NOVEL WEB Chapter 222 Didn’t Expect That, Did You? It Still Matches
Boundless water pressed against Shirou from all directions. The suffocating, unbearable sensation wasn't like being submerged anymore—it was as if he'd been stuffed into a thick rubber tube, his entire body crushed by irregular, brutal pressure.
When Shirou forced his eyes open underwater, Melusine was already there, gripping his hand tightly.
Only then did Shirou realize he still hadn't let go of the hostage boy's hand. Odin held the boy's other arm, the tip of his spear bursting into crimson lightning as it thrust forward—only to be swept aside by Melusine's sword-light.
Aside from them, the heavy blue water pressure and bubbles surrounded Shirou on all sides, filling everything in that suffocating azure.
He almost couldn't tell up from down.
Almost—because behind Odin and his steed Pegasus floated a black island!
An isolated stone isle, wrapped in obsidian cliffs, details obscured. Though it looked close, it was sealed behind a layer of invisible space. No matter how much he reinforced his vision with magecraft, Shirou couldn't see through it.
But that sight stirred something in him—the Wandering Sea.
Also called "The Primordial Workshop, Botanndes," its headquarters lay in Northern Europe. In ages past, magi of the Age of Gods built a workshop upon a sea-locked island, isolating themselves.
Those obsidian walls were the "Hereditary Defense." It prevented observation, turning the Wandering Sea itself into a moving singularity, inaccessible even to laws of reality—vanishing even from the cosmos.
Even if destroyed in one era, only that "era's Wandering Sea" was lost, leaving past, future, and the true Wandering Sea untouched.
Its magi studied divine-age sorcery, scoffing at modern magecraft as childish games, pursuing only the divine.
Only once a year, on the last day, would they lower the defense to admit a chosen "fated one" as a disciple.
So this "Odin" was a magus of the Wandering Sea? Like Medea, who used spatial interference—hallmark of divine-age sorcery. Coupled with his techniques—puppet avatars, spirit descent, stealing gods' power—all impossible feats in the modern era.
Together, it fit perfectly.
Bubbles whirled as Odin's patience frayed against their resistance.
He didn't know Shirou had already labeled his Nibelungen identity.
All Odin cared about was shaking them off. He hadn't stormed Genji Heavy Industries to steal Genji's child for her strength as a mixed-blood champion. Dragon kings had no shortage of such bloodlines.
No—what Odin wanted was her Master qualification.
He intended to study the Norton brothers' Servant system. To fully unravel it, he suspected, the key was the White King's authority.
He already prepared a vessel—the "Saint" Reginleif, a first-generation hybrid of no weaker lineage than his fellow dragon kings. She might fail, but at least results would come.
What troubled him most was the Command Seals. None of his subordinates bore them. So when he found Genji's child under control of Wang Jiang's cursed clappers, he came in person to seize her.
Who could've guessed he'd run into this damned star of misfortune, Shirou!
With spear swipes swift as lightning, Odin fended off Shirou and Melusine. They moved sluggishly under crushing pressure—but Odin wasn't hindered. This wasn't water pressure at all, but a space-channel he carved, squeezing them!
Reality was a seamless, taut rubber sheet. His space-opening gouged narrow wormhole-like tunnels, like Einstein-Rosen bridges.
Shirou and Melusine forced themselves in, but couldn't dig further. Reality's "rubber" squeezed them relentlessly.
Yet Odin wasn't relaxed either. He had to hold coordinates, guide the passage, and keep them from chasing into his lair. If he lost focus for battle, the channel might collapse or misalign, ruining everything.
Boom!
He froze—Shirou, crushed by space, had projected a long blade: Kashū Kiyomitsu.
Because of his constant Thought Accumulation training, Shirou sensed the "water" was wrong—dense, soft, pressing even into his organs. This wasn't water but a warped subspace collapsing upon them.
No wonder—they hadn't reached the Wandering Sea itself. This was only the channel.
Space techniques… Reality Marbles…
And suddenly Shirou grasped the missing piece for Unlimited Blade Works.
The landscape-born Reality Marble erodes reality, which presses back, crushing the foreign world. That correction—this squeeze—was the very principle!
But there was no time to ponder. The moment was dire. He glared coldly at Odin. Whatever happened, he couldn't let him leave intact.
He centered Genji's child in his grip, thrusting Kashū Kiyomitsu past her toward Odin. Here, "Ground Shrink" footwork failed under warped space.
So for his "Triple Unseen Piercing Thrust"—he could only close the distance by brute force!
Beside him, Melusine unleashed torrents of mana, relying on volume to break through.
She forced her sword-light straight and hard, ignoring the spear, stabbing Sleipnir instead. Bones shattered, iron hooves snapped!
Odin jolted at the wound, then saw Shirou's Noble Phantasm—Kashū Kiyomitsu—glinting, about to pierce past Genji's child.
Unseen—!
Damn it. Forget the intact pawn!
Odin slashed with his crimson spear—not at Shirou, but down nearby. Blood sprayed, severing Genji's arm, Command Seals and all.
Shirou's face was splashed crimson, breaking his aim. A severed arm fell into his grasp.
Then—the water world collapsed.
Raging floods swallowed them, the black-isle fortress vanishing from view.
—
Splash!
Shirou heard bubbles and violent torrents—but no drowning sensation. The water rejected him, spitting him out.
At collapse, he and Melusine had clung to each other, terrified of what spatial failure might cause.
Luckily, when he opened his eyes again—it was the normal world.
A dark underground lab, cluttered with jars, bottles, and devices.
Turning, they saw—they'd burst out from a tank of floating, suspicious clones.
And Genji's child lay unconscious at its edge.
(End of Chapter)
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