IBHJ 1234

Mordred glared at the Apostle. "I won't allow you to harm my father!"

"Mordred?" Apostle Pendragon stared in surprise before her expression hardened. "Fine then. I'll take you down first!"

She waved her wand in a complex pattern, forming four magical circles in the air. The four great elements—wind, fire, thunder, and earth—swirled together, creating a devastating torrent of magical power that resembled a tornado as it rushed toward Mordred.

Shirou was about to project Rhongomyniad to counter the attack when he saw Mordred simply raise her fist and punch straight toward the terrifying magical vortex.

There was a flash of strange light, and then—BOOM!—the intangible magical torrent shattered like a boulder hitting concrete.

"What was that?" he whispered in amazement. "Energy materialization?"

"How is this possible?" Apostle Pendragon stared in disbelief.

"If you want to die here, I won't hold back," Mordred said coldly, clenching her fist.

Apostle Pendragon clenched her teeth and instinctively backed away. She knew Mordred possessed the ability to kill those with eternity, making her the natural enemy of the Empire's forces. After all, Apostle Ector had already fallen by Mordred's hand.

Pendragon hadn't anticipated Mordred being here at all. The situation had suddenly become much more complicated—she was the only Apostle present, and while there were still hundreds of divine soldiers, Shirou and the witch posed additional threats. Worst of all, those foreign enemies were still in the vicinity.

"Retreat!" she commanded after quickly weighing her options. With one last reluctant glance at Mordred, Apostle Pendragon's body shimmered and withdrew into imaginary space as she ordered a temporary withdrawal.

With Mordred in the picture, she faced a serious threat. If Mordred broke her eternity, she'd be finished—especially with Shirou and the witch ready to attack from different angles. Retreating was her only option.

As soon as she left, the Empire's divine soldiers abandoned their fights and quickly withdrew as well.

Soon, only Shirou's group of three remained in the vast steel forest, along with those foreign enemies in the distance.

When she saw that Apostle Pendragon had truly retreated, Mordred let out a relieved sigh. Her body suddenly went limp, but the witch caught her before she could fall.

"Are you okay?" the witch asked worriedly.

"Like a despicable person who takes advantage of others should care about my wellbeing," Mordred muttered, her face pale.

"Come on, I was just teasing you earlier," the witch said with exasperation. "If anything, I was the one at a disadvantage. Why are you still holding a grudge?"

Mordred turned her head away. "I'm just feeling a little dizzy, that's all."

Shirou glanced at Mordred's pale face with concern. It seemed the fusion with the Grail might have given her incredible power, but that power clearly came at a price.

He gripped the modified Caliburn and projected Spear of Endless Light, positioning himself protectively in front of the two as he watched the steel mechs approaching with a cold, steady gaze.

A massive crimson mech, at least forty meters tall, came to a stop right in front of them. A confused voice came from inside it. "Are you Eternal King?"

The cockpit in the mech's midsection slid open, revealing an armored figure inside.

Shirou raised an eyebrow as he recognized the pilot. It was the same foreign enemy he'd encountered earlier in Camlann.

"Who are you?" he asked cautiously.

The pilot removed her helmet, revealing Luvia's face. "I am Astraea, the Greek goddess of justice."

"Well, this is unexpected," he said, looking at her with a mix of amusement, frustration, and resignation. "I never would've guessed that the pilot of that Crimson Mech would turn out to be you."

"Trust me, I'm just as surprised," she replied with a helpless smile. "I thought you were one of the Empire's Apostles. If things hadn't been so chaotic back at Camlann, we could've cleared up this misunderstanding with just a few words."

He nodded. There really hadn't been any chance for communication during that encounter. He pointed toward the mechanical armors that were now cleaning up the battlefield. "Are these automated robots your troops?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "These are my [Alaya] units."

"Alaya...?" he repeated, his expression shifting to one of confusion.

"You don't know, Eternal King?" Astraea looked confused. She pointed to the mechanical armors working behind her. "All of these were created by Alaya. They represent the disappeared Pan-Human History humans that form the human order."

"What did you just say?" he stared in surprise at the mechanical armors busy recovering their fallen comrades.

"It seems you really don't know," she said with a slight smile before explaining further.

According to her, when the Emperor destroyed the [Council], the Foundation of Human Order—which had been damaged by the [Council]—was corrected, and Alaya began functioning again.

Logically, after the [Council]'s destruction, the people who had disappeared along with human order should have reappeared, and the whole [Council] incident should have been forgotten like a dream.

But there was a problem. After destroying the [Council], the Emperor synchronized the Empire with Pan-Human History instead of restoring things properly. Because of this, the disappeared people couldn't be revived, and Alaya—the Counter Force of Humanity—activated in response.

To protect the human order from the Empire's invasion of Pan-Human History, Alaya had summoned Heroic Spirits to fight back.

"So all those Heroic Spirits who were defeated by the Empire before you arrived were all summoned by Alaya."

She explained that after defeating these Heroic Spirits, the Empire sealed the planet's leylines. The Emperor even connected himself directly to the planetary consciousness of the solar system, ambushed the UOs, isolated them at the South American connection point, and drove Gaia completely out of the solar system.

Under these desperate circumstances, Alaya safeguard mechanism kept working. The people who couldn't return to normal transformed themselves into cutting-edge weapons of industrial civilization to fight back against the Empire—all in an effort to reclaim their world and their civilization.

"Wait, so you're telling me... these tanks, these mechs—they're actually humans?" he asked, stunned by the revelation.

She nodded. "Yes."

Everything suddenly clicked into place.

He turned around, watching as the seemingly emotionless mechs carefully collected their fallen comrades' bodies.

These Tiger tanks, these photon mechs—they weren't just machines. They were defensive weapons born from the very civilization constructed by both the surface and inner world of humanity!

He had always assumed people in Pan-Human History were simply being protected by Heroic Spirits without knowing it. He never imagined they'd actually taken up arms themselves!

"So what happens to them after they're killed?" he asked.

"Their souls and records return to Alaya, where they transform back into steel warriors and continue the fight. None of them will stop until they've reclaimed their homeland."

He felt a wave of relief wash over him. He'd unknowingly destroyed quite a few of these robots earlier without realizing what they truly were.

As he watched the steel warriors handling their fallen comrades' remains like ordinary tools, a troubling question came to mind. "Do they actually have consciousness?"

"Their human consciousness is gone," she replied. "All that remains is their instinct to reclaim their homeland."

"That explains why they attacked us earlier," he murmured, the pieces finally clicking into place.

He glanced over at Mordred before turning back to Astraea with another question. "What about Luvia? Is she still asleep somewhere inside you?"

She nodded. "That's right. Luvia and I made an agreement that she'd lend me her body until human order is restored. Rin made the same arrangement with Ishtar."

Back in 2003, when the abomination first invaded Pan-Human History, both Ishtar and Astraea were absorbed by it. After it was defeated, though, they were naturally set free. Since then, their divine consciousness has continued to exist within Rin and Luvia's bodies.

Shirou's mind drifted to Rin—or rather Ishtar—whom he'd encountered once at the connection point in South America. Tiamat had already made her return by now, but that woman was probably still being exploited by Heaven's Corpse.