The Temple of Time was silent. Shiomi lay on the ground, feeling as if his body no longer belonged to him. His Magic Circuits and neuromuscular tissue were completely destroyed. The damage was far worse than when he had endured the Lion King's Holy Lance during the Sixth Singularity. This was truly divine punishment...
At least, he had no way to recover quickly and continue the fight.
"… I see. He used the power of life and the Ten Commandments to construct the Tree of Kabbalah, then reversed it, turning it into the 'Tree of Qliphoth,' denying the Lord's gift and, in turn, denying our existence."
The spear embedded in Goetia's chest slowly faded, and he muttered as if a realization had dawned on him.
"Truly a genius idea. Even Solomon would praise your unprecedented technique."
Goetia slowly stood upright, standing at the edge of the raised rock, gazing down at Shiomi from seven or eight meters below.
"But! Squandering the Lord's gift and weakening my Spirit Origin by ten essence points, and this is the result?!"
There was no doubt that Shiomi had failed to erase Goetia. But Shiomi had never intended to do so from the start.
"Your Spirit Origin… has dropped to Servant rank..." Shiomi's voice was barely audible. "You can no longer control the light band."
"But before that, I can still use the light band's power to wipe you out and seal the Temple of Time." Goetia raised his hand. "It's only a delay in fully activating the third Noble Phantasm. A mere year—I can wait that long."
The edges of the light band began to waver as Goetia divided some of its power to use as an offensive tool.
"Now, allow me to show you. This is the end of your journey. The end of human history. This is the moment my great work is completed and the planet is reborn! Deploying Third Noble Phantasm. "The Time of Birth Hath Come, I Am the Remedy of Eternity. Now, burn like the garbage you are! Ars Almadel Salomonis!"
The heat of the light band gradually approached Shiomi's body. This was the energy converted from all of humanity's history into raw energy. Even with its limited deployment, it was powerful enough to rival the combined force of the Holy Sword and the Holy Lance.
Shiomi, having completely lost his ability to resist, could only accept the inevitable. At least, that's what Goetia believed. After having his Spirit Origin weakened by the Ten Commandments' "Rebellion" and losing most of his power, the seemingly calm Demon King had long since surpassed anger—he only wished to end Shiomi's life here and now.
Thus, Goetia, already beyond calm, failed to notice the changes around him. For example— a new enemy had arrived at the heart of the Temple of Time.
"Excalibur!"
"Rhongomyniad!"
The counterattack, powerful enough to rival the third Noble Phantasm, collided with the descending light band. After several seconds of intense resistance, both forces dissipated, leaving nothing but a gust of wind sweeping across the shattered ground in the temple's center.
"What?!" Goetia looked up in shock at the source of the counterattack.
On two mountain rocks extending in the same direction, Morgan and Artoria stood at opposite edges. Artoria held the Holy Lance in her hand. Morgan, diagonally opposite her, stood with one hand on her hip, holding the Holy Sword with a calm posture. It was clear that, just like during the time in Uruk, Morgan had borrowed Artoria's weapon and unleashed its True Name.
"I finally caught up, but unfortunately I don't have such a large-scale Noble Phantasm, so I can only let them steal the limelight."
Then, Scáthach landed beside Shiomi and gently picked him up, his body stained red with blood.
"Master..." Shiomi forced a smile. "... Are you hurt?"
He saw the blood on his master's face and reached out, intending to wipe it away. Scáthach noticed this and raised her hand to wipe it off naturally, leaving only a faint trace.
"Don't worry, it's not my blood," Scáthach said.
When Yahweh's presence vanished, most of the Servants regained their sanity, but unfortunately, several saints had already been killed by the three of them.
"In short, my husband fought hard to get to this point," Morgan said as she landed nearby. "Leave the next battle to us..."
"Foolish." Goetia raised his hand indifferently. "Among the Heroic Spirits, you three are the ones most closely related to this man, so this is the end. Retreat."
Then, Artoria, who rarely showed indifference, launched a charge.
Goetia was forced to retreat, his gaze fixed on them in surprise. He had clearly used his power to force all the Servants to retreat, but it had no effect.
"Goetia is a top-level Summoning created by the King of Magecraft. What abilities does he gain when he transforms into a Beast?"
Shiomi turned his head in Scáthach's arms and glanced triumphantly at Goetia.
"Nega Summon." Morgan flicked her hair. "It seems that my husband used the Ten Commandments so extravagantly that he erased even your ability, Goetia."
"Everyone! Although Goetia's Spirit Origin rank has fallen to that of a Servant, he is still top-tier, and his Spirit Origin form is still a Beast! Don't let your guard down!"
Romani's warning came through Shiomi's communicator.
"Trust them, Doctor," Shiomi said.
At that moment, Goetia let out a cold snort. "It's a pity. Considering your status in human history, I had decided to let you leave without pain, but now I have no choice but to execute you myself."
"War is a matter of life and death. Be prepared, Demon King!"
Morgan pointed the Holy Sword at Goetia.
The Demon Pillars, which had been silent, began to move again, following their king into battle. She then joined Artoria's battle line with the Holy Sword and the Demon Spear, engaging in close combat with the Demon King.
Scáthach took advantage of this moment to carry Shiomi, who was still in her arms, to a relatively safe place.
"Master, aren't you going?" Shiomi asked softly.
"I'll go now." Scáthach gently leaned Shiomi against a rock. "You've fought so hard to get this far, and now we get to share the most exciting part of the battle."
"It's enough. I just did what I had to do," Shiomi smiled weakly.
Scáthach kissed him lightly on the lips, then licked the blood from her lips and nodded. She disappeared from Shiomi's side, turning into a purple meteor, heading straight for Goetia's blind spot.
"Fou..."
The smoke from the explosion instantly obscured the battlefield, and Shiomi heard a voice. Fou had come to this place alone.
"Are you here to protect me?"
"Fou—"
Fou let out a long cry of agreement and raised his front legs to pat his hand.
...
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