IBHJ 1135

"Hey, you could have just said that without the flick," she rubbed her forehead with a pout, giving him an annoyed look.

He smiled, then turned toward the forest behind them. "How long are you planning to spy on us, Lady Kama?"

Even though he was in his own body rather than using the Eternal King's record, maybe from controlling the Eternal King's Servant record and fighting so many strong enemies, he had gotten pretty good at sensing things.

While talking with Mordred, he'd noticed a slight movement in the forest behind them.

"Shouldn't you be in bed by now?" After a moment of silence, Kama's cold voice came from the forest.

The branches rustled as Kama stepped out with a cold expression. In the moonlight, her elegant figure had an otherworldly quality to it.

"Says the one who's also still up," he remarked with a growing smile.

"I'm just reminding you that Ambrosius said we're getting 'Fairy secret arts' tomorrow, so we need rest... And what's with that smile?"

"Nothing, I'm just glad to see you're doing well," he said warmly.

He knew why Sakura kept stressing that she was Kama, so he didn't bring it up. He was just genuinely happy to see Sakura alive and well.

Now the only one still missing was...

—Ritsuka.

Kama: "..."

Seeing his smile, Kama turned away. "...I've said what I came to say. I'm going back."

She left quickly.

Shirou smiled as he watched her go, but when he turned back, he found Mordred grabbing his collar and giving him a hard look.

"What?" he asked.

"I don't care about your love life, but... seriously? Even a Beast? Please, act like a decent person!"

"What are you thinking? She's your aunt!"

"Huh?" Mordred froze. How did a Beast end up being her aunt?

Sure, noble family trees were messy back then...

But...

This was just too weird!

And worse...

"You're even going after your sister?"

"What are you talking about?!"

Shirou was getting mad. The Mordred he knew in Romania might not have gotten along with him, but at least she looked up to him.

But now?

She was making him out to be some creepy old man!

No way he'd let that slide!

Someone must have been filling Mordred's head with these ideas! Who was spreading rumors about him?

But while Shirou was getting worked up, Mordred was sure she hadn't read things wrong.

If anyone asked why...

It was because Kama looked at Shirou exactly the way her mother did.

That was something she couldn't mistake.

"Listen, Mordred! Whatever people say about me, you have to believe your father is a decent person! Damn it! It must be Merlin spreading rumors behind my back! I've never even held hands with anyone romantically..."

Watching Shirou get all annoyed, Mordred sighed. Just what you'd expect from someone on Solomon's level.

Should she sit back and enjoy the show or try to help her mother?

Mordred was still weighing her options when she got back to her room, only to have Abigail ambush her with a pillow to the head.

"Ha! Got you! Got you~ Mordred's so dumb! Nyah nyah!"

"A-bi-gail!"

Mordred pulled the pillow off her head and glared at Abigail, who was sticking her tongue out. She charged over with the pillow, pinned Abigail down on the bed, and started tickling her until she was laughing and crying for mercy.

"Amitabha, Amitabha..."

Xuanzang sat meditating nearby, completely tuning out the chaos.

Looking at the mess in the room, Kama's eyebrow twitched. She was the only neat one here and kept telling herself to stay calm and patient, but when a pillow hit her head, she snapped. She grabbed a pillow and jumped into the fight with a dangerous look.

Three minutes later...

The battle was over.

Xuanzang watched with weak knees as Kama cleaned up the room like a perfect housewife.

"Sorry if I scared you, Master Xuanzang."

"No, no... not at all!"

Xuanzang turned pale at Kama's perfect housewife smile and waved her hands frantically.

She glanced at Mordred and Abigail, who were knocked out cold with their eyes rolled back, then back at Kama's gentle smile, and her face went even paler.

Of course a Beast would be this terrifying.

Amitabha...

Teacher, help me, your disciple is so scared!

…

At dawn, Ambrosius woke up Shirou and the others and led them to an open field.

"We Apostles aren't that strong on our own, but we can't die. When we wear the Imperial Armor, our power grows without limit, making us nearly impossible to defeat. So the key to fighting us isn't about killing the Apostle - it's about breaking the Imperial Armor!"

"Once the Imperial Armor breaks, even with your skills, we Apostles are just like regular undead soldiers."

"His Majesty made the Imperial Armor using Tír na nÓg's technology and based it on the Greek gods. Its main ability is analysis. Whether it's a Beast's authority or a Heroic Spirit's Noble Phantasm, once the Imperial Armor analyzes it, those powers become useless."

"The Imperial Armor can also transfer things into imaginary space. Any hit or impact just gets sent there, so physical attacks don't work on them."

"So the Imperial Armor is pretty much invincible in every way. But it has one weakness - it can't analyze Lord Goetia's Ten Rings or the fairy secret arts from Tír na nÓg."

