IBHJ Chapter 983

Shirou watched as the four parties charged directly towards the murals in the east, south, west, and north.

"They're going to crash into the walls!" Mordred's eyes widened.

Then, they saw the four parties actually enter the four murals!

Shirou understood now. The four passages up, down, left, and right were fake, while the four murals were the real passages. However, he hadn't been able to discern this, and [Evil] hadn't produced any sense of erosion, which meant that those seemingly mural but actually passage walls were also part of this space-time domain.

The murals depicted stories that were incomprehensible, yet gazing at them gave a strange feeling of having seen the entire story from beginning to end.

Even without understanding or comprehending the content of the stories, it was undoubtedly the perspective of the gods piercing through past and future.

Shirou realized that the Resurrection Pyramid - this space-time domain - wasn't an infinitely looping two-dimensional space-time domain like a Mobius strip, but a four-dimensional space-time domain that transcended three dimensions, able to perceive the fate of lower dimensions yet unable to change anything.

Mooncell must have put in quite some effort to create this connection point, he mused.

No. For an entity like Mooncell, whose technological prowess was beyond comprehension, creating a four-dimensional space-time domain within a connection point was probably child's play.

"Let's start our dungeon run," Sik said, his expression grim.

No doubt about it, they were pawns. Meat shields. Cannon fodder.

But what choice did they have?

No. The only ones without a choice were those two. Shirou had volunteered to stay.

The last map... those adventurers had been so reluctant and apprehensive about this map, clearly indicating its extreme difficulty. So, Shirou's thinking was simple, the most dangerous, highest-difficulty map should be left to him.

"We need to enter the mural above," Sik said, gazing at the mural on the ceiling.

They looked up and saw an ancient, blurry mural stretched out above their heads. It was hazy; nothing could be made out clearly, yet Shirou had a strange feeling of having seen everything.

It hit him then - this must be what it felt like to peer at lower dimensions from a four-dimensional vantage point. Everything was there, laid bare. He could see everything in the lower dimensions, but his three-dimensional mind simply couldn't process the information. The result was this maddening sense of confusion.

"Are you okay?" Mordred suddenly asked.

He blinked, caught off guard. "What do you mean?"

Mordred gestured to his face. "You're... you're crying."

Bewildered, he touched his cheek. Sure enough, his fingers were wet with tears he hadn't realized he'd shed.

He wasn't upset or in pain, yet tears had fallen from his eyes without any reason.

Why...?

Had the mural affected him on some subconscious level? Had he seen some heartbreaking story in that fleeting moment? But that was impossible. He hadn't understood anything, he was sure, because he couldn't make sense of it.

Mordred stood on tiptoe and wiped the glistening tears from his cheeks, saying, "This face doesn't look good when crying."

"What a good child," he couldn't help but smile.

Just then, Sik, who had already flown up to the mural, turned back to look at Shirou and Mordred, saying with a hint of annoyance, "What are you two still doing? The raid has started!"

"Alright." Shirou nodded, taking Mordred's reluctant hand. With a light step, they followed the others into the world of the mural.

Feeling a strange sensation of transition, as if stepping from reality into a paper world, he slowly opened his eyes and was immediately taken aback. The stone chamber of the Lonely Crevice had vanished. Instead, they were surrounded by towering buildings, with commercial buildings in the distance playing advertisements with a distinctly retro vibe. A cool breeze brushed their faces, and he realized they were standing atop a high-rise building.

With a "whoosh," a plane flew by behind them, steadily descending towards the airport.

"Where are we?" Sac asked, looking completely bewildered.

Kiara and Mordred exchanged confused glances. "Romania, maybe?" Kiara guessed uncertainly.

"It should be the dungeon, but... this doesn't look like a dungeon." Sik said uncertainly. He had no level 8 seniors or guild, so he didn't know the specifics either.

Shirou looked around, his gaze finally landing on the distant Tokyo Tower. His face filled with surprise. "This... isn't this Shinjuku?"

