Whoosh—
Most of the Heroic Spirits were sent back to Chaldea.
Gudako formed a small team with Tiamat, the Lion King, and a few others. Passing through the great gate, they arrived in another extradimensional space.
The surrounding scenery shifted abruptly. From the shattered void of a desolate wasteland, it transformed into an open expanse of remarkable beauty.
Beneath their feet stretched an endless grassland. Above them lay blue skies and drifting white clouds. In the distance, towering mountain ranges rose into view.
"Oh, so it really is a small world independent of time and space."
Looking ahead.
Not far away stood an enormous white temple, grander even than the great temple of Uruk.
Following the hundreds of ascending steps upward, Solomon sat upon a throne at the summit.
"Welcome, Master of Chaldea."
"I did not expect you to be so capable in battle. You truly surprised me."
He looked down upon them from above, gazing arrogantly at the group below.
"Tell me, why are you so determined to come here? Why could you not wait for the activation calculations of the hypothetical Third Noble Phantasm we are constructing to be completed?"
King Solomon asked.
"Tch—what are you pretending for?"
Gudako clicked her tongue and gestured at him.
"You think just because you look like King Solomon, that makes you him? You're way uglier than he is."
"Don't think I don't know who you are, Goetia."
"The real King Solomon is still in Chaldea, right, Dr. Roman?"
Because she had done thorough preparation before departing—and because Setsuna knew Chaldea inside and out—Gudako had known from the very beginning that the boss of the Final Singularity was not the real King Solomon.
King Solomon had been summoned in the 2004 Fuyuki Holy Grail War by Chaldea's former director, Marisbury Animusphere. The two ultimately won the war and gained the right to make a wish.
The director wished for immense wealth to build Chaldea, while King Solomon wished to become human.
He relinquished all his power as a Heroic Spirit and was reborn as an ordinary human, wishing to live a life without anything special about him.
That person was Dr. Roman—Romani Archaman.
"Ahhhhhh???"
Inside Chaldea, Roman had been deep in thought when he saw "King Solomon."
"Huh?!"
Suddenly hearing Gudako call out his true name and identity, he nearly jumped out of his seat.
"Ritsuka Fujimaru, how do you know?? No, wait, wait—I knew it, you've been teasing me for no reason this whole time..."
"The Commander told me."
Gudako immediately shifted the blame.
"I guessed."
Setsuna spread his hands and replied casually.
"???"
Roman felt like he was cracking apart.
"You knew all along? And you teamed up to mess with me?!"
In his mind, Setsuna was unfathomable. If he said he guessed, then perhaps he had already discerned his true identity from subtle clues the very first time they met.
Roman simply assumed it was because of Setsuna's overwhelming power—able to obtain information from beyond the world itself.
After the initial shock, his expression turned serious. He let out a sigh.
"In that case, I..."
"It's fine. Don't worry. We don't need you stepping in with some weird Noble Phantasm."
Gudako thumped her chest confidently.
"Dr. Roman, we'll beat Goetia flat. After that, you can keep living as an ordinary person."
"Ah? Uh... then, thank you?..."
Once again having his intentions anticipated, Roman had no idea what expression to wear. His feelings were complicated.
"..."
"Hahahahaha!!—"
The "King Solomon" on the throne had not heard their communication.
When he heard Gudako call out his true name, he was stunned for a moment before bursting into loud laughter.
"Interesting!! How interesting!!!"
"You know far more than I expected—and far more than I imagined!!! No wonder you were able to stand before me!!!"
"In that case, I shall grant you the honor of kneeling before my true form!!"
Boom!!—
A violent surge of magical energy erupted from his body, causing even the surrounding space to tremble.
"Bands of Light, illuminate the throne! Let the great work commence!"
"Manifest, bless this moment! Here shall be accomplished the Beast of Calamity—one of Humanity's Evils."
"Master of Chaldea... you are correct. I am the one who exists as the King of Magecraft."
"I am the institution created by the King of Magecraft, ruling the nation alongside Solomon—and the primordial curse abandoned upon Solomon's death."
"A summoning formula that took Solomon's corpse as its nest, gaining flesh within it, obtaining true wisdom—thus becoming the one who was desired."
"The one who sails toward the extremity using you as fuel, the wielder of seventy-two curses, the one who burns away all of history."
Boom—
After announcing an absurdly long list of titles,
An immense amount of magical energy coiled around him, erupting into a pillar of light that pierced heaven and earth.
When the radiance faded, a colossal humanoid monster appeared upon the throne.
