"What the hell is this? Alaya, are you trying to pull something again?"
Sanjiro stared in disbelief at the new teaser video.
This couldn't be released now — not yet.
If it went public, both he and humanity were finished.
"Whoa… they're really going straight for that fight? The most terrifying one — against the Demon God, Goetia?" Kirina's eyes widened in excitement, her twin golden ponytails swaying behind her.
Of the Seven Evils of Humanity, Tiamat, Fou, Tamamo-no-Mae, and others had already appeared.
But only one among them truly sought to annihilate mankind—
Goetia, the Demon God.
He once incenerated all of human history, using it as fuel to return to 4.6 billion years ago—the birth of Earth itself—to become the planet's true sovereign, Gaia.
And from the series of "Alaya" videos released before, countless people began to wonder—did he actually succeed in the end?
Was that why Nameless had to pay the ultimate price: to erase his very existence, sever all bonds, and reboot the world itself?
A price beyond cruel.
To fight to the end for humanity, only to be forgotten by every single one of them.
If that was the price he paid, the answer was clear.
The only way to stop the Demon God King was to strike before he could fully merge with Gaia—to destroy him before he became something unkillable.
No—it wasn't victory they were after.
It was mutual destruction.
For once Goetia had fused with Gaia, the planet's consciousness itself, killing him would mean killing the planet.
Gaia was to the world what Alaya was to humanity—a form of collective self-preservation.
And just as Alaya had forged the Sword of the Planet to slay all who threatened Earth, Gaia existed to defend it.
Destroy Gaia, and the planet itself would fall—if not instantly dead, then a hollow corpse of stone, never to bear life again.
Thus, to protect humanity, the Nameless Hero's only choice was—
Even if the world forgot him, to remain in that nameless place, forever fighting that being.
To become not a hero—but the eternal warden of the one he could never kill.
"In the last few leaks, all the other Evils of Humanity survived," Kirina muttered.
"Even the Nine-tailed Fox is now the headmaster of the Academy City. So… what, is Goetia living a normal life in Fuyuki now?"
The room went silent.
Sanjiro didn't answer.
That brat's clairvoyance… it was unlocking more and more.
Soon, she'd see both past and future clearly.
And once that video dropped—Goetia's memories would awaken too.
Damn it, Alaya!
You're humanity's survival instinct — why are you trying to drag everyone into extinction with you!?
What, you expect me to somehow "redeem" the fusion of Goetia and Gaia—the planetary ruler itself!?
"…That might not be impossible," murmured Gilgamesh, frowning.
Even with his clairvoyance, he couldn't see through the girl's aura.
She carried the same divine pressure as a primordial mother goddess—and the same shackles as Chains of Heaven, layered endlessly upon her.
It could only mean one thing—she was that being.
So… what did happen in that final battle?
Shikotei frowned in thought.
"In the side story, the Vanguard was just a cold killing machine. But this one… seems far more human."
Indeed.
The "Star Vanguard" of legend was nothing but a weapon—a machine designed to devour gods, men, and worlds alike.
But the being that awakened on the Moon—that one walked, spoke, felt like a human.
Alaya even gave it a name:
"Star Vanguard – White Titan – Sefar."
So what happened in between?
How did that lifeless weapon become this human-like being… and how did it become Attila the Hun?
The preview video should have ended there.
Even after Nameless—humanity's First-Holy Sword Wielder—vanished from history, the screen didn't fade out.
Instead, a line of text appeared:
[Welcome back! More excitement after the break!]
"…They can put ads in the middle of apocalypse videos now?" Kirina blinked in disbelief.
Alaya was getting cheekier by the day.
It shouldn't even have a personality—it was supposed to be cold and absolute, like the laws of nature itself.
And yet, somehow, Alaya was becoming more human.
Could Gaia be the same?
"Then… the next video," Kirina said, "it's about the Vanguard's transformation?"
On-screen, the Vanguard was finally destroyed.
Its vast body shattered under the holy sword's brilliance.
Then the camera panned—to the dark side of the Moon.
There lay its true body, sleeping in silence.
Lines of narration followed:
[After the White Titan Sefar was defeated, fragments of its shell remained upon Earth.]
[Meanwhile, its true self upon the Moon began to dream.]
[In its dream, it lived as a child born among the Huns in 406 AD… and its name was Attila.]
"Oh, it's really going to be about that!" Kirina's eyes lit up.
Alaya still had cards left to play—it was about to reveal everything.
The "Scourge of God," the King of Huns herself—a mirror to the King of Knights.
The same small figure, the same red cloak, and before her—stood Nameless.
