IBHJ Chapter 939

"Alright, everyone. Please follow me," Venus clapped her hands, getting their attention, and led them into the thatched hut.

As soon as they entered, before they could even take in their surroundings, a resentful, cold voice pierced the air.

"It's you——!"

His heart skipped a beat. He turned to see Tiamat sitting nearby, her eyes locked on him with icy hatred.

Instinctively, he took a few steps back, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He finally understood the source of Artoria and Mordred's ominous feeling.

It was Tiamat!

"It seems you have a lot of resentment towards him, Tiamat," Venus smiled as she looked at Tiamat.

"That underhanded victory! He's not the true savior Gaia is waiting for!" Tiamat pointed at Shirou, her voice full of discontent.

"Regardless, he defeated Pluto, obtained the God Brain, then defeated Ishtar, you, and me. According to the rules, he is, and he has the right to know the truth," Venus replied with a smile.

"Whatever..."

Tiamat crossed her arms, wanting nothing to do with Venus and Shirou's group. But her gaze accidentally fell on Artoria, and she froze. Pointing at her, she said, "You, you're Sakura's brother?"

"Uh..." Artoria was taken aback. Sakura?

"Wait! This asymmetrical state is the same..."

Tiamat looked from Artoria to Shirou, her face darkening. "I finally understand where this unpleasant feeling comes from!"

She could see the workings of the Invisible Vortex. From the start, she knew that Shirou's soul, records, and current body didn't match, but she hadn't realized that Shirou was actually Fujimaru Shirou.

Now, after seeing Artoria, Tiamat instantly understood that under the Invisible Vortex's influence, Fujimaru Shirou and Artoria's bodies had been swapped.

Although it seemed impossible, for the Invisible Vortex, it was child's play.

At the same time, Tiamat also understood why she had felt such animosity towards Shirou from the very beginning.

It made perfect sense. As the secondary candidate for the main position in the heart of Fujimaru Sakura, whom she saw as her own daughter, Tiamat was like a father giving away his daughter in marriage, finding fault with his son-in-law no matter what he did.

But the worst part was...

"Oh my, you two already know each other?" Venus said, scratching her head. "That makes sense. You're also a legacy of that civilization, aren't you, Tiamat?"

Yes, that was the most infuriating thing in this mess.

"Let's get one thing straight, Venus," Tiamat said, giving her a cold stare. "I have nothing to do with that 'legacy' anymore."

"Haha... Right, I forgot," Venus said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head again.

Tiamat snorted and turned away. She knew all too well the unpleasant personality this creature was imitating. She'd said those words just to get under her skin!

"Um... what are you guys even talking about?" he frowned.

The two women were having their own conversation, completely oblivious to those left out of the loop.

"Sorry about that. You can just think of that conversation as a greeting between old friends," Venus said with a smile. Then, her gaze fell on him, and her expression turned exasperated. "How can I explain this to you... Oh right, do you know what the objective of your main quest is?"

"I have no idea," he shook his head.

"How is that even possible?" Venus was confused. "Shouldn't the quest system have reminders or something? A plot summary, maybe?"

He glanced at Morgan before answering. "The newbie village chief ran away. I couldn't turn in the quest, so it's still incomplete."

"Seriously?! Puhahaha," Venus burst into laughter. "I can't believe something so ridiculous happened!" The Crimson Moon personality she was simulating would have been delighted to see Shirou's frustration.

He watched her laugh for a moment before speaking quietly. "Can you tell me the truth now? If you don't know where to start, you can begin with these UOs."

"Hmm..." Venus glanced at the God Brain sitting quietly off to the side. Then, in a blur of motion, she rushed over and embraced the God Brain, rubbing her face against Aqua's. "This really is comfortable."

"Please let go of me, Miss Venus," the God Brain said, her voice serious. "You're making me very uncomfortable."

Venus completely ignored Aqua's complaint, continuing to rub her cheek against the God Brain's. It was clear she wasn't listening at all.

Aqua turned to Shirou for help. "Master, please return me to the Inventory."

He looked away, pretending not to see.

