BCloud

IBHJ 1113

The voice made Guinevere jump. She looked up to see Shirou standing over her, and the color drained from her face. Fear flickered in her eyes.

She swallowed hard and tried to smile. "G-good day... L-Lord Shirou."

"Why is Princess Guinevere here?"

"Well..."

King Leodegrance's voice boomed from outside: "Lord Shirou, you're surrounded! I don't want to harm you, come out and surrender!"

Shirou turned toward the window. Guinevere seized her chance and scrambled for t...

IBHJ 1112

"Abby!" Xuanzang caught Abigail as she swayed.

"I'm okay." Abigail's voice trembled. Her face was ghostly white. "We need to keep going. While Goetia distracts the Apostles, we can use the gate to slip past the city's barrier."

Xuanzang shook her head. "No."

"What do you mean, no? This is our best chance to get away..." Abigail's words trailed off as her legs gave out. Before she could hit the ground, Xuanzang caught her.

The world began to swim before Abigail's eyes. ...

IBHJ 1111

From his palace above the clouds, the strategist gazed downward through the darkness surrounding him.

The white apostle rushed in and took his place behind the strategist. "...We've received word from Ector. They've captured Fujimaru Shirou, and they've also taken Master Xuanzang."

"Oh?" The strategist raised an eyebrow and turned to face the white apostle, his brow furrowing. "I believe I made it clear multiple times that we should take a gentle approach with that woman. Once the...

IBHJ 1110

A smile tugged at his lips.

"Just what I expected..."

Xuanzang was actually the Buddha of Glorious Sandalwood. Since Buddhas couldn't be summoned, this summoned Xuanzang Sanzang was from her time traveling to the west.

But that didn't mean she wasn't already part Buddha. Her body held Buddhist nature, and her nine-ringed staff was a Pure Land artifact from Guanyin Bodhisattva.

In the Type-Moon world, Pure Land was a civilization that existed beyond the universe. This n...

IBHJ 1109

Shirou finally understood why his physical body appeared in this version of Britain. This wasn't just any Britain—this was the Britain of reality, the one belonging to Pan-Human History. The Emperor must have done something to cause this Pan-Human Britain to merge with the Empire's Britain. No wonder his physical body ended up in this place. The more he thought about it, the more he suspected Mordred might have thrown his physical body into their homeland in Pan-Human Britain.

The Emp...

IBHJ 1108

That horrible, awful thief!

Abigail fumed silently. A few days ago, something had gone wrong with her Noble Phantasm. That's why she'd been caught by that black iron man.

This stupid thing is why I can't fight back!

She grabbed the thorny crown on her head and yanked it a few times. When it wouldn't budge, she slumped in frustration.

Stupid thief!

"Hmm?" Shirou turned to look at her. "You're cursing me in your head, aren't you, Abby?"

"No way, big brother! ...

IBHJ 1107

"You're too slow about everything, Morgan. When dealing with foreign threats, you must be quick, precise, and ruthless."

Apostle Ector stepped in front of Shirou and grabbed his shoulder. "Welcome to the Empire, Heroic Spirit of Pan-Human History. Sleep now. When you wake up, you will be a citizen of our empire. Consider this an honor, this is His Majesty's blessing."

Shirou tried to focus on Ector's face as his vision blurred. Morgan's voice faded into the background as darkness ...

IBHJ 1106

"What... what happened here..."

Xuanzang stared at the devastation before her. She'd felt the earth shake and rushed to investigate, but nothing could have prepared her for this.

The scene looked like the aftermath of a massive earthquake.

A pile of rubble shifted nearby. Xuanzang turned to see Guinevere emerging from the ruins, pushing aside a mangled body. She was covered in dust and blood.

"Princess Guinevere?"

"Master Xuanzang."

"What's happening here?"...

IBHJ 1105

Shirou studied the armored figure, his brow creasing.

Guinevere spotted King Leodegrance in the first seat to the right. She opened her mouth to greet him, but her father's stern look silenced her.

The Apostle lifted her head, and a piercing gaze locked onto Shirou. The intensity of that stare surpassed any blade's edge or dragon's presence. While it explained why kings like Leodegrance sat frozen in their seats, Shirou remained unmoved.

"Are you Fujimaru Shirou, the travele...

IBHJ 1104

Guinevere glanced out the carriage window, then pulled back at the sight of Tintagel.

"Does it look different from what you imagined from your books?" King Leodegrance's eyes crinkled with amusement.

Guinevere bobbed her head. "It's... frightening."

"The surrounding kingdoms have sent their armies to defend Tintagel from danger."

