IBHJ Chapter 773

"Wait!" Shirou reached out and grabbed her wrist.

Surprised, she pulled her hand back, held it to her chest, and asked, "Um, is there anything else you need?"

"You said you're proficient in soul engineering. I want to ask, can a soul be reset?"

"Reset?" She looked puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

"Erasing all experiences and... memories, being reborn, and... starting fresh in a new world... Shirou struggled to find the right words. "No, forget about it..."

Morrigan, who had been eager to get back to Chaldea, now looked at him with a calm expression. She stepped closer and gently placed her delicate hand on his cheek. Shirou froze, surprised by her touch.

"You've been through a lot, haven't you?" she asked softly.

Shirou thought for a moment before nodding.

"No matter what troubles you face, you should learn to open up to others, Eternal King. Keeping things bottled up will only hurt you in the long run. If there's anything bothering you that you can't share with others, you can always talk to me. I'm a part-time psychological counselor with an international certification." She gave him a warm, comforting smile. For a brief moment, Shirou felt like he was looking at an angel.

Morrigan clapped her hands and beamed. "Okay, if there's nothing else, I'll get going. Oh, I promised Hinako I'd go on a dungeon run with her today. And I think there's an event happening too. Let's see, I've got about 5,000 yen in my wallet. Wonder if that's enough to buy some rare items. Maybe I should ask her to lend me some money?" She pondered, covering her face with her hand as she walked away.

Shirou entered the operating room. Skadi lay on the bed, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling with cold, emotionless eyes. As she noticed him, she turned her head slightly, her gaze settling on him.

"Are you here to take my Grail?" she asked, her tone indifferent.

"Not yet." Shirou sat down beside her, looking at Skadi. "Ogelmir has returned, and Surtr's fire giants are getting ready to invade my world. I can't take your Grail just yet."

"So, you're worried that if Ogelmir and Surtr join forces, they'll be too powerful, so you want my help?"

Shirou nodded. "Exactly. Since there's readily available combat power, why shouldn't I use it? I think for the sake of the lives in this world and to repay me for saving your life, the great goddess Skadi wouldn't be so ungrateful, right?"

"Hmph, despicable human," Skadi said, giving him a cold look. She paused for a moment, then continued, "But you don't need to worry. If they invade, you'll only have to deal with Surtr and his army of fire giants."

"What do you mean?"

"Ragnarok," Skadi said, the taboo word rolling coldly off her tongue.

Shirou raised his eyebrows. "It seems you're familiar with the Norse mythology of our world."

She continued, "Odin is devoured by Fenrir, the war god Tyr and the hellhound Garm kill each other, and Thor slays Jörmungandr but also succumbs to its venom. Finally, Surtr wields the world-destroying sword Laevateinn and lays waste to the old world. Afterwards, Víðarr and Váli, who survive Ragnarok, create a new world from the ruins of the old one. Am I right? This is the Norse ending in the pan-human history."

"The history of our world is indeed like this, but this connection point is different from our world."

"But the end result is the same. Surtr's Laevateinn is the only sword that can destroy Ogelmir. This is the fate that the three Norns have foreseen. To prevent the invasion of pan-human history, you must embrace this fate. And if you want to defeat Ogelmir, the only enemies you need to face are Surtr and me," Skadi said coldly. "Now is the best time for you to take the Black Grail from me. If you miss this chance, once my divinity recovers, you won't stand a chance against me."

"That's assuming you can recover. Don't forget, you're just a prisoner," he snorted, standing up and looking at her. "Let me ask you something. When Thrud and Hildr betrayed you, did you ever feel hatred or resentment towards them?"

Skadi: "...."

He pressed further, "If they pledged their loyalty to you again, would you take them back?"

"No," she answered, her voice cold and firm.

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow. "Then why do I sense a hint of hesitation in your voice?"

She retorted, "They betrayed me, didn't they? How could I possibly accept them?"

"Oh, but you would," he said with a knowing smile. "You don't strike me as the type to let go so easily."

She glared at him fiercely.

"But thank you. I know what I should do now."

Hearing this, Skadi frowned, her beautiful eyes filled with confusion. She didn't understand what he meant. Shirou walked out the door, stepping onto the snowy ground outside the camp. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the cold air filling his lungs. Slowly, he raised his hand, and red lightning flickered in his palm, finally forming a sword. Caliburn.

With a resounding "shing," Caliburn lit up like a star in the night sky. Shirou gripped the hilt tightly and swung the sword down.

....

"Boom!"

The statue exploded with a deafening blast, and Hel burst out of it like a long, smoky dragon. She hovered in midair, three mini suns swirling around her body, radiating divine light like a war goddess. Her eyes glowed with an otherworldly power. She waved her hands, and the three swirling suns flashed, unleashing three powerful magical cannons that bombarded the interior of the smoke.

The sound of space shattering echoed through the air. But in the middle of the smoke, a dark light suddenly flashed, as if a black hole had appeared. It reversed the surrounding smoke like a whirlpool, and the three beams struck it, only to be swallowed up like stones sinking into the sea, without a single response or trace of their existence.

Countless pale hands burst out from the black hole, reaching for Hel. But she remained unfazed. With a mental command, she summoned one of the mini suns to stand before her. In an instant, a massive squirrel's phantom materialized behind her with a resounding whoosh. The hands seemed to pass right through her body, drilling into a void without catching hold of anything, as if she were nothing more than an illusion.

Hel activated another sun, which let out a piercing cry as it transformed into a golden eagle phantom. The phantom merged with her eyes, causing them to radiate with divine light. Having pinpointed the location of the demonic bodhisattva, she finally activated the last sun. She unleashed the aura of destruction, slamming the area to bits with devastating force.

The demonic bodhisattva emerged slowly from the smoke, walking amidst the ruins with a smile on her face as she looked at Hel. "Ratatoskr's Traversal, Hræsvelgr's Thousand-Mile Eyes, and Garm's Destruction. The three origin wheels, powers separated from Ogelmir. But trying to defeat me with just these..."

Hel snorted coldly, cutting her off. "After crossing hands, I realized that even though you're a Beast, your authority is pretty incomplete. You're just putting on a brave face now."

"This has nothing to do with putting on a brave face," the demonic bodhisattva shot back. "No matter what, my existence isn't something that borrowed power from a sleeping old geezer can handle."

Hel's expression hardened, the icy chill in her eyes deepening. She knew the demonic bodhisattva wasn't lying. Skadi had managed to defeat the demonic bodhisattva not by depending on the wheels, but by drawing from her own immense divinity.

Hel's eyes darted to the massive tree trunk propped against the great temple, and her heart sank. Ogelmir was still manifesting, and once fully formed, nothing in this world—or even in pan-human history—could stand against it. It was the creation god of Norse mythology, but also a star-destroying weapon manufactured in an infinitely distant era to invade enemy stars.