Chapter 222: Devil's Bodhisattva of Pleasure
MoonCell.
The official name is Mooncell Automaton.
It is the oldest mysterious object in the Solar System.
Since the birth of Earth, it has always observed and recorded all living beings, ecosystems, history, and even souls on Earth.
And now—it, the almighty wish-granting machine capable of fully realizing any human "desire," is operating at overload to fulfill someone's wish.
Ethan stepped onto the stairs formed from cherry blossom petals, walking through the door created by Andersen's Noble Phantasm.
A white light flashed across his eyes—before Ethan appeared a simple, rustic temple courtyard.
People. People. People. People...
People dressed in all kinds of different clothing, with different faces and ages.
Countless people were kneeling in prayer, devoutly reaching their hands forward. But on all their faces was the same expression—that was...
Pleasure.
Clearly, they had received nothing. Clearly, there was nothing ahead they could grasp. Yet, they still yearned—yearned for pleasure.
From the depths of their souls, they begged to experience joy and ecstasy.
"Senpai…"
Mash, standing next to Ethan, felt uneasy. She immediately raised her shield in front of him on alert.
Moments later, those people began to be drawn in by something, madly surging toward the center.
Their lust was like a flood, rushing violently toward the center.
A deep black hole appeared at the center, directly sucking all the people into it?!
Those who were drawn in all smiled unconsciously, with no trace of fear on their faces—only smiles full of pleasure.
Pink lotus flowers bloomed all around. Though it was clearly a scene of evil, it was accompanied by a radiant glow rich with Buddhist aura?!
Right after that, a graceful figure slowly emerged from within the black hole.
Her Buddhist nun robes had long been discarded, leaving only a white coat that evoked boundless desire.
On her body, compassion and lust could be seen blending into one.
Beneath the white veil still covering her head, a pair of red-black beastly horns protruded.
"Be careful, the existence before you has completely become a 'Beast.' Even though it hasn't reached its perfect form yet, it must not be underestimated!!!"
The warning voice of Doctor Romani rang out through the communication bracelet.
"Based on confirmed magical wave patterns—the opponent is Beast III／Rapture!!!"
"Oh my, to think I'd appear in this form… must be the fairy tale writer's little trick, isn't it?"
Sesshouin Kiara looked at her own limbs, a smile of deep affection appearing on her face.
"To even go so far as to have those two AIs create this prison… they must've exhausted all their strength, haven't they? What a futile act—yet it's so pitiful."
"You really want to become a Beast again that badly?"
Ethan frowned, questioning her.
"Ohohoho~~~"
Upon hearing Ethan's question, Sesshouin Kiara burst into laughter.
"I have always loved humanity. Only by doing so can I continue to love. After all, a Buddha holding hands with others is a mistake in itself. Only in this form can humanity truly understand the essence of pleasure~"
"..."
Ethan understood clearly—the woman before him, just as she said—truly loved humanity.
But the "humanity" in her eyes… was only a single person—that was herself.
The Sesshouin Kiara of this world had long disappeared. Just as planned before, only by defeating the Beast III in front of them could they repair this singularity.
"Everyone!!!"
Ethan gave the order without hesitation.
"Prepare for battle!!!"
BOOOOM————————!!!!!
The first to launch an attack was Mordred—who had long been unable to restrain herself.
Her full-body armor was wrapped in crimson lightning, charging at Sesshouin Kiara like a red shooting star!!!
"Strike first to win!!!"
The sword Clarent in Mordred's hand traced a slash, slicing straight toward Sesshouin Kiara!!!
CRACK——————!!!
But in the very next moment, the Clarent was suddenly caught by a pale white hand that appeared out of nowhere.
Around Sesshouin Kiara, countless white arms abruptly sprouted, as if they were manifestations of the worshippers who had been absorbed into her body.
"ORA!!!"
Martha rushed in from behind, throwing a storm of punches that struck directly at Sesshouin Kiara's weak points.
"Fufu~, how adorable."
