IBHJ Chapter 891

Artoria and Gray moved to surround the spot where Arcueid was hiding. With no other options, Arcueid used her Marble Phantasm to create two magical beasts, sending them outside to distract Artoria and Gray. Meanwhile, she dug a tunnel and escaped.

Artoria still being in the city was a surprise, but seeing her safe and sound brought Arcueid some relief. At least one friend was okay.

But this city seemed to attract trouble like a magnet, didn't it? First the Holy Grail War, then attacks from the Forest of Einnashe, Zepia Eltnam Oberon, and who knows what else.

So...

"What are you doing?"

In the tunnels beneath Fuyuki City, Arcueid looked at the Heaven's Corpse in front of her with a puzzled expression.

"Eating something yummy," Venus said, munching on a green, slimy plant. She held it out to her and asked, "Want some?"

She looked at the plant and quickly shook her head. "No, no, that's disgusting!"

"Disgusting?" Venus looked at her, puzzled. "I don't get it. It's pretty good."

She swallowed the plant in one gulp and licked her palm, savoring the taste.

Arcueid ignored her and turned towards a dense green forest. It was surprising to find such a lush forest growing beneath Fuyuki City. But as she looked closer, her eyes narrowed.

— The Forest of Einnashe!

No. More accurately, it was the Forest's offspring.

The true Forest of Einnashe had long ago gone towards the Root with Shirou and Arcueid, only to be destroyed by Gaia's monsters and Heroic Spirits. It must have been then that the Forest planted its spores underground in Fuyuki City. Over time, those spores had grown into this subterranean forest.

Left unchecked, in a few more years, a new Forest of Einnashe would emerge beneath the city, and all its citizens would become food for the hungry trees.

But this young forest wasn't very lucky. It had encountered a higher-level predator — Heaven's Corpse.

Although Heaven's Corpse was only using one of her spores now, she had completely devoured this offspring of the Forest of Einnashe.

"Mmm... Gaia-chan's creatures are tasty, but she never lets me eat my fill. It's so unfair. Oh, and Crimson Moon, don't tell Gaia-chan's!" Venus warned.

"I'm not Crimson Moon!" Arcueid insisted.

Venus giggled and started towards the surface.

"What are you going to do? If you eat surface creatures, Gaia will be angry," Arcueid warned.

"Who cares, Gaia-chan's off somewhere anyway. I'll eat what I want. Besides, with Gaia-chan's recovery ability, everything will be back to normal in a few years," Venus said with a laugh.

It was true, after giving Sakura power, Gaia had vanished. No one knew where she'd gone. And without Gaia to keep her in check, Venus clearly wanted to indulge.

"I won't allow this!"

Even though Arcueid knew she wasn't strong enough to stop her, she wouldn't stand by and watch Venus attack innocent creatures.

"Hehe... If you can stop me, try it, Crimson Moon."

Venus laughed, speeding up toward the surface. But someone else moved even faster, blocking her path. She was caught off guard and bumped into something. With a thud, she was knocked to the ground.

Arcueid, about to chase after her, was stunned. She looked up at the person blocking Venus's path.

It was the expressionless Ort.

"Ouch!" Venus rubbed her backside as she got up, glaring at Ort. "Mercury, what are you doing!?"

"Gaia told me to watch you," Ort replied flatly.

Ort hadn't done any mimicking, so she had no emotions. No matter how angry Venus got, Ort would only respond calmly.

"Damn it! Did Gaia-chan predict this?"

Venus bit her fingernail, frustrated. But there was nothing she could do. Gaia had clearly guessed that Venus would cause trouble after she left, so she'd had Ort keep an eye on her in advance.

"Move aside, Mercury!"

"Gaia told me to watch you."

"I'm not going hunting! Someone in this city is stealing my authority, and I was going to teach her a lesson!"

"Oh." Ort responded.

"Then why aren't you moving aside?" Venus asked.

"Gaia told me to watch you," Ort replied calmly.

"You—"

Venus was furious, almost gritting her teeth as she said each word: "I really hate you!"

To this, Ort calmly replied: "Oh."

Then she simply stared at Venus.

"..."

Venus was speechless.

In that moment, she desperately wished Gaia would come back soon. She didn't want to spend another second with Ort.

At sunset, Gaia returned.

"Where did you go, Gaia?" Arcueid asked.

"Nowhere."

Gaia didn't want to answer. Instead, she looked at Venus and said calmly, "More importantly, Venus, you didn't eat anything strange while I was away, did you?"

"O-of course not..." Venus stammered.

"Venus is lying, I'm telling!" Arcueid raised her hand, betraying Venus without hesitation.

"Little Crimson Moon, you betrayed me! Unforgivable!"

"I never agreed to keep your secret. And I'm not Crimson Moon!"

The two immediately started bickering and hurling insults at each other.

Gaia: "..."

Even Gaia couldn't help but get a headache when these two stubborn personalities clashed.

After separating them, Gaia looked at Venus and said, "If you can promise to hunt normal Earth creatures without destroying my ecosystem or the food chain, I won't stop you."

"Really?" Venus asked.

Gaia nodded.

"I knew it, Gaia-chan still loves me~!"

Venus hugged Gaia with a big grin, then stuck her tongue out at Arcueid, taunting her.

"Are you a child?" Arcueid was exasperated. She really wanted to know whose personality Venus was mimicking.

Gaia peeled Venus's hands off her, then calmly said, "Let's end this farce. We need to destroy those clones before the others judge me. This is a troublesome but meaningful journey. I hope it can become a beautiful memory for everyone in the future."

"Mm."

Everyone nodded, though Gaia's words sounded odd.

Become a beautiful memory. Probably only Arcueid and Sakura could have that. Tiamat was driven by her maternal instincts, while Gaia, Venus, and Ort weren't even organisms, but extensions of planetary will. When this was over and they dispersed their simulated personalities to return to their main bodies, how could they possibly retain any beautiful memories?

Take Gaia, for example. She was part of the planet's senses, manifested using the Moon Cell's authority. She only had two possible outcomes: either return and merge back with the main body or be destroyed by the main body and disappear.

But even so, Gaia still wanted to save herself. This was a journey and struggle that no one knew about. Under pressure from multiple planets, in a situation unknown to anyone, it was a journey of self-preservation.

In the following years, Gaia pursued and intercepted the black-robed figure from all angles.

This was the sole exception in countless resets. The planet itself had joined the battle!

Because it was the planet, no matter where the black-robed figure hid, even in the Imaginary Number Space, he couldn't escape Gaia's UO team.

The black-robed figure also understood that he couldn't resist Gaia's team alone. So, he continuously sought out and expanded his group of companions. Gradually, many powerful allies he could use appeared around him.

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.