The Black Pharaoh's Majesty

Shirou, unable to suppress the urge to retort, looked at the spirited silver-haired Russian girl.

Although this defensive battle is indeed world-famous, and to some extent, it can be considered a very crucial link that changed the course of the world.

However, it feels somewhat inappropriate for her to say it, after all, as the last Imperial Princess of the Russian Empire, Anastasia had a deep-seated hatred for the 'unnamed organization' that drove her entire family to their deaths. But perhaps all people of the Russian Empire descent would acknowledge the battle that drove the Germans away.

Even Tsarina Putin famously said, "Anyone who doesn't regret the collapse of the Soviet Union has no conscience; anyone who wants to go back to the Soviet Union has no brains."

Today, Russia has rejected the ideology proposed by the unnamed Germans, abandoned its former red coat, and returned to a world where capital reigns supreme. It seems to have a greater affinity for the white Russian Empire, which fought its way to Paris and dethroned Napoleon, than for the red Soviet Union.

But it makes sense, even in China, except for that particular era, no one would think of overthrowing the ancients who died hundreds or thousands of years ago.

Those who clamor for 'absolute' correctness and tolerate no questioning are merely fanatical and rampant believers. They blindly follow the text, judging things based on something other than their own reason, goodwill, and morality, but rather on some kind of absolute dogma.

A truly capable ruler does not need to blindly follow a single path, but rather to prioritize fairness and efficiency, as exemplified by the famous "Black Cat White Cat" and "River Crossing Theories.

Anastasia's family, the last Tsarina's family, was also rehabilitated. They were even canonized by the Orthodox Church, just one level below the martyrs, and are considered 'victims' of the same faith, enjoying eternal Christianity veneration.

Shirou looked at the silver-haired girl and said, "Anna... honestly, all you want to do is fight, right? This opponent is too tough, so it won't work. We need to climb up as quickly as possible, understand?"

"Hmm... I understand..." Anna turned her head away, pouting slightly in frustration, her cheeks puffed out like a steamed bun, but she still agreed.

At this moment, with all the windows closed, the sunlight was almost completely blocked, leaving only a little sunlight in the space on the high platform. Black mist slowly rose from the dark corners of the walls, as if some liquid was flowing underground.

"Roar!" The Vampire King, hidden in the black mist, let out a sharp roar, like a sonic attack carrying wind pressure, stimulating people's eardrums. In the black mist, the sharp claws of the monster's forelimbs could be vaguely seen.

"Hmph! So they're just a bunch of treacherous, overly cautious bastards! I'm going to be the King of the World! How could I possibly run away here! Let our Brotherhood handle monsters of this caliber!" A bald Magecraft sneered at the assassination group that had vanished in a flash, fiddling with a fireball in his hand as he spoke with a laugh.

"Oh! Brother! I'll help you too! Our church's holy water is a perfect antidote for vampires!" A bald man dressed as a Western priest pulled dozens of test tubes filled with golden liquid from his pocket and said.

"Oh! I'll leave the healing and resources to you, brother! I'll handle the front lines!" Another bald, bearded man raised a shield strapped to his left arm and pulled an axe from his belt behind his back.

"Come! Sprinkle holy water! Add a light attribute bonus to the weapon's attack." The knowledgeable bald priest twisted open the bottle and said.

"Drink up!! I'm going in!" The bald-headed shield-axe warrior slashed at the top of the black mist.

The axe landed on the black mist, instantly cutting away a portion of it, and the entire black mist receded.

"Roar! Aaaaah..." A painful groan came from within the black mist.

"Great! The attack worked!" The bald men exclaimed with delight.

"Alright! Me too! Watch my holy water attack!!" The bald priest unscrewed two bottles and sprayed them towards the black mist.

The black mist retreated as if in fear of holy water.

"Great! We can win! Watch my Holy Water Fire Fist! How about that!? Haha!" The bald mage drank the holy water, unleashed flames from his hands, enveloped his fists, and charged forward to swing them into the black mist.

This time, the black mist did not retreat. Instead, the smiling mage revealed a strange expression, his face turning deathly pale.

"W-what's wrong, brother?" the shield warrior beside him asked, puzzled.

"Brother, let me pull you out first!" the priest said, tugging at the mage.

"Uh... um..." The mage took two steps back, and the part of his arm that had gone into the black mist was gone. The cut was curved, not from sharp metal, nor from the bite marks of a beast, and it was impossible to tell how it had been caused.

"Whoa!! My hand!" After a few seconds of stunned silence, the mage suddenly yelled.

The blood at the severed hand wasn't dripping downwards, but rather burrowing into the wound like living things. Soon, the blood inside his body became infected, and the veins all over his body swelled up, writhing and twisting as if hundreds of earthworms had burrowed inside.

