The Holy City of Camelot.
Within the tower occupied by the Lion King, at the very heart of the solemn, cold stone city walls.
"...My King. Tristan and Mordred have been defeated in succession within the span of fewer than ten minutes. An unforeseen variable may have appeared at that location."
In the slightly dim grand hall illuminated only by candlelight, Agravain bowed deeply toward the elegant figure seated upon the throne ahead.
The Lion King, or rather, Rhongomyniad, heard his words and looked forward. Her gaze pierced through the stone walls, crossing an unfathomable distance, before she spoke slowly:
"The Master of the Observatory from another world has arrived. As a warrior, his decisiveness is truly impeccable."
"A Master? He is merely a human, is he not?! How could a modern human possibly eliminate two Knights of the Round Table in such a short amount of time..."
Agravain's eyes widened, his face plastered with sheer disbelief.
The Lion King fell silent. A fleeting trace of confusion crossed her divine, yellow-green eyes.
As a Divine Spirit possessing the exact same vision as Goetia—namely, [Clairvoyance (EX)]—she had actually peered into Takumi's future a very long time ago.
—An ordinary future, one where not a single sliver of hope to save the world could be seen.
That was precisely why she had made her current decision without a moment of hesitation.
But what she could see now was entirely different. When she attempted to observe Takumi with [Clairvoyance], a faint yet profoundly mysterious flame actively interfered with her. It dyed her entire field of vision the color of fire, obscuring Takumi's silhouette and making it impossible for her to see him clearly, no matter how hard she tried.
The future had become blurred and unreadable.
The Lion King shook her head, dismissing the thought. The future merely becoming unreadable did not mean hope had been rekindled. Her work still had to continue.
"I do not know. But if you knights are to engage him in combat, it will take at least two of you to barely stall him, and three to fight him to a draw."
He's actually that strong?!
Agravain's heart lurched, and his gaze grew even graver.
"My King, I beseech you to hand down the true Holy Judgment and summon the Tower at the Ends of the World to this place!"
After a brief moment of rapid mental calculation, Agravain dropped to one knee and delivered his counsel.
A Master of this caliber was no longer a normal Master; they had to strike him down with absolute, overwhelming force!
"...Go and prepare. The Holy Judgment will officially commence tonight."
The Lion King remained silent for a moment before speaking slowly.
"Yes, My King!"
Agravain responded swiftly. He stood up and turned to leave, his movements both seamless and rushed.
It seemed he was genuinely anxious.
***
"Yawn~"
Takumi let out a wide yawn. Having chatted for so long, even he was reaching his limit. After all, he hadn't had a proper night's sleep in several days.
Thinking about all the various tasks waiting for him tomorrow, Takumi stood up from the ground, stretched lazily, and smiled:
"...Let's end the chat here for now. Tonight, I really need to get a good..."
Before he could even finish his sentence, Takumi suddenly spaced out. His eyes instantly sharpened into a grave stare, and his brow furrowed deeply.
"What's wrong?"
Bedivere also stood up. Seeing Takumi suddenly adopt an expression as if facing a mortal enemy, his own face grew serious.
"I have an incredibly ominous premonition..."
[Revelation] had activated. But this time, it wasn't the old man kicking him. It was something closer to a sixth sense. If it weren't, it wouldn't just be a sudden, suffocating palpitation in his chest—detailed images would be appearing in his mind.
"An illusion?"
Unable to fully grasp the situation, Bedivere guessed.
"Impossible. At the level I'm at now, I don't get illusions!"
Takumi shook his head, bluntly shutting down Bedivere's theory.
He possessed absolute confidence in his own mind and body. Under the protection of the [Heart of Fire], "illusions" were simply not an option.
"Looks like I won't be sleeping tonight after all. We need to hurry to Old Man King Hassan's mausoleum right now!"
After pondering for a grand total of two seconds, Takumi completely abandoned thinking altogether. He summoned his flag, grabbed Bedivere's arm, and prepared to move out.
He completely ignored Bedivere's bewildered expression.
Takumi's gaze grew even more solemn, laced with a trace of urgency. His brow remained locked in a tight frown, refusing to smooth out.
"First, we go to King Hassan's place to take care of some business. After that, we head straight for the Holy City of Camelot. This time, I reckon it'll just be the two of us..."
With his head lowered, Takumi rapidly mentally mapped out their subsequent itinerary, his pace quickening with every step.
Being dragged along, Bedivere couldn't help but reach out and poke Takumi in the back.
"Time is incredibly tight. We have to seize every single second. Once we let Cursed Arm know, we'll use the cover of night to..."
Takumi kept talking, simultaneously turning back to look at Bedivere in confusion.
But Bedivere just covered his eyes and awkwardly pointed forward.
Forward?
What's forward?
