"Ritsuka, at any cost, stop her!"
Romani's voice rang out from the communicator.
"There's no mistake about the Saint Graph values and the magical energy response. This doesn't belong to the authority of the Demonic Beast Goddess Gorgon or the Primordial Mother Goddess Tiamat—this is the authority of the foreign deity known as Selene herself!"
"All of Fuyuki—no, it should be said that this entire parallel planet—is fracturing under the spatial tremors of the Imaginary Numbers Space...?! The Singularity of this timeline is being cut out and altered from human history by her!!"
"And on the other side of that spatial rift—is the temple where King Solomon resides!"
Through the communication wristband, the rapid clicking of instruments operated by technical staff inside Chaldea's control room, along with Romani's anxious voice, came through in a chaotic stream.
"Solomon is on the other side of the spatial rift?!"
Gripping the handle of her shield tightly, Mash was completely flustered.
They all knew that the mastermind behind the incineration of human history was King Solomon, and they had gone through countless hardships and trials to reach this point—but now that they were truly about to face him, an inexplicable unease still rose in Ritsuka Fujimaru's heart.
Even Gilgamesh and Ruler Jeanne wore solemn expressions.
"So that original revelation... it was pointing to this, after all."
The planet burned, life wailed, blood flowed endlessly, flames flickered everywhere. Cities, systems, and civilizations that humanity had spent hundreds or even thousands of years building were being subjected to one-sided, unrestrained slaughter and destruction.
That hellish scene Jeanne had once vaguely foreseen resurfaced in the saint's mind, becoming clearer and more solid, gradually overlapping with the destructive tide unleashed by Selene.
Back then in Trifas, Romania, after being inexplicably attacked by Lancer Karna, Jeanne had been invited as a guest to the castle of the Yggdmillennia family of the "Black" faction.
That night, the "revelation of the Lord" descended upon her dreams. The scene of destruction naturally made Jeanne extremely vigilant.
At the beginning of her investigation, both the "Red" and "Black" factions of the Romanian Holy Grail War were within her suspicion. Because of Selene, her suspicions had even leaned toward the Yggdmillennia family.
However, as the investigation deepened, the "Red" faction—especially the irregularly surviving former Ruler Amakusa Shirou Tokisada—entered Jeanne's view. Inevitably, her judgment began to deviate.
After Amakusa Shirou Tokisada revealed his wish to materialize all human souls through the Third Magic in order to achieve salvation for the entire world, Jeanne became even more convinced that he was the culprit behind the apocalyptic vision in the revelation.
Later, with Amakusa Shirou Tokisada killed, the "Red" faction defeated, and Rider Selene dissolving herself and exiting the stage, Jeanne shifted her focus to the activated Greater Grail.
This ultimately led to Jeanne using her Noble Phantasm—La Pucelle—to destroy the Romanian Greater Grail.
But no matter how much she calculated, Jeanne had never expected that the revelation would have a time limit!
The scene revealed by the "Lord" was the future!!
Realizing this, even Jeanne—known for her gentle and composed nature—could not help but feel a surge of irritation.
A revelation should just be a revelation—why make it so convoluted? Revealing a little while hiding the rest, speaking in riddles and leaving her to figure it out on her own without any hints—it might as well not have been revealed at all!
Riddle-speakers should get out of human history!!
"Master, I'm going in!"
Without further words, although Karna did not feel deeply affected by Romani's message from Chaldea, facing a powerful enemy like Selene once more—even if it meant rushing in like a moth to a flame—he had no regrets!
Karna's movement was like the first domino to fall. Rider Achilles exchanged glances with those around him, grinned, and shouted, "Let's go!" His steps thundered, his body like a hurricane as he charged forward.
As if influenced by the passionate and tragic epic atmosphere surrounding the heroes, the pink-braided girl (?) immediately grew excited, jumping up with a cheer, "Wooha—!" She pulled out a horn.
In an instant, a magical sound akin to a dragon's roar or a divine steed's neigh resounded across the heavens, as if beating the drums of war for this battle where humans would challenge a god.
...
Just as the Servants, fully prepared, rushed one after another toward the colossal deity across the Mion River, a streak of light suddenly shot across the sky from afar, heading straight toward the location of the composite summoning magic circle.
"An enemy?"
Caster Avicebron raised his head. His gold-fingered hand lifted as cold magical energy surged outward. Within a hundred meters, the ground trembled violently as rolling mud formed into earthen spikes, ready to shoot skyward.
"Puppeteer, that foolish woman is not an enemy."
