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IBHJ Chapter 560
🕑 Added 2023-11-06 23:57:20 +0000 UTCFrom the moment she found herself in this godforsaken city, Jeanne heard extremely eerie sounds in her ears, like the chanting of ancient evil gods, which made her extremely anxious.
When she suggested her plan, Shirou raised his eyebrows.
"A self-destructing Crimson Holy Maiden, huh?"
"How did you know about that?" Jeanne was startled, but when she looked at his face, she asked strangely, "Aren't you nervous?"
Indeed, faced with such a dangerous situation, even with the evil chant in her ears constantly chipping away at her sanity, his expression remained calm.
"What's there to be nervous about?" He sighed again and said, "Master, Ruler, don't intervene."
"You... You're going to fight alone?" Jeanne looked at him in surprise.
He nodded and said, "Actually, this city is nothing special."
In the darkness, Caster laughed as if he had heard a great joke and said, "Do you think I'm still the same as before, Assassin? This is my master's holy city!"
"Yes, I know. So, I have to thank you."
"What?" Caster was stunned.
He thought Shirou was being foolish. How could he not feel any nervousness or anxiety in such a situation and instead express gratitude?
However, in the next moment, Caster was dumbfounded.
Shirou poured out all the glowing black mud from his body.
The mud fell to the ground and darted toward the Chthonians, enveloping them like glowing slime upon contact.
"Sizzle, sizzle!"
The Chthonians were wrapped in the glowing mud, just like insects trapped in a pitcher plant, corroded by acid.
"Buzz, buzz..."
The Chthonians screamed and thrashed violently.
However, they could never break free, and step by step, they were slowly digested and corroded by the luminous mud.
Moreover, this time, the mud was no longer pitch black but filled with light, so everyone could see the gruesome process of digestion and corrosion.
"How...disgusting," Mash couldn't help but mutter.
Jeanne's mouth involuntarily twitched, and she felt queasy.
At this moment, the Chthonians and the indescribable horror brought by the darkness were suddenly eclipsed by the nauseating brightness.
"Burp!"
Shirou belched and said with a smile, "Not bad taste, keep calling them out. I'm running low on mana, and I can keep eating."
Caster stared in disbelief and stammered, "Th-this is possible?"
"Of course it is. Any more? Keep summoning them."
In the darkness, there was no sound from Caster, only the sound of fleeing footsteps.
Shirou's smile faded. "Chase!"
..
Francois Prelati raced toward the main hall in a panic.
He never expected Assassin to be such a tough opponent!
The nine octopuses he had spawned yesterday were nothing to scoff at - even ordinary Heroic Spirits would be mere foods before them.
Yet Assassin had devoured them directly!
And those endless Chthonians...
Even first-class Heroic Spirits would be defeated by them.
But Assassin had treated them like candy...
Devouring them in such a revolting, nauseating manner.
What was this?
Who was the true god here?
Who was this guy's true identity?
Prelati was going mad.
This accursed city was of his own making, manifested through the power of his Noble Phantasm, the "Textbook of the Sunken Spiral." He had harnessed the very life force of the misguided followers of the Church in order to will this nightmare into existence.
The "Textbook of the Sunken Spiral" was based on the dreaded "R'lyeh Text," a legendary tome attributed to an unknown author some 3,000 years past. Though the original was inscribed on ancient clay tablets and long destroyed, scroll copies persisted, hidden away in desolate coastal caches since 300 BC.
However, unlike other translations, Francois Prelati supplemented his translation with his own writings, making him the only magus connected to R'lyeh. This was the reason for his descent into fanaticism.
Believing fervently in the slumbering god described in the cyclopean city of R'lyeh, Prelati devoted himself fully to awakening this being and unleashing it upon the mortal plane.
To this end, he interfered in the ongoing Hundred Years' War, joining the French forces as an opportunity to spread the teachings of his evil god.
And so began his fateful entanglement with Jeanne d'Arc and Gilles de Rais.
Jeanne's defeat and capture at Compiègne gave Prelati the opportunity to extend his connection with R'lyeh, forging spiritual links with many soldiers. Through him, they glimpsed the true visage of the slumbering Lord, a sight that drove them to madness.
After Jeanne's gruesome execution by burning at the stake, Gilles de Rais began questioning God. Sensing the opportunity, Prelati granted his Grimoire to Gilles, catalyzing his descent into becoming the murderous Bluebeard.
As for Prelati himself, he met his end at the hands of a vengeful witch.
Though originally, once Prelati had passed the Grimoire to Gilles de Rais, he lost access to it - unable to reclaim the tome that was his conduit to power. Yet through means he could not fathom, his mysterious Master had returned the Grimoire to his possession.
To be honest, he didn't know what his Master really was, but all he had to do was fulfill his duties as the Apostle of the Lord.
But the prowess of the Black Assassin astounded him! No normal Servant could match that power - even formidable ones would conservatively ration their magical energy, the sole tether binding them to this plane. Some even feared using their Noble Phantasms, lest it deplete their fragile reserves and banish them entirely.
But this Assassin was an anomaly. He seemed to feast on the Chthonians, growing ever stronger from the carnage! Was he being siphoned as an energy source? Quantity meant nothing before this monstrous Servant!