The chat exploded:
FifthTimeGooning[Holy crap—she looks exactly like Artoria!]
GigglesThenShit-[Alaya, you manipulative bastard! You're making him raise her from childhood again!]
MonaLigmaBalls-[It's happening! The Grand Heroine arc begins!]
AspiringWizard-[Bro, he's gonna end up 'recruiting' the apocalypse weapon again, lmao!]
The parallels were too strong.
Once again, a young soul was saved, guided, and trained by Nameless.
====
Around 406 AD—
The Huns, long driven west after their defeat by Han, suffered famine, disease, and civil war.
Amid the chaos, a young girl was surrounded by those who sought her life.
And then—
The Nameless Hero appeared.
With a single gesture, the enemies fell, trembling in fear. But the girl, trembling yet unafraid, reached out and said:
"Teach me to be strong!"
"Oh? And why do you seek strength?" he asked.
"I want to protect my people—my family!"
Her voice was small but unshakable.
"…Very well."
He placed his hand gently atop her head.
[EX Rank – Ultimate Headpat.]
Shikotei's lips twitched.
That same gesture… he'd received it too, long ago.
Just how many heads had his teacher patted?
Under his guidance, the frail girl became unstoppable—from outcast to ruler, from survivor to conqueror.
She rose to become Attila, King of the Huns.
Shikotei watched silently, emotions swirling.
His teacher—his only teacher—had done the same for countless others.
When Attila was ready, she asked softly,
"Master, will you fight beside me?"
"I cannot," Nameless replied. "I was born of your people's old enemy."
"I don't care. Let's rule the world together!"
He smiled faintly and touched her head once more.
"Child, you've grown strong. Now, it's time to fly on your own."
And he vanished before her eyes.
Attila stood still for a long time.
Then her eyes hardened like tempered steel.
"My name is Attila—the King of Combat of the Huns. From this day forth, I shall conquer the world!"
She raised her sword toward the west.
"Teacher, watch me! I will forge an empire greater than yours!"
And so began her march of conquest—the Hunnic armies sweeping from the steppes through all of Eurasia.
She struck Constantinople twice.
She marched into Gaul.
France knelt before her.
And finally—she brought down Rome itself.
An empire stretching from the Aral Sea to the Atlantic, from the Danube to the Baltic.
She had surpassed the Han.
The chat exploded again:
SirFucksAlot-[No wonder they called her the Scourge of God!]
AlayaRiggedThisShit-[Bro, Rome's dead again lmao.]
ConstipatedProcrastinator-[She really conquered half of Europe just to impress her mentor???]
BoobVenerate-[NGL, Nameless is smoother than any fox spirit.]
====
Merry snorted, glancing at Tamamo.
"See? They say he's the real seducer, not you."
Tamamo's tails twitched in outrage.
She was the real nine-tailed fox—and yet here was a mere human, charming kings and conquerors alike.
Artoria, Shikotei, Gilgamesh, now Attila…
All of them had fallen under his spell.
And now, perhaps even the sleeping Vanguard itself—once it saw this memory—would yearn to claim him too.
Merry looked toward the moon.
"The Vanguard does not dream," she murmured. "It cannot. This… is Alaya's doing."
She had pieced together the weapon's fragmented mind, forcing it to live a human life—to become Attila—so that Nameless could reach it.
Because the truth was clear:
That being… was a power beyond humanity's evil.
A force with the right—to destroy the entire planet.
What was even more terrifying—just like the Beasts of Humanity—the stronger civilization became, the greater the power it could wield.
And now, in the 21st century, humanity stood at its peak.
Which meant the enemy before them was no mere threat—it was a battle for the survival of civilization itself.
"Heh… Nameless is mine. No one's taking him away from me."
Tamamo-no-Mae's golden eyes burned with killing intent.
When her nine tails united, when she shed her form and became the golden fox, she would fear no one—not god, not star, not destroyer.
Merry smiled idly at her words.
"Oh? Then all you have to do is defeat the Vanguard. If you can do that, no one will challenge your claim."
"…We'll talk later," Tamamo rolled her eyes.
With her current power, defeating the Vanguard—or the likes of the Emperor and the King of Heroes, both of Grand rank—was out of reach.
The broadcast continued.
The Hunnic King—Attila—had once dominated the world.
Europe trembled beneath her iron hooves.
Nation after nation bowed in fear, sending tribute and soldiers alike.
But no one can escape time.
Even the Conqueror of the World grew old.
The divine power she once wielded as the King of Combat began to fade. And when she once again lay upon her sickbed—Nameless appeared before her once more, smiling gently.
"I'm back, Attila."
