With resolute determination, Ea steeled herself for battle. If neither side would yield, there was no path left but to contest supremacy. Furthermore...
"That creature is merely the warmup act—the bait to draw out the mastermind. Hmph, not a bad line of sight."
The King of Heroes agreed with her foresight. If her read on the situation was correct, the mastermind would surely crash the fight. With that belief in mind, they prepared to strike down the avatar of destruction!
"Munch, munch. I am in an exceptionally good mood right now. For after all this time, the true nature of my Noble Phantasm has finally been revealed. Which is precisely why—"
Finishing her dango and swallowing it down:
"I shall show you my full power. For the sake of the dango, I will hold nothing back."
She thrust the hilt of the War God's Sword toward the heavens—and declared:
"—Fire God Phenomenon: Flare Effect. Commencing connection with Mars."
Accompanied by her rigid, cold voice, a beam of brilliant white light shot straight up from the hilt into the sky. Simultaneously, a massive magic crest materialized in the heavens, signaling to everyone present the arrival of an extraordinary, overwhelming force.
『A virtual Divine Spirit manifesting in satellite orbit?! An orbital weapon of unimaginable scale is descending right toward you!!』
Olga Marie's reading was spot-on. Altera's true Noble Phantasm was, in essence, an orbital annihilation weapon that used the Sword of the War God as its targeting laser.
The true Sword of the War God—belonging to Mars, whom Altera had slain in the distant past—channeled a pillar of light from the high heavens to incinerate the surrounding area. It was an absolute, transcendent attack wielding the authority of a god—!
"Hmph. Harnessing the desperate roars and fury of the defeated, are we? —It's heading straight for us. Master, this is your trial."
"Of course I know that! We can't afford to lose—not when the dango is on the line!!"
Refusing to bow before divine wrath, Rikka glared up at the sky.
"Indeed. As far as protection goes, there is no need to worry."
Jeanne slowly sheathed her sword and took a step back to observe. The true intention behind her actions was revealed almost instantly.
—King of Heroes! The selection is complete! Take this, everyone!
"Very well. —Come then, ancient loser! Show me the manifestation of your rage!"
The sky trembled. The ancient fury, rising out of the dark night, bared its fangs to wipe out everything on the ground—ready to incinerate Altera along with them.
"O War God, curse me. Piercing the heavens are the tears of the star—"
『Two seconds to impact! This is bad, fall back immediately—!』
『No, it's too early to give up, Director!』
『Romani...?!』
Its true strength. Its True Name, revealed beneath the moon—!
"Teardrop Photon Ray!"
The rage and authority of a god were unleashed. The wrath of Mars, fired from satellite orbit, slashed across the land, razing, cleaving, and obliterating everything in its path. The earth was gouged, the atmosphere torn asunder, as a relentless torrent of raw energy poured down to eradicate all life.
"...This may be terribly childish of me, but it is all to exterminate bad civilization. Don't hold it against me."
Altera bore the immense recoil and strain on her body. Specifically, she was left with barely enough magical energy to sustain her existence. Yet, she accepted it as necessary. Before the Sword of the War God, all bad civilization was—
"Indeed, childish in the extreme. But you grew arrogant, avatar of destruction. There is nothing in this world that cannot be countered. All phenomena are destined to be overcome and settled in the end."
"—What...?!"
Altera's eyes widened. As the cloud of dust cleared, the surviving figures stood tall, proudly announcing their well-being—
[Phew! We somehow made it!!]
Rikka, clad in the armor of the Evil Dragon and entering Beast of Humanity Mode, had deployed the Noble Phantasm Akhilleus Kosmos, using the world itself as a shield to intercept the attack head-on.
"Impossible... A single person blocked the full power of Mars...?"
Rikka shook her head at Altera's disbelief. She wasn't alone. When it came to absolute defense—
"—Sorry to keep you waiting, Senpai! Jeanne-san! King of Heroes! Mash Kyrielight, back on the front lines!!"
Deploying Lord Chaldeas, she formed a dual-layered defense. Manifesting the shape of Mash Kyrielight's heart, the two barriers had completely neutralized the catastrophic strike!
"Yes, I knew you would come. Protecting others is your specialty, after all."
Jeanne giggled softly. She had anticipated this outcome perfectly—not just out of faith in Mash, but because she believed in the bond Rikka shared with her.
『But Mash is a Demi-Servant! She shouldn't be capable of being summoned so effortlessly...』
"Was this your doing, Romani?"
—Roman-san?!
Amidst the group's astonishment, Roman answered casually:
『It was an emergency, you see! While Mash was soothing little Con-ra, I applied spatial transfer magic to send her over, then routed a directional spell based on the Command Seals to instantly activate her Noble Phantasm and protect you all. Since the Director is handling operator duties, I can give it my all from the support line!』
[Roman, you're amazing!]
In short, he had managed to execute a Command Seal activation and a Rayshift simultaneously. Thanks to the power of Solomon's Ten Rings, Roman was capable of reproducing any humanly possible magecraft—a truly absurd feat.
『I've mostly secured control over France's ley lines and dragon pulses, so I can pull off a bit of reckless magic! Now then, ready, Gil?』
(This guy's abilities are so absurd it's actually annoying!)
"Indeed. To be this powerful trivializes the battle entirely. A broken unit with zero sense of atmosphere—there are limits to relying on brute force."
—This is peak 'Gorgeous Precious hypocritical deflection'! I'm so sorry, Roman-san! As someone with mediocre skills, I apologize on their behalf!
Mentally apologizing for their shameless criticism, she verified that everyone was safe. It was fortunate that she had secretly selected magical staves earlier to grant defense buffs to the party.
—Now then, let's finish this. Once we defeat Altera-san, the ringleader behind this commotion will...
Just as she selected Ea's blade to hand over to the King—
"Hold on, hold on~! From here on out, it's my turn, Darling's turn, and Rikka's turn!"
A soft, airheaded voice resonated across the area.
"What...?" Altera turned toward the voice, glaring.
"This voice... this absurdly airheaded voice!"
Just as Rikka noted, the voice was painfully familiar. It belonged to a brain-dead, romance-obsessed goddess of love—one of the Megatomo deities Rikka worshipped—and the absolute core of this entire ordeal—
"Yeees! You called, so here come Artemis and Orion! I've arrived for my dear Rikka, who's taking on the destroyer of bad civilization~♥! Come on, Darling! Sound effects! Applause! Hurry, hurry!"
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I tried to stop her with everything I had!! And this is the result of my desperate attempts!!"
The pathetic Orion blew party poppers and sounded a fanfare in utter desperation. Everyone, save for the King of Heroes, stood completely dumbfounded.
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