"Oh? This kind of immortality…"
It was neither rebirth nor regeneration. Rather, new Demon Pillar entities were continuously being born. By means of powerful propagation and replication of their own information, they transformed the surrounding environment, the very earth itself, into vessels carrying their existence.
"Even if you are unaffected by our king's will, even if you can slay me with some unknown method—what of it? We remain the seventy-two Demon Pillars. As long as the Temple of Time, our source, still exists, as long as the King of Magecraft's throne endures, we will never be destroyed!"
"Even you, a Servant feared by the King himself, cannot kill us!"
The Demon Pillars declared arrogantly. At the same time, countless scarlet eyes turned toward the Chaldeans, fixing their gaze upon them.
Through Satsuki's Tenseigan, these Demon Pillars seemed no different from the two she had already annihilated.
So, if they were to be eradicated—
"This time, we will not be careless again. Here shall be your grave!"
The entire space began to ripple. The earth trembled violently. From all around came the chanting voices of innumerable Demon Pillars, their overlapping liturgies resounding as one.
"The time of awakening has come…"
"The time of drifting has come…"
"The time of crossroads has come…"
"The time of despair has come…"
Within the Temple of Time, their prayers reverberated, and endless magical power answered their call. Their bodies shone with overwhelming radiance. Before them, even A-rank mana release seemed utterly insignificant.
At this moment, a single blow from any one of them could rival that of a top-ranked Servant. And worse—their numbers were [endless].
The Temple of Time overflowed with magical energy surpassing even that of dragonkind, transcending fantasy, rivaling gods and demons. To merely sense this power was enough to drown a mortal in despair, crushed by the overwhelming disparity.
And this was only their preparation. Having gathered such immense mana, they unleashed their strongest attacks.
The figure before them was the one who had once obstructed the will of their King. They would not repeat the mistake of underestimating her!
"Courtroom, convene. Uncover the past, strike down the future. Incineration Formula: Flauros!"
"Observatory, activate. Return to purity, I shall erase all trace. Incineration Formula: Forneus!"
"Our revelation reaches the far shore. From the abyss of death, we proclaim your annihilation. Struggle, Incineration Formula: Haures!"
"Star-gazing Eye, open. Countless afterimages, all traces of existence, I shall seize them. Incineration Formula: Aamon!"
...
Then came the overwhelming, inescapable tide of baleful light.
Each beam was equivalent to an A-rank Noble Phantasm's mana release. And here, the storm of beams was so dense it could no longer be described by mere words.
"Mash!"
Ritsuka Fujimaru cried out, his Command Spells blazing as he channeled mana of an entirely different magnitude.
Though Satsuki stood nearby, El-Melloi's earlier reaction—and his choice during her battle with the King of Heroes—made it impossible for Ritsuka to ask her for aid.
He could only pray that Mash's Noble Phantasm might shield them from this onslaught—though even he knew how slim that hope was.
"Understood, Master!"
Having fought countless battles at her Master's side, Mash instantly understood his intent. Even in the face of absolute peril, her heart did not waver. She called forth the Round Table of Camelot itself—the ultimate defense, manifesting the seats of the Knights of the Round as her shield.
The last time, Satsuki's golden wheel of reincarnation had pierced her Noble Phantasm for two reasons: first, Satsuki's attack had reached the terrifying level of [Anti-World]; second, Mash's heart at that moment was not entirely resolute, conflicted even as she invoked her shield.
But this time, for the sake of her Master and the preservation of humanity, her will was unwavering. Without doubt, she could now summon the pinnacle of her defensive power.
—Even if no meteor rain fell to her aid, she would not retreat.
Yet, just as she prepared to chant her Noble Phantasm's invocation, the situation suddenly shifted.
"Is this pitiful trickery the extent of your power?"
A strange, layered voice echoed as a gray domain spread outward from Satsuki, who stood poised in the void. It expanded to meet the incoming purple radiance from every direction.
Yet between the two forces, there was not the slightest reaction. The endless destructive beams vanished entirely at the boundary of the gray domain.
No dazzling fireworks of energy, no thunderous explosions shaking the heavens—only silence, as the gray domain expanded outward with unshakable resolve.
"The light… the light, it's gone…!"
"What power is this…?!"
"Meaningless… it's meaningless…"
"Why… why again… must it end like this?!"
...
As the gray domain spread, every Demon Pillar enveloped within was rendered motionless. The magical supply from the King of Magecraft's throne that formed their bodies was severed, their internal mana dissolved.
In an instant, the countless Demon Pillars that had blanketed the land were swept away as easily as dust flicked from clothing.
