IBHJ 1022

"Ha! Your past self sure has a sense of humor, Mr. Shirou. What a show. Hahaha... I really enjoyed this splendid performance. Do you want a reward?" Beast III said with a smirk.

She'd been terrified a moment ago.

But this summoning wasn't Saver.

How delightful, how truly delightful.

"Huh? Mr. Shirou?" The blonde girl stepped out of the grand summoning circle and walked up to the young man. Her red eyes looked him over closely. "It's Shirou's aura alright... but something's off."

"You know my future self?" the young man asked, scratching his head in confusion.

"Future self? Weird." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I watched Shirou grow up, and he wasn't like this when he was young. Especially those glasses. He definitely didn't wear those ugly glasses. Strange."

The blonde girl spun to face Beast III, cocking her head. "I thought Mooncell had a glitch, so I came to fix it. But this is... different. And why's ATM's kouhai here, looking like that?"

ATM's kouhai? That casual way of talking about her senpai... Beast III's eyes widened as she stared at the blonde woman. "Ar-Arcueid...!?" she gasped.

"That's me!" Arcueid beamed, striking a pose with a dramatic flourish. "Champion of love and justice, destroyer of True Ancestors, the Holy Dead Apostle, Arcueid Brunestud!"

She swept her gaze around, her expression turning serious. "How tragic. I warned you that a huge chunk of Mooncell's computing power was drained, letting Saturn and the others start exploiting loopholes. Was this your doing, ATM's kouhai?"

Beast III bristled, her eyes flashing dangerously. "You can use Daji as an ATM if you want, but don't you dare call me by that name. I have my own name. Besides, I'm not the only one here. Why point fingers at just me?"

"Because he summoned me," Arcueid declared, pointing at the young man. She puffed out her chest proudly. "I'm the messenger of love and justice. Whoever called me must be an ally of love and justice too, so it has to be your handiwork."

Fujimaru, Mordred, and Beast III exchanged bewildered glances, falling into a stunned silence.

It was rare to see the worldly-wise Mordred at a loss for words. Even rarer for the all-embracing Beast III to be stumped. And it was downright extraordinary for someone to leave all three of them speechless at once.

Yet Arcueid had accomplished this feat without breaking a sweat.

Arcueid tilted her head, eyeing the young man curiously. "Still, who are you exactly? You have Shirou's aura, but you're not quite Shirou. What gives?"

She furrowed her brow, genuinely puzzled. Shirou was someone she'd seen grow up from a kid. There's no way she'd mistake his aura. Yet this young man... his aura was so close, but not quite right.

Fujimaru ran a hand through his hair, exasperation clear on his face. "Is this really the time for twenty questions?"

Arcueid... Summoning the legendary [Tsukihime] should've been a stroke of luck. But this knock-off version seemed about as reliable as a paper umbrella in a hurricane.

He couldn't help but wonder: where was his usual good fortune when he needed it most?

Beast III's eyes suddenly gleamed, a ghostly hand shooting out towards Arcueid.

Danger— The word caught in the young man's throat as he watched Arcueid, without even turning, casually reach back and snatch the hand mid-air. It was as effortless as catching a child's playful grab.

Arcueid turned to face Beast III, her tone nonchalant. "I'm busy. You'll have to wait your turn."

Beast III froze, speechless.

"You're really underestimating me," Beast III growled, her voice rising. "I'm a Beast, the master of desire. Where there's desire, I dominate. Even you can't escape that, Arcueid!"

A rainbow flashed in Beast III's eyes. In an instant, the hand in Arcueid's grip melted, morphing into a black hole trying to pull her in.

But Arcueid just opened her mouth and inhaled. The void vanished with a "whoosh", like cotton candy dissolving. She chewed thoughtfully, "Munch, munch," swallowed, then ran her tongue over her lips.

"Bit salty," she mused. "Like cotton candy with a pinch of salt. Still beats Sakura's slop, though."

"You have to be kidding me..." Mordred choked out, her eyes wide as saucers. This was too much to process. Beast III's authority - something that even she, with her Noble Phantasm at full blast, would struggle against - and Arcueid had just... eaten it. Like it was nothing more than a candy.

It felt like a serious drama had suddenly collided with a slapstick comedy, shattering their reality. They half expected their eyes to literally pop out of their heads, cartoon-style.

Beast III, if anything, looked even more shaken.

"You... you actually have no desire at all," she stammered. "This... a pristine lake without even a drop of mud? That's... that's impossible! How can this be?!"

