Invincible Me Only Wants to Slack Off

On the ruins, only the faint rustle of golden powder falling silently could be heard.

An absolute dead silence, more suffocating than any uproar before.

Rin, Shirou, Artoria, and Archer had long forgotten to flee, frozen like statues, gazing up at that golden rain that overturned their understanding, and at the king at its center, stripped of all glory, fallen into the dust.

"You did well," Chen Tian's voice rang out, unusually clear in the dead silence of the ruins, carrying a hint of condescending praise. "You let me feel a bit of amusement."

Those words were the last straw, igniting the remnants of dignity within Gilgamesh, the dignity of the "Hero King"! Endless humiliation turned into towering rage, instantly overwhelming the pain and weakness in his body!

"--!" He jerked his head up, his crimson serpent eyes nearly bleeding from extreme fury!

His proud head would never bow to such an insult!

He wanted to roar, to curse this madman who trampled everything he had with the most venomous words!

"Huh?!" Gilgamesh's expression froze in the midst of his furious rage.

No sound... could come out!

His throat felt blocked by the hardest ice, and no matter how he channeled his magical energy or struggled, not even a wisp of air could pass through!

He instinctively raised his hand, trying to point at the figure high above.

That movement made him, and the distant Rin and the others watching, freeze in shock!

He raised his right arm.

But the moment he did, Gilgamesh stared in horror at the tip of his right index finger—under everyone's gaze, it silently turned into a fine wisp of golden dust, drifting away with the wind!

Then the second knuckle of his index finger... the edge of his palm... like the edge of a burning page, the golden dust spread upward unstoppably!

It was complete "decomposition"!

The fury, shock, and unwillingness on Gilgamesh's face—all those intense emotions—receded like a tide in that moment.

He looked down at his right hand, turning to ash, then his arm... his shoulder... he could even feel his torso disintegrating in sync.

So... that blade light that had severed all perception, annihilated the Gate of Babylon, and shattered Ea... had cut not just those external things.

It had also cut him!

From the moment that slash was unleashed, his destruction had already been sealed.

It was just that the power was too absolute, too transcendent, so even the process of annihilation was delayed until now to manifest.

Gilgamesh slowly raised his head, looking at the man still hovering in the air ahead, his gaze indifferent.

His remaining left arm hung limply, golden dust falling in a rustling shower.

The expression on his face now held only an indescribable calm.

Then, on that pale yet still handsome face, the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.

Not a sneer, not anger, not even unwillingness.

It was a pure smile.

Carrying a hint of understanding, as if grasping some truth, a trace of the Hero King's final pride, and... a sliver of strange interest in something that surpassed his own comprehension.

That smile was like the last golden flower blooming on the ruins—radiant, yet fleeting.

He closed those crimson serpent eyes that had once looked down on the world.

Time seemed to freeze in that moment.

Like a sandcastle collapsing.

The body of the Hero King Gilgamesh, clad only in a tattered shirt, completely disintegrated above the ruins, against the backdrop of the still-falling golden dust of Noble Phantasms!

It turned into a shower of golden light—purer, more magnificent than the rain of the King's Treasury, yet filled with an endless sense of extinction and finality!

The wind blew silently.

The golden light dust swirled and rose in the sky as if alive, then slowly faded into the sky above Fuyuki City.

As if heralding the end of an era.

On the ruins, only Chen Tian remained, hovering alone.

He looked down at the slowly dispersing golden dust below, the symbol of the Hero King's final end, his eyes still utterly unruffled.

In the distance, Rin, Shirou, Artoria, and Archer stood as if drained of all strength, rooted to the spot, having even forgotten to breathe.

The once-invincible Hero King Gilgamesh, who had treated all things like weeds and possessed the power to destroy the world...

Had, without even leaving a final word, under this man's single slash...

Chapter 39: My Sword Shall Be with You

The golden light dust drifting through the air finally vanished completely into the cold air of Fuyuki City, as if it had never existed.

On the ruins, only Chen Tian remained, hovering alone, his silhouette standing out starkly beneath the shattered clouds.

"This..." Emiya Shirou opened his mouth, his throat dry, unable to force out a complete word.

Everything before him surpassed his meager imagination.

A soft clatter sounded—the sound of Archer's (Emiya) projected twin swords dissipating.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the raging waves of shock in his heart, and his voice rang low in Rin's ear: "Master! Gilgamesh has been dealt with, but the Holy Grail War isn't over yet! There are still other Servants!"

Rin snapped out of the extreme shock of witnessing the Hero King's complete annihilation, her back instantly drenched in cold sweat. She instinctively turned to look at Archer, her brows furrowed, just as she was about to speak—

"Miss Tohsaka."

A voice rang clearly in her ear, not coming from Archer's direction.

Rin's entire body stiffened, her heart nearly stopping!

Everyone—including the weakened Artoria, the shaken Shirou, and the vigilant Archer—all jerked their heads up to look at Chen Tian in the sky.