Takumi turned his head to look straight ahead.
A bone-chilling aura that seemed to pierce straight to the marrow washed over his face. Only then did Takumi realize a figure clad in heavy armor, wearing a skull mask, and leaning on a massive greatsword was standing directly in their path.
King Hassan. The First Generation "Old Man of the Mountain."
While his attire and equipment certainly didn't look like they belonged to an Assassin, the sheer fact that Takumi hadn't detected his approach at all (even if Takumi was distracted in thought) was proof enough that the man was an exceptionally qualified Assassin.
Takumi froze. He actually came straight to my door?
The towering, imposing figure of King Hassan stood before them, both hands resting on the pommel of his greatsword. A dark, freezing aura condensed into a fog-like substance around him, slowly drifting outward.
He looked exactly like a Reaper who had just crawled out from the depths of Hell.
"O Descender of the Observatory. Thou needst not seek; We have manifested before thee."
Ignoring their reactions, a ghostly blue light flared within the eye sockets of King Hassan's mask as he spoke slowly.
"We were meant to slumber within the Mausoleum of Azrael, to lay forth the trial of resolve for thee and thine. Yet the End of the World draws near. Guided by the mandate of Heaven, We have come to this place."
"Thy time grows short..."
"Are you saying the Lion King has already begun to make her move?"
Hearing King Hassan's words and comparing them to Takumi's sudden premonition, Bedivere couldn't help but ask nervously.
With the assistance of Merlin, a being akin to a living omniscient encyclopedia, Bedivere was naturally aware of King Hassan's existence.
King Hassan merely looked at him without speaking—or rather, he had already spoken.
"Aside from revealing destiny unto thee, We have come for but one final matter."
As he spoke, King Hassan shifted his gaze onto Takumi.
Thy time... one matter...?
Does that mean King Hassan has no intention of helping us?
Fully grasping the urgency of the situation, Bedivere—who was now panicking even more than Takumi—thought exactly this. Just as he opened his mouth to ask, Takumi reached out and stopped him, shaking his head while looking into Bedivere's eyes.
"This is our battle. It is our mission and our responsibility. The Old Man might be able to help us today, but could he help us again tomorrow?"
"No one can rely on others to help them forever."
Saying this, Takumi turned to face King Hassan.
A flicker of profound appreciation gleamed within King Hassan's hollow eye sockets.
"Thy resolve needs no further proof. Yet, if thou wishest to reach the victory thy heart yearns for, there remains one necessary key. Wilt thou reach out and seize it?"
King Hassan lifted the greatsword he had been leaning on, letting it carve a lethal, chilling arc through the air.
"Of course. That's exactly what I came to you for."
Without a shred of fear, Takumi stared directly into King Hassan's abyssal "eyes" and took two steady steps forward.
The ability to impose the concept of mortality upon immortal beings, the power to sever contracts with gods, the power to shatter divine blessings... This was exactly what Takumi wanted most on this journey! And it was the absolute prerequisite needed to swing the fatal blade against Goetia!
"However, he who seeks to command [Death] must first intimately comprehend Death itself. For a human, such a method places thee upon the absolute precipice of annihilation—a ten-deaths, zero-survival gambit. A single misstep, and thou shalt truly plummet into the abyss of Death."
"Even so, dost thou harbor no thoughts of retreat?"
King Hassan stared intensely into Takumi's eyes, seemingly trying to read the depths of his soul.
As King Hassan's state shifted, within mere seconds, a layer of dark, suffocating clouds blanketed the sky, entirely blotting out the bright moonlight and the massive rings of light above. The three of them were plunged into an abyss of profound darkness. They couldn't see the horizon, nor could they see their surroundings; only the faint, eerie glow radiating from the three of them remained.
Behind King Hassan, it felt as if the gates to the Underworld had been thrown wide open. A freezing aura of absolute death poured out, washing aggressively over Takumi.
DONG~!
A long, echoing toll of a bell rang out simultaneously. The moment that bizarre, solemn sound reverberated, it felt as if their very souls trembled, as if they would be ripped from their bodies in the very next second.
[The Evening Bell (EX)]!
Standing behind Takumi and only catching the residual shockwaves, Bedivere felt his hands and feet turn to ice. A violent cold sweat erupted across his back, and his body began to tremble involuntarily.
This was the instinctual, primal terror any living creature felt when confronted with absolute Death.
Looking at King Hassan in this state, Bedivere had absolutely no doubt that if the figure standing in front of him still showed no intention of turning back, the Assassin would decisively swing the sword that delivered Death.
Bedivere didn't doubt that for a single second.
If merely being grazed by the residual aura felt like this, the crushing pressure Takumi—who was facing [Death] head-on—must be enduring was unimaginable...
Thinking of this, Bedivere couldn't help but cast a worried glance at Takumi.
