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IBHJ Chapter 664
🕑 Added 2024-01-10 03:26:04 +0000 UTCShirou stroked his chin thoughtfully as he contemplated his predicament.
He had been summoned by the Council and hadn't resisted. Yet they were still attacked mid-summoning.
Not only had he been shot down, but the invisible force the Council was using to pull him in had also been shattered.
So he'd been dumped here in this forest filled with steely trees.
Most importantly...where exactly was "here"?
Shirou furrowed his brows.
Although he'd never relied much on his second Noble Phantasm, he could've really used its quick information gathering ability right now. Unfortunately, having been summoned as a Berserker, he couldn't access it, rendering the ability unusable.
Unless he could switch out of the Berserker Saint Graph, there was no way to use All-Seeing Eyes. But sadly, no matter how versatile Eternal King was, it lacked the power to change his class.
Sitting cross-legged in the snow, Shirou used the black mud to contact Adam, asking: "Adam, has my position changed since arriving in this place?"
After being transferred from Fuyuki to this vast snowy land, reconfirming his location was crucial.
"There has been no change in your position, Mr. Assassin."
Having met in Romania when Shirou's class was Assassin, Adam, Kiara, and even this Salter unconsciously addressed him as such.
Of course, his actual class now was Berserker.
But it was true people called him by various titles - Merlin with "Your Majesty" or "my king," Adam and Kiara using "Mr. Assassin," Mash and Gray having their own names, and so on...
As for Gilgamesh, depending on his mood, he might use "Fujimaru," "niisan," or even "mongrel." And in turn, Shirou would call him "mongrel" as well.
"Mmm..."
The unconscious Salter stirred, slowly opening her eyes as she mumbled hazily, "Where is this...?"
Her voice now sounded small and gentle - soft murmurs rather than her customary solemn tones.
Hearing her voice, he turned to the still disoriented Salter with a smile. "Oh good, you're awake."
At his voice, she instantly snapped alert, body tensing as she leveled her sword at him, expression chillingly wary.
Seeing this, he smiled gently. "You can put down your sword. Firstly, you can't beat me. Secondly, I've no reason to fight you."
Glancing dubiously at his smile, she hesitated a moment before asking: "So...you haven't been controlled then?"
"That was an odd way to put it," he chuckled, "If I had been, you'd be dead after that first ambush of yours."
Salter's frown deepened as she hmphed, "Don't underestimate me!"
"I'm just telling the truth," Shirou said gently.
Salter: "......"
She was silent, simply staring stonily at him.
But he didn't mind, chuckling and saying, "You're quite expressive like this. It reminds me a bit of Artie when she was an Alter."
"You mean the other me?"
He nodded.
Sheathing her sword, Salter then asked, "I don't understand - if you haven't been controlled, why did you attack Chaldea and me?"
"Because I was summoned by the Council, so I wanted to find out why. And...Kiara was too naive while the others were too rash, so they deserved a lesson. Oh, and that heavy blow you took was payback for ambushing me."
Smiling lightly, he then asked, "So, did you get blasted hard? Judging by your scowl and black charcoal-like face, I'm guessing you did. I admit, I did that on purpose."
Salter: "......"
The corner of her mouth twitched as she grit out, "You're even more insufferable now than in Romania!"
"I'll take that as a compliment. After all, I used to be called boring. At least being insufferable is better than boring - I've made progress."
Salter just sighed. She felt that communicating further with him while she was in an Alter state would likely end with her swinging her sword at him.
Glancing around, her brows rose slightly at the steel trees. "What is this place?"
"No idea," said Shirou, spreading his hands helplessly.
She stared at him, "Weren't you going to find out why the Council summoned you? Now that you've been brought here, shouldn't they have given you some information?"
"Normally, yes, but we were ambushed before I met them. I was shot down without even meeting my summoner or getting any intel about this world." He said wryly.
On this point, he was truly helpless.
"I see..." she nodded in understanding.
"Well then," he stood up, brushing the snow off his pants, "Since you're awake now, we should explore and figure out where we are. But first, Saber, come here for a bit."
