Thanks for the invitation. I'm in Type-Moon, inheriting the legacy of Zi-O.

Sides, arms, thighs, even the blade. Nian Zhuo's attacks rained down on Attila.

However, since the first shot, not a single word "hit" has appeared.

Attila felt that her opponent was mocking her, rather than attacking her.

"You...you look down on me!" As Nian Zhuo finished his last attack, for some reason, Nian Zhuo landed directly in front of her, without retreating or disappearing.

Attila, of course, was not about to let this opportunity slip by. She reversed the tricolor sword in her hand and thrust it toward Nianzhuo's breastplate.

"Clang—" A crisp collision sound, but no matter how hard Attila tried, he couldn't penetrate even a fraction of an inch.

"How could this be..." The fact was even more shocking than before. If the white beam of light could be explained by the fact that the opponent had released a Noble Phantasm of equal or even higher level than itself, so that Nian Zhuo was not injured, then this time, the all-out attack could not even break through the opponent's defense. Attila understood this deeply.

The heroic spirit before him was an existence he absolutely could not destroy.

"Heh...heh heh." Upon learning this fact, Attila felt neither anger nor fear; instead, she laughed.

"Well, isn't your predetermined fate changed now?" Nian Zhuo's calm voice came from inside the armor. "So, you no longer have to be trapped by your own destiny."

“But it might hurt a lot next, so bear with it.” Nian Zhuo extended an index finger and tapped Attila’s forehead.

"Adjust it to 99... no, 50 hits is enough." He whispered to the system in his mind.

The next moment, Attila suddenly felt a pain in her abdomen.

"Ugh—!" More and more, the pain came from the arms, legs and even the back, all the places that Nian Zhuo had just attacked.

The word "Hit" kept flashing on Attila's body, and the girl's cries of pain rang out continuously.

"The ultimate shot!" With that final note, Attila's body collapsed limply to the ground.

"Ha, hahaha...that's great." Attila's body gradually dissolved into golden particles, her gaze fixed on Nian Zhuo's mask. "Hey...unknown warrior, what's your name?"

The driver and cartridge at his waist, along with the golden light particles, began to gradually dissipate, and Nian Zhuo stood unsuspectingly in front of Attila.

"My name is Nianzhuo, just a human being who tries to change his fate." He gently grasped Attila's hand.

“…So that’s how it is.” The girl smiled, tears welling in her eyes with excitement. “Is there…something in this world…that my sword…cannot destroy…even the one called…the Whip of God, my…this…sword of the God of War, Mars…is…so…so…?”

"This...is...somewhat...happy, Nianzhuo." Tears dripped onto the ground and disappeared as well.

In the end, the girl who called herself the "incarnation of destruction" returned to the Throne of Heroes without destroying anything.

Meanwhile, Nian Zhuo slowly picked up the Holy Grail from her body.

Have you forgotten something?

“…Attila, she’s gone…” Nero looked thoughtfully at the ground, feeling a pang of sympathy for the girl trapped by fate. “If fate allows, perhaps we can fight each other in another form in the future.”

"But is this the end?" Nero looked at the golden cup held in Nianzhuo's hand. "You have obtained the so-called Holy Grail..."

"Yes, we've obtained the Holy Grail." Parting always carries a touch of sadness; Mash lowered her head. "With that, our battle is over. Thank you very much, Your Majesty Nero Claudius."

"Wait a minute." Nian Zhuo, still kneeling on the ground, toyed with the Holy Grail in his hand. "Indeed, our mission to retrieve the Holy Grail ends here. However, is there something you've forgotten?"

"Huh?" Ritsuka and Mash, who were already preparing for the spirit particle transfer, as well as Dr. Roman, who was far away in Chaldea, were all a little confused. "Have you forgotten something...? Isn't this singularity supposed to disappear on its own after the Holy Grail is retrieved?"

"So, with a helpless look on his face, Nian Zhuo tapped each of the three girls on the head, "Have you forgotten the fact that even after defeating the United Empire, Nero's territory will only be two-thirds of what it was?"

