IBHJ Chapter 729 (Patreon)

Before long, the soldiers had completely disposed of the magical beasts. Eager for more action, some who hadn't gotten a kill began gleefully destroying the workshop in their dissatisfaction. 

While its defenses were formidable, the battle-hardened soldiers of the Eternal Kingdom unfortunately all possessed some degree of knowledge in Age of God magical theory - thanks to Shirou's insistence during the Camelot era that the court magi educate the troops. 

And after the soldiers became Heroic Spirits, overcoming the modern magecraft of this workshop was almost trivially easy. While the techniques and applications were complex, they stood no chance against these soldiers. The only problem was the spatial displacement but after Sigurd's blade ruptured through the mountain, even that became useless.

In fact, Shirou could've easily demolished the snowy peak and workshop right from the start with Rhongomyniad. But he didn't, just in case there were Chaldea people inside that might get hurt. That would've been bad.

Later though, when he realized it was a trap set by Chaldea, with magical beasts inside that had already bitten two unsuspecting soldiers to death, Shirou simply set the soldiers loose to kill the beasts themselves. After all, he could see the soldiers were having a rough time with pent up emotion.

The Eternal Kingdom's people had a complicated relationship with magical creatures - not quite love or fondness, but more of a deep-rooted hatred. Too many citizens had been slaughtered by beasts during Camelot's era. 

Back then, the kingdom was practically ruled by magical creatures. People were terrified of beasts. Shirou played into those fears, making them even greater. He turned that amplified fear into courage, so his people could defeat Vortigern and end the beasts' dominion for good.

But it left some deep scars. A really twisted custom formed around hunting beasts. People developed strange, almost sick obsessions over them. But you couldn't blame them—the world was cruel and full of suffering. These mental issues were a product of their environment, just like Shirou's odd habit for hair-pulling. In those days, hardly a month passed without some beast hunting competition happening across the British Isles, open to all from 60-year-old elders to 10-year-old children.

Those ridiculous competitions didn't end until every last beast was killed.

As Shirou walked out from the snowy peak, he eyed Saber strangely. She was keeping her distance. "Why are you so far away, Saber?"

"No reason," she said, shaking her head quickly.

Shirou shrugged it off as A-46 led them back down the mountain toward the village.

Their large group swaggered toward Village No. 6. When Shirou's soldiers surrounded the village, the villagers became nervous. The village chief walked over trembling and stutteringly asked A-46, "Divine envoy, has something...happened?"

He pretended to stay calm, but obviously lacked political experience. His body shook, his voice trembled—his acting skills didn't fool A-46 for a second.

A-46 looked at the chief blankly and asked: "Where are the people from Chaldea?"

To some extent, the Valkyries weren't so different from AIs. Although betrayed by the village chief, they felt no anger.

The village chief fell silent, eyeing Shirou's valiant soldiers fearfully. The villagers were afraid as well. However, Salter found it extremely amusing—because in a sense, these valiant warriors were perverts. Having seen their perverted side, she could no longer take their stern faces seriously.

Suddenly, the roof of the village chief's house ruptured with a loud "boom." A figure burst out to stand atop the broken roof, shouting: "I'm right here, Hel's dogs!"

A-46 looked up calmly and asked: "Who are you?"

"Who am I? Since you asked so sincerely, I shall mercifully enlighten you! In the name of love and justice—to prevent the destruction of this world, to protect its peace—with the magic of love and justice..."

The familiar girl struck a dramatic pose, one hand on her face. She wore a black coat and butterfly mask like some legendary chivalrous thief. But Shirou instantly knew who she was. That chuunibyou line, that slightly mature vocal tone...there was no mistake. She was—

"I'm the magical girl of love and justice, Chloe!" The girl ripped off her black clothes, revealing herself. She looked about 16, with long snow-white hair and somewhat dark skin. She wore a Gothic Lolita dress similar to Illya's, her slender legs clad in black stockings as she held a magical wand. That familiar face erased any doubt—she was Chloe.

"Come chase me, Hel's dogs!" Chloe burst out laughing. 

As she turned to leap away, Sigurd hurled his demonic sword at her exposed back. The sword cut through the air with a piercing whistle, its aura promising death. Chloe whirled around, blocking the strike horizontally with her wand.

The weapons collided with a resounding “clang.” She landed to find herself surrounded by Shirou's soldiers. Sigurd recalled his demonic sword and calmly strode through the crowd. He gazed coldly at Chloe.

"What are your last words, magus?"

Chloe's brows furrowed as she sensed the danger emanating from Sigurd. Her gaze darted around at the encircling soldiers, falling at last on Shirou. She stared, taken aback. "You..."

Before she could finish, Sigurd slashed down with his sword. A sharp blade of magical energy hacked towards her. Chloe thrust her wand forward, conjuring a pulsating black barrier. It met Sigurd's strike with a resounding "clang," and she couldn't help but laugh. "Aren't you a little too impatient, boy?"

"You are my mission target," Sigurd said flatly.

"Oh my, is that so!" Chloe turned to the black-clad Shirou. "It's you, right, onii-chan?"

Shirou answered her only with silence.

"I see...so you were summoned by the enemy." Chloe's eyes narrowed slightly.

In that moment, Sigurd closed the gap in a flash. His sword swung high before hacking down. Chloe shifted just enough for the slash to miss, then with blinding speed, took out a card. She pressed it to her wand and a magic circle materialized on its surface, but—

Before it fully formed, Sigurd flicked his wrist, sending an energy blade at Chloe's face. Her eyes constricted. Not good! She abandoned what she was doing and transformed her wand into a massive shield.

The surrounding soldiers couldn't help but stare blankly. One soldier asked the Legion commander, "Isn't that...?"

The commander's brows furrowed. He glanced over at Shirou, who gave no indication otherwise.

"The king gave no orders," the commander said. "Just focus on your tasks." 

The soldier nodded.

Sigurd's demonic sword slammed against Chloe's greatshield with a deafening clang. Her arm went numb from the impact and Sigurd was blasted back several steps, gaping at her shield in shock. Seizing the chance, Chloe leaped onto a nearby house and fled.

His face tightened as he channeled mana into his demonic sword. The sword hummed, giving off an eerie black glow - the aura fluctuations of his noble phantasm, Gram.

Without hesitation, the cold-blooded man swung the lethal Gram toward Chloe's fleeing back. Black beams of death shot toward her. Seeing this, Shirou didn't react at all. In fact, the corner of his mouth curved into a slight smile because he knew which class card Chloe was using.

Just then, Chloe suddenly spun to face Sigurd, a mocking tone in her voice, "I knew you would do that!" 

"Install - Eternal King!"