IBHJ Chapter 889

A Reality Marble infused with world transformation was more powerful than a pure Reality Marble. And the barrier that now trapped the cloaked figures surpassed even Forest of Einnashe's Reality Marble.

It was almost like a true parallel world!

But that wasn't the cloaked figures' main concern. They had just arrived in this world only to find themselves trapped in Crystal Valley. This was clearly a carefully laid trap!

But how? No one should have been aware of their existence. What was going on?

There was no time to think. Escaping was paramount. But just as they thought this, a blinding blue light lanced down from the sky, engulfing one of them with a deafening boom.

"Impossible!"

The remaining figures were stunned.

They weren't surprised by the attack itself, but by the fact that someone had managed to hit and destroy one of them!

This should have been impossible. The only beings capable of such a feat were Saver and the Beast of Revelation, specifically created to counter them, or Mordred, the owner of the Grail. Yet, an attack had indeed hit and obliterated one of the clones!

"You may have struggled to reach this world, but unfortunately, passage is forbidden here!"

"Who?!" The cloaked figures, or clones, whipped around to see a young girl with blonde hair and crimson eyes, dressed in a white dress, descending slowly from the sky. Her gaze swept over them like a monarch's.

Alongside her floated four other blonde girls: one with short hair, and the other three identical-looking, red-eyed angels with varying expressions.

But that wasn't the most shocking part. The truly unbelievable thing was...

"Impossible!" The cloaked clones stared at the blonde girl in the lead, their faces filled with disbelief.

Their sharp perception allowed them to recognize her true nature.

"Gaia-chan, are they the ones?" The cheerful Heaven's Corpse asked, pointing at the cloaked clones with a predatory grin.

Gaia nodded. "They are."

"Can I have them then? They look rather tasty."

"Very well, but Tiamat's daughter is just an ordinary human, so don't go overboard."

"I know." The angel's eyes gleamed as clusters of predatory light spread from her body towards the cloaked clones.

These were the Heaven's Corpse's predatory spores. Once enveloped, nothing, be it life or concept, would escape their ravenous hunger.

"This... this is impossible! This has never happened before. Even if you intervene directly, you shouldn't be able to do anything to us!"

The clones in black robes took out some Grails, each flickering with an eerie light. Once activated, nothing in this reality should have been able to reach them, let alone harm them. But as they triggered the Grails, the emotionless blonde angel with crimson eyes simply extended a hand. The Reality Marble enclosing them, the [Crystal Valley], instantly rewrote the rules of the world. Predatory spores of the Heaven's Corpse rained down against the clones.

"They can change the rules of the Grail's reality interference—?!"

The clones' expressions twisted in shock as they stared at the impassive angel. They hated to admit it, but from this moment on, this cosmic entity joined the list of natural enemies they desperately wished to avoid.

With ORT seizing control of the clones' Grails, Arcueid could no longer restrain herself. Her eyes blazing red, she lunged towards them.

"Gaia told me everything. You're the ones who unleashed that monster on Fuyuki, aren't you? You hurt my friends. I won't forgive you!"

Not only Arcueid, but the watchful Tiamat and the Heaven's Corpse joined the charge as well. Only Gaia remained distant, her calm eyes monitoring the unfolding battle.

Though ORT's Crystal Valley was formidable, Gaia, aware of the true nature of these clones, anticipated the possibility of their breaching her encirclement and escaping, so she stayed alert, holding back just in case.

The clones in black robes were undeniably powerful, but with their Grails rendered useless by [Crystal Valley], they stood no chance against the onslaught of Ultimate Ones.

"Damn it! If only Shirou hadn't summoned Saver, I wouldn't be in this pathetic state..." one of the clones cursed, frustrated at Gaia's ambush.

But they had to get out of there because they were no match for these UOs. Losing all the clones was not an option. As Arcueid and the others tangled with the remaining clones, one of the clones made a break for it.

Success!

The clone rejoiced internally, but the moment was shattered by Gaia's calm voice in his ears.

"I'm afraid passage is forbidden here as well."

What?!

The clone came to a halt, staring in disbelief at Gaia right in front of him.

They never expected Gaia hadn't joined the fight at all. Instead, she'd calmly and methodically patrolled the perimeter, cutting off any chance of escape.

But—

A red light flared in the clone's eyes, and the mana within him surged before exploding outward.

For an instant, the place was bathed in a blinding light.

In this flash, the clone facing Arcueid seized the moment she closed her eyes and bolted.

However—

Crack!

The clone looked down in shock at the stone pillar that had erupted from the ground, impaling his chest.

"How is this..."

"I'm afraid passage is forbidden here as well."

A calm voice floated down from above. The figure looked up to see Gaia gazing down at him, her red eyes calm, as if this was all part of the plan.

"This is... cheating!"

With these final words, the clone's body dissolved.

The other clones were quickly dispatched by the Heaven's Corpse, ORT, and the others.

"I'm sorry, Gaia."

Arcueid felt a pang of embarrassment. She had made a mistake earlier, allowing the clone she was facing to escape. If Gaia hadn't been in control of the situation, her mistake could have proved costly.

"It's alright, Arcueid. You're different from us. It's understandable that you're not used to bright light. Save your strength to continue hunting down those clones," Gaia reassured her.

Despite her seemingly petty nature, Gaia was unexpectedly generous.

However...

"Keep hunting? Weren't those all the clones?" she asked, puzzled.

"No," Gaia replied. "That entity's goal is to stop Alaya from functioning, and to do that, it must first dismantle the Human Order in various regions. In other words, traces of that entity can be found all over the planet. Our goal is to eliminate all its clones before my siblings judge me."

"If that's the case, why did we have to clear the clones in Fuyuki City first? We were in South America earlier, couldn't we have dealt with those first? And couldn't we split up to work more efficiently?" she asked, still confused.

"Without Mercury's authority, none of us can attack these clones. So we must act together. Besides, they can't hide from me, which makes up for the lack of efficiency," Gaia answered.

"But why Fuyuki City's clones first?" Arcueid pressed, still not understanding.

Gaia remained silent on this question.

After dealing with the clones, ORT dispelled [Crystal Valley], and everyone returned to reality. Sakura looked at the Ultraseven statue in front of her, her eyes briefly brightening before dimming again.

This was Fuyuki City. Home was so close, yet she knew Tiamat wouldn't let her go wherever she pleased.