And then, Bedivere froze.
He thought he would see Takumi struggling frantically against the sheer weight of [Death]. Instead, he saw—
Fire.
He saw flames.
The fire drove back the darkness and ignited the aura of death. Takumi stepped forward, leaving behind footprints laced with scattered sparks. There wasn't a single trace of fear on his face; in fact, he wore a smile that looked almost like relief.
"To be honest, until I got here, I was constantly worried I didn't have the aptitude to learn [Death]. But since you're saying this to me, doesn't that mean I really do have the aptitude for it?"
His fiercely burning fiery pupils stared straight into [Death]. The brilliant light and vibrant colors practically sparkled in the oppressive darkness, making it impossible to look away.
"...Speak thy choice. Thou hast no room left to turn back."
King Hassan silently dispelled the dark clouds shrouding the sky before speaking slowly.
"To defeat him, mastering [Death] is an absolute necessity. I will never sink beneath the tides of Death..."
Takumi planted his flag into the ground. He slowly opened his arms wide, looking at King Hassan completely defenseless.
"So—bring it on..."
SWISH!
Before Takumi even finished speaking, a perfectly straight streak of sword light flashed abruptly. King Hassan had already swung his greatsword, delivering a vertical, splitting slash from the top of Takumi's head straight down to his feet.
Bedivere, standing nearby, was completely stunned.
The moment the sword fell, Takumi's movements completely froze. His facial expression locked into place, and the flames on his body and within his pupils abruptly dimmed.
No physical wound appeared on Takumi's body, yet the concept of [Death] had undeniably been imposed upon him.
Having completed the strike, King Hassan rested his sword upon the ground once more, waiting in complete silence.
***
The world fell eerily silent. Time felt like a stretched thread, every single second infinitely magnified.
His body no longer responded to his will. It felt like plummeting into a bottomless abyss, yet simultaneously like a soft feather gently drifting onto the surface of a placid lake. A profound sense of powerlessness washed over him.
His consciousness began to drift. His thoughts flickered erratically like a candle flame caught in the wind. Flashes of memories darted past his mind's eye; moments he thought he had long forgotten suddenly became startlingly, painfully clear...
A campfire. Being carried on a young girl's back. Dancing with an Emperor. Plummeting from high in the sky...
Fragment after fragment of memory flashed rapidly, then blurred. Their colors bled away, leaving only faint, ghostly outlines before finally sinking into an endless expanse of darkness. The primal terror of Death followed closely behind—
Can I break free from "Death"?
"—Who the hell do you think I am?! My predestined time of "Death" has not yet arrived! I don't care what kind of "Death" this is, I'll tear right through it and show you!"
Within the chaotic, primordial darkness, a flame ignited at what felt like the absolute end of all things. Takumi let out a silent roar, reached out his hand across the endless void, and seized it tightly.
In an instant, the flame spread as if igniting dry kindling. Driven by the expanding fire, the world regained its light and reclaimed its colors...
***
Watching the aura of life radiating from Takumi plummet rapidly—nearing absolute zero in mere seconds—and the flames on his body extinguish completely, losing the searing brilliance they possessed at the start, Bedivere inevitably began to panic.
King Hassan was not someone who made jokes. The sheer, lethal peril of this trial was naturally beyond what any ordinary person could fathom. Bedivere had every right to panic.
Especially seeing Takumi's body slowly lose all tension, looking as if he were about to collapse at any moment, Bedivere instinctively moved to lunge forward and catch him.
But it was exactly at that moment.
The nearly extinguished flame suddenly erupted back to life with violent intensity. The aura of life surged back in in a rush, luster returned to his eyes, and strength flooded back into his muscles—
Takumi had
"Come back to life."
Skill Upgrade: [Tiger, Burning Bright (A+)] → [Tiger, Burning Bright (A++)]
[My predestined time of "Death" has not yet arrived, therefore I shall not die!] Grants Immunity to Instant-Death. —If one truly wished to survive having their heart crushed just like Rama, with enough effort, it seems it is entirely possible.
Skill Alteration: [True Eye of the Mind (B)] → [True Mystic Eyes of Death Perception (B)]
As the wielder of the [Heart of Fire], [True Eye of the Mind] has naturally evolved into a literal "Eye of the Mind." By gazing through the heart, you can now perceive "Death." —Perhaps you can even "see" it without opening your eyes. Retains all capabilities of the original skill.
Skill Acquired: [Chorus of the Twilight Bells (A)]
[That is the "Dusk" and "Dawn" carved into the heart.] A skill anchored and derived from listening to the "Evening Bell" while aligning with Takumi's Reality Marble. Every simultaneous chime of the bells increases the power of the next strike by 1.3 times. The bells can chime simultaneously up to a maximum of seven times.