Chapter 281: The End That Answers
The blast from the destroyed human order observation device was stopped by the shield.
Dust and smoke surged toward them like a tidal wave.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Ritsuka coughed hard, her face twisted in discomfort, yet the red haired girl still did not retreat. She stood shoulder to shoulder with Mashu, unmoving.
She was the Master.
Even if she was only an ordinary person.
She was still Chaldea's last Master.
Still Mashu's senpai.
"I will always stand with you!"
Master and Servant stood at the very front.
Da Vinci tilted her head. Even with disaster right in front of them, she still could not help sighing in admiration.
"Youth really is a wonderful thing."
Only Romani's face remained grim.
Only King Solomon could sense it.
This was a true crisis, utterly different from the ones before.
"Hmph... ugly, pitiful humans. And even now you still wish to struggle to the bitter end?"
A breath.
Then a deep voice echoed through the haze.
The dust and smoke were swept away at once.
And what appeared beyond them was no longer Chaldea's central control room.
It was a magnificent hall.
Ivory stairs stretched upward toward a palace.
And beyond the palace lay a boundless Sea of Stars.
"The Seventy Two Halls... symbols of Solomon's Seventy Two Demon Gods, perhaps?"
Da Vinci's eyes swept across the sight before her, and understanding dawned immediately.
At this moment, they stood at the lowest point of those seventy two palaces, at the beginning of the ivory staircase that linked them all together.
If they looked up, they could see the highest and furthest palace. A pure white floor extended forward, overlaid with a crimson carpet embroidered in gold. And at the very end, upon a towering throne, sat a tall figure gazing down at them.
It was a stare that crossed time and space.
Even from that impossible distance, Ritsuka and Mashu felt it at once.
"Solomon..."
Ritsuka and Mashu both grew solemn in an instant.
"So this time, instead of us seeking him out, he invaded Chaldea himself?"
Da Vinci let out a slow breath.
That was right.
Until now, every Singularity had been resolved by traveling to another era.
That had always been an attack initiated by Chaldea.
But this time, the one calling himself King Solomon had enveloped Chaldea itself with his own domain and swallowed them whole.
This was not something they had been prepared for.
Even so...
"Then let us settle everything here!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka drew in a breath and spoke with full confidence.
No matter what stood before her, she would not retreat.
Not now.
Not ever.
"Foolish humans, you still dream of one final struggle?"
The tall figure on the throne curled his lips into a cold smile.
At almost the same moment, the seventy two pure white halls scattered across the Sea of Stars all manifested colossal shadows.
Those were the forms of the Demon Gods.
The outlines of the pillars that supported the foundation of modern magecraft, appearing as towering columns rooted atop each palace.
They stood entrenched upon the halls, blocking the path ahead of Ritsuka and Mashu.
"Once I devour Chaldea, the last remnant of this world, then all of you shall finally meet your end."
To devour Chaldea.
To consume the last pure land left in the world.
That was the true aim of the Demon God King.
Mere humans were not worth his personal attention. The last Master and Servant of humanity were not worth such a display.
Only Chaldeas, that singular existence capable of traversing time and interfering with past, present, and future alike, was important enough to force him into action.
He had to be stopped.
"Da Vinci chan, Doctor, we move now!"
Ritsuka shouted.
Da Vinci and Romani hesitated for the briefest moment, but both knew that there was no other path.
"Ritsuka, Mashu, I am counting on you."
Da Vinci spoke in a low, solemn voice.
Romani said nothing. His expression remained heavy, and his silence carried thought, hesitation, and worry all at once.
"Mhm. Do not worry, Da Vinci chan, Roman Doctor."
Ritsuka grinned.
"I am the last Master of human order. Do not underestimate me."
"Let's go, Mashu!"
"Yes, Senpai!"
This advance was different from all the others.
This time, they were not in some fixed era.
Not inside a Singularity where history had been twisted.
Not inside a world tainted by the Great Old Ones.
They stood instead inside the veil of the one responsible for the Incineration of Humanity.
