IBHJ Chapter 836

"If you did that, I think you would have already turned half-mud." Shirou smiled faintly. He was quite confident in his [All the World's Evil] and [Vampiric Evil] abilities to protect his body well. There was no way Mordred would be able to 'snap' his body as she put it without causing a big commotion.

Mordred pouted again. There was no fun at all in teasing an old man.

"Here, catch." She tossed him a notebook.

He caught it, "What's this for?"

"It's a newbie manual for Connection Point. Actually, Mash wanted to give it to you, not me. But something came up, so I'm stuck doing it. Don't get the wrong idea." She held her head high and crossed her arms.

"Don't worry, even if it was from you, I wasn't planning on saying thanks."

She glared at him, gritting her teeth. This guy is so annoying!

As he flipped through the manual, Shirou glanced at his annoyed daughter from the corner of his eye. "So, when are you going to talk to your mother?"

"Huh?" She raised an eyebrow.

He kept flipping pages. "Isn't your wish to get along with her?"

She fell silent for a moment. "That's none of your business!" she snapped.

"I wasn't planning to interfere anyway. You delivered the manual, so you can go now." He waved the notebook.

This guy! Her forehead twitched. She took a few steps to stand in front of him, made a throat-slitting gesture, and stuck out her tongue before storming off.

Just as she was about to walk out the door, a thought struck her. With a mischievous smile, she turned to look at Shirou, who was engrossed in the manual. "You know, 《Eternal King Can't Possibly Be a True Ancestor Girl》 is a great read, especially the part about being imprisoned, domesticated, and trained."

He nearly dropped his book in shock, but he managed to keep it from showing on his face.

"Not quite the reaction I was hoping for, but that look on your face is good enough for now! Hahahaha!" She left, feeling extremely pleased with herself. This had been her main reason for coming in the first place~

Shirou felt a terrible headache coming on. Of all the books Arcueid had used to tease him, Mordred just had to see that one... This was going to be a real pain. That kid would definitely keep using that joke to make fun of him from now on...

《Eternal King Can't Possibly Be a True Ancestor Girl》... He gently stroked the newbie manual in his hand, feeling the rough texture of the cover beneath his fingertips. But his mind was on a different book altogether - one that gave him a throbbing pain in his heart. He couldn't help but think of that always cheerful and bright True Ancestor girl.

--Shirou~!

--This is so much fun, Shirou!

--Ah! Don't tell Kariya!

--Come play with me, Shirou!

--Don't always look so worried, Shirou. It doesn't suit you at all. We should be happy. Haha!

--I'm going to leave Earth and become the King of the Moon. If I don't do this, one day, Crimson Moon will use my body again to do terrible things. I've made up my mind, I'm leaving... just... I'm really sorry, Shirou... I'm so sorry...

As he thought about that silly girl who shone brighter than anyone, a somewhat forced smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, a bittersweet expression settling on his face.

He turned his head slightly, his gaze drawn to the luminous moon hanging high in the sky. "How are you doing, Arcueid?" he muttered.

After a moment of hesitation, a determined expression gradually settled on his face. He set the newbie manual down, the pages rustling softly as he opened the window by the bed. Runes of Wisdom appeared on his forehead, and he was surrounded by flashing iridescent light, a manifestation of Skadi's blessing.

His body slowly floated up, defying gravity as he rose effortlessly into the night sky, soaring out of Chaldea without the help of a Noble Phantasm or Black Mud, as if he had always known how to fly.

Standing above the Pacific Ocean, he raised his head and looked at the bright moon high in the sky, his eyes flashing with determination.

Suddenly, the ocean surged, and Adam's enormous head popped out of the water, sending ripples across the moonlit surface. His eyes, bright and curious, focused on the floating figure above.

"Mr. Shirou, why are you still up so late?" He asked, his voice booming over the crashing waves.

Hearing this, Shirou furrowed his brows slightly and looked at Adam. "What about you? Shouldn't you be sleeping too?"

"I can't. I've got to generate electricity for Chaldea. It's a high-paying job with a monthly salary of 3k, and Chaldea is my home. Whether for the money or for my home, I can't slack off!" Adam declared with great ambition.

Shirou was speechless. This kid has been seriously conned by Marisbury and Kayneth!

With a sigh, he said, "Well, keep up the good work then."

"Mm!" Adam nodded, took a deep breath, and submerged into the sea once more, the waves parting around his descending form, leaving nothing but a trail of bubbles behind him.

Shirou watched as Adam disappeared beneath the surface before turning his gaze back to the moon, inhaling deeply. He slightly tapped his foot in the air, and his entire being transformed into a beam of light, charging towards the luminous moon in the sky.

As he passed through the stratosphere and entered the mesosphere, he felt his momentum waning, the thinning atmosphere and increasing altitude taking his velocity down to a crawl. He willed his black mud to overflow from his body and shaping itself into ten magical propulsion devices behind him. With a thunderous "boom", the devices ignited, propelling him upwards at a dramatically increased speed, his form cutting through the sky like a meteor.

The moon loomed ever closer, its cratered surface now visible in stunning detail. But as he reached the exosphere, the final layer of Earth's atmosphere, he had no choice but to come to an abrupt stop. Beyond this layer was outer space, where even Heroic Spirits couldn't survive in the vast emptiness that crushed all mythical fantasies.

Although a Servant's body was composed of mana, they still had a human body structure with all the vulnerabilities that came with it. The only difference was that their core had changed from a physical brain to a Spirit Origin. Once they entered outer space, the lack of oxygen would feed back into the Spirit Origin, causing it to shatter.

He knew that Arcueid, who loved the Earth more than anyone, loved life more than anyone, loved to laugh more than anyone, and feared loneliness more than anyone, was alone on that moon.

However, Shirou had no way to bring her back. But perhaps it was safer for Arcueid to stay on the moon... His thoughts drifted to the Council. This organization was too mysterious and too terrifying. Even Demonic Bodhisattva was just a substitute member.

Shirou had already noticed that the enthusiastic new Masters might not have caught on to the emotions hidden behind the relaxed and silly attitudes of the Servants in Chaldea. Maybe it was the feeling of having lost sight of hope a long time ago. Years had passed since the tragedy in Fuyuki, and during that time, Chaldea and the Council had clashed several times. But the more they fought, the more they realized just how terrifyingly powerful the Council was. Even in the Scandinavian Connection Point, if it hadn't been for Bergelmir's betrayal, they might not have been able to beat the King of Giants and stop the Giants from invading.

On top of that, Sixth Seat had killed Shirou more times than he could count, destroyed Eternal Kingdom, and played around with history and mythology like it was nothing. The only thing it seemed to fear was the Enlightened One who showed up briefly in Fuyuki City. And now, even that Saver had disappeared during Fuyuki invasion. Maybe it was because that Saver left that the Council felt like it could do whatever it wanted with impunity.

There was also the matter of the Council's goal, which existed way back in the distant past, millions or even tens of millions of years ago...

The power of Eternal King was already invincible in conventional Holy Grail Wars. But even so, when faced with this mysterious Council, it didn't amount to much.

"What should I do? How can I actually protect our world, Arcueid?" Looking up at the bright moon, Shirou couldn't help but ask.

No one answered him.

This was an answer he had to find for himself.

It's just...

"I miss you, Arcueid."

He missed that stubborn, incredibly cheerful woman who was like a ray of sunshine.

But he knew it was just a nice dream.

Arcueid would never come back.

The gentle moonlight slipped through the faint veil of clouds, casting a soft, pale silver ripple across his face.