IBHJ Chapter 892

This confrontation and pursuit continued until early 2012 when the curtain finally fell. The planets beyond Earth, the other UOs, finally reached a consensus and passed judgment on Gaia. And they set out from their planets towards Earth.

Their immense presence immediately triggered magnetic storms, disabling satellites, space stations, and communication devices, and even causing intense solar radiation.

The photosynthetic efficiency of plants on Earth decreased, animals on the continents fled in panic, the oceans surged, and strange deep-sea creatures emerged. However, humans at the time hadn't yet noticed this. Chaldea, established in the Pacific Ocean, was still accelerating its construction and conducting experiments on the application of the Second Magic. Everything seemed to be heading towards the doomsday predicted by the Mayan prophecy. But Earth wasn't without weapons to fight against this impending doom.

Ort, Heaven's Corpse, and Arcueid, these three Ultimate Ones, clearly stood on Earth's side. Gaia herself also possessed the Holy Sword Wielder and Tiamat. It wasn't impossible to put up a desperate fight and resist the planets' judgment.

But...

"What... what did you say, Gaia-chan?" Venus looked at Gaia in shock.

"I said, give up the counterattack. I accept the judgment," Gaia said calmly.

"Do you know the consequences of accepting the judgment, Gaia?" Venus asked, her expression grim.

Out of everyone, Venus's imitation was the most accurate, her emotions the richest.

"It's precisely because I know the consequences that I've decided to give up the counterattack," Gaia replied calmly.

Her tone was so calm, it was as if she wasn't the one facing judgment.

Ah. Right. She was a planet, how could she possibly feel fear?

"I don't understand, Gaia," Arcueid said through gritted teeth. "If we counterattack, we have a chance of winning. If you surrender, never mind anything else, won't all the creatures on this planet be destroyed? Aren't you the will that protects this planet's creatures?"

"That's exactly why I made this judgment. If we counterattack, our chance of victory is zero, and the probability of this planet's destruction is 100%. But if I accept the judgment, this planet has a chance of surviving."

"How?" Arcueid was confused.

"Like Shirou tricked me before, we trick them. We can't make them change their minds about me, but we can buy some time. But even if it works, they'll probably try to control me. So, everything depends on you, Arcueid." Gaia looked at her seriously.

"Me? You want me to trick them? No way, I can't do it... Neither I nor Crimson Moon are as smart as Shirou... I can't." she waved her hands frantically.

"I believe in you, Arcueid. I'm putting all my hope on you. Relax, you have a way with people."

Arcueid stared at Gaia in a daze.

Giving up the chance to counterattack, sacrificing herself to bet on a possibility. This kind of sacrificial and coordinated thinking wasn't something she or Crimson Moon had.

Was it because it felt so familiar that she only noticed now?

"Gaia, you're not imitating me at all, you're..."

"I'm not imitating Shirou, don't jump to conclusions," Gaia turned her head away, flatly denying it.

Isn't that basically admitting it? Arcueid was exasperated.

Even imitating this tsundere behavior, and still saying it's not true?

She was so slow! She should've seen it sooner. The one Gaia was imitating wasn't her, it was Shirou!

"I understand. I'll do my best," Arcueid said, her face grim.

The time for jokes was over. This wasn't a gamble anymore, it was a necessity. She couldn't let Gaia down.

Whether Arcueid succeeded or not, no one knows. But what is known is that Gaia, offering no resistance, was left at the mercy of the Ultimate Ones. Ort was sealed away. Gaia, Arcueid, Ort, Venus, Tiamat, Sakura... the dream team was disbanded.

In their absence, the Council rose to power. Without the suppression of this dream team, they began to recklessly create connection points across the globe, disrupting the Human Order and the operation of Alaya.

At the South American connection point, Universe Emperor Frieza and his eight Gundams descended, digitalizing everything in their path.

Meanwhile, Chaldea's Second Magic experiment succeeded. Fujimaru Ritsuka, accompanied by Mash, was defeated at the first connection point but managed to contract with King Hassan, turning the tide. To stop the Council, Chaldea began their journey across the connection points.

The Council, too, began intercepting Chaldea at various connection points, sparking a new wave of conflict. But no one in the Council wanted to deal with the South American connection point. So, the senior members bullied a clueless newcomer into taking on that mess.

Not long after Gaia was taken out of action, a certain king, who had been forced into slumber, awoke in the space between dimensions. He was then summoned to the Romanian connection point.

And so, a new era began...

...

It was 8 pm when Shirou and his companions reached Zaun, the vampire capital.

Zaun, the vampires' main city, was built into the mountains, surrounded by a dark barrier and always cloaked in an eerie black fog. Under the ominous blood moon, the whole city glowed an unsettling red.

The detailed models and creepy atmosphere of Zaun could easily impress gamers viewing it on a screen. After all, when most people think of vampires, "creepy" is usually the first word that comes to mind. But realistically, humans wouldn't be too keen on living there.

Shirou wanted to head straight to the vampire palace to find the Vampire King and finish his class advancement, but it was already dark, so he decided to find an inn first.

"Welcome," said the innkeeper, a stunning blonde girl with a smile like a fallen angel.

The inn wasn't big, just a three-story guesthouse. Shirou rented five rooms, one for each person. Unfortunately, Altera, to prevent herself from going berserk again, wasn't staying with them, having run off to who knows where.

However, he still reserved a room for her. 

With her ever-present smile, the innkeeper used an abacus to calculate the cost. "One room is 150 QP per day, so five rooms total 750 QP."

QP was the basic currency in this game, mainly earned by defeating monsters. After completing the beginner's quest and battling his way here, Shirou had over 10,000 QP.

He quickly opened the virtual trade window with the innkeeper, entered 750, confirmed, and swiped his hand. A virtual message box appeared before him:

—[Payment received, transaction successful.]

This transaction method felt more futuristic than medieval. But then again, this connection point was a virtualized game world, so it wasn't that surprising.

"Thank you very much for your business. Zaun can be dangerous, so please don't go out after dark," the innkeeper reminded them with a smile.

In the game's lore, the vampire and beastmen capitals were known as the most chaotic cities. Not only were they plagued by robbers and thieves, but strange creatures also roamed the streets. Most importantly, killing another player here didn't result in a red name, making it a lawless and dangerous zone.

Of course, this kind of setting often led to side quests like quelling rebellions or maintaining order. But Shirou was only here for his class advancement and didn't plan to stick around. His bigger problem was Mordred, who was insisting on sharing his room.

"Please, Mom? You must still hate me for what I did. You dislike me, I'm sorry, Mom, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to, I'm sorry, waaah..."

She even started sobbing.

Who knew that after being hit with the infantilization curse, she'd become so clingy?

What could he do?

He had to give in.

"Yay!"

Mordred cheered and clapped, beaming with delight. The tears had vanished as quickly as they'd appeared.

Had he been played? It was hard to tell with Mordred.