Long horns rose from his head. His arms were dark gold, far more muscular than any human's. In the center of his chest yawned a massive hollow cavity, within which a purple, eyeball-like organ writhed as it observed its surroundings.
"I am the Incineration of Human Order—the Demon God King, Goetia."
Bzzzzzt!!!—
Chaldea's detection systems instantly began blaring alarms.
"Analyzing target parameters..."
"Spirit Origin structure: Anti-Human. Spirit Origin output class: Second-Class Planetary Level. It's the First Beast!!!"
"Alert!! Alert!!!—"
The uninformed Chaldea staff panicked.
The power of a Beast was undeniable. In the Seventh Singularity, if Setsuna had not subdued the Second Beast, Tiamat, Chaldea would have had no conceivable way to defeat her.
And now, another Beast had appeared.
"We have witnessed countless sorrows, countless betrayals. On this planet, even the gods are destined for annihilation."
Goetia looked down at Gudako and her party as he spoke calmly.
"This planet is a mistake—a madness crafted for life fated to end."
"I will proceed to the extremity. I will rewind to the past—to the moment this celestial body was born within this domain—and recreate this planet anew."
"I shall redo creation itself and forge a planet devoid of the concept of death."
Born from Solomon yet rejecting him, he had concluded that humanity and the future held no value, thus setting into motion the project of converting all humanity into energy.
He sought to rewind this planet's 4.6 billion years in a single stroke, personally witnessing the instant the "celestial body" was born within this domain, and claim all its energy for himself.
In other words, he would become a "new celestial body" and create a new world without death.
"...Oh."
Gudako fell into thought.
"Didn't expect you to have ambitions like that. I always thought you were just some troublemaking villain?"
"... "
"If you can understand my intentions, then you should—"
Goetia was cut off mid-sentence.
"—You're kind of weak, you know."
"What?"
Goetia thought he had misheard. A mere human Master dared to speak so brazenly here?
"Come on. Rewinding time? The Commander does that casually. Once the higher-dimensional ship starts up, forget 4.6 billion years ago—you could rewind all the way back to the Big Bang."
"And as for Genesis, that's not even hard. We've got several people who can do that. The Commander and Tiamat just molded a bunch of worlds a few days ago."
"A world without death? Uh... the Starsea Empire doesn't have death right now. Even if you die, the goddess of the Underworld can just send you back. Personal experience—I can vouch for it."
Under normal circumstances, Gudako might have been shaken by Goetia's grand theory and plan.
But after spending time in the Starsea Empire and witnessing powers close to divinity, she felt it was... just average.
Not even very efficient at killing people.
"???"
Goetia had no idea what she was talking about. He only felt himself being belittled.
Whoosh—
The Lion King struck first, flashing forward with her spear.
Bang!!—
Goetia blocked the attack with magical energy.
He leapt backward, scanning the squad accompanying Gudako.
"You do have quite a number of people. Troublesome."
"But unfortunately, no matter how powerful a Heroic Spirit may be, before me they are meaningless. None can surpass me."
The Demon God King raised his left hand and snapped his fingers, projecting magical energy outward.
"Withdraw."
Bzzzz—
As the ultimate summoning formula created by humanity, Goetia possessed anti-summoning authority. With a snap of his fingers, he could destroy summoning rituals and sever the link between Master and Servant.
Without Servants, a human Master alone would have absolutely no chance against him.
Whoosh—
The anti-summoning authority enveloped the entire area.
Goetia looked on with contempt, waiting to see Gudako left standing alone, panicked and helpless.
However, what he expected did not occur.
The Lion King remained expressionless. Tiamat glanced at herself, then at the others, a question mark practically appearing above her head.
"...Oh? Did you do something?"
"Withdraw!!"
Goetia raised his hand and activated the authority again.
He even turned his head to double-check. He hadn't used the wrong skill. How strange—why wasn't it working? Why were they still here?
"?"
"Withdraw—"
In the next instant.
BOOM!!—
Tiamat manifested in her draconic form and slapped Goetia straight into the ground with a single blow.
Beside her rang Gudako's unrestrained laughter.
"Tch. The Commander already told me you had that trick."
"Too bad for you—the ones here to beat you up are the originals. Now kneel!"
...
Boom—boom!!
Within the Temple of Time, the earth shook and the mountains trembled.
In her draconic form, Tiamat possessed immense strength. With a single strike, she shattered the ground.
The several-hundred-meter-tall grand temple was reduced to ruins in an instant.
