?"

"Don't worry. This is simply the price of freedom. It only removes her power—there are no other side effects." The Incarnation held out a crown of thorns toward her. "Will you put it on yourself, or should I do it for you?"

"You don't need to do this. I already told you I won't run away."

"Perhaps, but I'll feel more at ease with you wearing this. Don't worry—Shirou, Vivian, Scathach, Morgan le Fay—everyone will receive one. I'm not leaving anyone out."

With that, the Incarnation set down the crown of thorns and turned to leave.

Artoria looked down at the crown in her hand and whispered, "Using these on us... what are you really planning?"

…

After escaping from the palace, Manaka made her way back to Earth. She laid the Eternal Coffin flat on the ground and used her mud to break through the coffin's seal. Placing both hands on the lid, she pushed hard. With a creaking sound, the coffin opened, revealing Morrigan sleeping inside.

Manaka had wanted to follow Artoria's instructions and take all the sealed knights, but the Incarnation had returned too quickly. She'd only managed to grab Morrigan's coffin since it was the closest one.

Looking down at Morrigan's peaceful sleeping face, Manaka reached out and gave her two quick slaps across the cheeks.

"Mmm—"

The slaps jolted Morrigan awake. After Manaka explained what had happened, Morrigan was less than grateful.

"Seriously? You had to slap me? You've completely ruined my makeup! How am I supposed to face anyone looking like this?" Morrigan glared at her, rubbing her red, swollen cheeks in frustration.

"That's your problem, not mine," Manaka replied with a dismissive glance at Morrigan.

She had originally snuck into the Imperial Palace looking for Shiki, but hadn't found her. Instead, she'd ended up with nothing but trouble.

"Shiki? You mean the head of the Ryougi family from Misaki Town? The one with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception who has a connection to the Root?" Morrigan asked.

Manaka's interest was immediately piqued. "You know her?"

"Sort of. I've never met her personally, but my main body had some interaction with her a long time ago. Actually got 'killed' by her once. If you're trying to find her, I can help. I can sense where she is from here... wait, hmm... Hm? Ah, it looks like she's being held in Badon Fortress!"

"How do you know that?" Manaka asked, surprised. "I couldn't locate her at all."

"Just a fairy secret," Morrigan said with a mischievous wink.

What she didn't mention was that after her main body had one aspect "killed" by Shiki, she'd held a grudge. She had placed a fairy tracking spell on Shiki specifically to monitor her location, waiting for the perfect moment to get her revenge.

"Badon Fortress?" Manaka raised an eyebrow. She didn't think Morrigan would lie to her—there wasn't really any reason to.

The problem was that Badon Fortress served as Camelot's main checkpoint, sitting right on the border between Wales and England, uncomfortably close to Camelot itself. Agravain had already positioned a significant number of troops there, practically on the imperial capital's doorstep. If she went that close and the Incarnation detected her magical signature, she would certainly come after her with the intent to destroy her completely.

Still, if Shiki was truly there, Manaka felt it was a risk worth taking.

"All right then," Manaka said with a nod of determination. "Let's head to Badon Fortress."

…

"Badon Fortress? You're saying Shiki is being held prisoner in Badon Fortress?" Shirou frowned as he looked at Mana standing before him.

"Yes. My mother's signature is very distinct. Others might not be able to detect it, but I can sense that she's there. If we're going to defeat the Emperor, we'll need my mother's power. Please help her, Shirou-sama!" Mana gazed at Shirou with earnest eyes.

She knew that right now, only the man standing before her had any chance of rescuing Shiki, which explained her more respectful tone of address.

"Badon Fortress..." he said thoughtfully.

The fortress served as the main gateway to Camelot. And now that the Empire was fully functioning, Badon Fortress would certainly be heavily guarded. Even more concerning was the threat of the Incarnation.

Their previous encounter with her had only ended in their favor for two reasons: first, because she couldn't bring herself to fatally harm them due to their shared history, and second, because Shirou's Akasha Arrow had frightened her off. But that same strategy wouldn't work a second time. Going to Badon Fortress now would be practically walking into a trap.

With Shiki's unique abilities, she would be invaluable in their resistance against the Incarnation. But he knew that defeating the Incarnation wouldn't come through direct confrontation—they needed to use cultural infiltration to break her Holy Spirit power.

After weighing everything carefully, he was initially going to decline. But when he looked at Mana's hopeful expression, he found himself reconsidering. He thought through the risks and benefits once more before finally nodding. "All right. We'll do it."

"Brother!" Kama's voice was filled with concern.

He held up his hand reassuringly. "We need someone who can directly challenge that Counter Force—and we also need a distraction. If we don't want the other side to realize our true intentions and become desperate, we'll need both. Shiki might be exactly what we need."