IBHJ 1259

"Vessel?" Artoria paused momentarily before understanding flashed in her eyes. "I see. You're all looking for Shiki."

"Shiki?" Manaka looked at her with confusion. She didn't know the Second Vessel's name, but quickly realized this Shiki must be who she was searching for. "Where is she?" she asked urgently.

"She was being held here before. She's the one who freed me. But when she released me, it angered that child, so Shiki was imprisoned underground... Wait! What is he doing?"

Artoria pointed at the Beast in alarm.

Manaka turned to look, her forehead creasing involuntarily. She saw the black figure secretly searching through several Eternal Coffins before stopping at one. He extended his hand, and dozens of black dragon heads emerged, completely devouring the Eternal Coffin in front of him in a single gulp.

"He's devouring the records!"

"What?" Artoria looked stunned.

Manaka realized exactly what he was doing—consuming the records within the Eternal Coffins, similar to a demon collecting souls. But this was far worse than anything demons did!

When souls are destroyed, their basic information still exists within the Throne of Heroes. But when the records themselves are devoured, nothing remains at all.

It means complete obliteration from existence!

Just then, Artoria saw the figure reaching toward the Eternal Coffin containing Arcueid, and she became furious. "Stay away from her—"

The Beast, who was about to consume Arcueid, heard the voice and looked up to see a Mana Blast plummeting from above, headed straight for him.

The Beast leaped sideways, avoiding the energy blast, and exclaimed: "The Holy Sword!"

Looking up, he saw a flash of white light as Artoria appeared before him wielding Excalibur. She swung the sword at his head. But with a swish sound, the blade passed through his body as if cutting through air.

A chill ran down Artoria's spine. She pushed off with her foot and quickly jumped backward. The next moment, the pure white space cracked open with a sharp sound, and a dragon head snapped at the spot where she had just been standing. If she hadn't moved when she did, the dragon would have swallowed her whole.

"Dragon-like instincts... fascinating," the Beast observed, studying her with interest. Then he turned his gaze to the space behind her. "Manaka, I know you're there. I can sense your presence."

Silence followed.

Then the calm white space rippled, and Manaka stepped forward, positioning herself beside Artoria as she calmly faced him.

"I figured you'd show up here, but I didn't expect you'd make your move before I did," he said, looking at Manaka with interest. "You're here for Shiki, aren't you?"

"Isn't that why you're here too?"

"Indeed. I can't just leave Shiki unattended, just as I couldn't abandon the original Manaka back then." He smiled, then glanced at the wary Artoria beside her. "You're not actually planning to work with this mortal against me, are you? Remember, you're not like the others! Whether it's your original self or who you are now, you're special! Come back to my side—what do you say?"

Artoria nervously glanced at Manaka. After all, Manaka had originally been allied with the Lord of Salvation. At this moment, returning to his side wasn't out of the question.

Manaka wasn't bothered by Artoria's suspicion. Instead, she looked directly at him and asked, "I might consider your offer. But I'm curious—how did you know with such certainty that the Emperor wouldn't be in the palace at this exact moment?"

This question deeply puzzled Manaka. His actions seemed perfectly timed to coincide with the Emperor's absence from the imperial palace, which should have been impossible to predict.

After all, even she, with her connection to the Root, couldn't foresee the movements of the Emperor, a transcendent being. So how could he?

"It was inevitable. Akasha's Arrow may have caught me by surprise, but everything else remains within my—no, I should say my Master's—control. Including all your actions and struggles."

Manaka's brow furrowed. She knew that when he referred to his "Master," he meant that monster from the Root—the Absolute Evil, the Lord of Salvation.

"Meeting here again could be called coincidence, but it's really just fate orchestrated by my Master. What do you say? Come back to my side. Even though I've spent years preparing Shiki, you're still the most suitable vessel to house my Master. Weren't you already collecting the seven Beasts to become the Lord of Salvation? All you need to do now is return to us, and it can happen." He reached his hand out toward Manaka.

He had come to the palace to retrieve Shiki. But if Manaka was willing to return to the path the Lord of Salvation had designed for her, then Shiki would no longer be necessary. After all, this woman was the most qualified vessel—the first one specially created by the Lord of Salvation.