"!!!"
Crack—crack—
Something stirred within the wreckage.
Goetia rose from the shattered remains.
For the first time, confusion flickered within his violent gaze.
He resided within King Solomon, using him as a foundation. He possessed nearly the same aptitude and wisdom as the King of Magecraft, having reached a state approaching omnipotence.
Yet the scene before him had far exceeded his expectations.
"Tiamat?! And you all!!"
There was no mistaking it. The towering, mountain-like figure before him was the true body of Tiamat, the Beast of Regression.
The Lion King, Ereshkigal, and the others were the same. The Lion King was the Goddess Rhongomyniad, transformed through the erosion of the Holy Lance, directly brought back from the Sixth Singularity by Setsuna.
She was different from the other ahoge variants. Strictly speaking, the Lion King was not a Heroic Spirit. She still possessed a human body and naturally would not be affected by anti-summoning authority.
"Why is it you?"
"Why are you standing with humanity?"
After a brief moment of surprise, Goetia raised his head and asked Tiamat, his tone devoid of excess emotion.
"Master... humanity... they are my children."
"I... will protect them."
Tiamat's voice was ethereal and clear.
"Hmm? After defeating the Second Beast in Mesopotamia, did you simply take Tiamat away with you?"
"...Ritsuka Fujimaru, you exceed my expectations. By the standards of a human Master, you are exceptional."
Goetia paused, not stingy with his praise.
"Uh, thanks?"
Gudako wanted to say that Tiamat had simply finished throwing her tantrum and had been persuaded into submission by the Commander—but what did that have to do with me?
I wouldn't even survive a single slap from her.
"... "
Goetia looked up at Tiamat, puzzled.
"You too are one of Humanity's Evils, an enemy of human history and mankind itself. How can you fight at their side?"
"Heh... The Second Beast coming to subjugate me alongside humans? How absurd. How foolish!"
He cared little for ordinary Heroic Spirits.
But seeing Tiamat here was an entirely different matter. As fellow Beasts, it was highly likely neither could easily deal with the other.
"Humans cannot understand me. Ordinary Heroic Spirits cannot understand me. Even you cannot understand me?"
"What I am about to accomplish is a feat unprecedented in human history. You should stand with me and deny this laughable human history."
Goetia sincerely extended an invitation to Tiamat.
"What do you believe humanity should be? ...If I recall correctly, it should be regression, yes?"
"Though our views on humanity's fate differ, at a higher level our pursuits should be aligned."
"?"
Tiamat lowered her head and stared at Goetia, seemingly thinking.
"Come. We should—"
Goetia opened his arms in welcome, but before he could finish.
Bzzzz—
A violet-red beam of light gathered in Tiamat's draconic maw.
"Aaa!!!!—"
BOOOOM!!!—
The beam slammed down, blasting a massive crater into the earth.
Taking a direct hit from the Second Beast at close range, Goetia felt his entire body scoured by overwhelming energy.
He lay at the bottom of a crater hundreds of meters deep, his limbs and torso charred beyond recognition.
"You're still not dead?"
Gudako leaned over from above.
"Madness."
Goetia muttered.
Magical energy surged from within him, rapidly repairing his body at a visible speed.
He looked at Tiamat and shook his head.
"Humans, Heroic Spirits—even Tiamat cannot understand me?"
"Why must you insist on stopping me? Madness. You're all mad."
The First Beast—the Beast who held the principle of "Pity."
He sincerely hoped that at least one person would understand his goal: to create a new world without death at the cost of the current human history.
But reality defied his wishes.
"I have had enough. In that case, you will all disappear together."
"Tiamat is troublesome... but killing you will not be difficult, Ritsuka Fujimaru."
In the next instant.
Flash—
Goetia suddenly lunged toward Gudako.
In that brief span, he had already calculated the optimal course of action.
Engaging Tiamat directly was unwise. He only needed to kill one person—their Master.
Bang!!—
The Lion King intercepted his arm with a spear strike. In the blink of an eye, his severed limb regenerated.
He attacked again with overwhelming force.
"Bring it on! Who's afraid of who?! One-on-one!!!"
Whoosh—
Gudako unfurled a scroll.
Clank—clank—
A red-and-white mecha materialized in the sky.
Strelizia held a shield in one hand and a spear in the other, imposing and majestic as it looked down upon Goetia.
"Hm? Some kind of magecraft-forged Mystic Code?"
Goetia did not recognize a Gundam. He had seen this thing in previous Singularities but could not comprehend its structure or principles.
