IBHJ Chapter 911

"No, this won't work at all!" Ishtar exclaimed, her voice laced with disappointment. "I thought you had some brilliant escape plan when you ran here, but this is it? This won't work at all. If it were this easy to escape, I would have been long gone and not stuck here all this time."

"What do you mean, Lady Ishtar?" Enkidu asked.

"There's a barrier here!" Ishtar said with a sigh.

Enkidu's eyes widened in surprise. She quickly rushed forward and touched the hollowed-out mountainside. Sure enough, although it appeared to be empty space, it felt like a solid wall, like the boundary between dimensions.

She entered Super Saiyan mode, then unleashed a Diamond Nebula Chain attack. Countless chains of heavenly energy converged into a sharp point and struck the barrier.

"Crack!"

The barrier remained unscathed, but her chains shattered.

"How is this possible...?" Enkidu was shocked. Her chains were even tougher than Gilgamesh's, yet not only had they failed to damage the barrier, they had broken on impact.

"Don't waste your energy. We can't break this barrier on our own," Ishtar said with a dejected sigh.

In the years she'd been trapped, she had tried every method to escape, but always failed at this barrier. It was more powerful than even divine authority.

She knew it wasn't just her attack—even Ea, Gilgamesh's most powerful Noble Phantasm, couldn't break through this barrier. It was unique to the Heaven's Corpse, operating on principles entirely different from Earth's magical system. No spell or blast from Earth could touch it. Even Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception would be useless, because Ultimate Ones were born from alien worlds, incompatible with Earth's laws.

No magic or Mystery from this planet could harm them. To damage or destroy a UO, you needed pure physical force on an astronomical scale—the kind of power Ultraman and Chaos had. And sadly, no one here could even come close to that level of destruction.

Boom, boom, boom. The ground trembled as the giant tree lumbered towards them.

At the same time, a swarm of Angels of Destruction descended upon them.

"It's over! We're done for!" Ishtar cried out, covering her head and cowering.

It was over. Completely over. To be eaten by the Heaven's Corpse within its own body meant no system protection, no return to the Throne of Heroes—just true, final annihilation.

There were no options left. They could only wait to be devoured. That was Ishtar's conclusion.

"To think that I, a pure and flawless goddess, would vanish like this..." Ishtar sighed dramatically. "This must be the price of being too perfect."

"What are you even talking about? You're an embarrassment to all goddesses. No, wait, you've already embarrassed all goddesses beyond repair."

He looked at Ishtar speechlessly, then turned his gaze to the barrier. "Since I brought you here, of course, I have a way to get us out."

"Aren't you the one talking nonsense? Don't you get it? Even if we combined all our powers, we couldn't break this barrier," Ishtar snapped, her voice sharp with frustration.

Shirou turned and gave her a small smile. "Perhaps."

Then, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Snap

A sharp, clear sound.

In the next moment, the deep black Evil Blossom, hidden in his shadow, surged out, transforming into a giant net of writhing mud that slammed into the barrier.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle——!!"

A terrifying sound of corrosion filled the air.

The invincible barrier melted like plastic tossed into a furnace.

"How is this possible!?"

Both Enkidu and Ishtar stared in disbelief.

They had truly tested the barrier's strength, especially Ishtar. She was certain that even their combined efforts wouldn't make a dent, yet now it was being eaten away by his mud!

—My, my belly... How could this...!?

Even Heaven's Corpse was filled with shock, the distant tree and Angels of Destruction freezing in their tracks.

It was inconceivable; Heaven's Corpse was stunned into silence.

His mud had literally shocked it back to its senses.

—This is impossible!

"I don't do things without being sure," he said with a smile, then looked at the others. "Alright, let's go."

Ishtar stared blankly at his back.

Even though he wasn't the same person, even though things were different...

At that moment, Ishtar—no, Rin—was suddenly struck by a childhood memory buried deep within her heart.

In that menacing forest, someone else had opened a path of life for her.

"Fujimaru... Shirou."

She whispered the names unconsciously.

The sudden call jolted Shirou. His body tensed, the hairs on his arms standing on end as he whipped around to face Ishtar, his eyes wide with surprise.

Could this person possibly be...?

"What's wrong, Mom?" Mordred tugged on his clothes.

He looked down at her, offering a small shake of his head. "It's nothing..."

With the barrier melted away by Evil Blossom, they emerged from the Heaven's Corpse. Outside, a vast plain stretched before them, the crimson blood moon casting an eerie red glow over the world.

"Ah~~! The sweet smell of freedom!"

Ishtar stretched out her arms, eyes closed, basking in the open air like a prisoner released from their cell.

Turning back, she pointed dramatically at Shirou and the others. "While 99% of our rescue is due to me, the supreme goddess of Mesopotamia, I'll concede that 1% was thanks to your help. Fine, I permit it. I permit you to worship me, your exalted goddess, and offer your humble devotion."

With a flourish, Ishtar sat on her flying boat, Maanna, assuming the pose of a haughty goddess. She then extended her leg towards the three of them.

Shirou: "..."

"..."

Enkidu covered their face with her hands. "Lady Ishtar, please have some decorum. There are Heroic Spirits from other regions here as well. If you insist on embarrassing yourself, please don't drag us Mesopotamian Heroic Spirits down with you!"

"And to be fair, Lady Ishtar, you're exaggerating your role a bit. It was the King of Knights' mud that saved us," she said pointedly.

"Exaggerating? That was just a tiny bit of help." Ishtar gestured with her thumb and forefinger, then turned a puzzled look towards 'Artoria'. "Besides, that mud belongs to Fujimaru...Shirou, doesn't it?"

"Indeed it does," he replied with a perfectly polite, businesslike smile. "The King was concerned for my safety, so he placed his Noble Phantasm in my shadow, secretly protecting me."

"So, does that mean Fujimaru Shirou is back? And he came to this Connection Point too?" Ishtar asked.

"The King has returned to Chaldea, but he did not come to this connection point."

"Is that so?" Ishtar nodded, then looked at him thoughtfully. "It's good that he's back. But to think he'd hide his signature Noble Phantasm in your shadow... it seems he cares a great deal for you."

Ishtar's gaze lingered on 'Artoria', a complex mix of emotions in her eyes. "Since he's so concerned for your safety that he'd leave his Noble Phantasm by your side, you should be careful. It's best not to use that mud again, or you might find yourself in danger."

He blinked, confused. "What do you mean?"

"How should I know? Just treat it as nonsense."

She put her hands behind her head, closing one eye with a mischievous glint. "Alright, I'm off. Don't worry about thanking me, even though I saved you. As a goddess, I help humans without expecting anything in return."

With those words, she sat up on her flying boat, Maanna, and soared into the sky.