They faced the seventy two Demon God Pillars.
And yet, for all the differences, there was still one thing that remained the same.
Servants were summoned automatically.
First came a streak of light descending from above.
Then one figure after another emerged from within that brilliance.
At every palace.
Before every Demon God Pillar.
At every gleam of starlight and every burst of radiance, one could see figures shining with unbending resolve.
"Last Master who saves human order, continue forward!"
It was the Saint of France, her fleur de lis banner raised high.
Her voice rang through the wind, sacred and clear, guiding the heroes onward.
"I am Jeanne d'Arc. Hear me, heroes of every age. Wield your valor here. Fight to protect this world."
At the Saint's side stood the black Witch.
Her dragon banner fluttered wildly, and with it came Fafnir, the evil dragon of the Sea of Stars, along with countless Anti Heroes aligned with Chaos and Evil.
Dragon slayers.
Rebels.
Kings.
Saints.
Queens.
And yet among them, the most dazzling was not any one who held a blade.
It was the figure moving forward through countless palaces.
The one carrying the hope of salvation.
The girl finally stepped onto the highest and furthest hall.
Magnificent pillars held up the vast dome overhead. A flawless ivory floor spread beneath her feet, softened by the rich carpet underfoot. The one seated upon the uppermost throne looked down in cold silence with golden eyes.
His gaze passed over the seventy two halls where the Demon Gods stood entrenched. He watched the battle between Servants and Demon Gods unfold across them all.
The Seventy Two Demon Gods were not weak.
Each possessed power on the level of a god, enough to stand against multiple top tier Heroic Spirits at once.
But now they faced not a handful, but an unending tide of Servants. Even their terrible immortality could not endure forever beneath such relentless assault.
As time passed, their domain of activity shrank.
Their immortality cracked beneath ceaseless impacts and was cut apart by the sharp edges of countless hero blades.
The heroes followed behind Ritsuka, behind the last Master of Chaldea, ascending from every direction toward the throne itself.
Now.
"It is time for the final battle, Solomon. No, you are not Solomon at all, are you?"
The red haired girl stood before the throne, her short hair fluttering in the wind, crimson eyes shining.
"Does it matter?"
The figure upon the throne remained seated, utterly indifferent.
He withdrew his gaze from the heroes steadily approaching from every side and still wore only disdain.
"Whether I am King Solomon or not changes nothing. It will not change you, and it will not change humanity's final fate."
"Last Master of human order, last savior of humanity, I acknowledge your strength."
"But you are not enough."
"You are not my opponents."
Even alone upon the throne, Goetia remained calm.
At almost the same moment, a sharp crack split the air.
"Clarent!"
A sword of blazing light arrived first, burning with wrath.
The one wielding it wore heavy armor. Golden hair streamed wildly behind her. It was Mordred, the rebellious knight born of King Arthur's blood.
The sword in her hand was a supreme demonic blade, its magical energy boiling like molten fire.
After Mordred came an endless rain of Noble Phantasms.
True Names were released one after another. Magic surged and bloomed across the dome of the palace like a meteor shower cast down from the highest heavens.
That was the brilliance of countless heroes.
The proof of their glory.
The crystallization of all their deeds.
And then... it vanished.
Before reaching the throne.
The instant it neared the Demon God King, every sword of light, every torrent of magical energy, every testament to heroic glory disappeared as if erased by its own hand.
Blocked?
"No."
The Saint of France, banner held high, saw through it at once. A revelation from the Lord let her perceive the root of that strange phenomenon.
"The power of Servants itself has been denied."
The existence of a Servant did not originally belong to the present world.
They were manifestations summoned here through mystery.
Their power was the same.
And now that summoning itself had been denied.
Anti Summoning, EX.
That was the Authority of one of the Evils of Humanity, the Beast of Pity.
"I told you already. Your power is useless."
The one upon the throne slowly lifted a hand. Each of his long slender fingers bore a ring.
"So called heroes. So called glory. In the end they are only insubstantial things."
