A Lostbelt, in the end, is just a Lostbelt.
Once Nameless successfully repairs it, it will vanish without a trace.
Which also means—the so-called Great Wall of Space and the Hero Repository of the First Emperor can never descend into reality.
"Surely the First Emperor doesn't think that, just because he regains his memories after watching the video, he can pull something out of nothing and recreate the Great Wall of Space?"
The God-King council leader sneered with biting mockery:
"… surely he isn't that naïve, right?"
"Indeed, impossible," the Goddess of Wisdom councilor said with a smile. "In the previous Lostbelt, it took the First Emperor and his unified Great Empire no less than three hundred years to construct the Great Wall of Space."
Encircling the entire Earth, the Great Wall of Space was an unprecedented project—so far beyond human comprehension it defied reason.
Even she couldn't fathom by what means it had been built.
It could only be described as—
A miracle of God.
The important thing was this: after [Alaya] released the video, the First Emperor really could regain his memories, and his power would indeed surge dramatically.
But that was all it amounted to.
There was no way he could conjure the Great Wall of Space out of thin air. Nor could he magically reproduce the Heroic Spirit Repository.
The former had required three hundred long years to build.
The latter? A staggering 2,603 years.
By the time another three hundred years passed, the Empire would already be utterly subdued beneath their heel, worshipping them as the most fervent of believers!
The Moon Goddess councilor was full of disbelief:
"The Twelve Golden Men created by the First Emperor are clearly twelve mighty mecha, each capable of massively amplifying the user's power."
This kind of amplification… was nearly identical to the relic husks of the machine gods they themselves had acquired.
Where in the world had the Emperor obtained such technology—black-tech so far beyond the age, beyond human understanding?
The Goddess of Wisdom councilor said gravely:
"We must accelerate our pace. Otherwise, given enough time, the First Emperor will surely be able to analyze the God of War's mechanical body!"
They could not forget—earlier, the War God councilor had been slain through the joint efforts of Nameless, the First Emperor, and their allies.
His corpse still remained within the enemy territory.
Once this video was exposed, the memory-restored First Emperor would, without a doubt, be able to dissect it completely!
After all, if he had once been capable of forging Kou—a Gundam that could stride across the very stars—then drawing parallels to replicate the War God's mech would be no challenge at all.
Give him enough time, and he could even combine it with Kou's technology—achieving the miracle of a fake surpassing the genuine article!
The Goddess of Wisdom councilor gave a sharp snort:
"The First Emperor was taught by Nameless, the so-called King of Fakers. We must be cautious!"
Back in Unlimited Blade Works, Nameless had gone on a mad spree of copying and projecting the King of Heroes' treasures.
He had even once declared, "There is no law that a fake cannot defeat the original."
Thus, compared to the King of Heroes, the King of Knights, and the other monarchs, he had gained yet another nickname—
The King of Fakers.
No matter what Noble Phantasm it was—so long as Nameless laid eyes upon it, he could project and replicate it instantly.
It was an ability outrageously broken beyond belief.
And if the disciple he taught was the First Emperor, then odds were high he too would inherit such powers of analysis and duplication.
Worst of all—Nameless's projected fakes could be reproduced infinitely.
He would casually use them as disposable skins, tossing them aside without hesitation as self-destructive attacks!
If the First Emperor were ever to fully analyze the War God's mech—
The Goddess of Wisdom didn't even dare imagine the outcome.
That empire was the master of taking black technology, turning it into cheap cabbage, and mass-producing it on an assembly line.
The God-King council leader responded forcefully:
"Very well! Then we continue to exert overwhelming pressure—break the spine entirely, and make it kneel in submission!"
Back then, the First Emperor had already been given a chance to surrender—Now, they would never again allow him such an opportunity!
Fortunately, the many measures of the First Emperor shown within the Lostbelt painted him as a tyrant devoid of humanity.
It was practically handing them evidence on a silver platter.
Truly, their thanks went to Alaya!
"Then let us proceed to a formal vote—whether to declare war on Nameless and the First Emperor," the God-King declared.
Strike while the iron is hot. Kill them while they are weak.
This time, they would give their foes no time at all!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
One hand after another was raised, and the resolution passed in an instant.
The God-King council leader's face remained expressionless.
This parliament still wasn't free enough.
It prevented him from making decisions as he truly pleased.
But in the future—he would seize absolute control of everything!
====
Inside the Empire's Palace, the video had finished playing.
