Chapter 10: A Luxurious Tactic
The center of the Temple of Time was collapsing on a terrifying scale. The throne, the long staircase, and the bodies of the Demon Pillars scattered throughout the area were all being destroyed in the battle between Shiomi and Goetia. Neither side cared about survival anymore; both were fighting with the intent to kill.
Seventh Ring, "Shakah."
Sixth Ring, "Kaitul."
Fifth Ring, "Akzeriyyuth."
More than half of the rings in Shiomi's hand had been used up. Each ring consumed released a powerful attack, causing irreversible damage to Goetia. The Spirit Origin output value of the Demon King continued to drop.
"Beast I, the Spirit Origin output value remains low. It's no longer possible to maintain planetary-level output!"
In Chaldea's control room, Romani watched the battle unfold. He listened as the staff monitoring the battlefield reported Goetia's declining Spirit Origin output, unconsciously clenching his hands in worry. It was indeed an extravagant way of fighting. Solomon had only used the gift of his Lord once in his life to perform a miracle. But Shiomi had no hesitation in consuming it, seeing it as a necessary cost to defeat Goetia. An unexpected strategy, an astonishing tactic, and the power to make it all come to life.
Romani wasn't angry at Shiomi's actions. If anything, he felt lucky to have given him the ring. Without that, he would have never had the chance to witness such a unique miracle. There is no right or wrong when it comes to power; it all depends on the result the user wants to achieve. Besides, Shiomi was bearing an unimaginable burden.
"Go ahead, fight. You've made the right choice."
"The future of humanity and the world is in your hands."
Romani silently prayed for victory in this battle. No one heard him. Shiomi, locked in combat with the King of the Demon Gods on the battlefield, could never have known.
"Ha!"
When Shiomi saw that his Grand Magecraft had failed to freeze the Demon King's body, he broke into a frenzied smile, grabbed Gungnir, turned, and stabbed backward with an almost impossible movement. Unfortunately, it was just a regular strike. Though it wounded Goetia, it wasn't significant enough to make him care. It only served to create some distance between them, which was quickly closed again.
Having been weakened six times, Goetia realized he could no longer afford to circle around. He had to defeat Shiomi here and now, or else this man would continue to use the rings, which would put him at a severe disadvantage. By then, he would have little energy left to activate his third Noble Phantasm.
"I don't understand. Why do you and those Heroic Spirits keep fighting for worthless humans? What's the point? Even if you defeat me, humans will just return to the way they were before—fearing death and repeating the same sorrowful path."
Goetia reached out and suddenly compressed the surrounding space, forcing Shiomi to defend himself.
"The Age of Myths ended, and after the Common Era, humans became the most prosperous species on the planet," Shiomi said softly. "In your opinion, this prosperity is nothing but sadness?"
"What else could it be? Resentment, misunderstanding, discrimination, persecution, pity... Humans have crossed so many Singularities to develop to this point, at what cost? Are you going to turn a blind eye to that?" Goetia sneered.
Shiomi gradually stabilized his Verteidigung, preventing the space from being squeezed further.
"You're different. Are you blind to the universal love, understanding, equality, protection, and tolerance that have emerged throughout history?" As he spoke, he suddenly lowered his voice. "Fourth Ring, 'Adyeshach' (Apathy) is a quality that suits you very well, Goetia."
He had originally wanted to confuse Shiomi with his words, but Shiomi seized the opportunity instead. The earth cracked under this force, and the space that had been squeezed inward suddenly exploded outward, releasing the accumulated power. This caught Goetia, who was maintaining the space control Magecraft, off guard.
Both sides fell to the ground.
Goetia indifferently got back up and looked at Shiomi, who was kneeling on the ground.
The sixth ring. Shiomi had gradually adapted to fighting under divine punishment, but if this continued, the situation would only become more and more disadvantageous for him. Goetia's Spirit Origin level was too high, and even if he weakened him to the end, it would only make him defeatable.
At that moment...
"Let's go for it."
Shiomi made up his mind and glanced at the cracked ground beneath him, where dangerous mana was surging. This was Imaginary Numbers Space. The most suitable Magecraft for this situation was Imaginary Magecraft. As the foundation of Magecraft for future generations, Goetia could easily wield the highest level of Imaginary Magecraft.
He took advantage of the fact that Imaginary Space does not exist at the correct time to send the Holy Grail to Mesopotamia, long before his own birth, in order to awaken the Goddess Tiamat. This was not surprising. Rather, Goetia was overly confident in his own power and initially did not even bother to engage in a full-scale Magecraft battle with Shiomi.
Weakened to such an extent by the power of the Ten Commandments, Goetia finally seemed to have come to his senses. Or rather, he let go of his unnecessary pride.
When the Imaginary Numbers mana beneath his feet tore apart, Shiomi drew out the power of both rings. The divine punishment suddenly intensified, but it was not enough to interrupt his actions. It was still within his limits of endurance.
"Third Ring, 'Sheriruth'; Second Ring, 'Iweleth'."
Like a candle lit in a storm, not only did it not go out, but it grew stronger and stronger, finally turning into a blazing flame that burned everything to ashes. In turn, it eroded the Mana that was like a tidal wave.
"You bastard!"
Goetia saw that Shiomi's body had reached its limit and saw his desperate counterattack, destroying his own Spirit Origin. The entire Temple of Time shook from the conflict, as if a catastrophe was about to strike.
After a while, the tremors gradually subsided. Shiomi clenched his fists, forced his body to move, and launched his final attack on Goetia. His limbs were numb, blood was gushing from all seven orifices, and his skin was like a piece of fine silk, with blood seeping out from underneath.
"Why? Why! Even after suffering divine punishment, you can still fight to this extent!"
Goetia struggled to get up and fight back, but he was still a beat too slow.
"First Ring, 'Bacikal'. Let this last ring be denied along with your master."
The spear of light held in Shiomi's hand at that moment was not Gungnir, but an imitation of its form. The spear, which had almost slipped out of his hand due to exhaustion, shot out with a loud sound.
The seemingly impossible blessing pierced Goetia right through. But Shiomi was too weak to see this. He collapsed forward onto the ground, a pool of blood forming beneath him.
"...Goetia, Spirit Origin output has dropped to... level..."
The broken communicator crackled with intermittent sounds from the control room.