Not even Solomon's rings could resist the authority of this power, a force that transcended fate itself.
Its immensity was beyond comprehension. As it flooded into him, Goetia's Saint Graph was utterly distorted, strengthened, exalted, elevated without pause…
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh—!"
The drastic surge in both body and spirit brought unbearable agony. The raging underworld flames at his chest lasted less than half a minute before being completely extinguished under its wash.
The surrounding Demon Pillars swelled violently. The throne upon which Solomon sat was engulfed by their mass.
"Manifest. Rejoice. This is the Beast of Calamity, one of Humanity's Evils."
Using the incantations Satsuki had harvested from the Demon Pillars, she guided Solomon's Saint Graph into transformation toward Humanity's Evil. The colossal Demon Pillars encircled the throne, enclosing Solomon within a violet sphere. With Satsuki's incantation and infusion of mana, the ritual of transformation activated of its own accord.
From within the crimson-violet cocoon came his chanting voice:
"In the past, there was an omniscient, omnipotent king."
"A man granted power by the gods."
"He possessed eyes that perceived past and future alike, eyes that could comprehend all things in the world. We became that man's shadow, and thus gained the same vision as he."
No, as guardians bound to his spirit, they had no choice but to resonate with him.
"I am the fragment of the King of Magecraft, the creator of Chaldea, the first familiar born as the foundation for magecraft."
"I ruled the nation alongside Solomon, yet at his death I was discarded—a curse of origin."
"I lurked within Solomon's corpse, gaining flesh as a 'summoning formula.'"
"I witnessed countless sorrows, countless betrayals, countless plunders, countless ends…"
"Enough. There is nothing left worth beholding. On this planet, even the gods face only one conclusion—[annihilation]."
"I no longer care for humanity or its future. What I seek is a perfect environment in which true intellect may flourish."
"This planet is wrong, madness built upon the premise of [life that ends]."
Blinding light burst forth from the center. The crimson Demon Pillars twisted and were devoured midair.
"I was nameless. But if I must be called, then call me thus: one who attains true wisdom; one sought for that very purpose; one who makes mankind into sustenance, who strides toward the ultimate point, who creates a new star…"
"I shall reach the ultimate point, traverse back 4.6 billion years, witness the birth of the first celestial body in this domain, and absorb all its energy—becoming a new celestial body, recreating this planet…"
"I shall govern the seventy-two curses, burn away all history, rewrite Genesis, and establish a planet where 'death' does not exist. This is our grand enterprise…"
Thus was born the Incineration of Humanity—Demon God King Goetia.
...
Through her Tenseigan, Satsuki beheld the echo of Goetia's declaration in ages past, delivered in this very place against Chaldea's challengers.
The vision faded. In its place, before her now, stood a towering, monstrous figure.
His human form was gone. His torso was clad in a gold-white, unyielding substance. From his head sprouted tentacles like burning branches. His chest gaped open, a massive pink-violet sphere lodged within.
Compared to this [Demon God King] Goetia, even the mightiest Heroic Spirits of the Throne—Karna, son of the Sun God; the King of Knights, Artoria; the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh—were like insects before heaven and earth. The disparity of their Saint Graphs was beyond reckoning.
Merely by standing, his presence radiated pressure enough to annihilate worlds and reshape stars.
This was the Beast of [Pity], Goetia, restored to his full strength.
Even the band of light, condensed from the accumulated weight of human history, coiled once more above the Temple of Time, exuding suffocating destruction.
Under that deadly glow, even a planet was as fragile as an infant.
Yet even at the height of his regained power, Goetia did not dare relax before the figure of Māra who faced him.
The abilities his opponent had just displayed, coupled with her nonchalant gaze even upon witnessing his most powerful form, once more made him realize the true reason for his summoning.
After being manipulated by [Demon Buddha Māra]'s Wheel of Fate, which rewrote his past state and restored him to his former self, the thread connecting him to the Counter Force had been severed.
At this moment, Goetia was no longer in the state of a Servant—he was entirely Humanity's Evil.
Yet even so, before Māra, descended directly in the [Saver] class, he felt no sense of safety at all.