As Bedivere spoke, he put on his Imperial Armor, changing into what looked like a holy archangel.

Bedivere looked at Ambrosius, who understood and raised his hand. Countless Fairy Runes appeared in his palm, and in the next moment, a massive fireball roared out like a dragon, heading straight for Bedivere.

"BOOM!"

The blast sent Bedivere flying, his armor smoking like charcoal. A few seconds later, he pulled off his helmet, looking disheveled but speaking seriously. "See that? The Imperial Armor might as well not exist against Tír na nÓg's secret arts. Only those arts can damage it."

Shirou nodded. It made sense - Tír na nÓg's secret arts came from Tethys herself, and the Imperial Armor was built using these same ancient techniques.

And it was clear that even though the Emperor could use these ancient arts to create the Imperial Armor, he couldn't make something stronger than the arts themselves.

"I see what you're getting at, but these secret arts won't be easy to learn. You really think we can master them in such a short time?" Goetia frowned.

He might have been proud, but after humans had beaten him, he'd lost that sense of being all-powerful.

These weren't just regular Fairy Arts - they were the source of all Earth's mysteries, technology from beyond the stars.

How could anyone learn that quickly?

"You won't need to learn them," Ambrosius smiled and held out his hand. "We'll just convert the destructive arts into skills and write them into your Saint Graph."

"That works?" Shirou asked in surprise.

"Isn't that how you give skills to others, Lord Shirou?" Ambrosius asked back.

Hearing this, understanding flashed in Shirou's eyes—it was similar to how his Mortal series worked.

"It's just a shortcut using the Throne of Heroes. It'll only work as an emergency skill - not the same as actually mastering the arts, and definitely not as powerful," Ambrosius explained with a smile.

Ambrosius called Goetia and the others over to give them the [Primordial Fairy Arts] through their Saint Graphs.

As Shirou watched, he turned to Merlin beside him. "Merlin, remember when you said you could help add [Independent Manifestation] to me as a Heroic Spirit after I die—was it based on this?"

Merlin nodded. "That's right. Fairies can add Fairy Arts to Saint Graphs through the Throne of Heroes. Ambrosius is especially good at it. But your case is different."

"Me?"

Merlin nodded with a sigh. "You're the only one Ambrosius can't give the Primordial Fairy Arts to."

Shirou was quiet for a moment. "Is it because... I'm in my physical body right now?"

Merlin nodded. "If you were using Eternal King's record, we could easily write the secret arts into your Saint Graph. But with a physical body... there's no way to do it."

Shirou understood and gave a resigned espression. Sakura was using Kama’s Saint Graph, Abigail had her own Saint Graph, and even Goetia had his Beast Saint Graph... he was the only one using a physical body without one.

Nothing could be done about it - Eternal King's record, Evil, and the Vortex were still missing without a trace and couldn't be sensed.

"So to learn Primordial Fairy Arts, I'll have to do it the hard way?"

Merlin nodded apologetically.

Shirou sighed - it felt like being a player who got their cheats taken away by an admin and had to rely on actual skill.

But it was a good reminder for him. Evil was given by Evil itself, the Vortex came from Tethys, and Eternal King's power came from people's legends... none of them were truly his. All those shortcuts he'd taken would need to be earned properly someday.

Still-

"It looks like Fairy Arts have their limits after all," Shirou said with a slight smile, thinking about how his Mortal Series could go further by giving abilities even to regular people.

"We still have time, and the destructive arts are easier to learn. I'll teach you," Merlin said, pointing to an empty spot nearby.

Shirou nodded and followed him.

"The basic structure of destructive Fairy Arts isn't that different from Age of Gods Magecraft. Not surprising since Age of Gods Magecraft comes from the gods, and their divine authority is just another form of primordial arts. Add Fairy Runes to Age of Gods Magecraft and you get Fairy Arts. Make those primordial and you get [Primordial Fairy Arts]. Like this-"

Merlin held out his palm, drew some Fairy Runes, and suddenly a massive fire dragon roared across the field, burning everything to ash and leaving nothing but scorched earth.

Merlin looked at what he'd done with satisfaction, dusted off his hands, and smiled. "You learned some Primordial Runes from Scathach. Probably not all of them, but you should know how Age of Gods Magecraft works. So your main task is mastering Fairy Runes. It won't be easy, since it took me years to learn them, but the destructive ones should be simpler, especially for you."

"You mean like this?" Shirou held out his hand, drawing the Primordial Rune for "fire" in the air, each line burning bright as he traced it, then changed the runic writing into strange symbols. With a deep boom, a dragon made of flames appeared, sweeping across the ground.

"How... how did you do that?"

Merlin stared at the scorched earth, his eyes wide with disbelief.

There was no question about it. That was clearly [Primordial Fairy Arts].

But still.

Merlin turned to look at him, confused. "Have you learned Fairy Runes before?"