The earth was collapsing.
When Artoria had just returned from the dream, this was the sight that met her eyes.
Far surpassing even the devastation during Barbatos' battle, countless massive tendrils now spread in all directions, piercing through mountains and shrouding the sky. Jet black and blood crimson in hue, they grew endlessly, completely reshaping the landscape.
It was no longer accurate to liken the scene to underwater kelp magnified thousands of times—this was more akin to a prehistoric forest from the dinosaur age, only with all the trees replaced by the tendrils of a Demon God Pillar. The magical energy in the air was so thick it felt suffocating.
This was the might of the Demon God King. Even if this was only one of his avatars, his power vastly exceeded Barbatos'. His sheer presence alone caused space to tremble under the oppressive weight of his mana, making the very idea of resistance seem absurd.
—At least, it should have.
But what Artoria now saw was something entirely different.
—Goetia was being overwhelmed.
No matter how many tendrils attacked in a frenzied downpour, no matter how many searing beams of mana rained down like high-grade Noble Phantasms, the one opposing the Demon God King responded with a brutally simple method.
He merely charged forward and swung his arm in a straightforward attack.
That was all.
Those monstrous, world-warping tendrils were simply bulldozed aside by his advance. Even when confronted with mana beams that could vaporize a mountain, he just plowed through them head-on—as if showering in a torrent of magical cannon fire—without flinching or dodging, storming straight for Goetia's face.
The sight was so grotesquely absurd that Artoria was reminded of what they had faced deep within the nightmare—the shadow of an Old One.
But unlike that entity, which had been completely immune to all attacks, the man fighting Goetia now didn't have that kind of invulnerability. Though his durability was monstrous, each hit from Goetia's firepower still damaged him. Parts of his metallic-like body were shattered again and again...
Yet every time he burst through the tendrils to reemerge, his wounds would visibly heal—faster than they were inflicted.
It was reminiscent of that Old One's terrifying tenacity—a berserker immune to strategy or sense.
Only this time, the one being disgusted and driven mad wasn't them... it was Goetia.
The way the entire cavern trembled with his roars of fury made that perfectly clear.
Because his opponent was faster than the Old One. Hungrier for destruction. A pure mad dog through and through.
In the blink of an eye, Goetia's layers of spell-formations were smashed apart by brute force. His enemy stormed right up to him, swinging a bizarre weapon with a twisted blade down on his chest.
The next moment, Goetia's body was slammed into the ground like a swatted fly, plunging dozens of meters below, fracturing the land in a thunderous quake.
"Too amazing! That's my Blood Prince!"
A very familiar voice rang in Artoria's ear. Turning, she saw Bavanzi, fists clenched and eyes sparkling.
"My Gui-Gui really is the strongest!"
This woman again...
Artoria sighed and turned her head back, resigning herself. At least Bavanzi hadn't shouted anything idiotic like "Blood Prince one-shots the Sword Saint." That alone was mercy.
"How is this possible? This level of immortality... Who are you?"
On the other side of the battlefield, Goetia, using the phantom limbs of Demon God Pillars to toss aside the rubble, slowly rose from the shattered ground. His crimson eyes locked on his foe.
"Even my Demon God Pillars only possess undying privilege within the Throne of Time. How can you regenerate this effortlessly? Is your immortality... without limit?"
Of course it's not unlimited...
Artoria rolled her eyes. She'd had the same questions during the simulations.
But this so-called Demon God King had basically turned himself into an infinite mana battery by summoning endless tendrils—he was practically feeding fresh blood directly into his enemy.
And since the Blood Prince had been extremely careful never to reveal his abilities outright, there was no way Goetia could decipher his condition or limitations.
At that moment, Goetia's voice rang out again in bewilderment:
"Anti-Summoning has no effect... You truly exist in the flesh? But—no, that's impossible. You're clearly a Servant! Then why—why can't my Clairvoyance trace you? There's no record of your existence in all of human history! WHO ARE YOU?!"
Yet even as Goetia raged, the Blood Prince gave no answer. He merely dived into another massive tendril, using the blade on his head to tear it apart, drinking deeply of the blood within, and then once again charged straight at Goetia.
In the next instant, he stomped Goetia's face back into the dirt.
But this time, Goetia didn't immediately break free.
Instead, he said:
"Good... good... good. If you won't tell me, so be it."
"This game has bored me enough."
The moment those words left his mouth, a chill shot down Will's spine.
He accelerated instantly, crashing into the earth like a meteor, driving his twisted weapon toward Goetia's chest with all his might.
But this time, Goetia didn't dodge or block.
He simply let Will's blade pierce his core.
As foul black blood spilled from the wound, Goetia grabbed Will's wrist and stared him down with those glowing red eyes.
"You've caught my attention. And you'll regret it."
"So what if you've won this round? You've changed nothing. Against overwhelming power, your efforts are nothing but a dying struggle."
And then, in a shimmer of golden light, he vanished.
But Will's face only grew darker.
"Eh? Enemy Spirit Origin signal has vanished!"
At the edge of the cavern, Dr. Roman's projection suddenly appeared.
"What happened? Was King Solomon... defeated?"
"Mr. Hyde... he really did it?!" Ritsuka Fujimaru gasped in delight. "Let's hurry back and check on him!"
Chaldea's team, who had retreated to avoid the crossfire, quickly began their return—
But before they could even start searching, Will found them first.
"Finally found you!"
He held something out to Ritsuka immediately.
"When can we repair the Singularity?!"
"We have to retrieve the Grail before—wait, the Grail?!" She gasped mid-sentence as she recognized what Will had handed her.
"Yes!" Will snapped. "The Singularity—it should be over now! When can you get Ritsuka out of here?!"
"About ten minutes, why?" Roman's projection appeared again.
"Make it faster!" Will barked. "That bastard Solomon just rage-quit. He's abandoned his avatar and is bringing out his Noble Phantasm—he's going to erase everything!"
"Don't call him a bastard—wait, WHAT?!" Roman nearly fell out of his chair. Then he started shouting orders:
"Quick! Boost computation speed! Overclock the Spiritron Processor! Get Fujimaru back ASAP—!"
But mid-command, Roman froze.
Then slumped in his seat like his spine had been ripped out.
"No... it's too late. Spatial distortion detected... That bastard's already opened a gate..."
And even as he spoke, a black rift appeared in the center of the cavern.
But this time, it didn't stop at person-size. It grew rapidly, like the eye of some world-devouring serpent opening, revealing an entirely different world beyond.
There, fragments of stone floated in midair, scattered among ancient white marble palaces and towering ivory pillars.
But this scene, which should have been holy, was marred—polluted by the countless black-red tendrils that writhed through the temples, and the inky sky behind them.
And at the heart of that world, seated upon a massive throne, the false and twisted king slowly raised his hand.
"Come, pitiful ants. Rejoice—for this is your privilege."
"Revel in the majesty of my ideals, my birthright, my truth."
"And as for you, foul immortal abomination—this time, I'll leave not a speck of ash behind."
Behind him, a massive spherical construct—like the deranged scrawl of a mad artist—began to float, glowing with an ominous red light.
And then, like a solar eclipse, a dark halo of light bloomed, and mana surged without end.
"T-this is..." Ritsuka's voice trembled. She clutched Will's coat instinctively. "Is there... no hope?"
"...Sorry. I don't have a way to counter a Noble Phantasm of that scale."
Will's answer came after a heavy pause.
"To resist that... it'd take at least..."
"...At least the Sword of the Stars, right?"
A new voice cut in then—Guinevere's. From the shadows of the cavern, he stepped forward.