At the same time, the black mist began to close in again. The shield-axe warrior once again attacked the black mist with his axe, which was enhanced by holy water.

"Ahhh! My axe!" The shield-axe warrior pulled out his axe and saw that only half of the wooden handle remained, covered in reddish-black slime that writhed like worms. Terrified, he quickly threw the handle away.

"Whoa! Holy water attack!" The priest was so frightened that he retreated repeatedly, twisting the bottle cap and sprinkling the holy water over. This time, however, he couldn't stop the approaching black mist. In the end, he simply threw the unopened bottle of holy water at the attacker.

"Roar..." The monster in the black mist let out a soft groan and swayed its body. Only then could people vaguely see the outline inside and realize that the monster in the dark room was much larger than they had imagined.

The holy water attack was indeed effective, but compared to the size of the monsters in the shadows, it was a drop in the ocean, and its effect was far too limited.

The Vampire King in the black mist suddenly opened his mouth wide, spewing out billowing black mist that swept towards the three bald men who were attacking him, instantly engulfing them. Silence fell over the surroundings. The previous screams seemed to have never happened.

"Roar! Roar! Aaaah!" The Vampire King raised his head and roared. Only then could people see the true form of the monster within the black mist.

Because of last night's massacre, he absorbed the contestants' life essence and devoured their bodies, growing into a monster six or seven meters tall.

This Vampire King had long lost his former noble bearing. He lay sprawled on the ground, his limbs stretched to the same length. His eyes, which should have been like Gáe Dearg gems, were now completely white, a testament to his utter loss of reason. Instead, irregular patches of blood red began to fill the surrounding area, and his body was on the verge of collapse.

From its wide-open mouth, bulging sharp teeth were revealed. Instead of just two tiger teeth, there were more than a dozen slender and ferocious fangs. Saliva uncontrollably flowed from its gaping maw, dripping onto the ground, emitting miasma, and creating several craters.

Its dilated nostrils flared as it inhaled and exhaled rapidly, like a wild dog that hadn't eaten for days, desperately sniffing for its prey.

Seeing this, many of the contestants turned around to see what the host had to say, but when they saw the host's expression, they were speechless and looked horrified.

At that moment, the two hosts, standing on the only platform bathed in sunlight, showed no surprise and watched everything indifferently.

"Is this supposed to be a competition to determine the new master of the Tower to the Sky? Is it even allowed for non-human monsters?" Yan Qing, hiding in a safe area, asked with amusement through the communication device.

"If he's the only one you can choose, then there's nothing you can do, right?" Miss Jing Ke shrugged and said with a nonchalant smile.

The nobles, who had been hesitant, stopped arguing and obediently ran towards the stairwell. "Let's go too!"

"Run! All we need to do is outrun the people behind us!"

Only Gordolf himself, with his curly mustache, remained rooted to the spot, looking around at the dwindling crowd with a puzzled expression, and exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Huh?"

The European Union officials did tell Gordolf that he, as Master, would receive protection from his Servants, but he also recalled that the tone of those high-ranking officials at the time didn't seem so certain.

"Roar!" The Vampire King, not far away, let out a terrifying roar.

"Hey? Madam! The Grand Duke knows me, right? He won't swallow me up like he did with these people, right? Right!" Gordolf exclaimed.

When pressed for answers, Camilla glanced at Gordolf, grinned, and replied, "Hehe."

"Heh?" Gordolf chuckled, mimicking the woman's expression, and asked with even greater confusion, "Um... what exactly is going on?"

Camilla didn't answer him, but simply walked towards the iron gate and disappeared into the crowd of people running upwards.

Vlad the Impaler was historically the patron saint of Romania, but in reality, Vlad the Impaler was not a conventional warrior. Records indicate that he executed as many as 100,000 people during his lifetime through impalement. Furthermore, according to the methods used by historians at the time, enemies and prisoners of war on the battlefield were not included in the count. Therefore, he may have been Great Hero of Romania, but he was also a bloodthirsty massacre.

Shirou couldn't bear to tell this kind person the cruel truth. So he took Anna and Sakura and left first.

"Wait! That expression you just gave me... you were pitying me, weren't you?" Gordolf, true to his reputation as a racing legend known as the Phoenix, was surprisingly perceptive in matters of life and death. Sensing something was wrong, he immediately started chasing after Shirou.

At this moment, Vlad the Impaler, the Mad Enhancement monster who had heard the noise, opened his gaping maw with sharp teeth and chased after them.

"Whoa! What kind of monster is this? We can't possibly fight it without being prepared! Run!"

People, in their desperate flight, pushed those around them, squeezed through the narrow iron gate, and frantically fled up the stairs.

