IBHJ 1157

Goetia's laughter boomed across the battlefield. "How do you like that? Now you know the price of crossing this king, you Imperial filth—"

But his words died in his throat as countless beams suddenly reflected back through the settling dust, flying straight back at him. In a split second, they ripped through his body, turning him into a human sieve.

The battlefield went silent.

Not a sound could be heard.

Then, Goetia's riddled body scattered like flower petals in the wind.

It was an illusion.

"How... my Noble Phantasm was sent right back at me..." The real Goetia stood there stunned.

Merlin wiped the sweat from his brow. If he hadn't caught on to Shirou's plan and swapped Goetia with an illusion, those enhanced reflected beams would have torn through the real Goetia, either killing him or leaving him half dead.

With a relieved sigh, Merlin turned to face Galahad, his expression hardening. Through the clearing dust, Galahad's dark figure emerged like something out of a nightmare.

In his grip was a shield glowing with silver light. There was no doubt, this was what had bounced Goetia's Noble Phantasm right back at him.

The moment Galahad deflected the beams, he charged straight at Goetia.

While Goetia stood frozen at seeing his Noble Phantasm fail, Shirou quickly shouted. "Get out of there, Goetia!"

The warning snapped Goetia back to his senses, but it was already too late. Galahad's pitch-black figure loomed right in front of him, a mountain of steel and killing intent. Instead of dodging, Goetia let out a furious roar, his fists blurred and multiplied into countless golden shadows that rained down on Galahad like a storm.

"Clang, clang, clang—"

The sound of metal striking metal filled the air, and each impact sent sparks flying. But Goetia's barrage couldn't make Galahad—the Empire's Wall—budge an inch, let alone hurt him. The black knight advanced through the golden assault like a glacier through paper.

In fact, with each step Galahad took under the assault, it was Goetia who had to step back, his feet sliding across the ground as if pushed by an unstoppable force.

Through the storm of golden fists, Galahad's eyes crackled with electricity. He raised his arm, cutting through the golden barrage like a black dragon through clouds, and slammed his fist into Goetia's stomach.

"BOOM!"

In that split second, the sky full of golden fists flickered and vanished like snuffed candles. Cracks spread across Goetia's golden form like a spiderweb, and where Galahad's punch had landed, there was nothing but a deep crater.

"No... this can't be happening..."

Goetia gripped his stomach, his eyes red with rage as he stared up at the towering black figure. Without warning, he felt the same dread he'd experienced when Solomon changed him before dying, and when he first stood before the Chairman.

That mix of raw fear, the terror of death, and pure rage at having his pride trampled.

But unlike Goetia, who had learned to feel emotions, Galahad the Empire's UO and Wall had no such programming in his code.

His massive hand shot out like black steel claws, fingers digging into flesh as he grabbed Goetia's head. Violently, he slammed it into the ground with bone-crushing force, then dragged him hundreds of meters across the earth without slowing. Each impact carved deeper gouges in the ground.

Blood marked the entire trail.

Abigail couldn't take it anymore and tried to open a gate to save Goetia, but Galahad turned to look at her. That single glance hit her like a wave of pure nightmare fuel, flooding her mind with such deep terror that she froze on the spot, unable to move a muscle.

Galahad whipped his head back around, one hand holding Goetia up high for all to see, while his other fist slammed into Goetia's back.

"AHHH—"

A scream ripped through the air.

Everyone watched as a fist-shaped bulge pushed out from Goetia's stomach.

The spiderweb cracks across his muscled body spread even wider.

"BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!"

"AHHHHH—"

Each impact came with screams that grew weaker and weaker.

More fist-shaped bulges kept appearing across Goetia's stomach.

Galahad was punching straight through from behind, over and over.

He kept going, and no one dared to step in.

A wave of black dread hung over everything.

Beast, Incubus, fairy—they all froze in pure, absolute terror.

"That's enough!"

A sword covered in strange runes shot up from beneath Goetia, aiming straight for Galahad's chest.

"CLANG—"

The sword that could kill Eternity couldn't break through Galahad's armor, but it got his attention.

Galahad stopped beating Goetia and looked down at the ground beneath him.

Now was their chance!

Shirou gripped the Holy Lance and shot forward. His body flashed like lightning as he appeared at Galahad's side, driving the Lance straight at his eyes.

"CLANG—"

Even the perfect copy of Rhongomyniad couldn't pierce Galahad's eye, because these weren't real eyes at all, just metal eyes made of Orichalcum. This was a war machine that put even the Greek machine gods to shame.

But that had never been Shirou's real target. As his strike bounced off, he twisted his wrist and, with a quick slash, sliced through the crown of Goetia's head where Galahad was gripping him. He then grabbed Goetia's shoulders, tossed him back, and yelled, "Abigail!"

Abigail caught on instantly, opening a gate to pull Goetia to safety.

The sight of Goetia's battered body made Abigail and Kama's blood run cold.

What kind of monster were they dealing with?

So this was the Empire's Wall—the Emperor's strongest shield!

No wonder the Chairman's assassination attempt had failed. Abigail and Kama finally understood that the Chairman never stood a chance to begin with.

But they had bigger problems right now.

"Whoosh—"

A mana bullet zipped toward Kama like a greeting. She swatted it away with a quick wave of her hand, then turned to see Morgan grinning at her. "Why don't you stop staring at that slab of meat and play with me instead, Imaginary number magus?"

It looked like Galahad's rampage had broken Morgan free from Kama's restraint.

Kama's eyes narrowed. As if Galahad wasn't bad enough, now the Empire's witch was free too. Kama knew she couldn't match this genius witch in pure spellcasting because she was someone who'd spent a million years studying spells. She'd only won before by catching Morgan off guard using the Beast and Tiamat's power.

In a straight fight... Kama was sure she could still take this Apostle down. But with Galahad around, if she split her focus for even a second, that monster would wipe them all out.

What to do?

Just as Kama was racking her brain, a sword burst through Morgan's stomach with a wet sound, steel cutting through flesh and bone. The blade emerged from her front, red coating its surface.

Drip, drip—

Blood fell from the sword's tip, hitting the ground one drop at a time.

"Bedivere, you—!" Morgan glanced back with rage in her eyes as she glared at the gentle, honest man who had stabbed her in the back.

"I'm so sorry..." Bedivere whispered softly.

Morgan slammed her elbow into Bedivere's face, sending him stumbling back. She pressed a hand to her bleeding stomach and gave him a cold glare. "Did Ector's death teach you nothing, Bedivere?"

"..."

Face swollen from the hit, Bedivere gripped his sword tight, refusing to back down.

"Your stupid loyalty, your pathetic sense of justice—it's all ridiculous!" Morgan screamed in rage.

Bedivere's knuckles went white around his sword's handle.

Ector's death had torn his world apart.

Was he doing the right thing, or had he lost his way?

He had no idea.

Should he trust what he saw with his own eyes, stick to his own sense of justice and loyalty, or just follow what his friends believed in?

He couldn't tell anymore.

His mind was spinning, right and wrong blurring together until nothing made sense.