"Still not giving up? Can't you see the gap in our strength?"
Artoria felt like a big villain bullying a small child. The opponent didn't listen to her at all and kept attacking blindly, not even bothering to defend. If it were an ordinary person, Artoria would think they were putting everything on the line for one last struggle. But for this being, whose mental power was thousands of times greater than hers, Artoria didn't believe it had no backup plans. Artoria's verbal provocation had no effect; instead, the opponent's attacks became increasingly fierce. Although it was useless against Artoria—she didn't even lose her defense after taking a hit—such attacks were meaningless, causing the blood that had started to boil in Artoria to cool down.
"Noble Phantasm Release."
Feeling a bit disgusted by this battle, Artoria proactively released the blackened holy lance in her hand. A massive and viscous black magic power instantly filled the entire sky. Hell, which already looked like a post-apocalyptic world, looked even more like one now. As Artoria's Noble Phantasm slowly bared its fangs, all the living beings in the world felt a suffocating sense of oppression. This feeling was as if they were witnessing the destruction of the world, watching it move toward annihilation.
"Is this weapon of yours meant for destroying the world?"
At this moment, the opponent was truly afraid. It felt the threat of Death. It stood dazed; this was the first time it had faced the sensation of Death so directly. For the first time, this unfamiliar feeling gave rise to another emotion: fear. It knew that retreating was now impossible, so it could only endure the fear and suppress its instinct to flee. It looked at Artoria fearlessly, just as it had when it first arrived in Hell. Seeing this fellow's courageous performance, a smile curled at the corner of Artoria's mouth, which turned back into an expressionless face in an instant, though the released magic power was retracted slightly.
"I'll send you on your way with this, the Lance of the world's End. Be honored, Lord of Heaven."
This blackened holy lance was even more violent than the non-blackened Rhongomyniad. Although Artoria controlled part of its prowess, it was clearly not enough. At this point, no one could stop the Noble Phantasm's release, not even Artoria. The power of the Noble Phantasm had reached its peak, and the space around Artoria seemed to distort because of its power. The spear used to anchor the world was now blackened into a world-destroying spear. Even before Artoria let go of the release, she could already hear the world's wail. Artoria wasn't sure what the effect would be once she fired this Noble Phantasm because she discovered that this black version of Rhongomyniad had no seal restrictions. In other words, what Artoria was releasing was indeed Rhongomyniad at its full strength.
"Rhongomyniad (The Spear that Shines to the Ends of the world)"
Artoria finally couldn't restrain it anymore. She now desperately hoped that the Lord of Heaven could withstand this attack. If it could, it would mean the range of the Noble Phantasm's blast on other areas would shrink. If the Lord of Heaven couldn't endure the power of this attack and turned to ash in the 'light', the remaining power of the spear would blast entirely into Hell. Artoria couldn't guarantee that Hell wouldn't shatter because of it.
"Master Ancient One, come here quickly! I might have messed up."
Realizing she was in a bind, Artoria began to pray to the Ancient One of this world. If this went wrong, not only would Hell be destroyed, but the human world would definitely suffer an unprecedented blow. Artoria had a feeling that if Hell were destroyed, the Human Realm would be finished too. Unfortunately, no matter how hard Artoria tried to control the Noble Phantasm's power now, it was to no avail. She even used the Infinity Stones, but she could only watch helplessly as the 'light' slammed violently into the Lord of Heaven.
"My Lord! x7"
The Seven Virtues quickly released their own power, wanting to create a protective shield in front of the Lord of Heaven. Unfortunately, it was useless. Their gathered power was dissolved before it even touched the edge of the 'light', and it even triggered a strong backlash that scattered the Seven Virtues, sending them crashing to the ground. This scene deeply shocked the Seven Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins, as well as Artoria, who was still releasing the Noble Phantasm. The power of this Noble Phantasm was too excessive; if fully activated, it wouldn't be a problem to completely destroy the world. Artoria's face turned somewhat pale because the body of the Lord of Heaven began to dissolve under the Noble Phantasm's prowess.
"Quick, go to the Human Realm, to Kamar-Taj at the Himalayas, and invite the Great Sorcerer Ancient One, or else Hell is finished."
Realizing the Lord of Heaven might not last long, Artoria spoke to the Seven Deadly Sins. Hearing Artoria's words, 'Gluttony' didn't say a word and immediately opened Hell's Gate to fly toward the Human Realm. This was no joke. The Seven Deadly Sins could also see that Artoria wanted to control that powerful weapon but hadn't succeeded. Combined with the fact that the Lord of Heaven was hit by this weapon without any power to resist and its body was starting to dissipate, and looking at the energy pillar whose power hadn't weakened at all, they all realized that things had spiraled completely out of control. Artoria's suggestion was worth a try; although they didn't have much hope themselves, having hope was better than none at all.
"You have to hold on! Honestly, why didn't I check it properly!"
Artoria hoped the Lord of Heaven could hold on a bit longer. That way, it was possible for the rescue from Sorcerer Ancient One to arrive as quickly as possible. As long as the Ancient One used the Mirror Dimension to pull the attack inside, the crisis would vanish. Teleportation magic could also work, though Artoria felt the former was more reliable. These were all ways to at least save Hell from its fate of destruction. Artoria now only hoped that Gluttony's speed could be faster. Of course, Artoria was also in a state of self-reproach; if she had been patient enough to check the state of the Noble Phantasm more thoroughly, it wouldn't have led to this.
"Hold on a bit longer! Aren't you God? Don't give up!"
Sensing that the resistance faced by her Noble Phantasm was becoming smaller and smaller, Artoria felt that the opponent couldn't hold on anymore. However, the Noble Phantasm was still draining Artoria's mana, and it seemed it wasn't finished yet. This made Artoria a bit flustered. Not only Artoria, but the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Virtues also noticed the change in the energy pillar. The Seven Virtues stared blankly at the increasingly smooth energy pillar; their Master might have already, or would very soon, disappear from this world.
"You child, you've actually caused such a huge mess."
Just as Artoria felt that the opponent was about to completely disappear, a golden circle opened beside her. An old man with a face full of complaints walked over amidst Artoria's surprised gaze. This was exactly the Sorcerer Ancient One whom 'Gluttony' had gone to invite. Although the Ancient One was complaining, he was already prepared. A Mirror Dimension gate, stretching from the ground to the sky, unfolded before the Lord of Heaven at a speed that even Artoria couldn't perceive.
Once out of the range of attack, everyone noticed that the originally tall, giant-like Lord of Heaven had now turned into a glowing sphere the size of a person. Artoria didn't care much about this. Seeing her power blocked, Artoria breathed a deep sigh of relief. The Seven Deadly Sins did the same, as did the Seven Virtues. However, the Seven Virtues cast a very complicated look at Artoria before pulling the remaining part of their 'Master' to their side. After doing all this, they looked at Artoria's expression and found that she didn't have any look of rejection, which allowed them to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Sense my mana well, gather your mana properly, and slowly disconnect from the weapon. Only then will you not get hurt."
The highly experienced Ancient One saw Artoria's current problem at a glance. He placed one hand on Artoria's shoulder, and a warm current flowed through it to her entire body. Artoria understood that the Ancient One was helping her, so she lowered her mental guard and began to slowly gather her mana following the Ancient One's guidance. The Noble Phantasm also became less violent. In less than ten seconds, Artoria finally stopped this accidental world-destroying act.
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