Chapter 177 – The Final Lesson of Grand Rider
Nine beams of radiance shot out from the bow in Heracles's hand, immediately piercing through the ranks of Sea Demons ahead!!!
"Chiiiii————————!!!"
The bloated white mass opened its giant bird-like beak and let out a piercing screech, trying to call for help from its "Mother."
But the nine beams, after passing through the Sea Demon horde, once again converged into one, and flew straight toward the white mass that was screeching with its mouth wide open!!!
The massive beam of light pierced precisely through the body of that twisted creature, then a fierce light began to engulf its entire body.
Its ear-piercing scream was drowned out by the deafening sound of the arrow tearing through the surface of the sea.
"BOONG————————!!!"
Whether it was the Sea Demons or the transparent tentacles falling from the body of the twisted creature, all of them completely disintegrated within that beam of light!
Along with the disappearance of that bloated white mass, the Goat-headed Demons in the sky and the Sea Demons in the ocean no longer appeared endlessly.
Heracles silently raised his head to look at the golden Noah's Ark floating in the sky before him.
The screen of the livestream broadcast room had recorded the entire scene.
Heracles's lone confrontation and the heroic image when he activated his Noble Phantasm were deeply imprinted into the minds of the viewers in the livestream.
[I hereby declare one thing: Heracles is no longer just a unit of combat strength!]
[It really was 'Nine Lives: Shooting the Hundred Heads'! The power is terrifying.]
[Truly the Heracles of Greek mythology, killed even the avatar of the Outer God in an instant!]
[Heracles: All evil must be punished!]
[If Illya had summoned Heracles as Archer back then, maybe things wouldn't have turned out the same.]
[Nonsense. If Heracles was Archer, then what, you want Gilgamesh and some chef to be Berserkers?]
[Gilgamesh as Berserker? Tsk tsk tsk, would he be sharing heartfelt talks with Illya every day then?]
[If the Einzberns knew Archer was this strong, they never would've thought of making Heracles go mad.]
...
[System: 'SAITO CHEASTO' has sent 1,000 Saint Quartz!]
[Message: Host, can you ask Heracles to do a livestream gym training session? Surely there won't be a lack of viewers, both boys and girls!!]
…
After that bloated white mass disappeared, the Goat-headed Demons in the sky also stopped appearing.
The golden Noah's Ark continued to ascend, preparing to approach the massive entity whose tentacles were endlessly stretching out from the sky, trying to invade this world.
"Zzzzzzz————————!!!"
From the pitch-black mass like a cloud, viscous black liquid dripped down, piercing through the golden light emitted by the stone in Noah's hand.
When it landed on the hull of Noah's Ark, it immediately corroded a large hole.
Noah stood at the bow of the ship, his gaze firmly fixed upward.
At that moment, a massive black fog suddenly appeared ahead, and Noah's Ark immediately charged straight into it.
Inside the black mist, it was completely impossible to discern directions; only the glowing stone in Noah's hand allowed some visibility of the surroundings.
Johanna immediately used the silver cross-shaped holy staff in her hand to expand a barrier, trying to disperse a small area that could be observed.
Immediately after, everyone on the ship remained on high alert and scanned their surroundings.
"Doctor? Can you determine the direction of the enemy?"
Mash raised her shield to protect Ethan and immediately asked through the bracelet.
"Unable to determine positioning at the moment. It's presumed that the surrounding space has been pulled into some kind of Reality Marble!"
Doctor Romani nervously began observing the data on the screen.
Due to the attempt to observe the entity beyond the world, many SHEBA lenses were damaged, with only a few remaining. The Chaldea technicians, under Da Vinci's direction, continued the analysis.
"Senpai, please don't leave my side."
"Umu."
Ethan furrowed his brows and looked around.
There was an eerily familiar sensation here, just like the space he had fallen into after being swallowed by the Black Mud.
"Sorry, but I can't let you continue interfering with 'Mother's' descent."
Within the black mist, something seemed to have just landed on the deck of the ship.
Immediately afterward, Molay's figure appeared amidst the hazy fog.
"Whoosh————————!!!"
As soon as she appeared, a sharp slash instantly came cutting through!!!
"Tch, missed?"
Mordred said with dissatisfaction, then gripped her sword with both hands again, preparing to strike.
"Even 'Mother's' avatar was defeated by you all—your strength is far greater than I expected."
