IBHJ Chapter 916

Outside, the sounds of destruction caused by the angels grew ever closer, amplifying the panic within the building as voices clamored in fear.

Amidst the panic, Mordred found Shirou. She scanned the chaotic scene before locking eyes with him. "Mother, everything is ready. Let's retreat."

Their original plan had been to use the "God's Brain" to distract the adventurers while they escaped with Mordred's Grail. However, they hadn't anticipated the Heaven's Corpse, who was supposed to be stuck in the hidden map, pursuing them all the way to Zaun.

Shirou shook his head in response to Mordred's suggestion.

"Mother, we can't let emotions cloud our judgment now. You've seen it too—being caught by those monsters means real death. Even Heroic Spirits will be erased from existence, completely disappearing from the Throne of Heroes. We can't afford to be sentimental. We need to retreat!" she urged.

She knew her mother's heart, her unwavering kindness and sense of responsibility as a noble king of knights sworn to protect, would prevent her from abandoning innocents in distress. But this was no time for sentimentality. She absolutely refused to let her mother face this danger.

"No, Mordred," he shook his head again. "The original plan is no longer viable. We can't escape now."

The Heaven's Corpse's spores had already taken root outside Zaun, forming vast, treacherous forests. Its roots had spread throughout the underground. Using the Grail to escape through the underground would not be a retreat, but a suicide mission.

Mordred's Grail could extend its power to those around her, shifting them into a higher-dimensional state that transcended reality, rendering them immune to physical attacks. However, this higher-dimensional state wasn't truly higher-dimensional—it merely hid their true bodies within the Grail, which existed in the real world.

While the Heaven's Corpse's roots couldn't harm their projected illusions, they could interact with the Grail itself. If the Grail were touched by the roots, it would be trapped underground indefinitely, until Mordred's mana was depleted and the Grail ceased to function.

He was so certain about the situation outside because he had used Evil Blossom to scout the area beforehand.

"How can this be...!" Mordred groaned, clenching her teeth. Though she had lost a bit of her intellect, she still understood the gravity of their situation.

He glanced at the floating island and said, "So, what we need to consider now is not retreat, but how to repel the Heaven's Corpse."

It was easy to say, but the solution to this problem seemed impossible to find.

The Ultimate One was simply too powerful. Its existence surpassed even that of a Beast in scale. It was not something a civilization still at the interplanetary level, or even Heroic Spirits, could handle. It was the planet's ultimate weapon, more powerful than the Sword of the Planet, a weapon specifically designed to deal with alien invaders. Simply put, Ultimate One was a weapon of cosmic warfare.

How could Heroic Spirits celebrated by humans, regional gods, or even Beasts that threatened billions, compare to the Ultimate One, a weapon designed for battles on a cosmic scale?

It was no wonder Gilgamesh hadn't considered confronting the Heaven's Corpse directly. It was an unsolvable problem.

However, Shirou saw things differently.

This connection point housed the Ultimate One, yet it had been virtualized into a game, with the Ultimate One integrated into the game's background for operational purposes. Even though the Heaven's Corpse had gone berserk, the game's rules still retained some authority and hadn't completely disappeared.

This meant one thing: the game was still ongoing, and the Ultimate One's rampage was part of the developers' design!

The supposedly "invincible" Zaun city shield being broken, safe zones becoming unsafe... these were all superficial changes. At a deeper level, a causal logic line still supported the game's continued operation.

In other words, the Heaven's Corpse could be defeated!

And the clues to defeat this monster were hidden within Zaun City!

...

Crack, crack, crack.

Angels poured down from the floating island, a terrifying sight like something out of a nightmare. They attacked the buildings meant to be safe zones, and the inn where Shirou and the others were hiding shook so hard it felt like it might come down on their heads.

Inside, everyone stared in horror at the Angels of Destruction swarming outside the windows. The whole building was shaking violently, and they were terrified it would collapse.

