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IBHJ Chapter 653
🕑 Added 2024-01-03 04:02:06 +0000 UTCSalter's expression grew solemn. "I'm a Saber summoned by the Grail of this connection point as well. And due to my own reasons, I wasn't controlled. But listen, the guardian of this connection point is Berserker - the Eternal King!"
Kiara Sessyoin: "!"
Noticing her reaction, Ayaka whispered, "What's wrong, Kiara?"
"No...it's nothing..." Kiara shook her head, thoughts racing.
Berserker, the Eternal King, the guardian of this place...could that be Mr. Assassin?
An image of Shirou appeared in Kiara's mind.
"Morgan's king..." Hinako muttered.
"Do you understand? Just you alone can't defeat him. Even with my help, it would be impossible. At least in this, I'm certain," Salter said gravely. "Leave this place and go seek help from Chaldea. Assassin...no, Berserker is not someone you can face on your own."
Hinako raised her left hand, pointing to the silver bracelet on her wrist.
"What do you mean?" Salter asked.
"Even if I wanted to leave, it would take a day's recharge before this device can open a passage."
"How troublesome... Very well then. First we'll go deal with Archer and the others. They fled in such a hurry just now, there can't be much of an ambush waiting."
"My wisdom tells me there must be an ambush! Besides, it's not as if I trust you." Hinako turned to leave, gesturing for Kiara and the others to follow.
"Where are you going?" Salter demanded.
"To find a safer place to rest!"
...
"Archer, they...don't seem to be chasing us?" Medusa whispered, peering from their hiding spot. "Do you think they noticed our ambush?"
Moriarty shook his head calmly. "Unlikely. These Chaldea veterans know about battle tactics. To them, we're just mindless puppets. They wouldn't expect cunning from us. If our enemy was so cautious, they couldn't have punched with such force and exposed their full power right away. So... no, there's only a 7.3% chance they detected us."
"As expected. You analyze situations so clearly, Archer."
Moriarty adjusted his glasses. "This is nothing. I simply excel at thinking from an outsider's perspective."
The three Servants waited silently, eagerly anticipating the opportunity to ambush Hinako and the others.
Little did they know, Hinako had already led her team to raid a supermarket. Now they relaxed in an industrial park, enjoying delicious scavenged food and drinks without the constant tension of exploring the dangerous connection point.
Naturally, Hinako had no intention to stay and try to fix this anomaly. Her first goal was to retrieve her servant Gao from Chaldea.
As they ate, Salter suddenly said, "Let's exchange information."
Hinako frowned slightly. "What useful info do you have? We already covered the basics. Chaldea likely knows more about this place than you do. I guess you probably want to talk about the enemy Servants here though, right? Isn't it just a standard Holy Grail War setup with seven Servants and Eternal King as guardian?"
"Mostly, yes," Salter nodded. "But one correction - there aren't seven Servants here, only six. The Caster class is missing!"
"Killed already?"
Salter shook her head. "No, Caster was never summoned at all. And it wasn't for lack of trying - they simply couldn't summon one no matter what."
She hoped this revelation would get more of a reaction from Hinako, but she only gave an indifferent "Oh" in response.
Yes.
It was that kind of conversation-ending word - "Oh"!
The newbies huddled together for warmth while eating food, secretly discussing their impressions of Hinako and their first experiences in the connection point.
Kiara chatted lightly with her companions, but soon noticed Ayaka had wandered off somewhat absentmindedly. She felt a twinge of concern and decided to follow along.
She found Ayaka standing alone among the vacant buildings, gazing around with a troubled expression.
"Ayaka?" Kiara called out as she approached. "Is everything okay?"
Ayaka jumped in fright before recognizing Kiara. "Oh, it's you," she breathed, relief flooding her face. "You startled me."
"Sorry about that. You just looked a little...off. Is something wrong?"
"I don't know." Ayaka shifted, discomfort plain on her face. "I guess I just feel weird here. It's too quiet... Even for an abandoned industrial park, there should be some signs of life - birds or stray animals. But there's nothing. It doesn't feel right."
Kiara smiled reassuringly. "Didn't the newbie guidebook explain this? Some connection points are like that - empty of any natural life. This whole world is deserted. But don't worry, we'll be moving on soon."
"I guess... I'm still getting used to this whole connection point thing..." Ayaka said with a sigh. "It feels like there's this constant ominous presence of Black Magic everywhere and it makes me uneasy... Anyway, didn't you notice anything weird, Kiara?"