If she could so easily grant him this power, she could just as easily strip it away.
Thus, having regained his Beast Saint Graph, the Demon God King chose to parley with this terrifying "existence."
"We are both sources of humanity's destruction, both targeted by the Counter Force. Why not join hands to fulfill our goals together?"
"Both targeted by the Counter Force?"
Satsuki merely echoed his words, offering no immediate reply.
Seeing that her doubt did not seem feigned, Goetia forced himself to explain patiently: "Originally, this Fuyuki Holy Grail War was nothing but a farce, a contest among second-rate Servants scrabbling over a worthless toy."
"In other timelines, the Servants summoned to this war merely slaughtered each other until only a single Saber remained. But that Grail was already corrupted—the victor's prize nothing more than the black mud known as All the World's Evil."
Saber… the Knight King of Britain? She had once revealed her Noble Phantasm, [Avalon: The Everdistant Utopia], before Satsuki. With such a treasure, it was hardly impossible for her to triumph in the Grail War.
"Yet in this parallel world, the Grail War was utterly different. Every Servant summoned here possessed a vastly strengthened Saint Graph and Noble Phantasm. They were each among the strongest seven permitted by the Counter Force to manifest in the present age."
"And to oppose you, they even summoned me… though at that time, I appeared only in the form of a Caster."
The meaning of his words was clear: those Servants had been brought forth to confront her.
And Satsuki accepted this arrangement without objection—she had come to challenge the strongest across all realms. Such obstacles were only natural upon her path.
"Your information is useless. My plan has always been to destroy every Servant."
"Why?" Goetia's fists clenched as he demanded, unyielding. "Our goals do not conflict. I am now free of the Counter Force's restraints. Why do you insist on driving me to destruction?"
"It is simple. As I have already told you once—I destroy merely to face a foe worthy of being destroyed."
"…Very well!"
Seeing there was no room for compromise, the Demon God King chose decisively to abandon all pretense. "I have shown you sufficient respect. But now—it is time for the conclusion!"
Beneath his golden crown, the Demon God King's eyes snapped open. With crushing pressure, his scarlet demon eyes blazed forth.
At the same time, the luminous band of light in the heavens resonated with his mana—and began to spin rapidly.
The earth trembled under the confrontation of two titans. Even the colossal Demon Pillars in the far distance could not intervene in this mythic battle.
The blackened ground, like scorched coal, quivered beneath the suffocating mana filling the air.
In her form as [Demon Buddha Māra], the mere leakage of Satsuki's power was enough to twist and rend the space around her.
Opposite her, the [Demon God King] Goetia, having regained his full might, simultaneously gathered mana to drive the heavenly light band above while relying on his 'immortality' to stand resolute against her.
The atmosphere was taut, on the verge of erupting—
Suddenly, Satsuki vanished from the sky—
In the Demon God King's Clairvoyance, her figure would reappear behind him.
"Another greeting of the same kind?"
Goetia spun, hurling a fist toward the space behind. His massive strike, wreathed in destructive mana, split the land with its mere shockwave, carving fissures across dozens of miles.
Yet the blow struck empty air. The Satsuki who should have been there—seen by his Clairvoyance—was nowhere to be found.
Goetia's heart sank. An enemy capable of eluding destiny's track was his true nemesis. This was not about strength, but the will of the planet itself.
Before he could react further, Satsuki appeared once more behind him—just as before. But this time, she extended only a single finger.
Yet even that finger radiated pressure no less than the blade that had once struck him. His keen senses screamed at the overwhelming power concentrated there. To be struck by it would bring dire consequences.
Restored to his Beast-class Saint Graph, the Demon God King's reflexes far surpassed those of his former Caster state. He twisted into a sweeping punch, the gale it unleashed tearing apart the Temple's ground.
So swift was the strike that even Satsuki's finger thrust lagged half a step. Her figure blurred, slipping half a body-length away to evade.
—It was a technique akin to YGGDRASIL's [Body of Effulgent Beryl], a reflexive phase shift triggered at the instant of impact.
