The only form of magecraft permitted within the Holy Church, an institution that otherwise rejects the mystic arts.
As a power built upon the largest Foundation of human belief, its efficacy was focused entirely on purification and the neutralization of a magus's craft. The chant, fueled by that immense faith, instantly vaporized the surrounding familiars and ghouls.
If the Baptism Chant cast by Caren was the type that purified monsters in her immediate vicinity, the versions utilized by Karabo and Kotomine were of a scale that seemed to transform the entire region, far beyond the train itself, into a sacred sanctuary.
'Perhaps his faith was weakened in the Heaven's Feel because of the doubts in his heart…'
The chant was so overwhelming that it even affected Rita Rozay-en, who happened to be nearby. She leaned against her staff, her expression one of deep displeasure.
However, while the two veteran Executors remained relatively composed despite deploying such immense power, the young Caren Ortensia was exhausted by the strain. As she collapsed after the chant, Waver pulled her back to safety. Karabo and Kotomine stepped forward to block the path, leaping through the hole in the train to begin slaughtering the remaining familiars.
"Come forth, Hellhound!"
Taking advantage of the precious time bought by the three of them, I successfully summoned my second beast.
A multi-headed hound capable of splitting into hundreds, even thousands... No, calling it a hundred-headed dog would be more accurate given the sheer number of muzzles sprouting from it.
The summon, receiving my mental command, began to divide frantically. It swarmed outside the radius of the Baptism Chant, tearing apart every familiar and ghoul that had been watching us from the shadows.
"There, behind the tree!"
Rozay-en, monitoring the surroundings with her projected Mystic Eyes of Clairvoyance, pointed beyond the thinning fog. I directed the hounds toward her finger. Instantly, pigeon familiars that had been circling in the air dove down to block the dogs. I let out a mocking snort.
"You're practically advertising your position. You think a few familiars can help you escape the Rinnegan, you moron?!"
"Is this ability even something that can still be called magecraft...!"
"What does it matter? It's not like puppetmasters don't do all sorts of insane shit to their dolls anyway."
The crown of the Asura Path's head, already on standby against Trisshten, slid open to reveal a built-in cannon.
Surging blue magical energy began to converge at the muzzle. Only then did the figure in the white suit, previously obscured by the residual haze of prana, reveal himself.
He looked as if the very concept of 'pure white' had been applied to him from head to toe. In an instant, he repelled the hounds surrounding him and spun around, attempting to leap out of the blast radius of the prana cannon.
Just as I reached out my hand to trigger Bansho Ten'in, Rozay-en slammed her staff onto the floor of the train.
In that moment, a heterodox surge of magical energy fired from the train and struck Trisshten directly. His attempted turn was forcibly halted; he froze in place, glaring at the train with a face full of irritation.
"Did you use Mystic Eyes of Binding?"
"Dammit... these are Gold-rank! If we lose him after I used these, I'll curse you for life, Magician!"
Regardless of her screaming, the clones of the Hellhound lunged at Trisshten, sinking their teeth into his legs and shoulders to weigh him down. The fully charged prana condensed into a single sphere and roared toward him.
The prana cannon collided with the white suit, triggering a massive explosion. I immediately took control of the Deva Path to manipulate the gravitational forces in the area.
"Wait, isn't that a high-consumption technique?!"
"Sometimes you have to commit. Besides, I've practiced this enough!"
Chibaku Tensei.
What could be called the Deva Path's secret art—the ultimate technique—enveloped Trisshten. With him as the core of the seal, I began to violently pull in the surrounding debris, forming a massive sphere of earth.
"...I heard the Third Magician created a meteor, but to think it was like this."
"It's nothing special. He'll break free once my magical energy runs low... though I just need to kill him before then."
"Yet, he feels somewhat weaker than one would expect for the White Wing Lord..."
"Waver, this technique possesses the highest single-target destructive power in my arsenal. If it works on Heroic Spirits, do you really think a mere Dead Apostle could ignore it?"
The White Wing Lord was known as a magus who primarily handled familiars and rarely engaged in direct combat. Facing me—who was effectively invincible against melee fighters and pure magi—and having been hit by the Baptismal Rites of three world-class anti-vampire specialists, it would be strange if he wasn't weakened.
I felt something squirming inside the seal, but it felt no more significant than an earthworm struggling under a boot. I tightened my grip, exerting more control over Trisshten's imprisonment.
