IBHJ 1067

"How else would you come out?" Ayaka laughed. No wonder Fujimaru likes to trick people, she thought. It really does work.

"You—you—you—" Altera sputtered, unable to form a coherent sentence. She angrily shook Ayaka's hand away and turned to leave.

Suddenly, the laughter died in Ayaka's throat as real pain knifed through her chest, and she crumpled. "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts so much..." She moaned.

"Nice try," Altera scoffed, turning away with her arms crossed. "I won't fall for your acting twice."

"This isn't..." Ayaka's words dissolved into a choked gasp. "It hurts, it hurts so much... my body... feels like it's going to explode..." Sweat poured down her forehead.

Black mist leaked from her skin like ink in water, writhing and gathering until it took shape – an elegant female form that made Ayaka's blood run cold.

The woman smiled. "My darling sister, you've given your sister another lovely gift."

"No... no..." The words barely escaped Ayaka's trembling lips as she stared up at the woman's face.

It was her sister, Manaka Sajyou!

Sure enough, the black mud inside her body hadn't completely disappeared!

Manaka's eyes slid from her sister to Altera, her smile carrying all the warmth of a serpent studying its next meal. "Fascinating... the vanguard's cognitive nucleus, right before my eyes. A consciousness born from the echoes of the last civilization Umbral Star consumed." Her voice was academic, almost appreciative, as if discussing a particularly interesting specimen. "If I devour you, all the vanguard's power will be mine."

"Devour me?" Altera raised an eyebrow in challenge and summoned the Sword of Mars, ready to fight.

Suddenly, holes ripped open in the space around them. Countless black hands surged out, grabbing Altera's arms and legs.

Manaka transformed into a swirling black vortex, spewing endless tendrils of black mist that devoured the surrounding space like a pack of hungry wolves. With each piece consumed, Altera's body shrank.

The black hands tightened their grip, attempting to drag Altera into the vortex.

Ayaka's eyes widened in alarm. She dashed forward, pulled a crow's feather from her pocket, and watched as it transformed into a blade. With swift strikes, she sliced through the black hands and pulled the now even smaller Altera away from the vortex. She then ran away.

"Leaving so soon, Ayaka? Is that any way to greet your beloved sister?" Manaka's voice came from within the vortex.

"Beloved?" Ayaka whirled around, her voice a low growl. "You're the one person in all of existence I hate the most! The one I'll never, never forgive!"

Her fingers closed protectively around Altera's tiny hand as she turned and ran, each step carrying them further from the monster wearing her sister's voice.

Manaka didn't move, continuing to devour the vanguard's authority and instincts. She silently watched Ayaka flee, a lonely sigh escaping her lips, followed by a soft chuckle.

"Hatred... that's good enough."

...

The empty world shrunk as Manaka devoured it, piece by piece. Ayaka, clutching Altera's hand, fled desperately. Using Koyanskaya's power, she burst out from within White Titan's body.

Then her heart nearly stopped. As they burst through, she realized with horror that the Altera she held wasn't flesh and blood at all - but pure consciousness, thoughts given form.

Terror gripped her chest. 'Thoughts without a body just fade away, don't they?' The realization hit her like ice water. 'If that happens, my sister will...' She couldn't finish the thought. The image of Altera being devoured by Manaka's darkness filled her mind, bringing waves of despair crashing over her.

Then, a small voice broke through her fear. "Ouch..."

Something soft landed in her arms. Ayaka looked down to see a little girl, the spitting image of Altera, rubbing her head with a pained expression.

"A-Altera?" Ayaka stammered, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Yes, it's me, Ayaka," little Altera nodded.

"You- you—" Ayaka's finger darted back and forth between the girl and the massive, empty shell of Altera's original titan form. Her mind refused to make sense of what her eyes were seeing.

What just happened?

"How is this possible?" Shirou was equally stunned. "Can someone really just... pull consciousness out of a body?"

He had seen it with his own eyes – Ayaka had pulled Altera's consciousness from her body.

This was unbelievable!

His mind raced through everything he knew about magecraft and spirits, trying to make sense of it. Was this some ancient Eastern technique for separating soul from body? Some unknown method of external incarnation?

True, he knew about Servants and Heroic Spirits - but this was entirely different. Servants weren't actual thoughts or souls pulled from Heroic Spirits. They were just magical copies, energy constructs created by the Holy Grail ritual to mirror specific moments in a Heroic Spirit's life. Like photographs capturing a single moment, they held only the memories from those specific periods. They were copies, nothing more.

But this... this was something else entirely. Ayaka had reached into Altera's body and pulled out her actual consciousness, her very essence of being.

"Of course it's possible," Koyanskaya said with a shrug. "It's just soul projection combined with external incarnation. People from my homeland do this all the time."

Shirou couldn't help but give her a thumbs up, mentally adding 'learn more about Eastern magecraft from Lady Daji' to his to-do list. 'Next time Manaka shows up, I'll hit her with an army of Eternal Emperors. Let's see how smug she is against eighty of me.'

Of course, if Koyanskaya could do it, Hinako would naturally be able to as well. But compared to Hinako, Lady Daji seemed more reliable.

"Koyanskaya, thank you so much," Ayaka said gratefully.

Altera squeezed her tiny hands. Although her body was now small and childlike, and her power had diminished, her destructive instincts had indeed disappeared. She smiled at Koyanskaya. "Thank you. You're a good person."

"A good person?" Koyanskaya's eyes widened slightly, then her lips curved into an amused smile. "Well, that's a first. But don't get used to it – I just enjoy the occasional charitable act to keep things interesting."

"You're nothing like what the stories say about the fox demon," Ayaka said before she could stop herself. The disconnect between the feared Daji of legend and this helpful, if sardonic, woman before her was startling.

"Fox demon?" Koyanskaya's lips curved in amusement. "That's the problem with history – everyone loves a good monster story. I am, and have always been, of the ancient Su clan. Da Ji is simply my name."

"I don't... quite follow..." Ayaka's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Of course you don't," Koyanskaya's tone was almost gentle. "Even people today don't know this, let alone you. For now, just know that I'm on your side in this fight."

Ayaka nodded, then her eyes widened as she remembered something important. "Fujimaru!" she shouted. "My sister has invaded Altera's body and is trying to devour Altera's power from within!"

"What?!"

Shirou and Koyanskaya were both shocked.

"Oh, sister dear," Manaka's voice rang out, laced with amusement. "All this time, and you're only warning them now? But then... it was already too late."

The massive form of Altera's original body began to splinter. Cracks spread across its surface like a spider's web, each new break seeping with black mud that oozed from within. The titan-like body crumbled as if it were ancient stone touched by time, dissolving into fine dust that the black mud eagerly consumed.

Altera-chan's eye twitched. "My... my body..." she whispered, her voice filled with dismay.

"I am Manaka Sajyou!" The declaration rang out like a bell tolling doom.

In an instant, the black mud transformed into another Manaka. Power rolled off her in waves, an aura so overwhelming it made the air itself feel heavy.

Shirou stared at the two Manaka Sajyous, his heart sinking. "You had this planned all along?"

"I am omniscient and omnipotent," Manaka replied with a serene smile.

"You're lying," he frowned. "When Ayaka rushed toward Altera earlier, you were genuinely surprised."

"Oh, Shirou," Manaka laughed. "If I hadn't shown that little moment of weakness, would you have dropped your guard? And without that..." Her eyes glittered with amusement. "How else could I have made you fail to see what was coming?"