IBHJ Chapter 919

Holding back and suppressing the Heaven's Corpse would undoubtedly provoke a powerful counterattack. Who else but Ultraman could withstand a cosmic warfare weapon-level UO?

For this, he could only think of Altera, the White Titan.

Altera had become a Heroic Spirit, but her titan instincts couldn't be completely erased, evidenced by the star patterns that had become her innate skill. In fact, when she first entered this game world, the system's description of the star patterns clearly mentioned the ability to transform into a titan.

And on their side, they had Illya, a Holy Grail with infinite magical energy. Using her power to transform Altera into a titan with unlimited magical energy to hold back a UO was the only viable method he could think of to deal with the Heaven's Corpse.

However, Altera was strongly opposed to the idea.

So, he had to give up and take a risk.

His plan was to replace the White Titan by using Evil Blossom to transform into an evil giant and attempt to suppress the Heaven's Corpse.

His black mud had advanced and transformed after absorbing the pure malice of the Vortex, but he wasn't confident about fighting a UO. Still, they had to take the chance.

Once the Heaven's Corpse completed its invasion, everyone here, including him and Mordred, would die – a true death, not even returning to the Throne of Heroes.

Mordred was still here. He couldn't allow that to happen. That's why he decided to gamble.

He wasn't betting on his black mud, but on the power of the Vortex that had trapped him in endless resets.

Upon hearing that Shirou wanted to restrain the Heaven's Corpse himself, Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and Mordred were stunned. How could he possibly achieve that? The sheer size difference made it seem impossible.

But Illya understood what he intended to do.

"This won't work. It's too dangerous!" she immediately protested. How could a giant stand against a UO?

Shirou also knew this was a gamble, a gamble with their lives at stake.

But he had to do it. He couldn't let Mordred and Illya die here.

An argument broke out.

But then...

"What should I do?"

A calm voice cut through the tension. Shirou turned to see Altera.

"Altera, you..."

"I said this would be the last time." Altera turned her back.

He had planned to risk everything on the power of the Vortex, using Evil Blossom to transform into a giant and hold back the Heaven's Corpse. But now, Altera had agreed to become a titan to suppress it. This was the ideal solution, but wasn't it asking too much of Altera?

"It's okay. This truly is the last time. And after becoming a Titan, I won't be able to control myself. You shouldn't worry about me, but about yourselves, enemy," Altera emphasized.

She wasn't opposed to becoming a Titan, because Sefar was a part of her. What she hated and feared was the part of her that only destroyed and couldn't cherish the things that mattered.

"I believe you won't be consumed by your instincts, Altera," Shirou said earnestly.

He understood her fear – the instincts of Titan. He empathized, having once been influenced by the legendary aspect of the Eternal King. But he believed that Altera could overcome this.

Because her heart was kind.

Of course, this was an idealistic view. It was possible because the current Altera was in Heroic Spirit form, not her original body. The legendary aspect of "Heroic Spirit Altera" acted as a barrier between her spirit and essence, allowing her to be less controlled by the Umbral Star and maintain her sense of self.

Altera turned her head, silently looking at him. You believe in me, but I don't believe in myself, friend.

But she never voiced these words.

She was fortunate to have followers who were willing to serve her, a Master willing to accept her, and even more fortunate to have friends willing to associate with and trust her... But Altera recognized her true nature.

Returning to being a Titan was also her heart's desire. This way, everyone would understand how dangerous it was to be close to her.

She could only have enemies, not friends.

"What should I do?" Altera asked.

"That depends on Illya."

He turned to look at Illya, who wore a troubled expression.

"This makes me feel like I'm being used as a mana battery... Still, in this situation, we don't really have a choice. If only Chloe were here, I wouldn't have to do this..."

Illya mumbled with a worried expression, then took a sharp dagger and sliced her palm open.

"Drip, drip..."

Bright red blood welled from the wound. With a pained expression, Illya pressed her palm to the ground, drawing a magic circle.

"What is that?"

"It looks like a magic circle... but beast-people aren't supposed to have the mage class, right?"

The adventurers exchanged confused glances, discussing the anomaly. This contradicted everything they knew.

"Priests of the gods..."

A Level 6 adventurer suddenly murmured.

"Priests?"

The adventurers turned to him, their faces full of confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"It's understandable for the younger generation to have forgotten, but shouldn't some of you be around my age? Have you forgotten as well? Priests are those who received divine miracles and served the gods," the adventurer explained.

Many young adventurers looked puzzled, while several high-level adventurers showed sudden realization.

"Priests... a relic of the past."

Before Emperor Frieza was driven into this world by the Ultramen, it wasn't like this. There were no adventurers, no monsters, no NPCs, no system. Though vampires and magical beasts existed, it was a relatively normal world. Back then, the land was dotted with pyramids dedicated to the gods. Those who served the gods in the pyramids were shamans, also known as priests, who were granted divine miracles and possessed strange powers.

Later, the gods were destroyed by Emperor Frieza and his followers. The priests who relied on the gods and performed miracles vanished. Adventurers, the system, monsters, and NPCs appeared one after another, and the world transformed. This transformation also subtly altered people's perceptions.

Now, watching Illya use blood to draw a magic circle reminded many adventurers who had lived through the era change of the priests from the old days, evoking a sense of nostalgia and wonder.

Of course, they didn't know that those priests were, in real-world terms, magi.

The original mages, the magi of the Age of Gods.

"Oh? This formula is...!"

Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow, recognizing the magic circle Illya was drawing.

"What is it, Gil?" Enkidu asked, concerned.

"Nothing," Gilgamesh shook his head, crossing his arms with a cold snort. "Just remembered some overdue interest on a loan I haven't collected."

After finishing the magic circle, Illya looked up at Altera. "Just stand in the center of the circle, Altera."

She nodded and walked to the center.

Shirou glanced at Altera, then turned to Illya. "Is this enough?"

Illya nodded. "This is Ainsworth formula. Altera needs magical energy, right? So using this formula to transfer the Holy Grail's magical energy into Altera should work."

Although he had suggested using Illya's Holy Grail magical energy, he didn't have a specific method in mind. After all, while Illya had the qualities and magical energy of the Holy Grail, she wasn't the Grail itself. The Fuyuki Holy Grail had long been emptied by him and then completely squeezed dry by Wallachia.

But when Shirou proposed the plan, Illya had assured him she had a way. He hadn't expected her method to involve the Ainsworth magic circle.

He knew that Angelica and others from parallel worlds had stayed in his world after Fuyuki invasion, but he hadn't thought Illya would have learned and mastered Ainsworth family magecraft to this degree.

Illya had really surprised him.

As she activated the formula, there was a sharp sound, and the magic circle on the ground glowed with a bloody light. Then, both Illya and Altera's bodies started to glow with a deep blue light.

The light came together, shimmering like a nebula. It was the physical manifestation of magical energy.

However, the amount of magical energy between Illya and Altera was vastly different. If Altera's was a nebula, Illya's was a galaxy; they simply weren't comparable.

This was to be expected, of course. Illya was essentially a human-shaped Holy Grail, the Lesser Grail created by Einzbern family. During the Fourth Holy Grail War, he had given the leftover of the Holy Grail to Kiritsugu to save his daughter.

"Tch. If I had known Illya could do this, I should have had her transfer magical energy to Skadi back in the North. Even with her divinity weakened, she could have swept through everything. We really took the long way around," he clicked his tongue lightly.