Meanwhile, in the City of Seven Hills.
As the divine tree that had sheltered this nation shattered apart, every Roman who witnessed the upheaval stood frozen in place, their faces pale.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
In the sky, the two gods with radiant halos behind them swept down dense volleys of magic beams. Deprived of its support, the Pantheon automatically activated several defensive spells, but they shattered in moments.
Light projectiles rained down like meteors and slammed into the earth. The entire Palatine Hill shook violently and continued to collapse. Under the relentless bombardment, the already battered Pantheon was on the verge of falling apart.
To assassinate the Divine Ancestor was to tear out Rome's spine.
To destroy the Pantheon was to sever the last remaining link between this land and the divine realm, crushing the final scraps of luck and hope the Romans still held.
This was the moment when a star fell.
Bang! Bang bang!
Just as the Romans stood there like walking corpses, despair in their eyes and all will to resist sinking to its lowest point, a thunderous pounding rose from the dust before the Pantheon, like storm drums summoning lightning.
"I am the god who founded the nation. My fate exists with Rome..."
A towering figure stood there with the Spear of Nation-Building in hand. His chest had been torn open, his divine core already shattered, yet he remained upright and unmoving as blood dripped steadily to the ground. His burning gaze swept across the birthplace of the empire, and his low voice rang out clearly.
Cyrus and Ramesses II both frowned slightly, then lowered their hands and paused their assault.
As kings, they had their own pride. A worthy opponent deserved a dignified end.
In that strange calm, eyes filled with grief, confusion, and despair all turned toward the figure on Palatine Hill as he walked toward death.
The soldiers lowered their heads. Their grip on sword and shield slackened. From houses and alleys throughout the city came waves of muffled sobbing, like a funeral lament.
"After I die, there will be no more Rome in this world..."
Romulus's weary murmur sounded like the declaration of the empire's end, but in the next instant his voice rose like thunder rolling across the heavens.
"But after I die, the whole world will be Rome!"
That deafening roar echoed through the ravaged city.
Bang! Bang bang!
Bang! Bang bang!
Bang! Bang bang!
The Spear of Nation-Building struck the ground with a booming crash. Led by that sound, soldiers one after another tightened their grip on their weapons again and slammed them hard against their shields in response.
"My people, proud Romans, answer me. Where is Rome?!"
In an instant, countless Romans who had lost their fighting spirit raised their heads one by one. Almost involuntarily, they pounded their right fists against their chests and let out furious shouts, each wave louder than the last.
"Here!"
"Here!"
"Here!"
The cries gradually merged into a surging torrent, becoming a deafening roar that filled the sky. Ramesses II and Cyrus, who had believed everything was under control, could not help but falter.
They had underestimated the Divine Ancestor Romulus, and they had underestimated the Romans even more.
This was a people that embraced all things. This was a great civilization that had created splendor and prosperity. It possessed a fierce and tenacious vitality.
In the future, even when the Eastern Roman Empire, the symbol of true Roman succession, would lose its capital of Byzantium and be utterly destroyed, and from that day on there would no longer be a Rome in the world, its civilization and prosperity would still captivate all of Europe. Everyone would claim to be Rome's true heir, and powers like the Holy Roman Empire and the Papal States, bearing Rome's name, would rise in the years to come.
From then on, Rome would be everywhere in the world.
Though the Roman Empire could not escape the same fate as the Persian and Egyptian Empires, vanishing in time, the endurance of its influence would far surpass either of them.
Of course, the two kings of Persia and Egypt knew none of this. Seeing the situation about to spiral out of control, they exchanged a glance and reached the same conclusion.
They needed to help this Divine Ancestor of Rome make his exit ahead of time... with dignity.
Slash!
In that instant, Cyrus and Ramesses II suppressed their injuries and rapidly chanted divine words. Ether streams surged around them and poured downward, forming a flood that seemed capable of annihilating everything.
The Romans, their fighting spirit rekindled, could only glare until their eyes nearly split. But faced with such an overwhelming gap in power, they could only watch helplessly as their god, their faith, was about to dissolve beneath this thunderous blow. Even Romulus himself, standing atop the Great Altar, lowered his eyes slightly and calmly accepted his fate.
Hum!
At the critical moment, more than a dozen hidden runes leapt and danced around the Great Altar, among them "ᚦ," "ᚻ," "ᚾ," "ᛉ," and "ᚢ," each carrying meanings such as "protection," "delay," "defense," "fate," and "miracle." They formed a towering crimson-violet pillar of light that completely intercepted the surging Ether flood.
This is... from outside the city!
Cyrus the Great's heart lurched. Without hesitation, he accelerated the gathering of Ether particles, reversed his grip on the golden greatsword, and dove straight toward the Great Altar.
"I repay vengeance with forgiveness, trust with betrayal, hope with despair, light with darkness, and to all living things I grant the black death of oblivion.
Let the Seventh resound. With the fallen blood of the Ancient Serpent Satan, cast the edge that shatters time and space, and recreate the apocalypse that disintegrates all things. Mandate of Heaven: Collapse!"
In an instant, a rapid divine chant rang out with the force of thunder, grim and chilling. A meteor blazing with red-black flames came crashing down, trailing a long tail of fire.
Boom!
The world-shaking edge hidden within it struck with overwhelming force, shattering the golden greatsword, tearing through layer after layer of golden light, carving a savage wound across Cyrus's shoulder, and sending him flying.
The Persian King crashed down from the sky into the Roman Forum, kicking up a cloud of dust. The aftermath of the impact blasted out a cone-shaped crater more than ten meters deep, its walls crystallized, with radiating cracks spreading for several kilometers.
So strong!
Ramesses II's pupils contracted sharply. He immediately raised his gold-and-blue scepter. Rings and triangle-layered Magecraft arrays appeared before him one after another, aligning and focusing on that fiercely blazing figure.
The scorching radiance of the sun was compressed to its limit, ready to fire.
Slash!
At that very moment, a sharp seven-colored sword light slashed diagonally, cutting apart the composite Magecraft arrays Ramesses II had gathered, then brutally blasted the unprepared Pharaoh King back a hundred meters.
By the time Ramesses II steadied himself and fixed his eyes on the attacker, his expression had already darkened.
"King of the Huns, what are you doing? Do you mean to break the alliance?"
"My orders were to stop you for half an hour. You may choose to fight... or flee..."
Hovering in midair, Altera raised the Sword of the War God and pointed it forward as she answered in an indifferent tone.
"Insolence!"
The proud Pharaoh King was nearly enraged to death. In fury, he immediately swung his scepter and attacked.
Without hesitation, Altera gathered the star rings, casually split apart the hundreds of incoming magic beams, and raised her sword to meet him in battle.
For a time, layers of light exploded across the sky while violent Ether currents raged wildly.
That reaction... he's injured?
As expected. To take down Romulus, you still had to pay a price.
Then this is the moment. End it quickly!
At the same time, Samael's serpent eyes narrowed and gleamed darkly. He stamped down hard, using the collapse of half the mountain as leverage to launch himself forward. His cross-spear, burning with red-black flames, leveled straight at Cyrus the Great at the bottom of the crater in the Roman Forum.