IBHJ Chapter 935

"Artoria-neesan, now's not the time for tea!" Illya urged. "Let's quickly submit the mission and get out of here before Gilgamesh comes back."

She already knew that One King was Gilgamesh, and she was among those who understood his personality best. If the God Brain was the key to everything, then before they obtained the qualification for the Holy Land at Lv9, Gilgamesh would take it from them by force.

"Don't rush, Illya," he said with a smile as he put down his teacup.

"Don't rush...? Artoria-neesan, you've become so weird..." Illya grumbled, turning to "Shirou" beside her. "Shirou-niisan, aren't you going to say something?"

"...I have nothing to say. Just... just listen to Artoria," 'Shirou' said helplessly.

"You've become weird too, Shirou-niisan. No, all of you have become so strange...!"

Illya was completely baffled. For Shirou-niisan to say something like leaving everything to Artoria was just mind-boggling!

In her mind, it was always Shirou who took charge, with Artoria following his lead. Shirou had the final say, and Artoria handled the execution.

But now it seemed like everything was flipped on its head.

It was as if... as if she had fallen into one of those gender-swapped, female-dominated fantasy novels Miyu was always writing. It was too bizarre!

Illya was beyond frustrated.

Of course, she had no idea that at this very moment, Shirou was actually Artoria, and Artoria was Shirou.

"Don't be in such a hurry, Illya. The person we need to report to is right here, isn't he?" he said with a smile.

"What are you talking about?" Illya was taken aback. The emergency mission was issued by the Vampire King, so naturally, it should be reported to the Vampire King, at the Vampire King's Palace! How could it be here?

Shirou didn't even glance at Illya's confused expression. Instead, he turned his head slightly, his gaze settling on the innkeeper who was preparing tea. "Wouldn't you agree, innkeeper?"

At his words, Illya and the others were momentarily stunned. Then, as one, they turned their heads, their gazes also falling on the unassuming innkeeper.

Had they missed something? Wasn't this just a regular NPC innkeeper?

"I'm not sure what you mean, sir. Would you like some more tea?" the innkeeper asked politely, teapot in hand.

"Honestly, if I hadn't known beforehand that this was a safe zone, Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and those reckless adventurers would have killed me long ago. It's precisely because I knew this was a safe zone that things turned out the way they did. 'Zaun is quite chaotic, please don't go out after dark.' That's what you told me, and thinking back, the real meaning of that sentence was to remind me that this is a safe zone, wasn't it?"

Shirou's gaze remained fixed on the innkeeper. The initial reason he used the lottery to trick the adventurers was because they knew in advance that the inn was a safe zone. Otherwise, from the very beginning, he would have been overwhelmed by those greedy adventurers, Morrigan, Gilgamesh, and the others.

And the reason he could know in advance that this was a safe zone was because of that one sentence from the innkeeper. Instead of relying on brute force, he relied more on his intellect and wit. Word games were his forte. That's how he was able to outsmart the young Scáthach back then, and how he managed to defeat the Gatekeeper by exploiting a bug.

This sentence from the innkeeper, from the perspective of word games, could be split into two meanings. Zaun is chaotic and dangerous. Don't go out after dark, which implies the inn is very safe. And from a game perspective, this hints that this is a safe zone.

"Wait, wait," Morrigan interjected, looking at him somewhat helplessly. "Most innkeepers would say that. It's a standard NPC line."

Glancing at her, then at Shirou, the real Artoria started to get a headache. When would this conversation end?

"At first, I thought I was overthinking it too, but then I changed my mind," Shirou nodded, then looked back at the innkeeper. "Those angels were able to destroy other 'safe zones', and even one tower of the Vampire King's castle was demolished, but just now when several angels attacked this inn, they couldn't even scratch it. Before coming in, I specifically checked the spots where the inn was attacked, and there wasn't a single mark. This proves that this place is special."

Shirou's gaze remained locked on the innkeeper, asking seriously, "Who are you?"

The innkeeper paused for a moment, then sighed as if conceding defeat. "You're truly remarkable. Although luck played a big part, you did indeed see through me... Impressive, I admit defeat. No wonder She chose to imitate you..."

