IBHJ Chapter 881

"Master's orders are absolute, this is one of my core directives. However, based on event judgment, with Master's safety as the top priority, I still had to give a warning," the girl said in a wooden tone.

Her voice was stiff and mechanical, just like a robot operating on basic code logic.

Shirou didn't have time to argue with her. He scooped up Mordred and ran towards the cave exit.

Illya, using her enhanced beastman strength, carried the unconscious Altera and followed.

"Are we escaping? I understand, Master."

The girl said as she pulled Rhongomyniad from thin air. She planted the spear vertically, and with a clear ring, it emitted a dazzling light, suddenly growing to thousands of meters tall. With a "boom," it shattered the cave ceiling, annihilating any obstacles and preventing a cave-in.

He gave the blue-haired girl a long look as she stood beside the Tower of Light, then rushed out of the cave.

Seeing he had escaped, the girl put away the Tower of Light and followed, sprinting out of the Andes cave.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!

The earth split open under immense pressure, the entire mountain range collapsing. Giant boulders flew into the sky, kicking up massive clouds of dust.

After rushing out of the cave, Shirou suddenly felt a chill, as if some primordial beast was staring at his back.

He turned, eyes narrowing. Within the enormous dust cloud churned up by the collapsing mountains, a colossal black figure seemed to be moving. Then, a massive eye, as large as a star, peered out from the cloud, locking its gaze on Shirou and the others.

"What the hell is that?" he muttered, frowning.

"One of Frieza's Gundams, Master. But don't worry, he hasn't spotted us yet," the girl replied in her usual monotone.

Shirou stared back at the monstrous eye watching them, thinking to himself that they had definitely been spotted. But he also noticed that despite the terrifying gaze aimed at them, the giant didn't seem inclined to attack.

"We should leave, Master. If we stay too long, it might find us," the girl warned.

"I see... it's not that it hasn't found us, it has, but because of the plot, it 'hasn't'. If we stay in its sight for too long, once the plot timer runs out, it'll be able to attack!" Illya quickly grasped the situation.

But even without Illya's explanation, Shirou, with his keen insight, had already figured it out.

The enemy wasn't incapable of attacking, but was held back by the plot. Once that time limit ran out, the black giant would surely strike.

And the Andes cave was a respawn point. If they were killed here, they'd be stuck in a loop of dying and respawning, using up their chances, becoming younger like Mordred, or even a baby like Miyu.

With this realization, Shirou wasted no time and led everyone in a hasty retreat.

The enemy was the big boss of the story, and at their current level, they had no chance of defeating it. Running was their only option.

"Raaaargh!"

A roar echoed from the dust cloud, and the next moment, the black giant concealed within surged forward, pursuing Shirou and the others.

Just as he and Illya had deduced, it wasn't that it hadn't noticed them, it had, but was bound by the system's plot to "not notice" them. Only after the plot's time limit expired could it attack.

The black giant focused on the blue-haired girl behind Shirou, then on Shirou himself, killing intent flashing in its massive eyes.

Though they had cleared the trial and freed the girl, taking on the next quest, as long as the giant was there, they would never complete it!

The victory in this gamble belongs to us!

The black giant raised its head and let out a long howl, but when it looked down again, its ferocious expression froze.

Where... where did they go?

The black giant was stunned.

In the moment it had raised its head to howl, Shirou and the others had disappeared!

It reached out with a giant finger, scratching its face, completely dumbfounded.

...

Hearing the vibrations from above, Shirou held his breath and suppressed his presence.

Mordred, cradled in his arms, held up her Grail, looking at him with pride. "How about it, Mama? Am I amazing?"

"Yes. You are amazing, Mordred is the best," he said, gently stroking her smooth golden hair.

She beamed, "I'm even more amazing than Eternal King!"

They were 200 meters underground.

Seizing the moment the black giant had looked up to howl, Shirou had Mordred use her Grail to hide them underground, narrowly avoiding the giant's pursuit.

Feeling the vibrations from above stop, he cautiously poked his head out. The black giant was gone, so he called for everyone to come back up.

"Whew! That was close!"

Illya put Altera down and patted her chest.

The black giant had been terrifying. Though Adam might have been taller, the intimidation factor didn't compare. And this was just one of Frieza's eight Gundams from the main plot.

Shirou knew the black giant, the other Gundams, and even Frieza himself, were all necessary enemies to solve this Connection Point. He didn't have to solve it, but it seemed like the only way back to Chaldea was to do so.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to his pet companion. "Aqua, I need you to repeat the plot."

Earlier, he'd been too distracted by the cringeworthy plot, so he hadn't listened closely, which nearly led to their team being wiped out by the black giant. Now that he was taking it seriously, he naturally wouldn't miss this crucial plot point again.

"Aqua? Master, are you calling me?" The girl pointed at herself and asked.

"You said you're a Goddess and you also have blue hair, so..."

"That's just the system's plot setting, Master. But if it's you, any name is fine."

Aqua took out the small piece of paper from her pocket again and read, "Then I'll explain again. Brave adventurers, I am the Goddess of Comedy..."

...

While he was reviewing the cringeworthy plot setting, in a sci-fi spaceship, several life forms were holding a meeting around a round table.

"...To think they actually passed the test and accepted the mission. Miss Pluto, this is an unforgivable mistake! You should commit suicide to atone for it!" The central life form stared coldly at the one in the ninth position.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect anyone to guess the answer to the question, and there was even a slime. I apologize, brother," the ninth life form looked apologetically at the central one.

"Brother? You've made another mistake, Miss Pluto. You should address me as the great universe emperor, Frieza!" the central life form declared loudly.

Pluto: "..."

Other life forms: "..."

"Even if you're playing the emperor, no need to get so carried away, Saturn," one lifeform said, exasperated.

"Indeed, Saturn. If it's just role-playing, I wouldn't say anything, but if we lose the bet because of this, don't expect to get off lightly." another asked coldly.

"Rest assured. Even if you don't trust me, you should trust yourselves, right?" Saturn said confidently.

"Speaking of which, this is really troublesome. If we were trying to prevent the vortex from reviving, we could have just destroyed it along with Gaia. But you fell for Crimson Moon's trick and made a bet with him. It's so much trouble, I just want to sleep," one lifeform sighed lazily.

"Don't say that. In the end, we will definitely win!" Saturn declared confidently.