No - to this monster, quantity was merely a means to replenish his magical reserves!
This realization frustrated Prelati to no end, for it meant horrors like the Chthonians were rendered worthless against the Black Assassin!
Whereas the Grimoire had been but a Noble Phantasm in the hands of Gilles de Rais, with Prelati it became a Reality Marble, distorting the very laws of the world to recreate the cyclopean city of R'lyeh.
His sole respite was that Assassin had not yet shattered R'lyeh's bounded field. But with quantity meaningless to him, it was time to unleash Prelati's ultimate weapon.
Clenching his teeth, Prelati raced toward R'lyeh's base. Never had he imagined that he - furthest removed from the main battlefield - could be pushed to the brink so soon...
Damn it all!
For the great cause of the Lord, he absolutely could not fall here!
Prelati's eyes flashed with determination.
...
Shirou took the lead as he, Mash, and Ritsuka pursued François Prelati through the eldritch city.
Just as he had said, once he locked onto Prelati's presence, there was no escape from his tracking. Though Prelati possessed stealth abilities, at this close range even without visual contact, Shirou's Evil could sense his fluctuations - naturally, he could not evade them forever.
Yet many foul monsters obstructed their path, slowing the party's progress.
Mash and Jeanne's expressions grew increasingly uneasy. Undoubtedly, if this were some tabletop roleplaying game, their Sanity points would have plummeted dramatically. Such was the inevitable toll of facing such unimaginable horrors for the first time, even while showing no mercy in cutting them down.
But Shirou was unfazed. With his black mud, he absorbed all negative emotions, locking his Sanity at zero - no fear could touch him now.
In truth, Jeanne and Mash had not lost as much Sanity as one might expect. For compared to the eldritch appearance of these monsters, witnessing his glowing mud digest them earlier had been far more disturbing!
At last, they reached R'lyeh's sunken base.
Ahead on the eerie, unsettling altar, a figure stood with their back turned. Without a doubt, this was François Prelati - the one responsible for Jeanne d'Arc's tragic death during the Hundred Years' War. The Caster for the Red side in this Holy Grail War.
"Have you finally come?" Prelati said, his back still facing them.
Jeanne, just like in a typical RPG game, was about to exchange some words with François Prelati, but Shirou interrupted, saying, "Enough talk. Use a Command Spell!"
Jeanne hesitated, then nodded. She gazed at Prelati's back, expression hardening. "By the Command Spell, I order you, François Prelati, to take your own life!"
Nothing happened.
Jeanne blinked, puzzled. She could sense the Ruler's Command Spell had activated. But there was no effect. How?
"A pity, Jeanne," Prelati spread his arms, back still turned. "In the presence of the great Lord, your spell is powerless!"
He raised his voice. "Witness the Lord's true form!"
As his voice fell, the darkness in the area was dispelled.
The true form was revealed...
"That, that is..." Jeanne was astonished. No - dumbfounded.
Before them lay a colossal, dormant monster of unimaginable scale, resembling a mountain. Its rough appearance bore features of an octopus, bat and human. Entirely green with an extremely enormous body, it was suspended like a colossal planet. Its soft head covered in countless writhing tentacles, obese scaly body, claw-like front limbs, and tattered, undeveloped wings on its back.
The colossal god was in deep slumber, eyes sealed shut as if in eternal sleep.
Witnessing its true form, Jeanne felt her sanity slipping. An indescribable fear gripped her, stripping away her resolute will.
"Oh Lord, oh Lord," Jeanne whispered, the name bearing strange power to dispel the indescribable corruption.
Her expression gradually returned to normal.
Mash started to raise her head to look upon the sight before them. But before she could fully witness the massive, twisted form, Shirou's hand quickly reached out and covered her eyes.
"You don't need to see this."
Mash paused, slightly puzzled by his actions. But she nodded obediently and replied "I understand, Mr. Fujimaru."
While unclear on his exact motivations, she knew that as a novice, she couldn't provide much help here. It was best to avoid being a burden if she could.
"Do you see it now, Jeanne?" Prelati spread his arms, back still turned. He laughed loudly. "This is the Lord's true form! The Lord exists! And where is your false god-"
Jeanne's face was solemn, listening intently. She stood ready to counter his words at any moment. But before Prelati could finish his gloating, a blazing beam erupted from the Holy Lance in Shirou's hands. It lanced through the air, engulfing Prelati's body fully in its searing light.
Jeanne was shocked and turned to look at Shirou, who was covering Mash's eyes while blowing on the smoldering Rhongomyniad.
He glanced at the bewildered Jeanne and said, "Why do you always have to listen to his nonsense?"
"Y-yes, you're right," Jeanne nodded, dazed.
She felt that this Eternal King was somewhat different from what she had imagined.
Eternal King Jeanne had envisioned was pure, wise, inspiring. But the one before her now...
Well, he was still wise, still inspiring.
Did inspiration need a reason? No, she decided.
For some reason in this moment, Jeanne sensed Leticia's disdain. To her, Jeanne was a modern fanatic.
And at that moment—
"How despicable...!"
François Prelati's angry voice echoed.
Jeanne and the others turned, surprised. Prelati had not been eliminated by Rhongomyniad!
Comments
JeanMartin Freites
Shirou himself is quite a horror for the monsters.