"But to ask who I am... That's truly heartless, isn't it? Didn't you just shoot me down from the sky, Savior of Gaia?"

The innkeeper rose to her feet, those emerald eyes meeting his, a strange smile playing on her lips.

Shot down? Illya reacted instantly, her body trembling as she assumed a defensive stance.

Mordred and Morrigan also tensed, their grips tightening on their weapons.

He sighed, "So it really is you, Heaven's Corpse."

"It seems you figured it out long ago," she said, a hint of emotion in her voice.

He nodded. "Of course."

—This was a lie.

He had just guessed that the innkeeper's true identity was the Vampire King, but unexpectedly it turned out to be Heaven's Corpse.

"But weren't you already..."

"An avatar, a clone, whatever you want to call it. Just think of it like the relationship between Servants and their originals," she explained.

So, the innkeeper's true identity was a spore of Heaven's Corpse, the same kind of existence as those angels, which explained why those angels couldn't destroy the inn.

A self-directed play, she certainly knew how to put on a show. He thought.

With her identity exposed, Heaven's Corpse dropped the pretense. She leaned lazily against the wall, her eyes fixed on him. "Still, you're quite something, actually managing to shoot down my main body."

"Wasn't that within your calculations?" he countered.

He still vividly remembered the mental communication with Heaven's Corpse's main body before he shot it down.

"The gathering of UOs, Savior of Gaia, vortex... there are many unexplained things. Don't you think you should tell me something?" he looked at her and asked.

"Of course, you passed my test, successfully defeated my main body, and obtained the God Fragment. Whether as an NPC or as Heaven's Corpse, I would have told you the answers you seek."

"That's how it should have been—," Heaven's Corpse's lips curled into a slight sneer, her gaze turning sharp with a hint of killing intent. "But unfortunately, I've changed my mind. After all, from a personality perspective, this is the third time you've killed me."

"Personality... what do you mean?" he frowned slightly.

"Beings like us, our spirits cannot communicate with humans. To communicate with them, we must imitate a personality to achieve spiritual downgrading. And the personality I imitated was Crimson Moon, who was killed by you twice." Heaven's Corpse's eyes narrowed slightly.

Crimson Moon!

Artoria's eyes suddenly widened, and her body involuntarily radiated a chilling killing intent.

Hm? Heaven's Corpse looked at her in confusion, and Mordred, Illya, and the others also looked at Artoria.

While immersed in the mental trauma of Crimson Moon, Artoria suddenly felt a hand covering hers, bringing warmth. She looked down and saw bright, fiery blue eyes. She took a deep breath and finally suppressed her killing intent.

Seeing that Artoria's emotions had stabilized, he turned his head, his gaze somewhat cold as he stared at Heaven's Corpse.

"But don't worry. If you hadn't shot down my main body, you would have been devoured by it. But since you've already done so, you've passed my test. I won't harm you, after all, I'm out of the game like Pluto and the others," she said, placing her hands behind her head and turning her head slightly, her gaze passing through the window and landing on Altera. "Besides, more important than any questions you have, you should probably worry about your friend first."

"Hm?"

He was taken aback. What did she mean?

Just as he was about to ask, Gilgamesh's enraged roar thundered across the sky.

"You mongrel——!!"

As he had predicted, when Gilgamesh discovered that the God Fragment had already been taken and what he got was a fake, he would be enraged. It was as if a thief had stolen a treasure right under his nose. He'd been so proud of outsmarting Shirou, planning to gloat after clearing this Connection Point, only to find he'd been played.

It was as if he had been made a complete fool. Gilgamesh was furious, but Heaven's Corpse was already on the verge of collapse, leaving him no time to indulge in his own anger. He could only snort coldly, then use a teleportation scroll to transport himself to Enkidu's side.

Enkidu and the others were now on Altera's palm.

After Heaven's Corpse was shot down, they'd quickly escaped to Altera's palm, which was there to catch them.

"Judging by your expression, it seems something unexpected happened, Gil," Enkidu said, noticing Gilgamesh's grim expression.

"Hmph. It must be that mud-slinging mongrel pulling some trick. He's probably about to make a run for it. We need to catch him and get that God Brain!" Gilgamesh declared loudly.