Outside.
The sudden eruption of blood-red Karma Fire instantly engulfed the entire Demon God Pillar, scorching its surface with unimaginable heat!
The body of the Demon God Pillar began to char.
The flesh fragments composing its form slowly turned to ash and disintegrated under the roaring flames. The blazing fire—like a demon of infernal wrath—clearly devoured the monstrous pillar, saturated with corruption and evil.
"Wuaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh—! !"
Flauros's agonized scream echoed violently from within the sea of fire.
"This isn't possible! Impossible! This Noble Phantasm… A replica! That fake! Why is it still blocking me now—of all times?! False Saintess!"
"Eh?"
Hearing Flauros's roar, Ritsuka and her companions—who had already been stunned by the sudden blaze—fell silent once more.
False Saintess?
"Witch Jeanne?!" Ritsuka stared at Jeanne in disbelief. "Is this fire caused by Witch Jeanne?"
[Seems so. Well, after all, this is Jeanne Alter. She was attacked stealthily and then swallowed whole. Her mood must've exploded—and she intended to give up and drag her enemy down to hell with her.]
[Regardless, this is a perfect opportunity. If Jeanne Alter detonates from within, Aoko merely needs to unleash massive output from outside—it'll be enough to completely annihilate the Demon God Pillar. Has your Magic finished charging, Aoko?]
"Didn't you tell me to maximize the power as much as possible? Of course I had to prepare thoroughly."
As she spoke, the number of layered magical circles stacked before Aoko's fist had grown so immense that mere observation induced dread. If translated into status effects and buffs, the count approached one hundred.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
In the Control Room.
Watching the Mana values skyrocketing on the monitors, all staff unconsciously turned their gazes toward Naoki. The last time such abnormal Mana levels appeared was when Naoki fought Solomon—back then, it was Divine Spirit-tier power.
Now, Aoko—a human—was approaching that same threshold.
(Definitely no mistake—they're family. Both Natsukawa and Aozaki.)
If asked who felt the most relieved right now, it was undoubtedly Roman. The final vision he'd witnessed through Clairvoyance ten years ago was a future where everything burned to cinders. To prevent such an outcome, he'd devoted every moment over the past decade to learning everything he could, hoping to be useful in the future.
But now… he felt almost no pressure. Though this should have been a world-ending crisis, he felt no overwhelming burden.
The reason? The person sitting beside him right now.
"Natsukawa… thank you."
"Huh? Why are you suddenly thanking me, Roman?"
"It's nothing. I just wanted to say it now."
Roman offered a faint smile.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
At that moment—
"I think this is enough…"
With both hands supporting the towering, multi-layered magical circle above her head—resembling a colossal cannon—Aoko took a deep breath and poured Mana into the innermost ring closest to her palms.
The next second—
*SWISH!*
Before the eyes of Ritsuka and her companions, a brilliant "sun" of blue light slowly rose from beyond the horizon!
The sheer magnitude of mana immediately drew Flauros's attention. Though he'd anticipated stopping Aoko the moment he realized she was preparing a spell, the raging Karma Fire burning inside his own body had rendered him unable to concentrate his Mana to interrupt her.
Now, Aoko's magical cannon was far beyond what the Demon God Pillar alone could possibly resist!
"This can't be… impossible… Our Sacred Pillar… Our Seventy-Two Demon Gods… Could we be defeated by lowly human Masters and Servants?! This is impossible… utterly impossible aaaahhhhhhhhh…!"
Flauros's heart-wrenching screams echoed violently throughout the inferno.
But no matter how much he refused to accept it, Aoko gave him no chance to fight back. The flames consuming his body would not die.
"I throw!"
Facing the Demon God Pillar now entirely engulfed in fire, Aoko hurled the incredibly heavy magical projectile from her hands with all her strength!
*BOOMMMMMM!*
In an instant, blinding white light and a thunderous roar swept across the entire world.
So intense was the radiance that it nearly blinded Ritsuka and her companions—they immediately dove behind Mash for cover. Mash raised her shield to brace against the incoming shockwave.
*BAM!*
Like being struck by a fully-loaded truck traveling at full speed, the force made Mash feel her shield might fly out of her grasp—but the sensation lasted only a moment. Like a violent wind that came and vanished without trace, the shockwave and the light lasted but a heartbeat… then disappeared entirely from everyone's sight.
Only a vast crater remained where the Demon God Pillar had stood.
Staring at the meteor-impact-like scar in the earth, then glancing at Aoko beside them, Ritsuka was the first to lose control of her laughter after a brief silence: "Hahaha… This is too…!"
"You went way overboard, Magician…" Hinako sighed helplessly while massaging her temples. "Even though you truly obliterated the Demon God Pillar, your attack just reshaped the entire landscape… A hole over a hundred meters wide? It's incredible you managed that."
"Will this affect history?"
[I doubt it. Even if it does, it'll likely be retroactively rewritten as something plausible—an actual meteor strike, or a natural gas explosion, or similar.]
Naoki explained.
[Still… even so, you really went overboard, Aoko. Don't you know what restraint means?]
"Hah?" Aoko immediately frowned. "Didn't you tell me to destroy it with maximum firepower?! I worked my ass off crafting that massive bullet until my Mana was nearly drained! You just sat there watching—not even cheering me on—and now you're lecturing me?!"
[I did say that… Haaah, forget it. I have no right to criticize you. After all, if I'd gone there myself, I probably would've done something even more extreme. Sorry. And also… thank you for your hard work, Aoko.]
"Hmph! Now that's more like it!"
Aoko crossed her arms and huffed proudly: "So… is this really over? Is this Singularities mission done? Turned out pretty fast."
[Yes. The Demon God Pillar has been annihilated. With your blast, the Holy Grail was surely destroyed along with it. Thus, the root forming this Singularities is gone. I believe the area will collapse soon. Roman, prepare the Spiriton transfer to retrieve Fujimaru—I understand.]
They could return to Chaldea.
Understanding Naoki's meaning, Ritsuka let out a long, relieved sigh, her shoulders slumping: "Thank goodness…"
[Thank you for your hard work, Fujimaru. Rest well when you return.]
"Yeah…"
[Alright, communication ends here. See you later, Fujimaru, Mash, Senior Hinako. And Aoko…]
"Just come find me when you've got time." Aoko said. "You've got other business, right? Take care of it first. I'm not in a hurry."
[Understood.]