Sesshouin Kiara had no intention of dodging at all, but the wills of those worshippers were continuously being materialized, desperately defending the woman who had led them into the hell of ecstasy.
"WHAM WHAM————————!!!"
Even though Martha's fists carried the force of wind, capable of smashing through solid rock, when they struck those moaning souls full of pleasure, she couldn't help but frown.
"Get the hell out of my way————————!!!"
With an arrogant shout, black hellfire suddenly erupted from the ground!
The scorching hellfire immediately incinerated the worshipper souls. They twisted in agony amidst the flames, but until every drop of soul energy was drained, the hellfire showed no sign of stopping.
"Hmph, if you love being surrounded by bastards about to go to hell so much, then go ahead and burn with them in hell!"
From a distance, Jeanne Alter held the cursed flag of the Evil Dragon in one hand, while maintaining her sword-swinging stance with the other.
This time, it was finally her area of expertise.
Watching the hellfire consume even Sesshouin Kiara, she let out a triumphant smile.
But her expression quickly changed.
"AAAAA——————!!!"
The souls burned by the hellfire not only didn't decrease—instead, more and more souls began crawling out from the void behind Sesshouin Kiara.
They greedily absorbed the flames, fighting over them even as they were reduced to ash.
As if bearing the hellfire in Sesshouin Kiara's place was their ultimate pleasure.
"What truly lovable creatures."
Sesshouin Kiara gazed at the souls taking the flames for her with a compassionate look.
"All of you only need to endlessly pursue pleasure. Humanity needs only pleasure. If so, the path to salvation will reveal itself at the very end…"
Moments later, the flames around Sesshouin Kiara were completely extinguished by those crazed souls.
"You... are truly disgusting…"
Jeanne Alter scowled at the scene unfolding before her.
"Sympathy!!!"
Mordred gathered magical energy into Clarent in one breath. Taking advantage of the opening, she launched an attack!
"Fufu, though I don't wish to hurt you, if doing so allows you to feel pleasure, then I shall accept everything… in my own way."
With a soft laugh, Sesshouin Kiara's figure suddenly vanished at incredible speed.
In the very next second, she was hoisted into the air by a pair of enormous hands, as countless more arms began appearing behind her.
"I want to use the pleasure of even more people as my stepping stone. I want to become the vessel of even more people. Yes, there's no need to speak—so long as I become the symbol of faith for mankind, that is enough."
In the sky, an unimaginable surge of magical energy began erupting around Sesshouin Kiara.
"Everyone get ready to withstand the magical shockwave!!!"
Doctor Romani's warning rang out from the communication bracelet.
"Noble Phantasm! Lord Chaldeas!!!"
Mash instantly activated her Noble Phantasm to shield everyone.
"It's useless, the opponent's magical energy has already surpassed Third Planetary Class! A shockwave of this magnitude—ordinary Servants can barely endure it!!!"
"Even so, I still have to protect everyone!!!"
Mash gritted her teeth, pouring all of her magical energy into enhancing the strength of her Noble Phantasm.
"I will assist as well!"
Johanna raised the silver Holy Cross in her hand and began chanting the sacred verses.
"If you think this is punishment, it is; If you think this is redemption, it is."
"It is for you to interpret, while the holy word extracts the truth."
"Legendum Pāpa Thronus!"
Glorious Throne and its mirage simultaneously manifested, forming a silver Holy Land beneath Johanna's feet.
"Fufufu, let me use this hair, these fingers, and these lips to solemnly welcome you. Welcome to the land of pleasure."
The arms symbolizing lust relentlessly reached out toward everyone on the scene!
The silver shield continuously resisted the terrifying shockwaves erupting from the void!
On the faces of both Mash and Johanna, exhaustion and strain gradually became evident.
Ethan immediately shouted in his heart:
'System! Now that Beast III has appeared, I want to use points to temporarily summon a Grand Servant!'
At this moment, he had more than enough points to carry out a temporary summoning of a Grand Servant.
[Beep beep… Existence of Human Evil confirmed.]
