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IBHJ Chapter 657
🕑 Added 2024-01-05 04:10:23 +0000 UTC"It's over..." Hinako also sighed in relief.
Being exploded at point-blank range by her [The Grieving Song of the Shijie of Cursed Blood] without timely protection should have definitely blown his Core apart.
Of course, it was normal for the opponent to lack protection. After all, her Noble Phantasm was imbued with slowing curses.
It's over.
Now, she could finally free herself from the burden of babysitting these humans. Even though Chaldea rules state that seniors should guide newcomers, what did she care? She hadn't come here willingly - she'd been pushed into this.
"Hmm... interesting,"
Suddenly, a voice came from the epicenter of the explosion, the area shrouded in smoking dust.
Kiara: "!"
Hinako: "!"
Both of them whipped their heads towards the smoke.
A figure slowly emerged from the haze.
It was Shirou.
He was completely unharmed!
"Mr. Assassin? Thank goodness you're alright," Kiara said with relief, patting her chest. Then, remembering he was their enemy, she froze and corrected herself, "Oh, wait, that's not right. How could you be unhurt?"
"How could such a childish attack pose any threat to this king?"
[The Grieving Song of the Shijie of Cursed Blood] didn't injure him? Hmph. In the end she only used the weakened version. It's not strange it had little effect.
But the curses would definitely...
No, impossible!
Hinako looked at him in shock.
She saw no traces of her curses on him!
This was impossible!
Even uninjured, as a Heroic Spirit he should have at least been weakened by her curses!
How was this possible? How was he not affected at all?
"Are you wondering why your curses had no effect on this king?" He mocked Hinako.
"You knew what I was thinking? You can read minds?" Hinako couldn't help but ask as she stared at him.
"Isn't it obvious? I am omnipotent, the ruler of all creation under the skies. Seeing through this much is to be expected. Curses? Hahaha... Before me, even the stars and seas are trivialities easily obtainable. How could petty curses even come near this king's body?"
Of course, he was lying about this. Anyone familiar with him would know—most of the time when Shirou opened his mouth, he was lying.
But unfortunately, Hinako believed him.
She believed he had the ability to see through everything!
What to do?
This Heroic Spirit... was tricky to handle!
If she really wanted to face this Heroic Spirit, she'd have to unseal herself, abandoning her human identity.
But revealing herself like that in front of others...she'd lose the home she'd finally obtained.
Perhaps even Hinako didn't notice - apart from truly hating humans, deep down she longed for a lasting, peaceful home.
"Mr. Assassin, please stop!" Kiara pleaded.
"Foolish,"
Shirou raised his hand slightly. Golden arcs of lightning flashed around him.
The next moment——
The Sword of Promised Victory, Golden Sword of the Victorious, Holy Lance Rhongomyniad, Sword of Revolving Victory...
Many Noble Phantasms appeared around him.
And these Noble Phantasms were no longer fakes taken from [Unlimited Blade Works]. They were real, genuine items!
Shirou channeled magical energy into them.
One by one, the Noble Phantasms lit up, flickering with dazzling yet terrifying light.
Energy brewed within.
Killing intent saturated the air!
How was this possible...?
Mr. Assassin, were you really going to kill us here?
Kiara's heart shuddered.
And at that moment——
"Excalibur Morgan!"
A jet-black beam, seemingly emerged from the abyss, became the saving dawnlight - charging at Shirou from the horizon.
Oh? You've arrived. Shirou turned slightly, looking at that deep dawnlight. He gave a cold snort, saying: "I spared your life, yet you didn't cherish it. Truly foolish."
The timing was just right, Salter thought as she ambushed him.
She seized the chance to unleash her Noble Phantasm, knowing Avalon was on cooldown and couldn't be used right now. Activating other Noble Phantasms now would be too late as well.
It'll work. She could take Assassin down with her before he posed an even greater threat!
That was what Salter thought, but when he took out a shield that looked exactly identical to Mash's...
Panic gripped her heart.
Not good!
And as expected, when the black beam charged at him, Shirou activated Galahad's Record, unleashing the shield in his hand.