Of course, what mattered most was that, compared to Shiki, he simply preferred Manaka.

The wariness in Artoria's eyes grew stronger. Her sword couldn't harm this being. If Manaka switched sides now, Artoria would certainly be outmatched. Once defeated, he would consume all the soul records of the Eternal Kingdom's people buried here—something she absolutely couldn't allow to happen.

Though she resented how the Incarnation constantly occupied the palace and monitored everything, at this moment, she desperately hoped it would quickly detect the disturbance and return immediately.

"You are truly special. This world has no place for you. Only I can be your true companion," the Beast said with genuine conviction.

Manaka noticed Artoria's anxious feelings but paid them no attention. Instead, she looked directly at him as he extended his hand with sincere eyes, and shook her head.

"The old me might have agreed to this. But now, I'm sorry—I have to decline. I don't want to become the Lord of Salvation's vessel. I intend to replace him through my own power."

Just as the Beast had said, she was indeed special, even compared to Shirou. This world had no place for her; even the original "Manaka Sajyou" couldn't accommodate her existence. Besides following "Manaka Sajyou's" predetermined path, she had nowhere else to go.

But Ritsuka had shown her something different. Even if she was merely a false personality created from nothing, from the moment she came into being, someone had made space in this world for her. Ritsuka had acknowledged her existence and was willing to be her companion.

That's why she refused.

"I won't return to your side, and I refuse to follow 'Manaka Sajyou's' destiny!" Manaka declared firmly.

"How disappointing... it's exactly as my Master predicted. From the moment of your creation, he foresaw this very scene. At first, I couldn't believe it—after all, you're merely a copy of Manaka. How could a copy possibly defy the original's will? But now I see that nothing escapes my Master's Akashic Eye!" He clenched his fist as a cold, murderous gleam flashed in his eyes. "Then I have no choice but to destroy you! Since you refuse to be an ally... you can at least serve as fuel for my revenge against the Holy Spirit!"

The moment he finished speaking, the space around his black sleeve shattered like a spider web. Dozens of black dragon heads rushed out, lunging toward Manaka, attempting to devour her.

A dark glow flashed in Manaka's eyes as she rapidly muttered an incantation under her breath. Her hands flickered with red light as she gathered enormous magical energy, then hurled it directly at him!

The red light flared like the coming of doomsday, bathing the white space in sunset colors. But the Beast merely sneered.

"Holy City? This ancient spell that I personally taught Manaka—how could it possibly work against me?"

With just a thought, one of his dragon heads rushed forward and swallowed the red light in a single gulp.

But it was a trap!

Manaka's eyes gleamed as the red light suddenly shattered with a loud crack. Massive amounts of black mud poured from the core of the red light, transforming into countless black hands—like something straight from hell—that seized his dragon heads layer by layer.

"What is this?"

"I've pinpointed your coordinates!"

It turned out Manaka's problem had been her inability to physically touch the Beast. So she had hidden her black mud inside the ancient forbidden spell he had taught her original self, deliberately tempting him to attack and using that opportunity to lock onto his dimensional position.

Having accomplished this, a dark light flashed in Manaka's eyes as a faint halo appeared behind her—Goetia's Noble Phantasm. With a whooshing sound, the halo released millions of light rays that interwove with each other, piercing through the Beast's body and leaving it riddled with countless holes.

"That's incredible!" Artoria exclaimed in amazement.

This battle was taking place at the level of Grand Servants and Beasts—far beyond what ordinary individuals could participate in.

"Be careful—he's trying to absorb more records!" Manaka warned.

"I see it!"

Just as she spoke, Artoria spotted one of the Beast's dragon heads lunging toward Arcueid's Eternal Coffin. She calmly swung her sword with a thunderous sound, slicing through the dragon head.

Although she couldn't normally reach the Beast's dimensional coordinates or harm his actual body, now that Manaka had caught and locked his position in place, Artoria's sword could finally strike him.

He glared at Manaka. "This mere puppet, using the original Manaka's abilities so effortlessly... I must admit, I've underestimated you."