[Detected among Host's current Servants: a Heroic Spirit eligible to become a Grand Candidate!]
[Rider——Noah.]
[Beep beep, special notice!]
[Consuming 500,000 points will temporarily restore Grand Saint Graph to Rider——Noah! In addition, the next Grand Servant summoning will cost half the usual points.]
[Do you wish to consume livestream points now to enhance Rider——Noah into a Grand?]
At a time like this, it still tried to pull a "buy one get the second half off" stunt?!
There was no time to think. Ethan immediately accepted the system's offer.
'Confirm!!!'
[Consuming points, initiating enhancement...]
[Enhancement complete!!!]
With the system's confirmation sound, a brilliant light burst forth from within their ranks!!!
"——————?!"
Before everyone's eyes, Noah—dressed in a military uniform—suddenly radiated golden brilliance!
In the next moment, he once again returned to his radiant Grand form, clad in a splendid ceremonial outfit.
He looked at his body in surprise, then immediately understood something and turned to Ethan, who stood beside him.
"Thank you, Master. Thanks to you, I now have the power to protect everyone."
Ethan gave a slight nod to Noah.
At the same time, Sesshouin Kiara, hovering above, also sensed this tremendous surge of magical energy.
Within MoonCell—where she supposedly had near-total control—there should have been no way for such a powerful magical source to exist.
She herself was a "Beast," an invincible entity.
And yet now, the magical energy emanating from Noah was on par with her own?!
"A Grand Servant?!"
For the first time, a hint of doubt appeared on Sesshouin Kiara's face.
Even though the MoonCell's data had already familiarized her with the concept of "Grand Servants" that the Human Order could summon…
In the end, MoonCell wasn't Earth—it was a quantum computer known as MoonCell.
Even if the Human Order wanted to stop her, it couldn't intervene directly.
The only ones capable of stopping her were the AIs responsible for managing the system.
Why, then, had such a being appeared here?!
When Sesshouin Kiara saw Ethan, it was as if she suddenly understood something.
"So that's how it is… This is why that AI risked everything to send you before me, huh? Fufufu… so this is what they mean by karma, isn't it?"
Once again, her face displayed a rapturous expression.
This kind of experience—being regarded as the enemy of the world—was something she had never felt before.
If she could destroy the final Master of humanity in this world, then surely that would be the ultimate pleasure!!!
"Ah, but I've already decided—every living being, whether sentient or not, will all be mine. All life… shall be used by me!!!"
Behind her, the lotus-like arms continued to spread, suppressing the entire area on this side.
"Everyone, sorry to keep you waiting!!!"
Noah stepped forward, shouting toward Sesshouin Kiara:
"I am the ancestor of humanity who survived the great flood, the heir of Utnapishtim—the oldest surviving being! For the future of mankind, I shall share the light of Zohar with everyone!!!"
The gem on the necklace at Noah's chest began to emit a radiant, gentle glow, spreading out in all directions!
That brilliant aura, symbolizing the pure heart of humanity, reflected into the souls of every Servant present!
Gradually, it began to push back the assault behind Sesshouin Kiara.
"To think Noah's Saint Graph would undergo such a massive transformation!"
Seeing the situation start to stabilize, Doctor Romani also let out a temporary sigh of relief.
"But how can a regular Rider Saint Graph directly evolve into a Grand?"
"Romani, this isn't the time for that!"
Da Vinci's tense voice echoed from the communication bracelet.
"The enemy's magical energy is still increasing!!!"
"What————————?!"
As they spoke, Sesshouin Kiara's form began to continuously expand—so much so that it exceeded even the spatial limits of the entire area!
And with her humming chant, a massive crack began to form within her body!
"Great enlightenment and deliverance are mine to give at the touch of a finger. You will come into me, Sesshouin.— A celestial paradise, a warm maw to consume all things~"
"I shall embrace all life to grant my wish. The prismatic tranquility of the deity of pleasure in search of nirvana surrounds all."
"Now, return to the lotus flower's blossom."
"Amitābha Amidala Heaven's Hole!!!"