The swirling, intersecting hot winds dispersed the cool moonlight. Tens of thousands of warriors' hearts, yearning for battle, crossed time and space at the call of destiny, eroding reality and transforming Ryuudou Temple into a desert plain swept by scorching storms.
Immediately after, steeds bearing Heroic Spirits—those who existed only in myths—galloped toward the stage of their final confrontation.
"Saver, this King shall not fall to you a third time."
Gilgamesh stepped forward, golden ripples spreading like waves that stirred the very fabric of time and space. Within the [Ionioi Hetairoi], they surged with unstoppable might.
Then came the perfect fusion of two treasures that surpassed the limits of existence.
Tens of thousands of heroes were fully armed within the golden light, the Reality Marble stabilized completely, and the invincible army that could oppose the Vipralopa Domain once again took form.
The brilliance of [Veil of Light and Shadow] was obscured, and the overwhelming might that could subdue a nation was sealed away by the entity known as the [World].
Then, under a majestic war chant—
—[Creation of Heaven and Earth: God-Slaying Army] cleaved through chaos and once again manifested in the world.
For Satsuki, this was the second time she had witnessed the awe-inspiring majesty of the "God-Slaying Army." Though she was no longer surprised, now understanding the profound meaning embodied by Iskandar's ultimate Noble Phantasm—the very manifestation of his royal path—her heart held a quiet admiration.
The glittering cavalry, once bound by their eternal bond with the King of Conquerors, transcended even the divide between life and death.
Their battlefield had been elevated to eternity. They no longer required a physical stage—whenever their King raised his banner of conquest, his loyal subjects would follow him to the ends of the earth.
That was the glory of being with their King.
That was the blood-stirring joy born of fighting side by side.
"The enemy is Māra, the Demon King of the Three Thousand Worlds! To face him upon our road of conquest is without regret! Warriors, show the gods of heaven and earth the might of our dominion!"
"OHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
With Iskandar's thunderous roar, the army's collective cry echoed across the battlefield.
The immense host filled Satsuki's vision, stretching across the horizon. At the desert's end, spiraling whirlwinds of magic and sand merged into towering tornadoes.
The deafening battle cry seemed to tear open the skies, and the thunderous hooves of thousands could crush the very earth beneath them.
Before the army even advanced, heaven and earth themselves surged toward Satsuki, driven by the will of the Heroic Spirits.
Since their last battle, the army's coordination and power had grown even stronger. They now drew not only from their own mana but also from the boundless reserves supplied by the [Gate of Babylon].
This was a force that could never exist in history—a divine army even the gods themselves must avoid.
Rider let out a mighty roar, leading the charge. The cavalry answered in kind. Even the King of Knights raised her voice, releasing the Barrier of the Wind King, her body wrapped in radiant golden light as she joined the overwhelming chorus.
"AAAALaLaLaLaie!!"
Then came the golden ripples of the [Gate of Babylon], flooding the world with shimmering brilliance.
Heaven and earth alike—how many could stand alone and face this unmatched divine army without flinching?
"This… this is what a true battle worthy of kings should be!"
Watching the vast, ocean-like army, a faint smile curved across Satsuki's lips.
Her golden eyes gleamed with delight as she faced the sight before her. This was a sensation only the strongest across the heavens could understand—one that transcended all reason.
From within her body, a gray radiance spread outward once more. The [Vipralopa Domain] tore through space and time, descending again upon the world.
The scorching desert split in two.
At the border of the division lay that familiar gray wasteland the Three Kings knew all too well.
Even though the army's combined might, mixed with the force of heaven and earth, could destroy cities and nations in an instant—
Before the desolate land of Vipralopa, a realm of extinction, their magical constructs could not stir even the faintest ripple.
Come then, ancient heroes. Show me the extent of your power.
The gaze that fell upon them conveyed that message clearly, even without words—and all three kings understood.
It was time to fight with all their might.
"Archer!"
The King of Knights' voice rang out, carried by the roaring winds of the Wind King's Barrier.
But the King of Heroes was already prepared.
Bathed in golden light, his stance was as unshakable as a mountain peak. The power radiating from him could split heaven and earth—a worthy testament to the oldest of kings.
His crimson eyes burned as they fixed upon his sole adversary. The earth-shattering surge of mana roared around him without restraint.
The light illuminating the entire battlefield came not only from the sun, but also from the radiant brilliance of his Noble Phantasm born of spiritual sublimation—[Omniscient and Omnipotent Star].
"All movements, all sequences match perfectly with [Omniscient and Omnipotent Star]'s prediction. In that case…"
In the King of Heroes' hand, the uniquely shaped spiral sword—Ea—had long been drawn from the [Gate of Babylon].
Its three cylindrical sections intertwined like chains, slowly rotating and interlocking as they extended outward.
Each cylindrical layer moved in harmony with the celestial spheres, grinding and rotating against one another with force and weight equal to tectonic upheaval. The resulting surge of mana was beyond imagination.
"Watch closely, Demon King Māra. Now I shall show you the true essence of humanity…"
Gilgamesh raised his arm high above his head. The Sword of Rupture began to spin faster and faster, each revolution accelerating beyond the last.
