To become a king and a magician

There is no way to purify it, nor is there a way to exorcise it; the long passage of time renders all solutions meaningless.

Originally, it was Artoria, who had completed the forging of the Holy Sword, who sacrificed herself to drive the twelve Holy Sword turrets to destroy the divine body of Cornunos. Then, Mash and Fujimaru Ritsuka worked together to fire the [Black Gun] to pierce the divine core and finally defeat him.

However, such conditions do not exist at present.

There is no Paradise Fairy who completed the forging of the Holy Sword in this Britain, nor is there one of the Seven Great Weapons of the Atlas Institute. Even if they did exist, Natsukawa Torato would not allow Artoria to sacrifice herself.

Even if it wasn't his memory, even if it was just a memory full of emptiness and hollowness, the thought that [Natsukawa Torato] didn't want [Artoria Caster] to die still existed in his mind.

Therefore, Natsukawa Torato will not allow anyone in Camelot City to die.

I will not let Bagst become a black dog, I will not let Melusin be shot down in the air, I will not let Morgan and Bavan Shi die, and I will not let Artoria become a sacrifice on the road to victory.

That's what he did in the past; throughout human history, he has strived to change many things.

So he would do the same now.

"Magic output adjusted to 1000% - Holy Lance, restart!"

Natsukawa Torato issued another command, and 130 years of magic flowed from the throne, passing through the magic circuits and filling the twelve Holy Lance turrets.

If he doesn't want to see any sacrifices and there are no backstabbing attacks, then there's only one way for Natsukawa Torato to defeat Kornunos.

That is to use all your magic to do the same thing as Artoria: shatter the cursed layers surrounding Kornunos, burn the decaying flesh on its body, and then shatter its divine core before Kornunos can regenerate!

This is the only way to win.

Therefore, let's use up every last drop of the magic that has accumulated within the throne for two thousand years!

"Overheating is fine, the turret melting is fine, being unable to withstand magic is fine—Holy Lance Rungomminiad, it's time to complete the task you've waited two thousand years for."

"Holy Lance, third volley, begin!"

One hundred and thirty years of magic were transformed into fuel, and the twelve holy lances shone with an even more dazzling divine radiance!

However, whether sensing the threat of the Holy Lance or finally awakening slightly from its slumber, a storm of curses suddenly erupted before the Holy Lance could be fired! Countless dark, cursed hands sprouted from the great void! Like ivy, they climbed relentlessly along the mountainside and city walls! In the blink of an eye, they reached the height of the Holy Lance turret!

Natsukawa Tora was quite familiar with these cursed hands. The calamity that occurred in Britain once every hundred years was caused by these cursed hands. Originally, only one would appear at a time, and it could be easily dealt with by Moonfall.

But now... hundreds? Thousands? No, probably tens of thousands. The number of Cursed Hands is so large that counting them is meaningless.

"Trying to interfere with the firing of the Holy Lance? Don't even think about it!"

Magic circuits fully activated!

The magic circuits, resembling golden trees, burst forth with dazzling light, which then transformed into streams of light that, centered around the twelve Holy Lance cannons on the city wall, instantly formed a massive magic ritual array!

Then—

"Bang----------!"

A terrifying repulsive force, accompanied by a dazzling light, erupted from the magic circle! In an instant, it crushed and tore apart all the cursed hands!

The next moment, the Holy Lance, now unobstructed, was fired!

"Boom————————————!"

54. The people who gathered

Near Camelot.

In a crater formed by the falling stars.

"Ouch...it hurts..."

Struggling to climb out of the pit, Miyamoto Musashi, covered in dust, jumped a few times to shake off the dirt before looking around: "Lord Tomoe, where are you? Are you alright?"

"I'm below you..."

The voice of Tomoe Gozen came from beneath him.

Miyamoto Musashi quickly looked down and saw a hand buried in the ground at her feet. Startled, she quickly squatted down, dug up the soil, and pulled Tomoe Gozen out from the ground.

"Cough cough cough... Thank you, Musashi."

"I'm so glad you're alright, Lord Ba—but the situation is really quite bad now, isn't it?"

Miyamoto Musashi got up and looked around.

Within her perception range, there was no longer any living reaction. It was as if she had come to an extremely barren desert, and she could not sense any life force other than herself and Tomoe Gozen.

Recalling the order from Natsukawa Torato that had just spread throughout Britain, Miyamoto Musashi frowned: "Could it be... that the meteorites that fell just now really killed all the fairies?"

"Perhaps. After all, not everyone is like you, Musashi, who can split a meteorite in two with a sword."

Tomoe Gozen and Miyamoto Musashi were also within the range of the falling stars' attack. After all, Natsukawa Torama didn't have the spare capacity to make any subtle adjustments at that time. The reason why the two of them are still able to stand here safely is entirely thanks to Miyamoto Musashi.

Like Bagst, Melsin, and Bawan Shi, Miyamoto Musashi also possessed the "spirit's blessing" bestowed upon her by Natsukawa Torato. When facing the meteorite, she temporarily obtained enough power from the blessing to cut it in two, shattering it and saving her life along with Tomoe Gozen.

"So... what's going on now? And what is that enormous, furry thing?"

Miyamoto Musashi gazed at Cornunos, who stood between heaven and earth in the distance.

Because of the sudden fall of stars, she was completely disoriented, but after sorting things out a little...

(Is Britain in its current state probably because of that hairy giant? Could you even cut him down?)

