IBHJ Chapter 858

"There's no need to worry," she shook her head.

"Why not?"

Artoria turned her head, her soft eyes filled with tenderness as she gazed at the king wielding the Holy Lance. "Because the one who will win is the king!"

Her voice was soft, yet firm!

"An opening!"

Gilgamesh roared, his feet blurring as he flashed behind Shirou. The golden swords in his hands, dripping with deadly intent, slashed mercilessly towards his head.

But—

Clang!

A wave of deep black mud surged from Shirou's back, forming an impenetrable shield that blocked the golden swords.

And then—

Sizzle!!

Where the swords met the Evil Blossom, the blades blackened.

Shirou spun, thrusting his lance towards Gilgamesh, but the golden king had already anticipated the move and dodged.

Landing on the ground, Gilgamesh looked down to see a chip in one of his golden swords, Enki. The entire blade was now covered in cracks like a spiderweb!

A curse!

A powerful curse had corrupted Enki, the Sword of the End!

"Even Enki's wrath is being corroded..." Gilgamesh looked up at the Evil Blossom surrounding Shirou. "That mud has become as terrifying as that woman's."

Even with his golden sword corrupted by Evil Blossom, Gilgamesh didn't show anger. Instead, he smiled.

A joyful smile.

"If this is all you've got, it's not nearly enough to satisfy me, Fujimaru Shirou!" Gilgamesh laughed heartily.

"No, Gilgamesh, you've already lost," Shirou said flatly.

As the words left his mouth, the ground behind Gilgamesh exploded, the deep black mud morphing into a sword. With a swift shaa sound, faster than Gilgamesh could react, it pierced through his abdomen.

Puh!

Gilgamesh coughed up blood, looking down in disbelief at the black spear impaling him. "How could this be..."

"Your actions were always within my calculations."

"I see, that opening you showed was a deliberate trap!" Gilgamesh's eyes widened in understanding, then he gazed at Shirou with satisfaction.

Gilgamesh knew that Shirou preferred using his wits over brute force. It was the same during that Grail War. If Shirou hadn't anticipated Saber's Noble Phantasm being Excalibur, he might have lost.

Similarly, when assassinating Manaka, Arthur and Gilgamesh only thought of brute force, but Shirou saw through her identity and assassinated her as one would a mere Master.

Shirou kept the Evil Blossom swirling close as he walked towards Gilgamesh.

Seeing this, he couldn't help but ask, "You've won. Why bother with that?"

"My victory is your complete death. I won't let my guard down until you're gone," Shirou replied flatly.

"I see...understandable caution. But I'd rather die than do something so dishonorable," Gilgamesh snorted.

His pride would never allow such a shameful act.

Hearing Gilgamesh's words, Shirou nodded, then smiled at him. "Did you have fun, Archer?"

"Being killed by such a shameless sneak attack, how could I possibly be happy?" Gilgamesh scoffed, then paused and looked at him with a serious expression. "You should be wary of that woman."

"Who?"

"Who else? The woman you assassinated."

"Manaka Sajyou?" Shirou frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"That woman was indeed killed by you, and like us, she was buried in this world. In theory, she should have become a lingering spirit like us. However, she disappeared."

Gilgamesh looked up. "She passed through the vortex. I suspect she was either summoned by someone or absorbed by the main body of the Dark Vortex."

Shirou nodded thoughtfully.

In the original reality, Shirou had already clashed with Manaka and her Beast. It was the same Beast that had invaded Fuyuki before, the Beast of Calamity!

The one who unleashed the Beast of Calamity from Pandora's Box was most likely Manaka!

And then there was the organization known as the Council...

Manaka was highly likely to be a core member, if not one of its members.

Shirou's path of endless loops began because of the Dark Vortex, but there was indeed a connection to Manaka as well. Though the current Shirou hadn't encountered her yet, he knew that if he continued to oppose the Council, their paths would eventually cross again.

"I understand," he said confidently, "but even so, I will be victorious."

