IBHJ 1155

Ambrosius's face showed pure disbelief, as if sensing something beyond imagination.

"BOOM!"

A terrifying presence descended. Mountain fairies scattered while water fairies fled in terror.

All of Tír na nÓg shook violently.

"——!!" Bedivere, who'd been lost in grief over Ector, suddenly snapped to attention, his eyes wide with shock. "That signature——"

"——It's Galahad!" Morgan barked out a laugh. "So they sent Galahad! Just like Agravain to make such a bold move!"

"Galahad..." Mordred stared at Morgan in a daze.

Shirou turned to Gaia's image. "Gaia, is Galahad coming alone?"

"Yes." She nodded, then her expression became serious. "But his signature scale is as strong as Arcueid's. Be careful, Shirou!"

He nodded and turned to Ambrosius. "Can you teleport Galahad to the northern forest?"

"Done." she nodded.

He faced the three Council members—Goetia, Kama, and Abigail. "Goetia, I need you to ambush Galahad in the forest."

Goetia nodded, then his brow furrowed. "What about you and Merlin?"

"No matter how strong Galahad is," Shirou said calmly, "after learning Mordred's sword can kill 'eternity,' the Empire wouldn't send him alone."

"You think he's just the first wave?" Kama frowned.

"Yes," he nodded, glancing at Mordred. "And their real target is likely..."

He didn't finish, but everyone understood. Mordred's sword was the only known way to kill the Empire. It made sense that the Empire, despite their overwhelming advantage, would want to crush this one threat before it could grow.

"So Merlin and I will keep watch. If they really sent Galahad alone, he must be as powerful as a UO. Can you handle that, Goetia?" he asked.

Goetia scoffed. "Who do you think you're talking to? It'll be simple. Leave him to me."

Despite Goetia's attitude, he just nodded. "Then I'm counting on you."

"I'm coming too!" Mordred's hand shot up.

"No. You especially need to stay back." He gripped her shoulder.

Both as a leader and a father, he couldn't risk Mordred. The Empire clearly wanted her dead—he couldn't let her walk into danger.

"Stay put, Mordred." his grip tightened.

Mordred's teeth clenched. She knew he was right, but Galahad... how had it come to this?

No one had an answer, but the Holy Grail did. This was destined from the moment she took it from Tír na nÓg.

As they watched Goetia and the others leave, Morgan let out a laugh. "Just those three against Galahad? It’s useless. They don't stand a chance."

Shirou turned to look at this Morgan, and his brow creased.

Bedivere sighed and rose. "You should all go help them, Eternal King. Maybe then you'd have a small chance of winning."

Shirou frowned. "Is Galahad... really that powerful?"

"What do you think?" Morgan smiled. "He's a weapon built from the Corpse of Gods and the White Titan, forged with super-metals like Orichalcum and Tír na nÓg's secret arts."

Shirou's frown deepened. The Eternal Empire was a world born from Mordred's wish to the Holy Grail. Other than the split caused by the Eternal Kingdom Event fifteen hundred years ago, it was almost completely identical to Pan-Human History.

So of course it had the same Age of Gods, and Altera the White Titan who brought that age to an end. But he never imagined the Emperor would use those remnants to forge this version of Galahad into a weapon.

A weapon like that could spearhead a planetary invasion. No wonder his signature was equal to Arcueid's.

"This can't be—" Ambrosius's face suddenly went pale.

"What’s wrong, Ambrosius?" he asked sharply.

"He's nullifying Tír na nÓg's influence! We can't alter his path, and this form of existence..."

"It's very close…" Gaia said grimly.

Ambrosius turned to her. "You sense it too, Gaia?"

"...He has entered the Inner Sea of the Planet," Gaia continued gravely. "This form of existence... it's closer to Tethys than to you, the fairies, or even the Apostles."

"This is unprecedented..." Ambrosius's expression turned serious for the first time. "When Lady Tethys created me, she claimed I was the closest to achieving her perfect form. Even the Emperor's Apostles, who share my eternity, only come close to my level. Yet this Galahad... he comes closest to Lady Tethys herself."