The gathered Heroic Spirits all whispered among themselves.
Chin Kyu watched the elf on the screen with a delighted grin:
"That fellow would make the perfect partner for me!"
His noble phantasm could push allies beyond their limits, unleashing their greatest power.
And Yu Mei-ren—capable of sacrificing her body to unleash her strongest finishing move.
Together, they were a perfect match.
Infinite destruction. Infinite self-detonation!
"Indeed. We could ask Lady Yu if she'd be willing to cooperate with us," Komei nodded.
This wasn't simple addition. It wasn't one plus one equals two—this was multiplication. Dozens of times the power, even tenfold increases!
Even the fox, scourge of mankind, had preferred to avoid them rather than face them head-on.
Against the Council of Gods, such a weapon could serve as their ultimate trump card—an overwhelming doomsday deterrent!
So, how should they respond to the Council of Gods?
Komei carefully asked:
"Your Majesty, after the video's release, did you… grow stronger?"
For this man was the empire's absolute pillar—
The eternal sovereign worshipped by countless people.
In the video, at the beginning, he had appeared aloof, divine, untouchable.
But in the final moments, the First Emperor had personally cut down the Fantasy Tree, returning fully to humanity—calmly reciting poetry and gazing at the moon alongside ordinary folk as the Lostbelt perished.
Later, he had even responded to Nameless's summons, joining Chaldea as a Heroic Spirit, fighting for the preservation of mankind.
In short, his later actions ensured he would never be despised.
On the contrary—people revered him all the more.
To let go—that was the rarest and noblest choice of all.
To let go of eternal emperorship.
To let go of a Grand-class Saint Graph.
To let go of the mechanical divine body.
To let go of the Eternal Empire.
To let go of eternal peace…
He had abandoned everything with his own hands—simply to witness humanity's infinite future.
Compared to miracles like the Great Wall of Space, that was what Komei respected most.
All the Heroic Spirits now turned their eyes toward him.
Awaiting their emperor's reply.
"With me here." Shikotei spoke calmly.
Those four words were enough to ease every heart in the chamber.
A hundred years ago, when foreign invaders descended upon the land—
It was the First Emperor, sword in hand, who had personally defeated them all, forging the peace they now enjoyed.
Whether in the Lostbelt or Proper Human History—he was, without a doubt, the strongest of emperors in there heart.
Shikotei's expression was complicated.
"So, that's what happened afterward…"
Only after watching the video did he finally understand why he was in this form today.
The so-called human body was merely a Saint Graph he had fashioned for himself.
His true body was this very Palace beneath their feet!
And now he finally realized why Sanjiro had refused to see him at first.
Sanjiro had protected him, guided him—yet in the Lostbelt, he had ruthlessly fired the Great Wall of Space upon him.
Their battle had been far too merciless. To come visit him afterward? That would be absurd!
But when the Lostbelt ended, and Shikotei sat within the Throne of Heroes—he had seen Sanjiro's summoning call.
As one who had once been Alaya within the Lostbelt, it was easy for him to suppress countless other Heroic Spirits, driving them away to ensure only he was summoned.
A "miracle single-pull"?
Heh. Did they know how many Heroic Spirits he had crushed to make it happen?
Suppressing and defeating innumerable others—just to descend to the Teacher's side, to make amends for his past betrayal.
At that moment—
Komei's face grew especially grave:
"Your Majesty, the Council of Gods has issued a new declaration, following up on their earlier Seven Sins!"
Previously, to discredit the Emperor, they had released the Seven Sins of the First Emperor—declaring, in God's name, that he would be judged.
Those so-called seven sins had been nothing but fabrication—distortions of the truth.
Now, with Alaya's new video, they had seized upon the Lostbelt to tack on even more charges.
[The Eighth Sin: Extinguishing Human Reason!]
"To prevent rebellion, the First Emperor shackled his people's very thoughts, cutting off all cultural inheritance—treating humanity as livestock to be penned in!"
Komei and the others looked at each other in silence.
Those dogs were even more cunning than expected.
Striking immediately while the video was at its most sensational—driving straight for the throat!
After all, in the Lostbelt, the Emperor had indeed severed cultural inheritance—seeking to erase concepts like war from the root.
To let his people live forever in a Peach Blossom Paradise.
In truth, neither side had been wrong.
The First Emperor sought eternal peace; Nameless pursued an infinite, dangerous future.
Better a coward in a golden age, than a man in a time of chaos.
For many ordinary folk, such a stable, peaceful world was far preferable.