"Humans are a fragile, pitiful, sinful race. Your very existence is the greatest filth."
"But I shall still grant you a final use."
"I will burn human order itself. I will rewind the world. I will reach the beginning, where stars were first born. I will become a celestial body and create a perfect world without sin and without death."
"Rejoice. And look up."
"I am not King Solomon."
"I am the perfect king who surpasses King Solomon."
"I am the Demon God King, Goetia."
A tremendous pressure spread from the throne.
The figure seated there shed its human appearance and revealed its true form within that deep resonant declaration.
It was a towering thing, terrifying and majestic at once.
Its face was beastlike and hideous. Rootlike horns rose from its head. Its chest was a rigid silver white shell. Its outstretched arms were vast as stone and shone with golden patterns like scales.
This was the true shape of the aggregate of the Seventy Two Demon Gods.
Goetia.
The great Evil of Humanity.
The Beast of Pity, formed from seventy two kinds of evil.
"So... it really was not Solomon."
Ritsuka let out a slow breath.
She had felt this for a long time already. Even without knowing Solomon, even without ever understanding what he ought to be, some instinct deep inside her had always rejected the idea that the mastermind of the Incineration of Humanity could truly be him.
Now that instinct had proven true.
But the crisis before them had not lessened in the slightest.
Goetia rose slowly from the throne, and at the same time light blossomed across the dome overhead.
It was a ring of radiance encircling the sky, wrapping the planet itself in immeasurable brilliance.
An endless halo woven from hundreds of millions of minute beams, each individually carrying enough force to destroy a city.
Taken together, it was power enough to pierce a star.
That was the energy Goetia had gathered through the Incineration of Humanity.
The vast light belt was built from the burning of all eras.
"Be honored. You are about to become part of my crown."
Goetia spread his arms.
Mordred gritted her teeth.
The heroes all tightened their grips on their Noble Phantasms.
However unwilling they were to admit it, none of them alone could overcome this Demon God King.
The belt of light across the sky still offered some small hope of resistance.
But Anti Summoning was enough to force the Servants themselves into helplessness.
After all, before one could fight, one had to be able to manifest.
And if even manifestation was denied, battle itself could not begin.
"No. That is wrong."
Ritsuka looked up at Goetia's monstrous form and the descending brilliance from the sky, then suddenly shook her head.
The red haired girl drew in a breath, and in that instant seemed to understand something.
"The Beast of Pity. An Evil of Humanity."
"If that is what you are, then the ones who stand against you should never have been heroes."
Should not be heroes?
Then what should they be?
For a moment, every Servant froze.
Only Goetia looked down at Ritsuka as though, for the first time, he were truly seeing her.
Seeing the last Master of human order.
"Mashu, help me."
"Yes, Senpai."
Mashu did not know what Ritsuka intended.
But her trust in Ritsuka was almost absolute.
So in that instant, Ritsuka seized Mashu's hand.
And Mashu raised her shield.
"Imaginary Noble Phantasm. Lord Chaldeas."
The clear sound rang out again, but this time what manifested was not the same power Mashu had shown before, when she called forth the chalk walls of Camelot.
This was something earlier.
Something more fundamental.
A shield that could protect only a single person.
A barrier that could shelter only one direction.
And yet at the same time, it was also a landscape desired by the human heart.
Ritsuka held Mashu's hand tightly, and what bloomed from that act was Ritsuka's own wish.
The landscape of Camelot appeared suddenly before Mordred's eyes.
She saw farmers walking through the fields of Britain.
She saw ordinary people hurrying about their lives.
The landscape of France appeared before Jeanne d'Arc.
France's peasants, soldiers, citizens, merchants.
Every hero saw the age they belonged to.
Every hero saw the era they had once lived for.
And in Ritsuka's heart, what appeared was not the heroes.
It was the people of those eras.
Goetia raised his head.
The descending light belt from above trembled, then showed the first signs of collapse from within.
That tremendous energy had originally been born from the incineration of all those eras.