Just as before, he looked unchanged—a young man untouched by time. While the woman he once protected in her youth had reached the end of her life.
"It's been so long. You truly are the immortal of legend…"
Her voice carried both awe and sorrow.
In that moment, she finally understood—why he had never cared for her empire or her crown.
Like Shikotei, she had yearned for eternity. But no matter what she achieved, immortality was forever beyond her reach.
Nameless sat beside her bed, placing a cloth she had once woven for him upon her chest. His hand brushed her aged cheek, and he smiled softly.
"Your life has been brilliant, Attila. You've changed the world."
"Yet… time spares no one," she whispered.
Her empire stretched across continents, but she could not remain to protect it forever.
"It's enough. That is what it means to be human—to build, to fall, to pass the torch.Your legend will never fade."
Nameless' smile grew gentler.
"You will live on in humanity's history, your name sung for centuries—no, for millennia."
"Humanity… civilization…"
Light returned to Attila's dim eyes.
And in that instant, she finally understood— what it meant to be human, what it meant to inherit civilization, what it meant to live and die as one.
"You were born human, lived as one, and now, you die as one." Nameless' voice was tender. "You've done more than enough, Attila. I'm proud of you."
"Then… may I ask you to stay with me, until I fall asleep?"
Her hand reached for his.
"Sleep. I'll be here with you."
Nameless remained by her side, watching her drift into slumber—into an eternal dream that would never fade.
She died—as a human.
But then—she lived again.
She awoke once more, not as a woman, but as the Vanguard—a weapon of destruction reborn.
Yet that fleeting human life had changed her.
From a cold, lifeless war engine, she had become something more—a being with a trace of humanity.
And with that, the video ended.
…
Gilgamesh frowned.
"So it's the same as when we faced Tiamat… another battle for humanity's survival."
The Vanguard had lived once as a human—that much was certain.
A scheme, no doubt, by Alaya and Nameless himself, an attempt to turn her into a protector of mankind.
But the truth remained—her core was still a weapon built to erase civilizations. She would not be swayed so easily.
"The final battle is here," Sanjiro sighed quietly.
He would have loved to reach her heart without fighting, but to turn a soulless engine of destruction into something that could feel had already taken everything he and Alaya could give.
To make her a true guardian of humanity—she had to be defeated first.
"Sanjiro, shall we begin?"
The time for humanity's last stand had come. As the Emperor, he would face it head-on.
Sanjiro nodded.
"Let's go."
Kirina blinked in confusion.
"Eh? Where are you guys going? With the Vanguard invading, you're heading out?"
"Just some business," Sanjiro said, patting her head gently. "Stay inside. It'll be safer."
She pouted, but relented.
"Okay, fine. Go do your hero thing."
She watched the three depart, thinking:
Well, a triangle's the most stable shape, after all.
Once they were gone, Sanjiro turned to Shikotei.
"Try showing her the video first. Maybe it'll reach her."
It was worth a try.
That human life—the life of Attila—had been short, far too short. A few decades of emotion could hardly outweigh millennia of cold logic.
After all, like the Lion King before her, she was no longer truly human.
"Very well," Shikotei said. "We shall attempt it."
The orbital Great Wall had been built to stop the Vanguard.
Now that the enemy had arrived, its true test had come.
====
Above Earth's atmosphere, the Vanguard descended.
She was beautiful, almost divine, her silver hair cascading like a frozen waterfall, her crimson eyes devoid of warmth.
Colder—even than the Lion King herself.
That one had sought to preserve humanity in her own twisted way.
The Vanguard, however, sought only to erase it.
Shikotei redirected the fortress's power, turning its cannons into an enormous display visible across the world.
Then, he began to broadcast the video—the final moments of Attila's human life.
High above, the Vanguard halted for a moment.
Her gaze fixed upon the glowing images before her.
Every living being on Earth held its breath, praying that her heart might remember—that the human she once was might awaken.
But her voice, cold and absolute, shattered that fragile hope.
"I am the end of all things. Your civilization is my sustenance. Abandon your futile struggle."
She raised her sword—the Sword of the War God—and unleashed a beam of prismatic light that split the sky.
The Great Wall's cannons, capable of matching nuclear fire, crumbled before that single swing.
The radiant arc of color—a rainbow of annihilation—cut through space and hope alike.
The fortress fell.
And with it, humanity's last illusion of peace.
The broadcast had failed.
Nameless stepped into the wreckage, his figure illuminated by fire and starlight.
He raised his shining blade and pointed it at the descending destroyer.
"Then so be it. If you cannot remember what it means to be human—I'll make you remember…by defeating you myself."