[The Ninth Sin: Slaughtering the Innocent!]
"Whenever anyone attempted to spread culture, the penalty was death—not only for the individual, but for nine generations of their kin! By the Emperor's own command, entire villages of thousands were nearly wiped out!"
This too… had been true in the Lostbelt.
Komei sighed deeply.
Back then, when Nameless and Keika taught villagers poetry, the Emperor had seen it as a source of chaos.
A poison to his eternal peace.
He had sought to drop an entire section of the Great Wall upon them—wiping out thousands.
If not for Nameless shattering the meteor with a desperate blow, he would have succeeded!
[The Tenth Sin: Megalomania!]
"Year after year, the First Emperor squandered resources on endless construction and conquest—erecting the Epang Palace, the Hero Repository, even the Great Wall of Space—only to gratify his boundless greed!"
As the Prime Minister, Komei knew full well—such colossal projects would bankrupt even a modern powers.
So how had the Emperor possibly built the Great Wall of Space?
And the charges didn't stop there.
[War-mad conqueror of the globe.]
[Chief culprit threatening Human History.]
A pile of damning titles, one after another.
Inside the great hall, everyone immediately began urgent discussions.
How to counter the oncoming storm of the Lighthouse Gods?
The enemy was clearly prepared.
This time, they fully intended to wage total war against the Emperor.
Komei could only let out a weary sigh.
The previously captured War God mecha—with Emperor's current abilities—was absolutely within reach to study and decipher.
The problem was, the Council of Gods had no intention of giving him that time. They wanted this resolved swiftly and cleanly!
Hum—
At that moment, Shikotei, who had remained silent until now, suddenly raised his hand.
From beside him, vast surges of magic power—like a boundless ocean—erupted from Xiang Yu's body.
His frame rapidly expanded, muscles swelling until he became a burly giant.
Feeling the flood of power coursing through him, Kou looked up in shock toward the throne:
"Th-this is… Your Majesty?"
Hum—
Without answering, Shikotei raised his hand again.
Brilliant radiance burst forth from Kou, coalescing into towering silver-white armor dozens of meters tall, enclosing his entire body.
Once more, he had become a terrifying weapon of war.
The sheer magical energy radiating from him was on par with a god.
Meeting the stunned gazes of all present, Shikotei's voice was calm:
"Last time, when the gods descended, it was Teacher who stood to protect Us. This time… it is We who shall protect sir, and protect this land."
"Long live the Emperor!"
The assembled Heroic Spirits erupted in joy.
Their Emperor could bestow the powers of the Lostbelt upon his vassals, transforming Kou into the very same ultimate weapon of war that had taken over two millennia to forge in that other history.
If that was possible—then what of the other wonders? Could they too be summoned forth?
Meanwhile—
The world itself was holding its breath, the last fragile calm before the storm.
The moment the video ended, the Council of Gods convened a press conference.
On live broadcast, the Goddess of Wisdom stood before countless cameras, her voice burning with fury:
"How dare you! Such a threat to human history, such a butcher of human reason—must be sealed away forever, never to rise again! We, the United States of America, shall fight for mankind! We will personally judge and suppress Shikotei, and make him repent for his sins!"
The council of false gods planted themselves upon the moral high ground, unleashing waves of denunciation.
The effect was instant: forums across the globe exploded into chaos.
…
Sanjiro scowled at the broadcast.
"These bastards really won't stop until one side is destroyed…"
Two powers stood atop the world.
For one to rise, the other must fall—there could be no coexistence.
Walking the streets, Sanjiro sighed helplessly.
All he wanted was to retire, to live as an ordinary high school student. So why did trouble keep chasing him?
What was worse—the Council of Gods had seized the full power of the Machine Gods. That was already a certainty.
If not for Alaya's revelation videos, piece by piece restoring his strength—if not for empowering the Emperor and the other summoned Heroic Spirits—then when the Council of gods finally struck, they would have been powerless to resist.
In that sense, they all owed Alaya.
But against eleven god-level beings? A frontal clash was still a fool's dream.
As he walked, Sanjiro suddenly noticed a silver-haired maiden standing ahead, smiling warmly at him.
His eyes narrowed instantly.
Athena.
The tea was poisoned!
Back in their first meeting—projected with Alaya's help—he had once drunk a cup of her so-called "tea"… a brew that might actually have been her bodily essence.
Was that the tether she used to find him now?
It seemed among the Olympians, Athena was the most dangerous of them all.