At that moment, Gilgamesh's voice rang out, causing Avicebron's gathered magical energy to abruptly halt.
Almost at the same time as Gilgamesh's warning—
"Ahhh! I refuse! You're cheating—this is unfair, ahhh—! Wait! Ugh—stop, stop, waiiit—!"
"Gilgamesh! Catch me—!"
In response, Gilgamesh showed a look of disgust. Not only did he instinctively dodge, but he also pulled the stunned Ritsuka Fujimaru and Mash aside with him.
Even Shirou Emiya, who had intended to reach out and catch her, was just a step too slow due to still adjusting after merging with Archer's Saint Graph.
And then...
"Aaaahhh—Gilgamesh! You heartless old bastard!!!"
Bang—Boom!
Brushing past Shirou Emiya's fingertips, Ishtar crashed headfirst into the ground, her head nearly embedded into it, leaving a deep gouge as she shot forward at high speed toward the summoning circle.
Just looking at it made one's head hurt. Ritsuka and the others all thought silently.
Clang!
From the sound of it, that was a solid head.
"That idiot..." Covering his face, Gilgamesh sighed as he looked at the disgraced goddess lying face-down against Mash's shield, her body trembling stiffly.
Regardless of his relationship with Ishtar, she was still a goddess with deep ties to him—the daughter of the chief god of Mesopotamia and the guardian deity of Uruk. As the king of Uruk, seeing the guardian goddess of his nation in such a humiliating state was utterly embarrassing.
"Ugh...! Damn it, how dare you subject me to such humiliation! If I weren't worried about causing too much property damage... ah! I would definitely kill you—even if I (Rin Tohsaka) had to go bankrupt, I'd still kill you!"
Clutching her head as she stood up, her eyes still spinning slightly, Ishtar gradually recovered and burst out in furious rage.
"Ishtar, you can unleash your destructive urges as much as you like now... because you're already bankrupt," Gilgamesh added mercilessly.
"Huh?"
Snapping back to her senses and looking around, Ishtar's expression immediately changed drastically. "Ahhh—my real estate investments!! Ahhh—! My home!"
This high-end villa district was already completely ruined. Even the foundations had been erased. And across the Mion River, among the houses crushed by the massive tail of the Demonic Beast Goddess, Ishtar could see it clearly—her Tohsaka family ancestral residence was gone!!
Earlier, caught up in the heat of battle, she had been dragged into an aerial fight and forced all the way out to the outskirts, only to be ambushed and "taken care of" in turns by multiple opponents. Ishtar had been beaten until stars spun in her eyes. Only after she finally escaped the battlefield did she realize—even her family home was gone!
However, the goddess' slapstick performance ended there.
"Hmm?"
At that very moment, the golden ripples beside Gilgamesh abruptly shifted direction.
"Fu Hua, you and Durandal couldn't kill her? Aside from Taixuan Eminence, you even used Cleaving Heaven, didn't you? Even if it's just this weak spiritual-particle mimic body... is that flat-chested woman really that tough?"
Along with that irritating woman's voice, several streaks of light shot across the distant sky before crashing down heavily.
Boom!
"That armor... Rider?!"
Not far away, occupying one of the few remaining intact high-rise ruins and providing long-range support, Atalanta and Chiron both slowed their drawn bows, staring in shock at the azure meteor-like figure descending from the sky.
"No, not the same person—but it's certain that one is connected to Rider, and very closely at that."
Making the judgment, Atalanta immediately shifted her target.
Landing lightly with a score of zero, Fu Hua clenched her fist. A trace of realization flashed through her eyes.
"Purely relying on close combat seems insufficient to deal real damage to her. The rules of this world—what distinguishes mortals, demigods, and gods—is... immortality."
"We are recognized as demigods and possess a degree of immortality. That careless woman, although she doesn't act like a god, does possess complete immortality. To kill her, aside from beings of the same divine level, weapons capable of breaking immortality are also crucial."
And clearly, since this was not her true body, Fu Hua's Heroic Spirit manifestation this time focused on close-range combat—'Infinite Martial Arts,' 'Ki,' and 'Edge of Taixuan.'
Against mortals without immortality and demigods with divine blood, Fu Hua could suppress and beat them to death. But against gods—Servants with divine cores and immortality—injuring or stunning them was not difficult, but killing them—was hard.
(PS: In the Type-Moon world, divinity—one could say immortality—is just that absurd. A powerful Heroic Spirit may not necessarily possess divinity, but one who does will never be weak.)
"Durandal, the power of Abyss Flower should be able to kill her."
