IBHJ 1162

Shirou spun around and shouted. "Mordred, run!"

Seeing Galahad charging toward her, Mordred froze!

Shirou finally understood—Galahad wasn't after him anymore, he was going for Mordred! She was the only one who could kill an Apostle and end their immortality!

The four people around Morgan turned to look.

Perfect! Morgan took her chance and slipped away from their encirclement.

Shirou and Scathach shot forward like blurs, chasing after Galahad.

But they'd lost their chance, no matter how fast they moved, they couldn't catch up to him.

With Scathach, Skadi, Gaia, and the others attacking him from every side while Ambrosius was using her control over the world's rules against him, Galahad must have realized that he couldn't kill Shirou anytime soon. So he went after Mordred instead—the only one who could destroy immortality.

"Mordred, use the Grail!"

"Use your Grail now!" Shirou yelled with panic in his voice.

Mordred clenched her teeth and poured magical energy into her sword.

She knew turning intangible would be useless against someone like Galahad. Using the Grail to try and phase through his attack would only lead to her death.

She was left with just one option.

And that option was...

To fight back with everything she had!

Her sword erupted with dark crimson light, its surface crawling with horrifying patterns that twisted and writhed like a demon's wicked grin.

But Galahad was faster, closing the distance between them in an instant and reaching her before she could strike.

He raised his iron fist which could reduce anything to dust high above her.

His AI systems had already calculated the outcome of this encounter.

Without hesitation, he brought his fist crashing down toward her.

His fist warped the very fabric of time and space, twisting everything into chaos.

In that moment, Shirou's eyes were wide with fear, Scathach watched grimly, Skadi scrambled to catch the reflected Gungnir, Morgan seized her chance to slip away, Abigail trembled for her friend, Kama quietly gathered her power, Merlin's face contorted with shock and anger, Ambrosius looked on with interest, and Bedivere wore a complicated expression.

And at the heart of everything was Galahad's cold intent to kill meeting Mordred's eyes, filled with grief and sadness.

How long did that single moment last?

Somewhere in distant Avalon, a wandering witch sneezed.

Strange patterns flickered in Galahad's red eyes as they reflected Mordred's anguished face. His computer-like mind suddenly stuttered, its calculations falling apart—and that unstoppable iron fist froze in mid-air.

In that split second, Mordred's sword exploded with light—the light of a dying kingdom.

The light screamed.

The light raged.

It was a sword meant for destruction, meant for burial.

The light slammed into Galahad like a pillar from heaven.

"BOOM!"

The explosion shook everything as her sword powered by both her Noble Phantasm and the Grail—sent Galahad flying like a shooting star straight into the torn dimensional rift.

Gaia and Ambrosius seized their chance, sealing the breach in Tír na nÓg and forcing Galahad out with it.

Shirou rushed to Mordred's side, pulling her into a tight hug.

That had been far too close.

Merlin stood still, watching quietly as Shirou held Mordred.

"That was incredible, Mordred! But why didn't you do that earlier?" Abigail looked at Mordred in Shirou's arms with wonder, then turned to Kama. "What do you think?"

Kama lowered her hand without a word. She hated everything about the Eternal Kingdom, but Mordred was different—after all, she was her niece.

"It wasn't Galahad who should have been defeated," Bedivere said, staring at Mordred with bewilderment. "Galahad... he stopped his attack at the last second. But why?"

Only Bedivere, who knew the Empire's Wall Galahad best, saw what truly happened.

Mordred shouldn't have been fast enough to drive Galahad back, but strangely Galahad had suddenly stopped his attack just before crushing her. This was clear not only to Bedivere, but to Mordred herself.

Still in Shirou's warm embrace, she stared at her palm, her blue eyes filled with uncertainty. "Why did he stop?"

Neither Bedivere nor Mordred could make sense of it.

This wasn't her brother or her loyal knight from Pan Human History—this was the Emperor's Wall, a UO created by the Emperor himself.

This Galahad shouldn't have cared about anyone except his creator.

And yet...

The Empire's Wall Galahad had stopped an attack that would have killed her for certain.

Why?

The question hung heavy in the air as Mordred and Bedivere tried to understand what had just happened.

No one had an answer.

They'd managed to drive Galahad away, and though Morgan had slipped through their fingers and escaped, Shirou's main force came out unscathed. It could have been worse—except for Goetia, who was basically out of commission. After taking those heavy hits from Galahad, he needed time to recover.

But the Empire's attack was far from over.

Aife, Lucius, and even Galahad were just the beginning. Of the Twelve Apostles, ten still remained, not counting Bedivere who had turned against them, and Ector who was dead.

Worse still, the Empire had powers they couldn't begin to understand. Like the thousand-strong Divine Legion now surrounding Tír na nÓg.

And that was just their first wave.

Even after pushing back one of the Empire's attacks, things weren't looking good for Pan Human History.

Even Tír na nÓg, their last safe haven, didn't feel so safe anymore.

"We need to change Tír na nÓg," Shirou said seriously.

The way it was now, Tír na nÓg was just a fairy paradise, not a fortress. They needed to turn it into a proper stronghold.

He proposed using Skadi's Hoddmímis as the foundation to restructure Tír na nÓg into three distinct layers, creating a simple but robust defensive formation against the Empire's invasion.

Though bold in concept, the plan was surprisingly viable after thorough discussion. After all, since Skadi's Hoddmímis was born from the fusion of the new World Tree and Asgard's Great Temple, its integration with Tír na nÓg wasn't entirely outside the realm of possibility.

"You're all moving too quickly," Ambrosius protested, shaking her head. "I never intended to help Pan Human History to such an extent. This conflict hardly concerns us fairies."

"But the Eternal Empire has already marked fairies for extinction. Have you forgotten? Galahad just slaughtered an innocent group of fairies who had nothing to do with this," Shirou countered.

Ambrosius fell silent. As Tír na nÓg's guardian, she had seen Galahad's brutality firsthand. Never before in their history had fairies been targeted for elimination. This unprecedented threat was precisely why she had chosen to assist him earlier.

"Besides," he added, gesturing toward the screen, "your superior has already given her approval."

Gaia pointed to herself in bewilderment before shooting him an exasperated glare.

There he went again, using her authority as leverage!

Ambrosius glanced at Gaia with a helpless expression. "Fine."

At this point, for the sake of her fellow fairies, she had no choice but to follow Shirou's path to its conclusion.

Truth be told, she had initially been drawn to Shirou merely out of curiosity about the one who had turned Merlin human. Never had she imagined that the neutral realm of Tír na nÓg would be pulled into this conflict. As its guardian, she had truly failed in her duty. With a deep sigh, Ambrosius began working alongside Skadi to reshape Tír na nÓg.

"Beyond a fortress of resistance, we need an army capable of standing against the Empire," Shirou said seriously. "Regular human soldiers can no longer take part in this war. What we need are Heroic Spirits—regardless of their origin, race, or moral alignment. We must summon every Heroic Spirit who has carved their name into human history." His eyes burned with determination as he spoke. "We need to gather every single Heroic Spirit from the Throne of Heroes!"

His ambitious declaration left everyone stunned.