In the Control Room.
Watching Naoki appear relaxed, Roman—though aware that Naoki never acted without careful calculation—still asked: "You really aren't planning to go, Natsukawa? Lev… you should know better than anyone the power of the Demon God Pillar."
"Yes."
"Then… even if this is meant to train Fujimaru and Mash, starting with this is too…"
"Too difficult?" Naoki smiled. "Perhaps it seems so to you, Roman—but this is only the first Singularities. The one with the smallest fluctuations and lowest difficulty level. What we'll face in the next Singularities… I've already told you about them."
Roman had indeed been informed of what awaited them in the coming Singularities.
Beyond various Servants, they would confront Demon God Pillars one after another—even Divine Spirits, even the Mother Creator from Mesopotamian mythology—all enemies Ritsuka and her companions would eventually face.
"Compared to the foes awaiting them in the future, right now they're only facing a single Demon God Pillar. The boss level is precisely at the edge of their current capabilities. If they need my help for something like this…"
"I can't stand you. Aren't your expectations of that child impossibly high?"
"Are they? Compared to what I've endured, I consider one Demon God Pillar an easy situation. If only I'd faced something this simple back then."
Hearing Naoki's words, Roman glared at him instantly—but at the same time, he had to admit Naoki was right. Compared to his own past experiences, the situation in this first Singularities was genuinely easy.
"Besides, I didn't say I wouldn't help."
Naoki suddenly changed tone.
"I merely said I won't go there—not that I won't assist."
"Eh? What do you mean… Wait, what are you sending?"
As Naoki pressed the final Enter key, he grinned: "An effective method to annihilate the Demon God Pillar—I can't fight for you, but giving you strategy? That's perfectly fine, isn't it?"
"You're…"
Roman couldn't suppress a helpless, wry smile: "Please don't scare me like that. It's bad for my heart."
"Didn't you get startled? What's that got to do with me?"
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
In the Singularities.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
As the crimson-red eyes on the Demon God Pillar pulsed, horrific explosions continued to tear through the earth. Thick black mist surged like an avalanche of snow, wildly obliterating everything around it.
The Demon God Pillar named Flauros functioned like a cannon with infinite ammunition, relentlessly unleashing waves of destructive power.
Under such an onslaught of infernal fire, no living being could possibly survive. Flauros was certain of it.
But—
*BOOOOOMM!*
Like a cannonball launched from a barrel, Jeanne suddenly burst out from the dust created by the explosions. Behind her, Mash carrying Ritsuka, followed by Aoko and Hinako, emerged one after another in rapid succession!
None of them were injured?!
Amidst this carpet-bombing assault, not even a single person was hurt?!
"Lady Holy Banner?"
Seeing the slightly damaged Holy Banner in Jeanne's hand, Flauros immediately understood.
"Just a survival tactic. But how long can that holy banner protect you all!"
Countless crimson eyes simultaneously fixed their gaze upon Jeanne and her companions. As those eyes began glowing, an intense sense of danger immediately swept over everyone.
"Jeanne-san, please catch Master!"
Without hesitation, Mash accelerated past Jeanne, forcefully hurling Ritsuka—who was cradled in her arms—toward Jeanne, then immediately materialized her shield—
*BOOMMMMMM!*
A deafening explosion erupted violently into the air. Strange, massive violet flames bloomed like volcanic eruptions. The immense shockwave instantly flung Mash—who stood at the front—backward!
At the exact moment Mash was thrown, a sword simultaneously streaked toward her from Hinako's hand. Automatically flying into Mash's grip, the blade instantly pulled her back to safety.
"Akuta-senpai?! This—"
"That's called Taoist Air-Grabbing! It'd be a nightmare if our tanks vanished mid-battle. Next time, stand firm!"
"Got it! Thank you so much!"
(Akuta-senpai is incredibly reliable—even without self-destructing!)
Ritsuka, being carried on Jeanne's shoulder, unconsciously thought this—by the way, why did she have to be carried like this? Even though it was to keep her from falling behind, she felt an icy chill beneath her skirt!
*TIT-TIT-TIT!*
At that moment, her bracelet suddenly beeped. Struggling to lift her arm, Ritsuka opened it: "Eh? From the Department Head? Method to Annihilate the Demon God Pillar—from Start to Wuaaaahhh—!"
Suddenly thrown into the air and then plummeting downward, Ritsuka couldn't help screaming!
"Sorry, Miss Fujimaru. The situation was urgent—did Mr. Natsukawa send something?"
"Ugh… dizzy… He sent it…"
"Let me see!"
Aoko, following closely behind, immediately grabbed Ritsuka's wrist and read the message displayed:
"
"
As Aoko deflected incoming explosive blasts with a single magical cannon shot, she sighed heavily amid the raging storm of detonations: "He's dumping all the work onto me again. Though… I did come here to help…"
"Can we count on you, Aoko-san?"
Alongside Jeanne, Mash once again blocked the incoming attacks from the eyes, seizing the brief opening to ask: "Among us, Aoko-san possesses the greatest ranged firepower. That magic which obliterated Fafnir earlier—can you use it again?"
"Yes, no problem. But it requires preparation time."
"We'll give you time. Don't fail."
Hinako swung her sword, cleaving through the incoming violet flames. The searing wave split cleanly down the middle, rushing harmlessly to either side of them.
"We have many ways to buy you time. You just need to be responsible for blowing it to pieces. Human Rocket Launcher."
"I really hate that nickname…"
Sighing helplessly, Aoko halted her movement. She took a deep breath—and the massive magical circle reappeared beneath her feet. Layer upon layer of concentric rings, like a Matryoshka doll, formed once more along her arms.
(Is that going to happen? The attack that erased the evil dragon?)
Witnessing this sight, every eye across Flauros's body locked onto Aoko simultaneously. Even before revealing himself, he had silently observed her—he knew full well of Aoko's devastating attack that wiped out Fafnir.
With his current form, if he absorbed that attack, complete annihilation was not impossible.
(I just need to stop it before it activates.)
*SWISH!* *SWISH!* *SWISH!*
Crimson flashes ignited in countless eyes. Regardless of whether it could be blocked, he only needed to interrupt the spell's activation.
Yet—at that very moment—
*BUZZZ!*
Blood-red Karma Fire erupted without warning, scorching the surface of the Demon God Pillar!