IBHJ 1258

Manaka looked away from the endless sea of coffins and approached one nearby to examine it. It appeared to be empty.

"Empty coffins?" she wondered with a frown. "Why would the Emperor fill a palace with empty coffins? No, wait a minute..."

Her expression changed to one of surprise. "These aren't empty at all! They contain information records!"

After examining several of the pure white coffins in sequence, she was amazed to discover that these weren't meant for physical bodies but for souls! Each coffin had a name inscribed on it.

"Animusphere, Gawain... Arcueid Brunestud?"

She stopped abruptly when she saw the last name. Unlike the others, the coffin marked "Arcueid Brunestud" seemed different, as if it actually contained something physical.

Looking closer, she could see a girl with short golden hair lying inside, eyes closed in what appeared to be sleep.

"Arcueid?" she gasped in surprise.

Arcueid, who should have been at Shirou's side, was now trapped inside this white coffin like an ordinary person!

This seemed impossible!

She was a UO!

To render her completely powerless inside a coffin was beyond even Manaka's capabilities!

But there was something even more shocking nearby!

Next to Arcueid's coffin was another with a name she never expected to see.

—Shirou Pendragon!

Manaka reached out and touched the letters on the coffin. "Shirou Pendragon... that's Fujimaru's royal name, isn't it? This coffin is meant for Fujimaru, for the Eternal King?"

"Who's there?!" A cold female voice suddenly cut through the silence.

Manaka tensed, looking around carefully, but couldn't see anyone.

"Who dares to touch my king's coffin?" the voice demanded again.

This time, Manaka realized the voice was coming from above her!

Looking up, she saw a person-sized bird cage suspended high above in the endless white space.

Without hesitation, Manaka tapped her foot and floated upward toward the cage, confident in her abilities.

When she reached the cage, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows in surprise. Inside the white bird cage was a tall, goddess-like woman with blonde hair.

The woman stood about 1.7 meters tall, with flawless white skin, golden hair that reached her shoulders, and striking emerald green eyes. Her face was both beautiful and dignified, requiring no makeup to enhance its perfection. She wore an elegant white dress befitting nobility and a golden crown atop her head.

"Ar...toria?" Manaka asked with uncertainty. She could sense Artoria's aura from this woman, but something seemed off.

This didn't align with her memories. The Artoria that Manaka remembered was a petite, almost cute girl, not much taller than Mordred. The person before her now looked like a goddess who had stepped out of men's most idealized dreams.

"Manaka?" the blonde woman asked with surprise, her hands gripping the bars of the cage. "Did you escape from the South American connection point?"

"So you really are Fujimaru's Artoria," Manaka said, studying her carefully. "Shouldn't you be with your king? How did you end up locked in a cage like a bird with clipped wings?"

"I don't need to explain my situation to you," Artoria replied calmly.

"Fine. I'm not interested in trivial matters anyway."

Manaka pretended to turn and leave, but when Artoria made no attempt to stop her, she sighed internally and returned to face the cage. She raised her hand.

"What are you doing?" Artoria asked.

"Fujimaru and I are working together for now, and you are still Artoria after all. I'll get you out. Stand back a bit—my power is quite strong and might hurt you."

Manaka raised her hand high, transformed it into a blade, and swung it down at the cage—

"Thud!" Instead of cutting through the cage, there was a sharp cracking sound from her own hand.

She pulled her hand back, clutching it in pain. "Ow, that hurts...!"

"You're definitely strong, but your body's density alone isn't enough against Excalibur. I tried using Excalibur before, but it couldn't be cut open."

"Why didn't you tell me that before?!" Manaka cradled her injured hand, giving her an irritated look.

"You... you didn't ask..." Artoria replied hesitantly. Then, remembering that Manaka had mentioned being Shirou's ally, her expression softened. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Manaka said with a shake of her head. It was strange—if this had happened right after her resurrection, and Artoria had tricked her like this, she would have immediately tried to assimilate and destroy her. But now, she couldn't even muster any interest in doing so.

Why was that? She wasn't entirely sure, but since meeting Ritsuka, the deep hostility that had always lingered inside her seemed to have faded. Her mind felt more at peace. If she had to explain it, it must be because someone had actually wanted to be her companion, even if they couldn't exactly be friends...

"How did you find your way to the [Eternal Coffin]? Did the king send you to rescue us?" Artoria asked.

"Eternal Coffin?" Manaka raised an eyebrow. She hadn't come across any information about this in the Root.

Seeing her confused expression, Artoria let out a relieved sigh. "So that's not why you're here. That's good news. It means the king hasn't been captured and is still safe."

After a moment, she looked at Manaka and explained, "This Eternal Coffin is the netherworld that child prepared for... for the kingdom."

Her expression grew complicated. The Eternal Coffin was actually a morgue that preserved the soul records of the people from the Eternal Kingdom who had turned to dust and disappeared, as well as those from other regions of the Eternal Empire who vanished when the Holy Grail's power dissipated.

The Empire Incarnation had first broken Artoria's contract with Alaya, then taken Artoria's body and Mordred's corpse, before collecting and preserving the soul records of the vanished Eternal Kingdom's people here.

All of this was done so that after completing the cross-historical harmonization, the Incarnation could bring the Eternal Kingdom back to life on earth, allowing it to exist forever alongside the Eternal Empire.

The Empire Incarnation had gone to extreme measures for this plan, creating Eternal Coffins for everyone in the kingdom—from the highest nobles and officials down to common thieves and criminals. There was just one exception: Mordred.

Artoria looked up and met Manaka's eyes. "Lady Manaka, I need to ask you for a favor," she said earnestly.

"Oh, so when you don't want anything, I'm just Manaka, but when you need something, suddenly I'm 'Lady'? You're exactly like Shirou—both of you are bad Pendragons!"

"No, the king is a kind ruler. I'm the one who isn't a good person. But please, you must help rescue Arcueid and the others!"

"If you want to save people, do it yourself!" Manaka reached out and grabbed the iron bars of the bird cage.

"It won't work. It can't be opened," Artoria said, shaking her head.

"You might judge yourself by normal standards, but you shouldn't apply those same standards to me! Watch carefully, bad Pendragon!"

Manaka gripped the iron bars tightly, concentrated her mind, and within moments, the pure white iron of the bird cage began to twist and dissolve as if it were being broken down.

"How is that possible..." Artoria looked on in surprise.

After dismantling the bird cage, Manaka gestured to Artoria inside. "You can come out now."

Artoria nodded and was about to step out when the pure white space suddenly turned crimson.

An alarm had been triggered in the outside world.

"Beep—Intruder detected! Intruder detected!"

"Beep—Intruder detected! Intruder detected!"

"Eliminate! Accelerate elimination!"

Artoria's expression changed. "They've discovered us!"

"No! It's not us they've detected! There's another intruder, and they're coming this way!" Manaka's face darkened as she pushed Artoria back into the bird cage and climbed in after her.

"What are you doing?"

"Quiet—look over there!" Manaka pointed toward the entrance.

The two of them crouched in the cage, watching carefully.

They saw black mud oozing through the gate that connected to the palace, followed by a sinister black figure stepping through.

"It's him!" Manaka's brow furrowed.

"Who is it?"

"Who else? He's that bastard's minion, the Beast of Revelation!" Manaka's expression grew grim. "That guy... he must be after the Second Vessel as well!"

Artoria raised her eyebrows. "That's the Beast of Revelation?"

She had heard Shirou mention it before—the world reset and all those plots to revive the Lord of Salvation. At the center of it all was this creature, a servant working behind the scenes to bring back its master.

"What's he doing here?" she asked.

"He's probably after the same vessel we are."

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