IBHJ 1040

"Exploiting a loophole like this for a major attack... What is Saturn thinking? I'm done with this game. We should just destroy Mooncell and end it all. Why bother with any of this?" Pluto lay sprawled on the marble branches, sighing at Venus who was creating summoning circles below.

"Saturn is hesitating. He wants to destroy Gaia, but he also doesn't. In the end, he's just like me," Venus answered calmly.

"Huh?" Pluto sat up, looking at Venus in confusion. "But he hasn't split into two like you?"

"That's why he hesitates. His actions reflect that inner conflict. If he were like me, with his thoughts split, he wouldn't be wavering like this."

"That's true." Pluto nodded, lying back on the branches and watching Venus. "But your situation is pretty unique. Split into two, yet trying to kill each other."

"I am Venus; she is Heaven's Corpse. I represent Venus's interests, while she represents the side that admires Gaia. That's why we clash, why I can't tolerate her. She inherited the nature of the original body, while I received most of the power. This shows that the original Venus prioritized her own interests."

"I see. Heaven's Corpse exists because of Venus, but Venus can't tolerate Heaven's Corpse. Essentially, your original self is also trying to eliminate the thoughts that Heaven's Corpse inherited. The part that was moved by Gaia's ideals, right?" Pluto looked at Venus with a teasing glint in her eyes.

Venus stopped working and stared coldly at Pluto.

"Yikes! That look is scary. Fine, I'll stop talking. But Venus, have you noticed? It seems like there aren't as many monsters being produced."

"Efficiency has dropped by about 35%," Venus said.

"That much?" Pluto was shocked. She jumped down from the branch, paced around the tree a few times, patted the trunk, and asked, "Is she out of energy?"

Venus followed her gaze to a woman curled up asleep within the transparent tree.

She shook her head. "A host chosen by Uranus shouldn't fail so quickly."

"If it's not the host, then—"

Pluto smiled.

Venus slowly stood up, her beautiful face hardening. "We have visitors."

...

The catastrophic fire surged around his sword as Shirou struck again and again, sections of roots falling away, consumed by Laevateinn's flames.

Watching the sweat dripping on his forehead, Mordred hesitated before finally speaking. "Why don't you take a break, old man? You look tired."

"Since when did you start caring about me?" He looked at her suspiciously. "What are you planning?"

Unexpected kindness usually means ulterior motives!

"I'm just worried about you. If you don't appreciate it, then fine!" She stamped her foot, crossing her arms and pouting.

"Don't worry, I'm not tired. It's just that this sword is heavy, more suited to a giant. But I appreciate your concern." He gave her a gentle smile.

After their last adventure, his relationship with Mordred had improved a lot. Now she even worried about him, which was nice. However, he didn't know that her concern came from seeing Skadi's phantom.

Could he really have other children?

Mordred was curious, but now wasn't the time to ask.

Business before personal matters.

She had to focus on the task at hand.

Shirou raised Laevateinn, aiming for the roots of Uranus, when a flash of light appeared. With a clang, the sword was knocked from his hand and embedded in a nearby root.

"Who's there!?"

He and Mordred spun around to see Venus and Pluto watching them.

"Heaven's Corpse?" He was stunned.

"You—!" Mordred glared at Pluto.

"I was wondering why Uranus's production efficiency had dropped. So it was you cutting the tree," Pluto said with sudden understanding.

"Using a trick to hide underground and cut the tree—no wonder we couldn't find you," Venus said, raising an eyebrow. "Clever, but you're not getting away now."

Her body shimmered with light, and she radiated an aura of power.

Mordred backed up against Shirou, watching Venus and Pluto warily. "Old man, they've found us. What now?"

"What else can we do?" He rolled his eyes and shouted, "Run!"

"Run? Not a chance!" Venus shouted back.

Shirou had shouted deliberately, and Venus and Pluto instinctively moved to chase them. However, they quickly realized that Shirou and Mordred hadn't run at all. Instead, they had turned and launched an attack with Rhongomyniad and a crimson blade.

