IBHJ Chapter 947

"Oh, these? There seem to be some special existences at the South American connection point, I, I want to... you know..."

Morrigan's breathing became rapid, her body trembling with excitement, the smile on her face looking exactly like those mad scientists, making Gao Changgong's skin crawl.

"Um..."

Suddenly, a voice came from outside the door.

Morrigan turned her head to see Ayaka and Kiara Sessyoin standing there. She couldn't help but ask, "What's up, you two?"

Ayaka gathered her courage and said seriously, "I'm sorry, we just happened to be passing by and overheard what you were planning, Miss Morrigan. So—"

She took a deep breath and continued, "Can you take me with you?"

"Eh?" Morrigan was taken aback.

Ayaka continued earnestly, "I want... I need to find Altera. She's my Servant, please."

"I'm also worried about Altera, so I want to go too, Miss Morrigan. Believe me, my power will be useful, so please take us along. We won't slow you down, I promise." Kiara added sincerely.

"Well..." Morrigan hesitated.

"Take them along," Hinako said. "And I'm going too."

"Eh? Why you too, Hinako?" Morrigan looked at her in surprise. "Didn't you swear off high-difficulty missions after that one in China?"

"That's true. But I need to settle an 800-year-old grudge and the grievances from the Chinese Connection Point with that fox," Hinako's gaze passed through the gap in the door and landed on Tamamo-no-Mae, who was just passing by, leading Tamamo Cat home.

...

She lost control.

Misty raindrops slid down her face, falling to the ground with a soft "drip, drip."

Tilting her head back, Altera stared blankly at the vast gray sky.

It had happened again. She had lost control.

Altera, the Vanguard known as the White Titan. A creature designed to consume the civilizations it destroyed, absorbing their essence as magical energy and growing infinitely large. Its ultimate fate was self-destruction after completely annihilating the targeted civilization - a suicidal invader.

Fourteen thousand years ago, after being defeated by the UOs, Altera crash-landed on the Moon. Simultaneously, she sent her information to Earth, creating a physical incarnation there and launching a dual invasion of both the Moon and Earth. Initially, she stood about 16 meters tall, "ten times the size of humans in that civilization." With each absorption of spiritrons, she grew larger, inflicting massive damage on both the Moon and Earth.

On Earth, she even destroyed invaders from other planets. However, her reign of destruction was ultimately brought to an end. Mooncell defeated her on the Moon, and humans wielding holy swords defeated her on Earth.

While Altera's form on Earth became a massive corpse, her true self, on the Moon, was only imprisoned. Mooncell, unable to destroy her, quarantined the Ark she was in, labeling it an unknown domain.

On Earth, Altera's giant corpse, over countless years, transformed into ancient ruins, eventually found by the Huns. From these ruins, a new Altera was born. She rose to become the emperor of the Huns, leading them on a path of conquest. But her reign was cut short when she was defeated and killed by Artoria Pendragon, the King of Knights from the Eternal Kingdom. With her fall, the once-mighty Hun Empire crumbled.

The plains she'd ridden across, the simple lives of the people she'd seen – these were what Altera yearned for. It was then she understood what she truly desired.

It was certainly not destruction.

But tragically, all a Vanguard could do was destroy.

Dragging her weary body, Altera retreated to a dark cave, curling up in a corner. Her eyes stared blankly at the misty rain outside. The hazy downpour was like a shroud, darkening her heart.

The rain intensified, a steady "rustle, rustle" filling the air. Yet, oddly, she felt a growing sense of peace.

"Drip, drip, drip." The downpour eased, becoming a gentle drizzle. Raindrops clung to the few leaves left on the branches, gathering in the veins until, with a soft "plop," they fell to the ground.

The sky cleared abruptly, revealing a breathtaking expanse of blue. Birdsong filled the air – "chirp chirp, chirp chirp" – and the river, now flowing freely, tempted fish to jump. The earth was washed clean, the air fresh and clean.

Altera turned away from the light and walked deeper into the cave, where it was darker and colder. There was no light, only shadows and moss clinging to the walls. She curled herself into a ball.

