Crack crack crack!
The light in the sky blurred into a haze, and then, a series of sounds like objects shattering—almost like auditory hallucinations—rang out in the ears of every surviving being.
Cracks spread across the heavens as if something were being pried apart. Fragmented and broken, multicolored energy surged through them, transforming into waves that rose like tsunamis, into mountains that collapsed in an instant—ever-changing, endlessly shifting, like chaotic, grotesquely beautiful paintings layered together, carving intricate patterns into the sky itself.
Strange, eerie energy drifted through the air.
It was like a greedy glutton, devouring everything around it. Even light could not escape, and the horizon dimmed into darkness.
At this moment, the wise king known as Solomon had already vanished—both in consciousness and form. From what remained of his body, pitch-black fissures emerged. From the very concept of his existence, an ominous vortex of energy, like a black hole, was born.
Cracks appeared one after another, spreading across the entire sky. Mountains crumbled, the earth split apart, and a blinding radiance burst forth from the planet's core. Scorching magma surged upward, shooting into the sky and merging with the violet-red particle tornado within the black hole before pouring back down across the surface.
The blood-red sky stretched endlessly, all things falling silent, all thoughts extinguished.
At this moment, the vast crimson mist drifted like falling snow. Thunder roared across heaven and earth, while the air was filled with the acrid stench of sulfur and the unmistakable presence of magical ether. Looking across the burning city—
All traces of civilization had vanished. In their place were countless ravines and a horizon blanketed in flowing magma. Towering pillars of fire pierced the sky, illuminating the darkness and painting this hellish world in color—like a blood-red robe draped over it.
From the moment Solomon activated his First Noble Phantasm—returning the blessings granted by 'Heaven'—his life had already entered its countdown.
As for his consciousness or what remained of his body, Selene had no interest in either. What she needed was to seize the fleeting instant in which Solomon hovered between life and death.
Using Solomon's only connection to the Swirl of the Root—aside from the 'Day of Granting'—the 'Day of Return,' as her breakthrough point, she would embed a Honkai imprint bearing her own mark into the pathway leading to the Root.
In other words, Solomon was being used by Selene as a relay station.
Selene did not possess a direct 'phone line' to the Swirl of the Root, but Solomon did—even if only twice in his lifetime.
While Solomon had yet to hang up—before he had completely disappeared—Selene seized control of the connection. And as Solomon was in the process of transforming into pure 'quantity' to return to the Root's embrace—
The 'blessings' Solomon was returning were finite. Once he disappeared, the line would be cut. Therefore, to achieve her goal, Selene could not allow those 'blessings' to be exhausted.
She needed the connection to persist, disguising her Honkai imprint as part of the blessings Solomon was returning, sending it back into the Swirl of the Root. From there, she would steal its authority and use it as a coordinate—tearing open a breach in the world.
In this way, Selene could achieve her objective of igniting from within. And with that, she was confident she could keep the loss to her spoils within a reasonable range.
The Type-Moon composite world consisted of countless timelines, sub-worlds, and higher-dimensional universes. Destroying a few of them meant nothing to Selene—but attacking from outside the world's barrier would be... far too inefficient.
This was precisely why Selene had chosen to merge into Solomon's remaining body, and to pour the Honkai energy she had used to transform the entire planet into him.
Crackle crackle—!
As spatial fissures spread, the atmosphere seemed to interlock and grind against itself. The rapidly spinning vortex of magical energy carried with it terrifying scenes of space-time fracturing, composing a unique chapter belonging to the Honkai—a cold symphony, a melody of endless desire.
In an instant, violent winds raged. The air currents, like invisible cannons, scattered from the edges of Mash's shield, whipping Ritsuka Fujimaru's clothes and hair as he lay prone on the ground.
"Ritsuka, Romani's magical reaction is still there, but... he is no longer himself."
Da Vinci's weary voice reached his ears, but Ritsuka seemed not to hear it at all. He stared fixedly at the ever-expanding vortex crack, beyond which a vast, pitch-black cosmic starfield was revealed.
Within that frigid expanse—even as nothing more than an ordinary first-generation magus—he could not fail to perceive it.
Everyone present had their vision stolen by that light.
It was an eye—its outline like that of a dying red giant star. Upon it were set dazzling gemstones, and the golden cross-shaped ring radiated a brilliance even greater than the sun.
From it emanated a faint but ancient authority, the majesty of a supreme being.
"Selene's true body."
Ritsuka could feel his heart pounding violently against his chest. In that instant, he was certain—this was Selene's true form.
Rip—!
The entire planet trembled—no, not just the planet, but the surrounding world itself shook. This vibration did not come from the planet's ley lines, but from space-time itself!
Accompanied by violent spatial rupture, massive, distorted violet-red elongated particles and tendrils manifested out of nothingness. A pristine white hand pierced through the world's barrier—surging like waves, towering like mountains—as countless multicolored points of light flooded brutally into the world, all converging into the concept known as King Solomon.
Crack—!
The world was torn open.
A profound rift stretched across the sky, revealing what lay beyond it.
That was the true Honkai.
