IBHJ Chapter 843

Sparks crackled through the air as the black vortex flashed with dark lightning. It resembled a storage container, with Ea serving as the chain that kept it sealed. But now, Abigail had taken Ea, and there was no doubt that the vortex was spiraling out of control.

The terrifying black vortex continued to rotate, and then an immeasurable amount of black mud poured down from the sky like a waterfall, possessing the destructive power to corrupt and destroy everything in its path.

"Wait! This is—" Abigail couldn't react fast enough and was instantly submerged by the cascading mud.

Ayaka gritted her teeth, then made a split-second decision and shouted to everyone, "Don't let that mud touch you! It'll corrupt you and turn you into monstrous creatures!"

Her warning was unnecessary. Everyone present could clearly see the curse-like nature of the mud.

Instinctively, Shirou reached for Rhongomyniad, but then noticed with surprise that the die in front of him had rolled to 31 on its own.

Summoning failed!

He rolled his eyes. This shitty TRPG game wasn't over yet?

"As always, you're the only one I can count on, my friend!"

The moment he finished speaking, black mud surged out from his chest.

While Noble Phantasms and skills were restricted by Abigail's TRPG rules, the black mud's unique properties allowed it to bypass the game's interference and emerge directly from his soul.

"Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~!"

A tide of black mud poured down from the vortex, destroying everything in its path. Under Shirou's control, his black mud immediately formed three protective bubbles, encircling him and the others separately.

He noticed Artoria attempting to wield the Sword of Promised Victory to resist the black mud and rolled his eyes. This idiot!

Without hesitation, he reached out, grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her into the safety of the bubble.

"Ah! My king..."

With an unexpectedly cute cry, Artoria was pulled into the black bubble by Shirou.

After safely securing everyone inside the black bubbles, the mud pouring from the sky finally rushed over them.

Buildings, structures, civilization... everything, tangible or intangible, was disintegrated. The three black bubbles formed by Shirou were like small boats sailing on a sea of mud, floating away with the current.

Shirou's mud, originating from All the World's Evils, was identical to the mud gushing out from the vortex in terms of malice and cursed nature. As a result, the mud judged it to be part of itself, and instead of destroying the bubbles, it allowed them to float away unharmed.

He didn't know the situation with Gray and Ayaka, but he and Artoria were on quite a turbulent voyage. He had no choice but to hug her tightly with both hands to stabilize himself.

Artoria's breath hitched, and she let out a soft, startled noise. 'My king, S-Shirou, he's hugging me...' Her face was tinged with a faint blush. She buried her head low, pressed against his chest, and let him hold her close.

Splash.

Splash.

Darkness surrounded them.

The man held the woman close, and her heart raced.

"Splash~ Splash~ Splash~!"

The sound of surging waves beside their ears persisted. However, after floating and bobbing for a while, the black bubble finally stabilized.

Shirou let out a sigh of relief, then looked down at the silent Artoria in his arms. "Okay, Artie. It looks like the situation outside has settled down."

"Mmm..." She responded softly, her voice muffled against his chest.

"Let me take a look at what's going on out there." With that said, he connected his senses to the black mud and scanned their surroundings. He found that the mud outside had gradually receded, and there was no more immediate danger. Only then did he breathe another sigh of relief.

"We're safe now."

"Mmm..." she responded in a low voice, still nestled in his embrace.

Shirou noticed that Artie's body felt very hot and feverish. He couldn't help but ask with a concerned frown, "Artie, you're burning up. What's wrong? Did the mud hit you?"

"No..." She lifted her head and immediately met his bright eyes. Her body instantly grew even hotter, and her face flushed red with embarrassment. She quickly shook her head, "No, no, no..."

"If you're feeling any discomfort, don't hide it from me. I'll worry." He reminded her, then released her and dispelled the black bubble.

As the cool wind from outside brushed past her face, she couldn't help but sigh in relief, though a hint of regret lingered in her heart.

Being held by the king, what an extravagant wish, yet it had come true.

This really isn't good for the heart...

She felt that her mentality was very strange. During their journey in Camelot, on a stormy night, the king had hugged her because he was afraid of the cold. But at that time, she only felt warmth and no other feelings, yet now it was so blazing hot.

In fact, even Artoria herself didn't know exactly when she had developed such burning feelings for the king.

Perhaps it was when Arcueid unlocked the shackles on her emotions...

No.

She must have already fallen in love with this man before that.

She silently gazed at him.

However, not noticing her gaze, he looked around, observing their surroundings. The mud had completely disappeared, and the surrounding buildings had been corroded to varying degrees, worse than any sight one would see after the apocalypse.

"Abigail? Hey, Abby? GM? Respected GM? Shitty GM?" He called out a few times but received no response.

Obviously, Abigail had been washed away somewhere by the mud.

It's just...

He looked at the die in front of him and showed a helpless expression.

It was unknown where the mud had carried Abigail off to, but clearly, this Connection Point was still under her control, and the TRPG game had not ended.

The TRPG hadn't ended, but the GM had disappeared first...

In other words, this inexplicable TRPG game had changed from story mode to free exploration mode?

"My king, what is that...?" Artoria frowned, staring at the black vortex in the distant sky.

He shook his head, his brow furrowed. "I'm not sure. But it must be connected to this place, and maybe even to the nightmare I had."

The vortex looked too similar to the one in his dream. He felt this location might be linked to him, just like the previous Fuyuki City connection point.

"We don't know where Gray and Ayaka ended up either. Let's find them first, and then—" His voice trailed off abruptly as his eyes landed on something behind Artoria.

"What's wrong, my king?" She tilted her head, puzzled by his sudden silence. Turning to follow his gaze, her expression froze as well.

Behind her stood an ordinary Japanese-style residence, very much in the style of the 90s.

And there, written on the nameplate, was the surname of the residence's owner:

—Fujimaru!

"My king, this surname... isn't it..." She turned to face him. "But we're in Shinjuku, not Fuyuki. It's probably just a coincidence. A family with the same surname."

"Only one way to find out. Let's head inside," he said, striding towards the door.

"Mm." she nodded.

As he reached for the rusty doorknob, a strange message appeared before him:

[Hint: You are about to enter a dilapidated house. The door is locked, and your strength is 2. You need a roll of 1 or higher to break in.] [Dice roll, please wait——]

He stared in disbelief as the dice began to tumble, flashing random numbers.

Crazy. Since when does a Servant need to roll dice to break down a door?

Paying no attention to the still-rolling dice, he used a mud arm to push the door open.

Perhaps even Abigail hadn't anticipated that he would possess such a cheat-like Noble Phantasm, capable of bypassing the game's rules.

It couldn't be helped. Though the black mud's power could no longer keep pace with his other Noble Phantasms, it still surpassed them in terms of support and cheating. Its defense and resistance against negative status effects were even higher than Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm.

With a creaky groan, the mud arm forced the door open, and he stepped inside.

At that moment, the dice came to a stop, landing on 100.

Seeing this, he felt a sense of bewilderment.

It turned out he could also roll a 100!

It seemed he still had some luck after all!