As the King of Magecraft made his declaration, the sky suddenly darkened.
The ground split open beneath them, and the writhing forms of the Demon Pillars emerged, swallowing the original throne along with the King of Magecraft himself.
"Reveal yourselves. Bear your blessings. These are the Beasts of calamity—Evils of Humanity."
The air at the center of the Temple of Time turned oppressively heavy. A chill seeped into Shiomi's bones.
Just as Chaldea had previously observed, the presence of a Beast was unmistakable.
The man who had claimed to be Solomon, the King of Magecraft, was in truth... a Beast.
"I am the one who exists as the King of Magecraft—Solomon. A projection, a system born of him. I am the first familiar created to lay the foundation for your magecraft. I ruled a kingdom alongside Solomon. But after his death, I was discarded—left to fester within his corpse as the Curse of Origin took root. And within that body, I achieved a physical form through Summoning."
The Demon Pillars receded from the throne, revealing the figure atop it—neither fully human nor fully monster.
A golden body. Eyes like those on the Demon Pillars twisted and writhed across its chest.
"I no longer need the name of the King of Magecraft. There's no reason to keep up the facade. I have no name—but if you need to call me something, then let it be this: the embodiment of wisdom, the one whose existence is longed for, who turns all of you into nourishment and begins the journey toward the ultimate—who creates a new star. The one who governs all seventy-two curses, who incinerates all history. The Incineration of Humanity—King of the Demon Gods, Goetia."
"…Goetia?" Shiomi raised his hand.
"That's right—it's also the general term for Solomon's magecraft," came Romani's voice through the communicator. "Trismegistus made the predictions and classifications. Spirit Origin type: Anti-Human. Output level: Class 2 planetary. It's Beast I!"
"Beast I... a Beast ranked even higher than Mother." Shiomi lowered his hand.
"…You sure about this, Shiomi?" Romani asked quietly. "If you can't—"
"I've already said it, Romani!" Shiomi cut him off, raising his voice. "These Beasts are just what's in front of us. Our true enemy is the one behind them!"
Romani fell silent. "You really believe that?"
"The truth will come out soon enough. I'm playing all my cards now," Shiomi said, part proclamation, part confession.
"Got it… Then fight with everything you've got! Chaldea will back you all the way!"
As Romani's voice faded, Shiomi charged straight toward Demon King Goetia without hesitation.
He seemed unarmed, yet Goetia—Beast I—possessed tremendous physical power. A mere swing of his hand released wind blades on par with Grand Magecraft.
"Even after seeing my true form, you still resist? Why refuse the path to a perfected intellect? Why keep fighting for humanity?"
Goetia caught Gungnir in his hand like it was a twig.
"I should be asking you. You were Solomon's familiar—why walk a path completely opposed to his?" Shiomi inwardly clicked his tongue, shocked by Goetia's overwhelming strength.
"I was his guardian spirit. My soul resonated with his. I saw all his sorrow—his endless pain. That's enough. There's no need to keep watching. On this planet, even gods are fated for destruction. We've lost all interest in humanity's future. What we need is a new, flawless beginning—"
Shiomi didn't waste the moment. As Goetia vented his fury, he freed a hand and grabbed the crimson spear—driving it into Goetia's arm without hesitation.
Though Goetia's body seemed indestructible, the cursed red spear pierced through.
Yet Goetia didn't flinch. No grimace, no sound of pain—he looked completely unfazed.
"Even gods can only be destroyed? You're a real smooth talker, Goetia!"
With both spears as catalysts, a surge of mana exploded outward. Goetia's body split open, blood spraying in all directions—yet his stance remained firm and unshaken.
He silently watched as Shiomi widened the distance between them.
"..."
"Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice…"
Shiomi abruptly began reciting a passage aloud.
For the first time, the ever-composed Demon King—who had treated the entire battle as entertainment—showed a subtle shift in expression.
"You? You dare recite the Lord's words?" Goetia's voice seethed with restrained fury.
"I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings."
Shiomi paced slowly forward, a massive spell circle gradually forming behind him.
Drawing upon the magecraft Solomon himself had devised, Shiomi now prepared to challenge him using the Primordial Runes uncovered by the god Odin—an invocation born of the Age of Myths.
"As expected, someone like you deserves death. A fool beyond saving, who cheated death by sheer luck... I'll be the one to bury you."
Goetia raised a hand, cold and deliberate.
The wounds from earlier were already gone in the blink of an eye. Even the curse of the crimson spear seemed to have left no trace.
As a Beast, this kind of regeneration was nothing unusual.
The heart of the temple trembled, torn apart by the clash of two utterly different magecraft systems—one tearing through water and fire, the other upheaving wind and earth.
Or perhaps they were both pure offensive magecraft, constructed from raw True Ether—overwhelming force made manifest.
Neither could gain the upper hand.
Goetia realized that a magecraft battle alone would never be enough to kill this man. And he no longer had time to waste.
The final moments required to complete Ars Nova's activation had already passed.
"Shiomi, I confirm the third Noble Phantasm is being deployed!" Romani's voice came urgently through the communicator.
He didn't know the full extent of Shiomi's Authority—but once that Noble Phantasm was triggered, the heat alone would completely vaporize his body. Shiomi's regenerative abilities could never keep pace with such destruction.
"Getting impatient, are we? Demon King Goetia?"
As the clash of spells came to an end, Shiomi landed back on solid ground.
"I've given you more than one chance. Repentance is no longer an option."
"No, I was waiting for this moment—waiting for you to use that power. If you'd continued to refuse, I would've been the one with a problem."
Shiomi drove the two spears into the ground, then slowly pulled something out—holding it delicately between his fingers.
"To use the body of the King of Magecraft as a nest, to steal away all his calamities... Even Solomon himself would be left in awe."
"That's... What is that you're holding, you bastard?!"
The moment Goetia saw it, an unfamiliar unease gripped him—stronger than anything he had felt before.