IBHJ 1241

Night faded away as morning arrived.

After getting Gaia's message, Shirou's group had a quick discussion and came up with a plan to attack from two directions.

Three days later, Alaya sent three hundred thousand mechanical soldiers their way. This massive steel army marched impressively alongside Shirou and the others toward Londinium.

Shirou had been hoping to try piloting one of the mechs himself, but there was a problem. These machines didn't have normal control panels - you had to merge your magical signature and soul with them to make them work. On their side, only Astraea could operate them. Since Shirou was currently in a living human body, he couldn't do it.

"Mordred, why don't you try one out?" he asked, looking over at her.

Both he and the witch were living people, but Mordred was different. Even though she appeared to have a physical body, she was actually still a deceased Heroic Spirit - which meant she could control a mech just like Astraea.

"No thanks, Father," Mordred shook her head. "I really hate those giant armored things."

Too bad. Mordred clearly wasn't into mechs, which was a real shame.

The army of three hundred thousand moved like a flood of steel, crossing the strait toward Londinium.

The Empire's barrier wrapped around the land like a layer of clothing. But there was a weakness in it - a loophole created through the combined efforts of the "Council" and the "Hope Alliance." Later, Adam used that same loophole to break through the barrier over Ireland.

This barrier was actually a manifestation of Holy Spirit power, but once that loophole appeared, it could never be completely perfect again. Mana, Shiki Ryougi's daughter, had her own abilities. While she wasn't connected to the "Origin" like Shiki and Manaka, and didn't have a special soul like Shirou, she could still use the gap that Shiki had created in the barrier by tapping into a state of pure consciousness.

The massive army of three hundred thousand mechanical soldiers marched impressively across the strait, passing right through the Empire’s barrier as they headed straight for Londinium. But this fortress wasn't going to be an easy target. They were fully prepared with heavy troops, plenty of weapons, and guards keeping watch everywhere.

The Imperial side might not have detected the movements from Pan-Human History yet, but they were definitely on high alert against any action from Alaya, at least until the Emperor finished his synchronization process.

When Agravain's forces had attacked Tír na nÓg earlier, the Empire hadn't sent in the heavy troops from Londinium. That meant this battle was definitely going to be tougher. But what Londinium didn't realize was that Gaia and Alaya had already been sharing information and had come to an agreement.

They had planned to attack Londinium from two directions, and before long the steel army's major offensive had already caught Londinium's attention, and battle was about to break out.

But just then, Shirou got a message from Gaia asking him to leave the battle and head quickly to Dover Port.

Dover Port was normally strategically important to Londinium, but after the Empire's synchronization, that area had turned into primitive mountains. And the barrier there was extremely thick - even Mana couldn't break through it using the loophole. The place had basically lost all strategic value.

He didn't understand why Gaia would want him to abandon the army during wartime to go to Dover Port, but he trusted Gaia. So Shirou, Mordred, and the witch had to temporarily leave the battlefield and make their way to Dover Port instead.

Following Gaia's directions, he arrived at a basin in the mountainous area around Dover Port. Just as he was about to reach out to Gaia, lightning flashed all around them. Space twisted like a wormhole, and suddenly several Heroic Spirits appeared, wearing battle armor and holding powerful weapons. They stared at Shirou and the others with serious expressions and obvious killing intent.

There was no mistaking it - this was pure, open hostility.

Shirou frowned. "What's going on here, Gaia?"

He didn't believe Gaia would actually use Heroic Spirits to ambush and kill him.

It wasn't that he thought the planet would always take his side. He just trusted Gaia - trusted the part of himself and Arcueid that made up Gaia's planetary personality.

Not to mention Gaia's blessing was still on him, which meant she was still supporting him.

Most importantly, he didn't think Gaia could actually command Heroic Spirits to harm him. After all, whether it was Gilgamesh, Artoria, Skadi, or Kama—none of them would hurt him. In fact, he even saw Scathach and Bedivere among the Heroic Spirits.

Gaia didn't answer his question. Instead, she stared intently at Mordred standing behind him and demanded, "Who... are you?"

Shirou raised his eyebrows, and the witch also turned to look at Mordred in surprise.

Even the witch, who wasn't that experienced with these things, could tell that all this hostility from Gaia and the Heroic Spirits wasn't aimed at them - it was directed at Mordred!

Facing all this hostility, Mordred remained calm. "I am Mordred."

The moment those words left her mouth, a sword burning with blue flame suddenly shot up from the ground with a "swoosh" sound, piercing straight through her abdomen. Then came a disgusted voice from below. "If you're Mordred, then who am I?"

Another Mordred, surrounded by ghostly blue flames, emerged from the ground.

"Two Mordreds?" the witch's eyes went wide.

Shirou looked completely shocked. The two Mordreds were identical - even down to their magical signatures, which should be impossible to copy!

How could this happen?

People might have the same face, voice, or name, but magical signatures? Those were supposed to be absolutely unique. They couldn't be copied or forged.

That's because a signature belongs to your soul, your very spirit. Matter could be copied, but souls couldn't be.

Even parallel versions of the same person from different world would have different magical signatures. That's why signatures were considered the perfect identifier - it's also what made the "Presence Concealment" skill so effective for Assassin-class servants in the Holy Grail War.

But what they were seeing now completely turned that understanding upside down!

Shirou looked back and forth between the two Mordreds, uncertain.

Which one was real? Which one was fake?

If forced to choose, he found himself leaning toward the Mordred who had been with him all this time, rather than this new one burning with ghostly blue flames. This new Mordred didn't have any trace of human aura about her - she seemed more like a living Abyssal Demon Lord.

The Mordred in silver dragon armor glanced at Shirou, who clearly didn't know what to think. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them calmly. Her blue eyes fixed on the other Mordred.

"I'm surprised you managed to escape the 'Fomorian Abyss,' even with Satan's power," she said calmly. "Was it Lady Vivian who helped you out?"

Gaia's eyes suddenly narrowed. "That explains it. From the first moment I saw you, I felt something similar to the Emperor’s Arm..."

"You... could you really be...?" Blue Mordred's eyes went wide.

"Yes, I am the Emperor," Fake Mordred replied simply.

"The Emperor? She's the Emperor?"

Shocked whispers immediately broke out among everyone present.

The witch and Bedivere stared at the Emperor in complete disbelief. One was an Apostle candidate, the other an ex-Apostle, but neither had ever seen the Emperor's true face before now.

The Emperor—

The Emperor was actually a version of Mordred from a parallel world?

As the Emperor slowly pulled Mordred's sword from her own abdomen, she casually extended two fingers. With a metallic "clang," Gungnir, which had suddenly appeared behind her, was caught perfectly between her fingers. The powerful weapon couldn't move forward even an inch, as if it had been stopped by fate itself.