If I had my way, I'd crush this leader of the Dead Apostles into paste for the sake of the Human Order, but...
"There are three left..."
"Since we've made such a mess, someone is bound to show up."
I couldn't hide my irritation.
I thought this would be a simple matter of an auction or perhaps some meddling by Doctor Heartless. I never expected it to spiral into such a nuisance.
As if reading my thoughts, an unpleasant laughter began to echo. Hearing the voice, Rita Rozay-en—who had been flagging from the earlier backlash—seemed to snap back to her senses, her teeth grinding in rage.
"...Fina-blood Svelten?"
"Yes, that bastard... He's finally here...!"
Indeed, his reputation as the Captain of the Ghost Fleet and a Vampire Earl was no exaggeration. He was an androgynous vampire clad in a fine naval uniform and a pirate hat. When I asked Rita for confirmation, she verified it with a voice trembling not with fear, but with pure venom.
But either Caren had been mistaken, or more had arrived since then... Beside Fina-blood Svelten, four other figures emerged from the shadows.
As the thin, brittle laughter finally ceased, a reticent True Ancestor in armor, who had been silent until then, stepped forward to speak.
"Rozay-en, does one who stands among the Ancestors truly intend to take the side of the Clock Tower?"
"Don't make me laugh, Rizo! You and Trisshten were the ones who interfered with my hobbies first!"
From Rozay-en's response, I could identify the players.
The androgynous vampire in the center was Fina-blood Svelten. The armored man beside her was likely the 6th Dead Apostle Ancestor, Rizo-Waal Strout. The woman with spider-like limbs was probably Loup-garou... and the other two...
"...Huh?"
The moment I saw a face that was both familiar and yet impossible to get used to, I let out a hollow laugh. Waver, misinterpreting my reaction, asked urgently.
"What is it?"
"No, no... wait a second. Why the hell is he involved in the Sixth Singularity's business?"
As if recognizing my confusion, two figures hiding behind Rizo-Waal Strout peeked their heads out and offered welcoming smiles.
However, there was no kindness in those smiles—only overwhelming malice.
"...So you two are acquainted?"
"In more ways than one, it's a cursed connection."
She had ditched the garter-belt stockings that used to flash her underwear, but she returned in a Gothic Lolita outfit that was arguably even more scandalous, leaving her underboob completely exposed... The illusionist, Francesca Prelati.
"Oh, my dear friend! Do you recognize one of those faces?!"
"Yes, indeed. I can only call this a magnificent coincidence, Gilles!"
"...Are you kidding me."
"It's delightful! Utterly hilarious! There's a saying in the East that good and bad things come in cycles! Who would have thought the grievance I suffered back then would return like this? In a way, Gilles, isn't this the true providence of God?!"
"God? How can you say such a thing, my friend! God never acts! Whether it is I, or you, or those vampires who act, God remains motionless!!!"
"Oh, that's where you're wrong, Gilles. Look over there—miserable magi. Look at us! God simply watches us commit our atrocities with great interest. It means God loves us, after all. He's nothing more than a madman himself!"
"Francesca! Oh, Francesca!! Both before and after my death, you call me forth and grant me such enlightenment!"
"Haha, of course! We're best friends, aren't we?!"
"Then!! This is the moment to raise the flag of salvation once more!! Ye who have been abandoned, gather here! Ye who are oppressed, flock to me! I shall lead, and I shall rule! The resentment of we persecuted shall surely reach even God!!!"
In that instant, the ground surged as a heterodox magical energy began to take form.
Sensing the danger, I used Seal Absorption to try and drain the mana from the summoning circle. However, the energy was charging faster than I could absorb it. I only managed to slightly slow the process; if anything, Gilles de Rais seemed to view the resistance as a holy trial and threw himself into the spell with even greater fervor.
"Oh, Lord in Heaven! I cast this body aside to denounce thee... O arrogant God! O cold-hearted God! We shall drag thee from thy throne! The lambs thou lovest! The humans made in thy image! Now is the time to persecute, violate, and tear them asunder! We shall carry the laughter of the traitorous upon the screams and deaths of God's children, and knock upon the gates of Heaven itself!!!"
Watching Gilles with a pleased smile, Francesca began to mouth words silently, using lip-reading to communicate directly with me.
'My goal is the Labyrinth of Alcatraz. If you hand over Trisshten, we'll back out of this war. You don't really want to fight us anyway, do you~?'