"Is this why you received the decree, Father?"

King Leodegrance nodded.

"Danger..." Guinevere's shoulders shook.

King Leode...

IBHJ 1103

He put down the book and left his room. As he walked into the main hall's corridor, he saw Guinevere gripping the handrail, rubbing her bottom and letting out long sighs.

"Is everything okay, Guinevere?" he asked.

"Oh!" Guinevere jumped, then turned and relaxed when she saw who it was. "It's just you, Shirou."

He glanced at her hand still resting on her bottom. "Did the king give you a spanking?"

"What? No! Father would never do that!" She quickly moved her hand away.<...

IBHJ 1102

Shirou looked from King Leodegrance to the prince, his brow furrowing.

"Father, why do you have that look on your face? You seem to know something about this Vortigern person," Guinevere asked.

King Leodegrance's lips curved into a slight smile. "You know of Vortigern as well, my dear."

Guinevere blinked.

"Sister." The prince, who looked to be in his late twenties, placed his hands on the table. "Vortigern was the White Dragon."

"The White Dragon?" Guinevere stra...

IBHJ 1101

"Amitabha. Brother Shirou, may we meet again." With those parting words, Xuanzang turned back to the mooring rope. She pulled at it frantically, trying to free the boat, but her nervous hands made her movements clumsy. The rope swayed wildly, knocking into a pigeon nest that had been built atop the mooring post.

The nest tumbled down with a soft thud, spilling onto the ground. Inside, several white pigeons had been sleeping peacefully until their home came crashing down. One of them tur...

IBHJ 1100

"The Emperor is the Emperor - the god of our world and ruler of the empire." Guinevere spoke as if explaining that water was wet.

"Empire..." He chose his words carefully. "I'm a bit lost. With all these different nations around, what exactly makes up this empire?"

"Oh, that's right. Since you're from outside the empire, you wouldn't know how it works. Camlann is part of the empire. The Emperor rules everything. Below him are the twelve apostles who carry out his divine will. Then...

IBHJ 1099

Before he could pursue them, the remaining mechanical soldiers moved in perfect unison. They formed a wall around him, their gun barrels all turning to face his position.

"Ratatata—"

Gunfire filled the air.

Shirou raised his eyebrows and calmly projected a wall of legendary shields.

The mercury bullets struck the shields with sharp, clear sounds like raindrops on glass.

He channeled magical energy into the shields, then released it. The explosion scattered the...

IBHJ 1098

The crimson battleship stopped moving, as if it couldn't understand what had just happened. Taking advantage of this moment, Shirou launched his attack. Sixty-four projected swords appeared in the air around him as he charged straight toward his target.

When those projected swords flew forward like a sheet of rain, the crimson battleship finally snapped out of its confusion. It raised its right hand quickly, and a red crystal began to glow. Terrible magical energy gathered, forming a ba...

IBHJ 1097

"Enemy attack! It must be an enemy attack!" Guinevere screamed, her voice shaking as much as her body.

Shirou stood at the window's edge, his eyes fixed on the sea. Black mechanical soldiers emerged from within the huge waves, rising one after another. And behind those mechanical soldiers, something else began to surface—a red mechanical unit slowly lifting from beneath the sea...

No.

That couldn't simply be called a mechanical unit anymore.

Rising to roughly fifty m...

IBHJ 1096

Shirou stepped into the room Guinevere had arranged for him. After washing up in the bathroom, he found fresh clothes laid out on the bed by the maids. He changed and stood before the bronze mirror, taking in his youthful reflection. A smile spread across his face.

"Besides the sun itself, could there be any youth more sunny, more brilliant, more radiant than this boy in the bronze mirror? If such a person exists, surely it must still be me." He ran a hand through his hair, admiring his...

IBHJ 1095

"It's strange," Guinevere said softly, hiding a small laugh behind her hand. "I'm usually scared of strangers, but with you, Lord Shirou, I feel completely safe."

"I'm glad to hear that," he smiled warmly.

Even knowing this Guinevere was just part of someone's carefully crafted recreation of Britain, he couldn't stop himself from growing fond of her. She was too genuine, too alive to simply write off as fake.

Britain was an archipelago off continental Europe. Though the isla...

IBHJ 1094

The soldiers backed away, their weapons shaking as they faced the mechanical army.

The mechanical soldiers turned their sensors on the group, focusing on Guinevere. "Target locked. Engaging—"

With sharp clicks and whirs, weapon ports slid open in their metal shoulders.

This is bad!

Shirou leapt in front of Guinevere, spreading his arms wide to protect her. Magical energy rushed through his body like a river breaking through a dam, light gathering and swirling between...

