As the Holy Spear was unleashed, the truth of the world was revealed. The roar of the tides echoed from the ends of the world, for the anchor point had been pulled up, and the fabric that was fixed had now unraveled.
The laws of physics seemed to fail, and what emerged thereafter was the true world.
Waves of pure white light surged from behind the young man, their brilliance representing the tides of the Sea at the End.
But no one paid attention to the existence of those waves of light. Something even more dazzling occupied the sight of Jeanne d'Arc and the others.
Through absolute authority, the restraints were suppressed. As the last member of the Round Table, a fourteenth restraint was forcibly added, ignoring the previous thirteen to liberate the Holy Spear.
Or rather, at this moment and from here on, the Holy Spear Rhongomyniad had become an artifact belonging solely to a certain individual.
Even Artoria could not change this fact.
Due to the large-scale modification performed by Artoria and the long period during which the Spear was stored inside a certain person, the conditions for the Holy Spear's transformation had already been met.
However, to maintain its existence, no corresponding actions could be taken.
But with Alaric's independent manifestation, successfully ensuring self-existence, the Holy Spear Rhongomyniad was finally liberated.
At this moment, the Light of the End blossomed.
It was no longer the output of a Servant but the genuine radiance released by the Tower at the End.
The waves of light, annihilating all laws of physics, surged toward Jeanne d'Arc and her companions. The proud Hanging Gardens seemed on the verge of collapse, unable to withstand the shockwaves.
"My Lord is here (Luminosité Eternelle)!!"
"The Little World Enveloping the Sky (Achilles Cosmos)!!"
Facing the incoming waves of the End, Jeanne d'Arc and Achilles simultaneously activated their Noble Phantasms. Jeanne's treasure, transformed from the Holy Banner she wielded in life, was bolstered by angelic blessings. It shielded an area within a radius of ten units around her, converting her EX-level Magic Resistance into physical defense.
Achilles, on the other hand, countered with the World.
Emerald brilliance erupted, and what appeared within the light was the entirety of Achilles' life experience—a Noble Phantasm that rivaled The Seven Rings that Cover the Fiery Heavens (Rho Aias). It was a defensive barrier forged by the god Hephaestus, a shield.
The shield depicted the world Achilles had seen, with surging ocean currents encircling its perimeter, representing the blessings of the sea god.
To confront this shield was to confront the world itself. Once activated, it could defend against Noble Phantasms aimed at individuals, armies, fortresses, nations, or even gods.
The world unfolded before they transformed into a barrier, striving to block the waves of the End!
However, the place where Rhongomyniad stood was the End of the World. It was itself the anchor point that pierced through the surface and interior of the world, making the concept of the world itself easy prey.
If it were facing Noble Phantasms that did not manifest through world-scale deployment, there might still have been a chance to block it—such as that sacred knight who defended with the faraway ideal of Camelot (Lord Camelot), or a self-sacrificing hero who might clash head-on with the light of the End.
The waves of light, symbolizing the End, transformed into a cone of light before Achilles' eyes, obliterating his world.
The consumption required to maintain the Noble Phantasm instantly skyrocketed, becoming unbearable. Achilles instinctively exclaimed, "A Noble Phantasm against the World?!"
The Little World Enveloping the Sky (Achilles Cosmos), which deployed the world as a defense, was powerless against an anti-world Noble Phantasm.
In the brief moment, Achilles processed this, the cone of light silently pierced through Achilles' Cosmos.
It surged forward at a terrifying speed, and now, only Jeanne d'Arc and the selfless hero Karna stood in front of the others!
The waves of light brushed past Jeanne's banner the moment they made contact, roaring past her sides and forming towering walls of light that caught the attention of Sieg and the others gathered behind Jeanne.
Everyone present was a renowned hero from history, well-versed in such scenarios. Yet, that did not mean they were immune to tension at this moment.
The greater the power Alaric displayed, the slimmer their chances of victory became.
The Light of the End would not stop. The waves of light, which swept past Jeanne's sides with unmatched might, consumed the Hanging Gardens, carving dazzling trails of light through the expansive skies.
Amid the radiant waves, Semiramis' proudest Noble Phantasm, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, began to collapse.
