Magic Sword: The World.
This was the weapon Ludwig held as a Knight, a cyan blade cultivated from the Sin within his own body. It could easily alter its size according to his will, but that was merely one of its external manifestations. Its true essence, as its name implied, was a blade capable of tearing through the world itself.
When Ludwig unleashed the true power of the Magic Sword, he could not maintain such a colossal output on his own; he had to seize resources from the environment. Soil, water, air, and the magical energy within that air—everything was fair game. In the era of the Land of Steel, it was Sin; in this era, it was Ether.
Extracting resources by depleting everything the earth had to offer was a method identical to that of the Old World. Some had once said that this form of existence—destroying the world to protect humanity—was practically a second "Slash Emperor." But Ludwig knew such an evaluation was shallow.
If he were to fully liberate his Magic Sword, the consequences would likely be no less dire than those of the "Slash Emperor." He simply hadn't encountered an enemy that required such a total release of power. According to his original plans, the two remaining Aristoteles lingering above the clouds were his intended targets. However, before that day could come, he had drifted into this era, before the planet had truly died.
Or perhaps, that Princess in the Millennium Castle might carry enough weight to warrant such force.
Thus, Ludwig could not have predicted the exact outcome of the collision between the power of his Magic Sword and the crystallization of ancient human fantasy—the weapon known as a Noble Phantasm.
Yet, he struck anyway.
The cyan sword-light collided with the crimson mass of magical energy high above Fuyuki. What began as a simple clash rapidly transformed into a struggle of mutual consumption and localized annihilation.
The earth began to scream, and the flow of the river came to a standstill. These two fundamentally different powers intertwined, forming a blinding center of energy that flickered with an ominous light, awakening the primal terror buried deep within human DNA.
It was the "Primordial Hell"—the state of absolute desolation that existed before the birth of life.
Artoria and Diarmuid ceased their duel, watching the spectacle in stunned silence. A second later, Diarmuid immediately put distance between himself and Artoria, dragging his Master—who was being supported by Volumen Hydrargyrum—away from the epicenter to avoid the impending blast.
The energy formed by the collision of Enuma Elish and The World transformed into a massive pillar of light that plummeted toward the surface of the Mion River. It completely enveloped Caster and the horde of Sea Demons he had summoned.
Several smaller Sea Demons had already reached the banks, driven by instinct to attack humans or Servants. But their movements stopped instantly. The pillar of light devoured Caster and the giant Sea Demon before expanding further. The smaller monsters, suddenly cut off from their source of mana and their master, rapidly dissolved into puddles of viscous, purple fluid even if they weren't directly hit.
Caster's reckless provocation—and the Sea Demons Ludwig had failed to dispatch earlier—ironically saved half of Fuyuki. Because Caster and his monstrosities bore the brunt of the initial conflict between the Magic Sword and the Sword of Rupture, the shockwave had dissipated significantly by the time it reached the embankments.
When the light finally faded, Artoria stared at the devastation, speechless.
The Mion River, over three hundred meters wide, now featured a massive trench over a dozen meters deep. The river flow was cut off for a brief moment as the water began to pour backward into the massive crater. The depth of the river dropped so sharply it barely covered one's ankles.
On the Miyama Town side, Tokiomi Tohsaka, who had been observing the battle from afar, also lost his voice. If it hadn't been for the sight of Gilgamesh—bloody and mangled as if he had been through a meat grinder—falling from the sky toward the edge of the crater, Tokiomi might have remained in his daze for much longer.
He noticed Ludwig's silhouette being tossed aside by the shockwave, tumbling toward the forest upstream.
Tokiomi immediately began channeling healing magecraft to Gilgamesh through their magical connection.
"Kirei, I'll leave that side to you," Tokiomi commanded his disciple, who was standing beside him. He ordered Kirei to take Assassin and pursue the boy.
Taking advantage of an enemy's weakness was second nature. Given the extent of Gilgamesh's injuries, Tokiomi judged that Ludwig couldn't be in much better shape. There was an opening.
Kirei did not hesitate. He silently accepted the order and, accompanied by several of Assassin's shadows, sprinted through the fog toward the forest upstream.
Ever since his original target, Kiritsugu Emiya, had died, and his other person of interest, Kariya, had become unreachable, Kirei had been lost in a fog of confusion regarding this Holy Grail War. Aside from his father's instructions to support Master Tokiomi, the only thing Kirei could think of was to see Ludwig face-to-face. He wanted to see what that boy—who had barged into the war and disrupted everything—truly intended to do.
Though the upstream forest was relatively wild, it was not difficult terrain for an Executor of the Church who had performed countless field missions. With Assassin's help, Kirei quickly pinpointed the area where Ludwig had fallen based on his trajectory.
A crater several meters wide had been gouged into the earth, and several trees had been uprooted. Kirei stopped in his tracks because he saw Ludwig.
Although Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasms had left scars on him, they were far lighter than the injuries Gilgamesh had sustained. Moreover, they were healing at a rate visible to the naked eye.
"Sss... ow, ow, ow. A Divine Construct is no joke; that really packs a punch." Ludwig shook his hand and walked out toward Kirei. "At least my calculations were accurate. I wonder if the planet... hm?"
Ludwig spotted Kirei and the Assassins flanking him.
"Assassin and their Master, I see."
As he spoke, he began walking back toward the battlefield. The group was standing directly in his path. With every step the youth took, a bead of cold sweat rolled down Kirei's face. By the time the boy reached him, the sweat on Kirei's back had soaked the lining of his vestments.
"Are you going to step aside? Or do you intend to stay in my way?"
Ludwig looked into Kirei's eyes with utter indifference.
Without a half-second of hesitation, the young priest raised his hand, launching an attack on the boy within fist-range.
However, faster than Kirei could move, a sudden flash of light sliced diagonally across his front. His sturdy vestments, reinforced with special Church incantations to resist bullets, curses, and blades, were torn open like paper. A visible wound opened across Kirei's chest.
"That's some tough defense. Those clothes are custom-made, aren't they? I thought one hit would be enough," Ludwig said, his eyes widening in genuine surprise. "My apologies. I underestimated you. I'll get serious now."
Had Kirei not retreated the instant he was hit, he knew he would be lying on the ground half-dead. He gripped his Black Keys and lunged forward alongside the Assassins. They intended to swarm the youth, buying Tokiomi time to heal Gilgamesh.
However, even that thought was a luxury. At the moment his head was severed into three pieces, Kirei finally understood.
The shadows of Assassin fell one after another. Kirei, who had just raised his Black Keys and settled into a combat stance, stood frozen in place, motionless.
The sound of the youth's footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
As his body collapsed and his consciousness slipped into the void, Kirei felt neither regret nor fear. Instead, the first thing he felt was the tranquility that follows a long and arduous search.
Ludwig, ignoring Kirei's corpse, returned to the riverbank and looked downstream.
"He's arrived as well."
The youth's words referred to Lancelot, who was currently launching an attack on the wounded Gilgamesh.
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Type-Moon: The A-Ray Knight's Holy Grail Journey(80 Chapter - Ongoing)
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