Chapter 146 "The Great Sea Demon Devours Orario — Let This Wrath Be Delivered Unto the Heavens!"
Port City Meren.
Under the pitch-black night, endless dark clouds covered the sky, as though intending to blot out the stars and swallow every trace of light from the world.
Fishing vessels, which had planned to head out under the cover of night, noticed just before departure that the surface of the sea had begun to swell with an astonishing surge of waves.
A massive tsunami seemed ready to consume the entire world — boundless waves rising from the distant deep sea, roaring toward the land without mercy.
More importantly, from the depths of the ocean, the fishermen saw the shadow of some terrifying giant creature.
Even though its true form remained hidden beneath the water, it still emanated a terrifying pressure — one that felt as though it could swallow everything, the entire world.
"Lord God, what is happening?!"
The familia managing Meren Port — followers of the fishing god Njord — gathered at once, hoping to learn the truth about this terrifying monster from their deity.
However, even Njord, a god of the sea, had no knowledge of this terrifying entity. Not even in his wildest imagination had he conceived that such a monstrosity could suddenly emerge in the world.
The moment he laid eyes on it, he was reminded of one of the disasters that had once swept across the world during the age of the Zeus and Hera familias — the sea's supreme calamity: Leviathan.
That overwhelming existence, so vast it seemed indistinguishable from the ocean itself… only something like Leviathan could compare!
And yet, Leviathan had already been defeated by the combined might of the Zeus and Hera familias.
So then, what was the horrifying shadow now surfacing in the ocean?
What kind of being could summon something on par with a world-ending disaster?!
Amid the chaos, Njord instinctively took action, shouting:
"Everyone! Begin immediate evacuation of Meren Port's citizens!
The faster, the better! And notify the front-line adventurers in Orario — tell them to rush to Meren immediately! If we don't act, the entire world will be destroyed!"
"Yes, sir!"
Though Njord's words may have sounded exaggerated, no one doubted them.
Just seeing the shadow of that monstrous being in the sea filled everyone in Meren with unprecedented fear and pressure.
If that thing really came ashore, the resulting destruction would be unlike anything ever witnessed. This wasn't a joke — it truly could mean the end of the world!
As one of the few genuinely benevolent gods in the world, Njord prioritized the innocent citizens of Meren above all, and immediately initiated an emergency evacuation.
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Meanwhile, on Orario's city wall—
Having sensed the disturbance from the nearby port, adventurers from various familias climbed the walls, using long-range reconnaissance skills and magic to observe the anomalies on the sea's surface.
"What exactly is happening?"
Shakti Varma, captain of the Ganesha Familia, immediately asked the nearby scout.
The scout paused for a moment before finally speaking in a trembling voice:
"The sea… There's a monster in the sea…"
"A monster?"
The vague term confused Shakti and the other adventurers. They didn't understand what kind of "monster" he meant.
Swallowing hard and trying to stay calm, the scout explained slowly:
"There's a monster in the ocean as big as a city… No— even bigger than a city. Its full body is still beneath the surface, but it's about to emerge completely!"
"Are you kidding me?! There's no way such a ridiculous monster could exist!"
Shakti and the others found the report unbelievable and protested.
"Even Leviathan — the sea's ruler, defeated by the Zeus and Hera familias — wasn't that exaggerated! And Leviathan has already been eliminated! There shouldn't be anything like that left in the world!"
Even the scout desperately hoped what he saw wasn't real.
If only his long-range vision spell had malfunctioned...
If only he had made a simple mistake…
If only that thing didn't actually exist…
While clinging to that hope, the scout activated his spell again — but in that very moment, an eerie silence fell over the scene.
Everyone — except the scout — was frozen in place, staring blankly into the distance.
Staring at the edge of the darkness.
"W-What's going on?!"
Frightened by the others' reactions, the scout rushed to activate his magic to check what they were seeing.
But he realized there was no need.
Because above the churning waves of the sea, a colossal form had begun to take shape.
Its size was so massive, it no longer required magic to be seen — even ordinary human eyes could clearly witness its terrifying silhouette.
The darkness cloaked it like a robe. The sea opened a path for it.
And now, the Great Sea Demon had broken free from its underwater prison, exposing itself fully to the world.
"W-What is that…?"
Even Shakti, captain of the Ganesha Familia, stood dumbfounded along with the other adventurers.
None of them had ever imagined that such a terrifying being could exist.
They couldn't even describe what it was.
A dungeon monster? An unknown creature? The embodiment of calamity?
Countless thoughts raced through their minds, but the lack of knowledge — and the monster's sheer grotesqueness — made it impossible to put into words what they were witnessing.