Now Ritsuka had allowed the heroes to establish a direct connection with the ages themselves.
In effect, the Servants had become connected to the light belt itself.
Its collapse from within was only natural.
"Then your Anti Summoning means nothing."
Ritsuka smiled.
"Goetia."
The heroes answered.
They smiled.
They raised their blades.
They advanced again.
This time Goetia let out a long breath.
Failure.
Ever since Rowe appeared, he had never truly intended to succeed.
What remained until now had only been performance.
And yet now, just like Ritsuka, he finally understood what Rowe had wanted all along.
Heroes and the People were not separate.
The People raised the heroes on their shoulders.
The People were the foundation of the world itself.
The Beast of Pity no longer pitied humanity.
And so the Demon God King could no longer remain only the Beast of Pity.
He was already walking toward another answer.
Toward the Human King who understood what humanity truly was.
Fujimaru Ritsuka was a savior.
And yet the true savior was not only her.
It was everyone.
"This... is the battle to protect the world."
Across from the Temple of Time, atop a floating mass of megaliths, Rowe looked down at the brilliance that had begun to spread and smiled.
"Do you see it now, Romani Archaman? No... Solomon."
"Humanity never needed you to die for them."
At his side, Romani scratched at his hair with a bitter smile.
Yes.
They had not needed it.
Solomon, who had once intended to sacrifice himself in order to break Goetia's Anti Summoning and the light belt above, had to admit it now.
He had underestimated Ritsuka.
And more than that, he had underestimated humanity itself.
Could they really go this far?
Could the very people who were so often overlooked truly make up for the mistake he had once made?
"This was never your fault."
Rowe glanced at him.
"You are not Solomon."
"You are Romani Archaman, chief physician of Chaldea. Nothing more."
Romani froze.
Yes.
He was not Solomon.
He was Romani Archaman.
An ordinary human.
A shut in who liked strawberry shortcake, live streams, and gal games.
"But even so..."
Romani waved a hand weakly.
"I still do not regret the choices I made before."
He did not regret dying as a man.
He did not regret spending his life in thought for humanity.
He did not regret exchanging a lifetime of perfect rationality for the stability of the world.
King Solomon had never regretted any of the choices of his life.
Not even after being rebuked once by the Lord.
That was simply what Solomon was.
Of course, what Romani did not know was that even if Rowe had not stopped him from confronting Goetia, he would never actually have died.
This was a timeline where Romani Archaman did not die.
So his final fate would only have been union with Goetia, ending him by using his authority as the original Solomon, and becoming the rational Saint King once more.
And after that, the world would have faced death.
"But that is not you."
"And you will never become King Solomon again."
Romani waved a hand again.
"When you get back, I will treat you to strawberry shortcake."
"Not going to invite me to play your games too?"
"Uh... no, let us absolutely not do that."
Romani fled immediately.
Next.
"I suppose it is time for me to finish what I came here to do."
Rowe smiled faintly and withdrew his gaze.
His eyes grew deep, as though an endless vortex of chaos were reflected within them.
That was the outermost manifestation of All Null.
All Null, the outermost expression of the Root.
At this moment, Rowe had once again touched the highest layer of the Throne.
Because this world, like the Origin Universe before it, had now completed a measure of sublimation.
Every hero had established a close connection with the era that gave birth to them, and with the People of that era.
Every Servant had drawn power from those People.
The myriad ordinary mortals had become like a great river holding the Servants high above them.
And since the world itself was intimately linked to the Servants, the world too had now touched the uppermost layer of the Throne.
A circle had closed.
The beginning and the end now met.
This was a path utterly different from the Origin Universe.
And yet the potential it contained was the same.
The potential for total sublimation.
Its name was The End.
And what it represented was the far shore of the line, the point opposite the Origin.
And now, at last, the advantage of fixing the Singularities with the Great Old Ones as nails truly revealed itself.
"With the sevenfold traces of the Great Old Ones nailed into the seven Singularities as camouflage..."
"The Evil Gods of the ultimate abyss will never discover what I am doing."