"I don't expect you to win, but...you must survive. I don't want to see you on the Throne of Heroes...Farewell, Fujimaru Shirou."

With a soft whisper, Gilgamesh closed his eyes, his body gradually fading away, revealing the Black Grail.

Shirou reached out and retrieved it.

With that, the wandering soul was finally at peace.

Artoria and the others gathered around him.

"Are you okay, my king?" she asked with concern.

"I'm fine," he shook his head, then held out the Black Grail to Gray. "This is the Black Grail, keep it safe, Gray."

"Oh...okay." Gray fumbled to secure the Black Grail in her grasp.

With the Black Grail recovered, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Artoria scanned the surroundings, then asked, "Speaking of which, where are Altera and that newcomer? I haven't seen them since earlier."

"I don't know, she said she had something to take care of," Gray answered honestly.

Artoria frowned and scolded, "Gray, even the Seventh Seat appeared at this connection point. It's dangerous, how could you let the newcomer roam freely? If something happened, you'd have failed as a senpai!"

"But..." Gray felt wronged.

Shirou reached out and placed a comforting hand on Artoria's shoulder. "Don't worry too much, Artie. Altera is with her, so she'll be fine."

Artoria's furrowed brow relaxed, and she said softly, "The king speaks wisely."

Gray: "......"

Favoritism!

It's so unfair!

Gray felt even more wronged.

"Gray senpai!"

A voice called out, and everyone looked up to see Altera running towards them, Ayaka in her arms.

"Ayaka, you're back!"

"Yes, senpai!"

After the greetings, Gray noticed the large sword Ayaka was holding. "What's that?" she asked curiously.

Ayaka instinctively hugged the sword tighter, then slowly relaxed her grip and said seriously, "Someone asked me to deliver this sword."

"Deliver it?" Gray looked confused.

Ayaka turned her head, her gaze falling on Artoria. After a moment's hesitation, she walked forward and pushed the sword into her arms. "King of Knights," she said earnestly, "someone asked me to entrust this sword to you."

"E-Entrust it to me?" Artoria stared at the sword in her hands, then looked at Ayaka with a bewildered expression.

Ayaka reluctantly tore her eyes away from the sword and nodded solemnly.

"This is strange. Who would entrust a sword to me? And...this is a Noble Phantasm, right? Wait! This sword is—!" Artoria's eyes widened as she examined the sword, then compared it to her own Sword of Promised Victory. Her astonishment deepened.

This sword...

It's another Sword of Promised Victory!

What's going on?

Could the planet have forged a second Sword of Promised Victory? And if so, doesn't that mean there's another wielder of it out there?

She was perplexed.

Shirou glanced at the sword in Artoria's hand, then turned his head slightly, his gaze falling on Ayaka. "I see...so you met him."

"Him? Yes...we did meet a stranger, senpai. Altera defeated him, and he asked me to give this sword to the King of Knights," Ayaka explained.

Altera glanced at Ayaka, puzzled. Didn't Master recognize that Holy Sword wielder? Why did she act as if she didn't know him?

She kept quiet, though, as it was Ayaka's business.

Besides, her mind was preoccupied with a more pressing matter. Artoria now had two Swords of Promised Victory. She'd be even tougher to defeat than before. How could she possibly destroy her now? What should she do?

"Now that you mention it, you do seem a bit familiar, Ayaka," he remarked.

"It must be your imagination, senpai. This is the first time we've met, but Kiara has told me a lot about you," she replied.

Just then—

"Crack! Boom!"

Massive cracks appeared in the sky, and the ground began to tremble violently. Terrifying fissures opened up, and the distant buildings and landscape crumbled like dust.

"W-What's happening now? Is another powerful enemy appearing?" Gray said gloomily.

"No! This connection point is collapsing!" Artoria said urgently.

Shirou remembered that this connection point was different from the ones in Romania and Scandinavia. Its existence was maintained by the Black Grail and the Dark Vortex. Now that he had the Black Grail and the Dark Vortex was destroyed, the foundation supporting this place was gone. It was only natural for this historical fragment to disappear.