The pain of being shattered made Vortigern lose her ability to think for a moment.
But even though she quickly recovered, what was happening right now still made her feel like she was dreaming.
What happened?
Why was she receiving a backlash?
No, that wasn't the point, the point was...
"The second time..."
Stabilizing her body, and letting it recover quickly, Vortigern wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, staring at Naoki who was bathed in white platinum light in the distance: "It's the second time, Holy Sword Bearer—how many times do you have to fight desperately before you can truly die, huh? Are you a cockroach? Disgusting!"
"Can't be helped. I'm just like this. I won't think about death before finishing what I want to do." Naoki laughed. "However, this time is truly the last, I guarantee it. It's just that, the one who dies won't be me, but you."
"How dare you say that!"
A swarm of insects exploded into a storm behind Vortigern, propelling her instantly in front of Naoki like a pair of pitch-black wings. A pure black insect scythe slashed at his neck rapidly!
*CLANG!*
Just as the scythe blade was about to touch Naoki's body, the Holy Sword precisely blocked the connection between the scythe blade and its hilt. Then he swung his arm powerfully, as if to clear something stuck to his hand, directly throwing Vortigern along with her scythe away!
At the same time—
*ZING!*
Light gathered in the Holy Sword, like a burning flame, almost stretching behind Naoki to form a large ribbon of light!
"Haaah!"
Accompanied by an angry shout, the Holy Sword slashed fiercely. The prepared light immediately streamed out! A brilliant torrent of light rushed directly at Vortigern! Illuminating her entire world!
(His Mana is back to its initial level?)
Vortigern raised her eyebrows, letting the swarm of insects transform back into a giant python, biting at the encroaching light.
(But what do I care? Even if he returns to his original state, the result is clear. I will obediently swallow him—)
*BANG!*
An explosion cut short Vortigern's thoughts.
In her eyes, her swarm of insects, which had always been able to swallow any strong light, this time were extraordinarily directly destroyed by the Holy Sword's light!?
*BAM!*
The light slash struck Vortigern hard!
In an instant, intense pain, as if burned by scorching flames, spread throughout Vortigern's body!
"Waaahhhhhh!"
Completely unable to control herself, Vortigern screamed and wailed loudly.
"It hurts...! It hurts so much...! What is this...! Why can't I swallow it?!"
No way.
She apparently couldn't swallow the light anymore... How could something like this happen?
Approaching Vortigern with his sword, Naoki laughed: "If you could still swallow it, I'd be the one with a headache. If even destroying the Holy Grail couldn't defeat you, then I really could only wait to die."
"You just... said what?" Vortigern, with severe burns all over her body from the Holy Sword's light, widened her eyes in disbelief.
Destroying the Holy Grail?
Which Holy Grail?
"Of course the Holy Grail inside your body. Didn't you feel it? Or is it because six thousand years of togetherness made you completely accustomed to the Holy Grail's existence, so you couldn't react immediately when it suddenly disappeared?"
"—!"
Vortigern hastily focused her mind to sense the situation inside her body—and what answered her was emptiness.
The Holy Grail that had always been inside her body, was now completely gone without a trace!?
"You—what did you do!?" Vortigern stared at Naoki in horror.
"Didn't do anything... This was an accident for me too. After all, who would have thought, after everything I had was completely swallowed by you, my consciousness could still revive inside your body."
Consciousness!?
(S-so, he kept...)
"Kept damaging the Holy Grail inside my body?"
"Correct. It's just that, what was a little troublesome was that the power swallowed from you wasn't enough to destroy that Holy Grail. A little external help was needed." Naoki touched his chest. "Fortunately, even though my consciousness left my body, I could still fight. The Mana transformed from life burning, was fully conveyed to me through your swallowing."
Vortigern's eyes widened even further.
(So, this person's suicide attack earlier was actually...)
She hadn't realized it at all—and that was only natural. Who would realize something like this?! In fact, who would even think something like this existed?!
"Alright, with this all your doubts are answered. Can you leave peacefully now?"
As Naoki's words fell, the Holy Sword swung again. This time what erupted was a pillar of light like a fountain! Vortigern, who was at a very close range, couldn't dodge at all! She was once again thrown far away by the impact of that pillar of light!
After tumbling several times in the air and getting back on her feet, Vortigern took several deep breaths: "Haaah...! Huh!? Is that all? I thought you had become so much stronger! The Holy Sword's output hasn't changed at all from before! Do you think you can kill me with just this? Holy Sword Bearer!"
"Fool."
Instantly shifting behind Vortigern, Naoki looked at her coldly.
"That wasn't the Holy Sword's light at all. At most, it was just light shot from the Holy Sword. The essence of it was merely Mana Burst. You can't even distinguish that?"
"...."
Vortigern's expression froze.
Just Mana Burst?
But its power was clearly the same as the Holy Sword's light she had absorbed before!
(He became stronger... No, is it because he regained more than one part of his strength? Besides the part I swallowed initially, the Mana transformed from his life burning, he also got back!)
In terms of pure Mana quantity, the current Naoki was double his original state.
*BOOM!*
The Holy Sword emitted a dazzling light. Naoki took a deep breath, raising the Holy Sword high. Golden flames burst into the sky like a volcanic eruption. Mana like a storm exploded from all over Naoki's body, gathering in the Holy Sword.
[Now this is a Holy Sword attack]
Naoki's gaze seemed to convey this sentence.
Then—
"—Excalibur."
Release of True Name.
Although no seals were released, the current power alone was enough. After all, the current Vortigern had lost that terrifying swallowing ability. Neither the Holy Sword's light nor Naoki's Mana light, she could no longer swallow them.
Therefore, a single attack like this was more than enough.
*RUMBLE!*
A beam of light piercing the stars exploded within the pitch-black Naraku!
As if tearing through the dark space, it drew a long and deep trail of light!