Outside the allied capital, a certain Berserker who was in the midst of a great slaughter suddenly jerked his head around.
He looked towards the inside of the city.
He sensed an oppressor bullying the weak!
"Oppressor—!"
The Berserker brandished his greatsword and, with a wild grin, sprinted madly towards the city not far away.
——Back to This Side——
■■, is my aim really that bad?
Lev stared at his own hand, unable to resist doubting himself.
Forget it, I managed to take one out by coincidence anyway. As long as I don't say anything, no one will know my aim is poor!
But after a moment's thought, Lev dismissed this bit of self-doubt.
Then, grinning widely, he continued firing mana cannons downwards.
Upon realizing they were under attack, Lin Qi instinctively wanted to step in front of Jing Ke and use his Noble Phantasm to block the assault coming from the corner for her.
As he stepped forward, he suddenly felt his legs go soft.
He nearly lost his balance and fell.
The high-intensity battle just now, coupled with the unrestrained use of [Dodge], had clearly left Lin Qi utterly exhausted.
In his field of vision, another dozen or so black-red points of light converged and flashed.
A generous amount. This time, even with Lev's poor aim, he would likely hit Lin Qi with at least one or two shots.
'Hey, don't be reckless. Look at the state I'm in, what chance is there left for me to be saved?'
Jing Ke saw through Lin Qi's intention and his predicament. Mustering strength from who-knows-where, she shoved Lin Qi aside with all her might.
He landed right in the arms of Nero, who was in much better condition than Lin Qi.
Seeing Lin Qi still staring dumbfoundedly at her, Jing Ke smiled wryly.
'Really, I finally met some good comrades, but I didn't expect it to end so soon...'
With a sigh, Jing Ke's figure was swallowed up by the dozen-plus mana cannons.
Jing Ke — Retreat!
After catching Lin Qi, Nero hastily retreated backwards at full speed, pulling them out of Lev's attack range.
Standing not far away, watching the specks of golden light rising from the area covered by the mana cannons.
Both Nero and Lin Qi turned their grim expressions towards the source of the attack.
The man in the military-green overcoat standing on the second floor.
Lev Lainur Flauros could be considered a key node in the Incineration of Humanity.
As one of the 72 Demon God Pillars, Flauros, if he were to commit suicide, would mean one less Demon God Pillar, making it impossible for Goetia to truly manifest and preventing the Incineration of Humanity from occurring.
In this sense, he actually has a similar effect to the good doctor Romani—both can resolve the Incineration crisis by killing themselves.
The branching point of the story in FGO Chaldea's quest to save humanity essentially begins with whether or not he commits suicide.
If he doesn't see Mash, he believes humanity can still be saved and commits suicide before Goetia appears.
If he sees Mash, he believes humanity is beyond saving, allowing Goetia to appear unimpeded and triggering the Human Order Incineration Ceremony.
And in this story, he created yet another new node.
By breaking Chaldea's defenses, he caused the Incineration ritual to engulf Chaldea together with humanity.
Chaldea was wiped out before it could even fully grasp the situation.
Then Lin Qi descended upon Chaldea for unknown reasons...
"I underestimated you, human. You actually fought your way all here."
Lev looked down at Lin Qi below, speaking with a touch of emotion.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that Lin Qi's clearing efficiency was higher than that of the original Chaldea team.
In the French Singularity, because they had to find Siegfried as quickly as possible, Lin Qi and Jeanne barely rested.
Sprinting all the way, guided by [Revelation].
After finding Siegfried, the situation didn't ease much; it was another mad dash.
After finding Georgios, to achieve a quick resolution and avoid complications, it was yet another mad dash.
From the time Lin Qi arrived in the Singularity until he left after clearing it, it was a full three days at most.
Under normal circumstances, in other stories, this would easily span dozens of chapters. How could it end in just over a dozen chapters like this?
This wasn't just due to the urgent circumstances, but also because Lin Qi had read the script. He didn't need to slowly understand the entire Singularity's situation and his objectives like other protagonists who hadn't.
Lin Qi's goals were set clearly and in advance, even before arriving in the Singularity.
And precisely because of Lin Qi's efficiency, even the Demon God Pillars couldn't react in time.
But that was also because they didn't care about Lin Qi at all.
After all, when all was said and done, he was just a human. What could he possibly achieve?
"I heard you were quite active in France. That caused me some trouble, you know. I was driven out by the others and had to come here to clean up this mess."
Lev said with a gloomy expression.
It wasn't that he found Lin Qi's actions particularly troublesome; he, like the other Demon God Pillars, looked down on Lin Qi entirely.
The reason for his gloomy face was mainly because he felt it was a fuss to be specially dispatched to deal with a mere insect, which made him impatient.
—It's absolutely not because most of the carefully launched attacks during this period completely missed their mark!
"If putting on a brave face right at the very end counts as being 'active'..."
Recalling how he spent most of that time essentially AFK, Lin Qi smiled mockingly.
It was a mockery aimed both at Lev and at himself.
"Hah, say whatever you want. I don't have the leisure to waste effort on an opponent like you."
Upon hearing this, Lev responded with a disdainful laugh.
"Although I admit your battle just now was truly surprising. You actually managed to defeat that Divine Ancestor of Rome."
"But tell me, how much strength do you have left now?"
"Probably not even enough to make it all the way up here to face me, right? Ahahahaha..."
Lev laughed mockingly and wildly.
"How dare you insult Us like this! Do you believe Our Aestus Estus won't be the next thing to strike your head!"
Hearing Lev's words, Nero flew into a rage, drawing Aestus Estus and preparing to charge up and give him a taste of her sword.
"Oh? And what if it's like this?"
Lev narrowed his eyes and fired a mana cannon at Lin Qi.
Lin Qi, who had been watching Lev closely, barely managed to activate his Noble Phantasm and block the shot.
However, the impact of the cannon blast still sent him tumbling to the ground.
He only avoided rolling across the ground by propping himself up on his flagstaff.
As a relatively normal human, his stamina was still lacking.
Moreover, during the recent battle, Lin Qi had used his skills far more times than anyone else involved in the fight.
"Despicable!"
Seeing that Lev intended to continue attacking, Nero hurriedly turned back.
Holding Aestus Estus, she took a stance, staring at him with a face full of anger.
"Despicable? Your journey here wasn't exactly fought using entirely honorable tactics either, was it?"
"Besides, this is a proper battle!"
Lev chuckled. Having observed the battle for so long, he was certain that these two, especially Nero, were no saints either!
"Emperor of Rome, you might still have some fight left in you. But what about the Master behind you?"
"Look at his state. How many more of my attacks do you think he can block?"
"Think about it. Decide what you should do..."
Nero glanced sideways at Lin Qi, who was using the flagstaff to stand up, and pursed her lips.
"If it's just attacks of that level, I can probably block a few more..."
Seeing Nero look at him, Lin Qi forced a strained smile, enduring the intense pain in his head.
He had, after all, been tempered by Siegfried's ultimate curse back then, so his endurance was somewhat decent.
It's just...
His hands were trembling.
It wasn't that Lin Qi was afraid; it was simply due to exhaustion. He still had some magical energy left.
"What are you trying to prove, being this stubborn at a time like this."
Nero let out a helpless sigh.
Clearly, there was only one choice left before her.
"I'm not being stubborn. I'm just stating the fact that I can block a few more shots. What happens after that is another matter..."
Lin Qi was the picture of honesty.
"Umu, I didn't expect you to be quite good at lightening the mood!"
"Haha, maybe I'm just the type who relaxes more easily the more critical the situation becomes?"
...