They saw Chen Tian, somehow, holding a... figure in his hand?

Like he was carrying a broken doll.

The figure was covered in bloodstains, his black priest's cassock (coat) torn in large patches, revealing the equally blood-soaked shirt beneath.

His once immaculate hair hung in disarray, partially obscuring his pale face.

The most conspicuous thing was the cross necklace dangling and swaying, stained with dark red blood.

It was Kotomine Kirei!

The supervisor appointed by the Church for this Holy Grail War!

Chen Tian hovered in midair, casually holding the dying Kotomine Kirei in one hand, as if carrying some insignificant object.

His gaze fell on the stunned Tohsaka Rin below, and he clearly voiced his question:

"The Holy Grail? What's the use of that thing?"

Chen Tian asked this simply because, based on his understanding.

The so-called Holy Grail War was essentially a massive ritual system devised by the Einzbern Family, the Tohsaka Family, and the Makiri (Matou) Family to reach the "Root."

He scoffed at the legend that the Holy Grail could grant any wish to its final victor.

If it were really that powerful, wouldn't it be better to just wish to be the strongest forever, with no one above you?

So, in Chen Tian's eyes, the so-called Holy Grail was nothing but a huge lie.

Rin paused when she heard Chen Tian's question. She wanted to tell him about the legend of the Holy Grail.

But seeing the disdain in Chen Tian's eyes, she understood that his words weren't a question but a statement—a firm dismissal of the Holy Grail.

She opened her mouth but couldn't speak.

Seeing that Rin said nothing more, Chen Tian flickered and appeared before her, tossing Kotomine Kirei from his hand onto the ground in front of her.

Only then did everyone notice the man Chen Tian had been carrying.

Rin looked at Chen Tian in confusion, "This..."

Chen Tian gestured with his chin, "This is the other culprit I told you about, the mastermind behind your father's murder, and the Master of that golden Servant just now."

Rin's pupils sharply contracted, and her fingertips trembled uncontrollably.

Kotomine Kirei—her father's disciple—was the murderer of her father?

"Impossible..." Her voice caught in her throat, as if blocked by something.

Kotomine Kirei suddenly let out a hoarse laugh, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth: "Tohsaka... Tokiomi's daughter... finally knows..."

Archer's projected sword instantly pressed against Kotomine's throat. Shirou instinctively stepped back half a pace, and Artoria tightened her grip on her sword hilt.

The entire ruin fell into silence, broken only by Kotomine's intermittent gasps.

Rin's nails dug deep into her palm, blood seeping through her fingers and dripping down.

Chen Tian frowned and reached out to pat her shoulder, "What are you getting worked up about? He's just a piece of trash now."

The Enma Sword slid from its sheath, and the hilt was offered to Rin.

"Your turn, or should I do it?"

Rin stared at the hilt, then at Kotomine, barely breathing on the ground.

Hatred churned in her chest, but her hand remained unmoving.

Kotomine twisted his lips into a distorted smile, his bloodstained lips parting slightly—

The figure vanished into thin air.

"Where is he?!" Shirou exclaimed.

Archer instantly shifted into a combat stance, dual blades in hand.

Artoria warily scanned the surroundings.

Chen Tian sheathed his sword, "Done."

Rin looked around in confusion, "He escaped?"

"Escaped?" Chen Tian sneered, "He's floating in space."

"Literally." Chen Tian pointed upward, "He should be frozen solid by now."

Deep in the cosmos, Kotomine Kirei's body, torn apart by Chen Tian's slashes, drifted in Absolute Zero.

His expression froze in final shock, the cross necklace shattering silently in the void.

"The Holy Grail War ends here."

Chen Tian's words made everyone whip their heads toward him.

He had appeared silently in the high sky, a disdainful smirk curling at the corner of his mouth. "The Root? Boring."

His eyes closed, and a vast perception spread like an invisible tide. With the faint hum of the Enma Sword at his waist, it instantly blanketed all of Fuyuki City, then surged madly into the depths of the earth!

The sword's hum turned sharp, urgent!

Chen Tian's eyes snapped open, a piercing light blazing forth!

The Enma Sword left its sheath!

He swung it a few times in the air, seemingly at random.

No dazzling blade light, no ripples tearing through space—as if he were merely sketching lines in the air.

But the next moment—

Rin, Archer, and Artoria all paled in shock!

"Mana... is fading?!" Rin blurted out, a searing emptiness stabbing through her magic circuits.

Rumble...!

The ground across all of Fuyuki City began to tremble violently!

Not a destructive quake, but a deep, muffled roar from beneath the earth—as if some colossal structure was collapsing, disintegrating!

Buildings swayed, gravel pattering down.

The source—the vast underground leyline core that sustained Fuyuki's spiritual veins and concealed the Greater Grail system—was letting out a dying wail!

The endless torrent of mana within it was being forcibly "severed" and "annihilated" by a power beyond comprehension!