IBHJ 1200

Down in the depths of Fomoire Abyss, Mordred was taking out her frustration by kicking Galahad's battered body a few times.

"Isn't there any way we can destroy this thing?" she asked, turning to her aunt.

Morgan shook her head. "It's just not possible. Orichalcum came from another world with the Greek Machine God. It's harder than any metal that's ever existed on Earth. Only something actually forged by the planet itself could even make a scratch on it."

"Well, that's just great," Mordred sighed. Arthur and Gilgamesh both had planet-forged weapons, but without her Grail, they couldn't kill an Apostle. And here she was with the Grail but no way to destroy Galahad's body.

"Though I've got to say," she suddenly burst into wild laughter, "it's absolutely hilarious that he got this messed up from the Emperor's 'friendly fire'!"

Morgan watched her niece laughing with a gentle smile, while the tied-up Guinevere tried to make herself even smaller. She knew Mordred's sword might not be able to hurt Galahad, but it could definitely kill a normal human like her in a second. Better to just stay quiet and not draw any attention to herself right now.

‘The outside world is so dangerous,’ Guinevere thought, shaking with fear. ‘Oh Father, I was wrong. If I ever make it home alive, I promise I'll never run away again.’

Suddenly, the cave shook with violent tremors. Something leaked in from outside—a presence so terrifying it felt like death itself had arrived.

"This presence..." Morgan's face hardened.

"What's going on?" Mordred asked, anxiety creeping into her voice.

"Looks like our fighting attracted his attention."

"Whose attention?"

Morgan's expression turned grim. "Someone we really don't want to mess with. Balor."

"B-Balor?" Mordred stammered, her eyes going wide. She'd heard all the stories about him—Balor, the legendary one-eyed king of the Fomorians who had ruled over three realms before Lugh finally took him down.

"Are you telling me his soul is also trapped in this place?" she asked, still trying to wrap her head around it.

"When the Tuatha Dé Danann defeated the Fomorians," Morgan explained, "all their souls were imprisoned in this dark abyss. Scathach's Land of Shadows was supposed to keep them trapped here."

"Wait, Scathach..." Mordred's blood went cold as it hit her. "But she's with my father right now!"

Just then, a massive eye appeared at the cave entrance, staring in at them like some ancient, horrifying monster.

They didn't have a choice anymore. Even if it meant fighting Balor himself, they'd have to battle their way out if they wanted to live!

Mordred reached for her Grail, getting ready to use its power. But as she pulled it out, something strange happened to Guinevere. The woman, who had been trembling with fear just seconds earlier, suddenly went completely still when she saw the Grail. Her eyes became distant, like all the light had drained out of them.

"Holy Grail..." The words came out as barely a whisper, like she was in some kind of trance.

Mordred turned to face the towering figure of Balor, gripping her sword tighter as her face hardened with resolve. God or not, nothing was going to stop her. She'd cut down anything that got in her way!

The massive eye suddenly turned toward her, darkness swirling deep inside it. Before Mordred could even realize what was happening, Morgan crashed into her, knocking them both to the ground.

In an instant, everything around them exploded. The whole area was reduced to ash in a split second—even the Fomorian ghosts just vanished completely, leaving nothing but scorched earth where they had been.

"What the hell—" Mordred stared open-mouthed at the destruction all around them.

"Watch out for his eye," Morgan warned, her voice urgent. "We can't fight him head-on. Our only chance is to stay out of his line of sight."

After thinking about it for a second, she nodded.

Even Lugh the God of Light had only managed to defeat Balor by first destroying that Mystic Eye of his. Even though this Balor was just a trapped ghost in the Fomorian abyss, his gaze still packed the same deadly power.

But the ancient king wasn't about to let them slip away. With a roar that shook the ground beneath them, he launched his attack, his eye glowing with dark energy that turned everything it touched into complete nothingness.

Backed up against the wall with nowhere left to run, Mordred felt her blood starting to boil. "Looks like we're going to have to face him head-on after all," she growled, raising her sword toward the massive figure. A fierce smile spread across her face—she'd always been a sucker for impossible odds.

Morgan sighed, but there was a glint of steel in her eyes as she drew out a wand. If this was their only option, so be it.

Yet Balor's reputation wasn't just stories and legends. Even as nothing more than a mindless ghost, his power was overwhelming. Working in perfect sync, Mordred and Morgan could barely hold their ground against him. Every attack felt like fighting the tide itself.

"What I wouldn't give for another me right now," Morgan muttered as she narrowly dodged another deadly blast.

Mordred was zigzagging through the barrage of death beams, her eyes glued to the Grail she was clutching. Her teeth clenched in frustration. "Come on, why won't this stupid thing work?"

She glared at the dormant third eye on the Grail. Everything had changed when she'd gone beyond her humanity and basically merged with the Grail itself. But ever since she woke up back in human form, she couldn't tap into that power again, and the third eye just wouldn't open.

"Wake UP, damn you!" she screamed at it, but the Grail just sat there in her hand, completely lifeless, like an ordinary piece of stone.

A bone-shaking roar ripped through the air. Looking up, Mordred saw Balor's massive eye locked onto her, pulsing with dark energy. Everything seemed to slow down as a beam of pure destruction—literally death in energy form—came thundering straight at her.

Mordred's heart stopped—the death beam had come too fast, too smart, cutting off any escape route she might have had.

But just before it hit her, massive black insect-like limbs suddenly appeared around her, like protective wings. They formed a shield between her and what would have been certain death.

The impact was brutal. The insect limbs shattered in a huge explosion that sent Mordred flying through the air. She tumbled across the ground until she finally managed to stab her sword down, using it like an anchor to stop herself from spinning out of control.

When she looked up, her eyes went wide. Floating in the sky like some kind of otherworldly guardian was a enormous butterfly-like structure.

"Wait a second..." The sight triggered a memory of that black shadow that had saved her from being crushed under the Emperor's arm. It hit her like a bolt of lightning. This was it! This massive butterfly thing was the same being that had protected her before!

And then she felt it—that unmistakable presence.

Mordred looked down and saw Guinevere standing completely still at the base of the butterfly structure. Countless tubes were coming out of the construct and going into her back, drawing something from her body like she was some kind of living battery.

"Teacher...is that really you?" The words barely made it out of her throat.

There was no doubt about it—that aura, that familiar presence. This had to be her teacher, the First Chancellor of the Eternal Kingdom, Fairy Queen Vivian!

The moment was cut short by Balor's deafening roar. His eye lit up with a terrifying glow, sending a beam of pure destruction straight at the butterfly construct.

"No, wait—!" Mordred shouted, but it was too late.

The blast was so powerful it felt like the whole Fomorian abyss was being shaken apart, making a noise like the world itself was being ripped in half. When the explosion cleared, the butterfly construct was completely destroyed, but from the wreckage emerged a dark figure surrounded by swirling magical mist.

"Vivian..." Morgan's voice was strained as she watched the shadowy figure emerge from what was left of the butterfly construct.

It really was Vivian.

As the last pieces of her construct fell apart around her, Vivian raised one elegant hand and made a graceful gesture. A metallic ringing sound filled the air as a shield flew out from deep within the cave, coming to hover right in front of her.

Mordred's eyes went wide as she recognized it – that was Galahad's shield!

With just a wave of her hand, Vivian activated the silver shield. It began to hum with power, giving off a soft silvery light before catching Balor's beam and sending it flying straight back at him. The reflected blast tore through Balor's head with a massive boom, and the huge ghost came crashing down with a thundering thud.