Northern Wall, Demonic Beast Front.
At this moment, the battle unfolding here had already raged on for an unknown length of time.
All manner of monsters and magical beasts clashed across this battlefield, while human soldiers roared in fury, staining the ground red with blood.
The land was littered with corpses.
The air was filled with senseless violence.
The sounds of slaughter, roars, wails, and the clash of weapons against fangs and claws echoed endlessly, never ceasing for even a moment.
One could say that the fighting had reached a state of utter madness—both sides charging recklessly into each other, heedless of death, creating massacre upon massacre, piling corpse upon corpse.
And yet, amidst this battlefield, there was an area consumed entirely by unending flames.
"Hah… hah…"
Nobunaga stood within this sea of fire, panting heavily.
Around her, there were no corpses, no battles—only ruins surrounded by the inferno. Compared to the battlefield outside the sea of fire, it was like another world entirely.
And in fact, it really was a different world.
If Rozen were here, he would have immediately recognized it—the ruins surrounded by this fire were none other than a Reality Marble.
But Nobunaga was not alone inside this Reality Marble.
"Still not planning to give up, you meddlesome insect!?"
With a roar, a massive silhouette appeared amidst the ruins wrapped in flames.
A towering figure, like a serpent god blotting out the sky and sun—who else could it be but Gorgon?
Gorgon had been dragged into this Reality Marble.
Looking closely, her divine body was marred all over with scorch marks.
Yes—
Gorgon was injured.
And not just lightly—her wounds were severe.
All of them had been inflicted by a single Servant.
"Still not done yet?"
Nobunaga muttered to herself.
"After all this fighting, you're still not dead? My Bojun is almost spent already."
From this, it was clear—facing Gorgon, Nobunaga was not at a disadvantage in the slightest.
Despite her opponent being a goddess, and despite the fact that without the ability to slay gods even a Servant of the highest rank would be unable to contend with her, Nobunaga had not only held out until now but had even dealt such grievous wounds. It was nothing short of unbelievable.
Yet it was the truth.
If Nobunaga did not possess such power, then the Demonic Beast Front would never have held out this long.
"Hurry up and die already!"
Gorgon seemed utterly maddened by Nobunaga's existence. With a furious roar, her serpent-hair writhed violently, and the giant snakes opened their maws to gather overwhelming mana, unleashing it as blasts of magical artillery toward Nobunaga.
However—
"If you want me dead, then drag me into Honno-ji and burn me there! Hahahaha!"
Laughing wildly, Nobunaga's entire body burst into flames.
Boom!
As the firelight exploded outward, her whole form ignited, and her long, jet-black hair turned a blazing crimson.
At the same time, countless matchlock muskets manifested around her.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang…!
With thunderous gunfire, innumerable flaming bullets streaked across the sky, meeting the incoming magical blasts head-on.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions erupted in rapid succession, fire waves surging.
The concentrated volley from the muskets intercepted the magical artillery, causing bursts of light and flame to erupt continuously.
"Damn you!"
Gorgon's face twisted with rage.
It could be said that Nobunaga had already become her most detestable obstacle—on par with Rozen himself.
If not for Nobunaga, Gorgon would have long since breached the Northern Wall and annihilated humanity.
But Nobunaga stubbornly held her back, dragging her into a stalemate, preventing her from advancing even a single step into the Beast Frontline.
Oda Nobunaga—this hero was displaying a power sufficient to threaten even the divine.
This was because, as a revolutionary figure of her age, Nobunaga possessed a uniquely special ability.
In life, she had promoted new ideals such as Tenka Fubu (Rule the Realm by Force), bringing immense change and upheaval to her era.
As a result, Nobunaga was able to interfere with the very concept of antiquated things.
Because of this, when facing beings of divinity and mystery—or Heroic Spirits acting as guardians of old systems—Nobunaga herself would gain an immense advantage.
In other words, Nobunaga had absolute superiority against opponents possessing divinity or mystery.
The greater their divinity and mystery, the stronger Nobunaga would become.
Conversely, against relatively modern Heroic Spirits with weak mysteries, Nobunaga's skills and Noble Phantasms would diminish in effectiveness.
With this nature, Nobunaga possessed two Noble Phantasms.
The first was the embodiment of the Sixth Heaven Demon King who slays gods and Buddhas, a Reality Marble that transformed Nobunaga into an existence wielding absolute power against divinity and mystery—Demon King of the Sixth Heaven.
The second was a Noble Phantasm capable of deploying three thousand matchlock muskets for simultaneous fire, while also doubling its power against Heroic Spirits with the Riding skill— Three Line Formation.
The former was born from the many cruel acts Nobunaga committed in life, such as the burning of Mount Hiei. It manifested as a blazing hellscape forged from the fear and awe of posterity.
To beings of high divinity, even maintaining their existence within this Reality Marble was difficult; yet to Heroic Spirits of weak divinity, it was little more than somewhat hot.
The latter, meanwhile, originated from her destruction of the mightiest cavalry of the Sengoku era, granting devastating effects against those with the Riding skill.
When combined with her unique abilities, it could unleash truly savage firepower. But against Heroic Spirits lacking divinity, mystery, or Riding, they were nothing more than ordinary muskets.
With such skills and Noble Phantasms, Nobunaga was undoubtedly one of the most suitable Heroic Spirits for battle in this era.
For this was the oldest age of human history—the end of the Age of Gods—where all manner of mysteries, gods, and demons still rampaged across the earth. Against them, Nobunaga's anti-divinity and anti-mystery nature allowed her to wield the most terrifying power possible.
Thus, Nobunaga had become the supreme commander of the Demonic Beast Front, and could even, with her own strength alone, hold back a goddess—an overwhelming might that defied reason.
Now, the battlefield itself had become Nobunaga's Reality Marble, a stage for her cannons to unleash unrestrained bombardment.
"What's the matter, what's the matter!? Is that all you've got? So-called goddess, is this your limit? Then truly, you and your kind deserve to be cast aside by both era and world!"
Nobunaga roared aloud, as three thousand matchlock muskets became weapons of god-slaying, spitting fire and bullets that rained down upon Gorgon.
"AAAAHHHH! You wretched human Servant!"
Gorgon bellowed in wrath, her serpent hair lashing, magical blasts erupting one after another to intercept the incoming storm of bullets, setting off explosions without end.
"More! More! More!"
Nobunaga's flames only burned fiercer as she continued her relentless assault.
Gorgon could only desperately resist, yet still suffered wound after wound.
Were it not for the healing and immortality granted by the Holy Grail, she likely would not have been able to withstand Nobunaga at all.
But there are no "what-ifs" in this world—though her condition was dire, Gorgon still endured.
"Gh…"
At a certain moment, Nobunaga let out a stifled groan.
The flames around her body began to dim.