'...'
'Or... how about a different offer? If you give me Trisshten, I promise never to touch you or anyone related to you again. You are worried about your parents, aren't you?'
'...'
As if staging a show of force, she hopped onto a rising Dagon sea-monster and began using her illusions to warp the environment. Fina-blood Svelten followed suit, mobilizing her magical energy to deploy a Reality Marble.
Waver, presumably the target of the illusion, grimaced and closed his eyes. I began slowly absorbing the ambient prana, dispelling the illusions surrounding us.
However, the magical energy of the Reality Marble was distinct from simple illusion. The landscape of grass and trees was instantly replaced by a vast, surging sea of blood. In the center of Svelten's Reality Marble sat Rozay-en's Rail Zeppelin, the Chibaku Tensei sealing Trisshten, the massive Dagon summoned by Gilles de Rais, and Fina-blood Svelten's ghost ship, all bobbing on the crimson tide.
Francesca cackled with maniacal glee as she warped the internal environment of the Reality Marble at will to threaten us, seemingly enjoying our perceived predicament.
The pirates of the phantom fleet began firing cannons or crossing the sea of blood in rowboats. Unlike the previous familiars, these were clearly high-tier entities.
The hounds fighting at the front were immediately unsummoned after being overwhelmed by Rizo and Loup-garou. Svelten drew her cutlass, pointed it at us, and after a short clearing of her throat, issued a booming declaration.
"Oi, intruders! Surrender Rita Rozay-en and Trisshten quietly! I might consider sparing your lives!"
"..."
Do these guys actually think they've won?
Actually, this is better.
Rizo, Svelten... and whatever trick brought Gilles and Francesca here. Gilles is likely a Heroic Spirit, so the real threat is Francesca...
"Did you really think a Reality Marble would stop me from dropping another one?"
*
Fine. My objective for joining the Rail Zeppelin was to increase my renown and demonstrate my power. If that's the case, cutting loose a bit here won't hurt.
No... forget renown or demonstration. I just need to thoroughly crush these bastards. The fact that a properly intimidated Francesca is here acting all high and mighty probably means she's under the influence of the King of Demon Gods.
...Looking back, it was predictable.
If this is the King of Demon Gods' trap, I should have expected him to target me from the start.
Francesca, who hates me with a passion, and the Heroic Spirit Gilles who follows her.
Rizo-Waal Strout, who can counter my Shinra Tensei and Bansho Ten'in in close combat. Fina-blood Svelten, whose Reality Marble can bypass my Seal Absorption. And Loup-garou, who appears to be a scientist-type all-rounder.
On top of that, the Fifth Magician—my source of prana—has been separated from me, and since we are on the White Wing Lord's territory, the leylines themselves are restricted.
Yes, this battlefield is truly stacked against me.
Even if they aren't an Aspect of Humanity, I'll have to expend significant effort. If I'm unlucky, I might even lose.
"But this confirms it. You still don't know me."
Crimson Moon mentioned that the vision of that Aspect of Humanity does not reach the Moon.
I summoned Solomon on the spot. Goetia knows I brought Solomon back from the void by some means... but he knows nothing of the method, the reason, or the cause.
In other words, he has no idea what kind of hellish experience I went through on the Moon. My duel with the Crimson Moon in the Primordial Earth significantly boosted the output of my Mystic Eyes... and unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to use that full output until now.
That changes now.
"Did you really think separating me from the Fifth Magician would be enough to win? What a pathetic delusion!"
Immediately, a massive presence loomed as the sea stained with red blood began to glow a deep, burning orange from intense heat.
Whether due to the height from which it fell or its sheer acceleration, a burning meteor crashed directly into Svelten's fleet. They were engulfed by the shockwave before they could even react.
The ghost fleet that took the direct hit was vaporized, and the Reality Marble, two-thirds of which was instantly shattered, began to collapse. Gilles de Rais and Dagon, caught in the epicenter, were shredded as if by a thousand blades and collapsed to the ground. The black armor worn by Rizo was half-crushed, ruined by the impact.
Yet, they were still alive.
Their wounds were deep, but they were somehow clinging to life. In fact, as if this had been the plan all along, they began to prepare their magecraft and weapons with grins on their faces, seeing this as an opportunity to take down an exhausted Third Magician.
**"I see. So, what do you intend to do about the second one?"**