『 "You have no choice. Give me more magical energy, and I shall crush the Heroic Spirits gathered in this place," Beast Nero said calmly.
Looking at Fujimaru Ritsuka's conflicted face, Beast Nero couldn't help but laugh. "You have no choice. Aren't you, the Master of a Beast, their target as well?"
"Right now, you have no support from Chaldea, and there are limits to combat through summoning. Other than driving me, a Beast, you have no other way to survive."
"Even if I die, the Heroic Spirits here will automatically purge you, the source of this disaster—"
Beast Nero's meaning was very simple.
"You…" Fujimaru Ritsuka's chest heaved violently. The girl stared straight into those crimson blood-red eyes, wanting to see what Beast Nero actually intended to do.
However, in those blood-red eyes, there was nothing but delight and slaughter. Cold sweat trickled down Fujimaru Ritsuka's forehead, soaking her entire body in just a moment.
What was she supposed to do now… Master of a Beast…?
What a farce this was.
And right at this moment, violent fighting resounded outside the theater once more. The second wave of Heroic Spirits had already arrived! 』
『 .....』
〜Myriad Worlds livestream Chat〜
[ Mercurius (Dies Irae): "Tsk tsk tsk, Master of a Beast, what a resounding title. This truly is an unprecedented title." ]
[ Jeanne d'Ar (Type-Moon): "…How could this be… If the last Master of Proper Human History is to be killed for such a reason, then what exactly do we Heroic Spirits stand for?!" ]
[ Red A⦍EMIYA⦎ (Type-Moon): "Still don't understand even now? Heroic Spirits are just Alaya's wage slaves, toolmen, aren't they? Isn't that already painfully obvious?" ]
[ Tezcatlipoca (Type-Moon): "Hehe, saying it like that isn't wrong at all." ]
[ Kenjaku (Jujutsu Kaisen): "Well then, everyone, take a guess. Will Fujimaru Ritsuka supply magical energy to Beast Nero in an attempt at self-preservation?" ]
[ Uiharu Kazari (A Certain Magical Index): "She probably will. After all, Ritsuka's ultimate goal is to save Proper Human History. Wasting her life here for nothing would be too unwise." ]
[ Aqua (KonoSuba): "I think she should perish together with them right here! That's what a protagonist should do! Right, Kazuma?!" ]
[ Kazuma Satou (KonoSuba): "…I feel like you're hinting at something to me." ]
[ Fujimaru Ritsuka (Type-Moon): "Haha, I will. Why wouldn't I? Human Order won't even let me return to Chaldea, so what's wrong with me making a few friends outside?" ]
[ Gin Ichimaru (Bleach): "A Beast as a friend? And how many does that make now! Hahahahahahaha! Intriguing, absolutely intriguing!" ]
[ Kumoko (So I'm a Spider, So What?): "Then what should Fujimaru Ritsuka do? Outside is an army of Heroic Spirits, right? And Beast Nero is already heavily injured. How is she supposed to fight this?" ]
[ Chaotic Evil Gudako (Type-Moon): "It's definitely possible! Absolutely possible! A mere few hundred enemy troops, watch me break them in a single strike!" ]
[ .....]
〜Type-Moon World, ????? Worldline〜
Can a beast also be commanded…?
After a moment of stupor, the crowd suddenly snapped to their senses, and the eyes of countless magi began to gleam!
They understood. What did a so-called Beast matter? Put simply, it was just a far, far larger crystal of magical energy than a Heroic Spirit!
Servants could be commanded because stronger existences were suppressing them, using magecraft to command them. What about Beasts?
Realizing this, a crazy thought was born in the minds of countless extreme magi: to command… a Beast!
Weaken a Beast to a near-death state, and then command it!
However… the Beasts who saw this scene shook their heads. It was true that Beast Nero was near death, but from start to finish, she was the one who actively chose Fujimaru Ritsuka.
What she cared about wasn't surviving, but Fujimaru Ritsuka!
What exactly did Beast Nero want to do? A group of Beasts frowned. A Beast that devours the wish for salvation…?
『 Viewers of Myriad Worlds 』
Everyone simply could not suppress the corners of their mouths from curving up. In the past, at the Grand Temple of Time, these countless Heroic Spirits had fought with all their might for Fujimaru Ritsuka!
But now?
It was still that same group of Heroic Spirits. Although they had lost their consciousness and were merely acting as shadows, they were more than sufficient as supporting roles.
Now that Beast Nero had established a connection with Fujimaru Ritsuka, if Fujimaru Ritsuka wanted to survive, she could only pin her hopes on Beast Nero~
How should she choose… No, the answer here was already self-evident. They should ask: how could she accept Beast Nero's proposal so that this Savior of Human Order wouldn't seem too abrupt when cooperating with a Beast~
Oh, Fujimaru Ritsuka, Fujimaru Ritsuka, no wonder Human Order rejected you. What a scheming human!