"Shinjuku?"

Everyone turned to look at him with confusion.

He frowned as he gazed at the distant landmark. This didn't make any sense. He'd cleared Shinjuku before heading to South America. More importantly, this was where everything had started for him. There was no mistaking it; this was definitely Shinjuku!

But why were they here? His mind raced through possibilities. Did this hidden map somehow tap into their strongest memories? Even if that were true, why Shinjuku of all places? Shouldn't his deepest connections be to Britain?

"The system hasn't given us any prompts," Sik said, "In any case, let's just stay alive and wait for those cocky 'senior members' to show up."

Shirou quickly checked the mission interface. Sure enough, there were no tasks or objectives. It seemed to be a highly open-ended scenario.

"We should get out of here," Sac said, eyeing the exposed rooftop warily. "We're sitting ducks if any monsters show up."

The others nodded, and without hesitation, Sac and Sik vaulted over the edge of the building.

Mordred was about to follow them when she noticed that Kiara and Shirou weren't moving. She asked, "Aren't we going to follow them?"

Kiara laughed nervously, her face flushing. "Jumping off a skyscraper? I, uh... I don't really like that idea."

"We'll take the stairs," Shirou said, nodding towards a nearby door.

"Won't that take forever?" Mordred pouted.

His lips quirked into a smile. "Being slow has its advantages. Don't you like being with me?"

Mordred slowly nodded.

The three entered the building. Fortunately, there was an elevator inside, so they didn't have to walk down, saving them quite a bit of effort. When they reached the ground floor, Shirou saw Sac and Sik surrounded by a gawking crowd, with police sirens wailing in the distance.

Sac gripped her battle axe, muscles tense. "Are these... monsters?"

Sik's eyes narrowed as he scanned the gawking crowd. "No level indicators, can't pull up any data on them. We'd better play it safe."

Sac nodded grimly. "Right."

The two stood out like sore thumbs, drawing curious stares from passersby who seemed to think they were cosplayers.

Shirou couldn't help but smile. "See? Sometimes being slow has its advantages."

Mordred raised an eyebrow, gesturing at the growing crowd of onlookers. "I don't think we're doing much better."

Shirou glanced around and indeed saw many people pointing and staring at the three of them. It wasn't surprising, given their clothes - silver armor wasn't exactly standard streetwear in modern Tokyo.

Kiara had retreated to a nearby corner, her face burning. "This is so embarrassing," she groaned, trying to make herself as small as possible.

The wail of sirens grew louder as police cars screeched to a halt. Officers poured out, forming a cautious perimeter around Sac and Sik. Their weapons were drawn, but held low - clearly unsure how to handle a fairy and a half-beast in the middle of Shinjuku.

"Are you human or yokai?" a trembling policeman asked, his gun shaking in his hands.

Sac's eyes darted nervously between the officers. "Sik, are they hostiles? Some kind of untagged monsters? The system's not picking up any levels." Her grip tightened on her weapon. "They couldn't be elite monsters from the hidden map, could they?"

"J-just be careful," Sik muttered, trying to keep his own panic in check.

The situation became tense.

Shirou stepped forward, hands raised placatingly. A disarming smile spread across his face as he addressed the officers. "There's been a misunderstanding. We're actually filming a movie."

"Do you think we're idiots?" one of the cops snapped. "They jumped off a skyscraper without any safety gear! How could this possibly be—"

The officer's words trailed off as his eyes met Shirou's. A glassy look came over not just him, but the entire group of police. "Oh," the lead officer said, his voice suddenly calm. "So it's a movie shoot."

As if a switch had been flipped, the police began to disperse, and so did the surrounding crowd.

Shirou sighed, thinking to himself that he had never expected to use [Suggestion] in this way. After being surrounded by the crowd, he had immediately used a wide-area hypnotic effect to convince everyone they were just ordinary pedestrians. Gone were the days when he could only influence one person at a time. Now, bending the perceptions of an entire crowd felt as natural as breathing.