Within Satsuki's [Vipralopa Domain] as Demon Buddha Māra, these Demon Pillars—beings of pure mana and concept, summoned into existence by ritual circles—were even less than ants of flesh and blood.
"This… this is the same as that time…"
The Chaldeans, brushed by the Vipralopa Domain, vanished as well. Not destroyed—merely expelled from the Singularity, cast out by Satsuki because they were nothing but hindrances.
But this was not the end.
After removing them, Satsuki followed the mana supply channels revealed by her Tenseigan. With the Wheel of Vipralopa's power, she traced the flow in reverse, across space, to the very sources that provided energy to the Demon Pillars.
...
Inside the Temple of Time.
The leading Demon Pillars had gathered.
"Eastern terminal nerves: gone. Mana supply severed. Spatial sector annihilated by unknown energy."
"Western autonomic nerves: gone. Enemy count confirmed—one."
"Impossible! How could so many of us be eradicated in an instant?"
"Impossible, impossible! Beings like us are collective. A lone entity, one that can only survive and fight alone, cannot possess such power!"
Before they could comprehend the situation, worse news arrived.
"Eastern terminal nerves, first through eighth pillars: unable to maintain integrity."
The Pillar that had spoken disintegrated into dust, consumed by gray energy.
"Western autonomic nerves, twenty-sixth through thirty-third pillars: unable to maintain integrity."
Another leader followed, crumbling into nothingness.
Only one massive Demon Pillar remained at the center. It was not responsible for external combat, and so survived the backlash of the Vipralopa power. But now, even it quivered in panic.
"…Left and right basal frameworks: gone. I… propose we abandon this domain."
But before it could act, a dreamlike figure stepped across space, appearing before it. The gray power of the Vipralopa Domain already surrounded it.
"Māra! You are not a Heroic Spirit. You are not even a hero. Why oppose us? Why?!"
The inorganic voice of the Demon Pillar demanded. Satsuki's reply was calm, detached:
"Your goals and purposes mean nothing to me."
"Then why—"
"But only the strong have the right to change the world."
With that proclamation, Satsuki clenched her hand. An indescribable power engulfed the entire domain. With faint, imperceptible cracks, the space itself shattered into fragments.
At the innermost chamber of the Temple of Time, upon its throne—
A white-haired man sat slumped, his expression one of desolation. His form appeared the same as the Grand Caster King Solomon who had once fought Satsuki.
No—perhaps another name suited him better: Demon God King Goetia.
At this moment, he still barely maintained Solomon's appearance, yet his eyes had already turned into crimson demon eyes, his mouth curled upward in a ghastly grin. From his back stretched seven or eight massive tentacles formed of pure magical energy. The rings on his fingers, once broken in battle against Satsuki, had now been restored in full upon all ten digits.
But the surface of his flesh pulsed with writhing lumps, betraying that his state was far from well.
"Damn Assassin. You didn't even understand your true opponent. Did the Counter Force summon that one here to solve the problem, or to make it worse?"
He brushed a hand over his chest, where a sword wound ran deep to the bone.
Blue underworld flames endlessly welled from it, burning away the mana and flesh struggling to mend his body. Worse, the corruption threatened to spread outward. Were it not for Goetia's immense strength and mana reserves, that one strike might have cost him half his life outright.
After all, he was not in his prime. He was merely a projection given the form of a Servant. To endure a blow from a being of equal rank was already a near-impossible feat.
"Those Chaldeans are fools beyond measure. They let themselves be distracted, believing me to be the culprit behind this [anomaly]…"
Even as he grumbled, the Temple of Time trembled with a deafening rumble.
As its master, he immediately sensed what had happened: "The first node of the Beast's Domain has been destroyed? Impossible!"
This was not like before. As a Grand Caster summoned directly by the Counter Force, though he now wore the form of the Demon God King, his essence was not that of Humanity's Evil. The Counter Force—or Human Order itself—should not have interfered with him at this point.
"It should have been impossible for a repeat of that past incident, when over a hundred Servants breached the Temple of Time simultaneously…"
A mix of anger and doubt surged within him: "So why? Why has it been broken through so easily again?!"
With Goetia's fury, the Temple of Time swelled with even greater, more dreadful mana. At the other nodes, countless Demon Pillars manifested anew. At the same time, he received reports from several of their leaders.
"Eastern terminal nerves: lost. Mana supply severed. Temple sector annihilated by unknown energy."
"Western autonomic nerves: lost. Enemy count confirmed—one."
