To become a king and a magician

The battle between the two officially began at this moment.

"Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom ——————————!!"

An unprecedented, earth-shattering roar erupted from the center of the Temple of Time!

10. An irresistible third Noble Phantasm

Aozaki Aoko first used magic when she was eighteen years old.

To save a friend who was about to die before her eyes, she used magic to send the fact of death to the distant future.

That was the first miracle she performed with magic.

Although from her current perspective, her use of magic back then was incredibly crude, merely relying on instinct and acting haphazardly, what Aozaki Aoko wants to do now is the same miracle she performed in the beginning.

The band of light formed by burning the entirety of human history is actually a collection of hundreds of millions of rays of light. Each ray of light has heat comparable to the true name release of the Excalibur sword, and is the ultimate light of destruction that surpasses all existence on Earth.

And now—Aozaki Aoko is going to [tear it down]!

It's not about "destroying," but about "tearing down."

It is impossible to destroy a band of light containing such immense power. Even Natsukawa Tora could not do it. Moreover, even if it could be destroyed, interfering with it by brute force might lead to some extremely terrifying consequences!

Therefore, Aozaki Aoko chose to dismantle it, break it down, and decompose it.

By separating hundreds of millions of rays of light one by one from the light band and then throwing them into the distant future, compared to the almost infinite number of "future" rays, hundreds of millions of rays of light are something that can be completely cleared away little by little over time.

To put it bluntly, it's like disassembling a sophisticated device.

This is something only Aozaki Aoko, and only the Fifth Magic, could accomplish.

But this also takes a lot of time.

Each time a ray of light is broken down, Aozaki Aoko has to place several copies of herself on the outside as a shield to prevent herself from being vaporized the moment she touches it. Moreover, when choosing which future to discard, she tries to choose one that is not too far away.

This behavior consumes an enormous amount of mental energy, so during the execution of this behavior, Aozaki Aoko had no energy left and could only stand in place as punishment.

(You've really dumped a really troublesome task on me... You'd better protect me well, Tiger!)

As Aozaki Aoko was thinking this.

"Clang—!"

The holy sword and the iron fist collided violently in mid-air!

A fierce wind, shockwave, and flash of light erupted together at the center of the Temple of Time!

Goetia and Natsukawa Tiger were locked in a fierce close-quarters struggle. Thanks to the planet's support, Natsukawa Tiger now held a clear advantage. After only a brief stalemate, he pinned Goetia beneath him, and with a powerful downward thrust of his holy sword, he severed Goetia's arm in one strike! Then, he cleaved into Goetia's body through its right shoulder!

"Sizzle—!"

His robust body was torn apart by the sword blade!

However, Goetia, who was oblivious to pain, paid no heed to the damage to his body. His severed arm miraculously regenerated in mid-air and slammed into Natsukawa's head!

"boom!"

Under the heavy blow, the two who were fighting at close range were sent flying backwards and the distance between them was widened. And while flying backwards, Xia Chuanhu used his feet to support the ground, spun around once, and then directly unleashed a torrent of light!

A single strike, comparable to an anti-army Noble Phantasm, instantly cleaved Goetia in two!

"useless!"

His body returned to normal in an instant.

Instead of continuing to fight Natsukawa Tora, Goetia stood still and calmly advised, "This is just a waste of time, Holy Sword Wielder—neither of us can kill the other. No matter how much we fight, the final result will only be like this."

There was no sign of the wounds inflicted by the holy sword on Goetia's body.

There was no trace of Goetia's heavy blow on Natsukawa Tiger's body.

Both are immortal—Goetia is immortal because of her being a collection of the consciousness of the Demon God Pillar and her magical characteristics, while Natsukawa Torato is immortal because of the infinite magic power supported by the planet and the protection of the Holy Sword's scabbard.

As Goetia said, there's no point in the two of them fighting here except to waste time.

"Your wish cannot be fulfilled, Holy Sword Wielder."

"You cannot defeat me, the duel you have waited ten years for will not end, and the world you want to save will absolutely not be saved in your hands!"

Goetia, having made this declaration, raised his hands.