.....
『 The second wave of Heroic Spirits attacked, and the incoming enemies turned out to be Beast Nero's Roman Empire!
Beast Nero fell into a brief moment of sorrow and silence.
Meanwhile, to protect herself, Fujimaru Ritsuka could only use Saint Graph Shadows to repel enemy after enemy. But there were simply too many enemies; Fujimaru Ritsuka's Magic Circuits felt as if they were burning up in an instant!
"Sword of the War God ⦍Photon Ray⦎—" Right at this moment, beneath the blood-red band of light in the sky, a voice softly rang out.
Then, a giant sword descended from the heavens, plunging straight into the earth!
"Damn it!" Beast Nero naturally saw this sword strike. She flash-stepped to Fujimaru Ritsuka's side, then used every ounce of her strength to barely block this attack!
As the blood-red barrier shattered, Beast Nero let out a furious roar. The light sword then turned into fragments and vanished on the spot. She was covered in blood all over, but her gaze grew increasingly cold and grim.
"You saved me?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked in disbelief.
"What… are you doing! You… are not a human who can end here!" Beast Nero turned around and stared at Fujimaru Ritsuka. "If you are indeed a Master of Chaldea, it's just a single Beast, SO REIN IT IN!!!"
"….!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka fell into silence. Yes, she… no matter the reason, COULD NOT END HERE!!!
"By Command Spell, stand up, Draco!" Fujimaru Ritsuka reached out her hand, and blood-red Command Spells enshrouded Beast Nero's body!
"Ha… Hahahahaha! To think you would use a Command Spell! But well done!" Beast Nero restored her full power state and burst into laughter.
Immediately after, she abruptly stopped laughing and took a step outside. In that blood-colored world, violent gales surged, and blood-colored magical energy turned into arrows that pierced through dozens of black shadows!
In front of Beast Nero at full power, this army of Heroic Spirits stood no chance at all. She quickly defeated all the Heroic Spirits.
She returned to Fujimaru Ritsuka's side once more. Both fell into silence, then simultaneously spoke up to thank each other.
The two fell into silence yet again. In the end, it was Beast Nero who broke the quiet atmosphere.
The blonde loli hummed softly, "This body is a larval form. Furthermore, having just recovered from a severe illness, if I am to fight all the Heroic Spirits in this place, it will take quite some effort."
Fujimaru Ritsuka's gaze as she looked at Beast Nero grew even more silent.
"…This is troublesome," Beast Nero sighed. "Don't make that kind of expression. It makes my stomach uncomfortable."
"And yet you bragged so much," Fujimaru Ritsuka muttered under her breath.
"I did not brag. If I were in my true Beast form, I could flatten this entire place along with it," Beast Nero shook her head. Now was not the time to reminisce about the past.
Breaking through the enemy's encirclement right now was the most important thing!
Fujimaru Ritsuka was stunned. What did that mean?
"Nothing. Fighting with your life on the line is your specialty, isn't it? I'm looking forward to it, my Contractor," Beast Nero gave a mischievous smirk.
The girl instantly felt a chill run down her spine. The next moment, her vision spun wildly, and in the blink of an eye, she arrived at a new location!
It was a sea of stars… A pitch-black warship was anchored in the cosmic sea. Upon the warship, several humanoid black shadows immediately opened fire the moment they spotted Fujimaru Ritsuka and Beast Nero!
Harassed by this, Beast Nero backhanded a magic cannon barrage, heavily damaging the entire warship!
So familiar… Fujimaru Ritsuka only felt that this scene was incomparably familiar. Where on earth was this… 』
『 .....』
〜Type-Moon World, ???? Worldline〜
Grand Temple of Time: Solomon—
…Goetia fell into silence. If Fujimaru Ritsuka hadn't recognized it, he had these scenes engraved into his memory.
Wasn't this the exact army of Heroic Spirits summoned when Chaldea attacked him back then?And wasn't this place precisely the Grand Temple of Time?
That made sense. Fujimaru Ritsuka merely borrowed the power of these Heroic Spirits, whereas he had personally experienced their power. How could he possibly forget!
So…
The Beast of Sodom was mimicking his Incineration of Human Order? Obviously, this was not some other distorted timeline or inverted roles, so it could only be that the other party had mimicked his Incineration of Human Order.
The purpose was… the same as his? No! Absolutely not!
If his plan could be completely replicated so casually through a Singularity, he would have long since accumulated enough magical energy to destroy the entire universe.
So… was the Beast of Sodom's target Chaldea itself?
—
『 Viewers of Myriad Worlds 』
Everyone realized it as well. Wasn't this the army of Heroic Spirits that fought Goetia back then?
So the original Goetia got swapped for Ritsuka now?
My goodness, only today do I realize who I am!