Aqua was silent. How cruel reality is, she thought. Has Master sold me to Miss Venus? The God Brain lowered her head in despair.

Venus, meanwhile, was hugging the God Brain like a pillow, her head resting on Aqua's shoulder and a blissful smile on her face. Then, she seemed to snap out of it and looked at him and the others. "Do you understand what I am, and what Crimson Moon is?"

Artoria, Illya, and the others all shook their heads, but he nodded. "UO, also known as Aristoteles. The strongest life form, an extension of a planet's will. In a way, it's not wrong to say that a UO is the planet. Crimson Moon is the UO of the moon, and you're the UO of Venus."

Venus looked at him in surprise. "You know quite a lot."

"Well, he is the inheritor of that legacy," Tiamat interjected, her arms crossed and a hint of displeasure in her voice.

Venus looked at him and asked, "Then do you know about Earth's UO?"

"Earth's UO?" He looked puzzled. "That's a weird question. Does Earth even have a UO?"

Anyone familiar with the Type-Moon world knew that Earth didn't have a UO. Having spent so many years in that world, he was also quite certain of this. A UO was the strongest and only life form on a planet. Earth, with its humans, phantasmal beasts, gods, and countless other creatures, violated this concept from the start. There couldn't be a UO.

Besides, if Earth had a UO, why would Gaia need to accept Crimson Moon's offer to keep humanity in check? With UOs and other alien invaders running rampant, how could Gaia remain indifferent? If a UO existed, it would have long since dealt with these threats.

Venus' question was simply bizarre, like asking something that defied common sense.

"Oh my, it seems this is your cognitive blind spot," Venus laughed, tilting her head back. Her gaze drifted toward the blue sky outside the window. "Earth doesn't lack a UO. It's just that Gaia chose a completely different path."

He frowned. "This joke isn't funny. The concept of a UO is that it's the only one on a planet. Earth has too many life forms to have a UO."

"Then let me ask a different question," Venus countered. "Why is it that in the entire solar system, only Earth has life and civilization? Venus and Earth share some similarities, so why didn't Venus give birth to other life forms?"

"Isn't that obvious? Venus is too close to the sun, with surface temperatures above 465 degrees Celsius. How could life possibly survive in those conditions?"

Venus smiled. "Your judgment of 'high temperature' is based on human subjective perception of Earth's environment, a system of common sense accumulated over time. But if you use subjective perception to understand the logic of UOs, you won't be able to understand UOs, and even less the Dark Vortex."

He frowned and Artoria looked at him with concern.

"So, what is Earth's UO?" he asked, forcing himself to remain calm. Since it was related to the Dark Vortex, he had to get to the bottom of it.

But does Earth really have a UO? he thought. If it exists, why would it need the users of the Holy Sword to defend it? Why would it need to ally itself with Crimson Moon and create Arcueid based on Crimson Moon?

"Isn't Earth's UO right by your side all along?" Venus smiled, looking at him. "There's one thing humans didn't get wrong. Venus and Earth are a pair of seemingly similar sisters. In the entire solar system, except for me and Earth's UO who are the most unique, the others are all powerful, destructive types."

"I am an ecological invasion predatory type, while Earth's UO is completely opposite to me. Or rather, it's precisely because Earth is that kind of UO that I was born in this form. Why does only Earth have civilization, why does only Earth give birth to multiple life forms? There's only one answer, Earth's UO is..."

"—Civilization," Tiamat interrupted her.

"Ci-civilization?" he looked at Tiamat in bewilderment.

"Yes. It's civilization. And it's that ancient civilization that has already perished, whose legacy you inherited."

"Tiamat, that was what I was going to say...!" Venus looked at her in annoyance. This woman had actually stolen her thunder!

"You're wasting too much time, Venus!" she glanced at her with displeasure, then turned her head to look at him and asked, "Since you defeated Crimson Moon, you should also know about its existence. Then, you should also know about the Mooncell, the supercomputer that exists within the moon, right?"

Other than Shirou, everyone else was completely lost. UOs, ancient civilizations, and now Mooncell... What was going on? They exchanged bewildered glances.