"Holy Land... It cannot be, no, surely not..."
(Could it be that the [First Hassan] foresaw the mandate of the Mage... No, surely not, no...)
[Whoa, what a sandstorm! Everyone—! Are you there—!? Did we get separated—!? —Hm?]
[A Skeletal Silhouette]
[—Hm, hmm...?]
(My... imagination...?)
[...What is that? The sound of a bell, it won't stop... is my ear ringing?]
"It is sand."
The Hero King voiced his impression.
"It is sand, indeed."
The King of Knights muttered without deep emotion.
"Umu, a baptism of scorching sand to obstruct intruders and hostiles! Truly a deed befitting a Pharaoh!"
The Sun King laughed delightfully.
—Sandstorm...! I can't see anything—!!
Yes, sand. Covering everything in front of their eyes: sand, sand, sand...
A storm with a will. A sandstorm that rises to cause harm. What awaited the party after finishing the Rayshift was a tyranny of scorching sand so fierce that they could not see even a few steps ahead—
『That is Egyptian territory, guided and summoned by Pharaoh Ozymandias. That sandstorm seems to be a deed of the Pharaoh, set up to turn people away.』
Roman... Solomon immediately saw through the situation and informed the party.
"I see. To involve even the common folk in a summoning. You seem to understand the manners and reasoning of a King, Sun King."
The Hero King laughed with amusement. The sandstorm... no. Faced with his majesty that would never be shaken by the outside world, Ea felt a sense of reliability.
(Evacuate into the Treasury! Evacuate!)
With a hop, Fou jumped into a golden ripple.
—Ouch! First, we have to do something about this, or exploration will be out of the question...!
『Ritsuka! Mash! Are you okay!?』
Olga Marie's voice flew out. Since she had cast a voice amplification spell on her vocal cords, her voice reached them without issue.
[I'm okay. Mash too...]
Covering herself with wings of mud, Ritsuka repelled the sand.
"Seeeenpaaaai—!! Are you okay—!! Please answer me—!! Senpaaaai—!!"
Seeing Mash shouting while swinging her shield around wildly, whoosh whoosh, Ritsuka gave a thumbs-up.
[...I'm okay!]
『Thank goodness...』
Olga Marie sighed in relief.
[Here Mash, it's warm~]
She pulled Mash close with her tail, cuddling up so they wouldn't be separated.
"Ah! Senpai!"
"Hmph. Is this the Pharaoh Magic of Nitocris? Its efficacy is splendid, but I must deduct points for failing to detect my descent upon this place and immediately deactivating it."
Thinking nothing of the sandstorm, Ozymandias sang out coolly.
For Ozymandias, the Pharaoh of Pharaohs, dust covering the area is equivalent to a gentle breeze.
"Is it a trial, I wonder? Something like, 'If you wish to come to me, show your power,' in the manner of a Pharaoh."
The King of Knights was equally composed. She granted her cloak to Ritsuka and Mash and placed her hand on the Holy Sword.
"Not necessarily impossible!! That interpretation would also preserve Nitocris's dignity! Accept it as a 'Trial'! It would be well to scatter it from the front and make known the authority of the Pharaoh!!"
[Then, um! I propose to the three Kings!]
Deeply bowing, Ritsuka made a plea.
[Please do something about this sandstoooorm—!!]
"Accepted."
She immediately drew Excalibur, converted magical energy, and whipped up a gale.
"Quick work, Artoria. Brute force is just what you desired, I take it?"
"There are many things in this world that cannot be helped by individual ability. That is exactly why things that can be solved by power should be solved immediately."
To the King of Knights' royal majesty, he responded with a light snort.
"Ea, it would be irritating to fall behind. Let us also send a fitting greeting to the Pharaoh."
—Are you sure, My King! Uh, I have selected a cloth to drape over your naked upper body, but!
"Well done! And not that! Enki! Bring Enki!"
—The Sword of the End!? At this timing...!?
"What, it is a preparation for the coming 'Judgment.' It is a problem child that boasts of being grumpy upon waking, taking seven days to display its true worth. I must slap some sense into it here!"
—Understood! Immediately!
At the King's words, she immediately selected Enki and had the King equip it on his left hand in its bow form.
"—Fury of the Storm, answer my royal command."
A silver gale blew away the surrounding dunes and dust all at once. Unleashing a tyranny that would send a normal person flying far into the sky if they were not a Servant, it roared like a growling dragon.
"Fire seated in the heavens, flame of destruction. Await the command of the True King, and shine at the ends of the star. The Tide that sweeps the earth clean in seven days; the Door of the Great End shall be opened."
Answering the King's words, golden arrows—seven gigantic arrows—flew to the height of satellite orbit, far beyond the sky. The sand in their trajectory was completely blown away, and blue sky peeked through the holes pierced in the seven heavens.
"Strike Air (Hammer of the Wind King)!"
From a lower stance, she swung the Holy Sword up in a single breath, immediately slamming the gathered wind against the entire area.
The mass of storm that clashed and heightened scattered the sandstorm and the Pharaoh's royal majesty. The swirling tornado engulfed and incorporated the surrounding dust, becoming a tornado extending to the distant heavens and sweeping over the Pharaoh's territory.
"Senpai! Behind me!!"
[Of course!]
In addition to the shield Mash deployed, she deployed the Shield of Achilles, changed from the gauntlets on both hands, creating a completely dust-proof posture.
The wind pressure and shock blew away the entire field of vision without leaving anything behind, mercilessly blowing away all creation in the vicinity with ferocious momentum.
"—This should be enough."
By the time she slowly lowered the Holy Sword, the sandstorm that had covered heaven and earth had vanished without a trace.