IBHJ 1093

"Guinevere?"

He was shocked because this girl was none other than Guinevere!

Apart from Ritsuka, Guinevere was the only girl who shared his features.

"You know who I am?" She tilted her head.

The sight of her made him remember everything. This run-down room, this exact moment—this was their first meeting when he entered Britain through the Root.

He blinked. Something wasn't right.

His body was twelve years old again. He couldn't feel Eternal King's record...

IBHJ 1092

Like Shirou, Artoria couldn't sleep. She stood at her window, watching the blood moon cast its red light on her face.

Her and Shirou's paths had only crossed for a moment - they should have stayed separate. Without Crimson Moon manipulating things from the shadows, their lives wouldn't have tangled together like this. She wouldn't have turned into someone so unsure of herself.

"I've only held him back." She touched the cold window. "Crimson Moon, without you, Shirou and I might ha...

IBHJ 1091

"I..." Artoria looked down. She was usually the stronger one, the elder one, but with Mordred she could never maintain that strength. A hint of vulnerability always slipped through.

And Mordred had a point. Could she really let things continue as they were?

"B-But what can I do? After everything that happened..." Artoria's voice trailed off.

Mordred's lips curved into a sly smile. Got her.

"It's simple. Father hasn't pushed you away, and like you, he never mentions the...

IBHJ 1090

Shirou and Gaia emerged victorious from the UOs' judgment. With the UOs no longer interfering, Illya could finally contact Chaldea and arrange their return. But after the whole ordeal they had gone through, the group decided to rest at the connection point before reaching out to Chaldea.

Shirou gazed at the ruined landscape. The Ghandaran ghosts still roamed the area, now transformed into monsters that terrorized the land. He shook his head, knowing this was beyond his ability to fix. ...

IBHJ 1089

"Enlightened One..." Arcueid's mind went to the monk who sat in constant meditation at Ryuudou Temple.

Gaia nodded. "He was human before attaining Buddhahood. The Throne holds only his records from the moment before enlightenment. There are no records after because he grew beyond the Throne's capacity. Now Shirou stands at the same threshold. His Heroic Spirit is less powerful than the Enlightened One's, but it has reached the absolute limit of what can be recorded. The Throne cannot co...

IBHJ 1088

"That's... that's impossible..." Ayaka's voice shook.

She struggled with this truth. She had idolized her perfect sister until Manaka became a monster who destroyed everything. And now they claimed that kind sister had returned?

"So this Manaka is like a version who never met Arthur? Who grew up normally?" Shirou asked.

Gaia nodded. "That's why I could retrieve you from her. In exchange, I helped free her from the Beast of Revelation."

Now everything clicked into place...

IBHJ 1087

For now, at least, this dark blessing had given Altera back her life, sparing those who loved her from grief.

Shirou and Altera greeted each other warmly. She bowed to Gaia, promising to serve faithfully as her Guardian.

Gaia beamed at having her own powerful Guardian at last. Shirou could only shake his head.

Altera lived, and she kept both her powers - the White Titan's ability to end the Age of Gods and the War God's Sword, Star of Tears, now enhanced with Velber's planet...

IBHJ 1086

On the moon...

Tiamat watched the black tree burn, then turned to Ayaka. "Gaia is awake. The other UOs will be here soon. We need to leave."

"I know." Manaka nodded. The wager was over. The UOs would come for her, the vessel of the Lord of Salvation.

She looked at Ayaka lying unconscious on the ground. Her fingers brushed Ayaka's cheek. "Tell me, why did you betray her?"

She seemed to be asking someone, yet also asking herself.

"Altera is gone now. I'm sorry." H...

IBHJ 1085

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

A low apologetic voice rang in her ears as the girl opened her eyes to see a face full of guilt, streaming with tears.

Her body was numbingly cold. Everywhere she looked, she saw gaping wounds, torn flesh, and flowing blood.

The girl apologized through her tears, but her wet, red eyes held a grim determination as she repeatedly plunged a rainbow-colored sword into Ramoi's body.

Who am I? Where am I? Why am I being stabbed, yet feel no pain or ...

IBHJ 1084

Shirou sat to the side, still clutching the demonic sword. His face was deathly pale, and he breathed heavily. Burning his soul had taken a severe toll, but he had finally found a way to defeat the Lord of Salvation.

But—

He looked down at his palm and clenched his teeth. The Lord of Salvation's words came back to him. How many times could his soul endure this?

He leaned against the wall within the crown of the tree, demonic sword still in hand. His face was pale, and he s...