"Ouch~ That hurts~ Eh...?" Nero clutched his head, as if only now realizing that his Rome hadn't been completely reclaimed. "Oh right... there's a bunch of bat-like monsters that have invaded the remaining third of the territory!"

When she said that, everyone remembered.

These are bizarre monsters that appeared whether fighting against Caligula, Caesar, or even El-Melloi II.

“…Because of what the Ancestor God and Caesar said before, I forgot about this matter.” Nero scratched his head, giving me a look that said, “Don’t blame me.”

"Well then, let's not delay! While our morale is high after just defeating the hypocritical United Empire, let's head towards those countries ruled by monsters!" Ritsuka joined in the conversation with a laugh, but judging from the beads of sweat sliding down her face, she was the one who had completely forgotten!

"I'm telling you guys..." Speechless, Nianzhuo looked at the three people in front of him who had shifted their gaze with disgust.

At this moment, a sudden change occurred.

The originally yellowish sky instantly turned pitch black.

The bright, full moon hung in the sky.

"Huh?! What's going on?" Nero gripped the Primal Flame tightly, warily scanning his surroundings. "The sunset in Rome doesn't turn into night so quickly, does it?"

Based on previous patterns, the blood-red bat monster would appear whenever a full moon appeared.

"...Everyone, prepare for battle. This will be a tough fight." Taking out the Time Driver and placing it on his waist, Nian Zhuo looked at the bright moon hanging high in the night sky with an equally unfriendly expression.

As if space itself had been folded, the moon was suddenly distorted, only to slowly straighten out the next moment.

However, right in the center of that full moon, with its back to the bright moonlight, that familiar monster appeared at the very center of the moon.

Like a bat, its twin wings are decorated with patterns of wondrous colors.

Golden eyes squinted as they looked at the tiny figure on the ground.

Then, its mouth, full of sharp teeth, opened.

"This is hereby announced to all living beings inhabiting this continent!"

“We are servants who serve those who transcend terror and evil.”

"They scoff at humanity, yet yearn for dreams."

"Everything you possess belongs to our [King]!"

"Offer your lives to become food for our noble king!"

A demonic and distorted sound, like the indescribable scream of a penguin, reached everyone's ears.

Then, the monster in the center of the moon transformed into countless blood-red bats, which slowly rushed towards the ground.

Everyone present was hit on the shoulder by a blood-red bat.

A jet-black feather and a blood-red envelope fell into their hands.

"A challenge letter...?" This was the first time Nian Zhuo had seen such a humane challenge letter. Although he was still uneasy, he slowly opened it.

The opening line, addressed to our esteemed [King], caused Nian Zhuo to raise an eyebrow in displeasure.

Despite forcing herself to tear up the letter, Nianzhuo continued reading.

The whole point is simply that he made a bet with himself.

If Nian Zhuo can defeat the Otherworldly Knight Kiva, then Kiva will naturally flee on his own initiative, and it wouldn't be a problem if he were even killed.

However, if Nianzhuo loses to Another Rider Kiva, then Nianzhuo will have no choice but to follow Another Rider Kiva to worship his future self.

As for which future version of yourself it is, the answer is obvious.

"...I didn't expect it. It's such a gamble with such a low chance of winning." Slowly folding the letter in his hand back to its original shape, Nianzhuo put it into his pocket.

"Damn it...damn it..." Nero's emotions were written all over her face. Judging from how tightly she gripped the letter in her hand, as if she wanted to tear it to shreds, there probably weren't any nice words on it.

Of course, everyone else present had the same expression to some extent, after all, they were the ones being referred to as "food".

"...Fortunately, these monsters only kept one royal city for themselves, giving away all the rest of their territory to Emperor Nero without any compensation, as a bargaining chip." These were the last words from the monsters in the envelope in Nian Zhuo's hand.

"I'm so angry... I'm so angry!" Nero stomped her foot on the ground, looking furious, even the ahoge on her head seemed to bounce, revealing her dissatisfaction. "What the hell! What the hell! That was my territory to begin with! And they actually said they'd give it to me for free? Don't look down on me!"

