IBHJ 1231

Just then, Mordred's eyes snapped open and she bolted upright in bed.

"Take it easy," he said, hurrying to her side and trying to guide her back down. "Your body needs more rest."

But she resisted. "Father, there's danger approaching! I need to eliminate the threat!"

"Danger?" Shirou raised an eyebrow skeptically. His Clairvoyance had been active the whole time, and he'd been keeping his senses tuned to their surroundings, but he hadn't picked up on any threats nearby.

He glanced at the witch, who shook her head, confirming she hadn't detected anything unusual either.

Mordred struggled to get up from the bed. Though he trusted his own abilities, he had to consider that Mordred—now fully connected to the Grail—might have enhanced perception. Even though she looked the same on the outside, her actual capabilities had increased substantially. She might be sensing something that both he and the witch had missed.

"Take it easy," he told her. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"I can't relax until I've eliminated whatever's threatening me," she insisted, looking genuinely uneasy.

He reached out and gently stroked her head. "Under normal circumstances, I'd let you handle it. But you're sick right now, and what kind of father would I be if I sent you into danger like this?" His voice softened. "As long as I'm here, nothing's going to hurt you. Get some rest. Aren't I the Eternal King you've always wanted to defeat? If I'm here, nobody can touch you."

She stared at him, momentarily speechless.

He stood up and took Caliburn in hand. After instructing the witch to keep an eye on her, he headed toward the exit.

"Be careful..." Mordred hesitated before adding, "...Father."

He nodded and headed out of the shelter.

After he left, the witch helped Mordred lie back down. Noticing she was still wearing her heavy silver dragon armor, the witch reached out to remove it, figuring it would be impossible to get comfortable in such bulky gear. Mordred immediately grabbed her wrist.

"Easy there," the witch said with a gentle smile, noticing Mordred's suspicious glare. "I'm not trying to attack you or anything. Just thought you might sleep better without all that armor weighing you down."

Mordred finally released the witch's hand. "Thanks, but I'll keep it on. The armor makes me feel safe."

The witch nodded in understanding—then, seeing Mordred's guard down, quickly reached out and smacked her on the head before darting away.

"You—" Mordred glared at her.

The witch waved her hand with a triumphant grin. "What are you gonna do about it? You can't exactly chase me down right now, can you? With your dad gone, I can mess with you all I want! You better be nice to me, or I'll pose you in all kinds of embarrassing positions while you're stuck in bed!"

"You're absolutely despicable," Mordred muttered.

"You're probably confusing me with your mother from Pan-Human History again, aren't you?" the witch taunted. "Too bad for you—even though we're counterparts, I'm not the same person as your mother. So here's the deal: be nice to me, or I'll draw a turtle on one cheek and a crow on the other while you sleep."

"Hmph." Mordred turned her head away, refusing to give in to the childish threat.

The witch took this as a victory, her frustration from the earlier encounter with Shirou completely forgotten. With her mood instantly improved, she suddenly felt a fresh wave of inspiration for her writing.

"Let me know if you get thirsty," the witch called over her shoulder to Mordred. Then she settled down cross-legged and returned to her writing, humming a cheerful tune as she worked.

She was buzzing with inspiration after their little exchange and couldn't wait to include her humiliating encounters with Shirou in her biography. She'd portray him as the villain of the century while casting herself as the noble traveling witch fighting for justice.

Completely absorbed in her storytelling, the witch failed to notice that Mordred had silently risen from bed and was now standing directly behind her, staring expressionlessly at the back of her head.

The witch's countdown to disaster had begun.

…

While the witch might have been oblivious to her impending doom, Shirou was painfully aware that his own life was hanging by a thread.

"What the hell is this thing doing here?!" he shouted as he sprinted through the forest of steel trees. Behind him, a massive black dragon head lunged forward, jaws snapping.

This had to be the danger Mordred had sensed.

Hearing the air whoosh behind him, he dove sideways just as the dragon head smashed into a giant tree ahead of him.

These trees were made of black gold—supposedly indestructible material that could be forged into legendary weapons. Yet when the dragon head collided with it, the entire tree dissolved like foam, vanishing instantly.

He tumbled roughly across the ground, his eyes locked on the horrifying creature. The black dragon head wasn't solid but more like a cluster of black mud, spreading like spores. Covering its surface were countless faces with expressions of pure agony.

Looking at the thing's immense destructive power and its nightmarish appearance, he felt a bone-deep recognition. He pressed his lips together and spat out the words through clenched teeth. "Not this damn thing again!"

There was no mistaking it. This was the same monster that had attacked Fuyuki!

This abomination was supposedly a trump card created by Zeus from Miyu's world. Zeus had borrowed the Holy Grail from King Galahad of the Pan-Human History to fight against the Lord of Salvation, gathering all the divinity from Miyu's world.

But things went horribly wrong when the Lord of Salvation secretly sabotaged the plan. They had thrown Ayaka—who carried Manaka Sajyou's soul into the Holy Grail. This contaminated everything with the Queen of Evil's power, giving birth to this nightmare creature.

"I can't believe this thing still exists!" His face darkened with concern.

This monster was the unholy fusion of the Queen of Evil and the Holy Grail. After Gaia helped Manaka escape from it, the creature had seemingly vanished without a trace. He had assumed the abomination was gone for good. Yet here it was, appearing right in front of him again.

True, it was only the head this time. But that meant one terrifying truth: the abomination hadn't been destroyed!

It was still out there!

A memory suddenly flashed in his mind. When he'd recovered some of his forgotten "World Reset" memories at the Nordic connection point, he and Skadi had encountered an incarnation of the Beast of Revelation.

To drive away the Beast, he had created an illusion of this very same abomination. As the Beast retreated, it had mumbled something about the abomination sleeping at the bottom of the ocean in the Pan-Human History!

Could that be it? Had the Emperor's synchronization somehow awakened this thing from its underwater slumber?

Was that strange feeling of palpitation he'd experienced earlier actually a warning sign of its awakening?

Or maybe the Beast of Revelation had never truly been devoured by the Emperor and was still lurking in the shadows, causing trouble?

Shirou couldn't be sure of anything anymore. The Pan-Human History was in complete chaos. The Lord of Salvation was watching from afar, the Emperor was controlling everything around them, those mysterious mechs were everywhere, and Manaka and Demonic Bodhisattva were causing trouble across the world. And now, this abomination had also resurfaced.

Whatever was happening in the bigger picture, he knew one thing for certain—he needed to destroy this piece of the abomination as quickly as possible. Mordred was nearby, and he couldn't let anything happen to her.

That was a promise he'd made as a father.

Besides, the creature had clearly recognized him, and it was too late to run now anyway.