Molay's voice echoed again from within the black mist.
"Foreigner, don't tell me you really think this weak barrier can trap us?"
Noah once again drew his longsword, ready to carve a path like before.
"Of course I don't think this is enough to restrain you all, but just stalling a bit of time is sufficient."
Along with Molay's voice, her figure appeared again in the mist—and beside her, the vague silhouette of the small black goat.
"Go, Baphy, for the descent of 'Mother'!!!"
The black goat within the fog began to grow endlessly larger!
"MEEEHH————————!!!"
As it let out its cry, its true body finally slowly stepped out of the black mist.
A Demon with the head of a goat and massive horns, covered in sigils of demonic origin, appeared before everyone.
Unlike the normal Goat-headed Demons from before, it had no wings—instead, the giant worm that had always followed Molay was now tightly coiled around its body.
The bizarre sight of a goat and a worm entwined like that made Mash instinctively tighten her grip on the shield in her hands.
After it manifested, the Goat-headed Demon charged straight at everyone!!!
"Haaa————————!!!"
Mordred immediately swung her sword, slashing from the front.
"Clang————————!!!"
The Goat-headed Demon raised a black cross-shaped holy sword, etched with demonic runes, to block Mordred's strike.
Judging by the faint glimmer of dark light on it, it could be roughly determined that this was originally Molay's weapon, seemingly spat out from the maw of the worm.
As Mordred's attack was blocked, the massive worm coiled around the Demon's body immediately opened its mouth wide toward her!
"Take this strike of mine!!!"
Jeanne Alter instantly raised the black evil dragon banner in her hand, unleashing a stream of black fire straight at the worm's head, which exploded instantly!!!
"BOOM————————!!!"
Blown back by the explosion, the Goat-headed Demon didn't become afraid—instead, it grew even more berserk.
Its eyes were filled with the light of madness, and it raised the black holy sword high in the air, slashing fiercely down at Jeanne Alter!
"Clang————————!!!"
Jeanne Alter immediately drew her black sword to block the slash, but the intense impact forced her arm down with heavy pressure.
"Hmph, is that all..."
Though struggling greatly, Jeanne Alter still kept her usual expression of "too easy, hmph."
Immediately, the worm slithered to Jeanne Alter's feet and coiled around her!
"Watch out!!!"
Seeing this, Mash immediately raised her shield and charged forward, placing herself in front of Jeanne Alter and knocking the worm off course.
Unexpectedly, the worm formed from the Holy Shroud suddenly expanded several times over, its gaping black mouth opening wide as if to swallow both Jeanne Alter and Mash whole!
"Whoosh————————!!!"
A slashing sound rang out, and a deep cut immediately appeared on the worm's body.
The worm let out a scream of pain, quickly retreating and coiling tightly back around the Demon's body.
"Hey, did you think I wasn't here?!"
Mordred shouted in frustration, raising Clarent, which was now emitting a powerful black aura.
"MEEHH————————!!!"
The Goat-headed Demon was preparing to swing its sword again, when suddenly—a golden light beam descended from the sky in an instant, piercing straight through the body of the demon known as "Baphy"!
The Methuselah Sword in Noah's hand radiated intense magical energy. He seized the opportunity and delivered a fatal, decisive blow!
"…la…la..."
The Goat-headed Demon let out a strange sound, and then its body suddenly expanded to many times its size?!
"Everyone, get back now!!!"
With Noah's urgent shout, Mash and Johanna simultaneously activated full defense.
"BOOM————————!!!"
Like a balloon bursting under pressure, a torrent of black mud (black mud) violently spewed out from the exploding body of the demon!
Luckily, everyone had been prepared in advance, narrowly avoiding the sweep of the black mud.
After the tremors ended, everyone turned to look ahead once more.
Along with the Goat-headed Demon's body vanishing, the black mist also gradually dissipated—yet now the Noah's Ark was covered in black mud.
The streams of black mud were continuously corroding the ship, even making its airborne status increasingly unstable.
"Everyone, hold on tight!!!"
Noah swung the Methuselah Sword forward, and with that slash, the barrier cracked and shattered instantly!
Right before everyone's eyes, a rift in space appeared—Noah's Ark immediately surged forward, piercing straight through the black mist in one go!!!
"Senpai, we finally made it out!"