Tap tap tap. Footsteps approached from outside the cave, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, then finally slowing to a cautious tiptoe.

"Um..." A hesitant voice called out from the entrance, "Miss Altera?"

It was a little girl with a ponytail, wearing a simple gray linen dress. She held a giant lotus leaf over her head like an umbrella. Her shy face was round and cute. But there was something unusual about her: right between her eyebrows, she had a third eye!

"Um, Miss Altera, may I come in?" the girl asked softly.

Altera didn't answer, so the girl tiptoed inside. But just as she reached the entrance, Altera's cold voice echoed from the darkness: "Don't come in!"

The three-eyed girl froze.

"Leave this place!"

Scared, the girl backed out of the cave and hid outside. She trembled for a moment, then peeked her little head back in. Her three eyes looked at Altera curled up in the shadows. After a moment's hesitation, she set the basket full of fresh fruit at the cave entrance. "Miss Altera, I'll leave the food here."

"Take it back!"

But this time, the three-eyed girl didn't obey. She turned and ran away.

The three-eyed girl was from a nearby village. To make ends meet, she would go to the city of Zaun on market days to trade for supplies. She never expected a floating island to attack the city.

When the Angels of Destruction attacked the city, hunting down everyone in sight, it was Altera who saved her. Later, after the titanized Altera lost control and retreated, she ended up in this wild forest near the girl's village.

The girl didn't understand why Altera had lost control, but she remembered a simple truth: kindness should be repaid. She was no adventurer or hero, just an ordinary three-eyed girl. All she could do was bring some food, worried that Altera might be hungry.

"Ramoi."

She turned to see a three-eyed old man with a cane calling to her from a distance.

"Hello, Village Chief," Ramoi smiled and greeted the old man.

He was the leader of their village of three-eyed people. Their community wasn't large; there were only twenty-seven households scattered around, with a total of seventy-three people.

The three-eyed people were close-knit and cared deeply for one another, because there were only seventy-three of them left. This wasn't just the population of their village, but the entire land. There were only seventy-three three-eyed people left on the whole land.

At the village entrance stood an ancient, spiral-shaped stone tablet, the object of worship for the villagers. Before this land had been transformed into its current state, divine miracles were commonplace. The Aztec sun rose in the south, and the Maya pyramids glowed eternally. But the three-eyed people believed in neither the Aztec sun nor the Maya's eternity. Their faith was in the existence inscribed on this ancient stone tablet: the swirl.

"I'm back, Great God. Thank you for your protection today as well."

Ramoi clasped her hands and prayed before the stone tablet. It was a ritual she performed every time she went out.

The village chief had told her that their ancestors had once built a magnificent empire on a distant continent, much like the Maya and the Aztec. But a catastrophic event destroyed their empire, and the survivors, guided by their god, sailed across the ocean to a new world and established a new home.

That was how their village came to be. The village chief often reminded them that every peaceful day was a precious miracle to be treasured.

So, the daily task of the three-eyed villagers was to pray to their god, asking for peace and tranquility for the new day.

After exchanging greetings with a few neighbors, Ramoi returned to her own dwelling, a modest adobe house that was her home.

Ramoi had no parents. For 572 years, she had lived alone in this small house. Yes, Ramoi was 572 years old, a child raised by the village chief himself.

In fact, most of the villagers had been raised by the village chief. Their parents, like Ramoi's, had either died in the cataclysmic disaster or perished during the journey across the ocean to find a new home.

Because of this, the villagers held the village chief in high regard.

Ramoi didn't feel sad about her parents. It was all too distant, like the stories the village chief told her when she was little. But sometimes, looking at her empty room, she felt a pang of loneliness.

Another day began. After finishing her chores on the farm, Ramoi went back to Altera's cave.

The food she had left the day before was still sitting outside, untouched and damp from the rain.

Ramoi wasn't disheartened. She simply took back the old basket and replaced it with a new one filled with fresh food.

For Ramoi, this was not only a way to repay a kindness, but also a gesture of goodwill towards Altera.

"Take it back," Altera's cold voice echoed from the cave.

Ramoi silently picked up the old basket and left.

Back at her home, she ground the old food into feed for her poultry.