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IBHJ Chapter 700
🕑 Added 2024-02-04 23:11:37 +0000 UTCShe was dumbfounded. "But I don't know how I came in either."
"Don't doubt yourself. I always believe in you. Give it your best shot - my life's in your hands now, King Arthur!" Shirou put his hand on her petite shoulder, looking absolutely sincere.
Meeting his honest eyes, she was moved. So Eternal King trusted her this much!
"I understand. I'll do my best!" she said seriously.
Salter concentrated on her feelings and instincts before starting off down a path. "This way!" Shirou followed behind, gazing at her petite back.
His eyes held the same attentive look as when he had observed Guinevere and Merlin in the past. Salter's instincts were clearly sharper than the skill he had copied. They had allowed her to enter Asgard and come across him in that prison. Of course, this might also relate to Salter's astonishingly high C-rank Luck stat!
Such supremely unmatched luck - it definitely outclassed his own E-rank Luck by far. He could only look on while shedding tears of envy.
Salter led him through a maze of twisting underground tunnels, while he used the black mud to track their location. To be honest, he hadn't expected such an intricate underground complex beneath Asgard. One could only say that those Norse gods sure knew how to have fun, but this might also have been Odin making contingency plans for Ragnarok. Unfortunately, the Norse gods didn't live to witness the doomsday. They disappeared, leaving only Skadi alone to miserably maintain Asgard on her own.
"This is..."
Shirou's brows shot up. The black mud's coordinates showed Salter had in fact brought him to Valhalla - the hall of Norse heroes, housed in an oddly UFO-shaped building.
Salter stopped abruptly.
"What's wrong?"
"It's a dead end," she said, stepping aside so he could see the path ahead.
There was no more road - they had reached the end.
"I'll make an opening," she took out Excalibur Morgan, fully intending to blast through the tunnel.
Seeing that she was about unleash her Noble Phantasm, he grabbed her shoulder.
She turned to look at him, just about to speak, but he shushed her with a gesture.
Salter: "?"
She gave him a questioning look.
He didn't speak, but pointed to a small window in the top right corner. She looked up to see it gave a view of the situation outside. Through that narrow window, at an oblique downward angle, he could see two familiar Valkyries. One had green twin tails, the other a red single ponytail. He recognized them as the two Valkyries he had met before. They were now standing in front of a silver, oven-like device, chatting while keeping watch over the apparatus.
“Do you feel like someone is watching us? C-11475 attempts to get B-224’s attention."
“I don’t sense anything. Also, our job is to monitor the timing on the device! B-224 issues a stern rebuke but is happy her sister is talking to her.”
“A little sister cannot reprimand her big sister. C-11475 assumes the authority of a big sister."
“You’re not my big sister. B-224 doesn't acknowledge having a little sister, but knows in her heart that she does.”
Watching these awkward Valkyries, Salter moved closer to him and asked softly, "What are they doing?"
"Don't know," he whispered, shaking his head. "But be careful not to let them find us. They share thoughts and vision - if one sees us, they'll all know we're here."
She nodded in understanding.
At this time, another Valkyrie came over with three crystal coffins and handed them to the two. Shirou recognized them as the remains of the Valkyries who had died in the battle against Nidhogg that Skadi had collected.
This was likely a funeral rite to lay the fallen to rest. But what happened next surprised Shirou and Salter. They watched as the red and green Valkyries opened the coffins and spilled out the contents.
"What are they doing?" Salter whispered angrily, more to herself than to Shirou. "How can they desecrate their own people?"
She was shocked, yet held herself back.
Shirou said nothing, but frowned as he watched. He also held down her shoulder to prevent this overly righteous King Arthur from rushing out.
Of course, his worry was unnecessary. Even without Alteration, she would not have rushed out. As King Arthur, seasoned by cruel wars, she understood propriety.
What the Valkyries did in dumping out the remains was sacrilege enough. But the next scene truly tested their worldview.
The Valkyries opened a silver oven-like device, tossed the limb remnants inside, then shut the door. The oven buzzed and vibrated as strange letters appeared on its surface.
It looked completely different from the Primordial Nordic runic system. A cremation machine? Shirou raised a brow. To cremate remains prior to burial? As he considered this, there was a metallic clang and the vibrating oven quieted down.
The red-haired Valkyrie opened the oven. With a soft "Ah," Salter's eyes widened in disbelief. Shirou merely raised a brow, relatively calmer.
What emerged were three Valkyries identical to the ones whose remains had been tossed inside.
"Valkyrie C-12785..."
"Valkyrie C-12786..."
