"You wished to hunt me, yet you will not act on these depictions of what you see as justice and reality, then why come here in the first place?"
These were the first words that spilled from Saber's mouth. In the replica world, the royal stood in front of Saber, shivering from the sight of her.
His breath exited his mouth in shaky bursts, terror painted across his face.
"Nabû-Zēr. Answer."
"Thy-Thou hast committed an indistinguishable, unforgivable crime."
"And yet I still stand before you."
An audible gulp came from him as he tried to make himself seem presentable. Saber did not bother striking him down right here. She desired peace.
"Thou Art Thee Before-"
"Stop."
Before Nabû could say anything else, her sword was pointed at his throat. It was only a centimeter from stabbing into him.
Even if he moved forward in the slightest, his blood would fall.
"Say another word, and I'll kill you. If I even sense a domain targeted towards me, or any killing intent towards me, your life will end here."
If his blood even scraped the blade of this sword, he would die.
This was the power of Absence-Slayer — the power to destroy the existence of what should not exist. To entities, this world was like a farm.
This meant they fell from their world to feast, but he was not here to hunt for food.
"I-I'm sorry. Saber-Cry Abyrion-Iscaria Soul-Trapped-Blood."
Nabû instantly ran away from her. All Saber desired was peace, and would only act if it was not disturbed, so she did not follow.
"Filthy abomination. A wolf in sheep's clothing," Saber said before turning around.
This insult was targeted towards Nabû, but it was ironic, don't you think?
At this time, Simon and his group had entered the replica world. Simon had noticed beforehand that the tunnel he had gone through the other day was now properly hidden.
He did not have time to focus on this; Simon needed to focus his attention on the royal. Nabû, on the other hand, was currently catching his breath after his encounter with Saber.
Nabû-Zēr was no coward; he could just see the difference in their power. His head rested against a cold metal pole, looking away from Saber's direction.
He tried his hardest to suppress his murderous intent. If Saber caught a lick of this, he would die. No matter their history, no matter what he thought — Nabû was a king, a greedy one.
His life was of utmost importance; all he needed was survival.
"Jeanne... I cannot commit such an act." Nabû whispered.
He had faced many things before, rebellion, betrayal, and death itself. But still, none compared to the fear he had for Saber.
It made him laugh.
None of it was funny. He laughed because of how humiliated he felt. Just as he had looked down at Haruto, he was now below Saber.
Even on the other side of this city, the laugh could be heard. Haruto was the first to notice it, walking towards its direction.
The rest of the group followed and whispered among themselves.
"What should we do?" Leo asked.
The answer to this was as clear as day. There would be no change in their plan, aside from the fact that they could all fight now.
Silas would still be the one to charge an attack to ultimately kill Nabû, and Haruto's role would be the same. After all, the seals Haruto had gotten were used for sealing one's spiritual energy.
With the entity's significant drop in spiritual energy, its chances of winning increased.
[Probability]
Before, their chances of winning were as little as 10%. This number spiked after all their planning and preparation, as it jumped to 70%.
(This is the power of using whatever represents itself to you to your advantage.)
When they finally approached the entity, Simon could immediately tell something was off. There was a tremble in his hands, and he looked as if he had just resurrected from the grave.
"Jeanne, thou art but a fool." He laughed louder.
"On the contrary, if I did strike, I doubt it would hit its mark."
What was he talking about? Simon swiftly held his hand up, stopping Leo from walking even further.
The air had become peaceful, too peaceful. The entities' laughter ceased, and the entire group came to a halt
They must have been ninety meters away from him, but it was as if he could sense them.
"What, Simon? It's right there; this is our chance," Leo said
"Yeah, that's the problem. Why is it there? It looks... It looks frightened."
Upon seeing this, Silas was the only one to react. Everyone else crouched down, but he stood his ground, looking directly at the entity.
Nabû looked as if he was talking, but they failed to understand anything.
"Abomination was it?"
Silas raised a finger, and the rings around them began to obey.
The sleek black rings turned into the form of a casing, and he aimed it directly at Nabû.
Bang!
The shot connected to him directly. This time, the bullet had a shotgun formation, and every part of Nabû's body was shredded.
Simon knew they had no choice but to engage now, but this was not how he wanted to enter the fight.
Ezra and Evelyn rushed at the royal, while Haruto took out his seals. However, before they got to reach him, the entire group felt a pressure pushing them into the earth.
"I am The King of Decrees."
They suddenly sank into the floor and met with an entirely different world.
The next thing they knew, they were falling from the sky. Below them was a ziggurat surrounded by an expanse of sand two to three times larger than Earth itself.
As they hit the sand, there was no effect from falling so high; the same could not be said about the heat.
[Distortion]
Evelyn reverted most of the effects of this domain, as the group breathed in heavily for fresh oxygen.
Atop the ziggurat, Nabû stood there, looking down at them with disgust and suppressed fear.
"Thou art thee Before and After."
"Throughout Life and Death, Existence and Non-Existent."
"A Will Brought To Fruition By Mankind."
"Heed my Words."
"I forth declare my Name."
"Thou who shall Observe."
"He Who Shall Preserve His Crown."
"You shall obey me — The King Of Decrees!"
"The Tower!"