Do bad people get tormented by worse people? No, wait, Ritsuka was also trying to save the world back then, wasn't she?!
Could the upcoming plot really be letting Fujimaru Ritsuka experience what it feels like to be crusaded against by an army of Heroic Spirits?
Misunderstood, unacknowledged, clearly loving humanity, yet forced to cross blades with Heroic Spirits?
…Hiss, thinking about it now, was Goetia really that miserable back then?
.....
『 Under a wave of commotion, even more Heroic Spirits swarmed forward. Being mere shadows, they would not resonate with Fujimaru Ritsuka in the slightest.
All they knew was to kill this human associated with a Beast!
Relying on her formidable strength, Beast Nero brought Fujimaru Ritsuka to hide inside a mine pit. Looking at the slumped, dazed girl, she couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"Our only choice is to escape this realm of space, but there's no way to achieve it." Before light could bloom in Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes, she continued to crush her hopes, "I have long been driven into a dead end."
"Right now, this is merely my final struggle, clutching onto you, a fragile hope, at the very end."
This was her final struggle…
"…Since this is a Singularity, there should be a Holy Grail. As long as we recover the Holy Grail, we can definitely—" Fujimaru Ritsuka bit her lip and looked toward the large golden cup in Nero's hands!
"Hm? You mean this?" Beast Nero shook her head.
Then, she revealed the truth about this world to Fujimaru Ritsuka!
This place was a world created by Beast Nero—a Proof World that mimicked the Incineration of Human Order by the First Beast! 』
『 .....』
〜Myriad Worlds livestream Chat〜
[ Lady Avalon (Type-Moon): "May I ask how Goetia feels watching this scene?" ]
[ Goetia (Type-Moon): "…Satisfying." ]
[ Loki Odinson (Earth-616): "A thousand words come down to just one single word. It's clear that Goetia's mood is truly satisfying to the extreme. In this round, Ritsuka is standing in Goetia's position, facing these countless Heroic Spirits!" ]
[ Gintoki Sakata (Gintama): "Goetia: Come forth, endless Heroic Spirits! Defeat Fujimaru Ritsuka! Pfft-hahahahahaha! Your world is way too entertaining!" ]
[ Ryomen Sukuna (Jujutsu Kaisen): "Last Master of Humanity, you are the Beast now! You're the challenger this time, hahahahahahaha!" ]
[ .....]
『 Viewers of Myriad Worlds 』
"Just as expected! Wasn't this the exact same trick Othinus played on Kamijou Touma back then?"
Although the essence might not be identical, at least right now it looked exactly the same.
Before, Fujimaru Ritsuka was the hero who defeated Goetia. Now that the positions were reversed, Fujimaru Ritsuka was the Beast, being crusaded against by the Heroic Spirits.
This kind of feeling… for the person involved, how wonderfully peculiar must it be~
Countless audience members couldn't help but sigh with emotion. Goetia's gold standard is still rising!
Even after reaching Lostbelts and entering Singularities again, he still gets dragged out to be whipped repeatedly.
Truly worthy of being the First Beast, Goetia, who holds the Principle of Compassion!
.....
『 Through the Proof World, seven Singularities were recreated, drawing Chaldeas from numerous parallel worlds and accumulating the wishes of many Chaldeas into the Holy Grail.
And the one who drank it all down was none other than Beast Nero!
"Chaldeas from parallel worlds…? Mimicking the Incineration of Human Order?" Fujimaru Ritsuka's brain crashed, unable to process it for a moment.
"That's right. My Beast is the Anti-Messiah. It is the power to mock, kill, and devour the Savior."
"The Chaldeas that defeated the First Beast in this universe, their Masters—the victors existing across numerous worlds—possess wishes sufficient to nurture my Beast, which is to say, saving the world!"
Beast Nero's crimson eyes locked onto Fujimaru Ritsuka. "This is a Singularity born for this purpose, a Holy Grail War born for this purpose. Your battles are truly delicious~"
She had already witnessed countless Chaldeas that had arrived, and now, Fujimaru Ritsuka, whom she saw at this moment, was the very last one!
Her goal was also very simple: to devour Fujimaru Ritsuka until not even a single bone remained! 』
『 .....』
〜Type-Moon World, ???? Worldline〜
Indeed. Lady Avalon nodded. Ritsuka herself was an existence who had defeated Beasts multiple times. For a human to defeat so many Beasts, she herself was a miracle.
Since Beast Nero was the Anti-Messiah, it was only natural for her to want to devour Ritsuka.
Lady Avalon put on a heavy expression, her eyes seemingly filled with deep concern for Ritsuka on the screen. The very next moment, her expression switched instantly.
Eh~ Whether Ritsuka lived or died had nothing to do with her~
Rather, isn't a plot like this precisely what everyone loves to see? Hehe!
—