"Rin Tohsaka! Get out of the way!"

"You're the one who's in the way! Your excess fat is blocking the way!"

The two fiercely rival women pushed and shoved each other, getting stuck in the surging, upward-flowing crowd, unable to move forward properly.

"What are you two doing here...?" Shirou heard their voices, so he jumped back down the stairs and said irritably, picking up one of the girls with one hand as he spoke.

"Wait, Shirou! What are you trying to do?!"

"Put me down, you rude bastard!"

Ignoring their resistance, Shirou leaped high into the air, flying over their heads, and reached the platform on the next floor of the stairs.

Anna and Sakura were waiting there when Shirou came to the girl's side and put the two of them down.

"Damn it!! x2" The two women pounced on Shirou in a rage, grabbing him by the collar.

"Let go of him! I want to settle accounts with him first! Is this how you treat me?!"

"You're the one who should get out of the way! I'll teach him a lesson first! Emiya! This way of treating a lady is simply unacceptable."

"Wait, calm down. Don't push! If you touch, your chests, butts, and thighs will all touch!" Shirou helplessly got caught up in the completely unladylike fight between the two women, and the three of them were tearing at each other.

"I have absolutely no interest in physical intimacy or playful interactions with women! Yes, it's not something to be envious of at all! Even if my single age equals my actual age, I've never held hands with a human woman in my entire life."

After being abandoned by his Servant, the chubby bearded man who had shamelessly followed him stared at Shirou and muttered to himself.

He rolled his small eyes, as if he had cleverly thought of something. Leaning against the wall, he wiped the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief and said...

"Right! At this point, I think I should keep climbing up and let the slower ones feed the vampires below. But for now... let me catch my breath... Hahaha. But even though I'm sweating, it's surprisingly not very hot?"

It turned out to be Anastasia standing to the side, turning on the air conditioning. She didn't have time to pay attention to this guy who wanted to cosplay Stalin but didn't look like him at all. The sapphire blue eyes were fixed on Shirou.

"Sister, stop arguing! Let's run! That vampire monster is catching up." Fortunately, at this moment, the sensible Sakura came over, grabbed Luviagelita Edelfelt and Rin Tohsaka by the neck from Shirou's arms, pulled them out, and persuaded them with a smile on her dark face.

"Yes...x2" Luviagelita Edelfelt and Rin Tohsaka answered honestly.

Chapter 472 The Majesty of the Black Pharaoh

Shirou, pulling the others who had regained their composure, continued running upwards. The height of the Tower to the Sky was impossible to detect from the outside, and the spiraling staircase seemed to have no end. But no matter what, they could only climb upwards. The danger below was drawing ever closer, and escape was of utmost urgency.

The iron gate below, which people were scrambling to squeeze through, did not hinder the Vampire King's pursuit, who possessed the ability to transform into mist. People were constantly being swept into the black mist, letting out a scream before falling silent.

They are by no means weak; each of them has survived multiple escapes from the outside world through various means. In terms of physical ability, strong spirit, and will to survive, they are among the world's top-tier strongmen.

However, the opponent they encountered was far too terrifying. With the continuous absorption of blood, he was no longer an ordinary Servant, or even a monster. He was a natural disaster, and when faced with such a disaster, people could only choose to flee.

The Vampire King transformed into a red-black mist, almost solidifying, dripping liquid. Because of its viscous, liquid-like state, ordinary firearms and melee weapons could not harm him.

Even if silverware could scratch his skin, it would be like trying to cut butter with a knife; the top layer of oil would drip down and cover it up instantly, making it impossible to truly harm him.

This only enraged the monster in the Black Shadows, causing it to let out a terrifying roar.

Humans were utterly insignificant before him. The Vampire King swallowed people, weapons and all, into his body. His blood there was like sulfuric acid, melting and dissolving everything he swallowed.

Within this spiraling, ascending staircase, this disaster, occurring within a confined space, is unavoidable for anyone; the only option now is to climb upwards.

In the past, people avoided disasters by entering the Tower to the Sky. This tournament, however, deliberately locked the participants inside the enclosed tower. Even when this...

Even when the calamity known as the Vampire King occurs, he has no intention of making any changes.

It was able to kill everything and charged all the way to the rooftop.

A tall, imposing young man with brown skin stood with his arms crossed on the top step of the stairs.

"Hmph! What is there to fear in a monster of this level? Commoners, hear my name clearly, Osmanthus!! Hide behind me, thank me in your hearts, and then behold the glorious light of my sun!"

The reason why Osmanthus, the pharaoh among pharaohs, did not make a move earlier, but instead rode his sphinx, accompanied by Rani and the uncle representing the Africa team, to arrive at the gate at the top of the tower early, was precisely for this moment. He wanted to show the world his absolute power as the pharaoh among pharaohs and the King of Gods.

