IBHJ Chapter 878

[System: Congratulations to player 'Evil Flower' for clearing the the Star Trial and receiving a high reward...]

[System: Congratulations to player...]

With the system's triple announcement, the entire player base of "Moon-Gazing Beauty" was thrown into chaos.

"Is this a joke? Someone actually beat that quest?"

"Forget that, what kind of insane reward would you get for clearing that hellish quest?"

"And... who the heck is Evil Flower?"

Players across the game world were buzzing with speculation, trying to figure out who Evil Flower was and what amazing loot they'd scored for completing the notoriously difficult newbie quest.

Among them was Morrigan, a hardcore "Moon-Gazing Beauty" player and a well-known NEET.

"Someone actually cleared that quest..."

Morrigan couldn't hide her surprise.

As a dedicated item farmer, she had attempted the hell-level newbie quest dozens of times, failing each time without exception.

And now, someone had actually beaten it...

Could it be someone's alt account?

Morrigan opened the [Guild] interface, ready to ask if anyone knew who it was, only to find her [Guild] was also in chaos over the news.

King of Conquerors: To think someone conquered a trial even this king couldn't. Evil Flower is truly a valiant warrior, worthy of sailing with this king across the vast starry sea.

The One King: Is that the point, you red-haired idiot? Someone actually beat me to clearing this quest... Damn it! Unforgivable! How could I, the king, fall behind anyone? Who? Whose alt account is it? (‵□′)

Super Cute Fox: Yeah, whose alt is it? Come out and show yourself! What's the quest reward? Is it a super rare item? Are you selling? I'll buy it at a high price! (≧口≦)

...

[System: Congratulations to player 'Evil Flower' for clearing the Star Trial. Automatically accepting main quest, Star's Wrath.]

[System: Congratulations to player for defeating the Lv.9 Gatekeeper #$@&, obtaining Blood Factor... Ding, rank-up concentration reached. Please go to the Blood Kingdom and find the Vampire King to rank up, otherwise you will no longer be able to receive Blood Factor.]

[System: Player 'Lonely Pilgrim' has sent you a friend request. Do you accept?]

Lonely Pilgrim was Mordred's game ID, her race a control-type succubus.

Shirou accepted her friend request.

Having defeated the gatekeeper and rescued Mordred, he had achieved the mission's objective.

But...

"There's no sign of a way back, Artoria." Altera searched the surroundings but couldn't find any way to return to Chaldea, or any trigger to initiate it.

He scanned the area, and indeed there was nothing.

The surroundings remained unchanged, except for the disappearance of the Gatekeeper's corpse and the bouncing slime. There was nothing else of note, let alone the typical RPG game's return portal that appears after defeating the final boss.

However, this didn't matter, as returning to Chaldea wasn't limited to external means; they could also initiate it from Chaldea itself.

He instinctively looked beside him at Mordred, who was clinging to his leg.

No good.

This child had completely regressed to her younger self.

He turned to Illya and asked, "Illya, can you contact Chaldea?"

"Not possible," she shook her head regretfully.

As expected.

He sighed. Chaldea was always unreliable!

So far, it had either been unusable or blocked by powerful enemies.

He had asked the question with little hope of success, and the answer wasn't a surprise. But the question remained: how to return to Chaldea from this connection point?

With Mordred regressed to childhood, he had no desire to stubbornly linger. He wanted to return to Chaldea, prioritizing Mordred's safety before figuring out how to tackle the connection point.

But their path was blocked. No, it was more accurate to say that this connection point itself was bizarre. There was no Black Ring in the sky, no sign of the Council, and the location of the Black Grail was unknown. All that existed was this virtual game world. So, how could they clear this connection point?

He instinctively opened the [Quest Log].

[Quest 1: Please find the village chief of the newbie village to submit the quest...]

[Main Quest - Star's Wrath: ??????]

His gaze settled on the main quest.

Could the key to conquering this connection point lie in this main quest that automatically triggered after defeating the gatekeeper? However, this main quest had no description, no starting or ending point.

Just then, from the tree that had transformed from the female gatekeeper's corpse, a blinding golden light erupted, coalescing into a black coffin.

The black coffin emitted a radiant golden glow, pulsating with an incredibly potent magical energy.

[System: Congratulations to player 'Evil Flower' for clearing the Star Trial. The reward has now been issued.]

"Is that thing the reward for the hell-level quest?" Illya curiously eyed the black coffin.

Illya was also a "Moon-Gazing Beauty" player. In fact, when she entered the South American connection point and unexpectedly found herself in the game world, she was stunned for a long time.

As a player, she knew about the infamous hell-level newbie quest, and was naturally intrigued by its reward. But she never imagined that the reward... would be a plain black coffin.

"Ugh...!"

Altera suddenly doubled over, the patterns on her body flashing rapidly, sweat beading on her forehead.

"What's wrong, Altera?" Shirou looked at her with concern, sensing something was wrong.

"It's... it's nothing..." she managed.

He thought, you certainly don't look fine.

After the black coffin appeared, Altera's condition took a strange turn. Sweat streamed down her face, as if she was struggling to endure something.

And she was. But it wasn't pain she was enduring, but her White Titan instincts to destroy and rampage.

Destroy, Ravage...!

The black coffin had fully awakened Altera's White Titan instincts. And compared to her urge to destroy when facing Artoria, it was even more intense.

Or rather, the desire to destroy Artoria stemmed from Altera's subconscious, while the thing in the black coffin was triggering her primal destructive urges. It was as if whatever was inside was something the White Titan naturally needed to obliterate.

"Guda, guda!"

The slime that had been bouncing on the gatekeeper's corpse also stopped, raising its head to stare at the black coffin with its gelatinous eyes.

With a creak, the black coffin, overflowing with terrifying magical energy, slowly opened.

The reward for the hell-level newbie quest, and the trigger for Altera's destructive urges, finally revealed itself as the coffin's lid lifted.

"That's... too much..." Illya couldn't bear the sight and looked away.

"It's scary, mommy..." Mordred instinctively clutched Shirou's leg, hiding behind him, afraid to look.

"Even though I don't know the lore of this world... this is a bit much, even for a game," he frowned.

What emerged from the black coffin was neither a sealed person, a corpse, nor a gleaming divine weapon, but a brain specimen preserved in amber!

[God's Brain (1/8)

Quality: ???

Effect: ???

Bound to: Evil Flower]

"Ah...!"

Seeing the brain specimen, Altera seemed to snap. The patterns on her body glowed ominously, her face contorted, and her eyes blazed with a violent light.

"Destroy... ravage... destroy everything..."

Altera lost control, drawing the Sword of Mars and unleashing her magical energy without restraint.

Seeing her sudden transformation, Shirou's heart pounded, and he reached out to stop her. "Wait, Altera!"

"Ravage—Destroy—!"