At that moment—
Thump!
Thump thump!
Thump thump thump—!!
This world, this universe—every universe born from the Swirl of the Root—almost all life raised their heads at the same time, looking toward a certain point. That overwhelming shock and boundless terror struck their chests in an instant.
...
Within the Type-Moon composite world.
In a certain world's Inner Sea of the Planet, vegetation and oceans had long since receded, revealing dry, cracked land. The earth was barren, covered by gray and murky clouds.
At a glance, one could tell—no crops could grow here. The atmosphere was unfit for any form of life. This place was—
The Land of Steel.
Rustle—
In contrast to the silent, lifeless steel land made of desiccated gray rock, within a massive canyon there existed something entirely different. It shimmered with multicolored crystal textures, brimming with vitality—an alien landscape that was both unsettling and breathtakingly beautiful—the Crystal Valley.
Within the valley, a cosmic organism resembling a spider, standing at around forty meters tall, stirred.
A ghastly green glow flickered. Blades tore through the dried, hardened earth as if slicing butter. Its entire body was covered in a shell beyond common sense—harder, tougher, more temperature-resistant, and sharper than any material found on Earth.
"Such urgency... what kind of intruder is this...?"
It raised its inhuman head, composed of unknown metal and energy.
...
The Moon—desolate and mysterious.
As far as the eye could see, everything was a gray-white expanse, covered in craters. There were no people, no wind, no sound. Even the blazing rays of the sun, when they fell here, seemed to be assimilated—transforming into a cold, clear silver radiance, flowing like ice.
Yet within this lonely extraterrestrial space, a colossal golden ring with a diameter of seven thousand meters floated in the sky.
In the silent vacuum, it seemed as though a deep, resonant chant echoed. Buddhist light and auspicious clouds manifested together, as if all suffering could be resolved within that radiant brilliance.
Beneath a mandala-like glow, a man clad in a red monk's robe sat cross-legged upon a lotus platform. His frame was thin to the point of gauntness. Long green hair draped loosely over his shoulders, and his expression carried a calm, compassionate sorrow. Opening his green eyes, he seemed to sigh softly as he murmured:
"Pride, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony... desire. Even cosmic deities cannot escape it..."
...
On Earth, where Chaldea's headquarters resided—within the immeasurable interstice at the edge of the universe, beyond the comprehension of modern humanity—the mechanical god fleet had departed tens of thousands of years ago, leaving behind only the original mothership—the celestial sphere-type space-time fortress—quietly standing within the void aperture.
Hum hum—!
Suddenly, amidst violent tremors, the supermassive structure as large as a star split open. Within it was an orange-yellow eye, similar to the sun—without focus, yet radiating a dazzling brilliance like a star.
No—it was not merely similar to a star. It was the radiance of a star itself. Its existence was that of a supermassive interstellar mothership created by an intelligent civilization from another universe, with a star as its core—absorbing the entirety of that star's energy.
"Revive the homeworld... at any cost..."
...
Within the vast, boundless galaxy, a tear-shaped comet suddenly began to accelerate. The points of light trailing from its tail stretched further, becoming streaks of fine lines that swept across the stars along its path.
Wherever the trail of light passed, the stars visibly dimmed, leaving behind a silent, lifeless expanse of cosmic trajectory.
...
Within the primordial universe of the Type-Moon world.
In a region of space where life could exist, the sea of stars boiled. Using the entire Milky Way as its Saint Graph, the concept of a goddess began to activate—the 'humanoid galaxy' gathered into form—
...
That colossal deity—its size was utterly incomprehensible. Just one of its eyes filled the entire sky within sight.
At this moment, everyone felt as if they had fallen into an icy abyss.
An indescribable fear surged silently and rapidly into the hearts of all who witnessed it. What... was this?
"We... failed."
The surviving Servant squad gathered around Ritsuka Fujimaru. At a time like this, even Heroic Spirits whose names resounded through history had lost their will to fight.
Because there was no hope.
"Why would such a being set its sights on Earth—a place that, compared to the vast universe, is nothing more than a remote corner?"
Artoria lowered her blade. This was no longer something they could contend with. Not even the gods of Earth's pantheons could oppose it.
Their so-called effort to save human history—their struggles on a single small planet like Earth—what did it even amount to in her eyes?
This was not an existence that life on Earth could confront. It was not even a grandeur that should manifest within this universe.
There was an old saying: A child carrying gold through a crowded marketplace invites disaster.
Earth was that child.
An insignificant blue planet drifting in an unremarkable spiral arm, unable to step beyond its own cradle, yet somehow connected to the very foundation of reality itself—the Swirl of the Root.
It was as though an infant had been left cradling the key to creation itself. What else could such a sight invite but predators?
At that moment, a sudden anomaly occurred.
"Ugh..."
Ishtar—more precisely, Rin Tohsaka—collapsed weakly to the ground. The divine consciousness belonging to Ishtar was forcibly expelled in an instant. Having just separated from that strange fusion state, Rin had not yet regained her senses when she suddenly realized in horror that a far greater will than Ishtar had appeared within her body.