"You yelled about running and then attacked! That's so underhanded!" Mordred mocked.

"You did the same thing! But now we really need to run!"

"Of course I know that!"

Having caught the two off guard, they turned and fled.

One boss was already more difficult to handle than a Beast, let alone two. And since they weren't playing by the rules, running was the only sensible option.

Shirou and Mordred's attack clearly angered Venus. Pluto, however, burst out laughing. "We fell for it!"

Venus glared at her, and Pluto quickly covered her mouth.

...

"Are they following us?" he asked.

"No," she replied.

"Keep that mud away from me! It's disgusting! I'm going to be sick!" Mordred rubbed her arm with a look of disgust.

After attacking Venus and Pluto, they had immediately fled, using the mud to conceal themselves and avoid detection.

Evil Blossom could block someone's presence and aura. Once covered in it, no enemy could detect them, not even a Ultimate One.

"Don't talk about it like that, it might get angry," he warned gently. Evil Blossom was his other half - it didn't have thoughts, but it had instincts.

"It's just your Noble Phantasm, why would it get angry?" she scoffed.

But she didn't notice the mud behind her. It rippled, formed a hand, and suddenly yanked her ponytail.

"Ow—!"

She grabbed her ponytail. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, let go!"

Evil Blossom pulled on Mordred's hair for a bit before finally letting go and returning to normal.

"Just as nasty as its master!" she muttered.

"What does that have to do with me?"

He was speechless. It wasn't his fault, but he was getting blamed anyway. How frustrating.

"If this mud is so useful, why didn't you use it before?" she asked, fixing her ponytail and looking at him curiously.

"Try using your Grail. Can you still use your intangibility?"

She checked and her eyes widened. "It can't be used... what's going on?"

"Your Grail is basically a personalized Reality Marble. It doesn't have a mental world that erodes reality, but it still has the traits of a Reality Marble. Others can't affect it, but my mud can easily break down your barrier. That's why I didn't use it before," he explained.

To tunnel from underground to Uranus's domain, they needed Mordred's Grail, but the mud could disrupt her tunneling ability. That was why he hadn't used it earlier.

"Speaking of which, back in Romania, you used this mud to take advantage of me when I was low on mana. But it seems a lot stronger now."

Shirou nodded. After absorbing some of the Dark Vortex's power, the black mud had evolved into Evil Blossom. It was one of the foundations for Eternal Emperor.

She gritted her teeth and stared at him. Defeating the old man would be a long and difficult journey.

"Where are we now?" she asked.

"We've surfaced and entered Uranus's domain."

"Wow! So those two idiots won't find us even if they dig everywhere?"

"You're quick to catch on. As long as we stay hidden in the mud, they can't sense us. Let them run around underground while we go cut the tree roots." He smiled and flicked her forehead.

She bared her teeth at him, then asked. "Can we see what's happening outside from this mud ball?"

He pointed at the mud, "Don't worry, I am the mud, and the mud is me,"

Mordred: "..."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's disgust, obviously. I can't believe mom was foolish enough to choose someone like you."

"Mordred, don't speak about your mother that way, even if she's not the brightest."

"She's worse than that. She's foolish and stubborn, always mixing truth with lies. And she's so easy to fool. It drives me crazy."

He found himself nodding. "I know what you mean. And don't get me started on how much she eats!"

"Yeah, she is hopeless." Mordred paused. "Just don't tell her what I said, or I'll stop being nice to you."

"Don't worry, I'm on your side."

He patted his chest.

Artoria probably never imagined that the two people she was worried about were now happily criticizing her behind her back.

Suddenly—

Thud!

Shirou stopped.

"What's wrong?" she asked, turning around in confusion.

"We've hit something I can't erode. Let me see what it is—"

He waved his hand, and the mud wall in front of them became a clear screen of water.

He looked up and saw strange tree roots intertwined before them, bizarre monsters clustered together, and hundreds of tree holes connecting to somewhere nearby, spawning strange creatures.

He chuckled, pointing at the cluster of monsters. "We've crashed right into their home base."

"You can still laugh?" she rolled her eyes.