IBHJ Chapter 791

Skadi wandered through the factory, watching the workers bustling about their tasks. As a goddess from Scandinavia, she was pretty sure she'd never set foot in this place before, but something about it felt strangely familiar. A puzzled look crossed her delicate face as she tried to pin down the source of this nagging sense of déjà vu.

"Master, what's on your mind?" Taiga asked, strolling up to Skadi after assigning tasks to the workers.

Skadi glanced at Taiga and shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing. Just taking it all in. You go ahead and take care of what you need to."

Taiga nodded and started to walk away, but Skadi hesitated for a moment before calling out, "Wait a moment, Taiga."

"What's up, Master?" she stopped mid-stride and turned back, a puzzled look on her face.

Skadi paused for a moment, studying Taiga before asking, "Are you really my disciple?"

Hearing this, Taiga puffed out her cheeks. "Well, duh! Don't tell me that after living together for twenty-three years, you still don't think of me as your disciple. That's just not fair!"

Taken aback by Taiga's strong reaction, Skadi quickly waved her hands. "No, no, that's not what I meant. I'm just wondering... do I actually have disciples?"

"Isn't it obvious? Both Shirou and I are your disciples. Did you forget?" Taiga looked into Skadi's eyes, her expression tinged with sadness. "You saved Shirou from the Fourth Holy Grail War and took him under your wing. And then my family asked you to train me. I remember being so mad about it and complaining about you all the time. How could you forget all that?"

Faced with Taiga's crestfallen look, Skadi waved her hands in a panic, unsure how to respond. Despite her cold and distant exterior, her heart was actually quite soft and gentle, leaving her flustered in moments like these.

Skadi had a faint recollection of taking on two disciples. Could they be Taiga and Eternal King? Pursing her lips, she turned to Taiga and asked, "Am I really Scathach?"

"Of course you're Scathach. How can you even question your own identity?" Taiga replied, looking perplexed.

Facing Taiga, Skadi decided to open up about her true feelings. After all, this was just a dream world, so it felt okay to expose her vulnerabilities.

"Could it be that you're half asleep, like Shirou?" Taiga asked, giving her a strange look.

Skadi nodded with a wry smile, then raised her head, her beautiful eyes gazing at the overcast sky. "Maybe... maybe I should find the courage to search for my past," she murmured.

Lowering her gaze, Skadi looked at Taiga, a faint smile gracing her delicate features. "Thank you, Taiga."

"Thank me? For what?" Taiga was utterly baffled. She hadn't done anything special.

"Seeing you gives me a little more faith... that I haven't lost everything. I want to go looking for something, something I've lost," Skadi explained.

"I see," Taiga nodded, a smile spreading across her face. "Well then, you better work hard, Master!"

Skadi nodded in agreement. She needed to try and find the answer to the recurring dream that had haunted her for more than two thousand years. To rediscover her lost past.

Just then, Skadi spotted Shirou clutching a notebook, running out of the office in a hurry. He looked around frantically, shouting, "Skadi!"

Hearing his call, Skadi softly replied, "Over here."

Shirou scanned the area and finally spotted Skadi. He let out a sigh of relief, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly. But then, without warning, he suddenly extended his hand, his fingers moving swiftly as he drew a "Fire" rune in mid-air. The air crackled with energy as a fireball, filled with intense killing intent, rapidly took shape and shot towards her!

But it wasn't Skadi that he was targeting. The fireball whizzed past her, its heat singeing the air, as it streaked towards Taiga, who stood behind her!

Shirou shouted urgently, "Get away from her, Skadi!"

But it was too late. A sharp blade appeared behind Skadi, viciously slashing at her back. However, a red light flashed, and Skadi's spear struck the blade with a resounding "clang" of metal against metal.

A soft "ah" escaped Taiga's lips as the blade was deflected. Skadi spun on her heel, her slender body twirling gracefully as another red spear appeared in her other hand. With a fluid motion, she swept the spear directly at Taiga's face.

However, the red spear stopped abruptly, three inches from Taiga's face, unable to advance further. Skadi tapped her toes lightly, her body rotating like a top as she landed gracefully in front of Shirou, her gaze fixed coldly on Taiga.

"I'm curious, how did you figure it out?" Taiga asked, her tone strange.

"This is a dream shared by Skadi and me. It's impossible for there to be a third person acting independently," Shirou replied coldly. He raised his hand slightly, pointing at Taiga, and demanded, "You, the third person intruding in this dream, who are you?"

Taiga glanced at the workers operating mechanically around her and suddenly realized, "I see. It's not surprising that such a low-level dream would be exposed. But being killed so many times has sharpened your soul, hasn't it? You've grown more and more cautious. The Shirou I remember from the past wouldn't be this suspicious."

"Who are you?" Shirou questioned, his tone even colder.

"Don't you remember me? Well then, allow me to introduce myself again." Taiga smiled as a storm of spiritrons surged around her body, transforming her into a figure shrouded in a black robe.

It couldn't truly be considered a person, as this entity had no physical body, but rather a mass of swirling black fog. Even the exposed face lacked a solid form, consisting instead of a churning mass of black mist.

"You're--!" Shirou's eyes narrowed. This was the very Council member who had given the Black Grail to Odin!

"It's not entirely accurate to say this is our first meeting. I am the Sixth Seat of the Council. However, I prefer that you call me Death, as until now, you have always died at my hands," the Sixth Seat smiled. "Human, you truly surprise me. In your final chance, you actually created a vessel like this... Eternal King."

"The Council Head is very interested in your soul," The Sixth Seat laughed.

"Who exactly is this Council Head you're talking about?" Shirou demanded.

The Sixth Seat chuckled, "When you meet the Council Head, you will understand. Your soul, I'll be taking it now."

The Sixth Seat slowly raised an incorporeal, black misty hand, and the black mist suddenly formed a dark vortex, sucking in everything around it like a black hole. Shirou felt an incomparably vast force, his brows tightly furrowed. In this dream world, his strength was equivalent to his past self, rendering him completely powerless to resist.

At that moment, Skadi stepped forward and hurled the red spear in her hand towards the Sixth Seat. With a "whoosh," the spear instantly transformed into a red meteor, charging towards him at a speed so incredible that it seemed to pierce through space itself, appearing before the Sixth Seat in an instant. However, despite the spear's enormous momentum, it was still swallowed by the vortex.

Skadi drew another spear and positioned herself in front of Shirou, speaking without turning her head, "You're his target. Quickly, get out of here."