The thought of death hung in the air. In the dead silence, Gilgamesh suddenly turned to Shirou and said, "Hey. You can hand over the 'God's Brain' to me now."

His voice startled everyone, and they all turned to look at him.

"Sorry, I think I lost the winning number..." Shirou replied with a wry smile on his face.

Gilgamesh crossed his arms with a "hmph." "Lame excuse. I'm the chosen king, destined to rule over everything. If I'm in this ridiculous contest, I'm obviously going to win. It's a fact."

Shirou just gave him a tight smile. "Don't be so sure. But yes, it'll probably end up in your hands eventually."

"Hmph. At least you're not as dumb as the other adventurers."

Gilgamesh surveyed the room, speaking as if he were alone. "If anyone else were to possess the God's Brain, it would be a grave sin, worthy of the most severe punishment from me."

His words stung. Everyone present clenched their fists and glared at Gilgamesh. For a moment, their anger at his arrogance overshadowed their fear of the Heaven's Corpse.

"That may be true," Shirou said with a smile, "but I'm a bit stubborn and don't change my mind easily. I need to see the number first."

Gilgamesh's face darkened. "Mongrel, are you defying the king's order?"

"Do we really need to argue about this right now?" Morrigan interjected, trying to defuse the tension.

Having confirmed that Evil Flower was Artoria, she suspected something was terribly wrong with the game. Although she couldn't sense the terror of the Heaven's Corpse through the screen, Artoria was inside the game, and she didn't want her sister to get hurt.

"It's precisely at times like these that we must," Enkidu said with a gentle smile, stepping behind Gilgamesh and giving Shirou an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. We really need the God's Brain."

"Even Ms. Chains is saying this... It seems even His Majesty the One King isn't confident about overcoming this trial," Shirou observed.

He understood what Gilgamesh wanted to do. The God's Brain was the key to the main storyline, or rather, the key to defeating the suspected Ultimate One, Emperor Frieza.

From his earlier conversation with Enkidu, it was clear that Gilgamesh desperately needed the God's Brain, as desperate as a drowning man gasping for air. This desperation had driven Gilgamesh to disregard cooperation and collaboration.

To challenge Emperor Frieza, one needed to enter the Holy Land, and to enter the Holy Land, one needed to reach level 9. Shirou was currently only level 2, and reaching level 9 would take a considerable amount of time. Gilgamesh, for reasons unknown, couldn't afford to wait for Shirou and the other adventurers to level up. So, he opted for the most efficient method: snatching the God's Brain and completing the challenge himself.

This meant Gilgamesh was carrying a heavy burden that was pushing him forward. And that burden must have been related to the Ultimate One and Emperor Frieza.

In Chaldea, Shirou hadn't noticed any of this. Images of Gilgamesh coming to his room to tease him flashed through his mind, that same idiotic laugh as always.

Hah. Just like Gilgamesh.

Heaven's Corpse wasn't an enemy Heroic Spirits could handle, and Gilgamesh had already figured that out. That's why he was making his move against Shirou, the holder of the God's Brain.

In other words, this guy had already reached a conclusion.

Virtually no one present stood a chance against the shadow of the Heaven's Corpse!

Seeing Gilgamesh and Enkidu preparing to act, Morrigan sighed and moved to stand beside "Artoria". This was clearly not the time for infighting, and if it came to a confrontation, she, having already given up on the God's Brain, would naturally side with her "sister." If nothing else, she owed her that much for the guilt she felt.

But still...

"Not good! I can't beat this pay-to-win player on my own! Shirou, where are you? Artoria is in danger!" Morgan gritted her teeth in frustration. She had given him Merlin's account, but he had disappeared to who knows where. Even now, she couldn't get any response from him.

As always, he was infuriatingly good at driving her mad!

The members of the Emperor's Conquest Guild were finally turning on each other. These were the top-tier adventurers in the Holy Land. And yet, they, who should have been allies, were now fighting against each other!