Sanjiro tried to pass as an ordinary passerby—only to find the entire street had gone silent.
Not time stop. No—the space itself had been sealed, shaped into a bounded domain.
Athena approached, her smile radiant.
"Nameless… or perhaps I should call you Sanjiro."
Her words were light, but her gaze cut like steel.
To think this man—this guardian of humanity—had so perfectly concealed himself as a forgettable high school boy.
If not for the traces she had left, even she might never have tracked him down.
"…."
Sanjiro's headache worsened. Compared to Heroic Spirits, gods like her had a much easier time piercing his disguise.
Athena continued:
"The U.S. has already resolved to wage war—to crush your Emperor and the Empire's defenses, and claim dominion over this planet."
Sanjiro frowned. "So what is it you want to say?"
Her answer was simple:
"Cooperation."
She repeated it, as she had once before.
"If the Council of Gods conquers the Empire, they will become this world's absolute rulers. Driven by the Machine Gods' lingering will, they will herd humanity like cattle."
Her expression hardened.
"Unlike Shikotei's eternal empire, they will do as the Demon King Goetia once sought—to take the reins of human history itself. To corrupt it, control it, and ascend into something beyond gods… into Humanity's Evil."
This was the true ambition.
To shed their humanity and rise as false divinities—just as the Lostbelt King once declared himself the only true human, discarding all others as lesser beings.
And these arrogant gods would go further still.
"…The Demon King…"
Sanjiro's chest tightened.
Alaya's timing was no coincidence. The Lostbelt had been revealed not only to counter the Council of Gods threat, but also to prepare him for that greater, looming battle.
Even so—the present crisis was here. Against the might of eleven "chief gods," he alone could not stand.
Only by reforging the Twelve Olympian blessings, and once more becoming the God-Blessed Hero, could he face them.
He exhaled slowly.
Back in the Lostbelt, Shikotei had fought for him, with everything he had.
Now… it was his turn.
Tei… this time, I'll be the one to protect you.
Athena lifted her gaze skyward, her tone suddenly grave:
"They're here."
Hum—
With a wave of her hand, a projection spread before him.
Space itself appeared, starless and black—
Dozens of colossal warships, each hundreds of meters long, descended from orbit, tearing through the atmosphere toward Fuyuki City.
The Council of Gods had chosen to make their strike at last.
The fleet did not hide its presence. It blazed across the sky, broadcast live to the world in a spectacle of raw terror.
At the vanguard, the Sun God leveled his cannons straight at the city below.
His voice boomed, carried across every channel:
"We, the Council of Gods, come to protect humanity—to bring you freedom! Shikotei, who has committed unforgivable sins—surrender all resistance! Kneel before God and repent! Nameless—you have earned merit as humanity's guardian. Step forth, receive our blessing, and join us in judging this tyrant!"
…
Each word was poison, laced with cunning malice.
They sought not just to condemn Shikotei—but to drive a wedge between him and Nameless.
Fuyuki erupted into panic.
…
In the Academy Director's office—
Tamamo-no-Mae clenched her teeth, watching the broadcast. "Those bastards! Of all places, they pick my city to attack?!"
So many cities—and they had to choose her turf.
Bullies, that's what they were. Did they think she was a "useless Beast" who wouldn't fight back?
"Because Nameless is here," Merry said coolly.
If their goal was to strike both Shikotei and Nameless, then Fuyuki was the natural choice.
Not only that—thanks to Alaya's videos, Fuyuki had become a gathering point for Heroic Spirits from every land: Britain, France, Greece, Uruk.
It was the grandest stage imaginable.
To conquer it would mean conquering the entire world in one blow.
"…So then," Tamamo muttered, "how will Shikotei and Nameless respond?"
"There's movement at the Palace," Merry warned.
Her clairvoyant eyes widened—
Above the palace, terrifying waves of energy began to erupt.
Radiant brilliance erupted—unfurling into twin wings of light that stretched all the way into outer space.
The Lightwings spread wide!
When at last the glare dimmed—
Behind the fleet of warships, a vast structure revealed itself, stretching farther than the eye could see.
Its surface was sheathed in silver-white metal, gleaming with a science-fictional majesty.
Row upon row of yawning cannons lined its walls, their barrels already leveled at the false gods!
It was—the Orbital Great Wall!
Merry and Tamamo-no-Mae could only stare in shock, eyes wide—
The Great Wall of Space from the Lostbelt… had descended into reality!?