Chapter 127. The End of the Holy Grail War 3/3
Finding the core of the Holy Grail War's array using the truly overpowered sensory abilities of the Six Eyes wasn't difficult for me. Much trickier was figuring out where exactly to pour energy in order to manifest the Holy Grail. Not only did I need to manifest and purify it, but I was also hoping to charge it enough to use it for what you might call its intended purpose—namely, to connect to the Root. After all, I want to see if I can obtain a second True Magic, despite the existence of Zelretch. My existence is rather unique, so it's possible this could actually work.
Why do I want a second True Magic? Mainly, I'm just tired of being dependent on the system for inter-world travel, and to be honest, I should also grant Mordred's wish.
So, after finding the right node, the first thing I tried was pouring purification into it, since the presence of a certain Zoroastrian god of evil had already seeped into everything here. But all I managed to do was cleanse the surrounding nodes of his influence, while the Grail itself did not absorb the energy.
"Ugh, I'll have to get into the thick of it," I sighed, preparing to start pouring in magical energy.
"Is something wrong?" Artoria asked.
"It's nothing—just that I was hoping I could purify the Grail first, and only then fill it with mana. But, alas."
"Will this have any consequences?"
"In theory, no, but when the Grail descends, under no circumstances should you go near the black ooze that spills out. It's deadly to heroic spirits. I'll try to finish the cleansing as quickly as possible."
"Understood," Artoria nodded and pulled Mordred closer to the exit in case they needed to escape quickly.
After making sure they were actually ready for unforeseen circumstances, I sent a sharp stream of magical energy into the array, causing what until then had been an invisible magic circle to shine with a dazzling blue light. Every second, I was pouring in as much energy as my now fairly large reserve from the Highschool of the Dead world allowed, and I could clearly sense that, even accounting for the mana needed to compensate for the lack of souls inside the Grail and the absence of a Lesser Grail, it wouldn't take much longer to reach my goal. So when a black portal opened right in front of me, I was ready. Blinding light burst from my body, directly clashing with the black ooze that began to gush from the portal—the physical embodiment of this world's evil, striving to corrupt and destroy everything.
Wherever my light touched the black mud, it evaporated. But there was so much of it that soon it flowed around me and surged toward the exit.
"No way," I gritted my teeth and, for a moment, reduced my purification power to raise a Geo wall blocking the cave exit. I couldn't let a catastrophe happen because of me.
Because of the brief drop in purification—even just for a second—a drop of that sludge landed on my skin.
"Destroy it!"
"Devour!"
"They are not worthy of your mercy!"
"KILL!"
Thousands of voices roared in my head, but the drop was quickly dissolved by my purification, cutting off the voices instantly.
"Well, you asked for it," I muttered, increasing the purification output to the max and jumping straight into the black portal.
"YOU CANNOT STOP ME!" roared Angra Mainyu, his voice sounding like the chorus of countless people.
"Pathetic worm, you're nowhere near the level to challenge this princess," I declared disdainfully, ignoring the fact that darkness was all around me—because I could still see one thing. Deeply hidden within: a woman's figure. I started moving towards her with slow, deliberate steps, as if to show it wasn't the curses holding me back, but rather me taking my time—demonstrating the inevitability of what was to come.
"ARROGANT GIRL! I AM ALL THE WORLD'S EVILS! AS LONG AS THE WORLD EXISTS, SO SHALL I! YOU CANNOT STOP MY INCARNATION!"
"Are you sure?" I asked with a smile, and without waiting for his answer, I shoved both hands into the black mud. Ignoring the voices that immediately began to pound at me, I pulled the woman—dressed in ceremonial priestess-like robes—out of it.
"DO NOT DARE!!!" Angra Mainyu roared, but he was already too late.
Hair blackened by corruption began to turn white, and soon she opened her eyes.
"Hey there, gorgeous," I grinned, pointedly ignoring the raging but powerless god of evil, unable to break through the purification field.
