IBHJ 1140

Laeticia glared at the still figure. "Stop pretending! I know you're awake, Beast!"

"My, my. You caught me? But disturbing someone's rest isn't very saintly of you, and neither is all that anger, Lady Jeanne."

Demonic Bodhisattva sat up with a smile, looking at Laeticia—or rather, at Jeanne.

Jeanne raised her right hand, showing the Command Seals. "You trap me in Laeticia's body, force a contract with her, show up every few days only to leave... and lately you appear in front of me covered in blood. What are you planning? If you have a problem with me, why not just kill me now?"

"My, my. How curious. When I devoured everyone back then, I only digested Nero and the others, sparing your life. I even changed the Holy Grail's rules to let you stay in Laeticia's body, giving you a chance to experience life as a normal young girl with her. Instead of showing gratitude, here you are, angry at me?"

Demonic Bodhisattva sighed. "Ah... being a merciful Bodhisattva who saves others from suffering is such difficult work."

Jeanne's expression hardened. "I don't have time for your mind games! what are you scheming in the shadows this time?"

Demonic Bodhisattva smiled. "Do you think I was behind what happened earlier?"

"Who else could it be? Only you could do something like that."

"My, my. You give Beasts too much credit. A Beast can destroy human order in one world line, but to cast one's shadow across all world lines, to make one's voice heard everywhere... that's something only a Savior could do. That person is the Heavenly Emperor of the Eternal Empire."

“Heavenly Emperor?” Jeanne's voice grew tense. "Is she part of your Council?"

Demonic Bodhisattva's smile widened. "If you don't need those ears, perhaps give them to someone who does. Didn't you hear clearly? The Council is finished, it has been destroyed by the Emperor!"

"However, the Emperor has already started moving. His first action was to isolate the Council from the rest of the worlds. Even Master won't see this coming. But as I expected, while that woman stripped away my Beast III authority, I still kept the authority of desire..."

"W-wait," Laeticia pointed at herself, eyes wide. "Master? What are you talking about? Aren't I your Master, Kiara?"

"Oh? Is that Laeticia speaking? While I'd love to say yes, I'm afraid I'm a sinful woman." Demonic Bodhisattva smiled. "My true Master is the Absolute Evil and Absolute Love, the Lord of Salvation."

"T-Then, what about me?"

"You? You’re just my backup Master."

Laeticia's face fell. "How could..."

Demonic Bodhisattva tapped Laeticia's forehead with her finger. "Just keep living your life, enjoying your days with Her Holiness the Saint. Those Command Seals will stay with you until you die."

She stood up, her eyes narrowing at the sky. "The Emperor rules over everything. He will bring eternity to all world lines, completely crystallizing the present forever. Master, you made a mistake. You promised me a world line where I could fulfill my wish, but in reality, you planned to have the Sixth Seat devour me for my Beast III authority. What you didn't expect was that I'd already pledged myself to the Heavenly Emperor a long time ago because He would give me what I want without scheming behind my back."

Jeanne took control again, staring at Demonic Bodhisattva in shock. "The Heavenly Emperor—is the Emperor your ally?"

"No, I would say I belong to the Heavenly Emperor. It was the Emperor who had me join the Council, and who brought me to this Romanian connection point to become the Red Master."

Jeanne's eyes went wide.

"Enjoy your coming eternal life, Your Holiness. You know, what the Emperor wants to do isn't so different from what that Red Priest always wanted to do. Now, what was his name again? Ah—Amakusa Shirou Tokisada? He was quite a fine man."

Demonic Bodhisattva's body faded away, and Jeanne knew she had left this world line.

Jeanne stared at the blue sky.

"Amakusa Shirou Tokisada... Is she talking about the materialization of souls? What... what is going to happen?"

…

Meanwhile at the Nordic Connection Point...

"Heavenly Emperor... looks like Shirou is in trouble, again." Scathach mused from her perch on the rocky mountain as she gazed at the sky. "Should I help my struggling student?"

"Don't bother. The path to Pan-Human History has been completely sealed."

"You can't open it either?"

Skadi shook her head. "I've tried fifteen times. Something like the Runes of Wisdom is blocking it—I can't connect to Pan-Human History."

