IBHJ 1178

"They can't keep this up," Mordred said, rising to her feet. "At this rate, Demonic Bodhisattva will kill Kiara. I have to help!"

A firm hand on her shoulder stopped her. She turned to find Shirou looking at her with serious eyes.

"You're her teacher, aren't you?" he said. "Then believe in her."

"But Father, I can't just—"

"Don't call me Father on the battlefield, Mordred," Shirou said firmly, but his expression softened as he saw her worried face. "And she's not the same little girl from the Holy Grail War anymore. Remember how much she has helped you? She can take care of herself now."

Mordred lowered her head, quiet for a moment before nodding. "I understand."

"And I'm not..." she turned away, voice dropping. "I'm not really her teacher."

A flash of rainbow light cut through their conversation, streaking down from the sky toward the temple.

Shirou's eyes narrowed as he watched the incoming rainbow bridge. "So this is their strategy, a decapitation strike. And they sent Galahad to do it."

"Crush them! Shatter their rainbow bridge!” He raised his sword high. “For our glory!"

"For our glory!" Richard and the others roared back.

Shirou had kept the most ferocious Berserker-class Spirits like mad Heracles at the command center to support Gilgamesh and Artoria's command of the legion. These warriors had been restless, barely containing themselves under his orders. Now, finally, their enemy had come to them!

As Galahad led his forces across the rainbow bridge, he was charging straight into Shirou's trap.

Things had changed since their last encounter. With Skadi at his side, Gaia and Ambrosius's help, his powerful Heroic Spirits, and the backing of Kama and Abigail, he no longer feared facing Galahad even with Scathach away fighting Aife.

...

In the temple, Xuanzang stood at the entrance, her eyes staring at the southern battlefield.

"Is this truly the presence of a Bodhisattva?" she wondered aloud. "Such sorrow, such pain, such rage... and yet such compassion beneath it all."

She let out a soft sigh and turned away. "Master, why was I summoned here? What purpose does my presence serve?"

The question had haunted her since her arrival. She was just a simple monk, why would someone like her was summoned to the Eternal Empire? Buddha taught her that all karma had its cause, but she couldn't see the reason for her being here.

A pained groan caught Xuanzang's attention. She turned to see Goetia, beaten and broken on the ground.

She pressed her palms together and smiled gently. "This humble monk will stay by your side until you recover. Amitābha."

"Be...behind..." Goetia struggled to lift his hand, pointing past her.

"Hm?" Xuanzang tilted her head. Is there something behind me?

She turned around and found herself staring into a pair of beautiful eyes, though strangely, they were covered in cracks like a shattered bottle. Before she could speak, her body crumpled to the ground.

Ah, Xuanzang thought as her consciousness faded. Goetia was trying to warn me about an attacker. Her last glimpse was of golden hair before darkness took her.

"A Beast—" Goetia's voice came out as a weak rasp.

Having dealt with Xuanzang, Manaka Sajyou turned her attention to him. She had slipped in through the South American connection point with Tiamat, and now stood before her target that Galahad had left for dead.

"Tell me," Goetia forced out the words, staring at her body covered in cracks like a broken doll, "what's your connection to the Chairman?"

Manaka didn't bother to answer. She had no time to waste on pointless questions from a dying man, not when her own existence was so weak and fragile.

Without hesitation, she pressed her hand against Goetia's head and began to drain him.

His final scream was barely a whisper as Manaka absorbed every last drop of his magical energy.

As she finished absorbing Beast I, the cracks across Manaka's body began to seal themselves, drawing back the streams of Evil that had been leaking from them.

"How do you feel, child?" Tiamat's voice echoed from within her.

"Wonderful," Manaka said. "I've learned so much about the Third Vessel. And more than that..." She glanced at Goetia, now a withered husk barely clinging to life. "Beast I had a Grand Caster Saint Graph from King Solomon himself. He was his spy in the Council. Quite impressive."

"We need to move," Tiamat warned. "Zelretch's parallel passage may be too narrow for the other UOs to cross, but we'll be in trouble if they discover us."

"Of course." Manaka nodded and slipped away, leaving behind the vast temple with only an unconscious Xuanzang and a dying Goetia.

…

"This feeling..." Avicebron suddenly lifted his head.

"What is it?" asked Astolfo. After his [Trap of Argalia] had failed against Galahad, Shirou had sent him to the rear lines.

"I might be imagining it, but..." Avicebron's brow creased. "I sense Adam nearby."

"A-Adam?" Astolfo's eyes widened.

Meanwhile, Lucius frowned as he traded blows with Artoria and Arthur. "Strange. Where are the reinforcements?"

He had no idea that the outside world had already descended into chaos.

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

The explosions thundered across the sky outside Tír na nÓg. The entire British Isles shuddered violently, as if struck by a massive earthquake.

"What's happening out there?!" Agravain shouted from the capital. He activated the [Emperor's Eye] to scan beyond their borders, then sucked in a sharp breath. "This giant... what in the world?"

Through the [Emperor's Eye], he saw it - an enormous giant above the ocean, hammering against the Empire's barrier around the British Isles. Each massive fist crashed down in an endless assault.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Blow after relentless blow.

White doves circled above the giant's head like a crown, their soft coos a stark contrast to the violence below.

"GIVE THEM BACK TO ME!" The giant's roar shook the sky.

"Where did this giant come from?" Agravain growled through gritted teeth. For the Empire's sake, he had to deal with this threat quickly.

...

Shirou pulled himself up after Galahad's blow. As he prepared to counter, Gaia's blessing suddenly connected him to the planet's sense. He caught a glimpse of the giant hammering at the Emperor's barrier and froze.

"Gaia," he called out urgently, "is that Adam outside Britain?"

"Adam?" Gaia's surprise was clear. "You mean the first human from the Bible?"

"No, listen - is there a giant out there right now, pounding on the barrier around Britain?"

"How should I know? The Emperor's Hands blocks my view of the surface, I can only see the Inner Sea. But..." she hesitated. "From what you're saying, I do sense something like that..."

"Just tell me if it's there or not." his urgency made Gaia drop her careful tone.

"Ah- ah! Yes, yes there is!"

"The Emperor's barrier..." he said. "Bedivere told us it's powered by twelve Apostles' eternal bodies, making it perfect. But now that Mordred killed Ector, there's a weak point..."

Gaia immediately understood he’s thinking and said seriously, "Do what you need to do, Shirou. You have my permission."

Shirou had no time for Gaia's attempt to reassert her authority. His attention was fixed on Galahad's overwhelming presence as doubt crept into his mind.

He'd made a mistake in his calculations. Without someone with raw power like Arcueid's, holding back a UO like Galahad was proving nearly impossible. And if he went to help Adam, without him in the fight, things would only get worse.

Scathach clearly saw their desperate position, but she remained locked in battle with Aife. Though they desperately needed her strength, she was their only hope of keeping Aife from decimating their forces. And the timing couldn't have been worse - Galahad had just deflected Skadi's Gungnir with his shield and was already charging at them again, his overwhelming presence leaving them no chance to regroup.