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IBHJ Chapter 569
🕑 Added 2023-11-12 05:59:38 +0000 UTCUnderground, Mordred felt safe.
Though sneak attacked earlier, it didn't matter now. The absolute safety of her hiding place gave her the perfect chance to strike again!
Her earlier shout of "I'll be back!" had been a facade. She wanted Eternal King to believe she had left, which in turn would lower his guard. This would give her an opportunity to launch an ambush!
In the space created by her Noble Phantasm, Mordred stretched out her palm. Golden particles appeared, forming the bizarre grail she possessed.
Like All the World's Evil for Shirou, this grail was Mordred's core Noble Phantasm.
The grail itself did not have any great power; its only ability was amplification. However, the amplification of the grail was different from Merlin and Shirou's skills.
The Grail's amplification was qualitative - it could evolve Mordred's Noble Phantasms and innate skills into new ones.
For example, [Charisma] could become [Oraclization].
Normally, her Noble Phantasm just formed a medium for earth diving. But amplified, it became a Noble Phantasm that could penetrate anything.
And now, even her average magecraft could create an illusion of the king's game.
The Grail brought about these changes through amplification.
But Mordred knew these wouldn't work on Eternal King. To defeat him, she had to penetrate his black wall. For that, she needed to amplify her Noble Phantasm.
She regarded the Grail with amusement, struck by the irony that the very object which had caused her demise and the fall of her kingdom in life, had now become the embodiment of her power as a Noble Phantasm in the afterlife.
Mordred channeled mana into it. The middle eye opened while the first began to close.
The three eyes represented her three ability sets. The first was the offensive.
Whichever eye she switched to would close.
Though powerful, switching was troublesome - it required massive mana and time. This was a flaw, but not an issue for Mordred, who could hide herself underground.
After switching to her offensive state, she would fight her way out using her strengthened Noble Phantasm. Engaging Eternal King again in this empowered form, where she could pierce through any defense, would surely alter the outcome of their battle!
But at this moment--
"Buzz buzz buzz"
Strange vibrations came from the earth.
Mordred looked up in fright.
Endless black hands stretched toward her, like demons' claws.
"Wha-what is this?!"
Never in life or death had she seen anything like this.
This was 500 meters underground!
"Found you!" Shirou's shouted.
His [Instinct] said he was searching the right place. He frantically attacked Mordred with the black hands, like an arcade claw machine.
Too slow to switch forms, Mordred fled. But two hands grabbed at her ankles, tripping her, while countless more seized her abdomen, hands, and legs.
Slashing frantically at the grasping hands, she broke free and raced deeper underground, the horde pursuing close behind.
"Wha-what is this?!" she shouted in panic.
Things were beyond her expectations. Eternal King had predicted she was still here and gave her no time to switch!
Above ground, Shirou lay prone in a puddle of black mud.
"Um...what are you doing?" Saber asked.
His posture was bizarre, automatically reminding her of Irisviel playing one of those claw machine games in the arcade during the previous Holy Grail War.
"Don't disturb me," Shirou said.
Though big-hearted, he could also be quite petty.
Were those traits contradictory?
Perhaps contradicting for others, but not for him - that was just the kind of person he was.
And since this girl had bitten him, he absolutely had to get revenge.
Below, Mordred hid with difficulty, now 800 meters down with the hands still pursuing.
She didn't dare go deeper. Though in theory she could reach the core, Noble Phantasms required magical energy. If it ran out, she'd be done for.
After all, magical energy was a Servant's blood! Those without Masters could even die after one use of their Noble Phantasm.
Dying like that would be too shameful.
Left with no options, she truly fled this time.
Before switching to her offensive form, she didn't dare clash directly.
As for Saber...there was no choice but to temporarily let her stay by his side.
And this made Mordred so angry she was grinding her teeth, yet she was helpless to do anything about it.
Mordred created illusory clones and escaped.
Relying on [Instinct], Shirou sensed this.
"Want to run?" He raised his brows, a displeased expression on his face.
But the clones disrupted his low-ranked [Instinct]. He could only blanket the area with hands, hunting for Mordred.
Above ground, his fierce, gnashing expression left Saber dumbfounded.
Knowing their identities but not their relationship, this interaction really broadened Saber's horizons.
Curious, she asked, "Is this how you two usually interact?"
"What interaction? I don't even know her," he said, "No more nonsense, I refuse to believe I can't catch her!"
Shirou was gnashing his teeth.
He was absolutely certain that was not Artoria.
No.