She gaped at Arcueid, completely bewildered. She couldn't kill Kiara because Kiara's desires were faint, and she was Beast III's past self. But Arcueid? She was even purer than Kiara. Like crystal-clear water.

And purity was her kryptonite.

Arcueid's face split into a mischievous smile. "Aw, you actually attacked me! This is great! I'm gonna catch you and squeeze ATM for all she's worth!"

With a flourish, she pulled out a sheath from seemingly nowhere. As soon as her fingers touched it, mana surged through the air. Suddenly, moonlight flooded the dark world, bathing everything in a soft, magical glow. From within the scabbard, a blade made of light slowly emerged, inch by inch, until it fully revealed itself.

She raised the sword high. "Bisect in one stroke, Hyper-Dimensional Excalibur Mark II—"

She announced dramatically, bringing the sword down in a wide arc. But before she could finish her attack on Beast III, she nearly choked the young man to death.

Hyper-Dimensional Excalibur Mark II? What kind of ridiculous name was that? He couldn't help but roll his eyes. The dark, tense atmosphere that had filled the battlefield seconds ago had suddenly changed into some kind of slapstick comedy routine.

Despite the absurdity of the name, her strike was anything but comical. With a "swish" that seemed to cut through reality itself, moonlight flashed brilliantly. The blade moved so fast it didn't leave afterimages. In an instant, before anyone could even blink, Beast III was cleaved cleanly in two by her blade.

Mordred's jaw dropped. "That's... that's amazing..."

Arcueid stared at her blade, puzzled. "Weird... why didn't she get sealed?"

Mordred gaped, still processing what she'd just witnessed. She'd felt Beast III's power firsthand, yet Arcueid had sliced through her like butter.

This was no ordinary weapon. This Demonic Sword was the Crimson Moon's ultimate weapon. It embodied the Moon's deepest fantasy and the perfection of the last Ultimate One, wielding unimaginable power and authority.

Shirou's victory over Crimson Moon had hinged on Arcueid breaking free from her tragic past, embracing hope for the world. Her fresh perspective had tipped the scales, letting Shirou win.

This sword could bend reality to the Moon's will. Among its arsenal of powers was the ability to contain and seal. Anything touched by the Demonic Sword should, by Arcueid's command, either have its life and death reversed or be trapped within, with no exceptions.

However, when Arcueid tried to use this power on Beast III, it ended in failure.

The bisected Beast III snapped back together, eyeing the Demonic Sword in Arcueid's hand warily. Just as she prepared to strike, a voice echoed in her mind.

— Retreat.

Beast III froze mid-motion.

"You sure love bossing people around..." she grumbled.

Her face twisted through a range of emotions before she pulled back her power, shifting into her Demonic Bodhisattva form.

She flashed a seductive smile at the group. "It's not time yet. You've just bought yourselves a reprieve. And Mordred-chan," her gaze locked onto the chibi knight, "you'll join me eventually. But until that final moment, you can still choose whether to enter my world."

Mordred opened her mouth to say something, but Demonic Bodhisattva just smirked and began to fade away.

"Is that it?" Arcueid pouted, watching Demonic Bodhisattva disappear. "I was just starting to have fun."

Fujimaru: "..."

Arcueid circled the young man, eyeing him from head to toe. "So, are you Shirou or not?"

"If you mean the future Shirou, no. If you mean Fujimaru Shirou, yes," he replied, trying to keep it straightforward.

Her brow furrowed. "I don't get it. Can you make it simpler? Come on, I just saved you from a tight spot."

He raised his eyebrows. "This— Isn't that explanation simple enough already?"

"If I didn't understand it, then it's not simple enough," she pouted.

Fujimaru's mouth opened, then closed. He was at a loss for words.

Is she really this self-centered and stubborn? he thought. Or... could she actually be an idiot?

"But you know what? I'm sure now. You're not Shirou," she declared, nodding to herself. "If you were, you'd have yanked my hair by now, or called for Kariya. Yep, good thing you're not him. No need to run away." She looked utterly pleased with her deduction.

The young man stared at her, completely baffled. What on earth is she talking about? He'd run out of words. She was stunningly beautiful, sure, but after this interaction, all he felt was disappointment.

But then—

Wait a second. My future self... pulls people's hair?

What kind of creepy, messed-up fetish is that?

A throbbing pain began to build behind his eyes. This was giving him a massive headache.