t that moment, the entire Reality Marble that Nobunaga had deployed began to waver, as if becoming increasingly illusory.
The flames burning upon Nobunaga's body gradually dimmed, and her hair flickered between red and black, making her breathing grow heavier.
"As expected, I'm almost out of fuel."
Nobunaga sighed.
Indeed, in this era, Nobunaga's power could be unleashed to its utmost limit, even suppressing gods themselves—but suppression was the most she could manage.
Because Nobunaga could not maintain her Reality Marble indefinitely.
By its nature, a Reality Marble is a form of magecraft acclaimed as being closest to True Magic, a mystery that manifests one's inner world as reality—essentially creating an alternate world within this one.
Normally, apart from elementals that are extensions of nature itself, any artificial world would be rejected and erased by the planet's own corrective force.
Thus, to maintain a Reality Marble requires immense energy and cost, consuming enormous resources, and typically lasting only a few minutes at best.
As a Heroic Spirit, Nobunaga's mana rank was B, and with a Master who was a half-human, half-divine Gilgamesh, she had more than enough mana to sustain her Reality Marble longer. But even her Mara Papiyas had limits—by now, she was nearly exhausted.
So while it looked like Nobunaga was pressing Gorgon back, in truth she could only stall her.
Gorgon possessed an extremely high-ranked immortality, and with the Holy Grail's protection, Nobunaga's strength was far from enough to destroy her.
All she could do was restrain her—this was the sole reason Nobunaga had been able to delay Gorgon's advance for so long.
But…
"I really am at my limit…"
Nobunaga grimaced.
On the other hand, Gorgon's aura only grew more overwhelming.
After all, beings with high-rank Divinity might not even be able to maintain their existence inside Nobunaga's Reality Marble. As a goddess embodying multiple layers of Divinity, Gorgon suffered unprecedented suppression in this domain.
If not for her immortality, Nobunaga might truly have been able to slay her.
Now that Mara Papiyas was nearly spent, the suppression on Gorgon weakened, and her power grew ever stronger.
"Everything you've done is futile! I'll crush you like an ant, you nameless Servant!"
Gorgon, as if venting all the humiliation and fury she had bottled up, let her Mystic Eyes blaze with light.
The goddess intended to petrify Nobunaga into stone and shatter her to pieces.
But unfortunately for her—Nobunaga was not the only Servant here.
The very next instant, countless bombardments rained down from the skies like cascading meteor shells, striking Gorgon.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—!!"
Explosions erupted across Gorgon's body, engulfing her in fire and forcing pained roars from her throat.
A closer look revealed golden turrets along the northern wall had activated.
"Show your power—Dingir!"
Standing atop the battlements, as though commanding all the golden turrets, Merlin raised his staff, releasing surging mana.
Vmmm!
At the muzzles of each golden turret, vast mana condensed.
From the perspective of mystery, anything that achieved great feats could be divinized, acknowledged as divine by humanity.
Just like the hero-gods and personified deities of Tokyo Ravens' world, throughout human history many famous figures had been worshipped as gods, thereby achieving godhood.
Beyond people, even animals and objects could be revered as divine, their worship no different in essence.
In Sumer, such existences—made gods not by divine recognition but by human acknowledgment—were called Dingir, meaning deified.
These turrets on the northern wall bore that very name—Dingir.
They could load and fire the countless powerful Noble Phantasms stored in Gilgamesh's treasury as shells.
By shattering the lapis lazuli set into their bases to serve as mana fuel, they could launch the treasures with devastating force.
Gilgamesh gave them the name Dingir to symbolize humanity's will to defend Uruk through human strength.
Because they consumed Noble Phantasms as ammunition, these weapons were extraordinarily precious and never used under normal circumstances.
But in this dire crisis, holding back was no longer an option.
Thus, Merlin had been supporting the battlefield from behind using the Dingir.
He had little choice—his mana reserves were insufficient to endure such an intense, drawn-out war directly.
So with self-awareness, he remained on the walls, channeling magecraft to guide the Dingir in unleashing their overwhelming power to aid Nobunaga.
"Fire!"
Merlin shattered the lapis lazuli fuel in the bases, and once again countless blasts descended from the sky toward Gorgon.
But—
"I won't let you harm Mother!"
A figure suddenly appeared above Gorgon, spreading his hands. Countless golden ripples manifested in the space around him, releasing beams of golden light that intercepted the incoming bombardment.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Golden beams clashed with the meteor bombardments, producing successive massive explosions in the skies.
The strikes aimed at Gorgon had been blocked.
"Kingu…"
Merlin's expression grew grave.
"You bastard…!"
Nobunaga also clicked her tongue.
Suspended above Gorgon, Kingu looked down at Nobunaga and Merlin with cold indifference.
"As I thought… you two are my greatest obstacles. You must be eliminated."
Kingu declared icily.
The commander of the Demonic Beasts loathed both equally.
The former had stalled their advance for days, even he unable to overcome her—a vexing hindrance.
The latter had, by burning vast amounts of his own mana, sustained the era itself—without him, this age would already be gone.
Thus, Kingu deemed both Nobunaga and Merlin as enemies that must be destroyed.
However—
"You're wrong about that, Kingu."
From the battlements, Merlin smiled at him.
"We are not your greatest obstacle. The true one… is about to appear."
At those words, Kingu froze briefly.
Then his expression darkened sharply.
"La Grondement Du Haine!"
With that cry, a torrent of flames burst forth like an explosion, surging straight toward Kingu.
Without hesitation, Kingu retreated at top speed.
But in the next instant, his movements halted.
For behind him, a pitch-black figure had appeared without warning.
"Excalibur Morgan!"
A black aurora blazed across the heavens.
"BOOOOM!!"
When the obsidian pillar of light fell, the world itself trembled.