"What about that guy?" Scathach gestured toward a massive tree in the distance that pierced the clouds.

This was the new World Tree. The original had been destroyed and this one was born when Scathach and Skadi poured all the world's divinity into it, making it Skadi's World Tree.

Skadi had named it Hoddmímis.

The name came from "Hoddmímis holt" in Norse mythology—a forest where the humans Líf and Lífþrasir survived Ragnarök to rebuild humanity. By naming the new World Tree Hoddmímis, Skadi was also hoping that the new World Tree would become a symbol of the Nordic Connection Point's rebirth.

"Hoddmímis won't work either," Skadi shook her head.

"That's too bad." Scathach sighed, hugging her spear. "I want to go to Pan-Human History, I want to go to Shirou's side, I want to hold him and pat his little head..."

"You're so noisy!"

"What? If we can't go, at least let me talk about it."

"Ugh, I want to go too! I want to hug him! He was so small back then, with such a small face."

"Then why didn't you leave with him back then?" Scathach asked.

"Because I was this world's only god! And I couldn't become his burden, could I?"

"You're... really different from me," Scathach sighed. "If it were me, once I knew how I felt, I would have just taken him. That's how we do things in Celtic tradition."

"You're unbelievable. But all this talk won't get us there."

"Yeah..."

The two purple-haired women sighed, both worried about their Shirou.

...

At the Greek Connection Point...

"Wait, what? The Heavenly Emperor says they took down both the Council and Chaldea?" Fujimaru Ritsuka held up a white lion in one hand, staring at her Servant and the A-Team's vice leader - their all-purpose helper, Kirschtaria Wodime.

"That appears to be the case." Kirschtaria glanced at the lion in her grip. "Though perhaps we could set Zeus down now? He is still the King of Gods in Greece. Let him keep some dignity."

"No way. He just hit Orion - and I don't let anyone hurt my family," Ritsuka said firmly.

"That's right, Master! Don't go easy on this old pervert! That hit really hurt! Make him pay! But uh, before that, could you maybe let Artemis go?" Orion anxiously pointed at a spacecraft tangled in giant tree vines.

Ritsuka's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh right—in Pan-Human History, Orion and Artemis are lovers. But here, Artemis is just a spacecraft without feelings, and she just hurt Romulus's arm. Maybe we should just scrap it."

Orion waved his hands frantically. "No, no, no..."

"D-damn you, Beast of Calamity... We are gods worshipped by humans... we'll never bow to you!" Zeus glared at Ritsuka through his bruised face, barely getting the words out.

"Oh really? That works for me. You hurt my family and destroyed my brother’s relics. I won't let that slide - though I'll give you credit, you're tougher than Goetia."

Kirschtaria watched as Ritsuka prepared to deal with Zeus again, then surveyed their surroundings. They stood above a vast ocean, but it was now blanketed by massive trees that stretched into the clouds, like a sea of trees consuming the world.

At each treetop, spaceships hung trapped in branches and vines, groaning and creaking in their wooden prison.

"Your sister might be in trouble, team leader."

Ritsuka stopped mid-motion and turned to face Kirschtaria with a strange light in her eyes. "Kirschtaria... what do you mean?"

"I'm saying Sakura, your sister, might be in danger," Kirschtaria said calmly.

Ritsuka set Zeus down and tapped her head. "Sorry, using this power makes my mind foggy. But you shouldn't know anything about my sister."

"Like you, your sister is a Beast. The difference is that she's a key member of the Council. And that Emperor just announced she destroyed the Council, so your sister..."

"No... it can't be..."

Ritsuka sank to her knees. She buried her head in her hands, broken by the news.

"Master...!"

All the Servants turned to glare at Kirschtaria, even Europa who Ritsuka had just subdued.

Kirschtaria ignored their glares and focused on Ritsuka. "Our first priority should be returning to Pan-Human History."

"Yes, yes! We must return to Pan-Human History!"

Ritsuka jumped to her feet as strange light flickered in her eyes.

Kirschtaria studied her carefully. She was the A-Team's leader and Chaldea's trump card—the Queen of Heroic Spirits who commanded even Grand Servants.

But she was also something else: one of the Seven Beasts. She was Beast VII, the Beast of the End, U-Fujimaru Ritsuka!