"You went to such lengths—scattering the Demon Pillars, passing them down into countless Magus Families, setting off eruptions across history—and yet you didn't even know this? Solomon's Clairvoyance didn't tell you?"
Shiomi held the ring between his fingers, calm and composed, as he slipped it onto the middle finger of his left hand.
"Or... did your master simply never tell you?"
Such immense power required a corresponding vessel to wield it. Goetia had seized Solomon's body, claimed nine of the Ten Rings, and even forged a near-perfect tenth by his own hand.
The Seat of Omnipotence had, for a time, become his.
"Before the King of Magecraft, Solomon, died, he feared that the Magecraft he created might one day become a threat to humanity," Shiomi said, flexing the fingers of his newly adorned hand. "So, when the Ten Rings were returned, he sent the final one into the future—entrusting it to end whatever 'threat' might arise."
"Impossible! That man was all talk—how could he ever care that deeply about humanity? And how could someone like you end up with that ring?!"
The activation of Goetia's third Noble Phantasm was imminent. But he now realized this brief interval—this lapse—could become his only vulnerability.
Then suddenly, clarity returned to him. His tone steadied.
"No... that's not right. The Ten Rings were gifts from the Lord. Without hearing His Revelation—without His permission—not even you can wield them."
"Solomon hoped that whoever received this ring would use it for the right purpose. Even without divine permission, a human is still worthy—so long as they possess it. In that, you and I are the same, Goetia."
Shiomi slowly raised the hand bearing the ring, as if clutching Goetia's distant figure in his palm.
"It's time. Hand over what you stole. That Seat of Omnipotence was never yours to begin with."
Just as Romani had said, the final ring truly held the authority to command the other nine.
Originally, it was meant to be used by Solomon himself. But Shiomi had rejected that ending—and asked Romani to entrust it to him instead.
Even he didn't fully understand why.
Was it sympathy for a man who had no freedom?
Or was it something else...
"You think I'll let that happen?"
As the nine rings tore free from Goetia's body and drifted toward Shiomi, he reached out, trying to seize them back.
The third Noble Phantasm could be triggered at any moment—to obliterate Shiomi completely.
But Goetia now had another priority: reclaiming the final ring—the one the powerless king had left behind for humanity.
The Seat of Omnipotence belonged to him.
The Lord's blessing belonged to him.
That was the Revelation he'd received upon possessing the King of Magecraft's body.
A magical formula that had gained will of its own—Goetia's only dream had been to hear the Lord's Divine Oracle.
Demon King Goetia—he alone would bring a new future to this world.
The nine rings hovered midair, caught between two opposing wills.
"The Ten Rings are divine authority made manifest. Even if you've accomplished deeds beyond the gods, you're still just a Magus," Shiomi said, steady and sure. "The difference between us... is power."
"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!"
Just as Shiomi had claimed, the nine rings now drifted under his control. Empowered by the tenth, they slowly pulled away from Goetia.
No matter what he did, he couldn't take them back.
He couldn't accept it—how could he accept it?
"Come, Ten Rings! Gather in my hand—join with my Authority and shatter the Demon King's ambitions!" Shiomi drew a deep breath and declared with force.
[You may come this far, but no farther. Your arrogant actions must end here.]
A voiceless voice rang out.
No lips moved. No sound was spoken.
Yet the words echoed like a chant, etched vividly into Shiomi's mind.
And Goetia's as well.
"Wha—?"
Their consciousnesses were forcibly pulled toward the center, where the nine rings hovered.
Their eyes briefly turned vacant—then focus returned.
Shiomi and Goetia stood within a vast, pure-white expanse.
No sky. No ground.
A sea of spirit.
Some foreign will had drawn both of their minds into this place.
Its origin was unmistakable—the nine rings.
"Who is this that darkens counsel with ignorant words?"
"These words... this will..."
Goetia stood motionless, stunned as if petrified.
"My Lord…"
The nine rings no longer responded. No matter how Shiomi willed it, they didn't budge.
As if he had expected this all along, he slowly lowered his hand.
"I don't know exactly what this is, but something told me... if I went this far, you wouldn't be able to sit still. You'd show yourself."
Shiomi's eyelids lowered, his stance casual—irreverent.
Then, his eyes snapped open in fury, glaring toward the unseen, unfelt, yet undeniably present being.
"What are you planning now, Yahweh?!"
Goetia stared silently at Shiomi, but his eyes were filled with outrage—that he would dare to speak the Name of the Lord aloud.
[Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.]
[Declare it, if thou art indeed wise; let thy words be heard, and thy understanding made plain.]
"I have nothing to say to you, Yahweh." Shiomi lifted his left hand, revealing the ring. "Even you can't revoke what's already been granted. I understood that even more clearly after I became Mother's child."
[And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.]
"I've heard enough excuses," Shiomi replied flatly. "You made yourself known. You showed your will. So what is it this time? Are you here to take back the Ten Rings? To forbid anyone from using them again?"
This was Shiomi's strategy.
The moment he glimpsed Yahweh's guidance to Goetia through the Tablet of Destinies, he knew this confrontation was inevitable.
So he wielded the tenth ring in the most blasphemous way possible—to provoke the power that once bestowed it.
Now, Yahweh had only two choices:
Either reclaim the Ten Rings—or do nothing, and let Shiomi seize them and destroy Goetia's designs.
[Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.]
[Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?]
That was Yahweh's only answer to Shiomi's defiance.
"Sin or not—that's not yours to judge. Like all the other gods, it's time for you to leave this world and return to the outer realms. The future of this planet belongs to humanity."
Shiomi spread his arms wide, cradling the ring—and the figure of Goetia beyond—in his grasp.
Then he answered, without hesitation.