While it did not completely disintegrate, over half of the gardens were utterly obliterated by the waves of light.
The ground where Jeanne, Sieg, and the others stood was now on the brink of collapse.
Though Jeanne's Noble Phantasm shielded even the ground beneath them, the pressure brought by the waves of light far exceeded her expectations.
Even after being weakened once by Achilles' Achilles Cosmos, the power that reached her still rivaled an A++-rank anti-fortress Noble Phantasm!
It continuously forced her to retreat!
My Lord is here (Luminosité Eternelle), her Noble Phantasm, accumulated damage with each use. No matter how powerful it was, it could not endure unlimited attacks at the anti-fortress level.
The towering walls of light even acted like blades, carving into the underground Hanging Gardens and damaging them along the boundaries of Jeanne's defense.
In mere moments, just before Jeanne reached her limit, half the gardens had collapsed.
The gardens, constructed from countless relics, were reduced to dust, leaving not even fragments for Jeanne and her companions to stand on. They could only watch as they plummeted toward the surface world.
Yes, the surface world.
At the moment Jeanne and the others fell, the scenery of the world's end vanished. The Tower at the End, which anchored the surface and interior worlds, returned to its original state.
Having chosen not to kill Jeanne, Sieg, and the others, Alaric canceled the Noble Phantasm's release in that instant.
"Grab onto me!"
Astolfo immediately summoned his hippogriff, pulling Sieg and Jeanne onto its back. Not far away, Achilles summoned his immortal chariot, bringing Chiron and Atalanta aboard.
Semiramis, who could use flight magic, had lost most of her power due to the collapse of the Hanging Gardens and was left in a powerless state.
Faced with the crisis of falling, she could not even use magic.
Thus—
"Grab onto me!"
Shirou, appearing at this moment, grabbed the edge of the immortal chariot with one hand and tried to catch Semiramis nearby.
But the chains that shot out were faster. Avoiding Chiron and Atalanta's attacks, they wrapped around Semiramis under Alaric's control, pulling her back to the Hanging Gardens.
Helpless, Shirou could only watch as Alaric recaptured Semiramis.
And nearby—
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Mordred flailed about, grabbing Kairi Sisigou's hand in an attempt to hitch a ride on Astolfo's mount.
Standing at the edge of the ruined Hanging Gardens, holding the Holy Spear in one hand, Alaric watched all this unfold without finishing Jeanne off, ending the warm-up instead.
Alaric casually tossed Semiramis aside nearby, ignoring her.
Even after unleashing the Tower at the End, for Alaric, this was just a warm-up. The real battle had yet to begin. Gazing at the floating flames before him, Alaric smiled and said, "Aren't you going to save them?"
"My mission is to defeat you here and take Assassin with me."
Karna, pointing his divine spear at Alaric, scanned both Alaric and the Tiamat behind him. The crimson dragon girl stood silently behind Alaric, saying nothing.
Following Shirou's fall, a new command was issued: Defeat Alaric and take Semiramis.
Following this directive, Karna ignored the falling companions and remained alone before Alaric, preparing for battle.
"Are you sure you want to do this here?"
Alaric put away the Holy Spear Rhongomyniad and replied, "Aren't you worried about affecting the Greater Grail?"
After coming to terms with his situation, the once-prized Hanging Gardens no longer held much importance to Alaric. Losing the Gardens wasn't a major issue for him.
Especially since the Hanging Gardens had suffered multiple devastating blows, leaving it barely able to maintain its ability to fly. Most of its other functions were destroyed.
Karna responded without much hesitation, "It doesn't matter."
At that moment, Alaric stood at the edge, overlooking the land far below.
The Hanging Gardens were thousands of meters above the ground—possibly even higher. Aside from a few individuals like Jeanne d'Arc, who had used flight-based Noble Phantasms to avoid falling to the earth, what caught Alaric's attention was the unimaginably tiny ground directly below.
The brilliant aurora still stood tall, surrounded by a visible circular abyss resembling a pit of hell, as if it could cause the world itself to collapse.
The Aurora, which had bloomed because of Alaric, remained in existence even after he awakened as if it would never disappear until it had consumed everything there was to consume.