The immense crimson mana whirled around him, the spiral blade in his hand reaching its utmost limit.
Even the system within Satsuki's mind witnessed the scene and couldn't help but comment, "Damn, this guy really doesn't hold back, huh? Opening with the ultimate move right from the start?"
But Satsuki didn't interfere with her opponent's Noble Phantasm activation. She simply watched with interest.
"To recite the beginning—when heaven and earth were divided, even the void rejoiced in creation—"
"With my Sword of Rupture, I shall rend the world apart—"
"The millstone of the stars turns! Before us lies the end that precedes creation itself—"
"With the sacrifice before me, let all be appeased!!"
"Enuma Elish—The Star of Creation That Split Heaven and Earth!"
Rumble—!!!
A thunderous roar, like a meteor crashing upon the earth, reverberated across the world.
The heavens trembled beneath the surge of mana. The ground shattered beneath the overwhelming laws of power.
Archer brought his sword down—its target, the vast expanse of Satsuki's [Vipralopa Domain].
There was no need to aim. The blade of Ea did not simply strike at an "enemy."
The unleashed torrent of mana carried with it the very principles that split the cosmos itself.
The force of creation surged outward—this was the true nature of the King of Heroes' anti-world Noble Phantasm, proof of one who called himself a being beyond.
Everything—tangible or intangible, form or void—crumbled before this peerless might. The sky fell, the earth split.
All returned to nothingness. Amid the endless gray, only Archer's Ea shone brilliantly.
Its radiance was the light of the Star of Creation, heralding the end of annihilation and the dawn of a new world.
Even the King of Knights, wielding the holy sword with its [Thirteen Seals Released], felt a faint sorrow upon witnessing this sight of heaven and earth being torn asunder once again.
Her holy sword could cleave stars in two—but the King of Heroes' sword could rend the very fabric of the world.
Nothing could stop such an attack. Nothing could resist the ultimate truth of heaven and earth.
For this was the law decreed by Alaya itself—a commandment even beings beyond the boundary must obey.
Cracks appeared upon the surface of the gray [Vipralopa Domain], and the vast realm of desire finally began to collapse.
Yet, contrary to what they expected, something unforeseen occurred.
From within the disintegrating gray field, waves of black light began to radiate outward.
The collapsing [Vipralopa Domain] was replaced by this dark radiance, expanding outward in concentric layers.
The once-dominant [Creation of Heaven and Earth: God-Slaying Army] immediately began to falter, forced into retreat by the growing tide.
At that moment, the Three Kings felt it—a presence so dreadful that it made all beings tremble.
Before their very eyes, it revealed its true form without restraint.
—It was an enormous black mandala.
The first to react was, of course, the King of Heroes, blessed with his [Omniscient and Omnipotent Star]. Yet even he could not immediately discern what that enormous black mandala before him truly was.
"A Noble Phantasm? Or perhaps Māra's inherent ability?"
But the situation allowed no time for hesitation. The world that housed the King of Conquerors' [Creation of Heaven and Earth: God-Slaying Army] was being swallowed whole by waves of black light. The vast army, facing such a cataclysm, could only retreat in disarray.
"Do not panic! Do not panic! The center ranks, spread to both flanks! Forward cavalry, fall back!"
The King of Conquerors swiftly issued orders through his mystical bond with his soldiers.
But it was too late. The entire world, wrapped in that black radiance, began to crumble and vanish.
The colossal rotating mandala was vast enough to rival an entire world, radiating endless black light—a tangible embodiment of 'Annihilation'. Everything it touched was erased into void.
Only one person could possibly block such an anti-world assault.
The King of Knights of Britain—Saber, crowned with the diadem of the stars—mounted a winged construct pegasus, a Noble Phantasm she had found within the King of Heroes' treasury.
"Hyahhh!"
With her natural Riding skill at least at Rank B (perhaps even A), she handled this mythical creature effortlessly.
[Invisible Air: Barrier of the Wind King] was fully released, forming a spiraling vortex around the pegasus—like a white comet slicing through the heavens, streaking straight toward the forefront of the battlefield.
As that radiant path, resembling a comet's trail toward the moon, blazed across the sky, the massive mandala unleashed volleys of annihilating light in Saber's direction.
Yet with the abundant mana supplied by her Master, Saber now stood at a level far beyond what she once was.
Her [Instinct]—an ability of Rank A—already granted her the capacity to sense and predict the immediate future, allowing her to find the path to survival even in the direst situations.
But now, that ability had been elevated further—to Rank EX. Ineffective futures were excluded from her perception entirely, meaning that virtually any attack that could threaten her would be calculated and evaded before it even happened.
With such a power, the path Saber walked was the path of victory itself. Wherever her sword pointed—that was where victory awaited.
It was a vision befitting a solitary, peerless king. A glory earned through twelve battles fought without defeat.
Its name was—The Radiant Road!
So long as she tread that path, no existence could bar her advance, no attack could reach her.
With such ability, avoiding the endless rays of annihilation was mere child's play. Yet Saber's charge was not one of offense.