"Sound the alarm! Send out the alert immediately!" Shakti shouted in panic.
"Notify the front-line adventurers in Orario—no, notify all adventurers! Everyone must rush to aid Port Meren immediately!"
"Yes!"
The Ganesha Familia's adventurers sprang into action.
The terror of the Sea Demon left no room for hesitation — every adventurer, filled with dread and anxiety, hurried to act.
But no matter how fast they moved, they could not outpace the monster that had already begun to rise from the sea.
Having emerged from the depths, the Great Sea Demon seemed to relish the fresh air, gleefully waving its massive tentacles as though preparing to indiscriminately destroy everything around it.
However, letting the Sea Demon act freely was never part of Shirou's plan.
That's why, from the very beginning, he had instructed Thanatos, the god of death, to prepare in advance.
At the exact moment of the Sea Demon's birth, Thanatos would use his divine power to interfere with its soul.
Though the creature was unimaginably massive and its spiritual influence was weak, it did possess a soul.
Having spent an entire day and night constructing a powerful barrier, Thanatos was able to imprint a brand directly into the newborn monster's consciousness.
That brand contained only two commands:
Destroy Orario. Topple Babel.
The moment the Sea Demon broke the ocean's surface, the brand was immediately embedded into its mind, becoming the foundation of its thoughts.
BOOM!
Thus, instead of attacking Port Meren — which was right next to it — the Sea Demon whipped its long, flexible tentacles and launched a ferocious strike directly toward Orario!
CRASH!
One of its tentacles, nearly a hundred meters long, swung across the ocean and extended all the way to Orario's main gate. It didn't penetrate the wall completely, but the impact was so immense that it shook the entire city and sent debris flying.
Many adventurers standing on the wall were caught up in the blast.
Shakti, the Ganesha Familia captain, didn't even have time to react — the storm generated by the tentacle strike swept her away in an instant, dealing her severe damage before she could even process what was happening.
A Level 5 adventurer, utterly devastated by a single gust of wind from the monster's attack...
Everyone else could hardly breathe.
What they were witnessing now — was something far worse than even the worst nightmare imaginable.
"Captain!!!"
The adventurers of the Ganesha Familia had to exert all their strength just to rescue the severely injured Shakti from the edge of the nearly-collapsing city wall.
However, the monster in the sea clearly did not intend to stop there.
From all over its massive body, wart-like eyes began to open—countless in number. At this moment, they all opened at once, staring in the direction of Orario, as if evaluating its prey.
Even with Orario's towering city walls for protection, both the adventurers and civilians felt that gaze—a tangible pressure, almost like death incarnate pressing down on their souls.
"What... What the hell is going on?"
"Is this the end of the world?"
"O gods, please save us!!"
In their despair, countless civilians cried out, weeping in horror.
But the gods they prayed to were themselves trembling helplessly atop Babel Tower, unable to make sense of the situation. Powerless. Terrified.
As the chaos deepened, the Sea Demon's influence wasn't just felt by Orario's ordinary citizens.
Even the fierce battle between the Xenos and the adventurers came to a sudden halt.
A war that had been on the verge of exploding—no, one that had already erupted—was now completely frozen by this sudden development.
That massive tentacle stretching from the sea's surface... it was like a black meteor crashing down to end the war.
A dense, bottomless darkness pierced the night sky, and its immeasurable evil swallowed up all other evils. It completely extinguished the spark of war with overwhelming violence.
And as the Sea Demon destroyed everything, delivering annihilation to all living things, high atop Orario, Shirou stood holding the Prelati's Spellbook, which had long since spiraled beyond his control. His face was indifferent, even cold.
Before doing all this, he had already foreseen that this city would become hell.
Before welcoming this night, he had already accepted that justice would leave him behind.
And yet—there was not a shred of hesitation or confusion in him now.
Because he firmly believed...
The true justice he sought still lay ahead on this path.
Even if it needed to be paved with mountains of corpses, he did not think it was wrong.
After all, it was the caprice of the gods that had driven him to this point.
It was the madness of the gods that had pushed everything into this abyss.
Even if Shirou had done nothing, countless innocents would still have suffered.
Even if he had cowered in fear, the war between Xenos and humans would have still ravaged the world.
If destruction and death were inevitable either way...
Then why not be the one to sing this requiem of annihilation himself?
Why not be the one to ignite this stage, letting the flames roar skyward and burn so fiercely that even the arrogant gods would be seared by it?
Just as the chant that activated the Prelati's Spellbook had declared:
"If there is such a thing as true fairness in this world, then that fairness is death."
"If you want to drag the gods down from their thrones, you will need even more death."
Abandoning justice… was to reach true justice.