In an instant, Galahad's shield absorbed all the blasts from Excalibur Morgan. Then amid flickering starlight, a loud "boom" echoed as the abyssal howls of despairing demons screeched throughout the horizon. Galahad's shield reflected Salter's Excalibur Morgan back at her.
The black beam shot straight toward Salter herself.
She hurriedly twisted her body, barely avoiding the counterattack, partially thanks to Shirou going easy on her.
Seizing this moment, Hinako, having personally experienced Shirou's prowess, pulled Kiara's hand as they wildly fled outside.
Salter gritted her teeth, looking at him standing high amidst the ruined cavern with utmost dissatisfaction. Then she too turned and ran.
Although extremely frustrated, there was no doubt - Shirou's defense was flawless.
Aside from the ultimate defensive barrier Avalon, he also possessed the counterattack Noble Phantasm.
It was...it was completely flawless!
Salter clenched her teeth tightly. Indeed, if they wanted to fix this place, they would have to retreat and report back to Chaldea, sending even more and even stronger troops. Eternal King was not someone that could be dealt with alone!
The three fled wildly, but Shirou evidently had no intention of letting them retreat so easily. Especially with Kiara being so naive and Hinako looking down on him like that. To be frank, being looked down on did vex him somewhat.
And so...
"Boom boom boom boom boom boom!"
The Tower of Light gushed out from the ruined cavern, straight towards the sky.
It was the Tower of Light!
But due to Shirou being in an Alter state, the Tower right now did not emit dazzling light, but jet-black, despairing colors instead.
"That is...the Tower of Light!" Salter and Kiara were shocked still.
Yes, they both knew of the existence of Shirou's Tower. How could they not? What had pierced through Beast III's barrier, dispelled all her darkness, and ultimately torn apart her tyranny was this very Tower!
"The planet's anchor...it's actually the planet's anchor!" Hinako was astonished.
Compared to the others, as an Incarnated Elemental, Hinako understood the significance of the planet's anchor even more clearly, and knew intimately how terrifying it was.
She simply couldn't believe the planet's anchor was in someone's possession. That should have been impossible! The planet's anchor was a tower that fastened the outer layer of the world onto the planet, forming the very foundation that made humanity the dominant species.
How was it possible for this to be possessed by someone? Moreover, it was not in an illusory state, but the true, genuine form!
"Boom boom!"
The Tower flickered with despairing light as terrifying storms crashed and boomed ominously.
Then—
"Boom boom boom boom!"
It blasted the earth and destroyed everything!
...
"To strike Chaldea so harshly, I guess he really has turned into an Alter now, huh?" Watching Shirou bombard Chaldea on the crystal ball, the person commented, "Some Eternal King he is. How's he any different from a normal Heroic Spirit when he's become an Alter? Still, he sure is ruthless. But I guess that king did come up with those cruel schemes - slaughtering his whole kingdom and all. Cruel, vicious, always plotting. What a brutal monarch ahahaha..."
"But it doesn't matter now. If we summon him here, combining him with Bergelmir, I think he'd get even stronger. He should be able to easily break through Skaði's barrier."
The man gazed up at the top of the World Tree.
Great snowflakes fell from the skies, blanketing the land in white, but only there did golden light yet remain amid the snow.
A golden cockerel perched on that peak, occasionally crowing, as if warning of the coming ruin that was gradually approaching.
...
Shirou blasted Kiara's group away with the Tower of Light.
Hmm...that should be lesson enough. Hopefully she'll learn something from this and be less naive next time.
Sensing Kiara's panicked retreat outside the Tower's range, Shirou put it away.
He didn't give chase. Whether from his own view or the evil nature an Alter should have, not chasing her made sense.
For example, the logic of a king not viewing petty villains and jokers with importance.
In fact, it wouldn't be too strange for Gilgamesh to do something like this.
And of course, if it had been him, he would have uprooted the threat entirely. So using that excuse to gloss over things worked as well.
But Shirou wasn't really the final boss here. He just wanted to teach Kiara a lesson and give her a warning. No need to be too ruthless about it.
Comments
JeanMartin Freites
I just hope for the lesson to stick.