"Let me correct my wording a little, Holy Sword Wielder—it's not that we're incapable of killing each other, that's only true in your case, while I can definitely kill you."

"Buzz~~~~~~~~~!!"

The atmosphere suddenly began to tremble.

The space suddenly began to tremble.

"Click!!"

The ground, the sky... everything was gradually disintegrating under this tremor, as if drawn by a black hole, being peeled away bit by bit from its original structure and existence, and floating upwards.

No.

To be precise, it drifted towards that band of light.

"Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz~~~~~~"

Terrifying heat and magic capable of burning even planets were released from the band of light, and a dazzling vortex gathered at its center. All of human history and reason were loaded into the [ammunition magazine] at this moment.

coming.

A thought flashed through Xia Chuanhu's mind.

Goetia's third Noble Phantasm, "The time of birth has come, so I will rectify all things (Ars Almadel Salomonis)".

The magic that can be traced back to the birth of celestial bodies 4.6 billion years ago will be used for the attack—that's all that's going to happen.

However, nothing in this world can withstand that blow; it is a world-destroying blow, far exceeding the limits of what an individual can withstand.

Mashu's shield might be able to stop it, but at the cost of her own demise.

Artoria's scabbard might be able to block it, but it could only protect one person. Even if Natsukawa Tora used the scabbard to block the attack and stood in front of Aozaki Aoko to prevent her from being directly hit, the heat from the aftershock would kill her instantly.

With the existing means, it is simply impossible to resist.

This is exactly the method Goetia mentioned that can completely kill Natsukawa Torato; the absolute difference between it and Natsukawa Torato in terms of "deadly strike" ability.

"Let it be burned to ashes as waste."

"Poor Holy Sword Wielder."

"—【The time of birth has come, to correct all things (Ars Almadel Salomonis)】"

Goetia revealed the true name of the Noble Phantasm.

The aurora that converged at the center of the light band burst forth in response.

There was no sound, no movement; the impact of this strike overwhelmed everything, annihilating everything.

All that Natsukawa Torato could perceive was the radiance that occupied his entire world.

And this was also the last sight in Aozaki Aoko's eyes.

With her back to Natsukawa Tora disappearing into the light—this was the last image that appeared in her eyes.

Then...

"boom----------------!!"

The earth-shattering roar arrived belatedly.

11. The Disgraceful Salvation

ended.

With the third Noble Phantasm being unleashed, the Holy Sword Wielder had no means to resist it.

Goetia was certain that this strike would end everything.

Soon, after the aurora of destruction dissipated, Goetia found himself facing an empty landscape.

—No, something's not quite right.

On the burnt-out earth, there was a glimmer of light.

The only faint glimmer of light.

"That is......"

Goetia's eyes narrowed slightly.

The bright body was a circular barrier of light, and inside it, the unharmed figure of Aozaki Aoko still stood there, maintaining the posture of using the Fifth Magic.

"So that's it, King Arthur's sword sheath?"

Goetia realized what was happening.

Indeed, if it were King Arthur's sword sheath, it wouldn't be impossible for it to block my attack. After all, it's a true absolute defense, the only one of its kind in human history, the strongest defensive treasure.

During the preparation time the day before, Natsukawa Torato borrowed the scabbard from Artoria and implanted it into Aozaki Aoko's body.

As the only person capable of solving the light band problem, Aozaki Aoko's safety must be guaranteed.

"Would you rather die without any defense than let your loved one live?"

Goetia stared at the spot where Natsukawa Tora had disappeared.

"You saved her [personal] world, Holy Sword Wielder. Your act of sacrificing yourself for others was beyond my expectations. Although you can no longer hear me, I will still praise you."

With that, the final obstacle was gone, and the rest could be left to the Demon Pillars to handle. Aozaki Aoko was just a minor troublemaker to be feared.

This is what Goetia was thinking—

"Pfft—!"

In the next instant, his head was pierced through from behind.

The holy sword, shining with brilliance, pierced through Goetia's head from behind without warning!

"I don't mind if you keep praising me."

An unbelievable voice rang out behind Goetia.