IBHJ 1233

Shirou wouldn't allow the Beast to harm Mordred. Besides, he harbored his own deep hatred for the Beast of Revelation. A final confrontation was inevitable—a life-or-death battle right here in the Pan Human History!

For now, though, he decided to focus on the immediate threat. The Eternal Empire and the Emperor were still the main enemies of the Pan Human History—other problems could wait.

"That mithril armor you're wearing," he said, pointing to the dragon armor Mordred had on. "Did Morgan give it to you?"

He noticed that Mordred's dragon armor looked identical to his own. Both were magical mithril armors, incredibly durable and resistant to spells. As far as protective gear went, they were almost on par with Gilgamesh's golden armor.

She simply nodded in response.

Unfortunately, what he meant as a harmless question struck a nerve with someone else. The witch, who had been in a fairly good mood until then, suddenly became downcast at the mention of "Morgan." The name instantly reminded her of her sister who was an Apostle.

It was a painful irony. The very sister who had once filled her with dreams and aspirations was also the one who had ultimately crushed them—who had torn off her wings.

"—Come out!"

Suddenly, a voice that was all too familiar echoed through the steel forest. "I know you're hiding in there, Artoria!"

The witch's expression changed instantly. "Morgan!" she gasped.

Shirou frowned. They couldn't catch a break. They had just dealt with one enemy in this place, and now an Apostle had shown up with her troops.

It probably wasn't a coincidence either. The Apostle must have detected the magical signature released when he used his Noble Phantasm against that abomination earlier. She had simply followed the trail here.

"Don't even think about running!" Morgan's voice boomed. "I've already surrounded this entire area! Come out and face your death!"

The witch gritted her teeth, her face tight with pain and anger. She was about to charge out and confront her sister head-on when Shirou quickly grabbed her by the wrist.

"Calm down. Don't rush into what's obviously a trap."

"But she's already surrounded this place!" the witch protested.

"If she had truly surrounded us, she would've attacked already," he pointed out. "Why bother calling out to scare you first?"

The witch took a breath and looked at him, whose expression remained remarkably peaceful. She couldn't help wondering how this guy could stay so calm even in a situation like this.

What the witch didn't realize was that he had been through similar scenarios before. In fact, he had faced even more dangerous and difficult circumstances multiple times in his past.

He glanced outside, then carefully add three layers of [Presence Concealment C] over everyone. This would completely hide their magical signatures and auras.

"Don't use Clairvoyance," he cautioned quietly.

The witch nodded.

After a moment of tense silence, a series of cannon fire suddenly thundered from outside.

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

The explosions sounded like rolling thunder, powerful enough to crumble mountains.

"Is that Morgan attacking?" the witch asked uncertainly.

"Shh." he held up a hand. "Listen carefully."

She fell silent, straining to hear.

"It's artillery fire," Mordred said after a moment. "I think it’s from those foreign enemies."

"They're fighting each other?" the witch asked.

He turned to Mordred. "You stay here. We'll go check it out."

The witch nodded in agreement.

As soon as Shirou and the witch stepped outside, they could see flashes of artillery fire in the distance.

They ran toward the commotion, the massive steel trees quickly thinning out around them as they moved.

Finding a giant steel tree not far from the battle, they concealed themselves among its branches and iron leaves. From this vantage point, they could clearly see the conflict below: thousands of steel mechs armed with firearms and energy cannons were locked in battle with the Empire's divine soldiers, who wore gleaming armor as they fought throughout the forest.

Beams of thermal energy and magical cannon fire crisscrossed through the air, turning the once-orderly steel forest into complete chaos.

Even though the Empire only had a few hundred divine soldiers facing thousands of steel mechs, the witch could tell they were winning handily. The battle looked almost completely one-sided.

The steel mechs had impressive destructive power with their energy beams, and they definitely had numbers on their side. But the Empire's divine soldiers possessed actual divinity and eternal life. How could mere machines compete with that? After all, not everyone was like Mordred who had embraced the Grail, or Manaka who was created by the Lord of Salvation.

