A flawless beam of light cut through the blood-red sky, striking the calamity beast charging toward them like a falling star.
The blinding explosion instantly overwhelmed the fire's glow. The surviving Londinium soldiers squeezed their eyes shut, and even Ector had to raise his axe to block the light.
A torrent of Mana erupted outward from the calamity beast, swallowing the burning earth and snuffing out flames across several kilometers.
"We hit it!" Barghest said, unable to hide her relief.
She had nearly broken into a cold sweat under the pressure of that Noble Phantasm.
The spear wielded by the God King carried the power to slay fairies specifically. Whether it was her, Melusine, or Woodwose, facing that weapon meant suffering a natural disadvantage.
So Barghest firmly believed that even as a calamity, Woodwose should be unable to—
"Don't relax. It's coming!"
Shiomi dropped to one knee, placing both palms on the earth. The Runes came alive, writhing and spreading forward as they continually generated new symbols.
As the torrent of Mana from Longinus faded, the calamity beast was already nearly upon them, closing the distance in a blur of terrifying speed.
Scáthach and Melusine raised their weapons.
Competing head-on in raw strength against such a giant would be foolish. They had to avoid that pure physical strike drenched in curse Mana, find an opening, and use precision to outmaneuver power.
"Shattering Jaw!"
The moment the giant stepped into the field of Runes Shiomi had laid, he unleashed Grand Magecraft upon the land.
The once-flat wilderness shuddered violently.
With a deep rumble, the plain suddenly bared its fangs—countless hardened spikes of earth erupted upward, stabbing into the beast from every direction.
The spikes failed to pierce its hide.
Even so, they pinned the massive creature from all sides, momentarily trapping it. The beast roared, swinging its arms by instinct to snap the spikes restraining it.
But the next instant, new spikes surged up to replace the broken ones.
Shiomi was maintaining the Grand Magecraft.
Realizing this, Melusine shot forward first, an arrow loosed from a bow. The twin blades in her hands flashed with cold light as she swept past the beast's flank.
"Tsk…"
The knight who always concealed her emotions and carried out her duty without complaint let out a rare sound of frustration.
Her blades had struck the beast's neck, but had failed to slice flesh or deliver a deep wound.
The gash revealed no blood or meat—only an indiscernible substance—and it closed almost instantly.
Scáthach and Barghest followed up with a two-pronged assault.
The crimson spear falling like a storm and the greatsword swung with full force both failed to inflict a fatal strike.
"This is just…" Melusine made a face of disgust.
Barghest, having underestimated the beast's speed during her attack, was struck by its massive claw and thrown back, landing near Melusine. Fortunately, the sturdy armor forged by the Earth Clan absorbed most of the impact.
The blow hurt, but the armor had taken the brunt of it, leaving her only lightly injured.
"…This is Chief Woodwose's enhanced mode," Barghest finished Melusine's thought, giving her own assessment.
But the battle left no time to debate or analyze.
Shiomi was using Grand Magecraft to hold the giant in place. The others had to focus on attacking, killing it, and creating a window for the Black Knight and the Londinium forces to retreat and be brought aboard the Storm Border.
That was the plan—
"Ha!"
A massive axe spun through the air, slammed into the beast's head with a heavy impact, bounced off, and returned to the thrower's hand.
The Black Knight Ector entered the battle.
Standing before Shiomi with his axe raised, the surviving few dozen Londinium soldiers roared out their battle cries and charged the giant beast in waves. Ector rushed in with them, sprinting straight toward the colossus's feet. Using the midpoint of one of the earthen spikes as a foothold, he vaulted onto Woodwose's body.
"What splendid soldiers… no, warriors."
From a short distance back, Scáthach murmured her praise, then leapt forward to join the assault without a heartbeat of hesitation.
The soldiers hurled their spears at the openings left by earlier attacks. Archers drew their bowstrings to the limit, aiming for the beast's eyes—each one larger than a human being.
Shiomi knew that even if he ordered them to retreat now, they wouldn't obey.
Facing the enemy head-on and never fleeing in battle was the pride of the Londinium Army.
"Then let's add one more!"
Shiomi freed one of his hands, chanting rapidly as he invoked a second Grand Magecraft.
"Judgment of Heaven's thunder—devour the calamity that consumes the earth! 『Thunder Reign』!"
Lightning split the sky as a torrent of thunder crashed down. Blinding arcs engulfed the giant beast in an instant.
Shiomi's Grand Magecraft had become a signal they all understood instinctively. The soldiers fell back in formation, keeping clear of the beast's reach.
Ector, at the very front, watched the beast closely. When the surge of magic ended, he intended to charge again with his soldiers to bring down the calamity ravaging Britannia.
But then the flow of Mana in the air warped.
The flames burning across the wasteland suddenly tore free from their sources and swept toward the colossus.
"This is bad. Fall ba—"
Shiomi sensed the shift and shouted the order, but the words hadn't even left his mouth before flames hot enough to vaporize steel erupted outward, tearing through the thunder and blasting in every direction.
Scáthach, Melusine, and Barghest barely managed to split the oncoming fire with their weapons, carving out pockets of survivable space.
The inferno surged outward like a tidal wave, with the few fighters standing like lone rocks bracing against a deadly sea.
Even through magical protection, Shiomi could feel the air scorching. The temperature had spiked past 1500 degrees Celsius in an instant.
The entire area had become a steel smelter.
Shiomi dissolved his Grand Magecraft and pushed frost across the earth to counter the blaze.
When the flames finally receded, ice swept quickly across the ground, erasing the heat—but too late.
Shiomi and the others could endure with their inhuman resilience.
The valiant soldiers, however, melted in an instant, vanishing without even ash remaining. They had been reduced to steam.
The calamity beast rose from the molten ground, its flames writhing like living creatures.
The Beast Calamity and the Flame Calamity had fused into one.
It might now be called the Flame Beast Calamity.
Facing a disaster that defied all reason, Shiomi no longer spared a thought for survivors. He growled the chant, stomping hard on the ice-covered earth.
"Reality Marble, activate—『Eternal Orkney』!"
A cold boundary swept across the wasteland, just as it had thousands of years ago.
...