IBHJ 1113

The voice made Guinevere jump. She looked up to see Shirou standing over her, and the color drained from her face. Fear flickered in her eyes.

She swallowed hard and tried to smile. "G-good day... L-Lord Shirou."

"Why is Princess Guinevere here?"

"Well..."

King Leodegrance's voice boomed from outside: "Lord Shirou, you're surrounded! I don't want to harm you, come out and surrender!"

Shirou turned toward the window. Guinevere seized her chance and scrambled for the door, but his hand shot out and caught her shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going, Guinevere?"

She trembled. "Th-this..."

"I'm actually very happy to see you here, Princess," he said, smiling as his hands stayed firm on her shoulders.

Guinevere looked up at his smile with fear in her eyes. "L-Lord Shirou... we're friends, aren't we? You won't hurt me, right?"

He grabbed her hair, pulling her face close to his, still smiling. "That depends on how the Princess behaves."

Tears rolled down Guinevere's cheeks. She'd only been hiding from Goetia's raid attack - how had things turned out like this!

Shirou drew a knife and pressed it against Guinevere's throat. Keeping one hand tight on her shoulder, he walked them both outside.

"Gui-Guinevere!?" King Leodegrance's face went pale with panic. "How... why is Guinevere here?"

Shirou kept the knife steady at Guinevere's throat. "King Leodegrance, I don't want to harm Princess Guinevere. Clear a path for me, and I'll return her to you."

"It's useless, Lord Shirou," King Leodegrance fought to keep his voice steady. "You think you can kill Guinevere? We are all eternally immortal!"

"Are you sure about that?"

Shirou pressed the blade harder against Guinevere's throat. The cold steel made her freeze, her whole body shaking.

"W-wait!"

King Leodegrance's calm facade cracked. He waved his hands frantically. "I-I understand! Don't hurt Guinevere, don't hurt my Guinevere! She will... she will die! If you harm my Guinevere, I don't care if you saved the Empire or if they made you one of us - I will never forgive you! Do you hear me, Fujimaru Shirou!"

With Shirou holding Guinevere hostage, King Leodegrance had no choice. He ground his teeth and ordered his soldiers to make way.

The soldiers from other kingdoms watched without emotion, but King Leodegrance's men shifted nervously, their faces tight with worry.

Guinevere felt the cold blade against her skin. "You-you won't hurt me, will you, L-Lord Shirou?"

"As long as the Princess doesn't try anything foolish."

"Uu..." Tears ran down Guinevere's face as she kept shaking.

Shirou reached the riverbank with Guinevere still in his grip. He lowered his knife and leaned close to her ear. "Thanks, until we meet again, dear princess~!"

The warm breath at her ear hadn't even faded when a cool wind brushed past her. Guinevere turned to look, but Shirou had already jumped into the river, vanishing beneath the water.

King Leodegrance rushed over and pulled Guinevere into his arms. "Are you alright, Guinevere?"

"I'm fine, Father. But, but..." Guinevere touched her ear where she could still feel Shirou's warmth, and broke into loud sobs. "I was so scared! Waaah!"

"Damn you, Fujimaru Shirou!"

King Leodegrance clenched his teeth in rage. Nothing infuriated a doting father more than seeing his daughter used as a hostage.

"Hunt him down! Don't take him alive, tear him into a thousand pieces!"

"Yes—!"

His soldiers' eyes burned with anger - nothing enraged them more than seeing their princess threatened.

Nothing!

But then—

"Boom! Boom!"

The newly rebuilt section of Tintagel exploded again. Black steel machines rose slowly from the buldings, their gun barrels extending before opening fire.

"Enemy attack—enemy attack—!"

The soldiers' shouts filled the air.

"Foreign enemies?"

King Leodegrance stared at the black steel mechs that had appeared from nowhere, his eyes bulging with fury. "Damn it! How did these things break through the Emperor's Hands?"

He pulled out his sword and roared: "Defeat the invaders!"

...

"Goetia—"

Up in the sky above them, Apostle Pendragon swept through the air, her blood-red holy sword blazing with killing intent as she charged toward the golden figure waiting beneath the halo that surrounded Tintagel. She knew exactly who had dared attack their city - this was the Council member, Goetia!

