IBHJ 1082

Ever since summoning the Enlightened One, Shirou's luck had never been good. This time was no different, but he was used to it by now.

He was about to charge forward when the ground suddenly heaved beneath him. The earth buckled and split with a deafening crack, forcing him to leap sideways to keep his footing. Before he could react, the earth where Uranus stood cracked open like an eggshell. Chunks of soil and rock exploded outward as a beam of rainbow light erupted from below, wide as a house and burning with colors. The blast caught both the Lord of Salvation and Uranus by surprise.

The moment the light touched the Lord of Salvation, his body blurred and shifted. He erased the possibility of being hit, his body snapping back to its original state like a rubber band, leaving afterimages in the air. But Uranus wasn't so fortunate. The rainbow light struck her right in the middle, her body arching backward from the impact. The blast sent her flying high, her body tumbling end over end through the air before gravity reclaimed her. She plummeted back down, her figure growing smaller until she disappeared into the depths of the hole with a distant crash.

Shirou stared at the hole, his brow furrowed. "Could that be...the Sword of Mars?"

"Even though I didn't take her seriously, how did that thing withstand my assimilation?" the Lord was also somewhat surprised.

There was no doubt about it—that rainbow light was Altera's attack, launched from Velber at the bottom. Because the Lord was only manifesting a fraction of his power through a medium, his control over possibilities was limited. Still, Altera's strike had caught him off guard.

But this is our chance!

Shirou charged toward the Lord. "Gaia!" he shouted.

"I know!"

Gaia instantly used Ort's Crystal Valley to seal the hole blasted by Altera, creating a spatial fault that isolated the Lord from Uranus.

Kill it! Before Qliphoth Rhizome is assimilated and disappears, we have to kill it!

...

Struck by the rainbow light, Uranus plummeted through the hole, falling from the highest point of the tree to the very bottom. With a resounding boom, she crashed to the ground, sending dust swirling into the air. But Uranus was unfazed. She stood, raising her head to glare at the hole above. A howl of hatred ripped from her throat. "Gai—a—"

Countless vines, like tentacles, snaked out from the empty pineal gland between her brows. They wrapped around the edges of the hole as she attempted to climb back up.

Suddenly, a rainbow light flashed. With a swift, clean slice, all the tentacles were severed.

"Give up," a cool, gentle voice said from nearby. "The way up is sealed."

Uranus turned her head, strange gurgling sounds escaping her lips.

Standing there was a young girl with snow-white hair and a sweet face. Her skin was slightly tanned, marked with glowing patterns that, instead of diminishing her beauty, gave her an otherworldly charm. She held a rainbow sword that shimmered like tears of the starry sky, her gaze fixed on Uranus with a hint of sadness. No—not quite. She was looking at the girl who hosted Uranus.

"My conflict with Velber has caused so much pain."

Altera pressed her lips together, her expression hardening with resolve. She raised the rainbow sword, pointing it at Uranus. "I will set you free, my friend," she declared. "With this sword—Star of Tears, Sword of the War God!"

Altera's eyes flashed. No hesitation, no wasted movement - in an instant, she transformed into a shooting star, her white form leaving trails of light as she rushed towards her target. Her sword, Star of Tears, blurred with each strike, becoming a comet of steel as she unleashed a barrage of attacks. Each blow came from a different angle, each swing flowing into the next as she danced around Uranus. With a thunderous boom, the sword connected with Uranus's chest, erupting in a rainbow explosion that lit up the chamber. The impact sent shockwaves everywhere as cracks spread across Uranus's body like spider webs.

"Raaaargh!" Uranus unleashed a fierce roar that shattered the ground beneath her feet. Black vines erupted from every crack in her body, whipping through the air like living weapons, their tips sharp as spears as they tried to skewer Altera.

Altera barely glanced at the vines. With a light step, she retreated, her small figure becoming a white blur as she ran horizontally along the wall. The vines pursued, puncturing deep into the stone where she had been split seconds before. From her new position, she continued her relentless assault, launching a series of quick attacks against Uranus. Each time she struck, she changed position, becoming a white streak that bounced between walls, floor, and ceiling, her sword finding gaps in Uranus's defense.

Boom! Boom!

