IBHJ 1224

She couldn't accept this outcome—not after everything she'd planned.

"—Yes, that's right. Don't accept it. Your world can only be given to you by your Master."

The unexpected voice came from nowhere and everywhere at once. Before anyone could react, a figure rose from the sea of black mud behind Demonic Bodhisattva, clamped a hand over her mouth, and yanked her backward into the darkness.

Everyone froze in shock. By the time Ritsuka and the others came to their senses, Demonic Bodhisattva had already vanished beneath the surface of the black mud.

Then, the swirling black vortex from the sky descended, pouring into the mud like liquid shadow. The darkness coalesced, taking the shape of a figure draped in a black robe.

"You! The Beast of Revelation!" Manaka looked at him in shock.

"It's been quite a while, hasn't it, Manaka?" The black-robed figure's voice was unsettlingly calm. "The last time we crossed paths, I believe I was stuffing you into Zeus's Grail. But to be honest, I'm far more interested in meeting the real Manaka that's hiding inside you."

Ayaka stared at the figure, her eyes wide with disbelief. "B-but... weren't you already devoured by the Emperor?"

"Devoured? Ha!" The Beast of Revelation let out a mocking laugh. "Even a true Holy Spirit couldn't handle me, let alone that fake one. Though I must thank all of you—it's because of your actions that the real Manaka awakened, allowing my Master to manifest me once again."

He casually patted the black ball that now encased Demonic Bodhisattva. "This traitor still has her uses to my Master, so I can't hand her over to you. We'll meet again when fate permits, Manaka. I'm looking forward to the return of your true self." With a cold smile, he began to sink slowly into the black mud.

"Xuanzang, don't let him get away!" Ayaka cried out urgently.

"I know," Xuanzang replied with determination. "Five Elements Mountain · Buddha Palm—!"

With those words, she unleashed her power. Radiant light streamed from her body, coalescing into an enormous glowing palm that pressed down toward the Beast of Revelation.

"Hmph!" He sneered dismissively as two massive dragon heads made of black mud shot up from the sea of darkness. They clamped their jaws around the Buddha Palm, stopping its advance.

The Buddha Palm was made of pure energy with no physical form, but somehow those two mud dragon heads chomped into it like it was made of actual flesh and blood.

"We'll meet again, Manaka. You too, Beast VII," he said ominously.

The Beast of Revelation, still clutching the mud ball that contained Demonic Bodhisattva, gradually sank into the black mud until it completely vanished.

As soon as he was gone, the mud sea went completely haywire, with massive waves surging outward in every direction.

"We can't let the mud spread!" Manaka said with a worried frown, turning quickly to look at Xuanzang. Right now, Xuanzang was the only one who still had enough power to do anything about this mess.

Xuanzang gave a quick nod and transformed the Buddha Palm into a massive mountain, trying to use it as a barrier to hold back the mud sea. But the moment it touched the mud, the mountain itself got swallowed up and turned into more black mud, making the waves even worse.

"It's not working," Xuanzang said, shaking her head. "This mud can probably only be neutralized by someone with the same level of enlightenment as my master."

Manaka clenched her fists. If that was the only solution, she'd have to reabsorb all that mud herself. But she couldn't help wondering—would doing that wake up the real Manaka again?

She couldn't be certain, but what choice did she have? If this mud kept spreading unchecked, the Lord of Salvation wouldn't even need to show up before all of Pan-Human History got completely assimilated.

Just as she was about to take action, countless roots suddenly burst through the mud sea. They quickly intertwined with each other, forming a massive tree that somehow anchored the mud sea in place.

Surprised, she spun around to see Ritsuka standing there, jaw clenched tight, her eyes glowing with an otherworldly light—she was obviously tapping into her Beast powers.

Beast VII could definitely contain the Queen of Evil's mud, but Ritsuka only had half of Beast VII's power, and she'd already burned through most of it—not even a tenth remained. How could she possibly stop something this massive when she had practically nothing left?

Before long, the surging mud completely destroyed the giant tree and came rushing straight toward them.

Xuanzang stared helplessly at the approaching mud tide. She could tell this mud originated from the [Root] itself—it was basically the twisted, malicious energy of the [Root] peeling away from the planet's surface. This wasn't something she could overcome or repair. The only way to stabilize this mud was to fix the planet's surface itself.

But each Star's Anchor had its own master, and the Anchor for this part of Western Europe belonged to Shirou. The problem was, it had vanished along with Gray during the Emperor's synchronization. Where on earth would they find another Star's Anchor now?

Just as this thought crossed her mind, the mud surged violently toward Xuanzang. But right before it crashed into her, it suddenly hardened as if all the moisture had been instantly sucked out of it.

"What's going on?"

Everyone looked around in confusion until they spotted brilliant starlight shimmering throughout the mud sea. A nine-ringed monk's staff slowly rose from the depths of the mud and floated toward Ritsuka's giant tree, merging with it.

The giant tree, now powered by the nine-ringed staff, began glowing with starlight from top to bottom. Its roots spread out like crazy, and in just seconds, it used the black mud as soil and shot upward, becoming an enormous towering tree—just like the World Tree from Norse mythology!

"Xuanzang's staff just fixed the planet's surface!" Ayaka shouted, clearly amazed.

"That's weird," Xuanzang said with a confused expression. "The nine-ringed staff shouldn't be able to do anything like this." She stared at the staff that had merged with the tree and her eyes widened. "Wait a minute—that's not even my staff! That's—"

"The Monkey King's Star's Anchor," Manaka said, looking completely surprised at the object that was now stabilizing the planet's surface like some kind of divine needle inside the giant tree.

The nine-ringed staff had finally revealed its true form. It wasn't a Buddhist staff from the Pure Land at all—it was actually another Star's Anchor, one of the special objects that maintained the planet's surface!

Xuanzang finally understood. The reason Shirou could still use the nine-ringed staff even after the Thorn sealed his abilities wasn't because he was activating the staff's power. It was the other way around—the staff had been using his hands to protect someone all along.

And that person was none other than Xuanzang.

"I've been desperately calling for Wukong to come save me," Xuanzang said with a sad smile, "when he's been right here protecting me the whole time."

Thanks to this second Star's Anchor stepping in, the planet's surface in this region was reconnected, and all that malice from the [Root] was sealed by the restored planetary surface, effectively locking it in place.

But that wasn't all. As the surface layer came back, so did the concepts of time and space that had been swallowed up by the mud earlier.

And standing tall above it all was that massive tree.

When everything finally settled down, everyone could take a proper breath for the first time in what felt like forever.