"What is it?" She walked over to stand before him. As the fifteen-year-old Artoria, she was petite, just up to his shoulders at 154 cm tall.
Before her mystified gaze, he reached out and flicked her squarely on the forehead with an audible thump.
"Ow!" Clutching her head, she glared at him. "What was that for, Assassin?"
"I should clarify - my class is Berserker now, not Assassin, so call me Berserker. Or just use my real name, Shirou," he said with a smile, patting his stomach. "When you fell from the sky, you smashed my stomach quite painfully. It still hurts, so I had to get a little payback."
"That was an accident! Are you really that petty? What about chivalry and the king's majesty?"
"What chivalry, what king's majesty — those things have nothing to do with me. And I'll have you know, I'm extremely petty," Shirou chuckled, waving a hand as he turned to walk away.
She ground her teeth angrily, unable to believe the supposed pinnacle of King Arthur could be such a petty person.
Wait a minute... Could it be...!
She took out a notebook and pen, scribbling busily.
He glanced back at her when she didn't follow. "Saber, what are you doing? Aren't you coming?"
"Coming!" Clutching her notebook and pen, she hurried after him.
Amidst the drifting snow, her notebook contained a single line:
Must be petty!
...
Shirou and Salter strolled through the steel forest, Shirou walking in front while Salter followed behind.
This scene reminded him of his past adventure in Britain. Back then, he'd also walked in front, with Merlin by his side. Behind them was Artie, and poor suffering Kay brought up the rear.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile.
"What are you smiling about, Eternal King?"
"Oh...nothing. I just suddenly thought of something happy," he said, still smiling.
She looked confused, unable to make heads or tails of it.
Shirou didn't answer. It was still quite similar to back then, in a way. Only instead of an innocent white knight girl following behind, now it was a black King Arthur.
That adventure... Thinking about it now, he felt both nostalgic and melancholy. That journey had been one of the few truly happy times in his life.
Shirou shook his head, dispelling the fanciful thoughts, and continued towards the edge of the steel forest.
The trees here were towering, each about twenty meters high and as wide around as ten men stretching their arms, lined up like rows of giants.
Shirou and Salter kept walking when suddenly—
"Boom, boom, boom—"
Heavy footsteps sounded in the distance, as if some huge monster was approaching, making the earth tremble with each step.
Shirou and Salter exchanged a glance. "Let's go take a look!" she said.
"Alright!" He nodded.
Black mud surged from his back as black wings fluttered out. Influenced by his Alter state, they were different now, just over a meter across, with faint black light circulating on the surface - looking far more wicked and mysterious.
Shirou reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "What are you doing?" she asked, turning her head.
"I'll carry you and fly over - it'll be faster." His black evil wings quivered as his body slowly rose, then flapped again as he flew low and fast towards the loud sounds.
Looking at the retreating silhouettes of trees below, Salter thought to herself that flying was indeed faster than running on her legs. At her current D rank agility, her speed likely wouldn't even be a fifth of Shirou's.
It's just...this position is a bit uncomfortable!
Skimming the tree line, he flew at breakneck speed. Within three minutes, they approached the origin of the noise.
In the distance, they spotted an enormous body—a giant stone golem, five meters tall, its body made of rock chunks like the puppets created by Avicebron.
Several dozen meters from the giant, Shirou stopped and landed atop a towering old tree.
Looking closer, he saw not one but three stone giants and a frost giant. Ranging from five to ten meters tall, the frost giant was the tallest at about ten meters by his estimate.
For ordinary humans, these would be considered massive creatures. But compared to Adam's body or the two hundred meter Giant Shirou had created before, they seemed almost small and non-intimidating.
Standing there, he carefully surveyed the giants' surroundings - and couldn't help frowning.
Two of the rock giants held huge iron cages, inside which were humans.
Comments
Zarek
motherfucker did it AGAIN
JeanMartin Freites
Looks like even Salter can't resist getting wisdom from the eternal king.