To be precise, it definitely wasn't of the Artoria species.
Because, no matter what world, Artoria was a dignified woman. Even Alter had her own pride, she would never do something like biting people!
"Um... You don't know her?" Saber was startled and couldn't help asking.
"Of course not! Should I?" Shirou was puzzled.
"Isn't she your daughter?"
At Saber's baffled words, he whipped his head toward her.
"?????"
A head full of question marks.
"She claimed to be your daughter," Saber said seriously.
In response, his face became completely bewildered.
"What are you talking about?" he asked blankly.
"She's Mordred, from your Eternal Dynasty. Isn't she your daughter?" Saber was confused.
In an instant.
Shirou was dumbfounded.
He stood up, pointed at himself, and asked in a daze.
"My, my daughter...?"
He looked somewhat stunned.
It wasn't that he was unaware of having a child. It was that girl born in Camelot over 1500 years ago, as part of Crimson Moon's revenge.
She was born of another's vengeful heart, a daughter filled with sin and suffering. In destroying the extraterrestrial threat, she had also destroyed her kingdom, then dying by her mother's sword while bearing all sins and guilt.
Shirou had always been unsure how to face Artoria and that girl.
This was why he'd been so nervous about meeting Gray. It was like preparing to meet a girl he'd hurt - most decent people would feel that way.
And he was no exception.
He had pondered this thorny issue long ago when destroying the invasion in Fuyuki.
His plan was to face Artie, then find a way to summon that girl. The dead could not be revived, but with the existence of Heroic Spirits and the summoning system, he could achieve this miracle.
He hadn't thought about what would happen after, and didn't want to think about it. Or rather, he was afraid to confront these feelings and wouldn't confess them to others.
And now, Saber actually told him that was that girl? That carefree girl who bore the guilt of the kingdom's downfall? The one he owed...that child?
Shirou was stunned for a moment, then suddenly collapsed prone on the ground again.
"Wha-what's wrong with you again?" Saber was startled.
He had a solemn expression. "Fishing!"
Eight giant arms surged out from his back, drilling brutally into the earth like drills. Not only that, he even took out [Vampiric Evil]. And even some of [God's Evil], stuffing it all in.
Those black hands seemed to go berserk, speeding to grab Mordred's clones.
...
Mordred had split up the black hands with her clones, and was quite proud of herself.
She wasn't arrogant when successful, but being able to fluster Eternal King would make her very proud and elated. Just what kind of complicated emotions were contained in these feelings, probably even the most professional psychologists wouldn't be able to analyze.
Mordred was leisurely escaping while humming a tune, even wanting to laugh. But in the next moment, she couldn't laugh anymore. Those black hands seemed to have gone mad, raging as they grabbed at her. Their speed was astonishing!
"Do-don't come over!" she was badly frightened, no longer able to hum her tune as she fled in panic.
While her main body was fast, her clones weren't. They were quickly caught by Shirou's black hands, then dragged up. And once these clones were dragged up by the black hands, they dissipated into thin air.
"Fake."
"Still fake."
"Yet another fake..."
Shirou had captured nine Mordreds, but none were the real one.
Growing impatient, he relied on his powerful intuition granted by [instinct] to pinpoint the direction of the last escaping Mordred.
She was too fast for the black hands to keep up and had escaped the range of [instinct]'s effects.
Agitated, he withdrew the black mud and prepared to chase after her.
Before leaving, he shouted to Saber: "Please help look after my Master!"
Then without waiting for a response, he raced off.
"Wait, Assassin!" Saber shouted after him, but he was gone in the blink of an eye.
Saber furrowed her brows, a troubled expression on her face.
He trusted her that much?
But she was also a participant in the Holy Grail War!
Or was he confident she wouldn't act, like Mordred?
Saber was distressed by her predicament.
Just then, Mashu peeked out from behind Galahad's shield.
"Are you...King Arthur?" she asked Saber hesitantly.
Saber looked at Mash, gazing at that familiar yet unfamiliar shield.
I see... Galahad, huh... Then there's really no other way.
Just like that, she convinced herself.
Comments
Claude
You can use "search" function. Step 1: Go to the home page. Step 2: Look for the "Recent Posts" section. Step 3: Below "Recent Posts", you'll find a search bar. Step 4: Type your chapter number into the search bar. Step 5: Press "Enter" on your keyboard. Happy reading!
God Is I, the Lord!
Where are chapter 562 to 568 ?
Melegant
Didn't he revive the dead in the fourth holy grail war?
JeanMartin Freites
And now he knows.