"As expected of Demon God King Goetia. Sharper than before—and wise enough to know those eyes do not always reveal truth."
Revealing herself again, Satsuki's tone was one of appraisal: "Though we have exchanged only a single move, your fists, your mana, your reflexes, your foresight—all far surpass what I witnessed last time. My efforts to bring you here were not wasted."
"Since our warm-up before, it seems your greatest art is in the fist? Then…"
She assumed a stance unknown to him. Yet to Goetia, master of pugilism, it was unmistakably a martial posture.
"Māra. Of all the countless ways you could fight me, you would choose to contest fists?"
"Because my aim lies not in your destruction's result—but in the challenge of its process."
"Māra, Demon King of the Sixth Heaven… Hahahaha!" Goetia's laughter thundered through the Temple. "I begin to wonder if the Counter Force has truly seen your true nature."
"I care nothing for such trifles."
"Yes. There is no matter more grave now than our duel. For this…"
Goetia raised his arms, two colossal gates shielding before him. One foot forward, one back, body arched low.
For the first time, he assumed a martial stance. In all of history, his overwhelming mana, his foresight into all variables, and his sheer physique had been enough to crush any foe.
Only one had ever compelled him to reveal his ultimate divine martial style—God himself.
And now, the foe before him pressed upon him with equal weight.
This feeling, as though fused with nature itself—even within his own Temple of Time, standing before Satsuki, Goetia felt pressed down by the entire world.
He could wait no longer. Goetia stepped forward, striking first.
In a blur of movement, the Demon God King's colossal form seemed to cleave through space itself. A fist, wreathed in immense violet mana, drove straight for Satsuki's face.
She slid back half a step, her stance relaxed as she slipped past the crushing blow. But Goetia's punch did not end there. In less than an instant, the strike retracted only halfway—then surged forward again along the same trajectory.
"Such power… and yet such speed as well…?"
A simple linear evasion could not outpace such attacks. Satsuki had chosen to pit fists against fists; thus, she could not rely on other powers. That was her creed, her self-imposed restraint—otherwise, the challenge itself would lose all value.
With a light push of her right foot, her body shifted laterally to the left. But this evasive path was already within the Demon God King's martial rhythm.
Without pause, his other fist was already arcing to meet her.
Sensing the air rushing toward her, Satsuki let her body flow with a gentle force, bending beneath the gale of his strike. Like grass swayed by autumn wind, she slipped under the blow.
As Goetia prepared to pursue, Satsuki's right hand had already gathered strength, sweeping sideways in a fierce strike.
Even he dared not take it lightly. He leaned back, narrowly evading the horizontal swing. Yet in his vision, the trace of her fist warped the very space it crossed.
After this probing exchange, the two fell once more into a storm of rapid blows.
Satsuki was no master of fists, just as she was no master of blades. She fought by relying on her overwhelming physical prowess, letting her natural force crystallize into instinctive martial form. Her level was such that even raw movement became a martial art perfected.
Goetia, on the other hand, inherited Solomon's memories and much of his skill. Without doubt, he was a martial artist schooled to perfection. Against Satsuki's unpredictable strikes, he always found the most efficient counters and retaliations.
This was older than swordplay—the clash of bare flesh itself. Their collision filled the Temple of Time with thunderous detonations, shockwaves rippling outward. The already unstable Singularity nodes trembled on the brink of collapse.
...
Yet the two combatants paid no mind to the temple's ruin. In their eyes, only the foe before them remained.
Dozens of exchanges had passed. Then, with a shift of thought, Satsuki altered her stance. Her frame opened wide, movements fully extended. In a flash, within five feet, she closed the distance. Her hand turned to a blade, cutting across toward the Demon God King's face.
The force behind it was no trivial matter. Goetia raised his forearm to guard, but it was not enough. His other elbow crossed before his chest, bracing against a central attack, while his palm reinforced the defense.
Her hand-blade struck his arm. An overwhelming surge of power coursed through the impact, flooding into his body. Even with his perfect guard, even with every precaution, the Demon God King was smashed aside, hurled laterally across the temple.
—
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