Rising from the crater she landed in with full marks, Durandal nodded, glancing toward Ishtar. Especially the red-haired boy beside her—his transformation overnight was astonishing.
Gilgamesh's expression darkened. He had actually been ignored. He felt provoked—and slighted. These women were truly irritating.
"Miss Ataegina..."
Without further words, Shirou Emiya drew his bow, a spiraling sword-arrow aimed directly at Durandal, making his stance clear.
After learning the truth from Ritsuka Fujimaru, he no longer held any illusions of persuading her.
After all, from Shirou's perspective, she wasn't even from Earth. What Durandal was doing was simply being loyal to her god—there was nothing wrong with that. And Shirou Emiya's reason for fighting was to protect innocent people from the harm of the Holy Grail War—there was nothing wrong with that either.
It was merely a difference in position.
"Good eyes."
Durandal leapt in front of Shirou Emiya. The Hler's Serenity in her hand slowly vanished, replaced by a massive pure-white knight's lance. The spearhead, with its dull purple-black sheen, made even Gilgamesh feel a tingling pain on his skin with just a glance.
A divine weapon?!!
Curling her fingers slightly, Durandal slowly raised Abyss Flower.
...
"Brahmastra—!"
Rather than using a golden god-slaying spear, Lancer Karna used his own eyes.
'A true hero kills with his gaze!'
As the thought passed through his mind, Selene's Mystic Eyes burst into brilliance—hum—!
Rumble—!!
In an instant, the sky split into two colors. One side was engulfed by scorching solar rays, heatwaves rolling as the atmosphere trembled violently. A vast shockwave roared outward like a tidal wave.
On the other side—crack, crack...
Wherever the dark-red petrifying light of 'Cybèle' swept across, mountains, rivers, vegetation, and buildings alike rapidly solidified, coated in a pale gray hue. In the next moment, under the movement of the colossal demonic god's body, they crumbled into powder.
"Mystic Eyes of Petrification! Watch her eyes—do not look directly at them!!"
After a brief stalemate, the torrent of Noble Phantasms clashing together suddenly erupted, blasting the sky within several kilometers completely clear—everything, even oxygen itself, was forced away.
The nearby ground was directly torn up, gouged several meters deep. Even shattered stones were compressed into bedrock, and the Mion River surged violently, exposing its dried riverbed.
Crackling dark-red arcs of electricity spread outward. Karna felt as though even the flames surrounding his body had begun to stagnate.
"Karna, you've slowed down."
Maintaining her magical output with both hands as she continued to erode and reshape the world, Selene's eyes shifted slightly. Strands of hair transformed into massive serpents, each one roaring like dragons as they lunged toward Karna, who had slowed midair.
"Diatrekhōn Astēr Lonkhē—!"
At that moment, the unfading flower of the hero transformed into a meteor-like wind blade that tore through the sky and pierced the clouds, severing the giant serpents Selene had extended in half.
Showing a timely hint of irritation, feeling the faint trampling sensations racing across her massive body, Selene let out a low snort.
Heh, treating me like a giant target to hack at, huh?
Slash, slash, slash!
"Hey, big—uh, Your Excellency, long time no see. A massive body doesn't just mean increased strength and magical power, you know."
Instinctively about to whistle and flirt, Achilles snapped back to his senses in time and stopped himself from courting death.
"So it's you, you insignificant insect."
More strands of hair animated, forming a net that swept toward Achilles as he dashed and leapt across the serpentine locks and the body of the Demonic Beast Goddess.
"Slowness isn't a problem—as long as magical output is greater."
Countless strands transformed into ferocious snake heads, weaving through the air as beams of light gathered in their mouths and fired outward.
Then—boom! Boom! Boom!
The moment she shifted targets, explosions erupted again across Selene's face, chest, and abdomen.
"Again."
Feeling several more 'fleas' jumping onto her body, Selene raised an eyebrow. Her thousand-meter-long serpent tail slammed down, causing the earth to split and sink once more.
But with such a massive body, being treated as a living target was something Selene had already expected. Looking a bit miserable didn't matter—it wasn't her true body anyway. Even the Primordial Mother Goddess Tiamat had been treated like a target. It couldn't be helped.
Thinking this, Selene couldn't help but sigh at how difficult it was to properly feign weakness—it was truly a technical skill.
At the same time, Selene kept both hands steady, continuing to alter and release the magical energy drawn from the underground leylines, while increasing her output once more.
Goetia, hurry up and get down here already—I'm running out of patience with this act.