At the vanguard of the army, the King of Knights blazed like a star. A surge of tremendous mana flowed from her body into the heavens, merging with the world itself.
"There are no walls here, no citadel of the holy city…
"This is the land of creation, where civilization has yet to be born…
"O Demon Buddha who lurk within chaos, bear witness to the resolve of our will—'Avalon, the Everdistant Utopia!'"
Her Noble Phantasm's invocation resounded through heaven and earth, shaking the entire world.
—Then, before the countless black rays, her Noble Phantasm fully unfolded.
What she released was a radiant, golden enamel-like substance—the peerless sheath of the holy sword.
Forged by a mystery beyond comprehension, the sheath enveloped the entirety of the [Creation of Heaven and Earth: God-Slaying Army]'s world, reflecting all the black light away.
This was no longer defense—it transcended that concept entirely.
It was absolute isolation—a conceptual severance.
The fully released Avalon was not merely capable of sheltering one person. It was originally the barrier that prevented all impurities from entering the Fairyland, severing it from the world—a boundary that no outer force could breach.
Thus, it could protect an entire world.
The world shielded by the Holy Sheath was enclosed within a golden curtain, isolated from all truths of existence.
"Even the annihilating light of the Mahākāla's World-Annihilating Holy Wheel can be resisted?"
Seated within the mandala, Satsuki watched the scene with quiet amusement. That annihilating light was no mere attack.
It was an embodiment of Vipralopa's power—enhanced beyond its original form through reference to Goetia's Noble Phantasm, [The Time of Birth Has Come, He Is the One Who Masters All].
This was a force capable of evaporating all of human history into pure heat—an attack strong enough to rend the planet and shatter an entire world.
Each beam of annihilating light possessed destructive power no less than the King of Heroes' fully released Noble Phantasm.
And yet, even such overwhelming power failed to pierce through the defense of that sacred sheath.
"To sever all physical interference and block parallel-world intrusions… even [Status Infusion] and [Energy Control] cannot breach it. This must be the strongest form of protection in existence."
With that thought, Satsuki's lips curved into a faint smile.
Then, behind her, an enormous gate of void opened, stretching from earth to the heavens.
From within the rift in chaos, a colossal, golden, three-headed, six-armed Demon Buddha emerged—its divine body towering over all creation.
For the first time, Satsuki did not enter the Demon Buddha's form—she had summoned the [Golden Body of the Demon Buddha] itself.
The energy surrounding her began to converge inward. The massive black mandala slowly compressed, shrinking until the world-sized lotus became a single petal floating upon her palm.
In its place, the shadow of a candle dragon coiled around her body.
It was a power she had not displayed in a long time—[Judgment of the Ten Kings: Aragami Form].
Ever since she had attained the [Aspect of the Demon Buddha], Satsuki had rarely resorted to this ability. But now, facing the King of Knights' [Avalon, the Everdistant Utopia], she had no choice but to take it seriously.
The moment the Candle Dragon's shadow appeared, an overwhelming pressure that could crush heaven and earth swept across the world. Under this divine force, even the [Creation of Heaven and Earth: God-Slaying Army] of a hundred thousand warriors found themselves unable to move.
Even under the protection of the Ideal Realm, even as the world itself mended unceasingly, fear still welled up from the depths of the human heart—a terror born from instinct.
"King of Knights… is this your strongest Noble Phantasm?"
Layer upon layer of majestic tones echoed across the world, the voice penetrating even Avalon's barrier with the same awe that had shaken their souls when they first met.
In this form, where the Golden Body of the Demon Buddha coexisted with the Aragami Form, Satsuki's mere existence was enough to crush an entire cosmic domain.
If not for the Dead Line Boundary restraining her, she would not need to lift a finger—the world itself would collapse beneath her power.
Before this unimaginable might, even the Three Kings—who had believed themselves prepared for anything—felt utterly powerless.
Māra's power was boundless. Each time they thought they had grasped the extent of it, she revealed yet another layer—each more overwhelming than the last—plunging them into deeper despair.
Even with the [Omniscient and Omnipotent Star], the King of Heroes could scarcely comprehend how such a being could exist in this world.
Not even [Tiamat], the primordial Mother of Creation, had ever inspired such infinite, fathomless dread.
The god before them was a true apocalypse incarnate—the very end of the world.
And more terrifying still—she was not some mindless Beast, but a conscious being who stood at the pinnacle of all existence—Saver.
Having decided to fight seriously, Satsuki slowly rose from the mandala, and behind her appeared nearly eighteen orbs of Vipralopa—[Vipralopa Truth-Seeking Orbs].
Having released the majority of her power, she now stood as one who had transcended heaven itself.
This was the being known as the Enemy of the Enlightened—before whose authority even the Three Thousand Worlds and the starry heavens would weep in unending lamentation.
The Vipralopa Truth-Seeking Orbs revolved behind her, merging together. Within the darkness, they began to condense into a single, world-shattering blade of destruction.
"In that case," she said softly, her golden eyes gleaming like twin suns, "let us see—whether your shield… or my sword… is stronger."
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