“I think that must be what Lord Fujimaru mentioned to us before,” Tomoe Gozen said. “Didn’t Lord Fujimaru tell us about what Lord Toraga is doing in this Lostbelt and the situation in this Lostbelt? I remember they mentioned the Great Void.”

After Tomoe Gozen mentioned it, Miyamoto Musashi remembered that she had indeed heard about the Great Hollow and the sleeping Cornunos inside it.

"So, that's the Horned God who died 14,000 years ago? Has he been resurrected now?"

"It's unclear, but one thing is certain: Britain's current situation is ultimately due to its resurrection—"

"Boom—!"

A sudden loud bang interrupted Tomoe Gozen's words. In their vision, the white giant standing between heaven and earth was suddenly attacked from below. Twelve incomparably dazzling rays of light bombarded Kornunos one after another, shattering the black mist surrounding him countless times.

The cursed hand, which stretched out from the great void like seaweed, was blocked by an invisible barrier and kept breaking and disappearing in mid-air.

“Let’s go over there too, Lord Ba.”

After thinking for a moment, Miyamoto Musashi said.

"Although I don't understand the current situation yet, at least... I feel that we should deal with the white horned god that emerged from the great void—that's what my intuition tells me."

"Well, let's go."

Tomoe Gozen nodded, and then the two left their spot and ran at full speed towards Camelot Castle.

——————————————————————————————————————

At the same time.

Inside Camelot.

It's a corridor where you can see directly into the vicinity of the large cavity.

"This isn't a good idea."

Sajou Rei frowned as she looked out the window.

Indeed, while the Holy Lance's attack is powerful, the rate at which it reduces the curse layers cannot keep up with the rate at which the curse layers regenerate. At this rate, even if Tiger has accumulated two thousand years of magic power, it won't be enough for him to squander.

Mary chimed in.

[Zero, Angelica, Arcueid, can the three of you think of a way to help Torata? I don't want Torata to use up all his magic here; there will be other uses for him later.]

After hearing what Merry said, Sajou Rei and the other two exchanged glances. Then Sajou Rei nodded: "Going to help is definitely no problem, but what exactly do we need to do? Even I can't withstand the concentration of that curse, let alone Angelica and Arcueid."

[Suppress the regeneration of the curse layer as much as possible from a distance. Specifically, Arcueid should keep using Moonfall, Angelica should keep using Ea, and Zero should do whatever she can—the key is to ensure that Tora still has the strength to cope with the upcoming battle.]

"I understand."

"Yes, I'm good at this kind of thing!"

Angelica and Arcueid shattered the wall beside them with their Noble Phantasms and fists as they talked, then jumped onto Vimana, which flew out of the Gate of Babylon, and transformed into a streak of light, flying swiftly towards the direction of Cornunos!

Meanwhile, Sajou Rei also altered her body structure, growing a pair of platinum-gold angel wings on her back. She flapped her wings, flew out of the corridor, and caught up with the two.

"Are the three of them alright?" Artoria asked with some concern. "Would it be better if I went along too?"

“What are you saying now that everyone’s gone? We still have our own things to do, don’t we?” Aozaki Aoko said. “Compared to that, how far is the throne, Meryl? I feel like we’ve been walking for ages.”

This is a bit of a problem...

The entire city of Camelot is a manifestation of Tiger's imagination; its internal layout has changed according to Tiger's ideas. But now, perhaps Tiger's ideas have changed, because at least from our perspective, all the paths leading to the throne have been blocked.

(It's like they don't want anyone to go there... So they're planning to shoulder everything alone? Whether it's Kornunos or the Naraku Insects, are you planning to solve the two most serious calamities by yourself, Tiger?)

[Hurry up. Aoko, Mordred, Lia, we're counting on you guys now. Don't hold back, just fight your way through and get to Tiger's side as quickly as possible.]

"You should have said that earlier!"

“I understand. Do it, Mordred.”

"Oh!"

(Considering what will happen later, the tiger needs to retain its magic for at least a thousand years... Hopefully, we can make it in time.)

55. Godslayer, Part One

"Bang--------!"

The eighth volley of the Holy Lance ended with a deafening roar.

The cursed layers were blasted apart, the rotting flesh was pulverized, revealing the even more decaying internal structure of Kornunus.

However, only a moment had passed, or even the instant after it was attacked by its companion, an endless tsunami of curses refilled the wounded area of ​​Cornunos, rendering the volley of the Holy Lance useless once again.

This is a scene that has played out several times before.

Xia Chuanhu curled his lip: "Tsk, the output is starting to fall behind? If we increase it any more... no, the turret itself can't withstand it."

1000% output is already the maximum output that the Holy Lance Turret can withstand. If it is increased further, the turret itself will be burned up because it cannot withstand the excessive magical power.

If he could be certain that the next strike would indeed defeat Cornunos, then Natsukawa Tiger certainly wouldn't hesitate to use just a few cannons, but he couldn't be sure.

If the Holy Lance, imbued with enough magic to destroy the turret, cannot completely defeat Cornunos, then after losing the Holy Lance, he will have to rely on his own magic, magic, and imaginary manifestations to fight Cornunos.

Considering that he would have to face the Naraku Insects that would emerge from even deeper within, Natsukawa Torara wanted to avoid using his power until then.

(The remaining magic power... is there 1200 years left? Can we launch a maximum of nine more salvos?)