If King Solomon's Demon God Goetia had burned away humanity's history to store its heat as energy, then Alaric was akin to a force that devoured the planet itself to store its resources.
"Mother will always, always, always support you."
A soft, murmuring voice whispered in his ear. Tiamat, looking drowsy, spoke gently, her warm breath brushing against Alaric's earlobe.
Feeling the warmth of the goddess, Alaric's lips curled into a faint smile. "Ah, that's right. To live up to those expectations, I'll keep moving forward."
"Hey, what's the current state of the Greater Grail?"
Semiramis, with her arms crossed and a calm expression, still called out to Alaric: "The mana was drained completely and then replenished again. Did you make another wish?"
The change in the Greater Grail's mana levels was hard to hide from Semiramis, and it made her curious about what exactly Alaric was doing.
Moreover—
"The Greater Grail is at its limit."
Alaric glanced sideways at Semiramis and said, "It might still grant a few small wishes."
After enduring both Alaric and Tiamat's actions, the interior of the Greater Grail was nearing the boundary of what it could handle—not just due to mana consumption but also because of the sheer strain.
Tiamat's Sea of Life alone had once overflowed the Greater Grail, and that didn't even take Alaric's actions into account.
Hearing Alaric's response, Semiramis frowned slightly and instinctively glanced at the now-silent Greater Grail.
At that moment, Karna interrupted their conversation.
"I intend to take Assassin away. Will you stop me?"
"Do as you please."
Alaric, shrugging, seemed completely indifferent to Karna's actions, as if capturing Semiramis earlier had been done on a whim.
Seeing that Alaric had no intention of stopping him, Karna's gaze flickered slightly, but he said nothing more and instead carried Semiramis toward Achilles.
The coalition assembled to subdue them was attempting to re-enter the Hanging Gardens.
With the undead chariot renowned for its speed and the swift eagle capable of dimensional leaps, the distance from their fall wasn't much of an issue for them.
However, Alaric's Noble Phantasm was a source of immense caution for them. In terms of firepower, only Karna's Noble Phantasm could rival it at the moment.
The defense was another matter entirely. While Jeanne could protect them, the collapse of the Gardens would still lead to their defeat.
Such a failure could only be avoided by destroying the Greater Grail. Just as Jeanne resolved to take action—
A flickering flame streaked across the sky, connecting with Achilles.
Watching this scene, Alaric made his decision. "Karna, did you know?"
Although he wanted to test the limits of Karna's solar defenses and see if he could shatter the sun itself, Alaric abandoned the idea of using his Holy Spear. He had a better plan.
Or rather, this was something Alaric had wanted to try ever since he awakened.
With this thought in mind, Alaric grasped the light.
The Aurora, which Jeanne and the others couldn't even approach, was effortlessly seized by Alaric as if it had no weight and was a purely concentrated beam of light.
"Although it's not quite the same thing, based on its scale and form of existence, I'm willing to call this—Devil Sword."
Grinning widely, Alaric wielded the Aurora like a sword and swung it down toward the group below.
"I am the storm that is approaching."
The aurora stretched out, carving away vast swathes of land. Its sheer length—tens or even hundreds of kilometers—made it a phenomenon akin to a celestial event.
But the moment this phenomenon was used as a blade, its edge, spanning dozens of kilometers, was enough to cleave apart entire cities.
In that instant, only four people noticed the aurora's descent. The flickering tail of light transformed into a crescent-like form high in the heavens.
"What is that?!"
Jeanne's expression changed drastically. Seeing the Aurora slashing toward them like a blade, her heart felt as though it were gripped by an enormous hand, making it impossible to breathe.
But before Jeanne or Achilles could activate their Noble Phantasms again, the flickering flame moved even faster.
An indescribable sense of danger surged through Karna's mind. Almost instinctively, he activated his solar defenses!
Unleashing his sun-shielding powers to their fullest extent, Karna's defensive capabilities surpassed even Jeanne or Achilles when their Noble Phantasms were active.
Karna, placing himself in front of the group, poured all his energy into his solar defenses, managing to withstand the descending aurora and buying Jeanne and the others several precious moments to retreat.
But only for a few moments.
Within those brief instants, even though the defense wasn't breached, Karna was still forced down to the ground by the overwhelming pressure of the descending aurora!