"Valkyrie A-199..."
"-Reporting in," they spoke in vacant, robotic tones.
"Report acknowledged, welcome aboard little sisters. Beep B-224 assumes the authority of a big sister."
Just then, A-199 suddenly raised her palm to her temple. In the same stiff tone she said: "Detecting massive mana flactuation...Detected massive mana flactuation. Sharing response value and direction...Sharing response value and direction."
"They've discovered us?" Salter tensed. Gripping Excalibur Morgan tightly, she prepared to break out first, but he held her back.
"What are you doing? We've been found out!"
"Take it easy, don't be so hasty," he replied calmly.
"What do you mean?"
He lifted his hand slightly, pointing at the window.
She looked out and was taken aback. The Valkyries had their backs turned to them. Then, in unison, they took out their shining spears and fired simultaneously at a distant location!
"This is..." Salter's face was filled with surprise.
Shirou's expression was grave, "I'm afraid you aren't the only ones who snuck into Asgard."
...
As the Valkyries raised their spears, a "zing" sounded as the spears buzzed and erupted with dazzling white light. The beams of glowing spears were like meteors falling from the sky towards the ground.
Suddenly, with a "whoosh," a blade of pale blue sliced through the combined beam attack, dispersing the light.
"Danger, intruders in Valhalla!" one Valkyrie exclaimed, putting her hand to her temple. Through the Valkyrie Network, she called for help, "Intruders in Valhalla, report!"
"The Valkyrie Network...disgusting as always," a cold voice emanated slowly from the explosion, as a swordsman in black futuristic armor emerged from the debris.
Shirou looked out the window at the young swordsman, who appeared to be in his early twenties with distinctive white streaks in his sideburns. His features were as sharp as a blade, and he wore black rimmed glasses.
"That fluctuation...he's a Servant!" Salter said in slight surprise. "And it feels like he's an Alter like us!"
Shirou calmly gazed at the sci-fi armored swordsman and murmured, "Sigurd..."
Salter whipped her head towards him, astonishment filling her golden eyes. "You know this Servant?"
"Don't be so surprised. Observe the situation calmly," he reminded her. "He's the third Alter Servant besides us to infiltrate Asgard. First we should figure out what's going on."
She nodded, gazing at Shirou's composed expression. Clearly this sudden change didn't cause this king any emotional disturbance whatsoever. It was as if he had everything under control.
Of course, what Salter didn't know was that he was actually quite perplexed as to why Sigurd would show up here.
And there was another question nagging at him...if Sigurd was here, could Adam be here as well?
Sigurd had destroyed the Valkyries’ combined spear attack. Now the green twin-tailed Valkyrie moved to the front of the other Valkyries, trying to launch another barrage.
"As the eldest sister, I will protect my younger sisters properly. Beep, Valkyrie C-11475 has stepped forward and shown the reliability of an older sister," the green twin-tailed Valkyrie said expressionlessly to Sigurd.
"You...as expected, you would be the first to stand in my way," Sigurd said indifferently, waving his demonic sword. "Step aside. You are not my target."
"I must defend Valhalla!" she gripped her spear tightly.
"It seems my words are wasted. You are but consumables after all," Sigurd stated coldly. With a "thud," his footsteps bounced as he leapt across space itself, slashing at the Valkyrie with his demonic blade.
The Valkyrie brought her spear up horizontally to block, but it cracked and shattered on impact.
Sigurd didn't press the attack further. He withdrew his sword, then kicked the Valkyrie away, sending her flying.
The other Valkyries gathered and attacked Sigurd, but they were clearly no match for the great Norse hero.
Wielding his demonic blade, Sigurd's sword techniques flowed seamlessly as he dispatched the Valkyries in moments.
"He's going too far!" Salter angrily muttered.
Shirou turned, catching a glimpse of her indignant side profile. His shoulder shifted slightly as his hand discreetly moved to restrain her. But Salter noticed his action and frowned.
"What exactly are you trying to do?" she asked solemnly.
"I thought you might charge out, so I prepared to stop you in advance."
Salter's frown deepened, her face both solemn and angry, like a furious lioness. She growled in a low voice, "Don't underestimate me too much. I'm an Alter Servant; I wouldn't do something like that."
Shirou nodded. "I see, my mistake." He had wrongly assumed Salter would rush out to fight Sigurd.
If it were Jeanne, she likely would have done so without hesitation. But he was mistaken - though their faces were similar, Jeanne was Jeanne, and Artoria was King Arthur. She had good self-awareness and judgement of the situation.
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JeanMartin Freites
And so the conflict begins.
