[Accompanied by a ferocious laugh, Aventurine rapidly flew up into midair.]
["For the sake of enjoyment, everyone—" A chip flipped and danced at his fingertips. With a light flick of his thumb, the chip transformed into golden light and flew toward the clouds. "I'll stake all the chips."]
[In an instant, the entire firmament began to tremble. Golden light swept across the night like a tide, swallowing the dark clouds and extinguishing the thunder. The cloud layers seemed to transform into a mass of flowing amber. Countless chips flickered in and out of sight within it, like the Sword of Damocles hanging above the heads of all living beings, ready to pour down at any moment.]
["Only by discarding reason can it be a true gamble..."]
[Aventurine spread both arms, his voice carrying a nearly manic pleasure.]
["Emanator—you will definitely raise."]
——
Fate.
"Hey hey! Is this guy planning to target everyone in the entire city?!"
Looking at the gradually spreading golden light on the Celestial Screen that had already begun to form an encirclement, it would probably take only a few minutes before everyone in Penacony would find it difficult to escape disaster.
Rin Tohsaka quickly realized what Aventurine intended to do.
Unable to do anything about the Express crew who had Acheron accompanying them, he planned to target ordinary people. His sole purpose was to force them to kill him... this kind of insane plan was simply incomprehensible.
"The power of these chips is probably the same as that guy's Noble Phantasm..."
"…That guy? Who?" Lancer cast a puzzled gaze.
"Gilgamesh—the oldest Hero King. He is the Servant my father summoned in the previous Holy Grail War. His Noble Phantasm 'Gate of Babylon' is very similar to this move of Aventurine's... but Aventurine's range is much larger."
While Rin Tohsaka was seriously explaining, a sound of footsteps suddenly came from the entrance.
"Hm? A guest has arrived. Is it Sakura?" Hearing movement at the doorway, Shirou immediately put down the kitchen knife in his hand and went to greet them. But when he reached the entrance, his entire person instantly froze—
Gilgamesh was standing at the entrance, his scarlet pupils slightly narrowed as he scanned the lively living room of the Emiya household—
In a living room of less than ten square meters, in front of a single kotatsu, there were actually three Servants sitting. This formation made the Hero King who had just arrived pause for a moment.
"Hey, Hero King, what are you doing here?"
Artoria, who had put down her chopsticks, hurriedly assumed a combat stance.
"Nothing much. This king merely happened to pass by and happened to hear someone say that 'Aventurine's ability has a much larger range than this king's Gate of Babylon.'"
"…This king is also curious what kind of foolish appearance the mongrel who said those words has, and whether she is worthy of this king personally bestowing death upon her—"
As he spoke, Gilgamesh meaningfully glared at Rin Tohsaka once. The young girl was so frightened that her beautiful face lost color, and she hurriedly dashed behind Archer to hide.
"I-I… I wasn't wrong." In front of the actual person concerned, the young girl's momentum instantly softened a great deal, yet she still refused to show weakness: "If you've got the guts, go find Aventurine yourself and compete. You two compare whose Noble Phantasm has the larger range..."
——
[...]
[Rain fell without stopping.]
[Like countless shards of glass pouring from the sky, piercing dense holes into the sea surface. Acheron held that vivid red umbrella and quietly gazed at the distant grayish sea horizon.]
["Are you… about to set out?"]
[The voice that came from behind was like withered wood soaked by rain—dry and aged. She did not turn around, only slightly tightened the fingers gripping the umbrella.]
["Mm." She answered calmly. "Perhaps… I will pass by the place you spoke of."]
["Penacony..." the old man asked. "What do you seek in the dream?"]
["I do not need to seek anything. They are not in the dream."]
["..." The old man was silent for a while before slowly opening his mouth: "I fear the Family will not open the door for you."]
["Why?"]
["Because the path you walk… is not tolerated by [Harmony]."]
["Even… if this is not my wish?"]
["Even if this is not your wish. Because He is different from the other Aeons. He never glances at anyone, and He has no need to glance at anyone. He leaves the threads of the Path and allows people to walk them, jointly weaving a gigantic shadow… and this shadow also silently envelops them themselves."]
[Her purple eyes still gazed forward without moving: "There are always those who return from the shadows."]
["Most of them become part of that shadow." the old man said bitterly.]
["In your eyes, am I the same?"]
["You still retain a trace of color... but not much."]
["...That is enough."]
[Acheron raised her head, her gaze unknown as to where it was looking. A few drops of rain that had escaped the edge of the umbrella slid down her jawline, hanging on her chin as water droplets about to fall yet not yet fallen.]
["Before they completely dissipate... I will reach the end of [Nihility]."]
——
Teyvat.
"Nihility? This Aeon... seems like I've never heard of it before?"
Inside the Palais Mermonia, Wriothesley was holding a cup of black tea and sitting in Neuvillette's office, lightly stirring the teaspoon: "Neuvillette, do you still have an impression?"
Even during the Swarm Disaster across the universe, Nihility was an unfamiliar name that no one mentioned.
"I have a bit of an impression, but can Nihility truly be counted as an Aeon?"
In Neuvillette's understanding, besides dominating the authority of a Path, another point about Aeons was as Kafka had said—Aeons can be killed. But the Aeon who dominates the Path of [Nihility]... Neuvillette could only recall the black hole in the dance between Black Swan and Acheron that had nearly swallowed everything.
If a black hole could be counted as an Aeon, then how could He be killed?
"Moreover, from the meaning in that old man's words, the Path of Nihility is not quite the same as the Hunt or Destruction... He does not actively bestow His power upon others to make them Emanators. Instead, He allows humans themselves to walk the Path of Nihility. The farther one walks, the more power one can obtain... but at the same time, one will also be eroded more deeply by Nihility."
Wriothesley narrowed his eyes and lowered his head to ponder: "…Then since Acheron has never been glanced at by the Aeon of [Nihility], can she truly be counted as an Emanator? Or is it that she is merely a Pathstrider who has walked far enough on the Path... yet due to the special nature of the Path of Nihility itself, she has obtained Emanator-level power?"
——
[The instant Aventurine raised his hand, ten thousand chips poured down like divine punishment, as if raining a golden storm. These chips continuously smashed and destroyed every building. Quite a few even flew straight toward the members of the Express crew.]
[Himeko and Welt subconsciously stepped forward to block, yet Acheron had already somehow walked in front of them.]
["Tap."]
[The light sound of a shoe heel landing. Amid the roar of this "storm," it appeared especially crisp, as if in an instant the entire world had quieted down—only a single white stone quietly falling among a board full of clamorous black pieces.]
[Starting from that single point, some indescribable blackness began to spread and swallow outward.]
[The falling chips suddenly froze. The torrential raindrops stagnated in midair. The astonished expressions of the Express crew members at this moment were like insects sealed in amber—even the arc of their eyelashes trembling was clearly visible.]
[In this domain of absolute silence, only Acheron was still moving.]
[Her fingertips were the first to be stained with the color of blood. Then it gradually spread from the five fingers, like cinnabar blooming on rice paper, and in the blink of an eye it swallowed the entire arm. Her hair also began to gradually lose color until her entire person became "pale."]
[A single tear of blood overflowed from the corner of her eye and slowly slid down her cheek.]
["Originally weeping for the departed, tears falling like rain, filling the river of crossing..."]