Even Solomon's knowledge contained nothing like it. He was perplexed.
BOOM!!—
Strelizia descended like a meteor, thrusting from high above.
Within the atmosphere, its instantaneous acceleration approached near-light speed—leaving virtually no time to react.
Bang!
Goetia would never have imagined that, within the Crowned Temple of Time, aside from Tiamat and a cluster of goddesses, he would also face something completely out of genre.
His defensive magic shattered instantly under the Queen Pike. Gudako kicked and stomped, launching into a brutal barrage.
When he looked up, all he saw was Strelizia's massive foot.
Before the dozens-of-meters-tall mecha, even Goetia seemed small. Gudako stomped as if crushing an ant, attacking in the most straightforward and violent manner possible.
Boom!—
Goetia blocked a strike through sheer force, his brows knitting tighter.
"Aren't you Chaldea's Master?! Is this... magecraft? No, that's not it..."
"Only idiots use magecraft to fight you."
Inside the cockpit, Gudako's laughter grew increasingly unrestrained.
"This is future technology! The times have changed!"
"Let's see whether your physical strength is greater, or Strelizia's alloy armor is tougher. Aren't you supposed to have infinite mana? Come on—try competing with a dark matter reactor."
There was no doubt about Goetia's mastery of magecraft. Most magi were insignificant before him.
But he had clearly never fought against a Gundam from the interstellar age.
This was pure technological power—a combat weapon forged by the civilization of the stars.
Bang!—Smack!!—
In just a few exchanges, he was left scrambling and disheveled.
BOOM!!—
Strelizia slammed its shield downward. Goetia raised a hand to block, forcing the ground to sink another dozen meters.
In the briefest lapse, the several-dozen-meter-long Queen Pike pierced straight through Goetia's chest.
There was nowhere to dodge. Nowhere to evade. The Gundam's speed exceeded imagination.
"You..."
Goetia gripped the spear with one hand, attempting to speak.
[Tachyon Lance charging: 95%... 100%... Ready.]
BOOM!!—
A pale blue beam erupted from the spear, cleanly carving a fissure thousands of kilometers long across the land.
Everything within its path was utterly annihilated by high-energy particles.
"Now—everyone, attack together!!"
The rest of the squad moved immediately, unleashing coordinated firepower just as planned.
"Rhongomyniad."
"It is the storm-anchor that rends the sky and binds the earth, the light fired from the very end."
The Lion King extended her hand.
Bzzzz—
Clouds gathered overhead as a golden Holy Lance descended from the heavens.
Close behind, a golden planet fell from the sky, shrinking into a radiant orb within Ishtar's hand.
After condensing and shaping it into an arrow, she drew the heavenly boat as her bow and fired downward.
"Aaa!!!—"
Tiamat once again gathered energy toward Goetia's position.
A violet-red beam pierced through the continent, leaving behind a trench dozens of kilometers wide.
Noble Phantasms were unleashed in rapid succession, energy converging upon a single point before detonating outward, blasting an annihilation zone spanning over a hundred kilometers.
Rumble—
Even the Temple of Time's barrier trembled.
After the world-shaking, storm-like onslaught.
Silence returned.
The land was utterly unrecognizable, leaving behind only several bottomless craters.
"Is it over?"
A Chaldea staff member asked nervously.
Under such an assault, they could not imagine any being surviving.
"Impossible."
Setsuna watched the holographic display, shaking his head as he sipped tea in his chair.
He showed none of Roman's tension, even casually feeding a few snacks to the gathered ahoge nearby.
"He's the final boss. Conventional Noble Phantasms cannot deal a fatal blow to Goetia. In the entire Nasuverse, there are only a handful capable of killing him within the Temple of Time."
"Ah, then should we go help?"
Artoria Lily clutched her sword and asked anxiously.
"No need. Stay here. If something happens, I'll step in."
He ruffled Lily's head, inwardly lamenting how adorable the youthful version of the King of Knights was. Perhaps he could assemble an Ahoge Squadron in the future.
Sure enough.
Before long.
Strelizia's sensors began to blare warnings.
Whirr—whirr—whirr—whirr—
Several dark magic circles lit up around them. Spells rained down like hail, only to be completely blocked by the shields.
"Absurd..."
Goetia's voice carried low fury as he rose from the wasteland.
"You're really hard to kill."
Gudako clicked her tongue.
"Damn it. Should've borrowed a Dual-Vector Foil and cleaned up the Temple of Time in one go."