Kiara blinked in confusion. "Weird? Like what?"
"The trees." Ayaka gestured at the young saplings bordering the industrial park. "The far-off ones are mature, native plants. But these ones are freshly grown, like the old trees got burnt down and replaced."
"Well, we are at a factory." Kiara shrugged. "They probably cleared some land. That's pretty normal, right?"
"You're probably right," Ayaka shuffled her feet, her voice dropping to a mumble. "Sorry, I'm just a bit nervous... To be honest, I'm a little scared of magecraft...especially with my condition..."
"Hmm?" Kiara leaned in, missing the soft trailing words. "What was that?"
"Oh, nothing!" Ayaka shook her head sharply. "Don't worry about it."
Kiara laughed brightly. "Let's head back. Senpai said we should return to Chaldea soon. The others want to explore more before we leave, so come on!"
"Mmm..." Ayaka nodded reluctantly, trailing after Kiara but glancing over her shoulder at the strange, newly planted trees.
Something bad must have happened here. Some kind of disaster? But what? Unease gnawed at Ayaka as she walked away.
...
"Hahaha... Goetia was worried for nothing."
In a frozen wasteland, a person was observing what was happening in Fuyuki through a crystal orb. But most of their observation was focused on the cave under Mount Ryuudou - on Shirou.
"As expected, the brighter the hope, the darker the despair." the person chuckled. "Even the peerless Eternal King falls prey to corruption...his glorious light extinguished, leaving only mindless violence."
The person's grin widened. "But let's keep watching a little longer. Chaldea has arrived, giving our mad king some new playthings. We'll see if he still retains anything he shouldn't."
The person stroked their chin and said casually. "That connection point doesn't matter much anyway. It's just a fragment kept by that woman after the whole thing was wiped out by panhuman history. Even if Chaldea took it, it wouldn't make a difference. But using it for experiments could be interesting."
They got up and left the shelter.
Outside, fluffy goose feather snow floated down from the gray sky. The ground below was nothing but a bleak, morbid whiteness. Like a terminally ill patient taking their final labored breaths while awaiting the inevitable.
"Struggling in its death throes for so long - truly expected of the last great goddess of this land. But it's also meaningless. When Fimbulwinter ends, Ragnarök will come. Hehehe...this place is fated to be abandoned!"
They cracked a smile, then turned to gaze into the crystal ball cupped in their hand, at Shirou within.
Their eyes narrowed devilishly. "Alright, oh King. Let me make things more exciting for you. There's no need to thank me~"
...
Hmm?
Shirou raised an eyebrow.
He felt the strange mana trying to force its way into his body through his connection to the Black Grail, attempting to drive him further into madness.
"How thoughtful - sending some afternoon tea just when I was feeling hungry? Heh...much appreciated."
Shirou chuckled in amusement.
He openly welcomed the intruding mana. It carried a corruptive madness within, but as it entered through the Black Grail, it was voraciously devoured by the black mud, absorbed as its own.
"Guuulp."
The black mud belched in satiation, then oozed a lump out of Shirou's abdomen, shaping it into a hand that gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up, seemingly praising the tasty snack.
Shirou smiled as he continued to observe Chaldea through the Black Grail, paying close attention to his subordinates' actions.
Honestly, Chaldea driving back his subordinates was within his expectations. Them not pursuing was also within his expectations. After all, one should never chase a retreating enemy.
And as expected, his subordinates had set up an ambush along their retreat route. It was just a pity that Chaldea didn't keep chasing and moved away instead.
This made him nod in approval. Clearly, even if it was a novice team, the veteran leading them must be battle-hardened, with keen combat awareness and level-headed thinking. That would explain their restraint in not pursuing the fleeing enemy, just as he would have done.
In that case, there was no need to worry about the Chaldea team.
For now, he only needed to guide Adam's path through his connection to his main body while using his link to the Black Grail to locate where his Council summoner was in hiding.
"Don't hide too well now," Shirou muttered with a smile, "I'll need to find you to give my thanks in person."
Comments
Zarek
this entire scenario is just comedy-filler and i'm all for it
Melegant
I kinda hope he stay with them for quite some time. Would be so funny
JeanMartin Freites
He is definitely giving them too much credit but it's not like he is an antagonist. I just hope that he actually manages to find his way out.
