IBHJ 1081

The Lord of Salvation might be invincible, but that eye was not. If he could destroy it, he could win!

He dodged another erasure of possibilities, then performed a graceful aerial flip, easily avoiding the deadly mud blades that sliced in from all directions. He continued to run, searching for his chance.

"Beautiful," the Lord of Salvation said, watching him effortlessly evade the deadly attacks. "It seems you've noticed. But destroying this medium won't be so easy, Fujimaru Shirou."

Shirou had been right. Because the Lord of Salvation was projecting only a strand of his power and will through the eye, he couldn't exert his full strength. He was also occupied with assimilating Uranus and Velber, smoothing out the distortions caused by Abigail's Noble Phantasm, and suppressing Arcueid and the others outside. This meant even this single strand of power was greatly weakened, creating gaps in its manifestation.

Of course, these were hardly gaps in the usual sense of the word. Millisecond intervals would seem instantaneous to most. It only became a weakness when facing someone like Shirou.

The Lord of Salvation shifted his focus for a moment, turning his head slightly to look through the tree wall. He observed the rampaging Qliphoth Rhizome being steadily fused and assimilated. It didn't matter if Fujimaru Shirou had noticed the weakness in his power. Soon, once Abigail's power was assimilated, Shirou would have no choice but to surrender.

'He can't read my mind,' Shirou realized, the thought hitting him as soon as the Lord of Salvation had spoken. 'I never thought I'd be grateful for being a transmigrator.'

It was because he was a transmigrator that he had been chosen by Tethys. It was also because of this status that he was targeted by the Lord of Salvation. You could say everything had started because of his identity as a transmigrator. After all, everything else was connected to the Root. Only transmigrators were the exception.

I'm no match for him. If we fight, he'll defeat me and take my soul and Vortex. Qliphoth Rhizome is almost completely assimilated. Once that happens, I'll lose for sure. Time and location are both against me. But even so, I will win!

Shirou's eyes flashed as he ran like lightning. He wasn't merely stalling for time. He was searching for an opportunity—or rather, creating one!

Though the Lord of Salvation is invincible, the Eye is his weakness. If I can just exploit that... His thoughts were interrupted as the space around the Lord of Salvation shattered. Countless mud blades erupted from the void, piercing deep into the wooden floor beneath Shirou's feet.

"I've changed my mind, Fujimaru Shirou." The Lord glanced at the surrounding tree walls, his gaze finally settling on him. "You're far too dangerous."

Could it be that he finally... Shirou stopped in his tracks, his expression grim as he met the Lord of Salvation's eyes.

"Using Runes of Wisdom, you buried mud in the tree walls as you ran, setting up a trap. Once everything was in place, you planned to trigger it all at once to try to kill me. Of course, this couldn't possibly destroy my Eye. Your real purpose was to create chaos and attack me with Gaia—"

Suddenly, black mud erupted from the back of the Lord of Salvation's head, flowing like liquid shadow. It solidified into a shield just as three ice-like spider legs slammed into it from behind, their impact creating a deafening crash that sent shockwaves through the air. Cracks spread through the ground beneath his feet from the force.

"Isn't that right, Gaia?"

The Lord turned to face Gaia, who stared back in shock at her failed ambush. Her spider legs trembled against the shield, trying to force their way through but unable to break in.

The mud shield stopping the three spider legs suddenly softened, its surface becoming fluid and alive. It wrapped around the crystalline legs like quicksand, pulling them deeper into its mass. Then it surged upwards, a wave of black sludge rushing towards Gaia with hungry momentum, consuming everything in its path.

Anticipating this, she quickly grew another sharp, crystalline spider leg from her back. With a blade-like sweep, she severed her own three trapped legs and retreated.

Ice-blue blood flowed freely from the wounds, dripping onto the floor.

Gaia's expression remained unchanged. She stared intently at the Lord of Salvation, her whole body tense with vigilance.

"Planting mud while dodging, using imaginary space to awaken Ort... impressive work." The Lord's voice held genuine admiration before dropping. "It's a shame you're up against me."

"If it were that easy to defeat you," Shirou said coldly, "it would be an insult to my countless failures."

As expected, Gaia's sneak attack had failed.

It turned out that when Saturn and the other Ultimate Ones gave some of their authorities to the dragon, they also sent fragments of themselves into Ort's body. These fragments alone couldn't awaken Ort, but they did awaken Gaia who resided within him. The voice that had guided him here was hers.

Realizing this, Shirou had been planting his mud in the surrounding void while dodging the Lord's attacks, creating a path through imaginary space to reach Gaia. He sent the fragments from imaginary space into Ort's body, culminating in this assassination attempt with Gaia.

Of course, the outcome was as he had anticipated – failure.

"You're too dangerous, Fujimaru Shirou. It seems I can't fully preserve your body and soul after all. I'll have to break you down first, then reclaim you."

The Lord of Salvation tapped his foot on the ground. With a series of sharp cracks, the wooden cocoon split open, like a seed sprouting to life.

'Be careful, Shirou. Uranus is awakening.'

Gaia's voice was clear in his mind. Shirou didn't answer. He knew the Lord of Salvation could hear everything that went on around him—except for his thoughts. His soul, the soul of a transmigrator, was hidden from the Lord.

This was all within his expectations—Uranus falling under the Lord's control. And Gaia, inhabiting Ort's body, knew what they had to do.

The cocoon shattered, fragments scattering like a broken spiderweb. Inside, the Ghandaran girl slowly unfurled from her curled position. Her eyes fluttered open. Her skin, once pale, was now the color of shadows, tainted by the Lord of Salvation's power. She looked like a Shadow Servant.

"Ga...Gaia..."

The girl lifted her head. Her eyes, empty and hateful, locked onto Gaia. A hollow voice rasped from her lips.

"I didn't want to meet you like this. But there's no helping it now. Nice to meet you, my sibling, Uranus." It was Gaia's voice, speaking through Ort.

"Go, Uranus. I won't interfere with your grudge against Gaia. But you must capture Fujimaru Shirou for me," the Lord commanded.

"Gai—a—"

The girl, now a vessel for Uranus's will, growled like a beast. Her body contorted as wood-like wings sprouted from her back, cracking and splintering as they grew. Her gaze remained fixed on Gaia, pupils dilated with inhuman rage. The wings spread wide, each one larger than her body, before black wooden feathers erupted from them. They detached in waves, thousands launching toward Gaia like a rainstorm of obsidian daggers.

"Ort, sleep for a while. I need to borrow your body."

Rainbow light flashed in Ort's eyes as Gaia seamlessly took control. In an instant, eight crystal spider legs extended from her back, their movements a blur as they sliced through the air. They formed a web of blades, deflecting the incoming feathers one by one.

Meanwhile, frost spread like a blanket across the green earth as Gaia started activating Ort's Crystal Valley.

Shirou's gaze remained on the Lord of Salvation, who stood behind Uranus. He'd anticipated this, but destroying that Eye would be incredibly difficult.

The Lord of Salvation could erase possibilities. And Uranus now had some part of her siblings inside her, which increased her power significantly. Defeating the Lord meant defeating Uranus first, but the Lord had likely already erased the very possibility of Uranus's defeat.

It was a troublesome situation. But he had to try everything he could.

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.