"Dark monster, though powerful, is far from beautiful. Let my pet teach you a lesson, so you'll understand what a divine Divine Beast worthy of the Pharaoh's majesty truly is!" Osmanthus said with a confident and arrogant smile. As the ruler of Egyptian Pharaoh during his lifetime, he was accomplished in military and political affairs, and in fact, he was also a remarkable artist in architecture, having built many magnificent pyramids throughout his life.

As Osmanthus summoned, tiny ripples, like splashing water, rippled in the air behind him. A gigantic Sphinx emerged from the ripples and appeared there. Even more strangely, this monster had no face; people could only see the colors of the night sky and the starlight of the universe in its outline.

The vast universe seemed to suck people's souls into it; after just one more glance, the Magecraft had to turn their heads away, breaking out in a cold sweat. The others, who had no magical resistance, were completely stunned, and unknowingly knelt on the ground.

This is the Faceless Sphinx, also known as the 'King of Terror'. It is not a creature of Earth, but a sphinx with a human face and body from outer space. Besides its enormous size, it also possesses massive golden wings. This is a monster among monsters, and according to some mysterious forces, it may very well be one of the avatars of a thousand-faced evil god from beyond the universe...

"Roar! Roar! Aaaaah!!" Having absorbed more than half of the contestants, the Vampire King's size had grown even larger, filling the entire corridor. He was no longer crawling, but rather rising at an extremely rapid speed like a gushing black fountain, about to reach the rooftop.

The giant sphinx spread its wings, smashing through the stairs and black iron railings, and swooped down towards the black monster surging up from below.

The Vampire King spilled a stream of black, murky blood, within which formed a jumbled mass of spear-like metal weapons. Though composed of blood, they were incredibly sharp.

From the mysterious and profound face of the Zeus, a Beam Cannon erupted, shattering the array of black spears and sending them flying. Unfurling its powerful golden wings, and with its own weight and the force of its dive, it slammed into the Black Mud monster, halting the Vampire King's upward charge that was gushing forth like a fountain of blood.

The blackish-red aura of blood that the Vampire King emitted, capable of dissolving any humans it touched, did not cause any harm to the Zeus.

At this point, the Zeus, having completed all of this, concealed its form and returned to its own space.

At this moment, Ramesses II, atop the mountain, raised his blue and gold scepter, which emitted a golden light, a beam of light like the sun, and struck the enormous, blood- Black Shadow monster.

"Monster of the darkness, I acknowledge your bravery, but this ends here! Then! Submit to my glory!"

The arrogant and domineering monster, as devastating as a storm or tsunami, could not withstand the intense heat of the blazing sun.

He genuinely believed in his own greatness, enough to sustain the world. Even this monster, like the Vampire King, was considered his possession. And as king, he gladly accepted the challenges from his ambitious subjects.

"Roar!!" The Vampire King's massive body was burned away bit by bit when it came into contact with the sunlight. The black and red flesh was burned to the color of molten lava, and thick, gray smoke with a burnt smell rose up.

Finally, in the darkness, the bloody flesh of the enormous, bloated monster was completely burned away, revealing an elderly gentleman with long silver hair. He opened his calm eyes and slowly fell into the void. At this moment, Duke Vlad bowed in the direction of Ramesses II, expressing his respect to the king who had freed him.

He had done his utmost for his country, and this was the outcome; he had no choice but to accept it. His life as a warrior would end here.

"Wow, what a magnificent sight! Whose Servant could send down such an extraordinary Servant?" The African-American man with a white turban standing to the side, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism, raised his hands and shouted.

"Now, as the Pharaoh of Pharaohs, His Your Majesty the God King Osmanthus is preparing to conquer the world here, and capable ministers are being recruited in great numbers." Rani held up a sign and waved it from side to side, showing it to the survivors around him.

"Yes! All thirty of us in the Brotherhood hope to follow a true strongman."

"We are the Five Fireball God Cult, please let us join!"

Terrified, the men realized their own limitations and dared not even dream of gaining the right to the tower. Instead, they preferred to submit now rather than suffer an ugly defeat or even be killed, hoping to gain the merit of supporting the new emperor's ascension to the throne.

After going through various calculations in their minds several times, and understanding the stakes involved, the people knelt on the ground and spoke to the Sun King.

The crowd that had stopped at the top floor immediately split into several groups, each consisting of different types of participants, clearly distinct from one another.

Besides the groups that choose to directly fawn over others, there are also assassination groups hiding in the corners, groups that are observing from the sidelines, groups that are just watching the show, and there are also proud aristocratic groups. The attitudes of all parties are unclear.