The Interstellar Metropolis suspended above the sea began to shake harder and harder, as if it might fall at any moment and sink beneath the waves.
Demeter's Noble Phantasm could reshape a planet's surface. Mountains and plains, cities and oceans, all would be utterly transformed beneath its power, forced to change into whatever form she required.
That power might not be enough to create a world, but it was more than sufficient to cultivate and remake a planet.
And humans who lived upon the earth, along with every other form of life, could not survive that process.
Now, in order to crush Shiomi Tenkei, the Noble Phantasm's power was compressed to its absolute limit. It no longer pursued broad continental destruction. Instead, it locked onto Shiomi, treating him as a mountain that had to be leveled, a chasm that had to be filled.
Taking that blow head-on without preparation would have been insanity. As a countermeasure, and to bring an end to this indiscriminate battle that would swallow everything around them, Shiomi made his choice.
The moment the True Name of "Thou, Star Plowing Harvest" (Scream Eleusis) was released, Shiomi, for the first time in ages, called forth the Axe of Marduk.
Once again, in this Interstellar Metropolis, before the Earth Goddess, he would write a new myth, for the people who had lost their world, and for a future still far away.
He would be the one to write it.
Two absolute forces collided without restraint. Light tore through the storm clouds above the city, leaving even Zeus's lightning with nowhere to fall.
To create everything. To destroy everything.
Under that overwhelming impact, the once-bustling Interstellar Metropolis, its buildings and the humans who lived within them, were erased in the same instant, reduced to dust too fine to see.
The shockwave continued to expand, spreading outward from the point where Shiomi and Demeter clashed, rolling across the Interstellar Metropolis.
The defensive battle group, already smashed apart several times by Morgan's Noble Phantasm, was seized by instinctive fear, or perhaps driven by logic that judged the situation too dangerous. They began retreating in all directions, only to be swept up one after another after choosing the wrong routes.
"If this keeps up, we'll get dragged in too…" Scáthach gave a wry smile. "While nothing's in our way, we should pull back to a safe distance. Otherwise—"
Her feelings were tangled.
Her beloved disciple had already reached a realm where he could kill his master. If Scáthach so much as brushed that shockwave, she would be annihilated within the impact that shattered the earth and tore the sky apart.
Soul, body, and spirit. Everything would vanish.
And yet, at this moment, the Queen of the Land of Shadows didn't want to die so casually.
Her beloved disciple's journey was far from over. If she could continue walking at his side, then as his master, she intended to see it through to the end.
"…Your judgment is sound… but are you underestimating your disciple, Scáthach?" Morgan said.
She raised her hand with practiced elegance, as if dragging the two Noble Phantasms' impact zones through empty space.
Dark teal chains shot in from all directions and wrapped around the Bronze Giant's body as it tried, yet again, to stand. Morgan's brow tightened. The chain-bound Bronze Giant was lifted off the ground.
Then, like a stone hurled from a catapult, Morgan flung it with all her magecraft.
The Bronze Giant fired its thrusters midair, barely managing to adjust its posture. Still, it couldn't make it back to safety. The instant it touched the Noble Phantasm's impact zone, half its body was erased, and it crashed down to the ground.
"The impact zone is… shrinking?" Scáthach stared, a hand pressed to her chest as she murmured the answer.
The clash between the two Noble Phantasms was finally reaching a conclusion. In the end, Shiomi's Noble Phantasm was asserting itself over Demeter's.
The power of 『Enuma Elish』 was steadily consuming… no, overriding Demeter's Noble Phantasm.
Seconds ticked by. Neither Morgan nor Scáthach bothered to count how long it lasted.
The man they loved was fighting. Right now, nothing mattered more than not missing a single detail.
At last, the power unleashed by Shiomi's Noble Phantasm fully enclosed Demeter's Noble Phantasm, along with her true form.
When that process was completed, Mana suddenly contracted, as if nothing had happened.
But only for an instant.
Half a second later, the compressed Mana erupted outward again, like a nuclear blast descending, leveling the entire western sector of the Interstellar Metropolis.
A sandstorm rose from the ruins, forcing Morgan and Scáthach to lift their arms to shield themselves from the grit.
The explosion finally ran out of force before it could reach their position.
The wind fell quiet. The dust settled.
Brushing the dirt from her clothes, Morgan began walking forward at an unhurried pace, following the Mana's trace toward where Shiomi was.
Scáthach was not far behind. The two of them moved quickly through the desolate ruins where it was impossible to tell east from west, weaving past scattered remnants of collapsed walls, until they finally saw Shiomi at the bottom of a massive crater.
He was half-kneeling at the center of the pit, the Goddess of Plenty lying quietly in the crook of his arm.
"Ah… I knew it. My judgment was right after all…"
Demeter lifted her hand in a daze, trying to reach for Shiomi's face.
Shiomi caught her hand. "Have you finally come to yourself, Demeter?"
"I caused you trouble…"
She seemed about to say more, then stopped, her voice growing ever weaker. "But… it looks like there's no need anymore… You, the only golden rice stalk in this world… no matter what you go through… you will never bend…"
The light slowly drained from her eyes, until she could no longer see what lay before her.
Even with the Noble Phantasm fully unleashed, its power had ultimately failed to surpass him. The divine core had been completely shattered by the backlash of the Phantasm, and the Goddess of Fertility's end was now only a matter of time.
"…Mm."
That was all Shiomi could offer in response to her hopes and blessings.
"How wonderful… at the very end… after committing so many mistakes… to be able to meet a child like you…"
Demeter smiled, gentle and warm, like a mother.
"I'm sorry," Shiomi said softly. "I couldn't stop Zeus from using you."
"It's enough that you stopped me from continuing down the wrong path."
Demeter grasped the sickle and placed it into his hand. "The rest… I leave to you…"
As Shiomi accepted the sickle, Demeter lost the last of her strength. Her arm slipped from his grasp and fell limply onto the ground.
With a peaceful smile, the Goddess of Fertility faded away in his embrace. Only the sickle, the symbol of abundance, remained to bear witness to her existence.
"My husband…"
"My beloved disciple…"
Morgan and Scáthach had come closer, their voices filled with concern.
"I'm fine…"
Shiomi replied in a low voice. Then his legs gave out, and the two of them caught him from either side.
"I'm just a bit exhausted," he said quietly. "Before the pursuers arrive, let's hide for now."