"Where will he manifest, Ambrosius?" Shirou asked.

"He will be at—" Ambrosius's expression suddenly changed to alarm. "Right here! He has found us!"

"What?" Merlin startled.

Mordred's grip tightened on her sword.

Bedivere's face was twisted with conflicting emotions, while Morgan wore a mocking smile, clearly amused by everyone's overconfidence.

"Gaia, call Goetia and the others back here, now!" Shirou demanded, his voice urgent.

"I'm already on it, so stop bossing me around!"

Though bristling at his tone, Gaia quickly sent word to Goetia's group. When the message reached them, Goetia fumed at Shirou's sudden change of plans, but Kama calmed him down and had Abigail prepare a gate back.

But then—

BOOM!

The conceptual "sky" suddenly trembled, spreading cracks like a spider's web across shattered glass.

"He's breaking through Tír na nÓg's barrier!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Here he comes—!"

As Ambrosius's voice trailed off, the sky shattered like a mirror. Countless fragments rained down, scattering brilliant light in the sun.

A crushing pressure burst through the dimensional tear. From it descended a massive black mechanoid figure, towering nearly five meters tall.

"That is—"

"—Galahad?"

Mordred stared in disbelief at the black mechanoid before her.

This black machine bore no resemblance to her sworn brother, who had once radiated warmth like the sun itself.

As the black mechanoid descended from the dark tear above, Gaia's face suddenly tensed with alarm, sensing it before even Ambrosius could react. "Incoming impact! Everyone get back!"

Without a second's pause, Gaia tapped into her remaining connection to the Inner Sea of the Planet, raising countless barriers from the ground to shield Shirou and the others.

Though confused by her sudden warning, everyone quickly raised their own defenses without question.

Behind Gaia's barriers, Shirou held Mordred close as he projected layer upon layer of shields around them.

The countless shields beneath Gaia's barrier blazed like fire against the night sky as Galahad plunged from the dimensional tear like a black meteor. The collision that followed was like two massive stars crashing together.

BOOM!

The devastating shockwave ripped outward in all directions, shattering the earth and launching massive chunks of rock into the sky.

Gaia's barriers crumbled instantly. The immortal fairies nearby had no chance to flee—they were vaporized on impact.

The destruction spread for hundreds of miles, disintegrating everything in its path like a meteorite strike. Even the barrier maintaining Tír na nÓg's existence splintered like a spider web.

Shirou dispelled the shattered shields and stared at the apocalyptic figure standing at the heart of the devastation.

"UO..."

His expression was grave. Now, seeing Galahad, he finally understood what he truly was.

Just as Arcueid was a UO created by Gaia using the Crimson Moon as a template—

This Galahad was the Empire's UO, forged by the Emperor from the Empire's most powerful beings and materials!

If only the Vortex still existed, Shirou thought. He could have used the Nine Planets' blessing to transform into Eternal Emperor, the ultimate form of Heroic Spirit, and claim victory.

But those external powers were gone now.

All he had left were his own Innate Skills.

In an instant, the breathtaking landscape was obliterated. The legendary Tír na nÓg—a realm that had lived in the dreams and songs of Celts and ancient Britons—along with its immortal fairies, was destroyed by a single blow from Galahad.

It was terrifying.

But what truly chilled him wasn't Galahad or even the Emperor—it was the ancient technology that had birthed such horrors. The Vortex, the Throne of Heroes, Rune of Wisdom, the Lord of Salvation, the Primordial Fairy Arts... all were remnants of that long-lost age.

An age that had met its end at the hands of the Lord of Salvation.

Perhaps, from a cosmic perspective, the Emperor's obsession with preserving the present was true justice.

But for Shirou and his companions, it was nothing short of evil.

Whether facing the Lord of Salvation or the Emperor himself, they would rebel. They would take back their future and reclaim the abandoned history.

That was his justice.