"While they're busy fighting each other, let's get out of here," he suggested quietly.

The witch nodded quickly. If they ended up surrounded by both Morgan and the Empire's divine soldiers, there'd be no convenient fairy this time to teleport them to safety.

But just as the witch turned to leave, a wall of fire suddenly erupted out of nowhere, roaring toward her and completely blocking their escape route.

"So you finally came out." Apostle Pendragon stepped out from behind a tree, her cold gaze landing on the witch before shifting to Shirou. "And I also caught a big fish."

With their path blocked, Shirou drew Caliburn while the witch's heart sank.

"How did you find me?" the witch asked, gripping the Staff of Prophecy defensively.

"Fairy Secret Arts are useless against me," Morgan replied dismissively. "Once I've marked you, it doesn't matter where you go." She snapped her fingers, and the witch felt a sudden sharp pain in her abdomen. Looking down, she lifted her clothes to see strange runes flickering on her pale skin.

"When did you..." she gasped in shock.

It was a powerful reminder of why her sister was considered the Empire's strongest magus. The witch had no idea when Morgan had managed to place such a curse on her.

"Of course when I poisoned you with the Poison of Corruption," Morgan replied matter-of-factly.

The witch suddenly remembered. The only time Morgan could have cursed her was when she had stabbed her with that dagger.

"You betrayed the Emperor, and while that made me angry, I wouldn't hate you just for that," the witch said bitterly. "But why would you do this to me? I'm your sister, aren't I?"

Something flickered briefly in Apostle Pendragon's eyes. The invisible sword in her hand began emitting a red light that resembled lycoris flowers.

"You pulled out this sword and it acknowledged you," she said coldly. "You should have become the thirteenth Apostle protecting the Empire. Instead, you rejected the sword and ran away from Camelot. After I arranged everything for you, you made me look like a fool."

"Wait—you're holding a grudge against me because of that?" the witch asked, genuinely shocked.

"That's right."

"You've got to be kidding me!" The witch's hand trembled as she pointed at her sister. "That's incredibly petty!" She couldn't believe Morgan would harbor such deep resentment over something she considered so trivial.

"His Majesty is merciful," Morgan continued. "After learning about our situation, he's given you two choices. First, you can inherit this sword and become one of the thirteen Apostles and we'd remain sisters. Or second..." She paused meaningfully. "I'll have to treat you like Bedivere and execute you on the spot."

"I don't have a sister like you!" the witch hissed through clenched teeth.

She drew the sword from her Staff of Prophecy, knowing her magical skills weren't enough to defeat her sister in a spell battle.

"So that's your answer?" Morgan's expression hardened. "Then you've made your choice."

She silently put away the invisible sword and pulled out a wand from inside her robe. She recognized that while she could eventually wear down Shirou and the witch through her eternity, facing both of them with swordsmanship alone would put her at a disadvantage.

Meanwhile, the Empire soldiers fighting the foreign enemies dispatched over three hundred men who quickly surrounded Shirou and the witch before closing in to attack.

Shirou and the witch fought back fiercely, but as expected, the altered Caliburn in his hands—though powerful enough to eliminate the abomination—couldn't kill those who possessed eternity.

This made sense, of course. The alterations to Caliburn came from the Grail, and since the Grail didn't belong to him, the sword couldn't kill those who possessed eternity. The Empire soldiers were nearly impossible to stop, making their situation extremely dire.

Right now, it was just Shirou and the witch standing against these forces. If Scathach had been there, with her ability and his buffs, they might have been able to cut a bloody path through their enemies. But Scathach and Bedivere had been teleported somewhere else—they were completely separated.

Their only stroke of luck was that the foreign enemies were keeping part of Apostle Pendragon's forces occupied, preventing them from completely overwhelming him and the witch.

Suddenly, a blinding white light swept across the ground like divine judgment, sending every Empire soldier in its path flying through the air.

"Stop!"

"Who dares?" Apostle Pendragon whirled around to see Mordred approaching them, clad in azure dragon armor and holding the golden Grail covered in strange eyes.

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