Mash had not even finished reporting the situation back to Chaldea when—
In the next moment, a scene that shook everyone to the core appeared before their eyes.
A massive black mass of flesh, like rolling storm clouds, writhed continuously in the sky; long, slender tentacles extended from within the mass, some nearly falling onto Noah's Ark.
At the center of the black flesh, countless gaping mouths endlessly chewed on something; the black liquid dripping from them made the seawater below boil constantly, and the sky had long since lost any trace of light.
The air was filled with overwhelming madness, and endless whispers echoed within everyone's minds.
Ethan clenched his teeth, struggling to endure the feeling of insanity.
However—before the true body of Shub-Niggurath, all of one's efforts became meaningless.
"Looks like… we arrived a step too late..."
Upon witnessing this scene, Doctor Roman's mood turned somewhat disheartened.
"No, we still have hope."
Noah said.
"Humanity is by no means a weak species. Isn't that what you've always believed in?"
Noah stood at the bow of the ship. He turned his head and gave a smile.
Then, he walked over to Ethan, placing a softly glowing stone into Ethan's hand.
"This stone is called Zohar. It is proof that I am a descendant of Adam. It can prove that you have not been tainted by the demons. With this stone, the Human Order should no longer be rejected by Chaldea."
"Noah… why are you suddenly giving this to me?"
Suddenly entrusted with this stone, Ethan felt something was wrong.
"Thank you for letting me fulfill my duty as a Grand Rider, Master."
Noah smiled at Ethan.
"From here on, leave the rest to me."
Just as Noah finished speaking, Noah's Ark suddenly tilted sharply to one side without any warning?!
"Uwaaahhhhh——————!!!"
Mash and Ethan, completely unprepared, slipped off the ship!
Realizing they had just fallen off the Ark, instinct kicked in, and they desperately tried to grab onto something in midair.
"Whoosh————————!!"
Suddenly, a small boat rushed in, catching Ethan and Mash just in time in midair.
Before they could even grasp what was happening, the small boat continued to catch Jeanne Alter, Mordred, and Johanna as they fell from above.
Only at this moment did everyone realize: this small boat—just like Noah's Ark—could also fly in midair?!
"Hey! Did that guy just throw us off?!"
Mordred was the first to angrily question.
"Senpai, are you alright?!"
Mash immediately checked on Ethan and everyone else.
"No… I'm fine."
However, at that moment, Ethan could only look up at Noah, who was piloting Noah's Ark alone, charging straight toward the massive creature in the sky!
Noah's Ark, corroded by the black mud, was gradually falling apart mid-flight.
The ship that once carried the hopes of humanity was now facing alone the greatest threat to mankind.
Standing at the bow of the ship, Noah looked down at the small boat below and gave a faint smile.
"Indeed, preparing a backup vessel was the right decision. Thanks to the part of Captain Nemo's Saint Graph within me, I was able to make up for my lack of maritime experience."
Then, Noah looked up.
That creature—a being that should not exist on Earth—was breaking through the final seal, countless deranged and horrifying sounds echoing from its tens of thousands of gaping mouths!
"As the Grand Rider, there's only one thing I need to do at this moment—to open the path for them."
"Your willingness to sacrifice yourself is admirable, but if possible, I'd prefer you not to drag me along."
Draco stepped out from a corner.
"You're the one who refused to leave~ I clearly gave you the chance already~"
"Hmph, as a Beast, how could I possibly accept your kindness!!"
Draco crossed her arms, speaking in a voice full of disdain.
"Aiyaya~, the truth is, you just don't want that boy to stop here, right?"
Noah asked with interest.
"Of course! I, a Beast, was defeated by him. If he were to stop here, wouldn't that just prove that I was only ever that much to begin with?"
Draco looked up in frustration at the evil creature hovering in the sky.
"That rude alien dares to wreak havoc at my banquet table—unforgivable!!!"
"Have you truly made your decision?"
Noah turned to look at Draco.
"Quit pretending. You still haven't forgotten the time I tore you apart, have you?"
"I'm not that petty~ Besides, I have the spirit of someone who's already 600 years old~"
Noah smiled, then gave the final command to the now nearly shattered Noah's Ark:
"I will use all of my authority to eliminate this threat from beyond the stars. Advance at full power and ram straight into it—for the final hope of humanity!!!"