Rainbow-colored light flashed with the force of rolling thunder. In the blink of an eye, Altera had struck thousands of times, leaving Uranus's body riddled with craters.

"Gaia!" A hateful obsession tore from Uranus's mouth as countless black vines erupted from its form, twisting together and surging upwards towards the crown above. It had no desire to waste energy on Altera.

But as the vines reached for the crown, strange patterns emerged on the decaying walls of Velber's control room. The bizarre, serpentine patterns surged into the mass of vines. With a series of cracks and snaps like electrical snakes, the vines burst apart.

Altera sliced through what remained of the vines with her sword and landed on the opposite wall, her red eyes glaring coldly at Uranus. "Don't waste your energy. You cannot leave Velber without defeating me."

"A—ltera—! Don't—interfere!"

Uranus's skin shriveled and wrinkled as countless branches sprouted from her body, transforming her into a tree-like creature. The branches shot upwards from the ground, rushing towards Altera.

"Just what I wanted."

Altera gripped he sword, taking a step and spinning through the air. Her body became a rainbow-colored blade, whirling like a top. With a series of slashes, she cut through the branches, destroying any that crossed her path.

"Curse—you!" Uranus glared at Altera on the wall.

Altera gazed coldly at Uranus. Uranus's branches were tough, but not indestructible against the power of the Star of Tears.

Her Star of Tears wasn't a Noble Phantasm, nor was it truly a sword. It wasn't a conceptual weapon like Ea either. Instead, it acted as a laser pointer used for marking targets for attack. When Altera released Star of Tears, it signaled a massive Photon Ray from high above to obliterate the targeted area. Simply put, it was an orbital laser attack.

The sword was originally the pointer of the Machine God Ares. However, fourteen thousand years ago, Altera destroyed Ares and took the weapon for herself. With the Machine God gone, relying solely on orbital laser attacks was impractical. Altera integrated Star of Tears with Velber's attack system, amplifying each swing to the power of a blast from Velber's main ship. This allowed her to cut through Uranus's branches effortlessly.

This was no surprise, as Velber was Altera's starship. After the Lord of Salvation assimilated Velber's AI, she naturally gained control of the vessel and its systems, granting her this level of power.

Altera's gaze settled on Uranus, her body now twisted into that of a malevolent tree god. Yet, beneath that horrifying visage, the image of a timid, kind, three-eyed girl flickered in her memory. Her grip tightened around the hilt of her sword, knuckles whitening. "Don't worry, I will save you, Ramoi."

"Altera—!"

Roars of hatred and resentment echoed through Velber's lower deck chamber as a series of explosions erupted.

...

Meanwhile, at the top...

Shirou moved with a faint glow around him, his body leaving trails of light with each motion. He twisted and spun through the air, each movement flowing seamlessly into the next. His feet barely touched the ground between leaps as he weaved through attacks. Endless mud people rose towards him, their bodies melding and separating as they surged upward like a tidal wave. Arms reached, bodies contorted, faces emerged and submerged in the wave of writhing darkness.

Gaia bent down, placing both hands on the ground. Her fingers spread wide, pressing into the earth as a faint light flickered in her bright eyes. Power gathered around her palms, the air crystallizing with each breath.

—Crystal Valley!

Frost erupted from her palms like a shockwave, spreading at impossible speed. The freezing wave raced across the battlefield like an ice age compressed into seconds, crystalline patterns blooming wherever it touched. With a series of sharp cracks, the surging mud tide froze solid. The wave of mud people stood frozen mid-motion, transformed into a pale blue ice platform that stretched as far as the eye could see, their twisted forms now trapped in translucent crystal.

The Lord of Salvation eyed the frozen swamp. "What pointless moves," he scoffed. With a casual wave of his hand, he sent mud blades slicing through the air toward Gaia.

Gaia sidestepped, quickly moving back. She'd thought dodging was impossible and had already been planning her next move, but surprisingly, the Lord hadn't erased her ability to evade the attack. She floated easily out of the way.

Gaia tilted her head, her brow furrowed in confusion. "You're not erasing my possibilities?"

The Lord folded his arms. "I have no interest in weaklings."

Gaia: "....."

She stared at him, speechless.