Chaldea, Control Room.
"Report! Master Shiomi Tenkei, currently engaged with Beast I, has ceased all activity!" Meunière reported urgently.
Da Vinci looked startled. "What happened? Did he lose?"
As she spoke, she glanced at Romani, who remained silent.
The two of them had made an agreement—one they hadn't shared with the others.
"Not just him—Beast I has also entered an inactive state!" Sylvia added quickly. "The cause is unknown. Neither side has lost vital signs or magical output!"
At a time like this, the commander should have been giving orders—but Romani stayed silent. Da Vinci had no choice but to take the lead.
"Maintain the current strategy. Focus on supporting the Master in battle—try to get him back online!"
"Yes!"
With her command, the staff immediately returned to their tasks.
Da Vinci furrowed her brow and looked at Romani.
"Impossible… how could this be happening? Why is He here?"
Romani's expression was more serious than she had ever seen it, leaving Da Vinci completely puzzled.
"Romani, what is it?"
"Can't you feel it, Da Vinci?" Romani clutched his head, not from physical pain, but from the sheer weight of realization. "It's Him—His presence."
Not pain—but confusion. A deep unease about what was unfolding.
Why had Yahweh revealed Himself now, in the Temple of Time?
Was it because Shiomi intended to take the Ten Rings and defeat Goetia?
Or was it… that Goetia's Human Order Incineration had been a deed Yahweh acknowledged?
Then, all at once, Romani remembered every long conversation he'd ever had with Shiomi—and it hit him.
"…You knew. You suspected from the start, didn't you…"
"Him?"
Still trying to process, Da Vinci froze. Then, as if jolted awake, she turned toward SHEBA, the observation device floating around Chaldeas.
But Romani and Da Vinci weren't the only ones who sensed it.
Outside the Temple of Time, the Heroic Spirits battling against the Demon Pillars felt it too.
Those once-relentless Pillars—regenerating, reviving, attacking—froze mid-motion.
"My king…" Agravain asked softly.
"There's no need to speak, Agravain." Artoria raised her hand. "This battle has already surpassed anything any of us could have imagined."
There was no magical pressure. No aura.
It was simply… a presence. An overwhelming existence that no Heroic Spirit could ignore.
"What a terrifying presence…" Scáthach gripped her red spear tightly and muttered, "For my beloved disciple to face an enemy like this..."
Before she could finish, she spotted Morgan walking toward the central gate of the Temple of Time.
Scáthach immediately followed.
"You're going to get yourself killed—and make him lose focus?" Scáthach reached out and grabbed Morgan's shoulder.
"I'm not like you. I don't belong to this timeline. The gods I know… don't include beings like that." Morgan stopped, a calm yet resolute smile on her face. "Now that things have unfolded just as my husband predicted, what needs to be done is simple."
Morgan had no hesitation in her heart.
All she wanted now was to fight alongside Shiomi—at his side, no matter what came next.
"…Heh. I've really got no right to criticize you." Scáthach let go of Morgan's shoulder.
As his master, her thoughts weren't any different from Morgan's.
"You're too slow, Artoria," Morgan said. "If you're afraid, then stay here. We'll leave you behind. That way, the noble King of Knights won't have to bear the disgrace of standing against the gods."
Artoria, who had just landed beside them, slowly rose to her feet.
"I already opposed a god back in the Seventh Singularity. I doubt this is any different."
Their desires were the same; only the details differed.
For the sake of humanity—and for the ones they cherished—they would throw themselves into yet another, even fiercer battle.
But just as every Heroic Spirit had sensed the presence of Yahweh, they now faced a being that could not be resisted, whose will demanded obedience.
...
Black Keys rained down, piercing the ground before them—blocking their path.
"My apologies." Amakusa Shirou Tokisada's face was grim.
"The Lord has given His command. We..." Jeanne d'Arc gripped the banner in her hands.
Saint Martha leaned on her staff. "…must now become your enemies."
"We beg your forgiveness," said Saint George as he pressed his forehead against the blade of his sword held upright at his chest. "But we cannot allow you to proceed. You must remain here."
Heroic Spirits of shared faith, without coordination, had simultaneously broken from the frontline—standing as a barrier before the three.
"So that's what faith is," Morgan murmured, her expression unreadable as she lowered her gaze. "Holy ones—you are not wrong. But neither are we."
"There's no need to be ashamed. When 'He' reveals Himself, no one has the right to demand you renounce your faith," Scáthach said, raising her spear and pointing it at Jeanne at the front. "But we still have to pass."
"…We're out of time. No more holding back." Artoria tightened her grip on the Holy Sword.
Among the Knights of the Round Table, there were several whose beliefs aligned with the saints. She feared that what was unfolding now was no mere "internal conflict" like what once tore the Round Table apart.
It had already begun.
It pained her—but she couldn't stop it.
All they could do was reach the Temple of Time's core before the rest of the knights came to block the way.
No more words were exchanged.
Without warning, the battle ignited.
Faith granted the Heroic Spirits strength. Even ones like Amakusa Shirou—who were not individually powerful—could wield their Class Skills to create immense resistance.
This wasn't a crushing battle, but it wasn't something they could push through easily either.
Even knowing they would surely fall—even facing overwhelming odds—the saints fought with unshakable resolve.
"How much time do we have left?"
Scáthach asked as she struck down a Black Key flying in from behind.
"No way to know. Chaldea only reports that my husband and the Demon King Goetia are both currently in a state of stasis," Morgan replied.
She kept her eyes on Martha, who was shifting side to side, looking for an opening. While using magecraft to disrupt her attempts to summon Tarasque, she spoke calmly.
Even now, they couldn't guess what was happening on Shiomi's end.
And on this battlefield within the Temple of Time, among the many Servants who had come willingly to defend humanity, quite a few shared the saints' faith.
"We can't afford to hold anything back. We have to break through—now."
Artoria dodged Saint George's sword and unleashed the mana of the Holy Sword.
...
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