IBHJ Chapter 925

"The Grail, the Grail...!" Mordred frantically retrieved her Grail. In this situation, all she could do was use it to protect herself and the weakened Illya. She was powerless to do anything else.

However, just as she took out her Grail, a streak of light flashed from the sky like a meteor, striking towards her. She instinctively raised her hand to block, the light hitting her Grail with a clang. The Grail was knocked away, clattering to the ground. An angel landed in front of her.

"You, you bad thing!" Mordred drew her sword, cautiously pointing it at the angel. The angel stared at her, then slightly lowered its head and licked its small palm with its tongue.

Mordred looked closer and saw a clear set of teeth marks on the angel's palm. "It's, it's you!" she exclaimed, recognizing it as the one she had bitten earlier.

At that moment, another angel swooped down, ready to attack Mordred. But the first angel stopped it: "This is my prey. Find another target, 'me'."

"Understood, 'me'." the newcomer replied and flew away.

The first angel turned back to Mordred, its eyes cold and menacing. "Before the main body eats you, I want to bite back."

"Huh?" she was taken aback.

The angel pointed at the teeth marks on its palm, its aura growing colder.

"Isn't that a bit petty? It, it was just a joke," Mordred stammered.

"I don't care." The angel exuded a murderous aura and lunged towards her.

"Waaaah, help——!" she shrieked, turning tail and running.

With the Grail out of reach, she could only resort to her most reliable skill—running away.

......

"The BOSS territory should be just ahead."

Shirou glanced at another wave of monsters defeated by the adventurers, then raised his head to see a giant tree reaching for the sky. Covered in glowing crystals, it looked extraordinarily mystical.

Two such sky-reaching trees were on the back of the Heaven's Corpse, resembling fish fins from afar, capable of releasing destructive black beam. But perhaps due to Altera's deep stab into its body, the crystals on the giant trees were shattered and temporarily unable to release the black beam. It was clear that this was the core area of the Heaven's Corpse.

"Hang in there, everyone, victory is in sight!" Enkidu shouted, rallying the group.

The adventurers responded with a loud cheer.

Under Enkidu's leadership, they had reached this point without a single loss. Such victories bred confidence, but this was a false sense of security. The real reason Gilgamesh lured Ishtar away, and why the party could safely reach this point, was because Altera had severely wounded the Heaven's Corpse, causing it to focus entirely on her and completely ignore the others.

Moreover, most of the angels were outside. Although the monsters inside were strong, they didn't instill the same sense of overwhelming dread as the Angels of Destruction.

Of course, the most crucial factor was—

"You've been bufffed, your HP is restored, now get back to battle."

"Thank you, Lady Morrigan!"

Watching Morrigan heal a group of people, Shirou rubbed his forehead.

Yes, the real reason this team had made it this far without casualties was Morrigan's abundant and high-quality healing skills. But perhaps it was for the best. At least they could clear this hidden map quickly.

Though surprised to see Ishtar as a BOSS again, he was relieved she had fallen for Gilgamesh's provocations and been drawn away. Normally, clearing out the remaining monsters and claiming the boss treasure chest would complete the map. But considering the designers' penchant for sadism, it was better to be cautious. As long as they were careful, even unexpected events wouldn't be too disastrous.

But something was off. Inside the bronze ancient tree, they faced no resistance, not even a single minor enemy.

"What's happening?"

"No mobs?"

"There's got to be a catch. Dungeons aren't this easy."

Compared to Shirou, these adventurers had more experience and quickly analyzed the situation. But their analysis was useless. The paths within the bronze tree were complex, but there were no monsters or traps. It was like... a hell that needed no embellishment to be terrifying.

The dungeon couldn't be this simple. Even with Ishtar gone, there should have been something to hinder the players, especially in this hidden map that even the Emperor's Conquest Guild rarely managed to clear. There was no reason not to have traps to kill adventurers. They knew this, and it gnawed at them, filling them with unease.

Thump thump thump!

The adventurers' hearts pounded like drums, each beat a countdown to an unknown doom. Many yearned for something – anything – to break the agonizing silence and suspense.