"Soldiers who can still fight! Follow me to raze those monsters' lair!" In a fit of rage, Nero gripped the Primal Flame and was about to head to the monsters' [royal city], as indicated in the envelope.

Suddenly, her wrist was grabbed.

"The time is not right." Nian Zhuo looked directly into her emerald eyes and said only these four words.

Blood-red Royal City

“The time is not right, Nero.” Grabbing Nero’s wrist, who was looking furious, Nenzhuo said, enunciating each word clearly, “The soldiers are exhausted, and their condition isn’t good either…”

"Hmm..." Looking around, his soldiers all looked angry, but their hands holding weapons were trembling. "You're right, I was a bit impulsive."

"So, soldiers, let's return to Rome to rest and then completely drive out those monsters that have corrupted our glorious Rome!" Nero said to the messenger beside him as he put away the Primal Flame.

"..." Something's not right. Nian Zhuo looked at the blood-red, gold-embossed envelope in his hand and silently walked over to Mash and Ritsuka. "Something's strange."

"Is Mr. Nianzhuo alright?" Ritsuka looked at Nianzhuo's furrowed brows, somewhat concerned.

"Hmm?" Mashu, who was standing to the side, turned around after hearing this.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about random things." Shaking his head, the group set off together on the road back to the capital, Rome.

When the sky truly turned dark, Nianzhuo, having enjoyed a sumptuous meal in Rome, arrived outside the palace.

Ritsuka and Mashu were taken by Nero's maids to experience the real Roman baths and the true 'high society' life.

However, judging from their expectant looks, they probably won't be coming out anytime soon.

With the intention of enjoying the moon, Nianzhuo arrived at a place that resembled a balcony.

Even here, bright red flowers were planted, making Nianzhuo chuckle to himself.

"Just how much does His Majesty the Emperor love scenes like this..." Stepping onto the long red carpet surrounded by flowers, Nian Zhuo walked towards the outer edge. "Even during occasional time travel, one should see these sights. Hmm...?"

On the outermost side of the balcony, I saw a familiar figure.

Wearing a white evening gown, the fullness of her chest was accentuated even more by the somewhat tight fabric. Her golden hair was neatly combed, and His Majesty Nero held a wine glass, gazing up at the sky.

"Hmm...?" Noticing the person behind him, the crimson-clad emperor turned around.

"Ah...it's Nianzhuo." Nero breathed a very obvious sigh of relief and leaned against the meticulously crafted railing. "So? What do you think of my Rome?" After saying that, he patted the railing next to him, gesturing for Nianzhuo to come over.

"Hmm..." Nianzhuo silently walked to Nero's side, looking up at the moon he had seen countless times in another world. "I think... it's quite nice. The food is delicious, the art is beautiful... and so on. Anyway—"

"For me, it was a very fulfilling trip, Your Majesty Nero." It was precisely because such opportunities were so rare that Nianzhuo looked forward to and took every trip so seriously.

"Is that so... then I can rest assured. I just wonder what Ritsuka and Mash are thinking." After finishing her drink, Nero looked up at the sky again.

“The two of them…you don’t need to worry about them at all.” Their gazes didn’t meet; they were both staring at the same sky. “They’ve long been captivated by the wonderful life in Rome, if it weren’t for the mission that follows…well.”

"Is that so... You all have things you must do." With a touch of melancholy, Nero gazed at the starry sky. "Looking at the sky like this, is this the last time..."

“Yes, our mission is almost over.” Nian Zhuo nodded, also feeling a little reluctant.

"..." Then, the two of them fell silent at the same time.

“Nian Zhuoqing, if you hadn’t encountered this situation, what do you think you would have done…?” Nero broke the silence, poured a glass from the wine bottle beside him, and handed it to Nian Zhuo.

“Me? Well… that’s true, if I hadn’t encountered this situation.” Nian Zhuo thought carefully for a moment. “Then I would probably have become a writer (?) or a painter (mainly because Nero wouldn’t understand novels and comics…). What about you, Nero?” He didn’t use the honorific title of “Your Majesty,” and of course, Nero didn’t seem to care too much.