"Anomaly detected. Activating protective measures," the girl in my arms didn't even try to get up, speaking like a robot. "Object: Heroic Spirit Angra Mainyu, Class: Avenger, is deemed unfit to participate in the Holy Grail ritual. Initiating process of expulsion."
"Nooooo!" the god of evil bellowed one last time as the black mud slowly began to dissolve into blue particles, and the darkness before me turned into a beautiful field of flowers.
"Are you the winning Master of this Holy Grail War?" the girl asked in a dispassionate tone.
"State your wish."
"I want to reach the Root."
"Due to the expulsion of the Avenger-class servant, there is insufficient energy."
"Energy's not a problem, just tell me where to pour it in," I replied casually, not a bit worried.
"According to calculations, obtaining the necessary energy requires the equivalent of four heroic souls."
"I already said, that's not a problem," I repeated, rolling my eyes.
"You may use this body, which is an avatar of the personality named Justitia, as a conduit," she said, and thanks to her wording, a couple of dirty thoughts flashed through my mind (given the… peculiarities of mana transfer in this world). But I resisted temptation and did things the straightforward way—simply started pouring mana into her body through my hands.
"With current method of energy transfer, the efficiency rate is only thirty percent," Justitia said suddenly. "A more effective method would be an exchange of bodily fluids."
"Quiet, don't try to seduce a girl who already has a fiancé," I said, increasing the flow of magic.
"Unknown anomaly detected. The flow of magical energy is not stopping. No traces of True Magic are present. Analysis is impossible."
"Just sit quietly and take the mana," I said irritatedly.
"Acknowledged."
I stood there for about ten minutes with the embodiment of the Grail in my arms.
"Going to have enough energy soon?"
"The required quantity of magical energy for opening a path to the Root was reached five minutes ago."
"And why didn't you say so?!"
"You yourself requested it."
"…." I didn't know what to say to that. I just silently set Justitia down on the ground.
"Open the path."
"It shall be done," Justitia bowed before a brilliant, blinding light spread from her, swallowing everything.
"Damn, I'm going to go blind at this rate," I muttered, rubbing my closed eyes. But when I finally looked around, instead of the field of flowers, I found myself in a strange space. Surrounded by something like outer space—but I was standing in emptiness as if on solid ground. Everywhere I looked there were clusters of stars, entire galaxies.
"I don't think you had any real need to visit this world's Root," a woman's voice sounded, and when I looked, I saw Shiki there, dressed in a white kimono, looking at me fondly.
"Shiki?"
"No, call me Akasha. It will be easier for me to interact with you like this for now."
"I see. So this is the Root? It's quite beautiful here."
"For anyone else, coming here would be equivalent to turning into nothingness. You are an exception."
"I see. So—can you give me the second True Magic?"
"I can," Akasha agreed easily. "But you don't need it."
"What do you mean?" I frowned.
"You want that magic just to travel between worlds, but you can already do that. You just haven't realized it yet." She walked up and tapped me on the forehead, and I suddenly felt enlightenment. Of course, I already have the lineage of the Descended—someone who traveled between worlds using her own powers (I know in Last Encore it turned out the twins had a ship, but I started this fanfic long before that…) and now I could feel it more clearly than ever. All I need is to know where I want to go, and I'll move there, just like a shooting star.
"Now do you understand?"
"Yes, thank you," I nodded. After a moment's hesitation, I added, "Maybe we could settle for the Third Magic, and coordinates for a timeline where the coronation of King Arthur is happening soon, and time flows at about… hang on."
"System, what's the time ratio between the world I'm in and the others?"
[1 to 6]
"One to six, right, so roughly—and to be on the safe side… Yes, I'll need a timeline where time flows fifteen times faster."
"You could just remove the seal," Akasha said, utterly shocking me.
"Shouldn't you, of all people, oppose something like that?"
"What's wrong with returning a bit earlier to a mother's embrace?" she asked curiously.
"Forget it, I'm not touching the seal for now," I replied, slightly nervous.
"Oh? Fine," Akasha said, sounding a bit disappointed, and the next moment I felt a playful flick to my forehead and then lost consciousness.