IBHJ 1219

In Tír na nÓg...

Ambrosius turned to Gaia with worry etched across her face. "Gaia, what's happening out there?"

"Manaka Sajyou has awakened," Gaia replied calmly, seemingly unfazed. "The earth's surface is beginning to peel away."

"I should have killed her when I had the chance," Tiamat said, her voice heavy with regret. "Before she could wake up..."

"No," Gaia countered. "Killing her then would have created an even bigger problem. That other personality was keeping her suppressed, limiting the Queen of Evil's power. If you had destroyed that personality, Manaka Sajyou might have fully resurrect herself. Even now that she's awakened, her power will still be restricted because of that other personality's existence."

She paused briefly before continuing. "Besides, Manaka's awakening at this moment might actually work in our favor. I doubt the Emperor will simply stand by and do nothing about this."

Ambrosius frowned. "But the planet's surface is already peeling away. Even if Shirou wanted to use his Star's Anchor to stabilize things again, he couldn't—not now that the real Star's Anchor has disappeared along with Gray after being synchronized by the Emperor."

"That's not necessarily a problem," Gaia replied. "The Lord of Salvation had the Council secretly developing those seven connection points—Nordic, Greek, Chinese, South American, British—all with the purpose of peeling away the surface of the pan-human planet to make the door appear. But even though Shirou's Star's Anchor is gone, there's still one remaining right here in this place."

"There's another Star's Anchor?" Ambrosius and Tiamat exchanged confused glances.

The Star's Anchor wasn't just Rhongomyniad—there were several scattered throughout the world, but they were all supposed to be in the possession of ancient kings, legendary heroes, or gods.

They were absolutely certain that besides Shirou, none of the other summoned Heroic Spirits possessed a Star's Anchor. And not just any artifact would do—it had to be a genuine Star's Anchor capable of fixing and maintaining the world, not just an ordinary Noble Phantasm!

But regardless of their confusion about this mysterious remaining anchor, one thing was clear: Manaka Sajyou's awakening was now inevitable.

…

Inside the Imperial Palace, complete chaos had broken out among the court servants.

A mysterious black vortex had appeared underneath the imperial capital, and nobody could figure out how to get rid of it. What made things worse was that this strange vortex was actually eating away at the very foundation of the capital, causing parts of it to simply vanish!

Everyone was completely stunned. They'd never seen anything like this before and had absolutely no idea what to do about it.

"This all started when that troublemaker Shirou showed up," muttered one servant to another. And they weren't wrong - ever since this rebel appeared, the empire had been dealing with one unbelievable crisis after another.

Not only had their elite forces been repeatedly defeated and Shirou somehow managed to escape the Emperor's punishment, but now their supposedly eternal and indestructible capital was being slowly destroyed by this bizarre black vortex that appeared out of nowhere!

Up on the highest imperial throne, the golden crown began to pulse with light, and suddenly, from empty space, the Grail—said to possess limitless power—materialized out of thin air.

A powerful, majestic presence suddenly descended upon the Imperial Palace, its commanding voice echoing through everyone's minds:

"Bring my body here at once!"

The court servants were completely stunned by this voice.

"Has things really gotten so bad?" one whispered nervously. "Is His Majesty actually going to make a physical appearance?"

The servants exchanged worried glances but didn't dare say anything more. Instead, they rushed down to the lowest level of the palace where the "Eternal Coffin" was kept, desperate to retrieve the body as commanded.

"Eternal King... this isn't what I wanted to happen, but it seems I have no choice now. To complete my resurrection, I'll have to eliminate all of you vessels and stubborn rebels. None of you can remain!"

As these chilling words faded, the golden crown began pulsing with brilliant light again. In that moment, the Grail floating in midair transformed itself into a gleaming golden arrow.

Akasha's Arrow had appeared!

…

"The space and time around us have been completely locked down," Xuanzang said, panic clear in her voice. "The bottle won't work—we can't teleport out of here. We're trapped!"

Everyone's hearts sank at the news.

Manaka Sajyou's mud wasn't just some ordinary threat—it was the evil essence of the Root itself. It existed beyond imaginary numbers, capable of absorbing and merging all time, space, and dimensions that branched from source points.

It was absolutely terrifying. There was literally no way to escape it!

The nine-ringed staff in her arms started buzzing more intensely, as if it could sense some massive danger approaching.

"Hmm?" Something caught Manaka Sajyou's attention, breaking her concentration. She slowly turned her head, her eyes widening in surprise when they landed on Ayaka. "Oh! You're still here, Ayaka."

Ayaka stared back at the mud woman, visibly terrified.

"This is actually perfect," Manaka said, clapping her hands together with a smile. "I'm so glad you're still alive! Arthur doesn't care for me—he likes you instead. It's really wonderful that you survived."

Ayaka stared at her with both fear and surprise.

Was this really something her sister would say? She couldn't tell if Manaka was just putting on another one of her performances or if that fake version of Manaka had somehow started affecting her actual personality.

"It's perfect," Manaka continued, her voice unsettlingly cheerful. "I can just enter your body and use it to be with Arthur again. I'll give up my appearance, my body—everything. I'll become you, and then my prince will finally be all mine."

A cold terror washed over Ayaka.

This was definitely her sister—that twisted combination of pure yet completely perverted obsession and love. This was the monster she had once looked up to, but now could only fear and hate.

Manaka gazed at her with obvious delight. She loved Arthur and had always been jealous of Ayaka for having his protection. But now, she seemed thrilled that Ayaka was still alive. She had come up with a new plan: since Arthur didn't care for her as Manaka, she would simply become Ayaka instead, and win back the prince's heart that way.

"Come here, Ayaka," Manaka said, beckoning with her hand. The mud at her feet suddenly surged upward, forming a massive hand that lunged toward Ayaka.

Just as the mud was about to grab her, Ritsuka jumped between them and caught it.

"That's enough!" Ritsuka glared at her. "She's your sister! How could you even think about stealing her body? What kind of sister does something like that?"

Manaka tilted her head, genuinely confused. "You're a Beast?" she asked, studying Ritsuka with surprise. "If you're a Beast, why are you trying to lecture me about morality?"

"Yes, I am a Beast," Ritsuka shot back, "but before I'm anything else, I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka. And I don't like what you're doing right now. Change back immediately!"

With that, she squeezed her fist, crushing the mud hand completely. As she did, the black mud from the Root began eating into her palm, sending up wisps of white smoke where it touched her skin.

"You're a strange Beast," Manaka said, studying her curiously. "When I look into your heart, I don't see any love for humanity—just intense hatred."

"You've got that right," Ritsuka replied. "Unlike other Beasts, I don't feel any universal love for humans. I only have hatred. And that hatred definitely includes you."

"Me? I don't think we've ever met before..." Manaka paused, her eyes narrowing. "Wait—did you say your name is Fujimaru Ritsuka? Fujimaru?" Her expression suddenly darkened. "What's your connection to Fujimaru Shirou?"

"He's my brother!" Ritsuka declared proudly.

"Well, that explains everything," Manaka snarled. "No wonder you have that same disgusting aura about you. That sneaky glasses-wearing jerk transformed himself to look like Ayaka and stabbed me in the back when I wasn't paying attention. Since you're his sister, you can be the sacrifice for the restoration of the Eternal Camelot!"

Her eyes flashed with rage as endless waves of mud rose up like a tsunami, rushing toward Ritsuka to drown and consume her.