No way, not again! This is my body! Not some medium for you all to swap in and out of at will!!
The girl screamed inwardly, and in the next moment, her head tilted to the side—she fainted again.
Thanks to the environment fully reverted to the Age of Gods, Ishtar's divine consciousness did not dissipate. Instead, with an extremely arrogant and harsh tone, she shouted:
"Who?! Who dares to steal what belongs to me—! I am the daughter of the King of Gods Anu... Ishtar, you... you—"
Without Rin's gentle nature to temper her, the pure, unfiltered personality of Ishtar from the Age of Gods was fully revealed—an utterly insufferable side. One only needed to observe her demeanor to understand why Gilgamesh had rejected her affections.
However, in the next instant, Ishtar staggered backward in fear.
Because from Rin's body, an overwhelming aura erupted—one that even she found terrifying. Vast as the galaxy itself, unfathomable, a cosmic deity manifested within her.
Rumble rumble rumble—!!
At this moment, due to the immense mass brought by the descent of the colossal deity, the entire Earth shook violently under the storm.
The blazing light beneath the planet's crust was no longer restrained. After rapidly expanding, it erupted from underground. Massive radiant beams, like suns rising from the surface of the earth, glowed red and gold as they shot into the sky, mixed with destructive volcanic eruptions.
Endless fissures stretched across the planet's surface. This time, the heavily damaged 'Gaia' of this Singularity had reached the end of its life—and 'Alaya' was not far behind.
Volcanic ash clouds from the planet's disintegration spread across the globe. The ozone layer was torn apart, and in an instant, the entire surface of the planet was illuminated by the flames of the sun.
Selene, whose immense presence was 'too large' and 'too heavy,' crushing the planet itself, paid no attention to any of it.
At the moment her true body descended, her opponents were no longer Chaldea. Including the two Counter Forces, the Throne of Heroes, and the gods of Earth—they were all unworthy of even drawing her gaze.
Cruelly speaking, even if all of them joined forces, they would not be enough for Selene to defeat with a single breath.
"Hm?"
At this moment, a message was transmitted into Selene's mind. Even after being schemed against by her, even as the Swirl of the Root itself was being eroded and contaminated, it still communicated as it always did—without emotion, without joy or sorrow, purely businesslike.
There were no words, nor any manifested voice. But the meaning conveyed was roughly this:
'"Selene, please leave my body. Your authority is severely disrupting the operation of the universe's laws."'
'Withdraw, and there will be peace. Refuse, and there will be war. From this moment on, we shall be enemies of life and death, with absolutely no room for compromise.'
The only difference was that this time, Selene could clearly feel it—every ray of light shining upon her body from across the universe carried an intense sense of rejection.
After all, Selene's actions now classified her as something akin to an 'extraterrestrial demon' or a 'chaotic evil god'—an invader of worlds. Even if the Swirl of the Root possessed no subjective will, it still retained its fundamental boundaries and self-defense mechanisms.
"Withdraw?"
Standing beyond the cosmic starfield, Selene glanced downward. Above the Earth—now split into two halves—a radiant ring with a diameter of seventy thousand meters lit up. Under its golden glow, the accelerating collapse of the planet was forcibly halted.
Boom!
"Compromise has never been something I desire. I have never once considered stopping halfway."
In Selene's palm, the Moon had already been corroded into an unstable crimson by Honkai energy. Under violent tremors, it continuously shifted—massive continental fragments churning like a sea of quicksand before exploding apart.
They scattered into silver sand, pouring from between her fingers, gathering into vast drifting seas and asteroid belts. As they fell, they stirred up colossal waves across the shattered surface of the Earth.
"..."
As Selene crushed the Moon, the Swirl of the Root made no further attempt to communicate.
Because this—was the answer.
"Then let the war begin!"
In the next instant, a brilliant stellar mass suddenly rose—silent yet unstoppable—as it hurtled toward Selene.
"That's right—this is how it should be. Settle it once and for all!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Selene reached out and pulled. Invisible gravity seized the remaining eight planets of the solar system, dragging them violently into motion and hurling them headlong toward the brilliant radiance rising from the shattered Earth.
"From Earth's orbit to the very edge of the galaxy—let the sea of stars boil, let the constellations fall. Even if the entire galaxy is reduced to ruins, this world shall fall into my hands."
Countless streams of Honkai energy and cosmic ether surged under the force of both sides, erupting into an overwhelmingly powerful annihilating light—power capable of reshaping the cosmos itself.
As the two forces collided, silent ripples of destruction exploded across the starry sky. The radiant ring that had barely stabilized the collapsing planet wavered—and shattered amid the blazing cosmic explosion.
In the end, it was only through the expansion of another crystal-like barrier that the Earth, split in two, was barely held together.
Standing within the now-emptied solar system, sensing the multiple overwhelming presences rushing in from the edge of the universe—from the far side of the galaxy—as well as the countless countermeasures deployed by the Swirl of the Root, the greed and tyranny blazing within Selene's crimson eyes only grew more intense.
"The victor takes everything, the defeated withdraws... the Root..."
"Then let the galaxy burn!"