IBHJ Chapter 979

Shirou tossed and turned in bed, his mind filled with images of Mordred walking away. What was wrong with her? Was there something she couldn't tell him? He worried about his daughter, and about their journey. Slowly, he drifted off to sleep. But instead of finding rest in the dreamlike sea of his subconscious, something pulled him into a space of complete blackness.

"Dream magecraft..." He muttered, looking around at the dark, lifeless wasteland. This was familiar. It reminded him of when he was younger, and Merlin would send Scathach into his dreams. Someone had clearly used similar magecraft on him now.

But with his [Evil] barrier, who besides Merlin could get into his head?

"Shirou..."

A voice called out. He spun around, surprised to see two identical women in the distance: Scathach and Skadi.

"Shisho?" His eyes widened. "Why are you here? Did you come into my dream?"

Shirou smiled as he walked towards them, but before he could even say hello, something unthinkable happened. Scathach and Skadi's bodies suddenly began to disintegrate, crumbling like fine sand caught in a desert wind. In mere seconds, they had completely disappeared.

Stunned, His eyes widened in disbelief. He lunged forward, desperately trying to grab onto them, to stop whatever was happening. But all he felt was the terrifying sensation of sand slipping through his fingers.

"Shirou." A familiar voice called out from behind him, breaking through his shock.

Shirou whirled around, his heart racing. There, standing before him, was a gathering of familiar faces – people he trusted, people who had fought by his side.

He ran towards them, but they vanished like smoke before he could reach them.

"Brother."

The dream shifted. Mists swirled, revealing Sakura, Ritsuka, and faces he hadn't seen in years.

He paused, unsure. "Is this a nightmare someone created? Or my own fears come to life?"

They all smiled at him, but there was something off about it. Mocking. They laughed as they began to fade.

Shirou lunged forward, trying to grab them, but his hands passed through empty air. No matter how fast he ran, they stayed just out of reach.

"Wait!" he shouted, but they didn't stop. Just kept laughing. At him.

"Papa."

A small voice came from his arms. He looked down to see Mordred hugging him tightly, smiling up at him.

Then—

Crack. Crack. Crack.

She shattered like glass, fragments scattering everywhere.

"No!" he shouted, desperately trying to gather the pieces, to put her back together. But it was useless. He could only watch as Mordred crumbled to dust in his hands.

"Can you bear this future?" A haughty voice rang out from above. He looked up to see Gilgamesh, the golden king, staring down at him.

"Gilgamesh..." Shirou gritted his teeth, glaring at the proud king before him.

"Can you shoulder the sorrow of humanity?" Another voice, weathered and tired, joined in. A man appeared beside Gilgamesh.

"Vortigern..." Shirou eyed him warily.

The two figures loomed over him, their voices merging into a chorus of mockery.

"Who can you protect?"

"You can't protect anyone."

They sneered, pointing behind Shirou. "Look, Eternal King. You can't even protect yourself."

He spun around, his body suddenly freezing. A massive vortex had appeared behind him at some point, and within that vortex, an eye both merciful and evil was staring at him.

Black mud poured from the vortex, rushing towards him. He tried to run, to shout, but the mud pulled him down like quicksand.

As he sank into the abyss, their laughter echoed around him.

"Look at you, you can't even protect yourself. How can you bear the future?"

Shirou struggled against the tide of mud, their mocking laughter ringing in his ears as he was pulled under.

The eye in the vortex stared at him, the indescribable horror of absolute evil wrapping around his heart.

—I am your only destination!

...

Shirou woke with a start, his breath coming in ragged gasps, his back soaked with sweat.

The room was dim, shadows blurring the edges of everything.

His face was troubled. He knew now that the Lord of Salvation's influence on him was stronger than he'd thought.

He stared at his palm, lost and confused.

Then, his jaw clenched.

He told himself, "I am invincible."

From the shadows, the black mud emerged, forming a hand that gently rested on his shoulder. This time, he didn't brush it away.

He got up and walked to the bathroom. In the mirror, he met his own gaze.

"I am invincible!" he said again, louder this time.

...

As night faded into dawn, Shirou's troubled expression melted into a smile. He stepped out of the shadows and into the light.

Later, as they gathered with the others, Artoria eyed him with concern. "Did you have a bad dream last night?"

"Bad dream? Not at all. I actually had a really nice one. I dreamed that we restored human order, the council was gone, and everyone was living happily in the real world," he said with a smile.

"But you look terrible," she said worriedly.

He deflected with a joke. "That's just because your body needs so much food. I swear, no matter how much you eat, you're never full. Who else but me could afford to feed you?"

"Mm." she shrank back a bit, embarrassed. It wasn't her choice to eat so much, it was her stomach's.

Just then, Mordred opened her door and walked out.

He glanced at her, then leaned in close to Artoria. "Yesterday, Mordred was acting strange. I think something might be bothering her. Could you try to find out what's going on?"

She looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, I'll see what I can do."

After the festival's revelry, only a mess remained on the streets and alleys. They walked through the garbage-strewn streets and arrived at the pyramid in the center of the Sanctuary.

Two giant statues flanked the pyramid's entrance, representing their former two gods. Inside, the Archbishop was already standing at the highest ceremonial position. He was a middle-aged man with a calm expression, wearing black and white robes and holding a scepter inlaid with obsidian.

Before the Archbishop were many adventurers and powerful guards, looking at him attentively and listening to his divine words. He waved his scepter, singing praises of the world's grandeur and hymns of courage.

Many priests in white robes chanted sacred texts softly, creating an ancient, timeless atmosphere.

Morrigan leaned in, whispering, "The Archbishop is buffing everyone. It's his daily thing in the game. We made it just in time."

As soon as she finished speaking, Shirou saw a system message:

[Archbishop's blessing received. All attributes +10% for 12h...]

Well, this was indeed a daily buff routine.

As the crowd started to disperse, Shirou and his group approached the Archbishop and explained their reason for coming.

"Rank advancement?" The Archbishop nodded. "That's not a difficult task. You just need to go to the Resurrection Pyramid, pass the system's test, and bathe in the holy spring."

Shirou blinked in surprise. The Resurrection Pyramid? They were already planning to go there to restore Mordred's and the Emiya siblings' intelligence and age, and now the final step of their rank advancement was there too. A convenient coincidence, he thought.

At this moment, Charia, who had been hiding his face with a hood, fidgeted nervously.

Shirou glanced at him, then looked at the calm-faced Archbishop. "Archbishop, there's actually something else we need your help with."

"Oh?" The Archbishop's eyebrows rose slightly. "What is it? I can't ignore matters concerning the adventurers who protect our homeland."

Shirou looked at Charia, who understood and lowered the hood from his head, revealing his third eye. The moment the Archbishop saw Charia's third eye, he froze, and the surrounding priests began murmuring amongst themselves.

Shirou observed their reactions carefully, then pointed at Charia, "Archbishop, do you recognize him?"

The Archbishop shook his head slowly. "I don't know this boy, but I know of his kind."

After a heavy pause, he added with emotion, "Gandharan... I never thought I'd see them again."

"So you do know about the Gandharans."

The Archbishop's face softened into a sad smile. "We are God's children, blessed with divine favor. But while God gave us power, He didn't give us wisdom. Our wisdom all came from the Gandharan people who came from across the sea."

Shirou calmly said, "But you killed all the Gandharan who came seeking refuge."

The reaction was instant. "How dare you!" The guards and priests around them bristled with anger, glaring at him.