Watching the Apostle's approach, Goetia extended both hands, each finger adorned with one of the ten royal rings. He clenched his fists and struck out with devastating force. The impact thundered like dragons bursting free from their lairs, each blow slamming into Apostle Pendragon. Multiple explosions rang out as her body was reduced to nothing but minced flesh. Then Goetia released a single breath that became a fierce wind, scattering those gory bits of flesh through the air.

Just as Goetia raised his hands, preparing to continue his bombardment, a voice suddenly rang out right beside his ear:

"Word just came in—the Imperial Armor has been deployed. We need to leave!"

Goetia paused and turned his gaze upward. With his extraordinary vision, he could clearly make out two shooting stars as they began their descent from space.

After a moment, Goetia asked, "Has Abigail made it out?"

"We don't know. But if she hasn't escaped by now with all this chaos, we'll have to leave her. They've also brought reinforcements through the Emperor's Hands. We need to go - Apostles in Imperial Armor won't be easy to handle."

"I understand."

The ten rings on Goetia's hands glowed, pulling back the halo that hung over the city. Then he turned and vanished.

Soon after he left, Apostle Pendragon's body reformed. She charged back into the air, scanning the area before sensing something above. She looked up to see two comets falling from the sky.

"Running away because you saw the Imperial Armor coming? Hmph, I don't let my prey escape!"

"Wait, Morgan!"

The sharp voice from behind made her stop. She turned to see Ector approaching.

"Don't chase them. We need to deal with the invaders in Tintagel first!"

"Are you trying to command me?" Morgan's eyes blazed with mad bloodlust.

"It's not my order - it's from the Imperial Capital." Ector raised his hand, pointing up toward the sky.

At those words, Morgan's expression changed. The bloodlust in her eyes slowly faded. "If the order comes from the Capital, then there's nothing to be done about it."

"But Ector, the Imperial Capital was far too slow in launching the Imperial Armor this time. If they had acted sooner, those intruders wouldn't have slipped through our fingers."

"It was probably that assassin's loophole again."

Morgan's brow furrowed deeply at those words.

"And that's a matter for the Apostles who handle internal affairs and decision-making," Ector said. "Not something combat Apostles like us need to concern ourselves with. Let's go, we need to deal with these invaders first. The Imperial Capital has sent down another order for us."

She nodded.

The two Apostles dropped from the sky and made quick work of the enemy mechs.

...

"So they all escaped - the witch, the monk, and that Fujimaru Shirou?" Morgan lifted an eyebrow, staring down at King Leodegrance and the other kings. "You've proven yourselves quite useless. Setting aside that Fujimaru Shirou from Pan-Human History, His Majesty the Emperor showed special interest in the witch and the female monk. What happens when His Majesty learns they've slipped away?"

"We deeply apologize, Holy Apostle." The kings bowed their heads, sweat trickling down their foreheads.

"I can almost understand how they escaped your duchy's regular troops - they're not the Imperial Capital's combat specialists, after all. But King Leodegrance..." Morgan's voice grew sharper. "I heard you had Fujimaru Shirou cornered. Yet you let him go."

Morgan rose and walked toward Guinevere, who stood trembling beside her father. "Because of this woman?"

Guinevere shook with fear as she faced the Apostle. Once, she had looked up to the Apostles, especially Apostle Pendragon, who was said to have written "The Tale of the Holy Sword." Now, seeing Morgan up close, she felt nothing but terror.

"I cannot comprehend it - you, who has achieved eternity, feared your daughter's death? When we are all immortal and indestructible!"

She drew her sword, and a cold, murderous aura poured from her like waves from the depths of hell. Guinevere collapsed to the ground, her eyes wide with uncontrollable terror.

"Let me make something clear - from the very first moment I saw your daughter, I felt nothing but absolute, complete disgust!"

Morgan raised her sword above Guinevere.

"W-wait, Holy Apostle—"

King Leodegrance's panicked cry did nothing to stop Morgan's bloodthirsty sword.

But just as her blade was about to strike Guinevere, Ector's hand shot out and caught her wrist.

"Are you interfering with England's internal affairs, Ector?" Morgan's eyebrows raised as she stared at him with cold eyes.

"Camelot rules England, and as King of Camelot, whatever judgment you wish to pass on Princess Guinevere is not my concern. However, if you intend to harm her, I must stop you."

"Why?"

"Because these are orders from the Imperial Capital."