Shirou did not regret his actions.
He had already resolved that he would walk this path to the bitter end—even if it cost him his life, even if he had to give up everything.
"Burn."
Shirou looked toward the distant image of the Sea Demon on the horizon, as if he could already see that colossal creature sweeping in to annihilate everything.
"Burn this darkness. Burn this false peace. Bring true purification and cleansing to this world. Destroy the arrogance of the gods!"
Among the commands he had instructed Thanatos to implant into the Sea Demon, the most important was:
"Destroy Babel."
As the symbol of the gods.
As the authority the gods held over Genkai.
Shirou could no longer tolerate the tyrannical tower looming over the realm of mortals.
For that reason, he would turn all of Orario into fuel.
He would engulf the city in flames and reduce the divine creation—Babel Tower—to ashes!
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While Shirou carried out all this, Hestia and Hermes finally began to recover from their overwhelming shock.
Neither god had ever imagined Shirou would do something this insane.
They stared at the monstrous being that had swallowed the sea and now threatened to pierce even the heavens.
Their pupils dilated, their bodies overwhelmed with confusion, fear, and despair.
"...Shirou… This was all your doing?"
Hestia looked at the man in front of her, unable to believe her eyes.
"Why would you do this? Why go this far? There must have been another way! There must have been a better way! Why… WHY?!"
Shirou said nothing.
Instead, he turned his gaze to Hermes, and spoke coldly:
"What do you think, Hermes? Are you satisfied with the stage now?"
"Isn't this exactly what you wanted—death and sacrifice, despair and fear spreading across the world?
Then I offer you this deep abyss of despair. I cover the world in this devouring darkness.
If you desired a sky drowned in shadow… I'll give you an eternal night, utterly devoid of light!"
"EMIYA SHIROU… YOU MADMAN!!"
Hermes could no longer contain his rage. He finally snapped, shouting curses.
He had never imagined Shirou would go to such extremes.
To actually summon such a terrifying monster!
A creature so far beyond reason that Hermes' divine authority had become completely useless.
His ability to manipulate hearts and emotions meant nothing to a being without logic, without consciousness, without sanity.
He looked like a clown—a joke—trying to use charm against a force of nature.
His stage was utterly destroyed. His carefully crafted script was torn to shreds, beyond repair.
In truth, when the Sea Demon appeared in the night sky, even the fierce battle between Xenos and adventurers had come to a standstill.
The very concept of the Sea Demon was so far beyond reason that Hermes' divine influence collapsed instantly.
No matter how strong the grudges or how intense the rage… in the face of this doomsday-like despair, in the face of death made manifest, nothing could function.
Hermes' stage had collapsed completely.
His power had failed utterly.
He glared at Shirou bitterly and said:
"Shirou Emiya… Why did you do this? Are you really capable of something like this? No—I don't believe you're that kind of person. I don't believe you'd destroy the world just to rebel against the gods!"
"You're right," Shirou replied calmly. "I didn't do all this just to destroy the world."
"I did it to save it."
"But… in order to save it, I first have to destroy it."
"What?"
Both Hestia and Hermes stared in disbelief, unable to comprehend Shirou's words.
But Shirou had no intention of being understood.
He had already resolved to become the director of this twisted play.
With Hermes' authority now defunct, Shirou would take over the performance—continuing this chaotic drama in his stead.
And to do that, he had created the Sea Demon—the ultimate villain, the embodiment of all-encompassing evil.
But a stage needed more than just a villain.
It needed a hero.
Just like Hermes, Shirou had already chosen the one who would become that fated hero.
He had chosen the girl who must become the savior.
And for that, he would give her trials, and grant her the sacred sword to slay the evil dragon—so that she may save the world.
"Get up, Ais. This is no time for sleeping."
Shirou, through Hawk's Eye, gazed silently at the unconscious golden-haired sword princess lying in a distant alleyway.
Though Ais appeared to have fainted during their previous battle, Shirou knew she wasn't truly unconscious.
She just didn't want to wake up.
She didn't want to face reality.
She couldn't accept Shirou's betrayal.
She couldn't accept the cruel truth of the world.
But Shirou would not allow her to continue running away.
His script had been written. The actors had to take the stage.
No matter how unwilling, no matter how much pain she bore, Shirou would force her to step onto that destined stage and become the hero who saves all.
But of course, before that, he needed to forge the hero's sword.
He had to prepare the weapon for her to step onto the battlefield.
To defeat the Sea Demon—the very embodiment of Armageddon—the only weapon Shirou could think of was:
The Holy Sword of the Heroic Spirit King Arthur.
The true and ultimate sacred sword:
Excalibur — Sword of Promised Victory.
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