But nothing came.

No monsters, no deadly traps. Just a path leading deeper into the darkness.

Their anxious march continued until they reached the end – a vast underground palace. Its existence hidden within the bronze tree, a secret chamber of cold stone and shadow.

A lone throne, fit for a demon lord, dominated the space. Upon it sat a breathtaking woman with silver hair, her chin resting on her hand as she gazed down at them like a queen surveying her subjects.

"Welcome, adventurers," her voice, clear and cold, echoed through the chamber.

"What? So there's another boss!"

"I was so scared! So this is the trick!"

The sight of her brought a wave of relief. The adventurers had feared some elaborate and unknown trick, but this was just a classic double-boss scenario.

However, Enkidu's reaction was far from the adventurers' lighthearted relief. She stared at the woman, not with admiration, shock, or even speechlessness, but with a profound sense of disbelief.

"Im-impossible... How, how could it be you? this map Guardian, how could it be you?" Enkidu stared at the woman, her voice thick with disbelief, as if the foundations of her reality had crumbled.

Shirou understood this earth-shattering reaction. Anyone who knew this woman's true identity would likely feel the same.

This woman was...

"I see, you are also my child."

A warm, maternal aura emanated from the silver-haired woman on the throne. She gazed at Enkidu with gentle eyes, a strange, purple "X"-shaped light in them radiating a unique tenderness.

"I can't believe this is happening."

The appearance of Heaven's Corpse at the South American Connection Point was unexpected but not entirely shocking, considering Ort was also in deep sleep in America. But this woman's presence here was beyond belief!

Tiamat, the goddess of creation betrayed and sealed away by the Mesopotamian gods, was here!

"Take this!"

An adventurer lunged forward, sword ablaze with magical energy, and unleashed a beam towards Tiamat on her throne.

Shirou's heart sank. This is bad!

As expected, Tiamat merely extended a hand and pinched the beam, extinguishing it like a candle flame with a soft pop.

"To raise a hand against me, such naughty children. And naughty children must be put to death."

Tiamat rose slowly from her throne. While others remained oblivious, Enkidu, as the Chains of Heaven, instinctively recoiled, her face pale and drenched in sweat.

Shirou's expression hardened.

Killing intent.

A terrifying aura of bloodlust surged from Tiamat.

His eyes flicked to the space above her head. As expected, like Rin/Ishtar, a system BOSS warning floated above her.

Madoka Kaname Lv9 (BOSS)]

Magical Girl 

Shirou: "..."

The tension that had been building up instantly disappeared when he saw Tiamat's name.

So, who was the genius that designed this character?

Tiamat stepped away from the throne, pulled a small piece of paper from her pocket, and began to read, "Congratulations, adventurers. After defeating the other six Gundams, you have reached the core and passed the test of the magical girl to arrive before me, Madoka Kaname. But do not think you will defeat me so easily. I shall purify you just like I purify the Seeds of Grief..."

The text seemed either too messy or too small, as Tiamat practically buried her face in the note. Eventually, she gave up, folded the paper, returned it to her pocket, and gazed at them with her strange purple eyes.

"I won't bother with the rest of the opening speech," she said flatly. "Since you have raised your weapons against me, dear children, I shall be taking your lives back."

Tiamat calmly looked down at everyone, then an immensely terrifying magical aura erupted around her. With a sound like shattering glass, the space surrounding Tiamat broke apart, revealing warped dimensional barriers that twisted and contorted like a shattered mirror.

She stood within these distorted barriers, her white hair floating around her like a halo of power. The purple light in her eyes intensified, glowing with an otherworldly luminescence. Shadows of planets began to materialize in the surrounding dimensional rifts, each one a swirling mass of darkness and energy.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, along with various moons, asteroids, and comets, all appeared in the rifts, forming a celestial map with Tiamat at its center.

"Wh-what is this?"

Shirou stared, dumbfounded, at the orbiting planets. His knowledge of Tiamat was limited to her being one of the Beasts, but this planetary display far exceeded his understanding.

Not just Shirou, but everyone, including Enkidu, was stunned.