"—To hinder the radiance of my star. Truly an eyesore."
In the sky, a mysterious blue sky spread out, with a band of light and seven shining stars twinkling.
By the hands of the two Kings, the sandstorm that guarded the desert was blown away without leaving a trace.
"Fuha! Hahahahaha!! Good! Those who call themselves Kings! You must accomplish at least this much! Truly amusing! Exhilarating!"
Pharaoh Ozymandias laughed loudly. In the desert now devoid of dust and malice, he shone alongside the sun in the sky.
—No, the malice has not yet disappeared.
What visited next was a tremor of the earth, and a roar.
『Divine Beast reaction heading your way... Divine Beasts!?』
Roman's scream, having lost his composure, echoed.
『This reaction is—Sphinxes! Sphinx reactions transmitted in Egyptian lore are confirmed in the dozens!!』
Just as Olga Marie said, the Kings confirmed that beasts with human faces walking on four legs were forming a pack and rushing towards them from right in front of their eyes.
"Hm, come to think of it, I left them to roam free. I had forgotten."
『Don't forget!? What are you going to do!? Are you going to run!?』
"—Ridiculous!!!"
He immediately grabbed his royal scepter and swung it up.
"The Golden One crowned the heavens with stars! The King of Knights manifested a storm! Then I need only become the Sun and demonstrate my authority!!"
He slammed the bottom of the staff down, and what manifested was the 'Solar Ship of the Dark Night, Mesektet,' where the Sun King himself entrusts his body. And—
"To turn your blades against the Sun despite being life granted by the Sun's authority! You insolent fragments of my authority! I shall show you the valor of a true Pharaoh—!"
A tremor, majesty, divine might, authority, and colossal size far surpassing the Sphinxes before their eyes. Slicing through space-time, the King Species leading all Sphinxes appeared. The Cosmo Sphinx, boasting a total length of 25 meters, its body composed of the galaxy.
Its True Name—
"I grant you death by despair!! 'Sphinx Wehem-Mesut'! Show true magnificence to these specks of dust!! My Solar Ship! Sweep away every single scrap of this rabble, all living things!! Nefertari! My authority and divine might, I dedicate it all to you!!"
He gave the command. —The Sun became merciless scorching heat, burning away the living things standing in its way.
Golden beams were fired from the main cannons, secondary cannons, and all armaments equipped on the Solar Ship, slicing, piercing, burning, and swallowing the flying Sphinxes in explosions. The sight of them falling as balls of flame was like insects.
Galactic beams were irradiated from the faceless face of Sphinx Wehem-Mesut. Exposed to the light of death that slammed the dark matter of the universe against them, the Sphinxes on the ground were swallowed by darkness.
『Th-This is—the power of the Kings...!』
[Amaaazing...]
—Kings really are incredible creatures...! Amazing!
"—Yes! And they are supremely reliable! The fact that these three are all on our side—!"
Those who gazed upon the King's authority expressed their praise and admiration without hiding it.
"Boring! Weak, weak!! For rabble that cannot even sink a single fang into me to call themselves guardian beasts of the scorching sand is laughable in the extreme! No—I suppose the difference in species cannot be overturned! Was I too cruel! Fuha, fuhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"
"It would make a good competitor for the Lamassu under my protection. Fuhaha! This is how Divine Beasts should be!!"
The Hero King and Sun King laughed in high spirits.
"With this, the path is secured. The reaction is to the west, right? Doctor."
Helping Ritsuka and Mash up, she pointed with the Holy Sword.
"Now, let us go. Our battle, our journey, begins from here."
[Yeah!]
"Yes! Artoria-san!"
Just as the three Kings indicated three different paths, it happened.
"Hohohoho! Such a fierce and beautiful guidepost, it was splendid! Honestly, I can't stop trembling, but as a Pharaoh, I am inspired! A good woman does not let personal feelings interfere with work! Yes!"
Beauty and grace, and intelligent loud laughter echoed in the desert.
"Who is it!?"
"—Hmph, come to think of it, I summoned a diplomat."
Ozymandias laughed amusedly and looked at her.
"Hello! Jewel-like Kings! And Humanity's Last Master! Servant! Concubine is, well, truly not someone worthy of naming herself! But as courtesy! Enduring the awe, I shall introduce myself!"
Leather and hot pants, long dark green hair. A peerlessly beautiful woman scattering wisdom and intelligence, physically shining dazzlingly, bowed deeply in greeting.
"Concubine is Cleopatra VII Philopator! Summoned by Pharaoh Ozymandias in the Assassin class, as the one in charge of diplomacy! Acknowledging your valor and authority, I invite you to the temple of Pharaoh! Ozymandias—eeeeeeeeeh!? Phar-Pharaoh Ozymandias is here too—!?"
"An acquaintance? Sun King."
"It is Pharaoh, Golden One."
"A pilot guide. That helps."
While the Kings looked on suspiciously, Ea and Ritsuka noticed something strange.
—Huh?
What the woman naming herself Cleopatra was holding in her arms was...
[Nito-chan!?]
It was Nitocris, sleeping soundly, suya suya—
"Eeeei! What kind of mess is this operation to abduct the Pharaoh under the cover of a sandstorm! Stars are flying, storms are swallowed by storms, and sunlight is flying everywhere! And to be beaten back by a ridiculously shining Assassin woman!! When did this place become the end of the century!"
"Never mind that, let's retreat! We'll get caught up in it!!"
"Gunununu...! I will never forget that shining Assassin...! Or rather, what kind of joke is a shining Assassin!!"
"...That wind..."
"...Could it be, no way... surely not—"
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