"Impossible! How could such numbers be eradicated in an instant?"
"Impossible, impossible! Not for a collective like us. A lone entity, one forced to live and fight alone—such a being cannot wield such power!"
...
"What! Only one?!"
Even Goetia was shaken by the report from the front.
This was not some makeshift stronghold hidden in sewers. This was the Temple of Time—his work of three thousand years, wrought from harvesting incalculable mana across past and future, constructed with the power of the King of Magecraft.
It was a magical citadel, perfected through his EX-ranked summoning arts.
And such defenses, such preparations, had been broken through by a single being?!
Who could accomplish this?
Goetia let out a despairing, bitter laugh.
Who else? Who but the "Source of Destruction," the very one the Counter Force had summoned all others to oppose?
Even as he acknowledged this, more grim reports came to his throne.
"Second node: Furnace Naberius. Mana flow severed. Domain sector erased."
"Third node: Courtroom Flauros. Mana flow severed. Domain sector erased."
...
As the messages continued to pour in from the Pillar terminals, the king upon the throne answered only with silence. At last, he began to understand, dimly, why King Solomon, millennia ago, had fallen wordless and inactive when confronted with the ugliness and suffering of humanity.
When that vast, formless pressure bore down, not every being had the courage to resist or face it. Once, he had been firmer than Solomon himself. But now, weakened by defeat and grievously wounded, he was no longer the formidable being of the past.
His EX-ranked Clairvoyance should have granted him insight into the future at this moment. Yet, for the first time, the Demon God King shut that ability himself.
Perhaps it was because his absolute rationality had already calculated the only possible outcomes…
Perhaps it was because the encroaching Vipralopa Domain had already cut off all retreat…
Perhaps it was because, standing on the side of guardianship for the first time, he felt unlike his former self…
Or perhaps—he suddenly realized he seemed less like the Demon God King, and more like the Solomon he had once scorned.
"If a spider's thread is lowered into hell, does even hell gain a fragment of mercy? What am I yearning for now? Do I seek hope?"
At that thought, Goetia's eyes flared wide. The raging underworld fire upon his body was momentarily suppressed by the force of his will.
"No. This is not my will. I am Goetia, and I shall reach the ultimate point. I shall traverse back 4.6 billion years, to the instant this realm birthed its first celestial body, and absorb its entirety. I shall become a new celestial body, recreating this planet. I shall rewrite Genesis itself, forging a world without 'death.'
"This is our grand enterprise. I do not seek humanity's annihilation out of hatred. I need the energy to journey into the past, to witness the birth of the stars, to control that moment, to endlessly refine the plan. Such scale demands inexhaustible mana—the accumulated might of an intellect that prospered for three thousand years.
"By converting human history from 1000 BCE to 2016 CE into pure mana, I can obtain the energy to leap back to this planet's origin. The destruction—the incineration—of humanity has but this one reason. To us, mankind is nothing more than the booster to propel us to the sky of origin."
—"Such conviction. Very well."
With layered echoes, a dreamlike figure floated in the air, appearing before the radiant throne.
It was Satsuki, clad in the form of [Demon Buddha Māra]. In her hand, the azure jewel of the Wheel gleamed with a light that even the Temple of Time could not ignore.
Her downcast gaze fell upon the king who had risen from his throne. She spoke in a cold, detached tone: "From the fragments revealed by the Demon Pillars, I've discerned your power has been greatly weakened and suppressed. Is it because your true body betrayed you?"
"This is none of your concern, Māra…" Solomon—no, Goetia—met her unflinching stare. "Why reveal your true form here, when you are on the verge of enlightenment? What is your purpose?"
"It is simple."
Her voice carried no warmth, no hesitation: "I came merely to destroy a foe worthy enough to be slain. But now, it seems you require… assistance."
As the words fell, golden light flashed in her eyes.
"What—"
Bathed in that golden radiance, Goetia suddenly realized his body could no longer move.
Before him, Satsuki raised the Sacred Wheel of the Three Divine Kings upon her wrist. With her other hand, she lightly touched the azure jewel embedded within.
It was the first time since her arrival in this world that she had truly invoked the True Name of her Noble Phantasm.
"Under the eternal Ālaya-vijñāna, behold and submit to the threads of manipulation…
"Cast yourself into the endless sea of suffering, and when you reach the blissful shore…
"Welcome with reverence the hand that turns the wheel of fate.
"—Turn, Wheel of Fortune!"
As her chant ended, a force surpassing the very river of destiny descended from the heavens, violently pouring into Goetia upon his throne.
—
—
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven