The Destroyed Holy Grail War

Kirei Kotomine's Father really wanted to punch his son, who still had the mood to crack cold jokes at a time like this, but this incident had clearly transcended the scope of what they could handle.

And—

The old priest looked up at the sky.

Up there, a typhoon was constantly brewing.

It seemed as if something was about to descend.

And while Kirei Kotomine's Father, as a "normal human," could sense it, the Heroic Spirits could perceive it even more clearly.

"Master, something troublesome and disgusting is coming."

After sending Gilgamesh away, Enkidu, who had hurried back to Li Ke's side, wore an expression of disgust. He looked up at the storm constantly forming in the sky, already knowing what was coming.

Gugalanna.

The embodiment of natural disaster from Mesopotamia.

Its formation brought violent storms that destroyed everything on the earth; even in his and Gilgamesh's prime, they would have had to go all out to face its overwhelming power.

And what was manifesting at this very moment, while not the entirety of Gugalanna, meant one thing the instant it appeared.

The mistress of Gugalanna, Ishtar, was here too!

That spoiled, willful, and useless goddess! The goddess who had separated him and Gilgamesh by life and death had descended upon this world just to continue sabotaging their reunion.

Should he call this goddess vengeful, or persistent? Even now, with the Mesopotamian civilization long gone, she still harbored such jealousy toward them.

"Ah, I see it. It is indeed going to be a troublesome thing. But is it alright to destroy that thing over there? You Heroic Spirits won't disappear because of it, will you?"

Li Ke nodded. He also felt that something existed above the sky, but at this moment, he was more concerned about another matter.

That was, would it be okay to destroy the thing called the Greater Grail over there?

The Greater Grail was the core of a normal Holy Grail War; the entire ritual of the Holy Grail War relied on its existence.

But if the core of the Greater Grail, which had been exposed by the battle between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, were destroyed, then the Holy Grail War would end right there.

End forever.

"Hmm, it's fine. Even if the Greater Grail disappears, I can temporarily exist by relying on your mana, Master, and the power of the earth. Besides, if I'm not mistaken, that thing has already been corrupted. It would be best to destroy it now."

Enkidu looked at his Master, who was brimming with fighting spirit, with a sense of helplessness. It was as if his Master had "I want to fight those people" written all over his face.

Therefore, going against his Master's orders truly made him feel helpless.

"However, the moment you summoned me and Gil, the Holy Grail War became impossible to continue anyway."

Enkidu smiled and made a gesture of showing off his strength, though unfortunately, it was hard to see any sense of power in those slender limbs.

"As I am now, I have completely surpassed Gil in performance. And as a Master, you are far better than Gil's Master!"

Enkidu's praise was full of sincerity, because both the mana Li Ke provided and the decisiveness with which he allowed him to act were things ordinary Masters lacked, which truly made him very happy.

Li Ke froze for a moment, then nodded helplessly.

"That is indeed true."

In this Holy Grail War, now that Enkidu had appeared, Gilgamesh would be incredibly serious. If that were the case, this "father of the mushroom" would definitely go all out to eliminate the others to avoid any interference with his reunion with his friend.

Unless that last unsummoned class summoned some big shot, tomorrow would be the final battle of this Holy Grail War.

Li Ke subconsciously looked up, because he felt something peeking at and attacking him!

The next moment, Enkidu also jerked his head up and waved his arms. Flowers rose from the earth, firing golden beams of light toward the sky, but Li Ke felt that something was wrong.

"It's coming from behind!"

Realizing this, Li Ke quickly summoned Scathach's spear and swept it horizontally toward his back, aiming for his heart and spine!

The next moment, the sound of metal clashing rang out. Li Ke's body was knocked away by a massive force, but the attacker did not stop. A power representing death manifested, and what appeared was a great sword lunging toward Li Ke's neck!

"Listen, the Evening Bell has revealed your name!"

The black figure was practically the embodiment of death. A look of astonishment appeared on Enkidu's face, but "death" was a domain he absolutely could not resist; any of his powers were meaningless in the face of the "Evening Bell."

And if he left it alone, this attack descending from the sky would be enough to kill his Master!

Enkidu's eyes couldn't help but glance at Scathach, but she only watched it all coldly, with no intention of intervening.

As for Li Ke, he felt his time stagnate. He could only watch helplessly as a tall, skeleton-like figure slowly walked toward him. All he could see in his eyes were white feathers, and the tolling of a funeral bell rang out.

It felt like he couldn't do anything!

His thoughts began to lag; he felt as if he were already dying before the blade even arrived, as if he were meant to die and the blade was merely there to sever his head after his death.

But Li Ke knew very well that the moment the blade touched him, he would die!

What should he do?

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

Noble, heroic, despicable, and cowardly ones.

But, just as the blade was about to touch his throat, he thought of the question Scathach had once posed to him.

"Why do you think you are not a hero?"

At that time, he slumped on the ground, watching Scathach holding her twin spears under the moonlight. His heart was filled with nothing but fear and longing, so when she asked her question, what had he answered?

"Probably because I'm neither handsome, nor brave, and certainly not outstanding?"

"Then, do you fear death?"

"Of course I do."

"Is that so?"

Then came the three questions Scathach had posed.

He refused to die a meaningless death!

As this thought took hold, a violent, scorching current surged from Li Ke's heart. A power that had not awakened in other worlds began, at this very moment, to gradually manifest.

The Demon and Angel Hybrid, the reawakening of the Creation Power, and those nameless forces all began to take effect.

Yet, surprisingly, while possessing all these powers, he remained an absolute human, locked into the form of a "human"!

And while humanity has countless definitions in this world, none of them, by any means, described his current state!

This was the greatest anomaly!

However, without the suppression of the Worldstone, Naruto Li Ke's deep excavation of his own bloodline, combined with the fact that he was effectively under the concept of "imminent death," finally caused the violent power within his body to erupt!

In that instant, the magical energy within a radius of several thousand meters was drained into a vacuum. The immense power brought by that magical energy instantly distorted the declaration of death looming right before him, shocking the Heroic Spirit—who was almost the incarnation of the concept of death itself—into widening her eyes.

It was not that the concept of death did not exist, but that the rules of the world had been temporarily distorted, rendering "death" non-existent!

"This is... what kind of..."

Before she could finish, the boy, who appeared only ten years old, swept his long spear out. In his eyes, there was no longer any fear of death, only a craving for battle!

Li Ke did not care about any of that. He simply gripped his long spear, pressing forward step by step against that towering figure, continuously unleashing the violent magical energy in his hands!

Enkidu, on the side, finally had a moment to assist Li Ke. He watched the figure wielding a greatsword to fight Li Ke with shock, yet he also felt it was only natural.

If one wanted to defeat his Master, then it was naturally impossible without a Crowned Heroic Spirit.

A so-called Crowned Heroic Spirit is an existence that is the strongest in a certain field, capable of dealing with world-ending crises.

And if his eyes did not deceive him, the Heroic Spirit before them was undoubtedly Hassan! The first Hassan! That legendary Angel of Death!

"Please be extremely careful, Master! This guy is a terrible match for me! Because of my legend, I will die immediately if I am touched by his blade! So, this is the only way I can help you!"

Enkidu was helpless. His identity was that of a clay puppet forged by the gods, and the reason for his death was simply because the gods had bestowed upon him the concept of death.

Therefore, even as a Heroic Spirit, anything related to death could restrain him, causing his power and life to vanish into nothingness!

But Li Ke grew even more excited.

"To think a so-called Crowned Heroic Spirit would come to kill me personally! How truly interesting!!"

The long spear slashed, and magical energy that could only be called an anomaly erupted in a massive wave. After the attacking Heroic Spirit dodged, it carved a trail of magical energy thousands of meters long across the earth, burning everything in its path to ash!

Even the Greater Grail, which stood in the path of the spear, was shattered by the slash of magical energy Li Ke had unleashed!

The broken Greater Grail erupted with the magical energy it had accumulated over decades, along with countless entities that resembled black mud.

This black mud was All the World's Evils, containing countless curses and human malice. Even a powerful Heroic Spirit with a firm will would have their resolve and wishes corrupted if tainted by this evil mud, turning them into an evil existence in some sense.

But—

This black magical energy screamed as it was drawn by an invisible force, surging toward Li Ke along with that vast amount of magical energy!

The Crowned Servant leaped away almost instantly, abandoning the path of the black mud and letting it cover Li Ke directly.

"Master!"

Enkidu wanted to pull Li Ke out, but Scathach stood in his way at that very moment!

"Are you treating my Master as prey? Queen of the Land of Shadows!"

Scathach also possessed the power to restrain him, and at this moment, she was in her complete state. Unlike him, who had descended as a Servant—though he could exert the power of a Heroic Spirit because of Li Ke, it was ultimately different.

Therefore, if Scathach stopped him, he was powerless to do anything!

"He has finally begun to awaken his power... I cannot let you disturb him. Since he possesses such aptitude and status, he must overcome this danger himself and master his own power, must he not?"

Scathach twirled her twin spears, her eyes filled with fighting spirit. Once Li Ke's essence awakened, this planet could not contain him; he would either be annihilated, or he would force this world to adapt to his existence.

Li Ke had no second path to take. Otherwise, even if he lived in this world, the planet's will would arrange for him to exhaust all his power, only to die a miserable death and become part of the planet's history.

That would be too boring.

If the other party could not even withstand the trials of the planet and the Human Order, then it was better to die here early, turn into a wraith, and be taken back to the Land of Shadows to continue living... In that case, although he could no longer grow, he would suffer much less pain.

This was the greatest mercy she could offer as his teacher.

"Besides, I also really want to spar with you."

But just as Enkidu could no longer endure this and intended to fight, the typhoon above their heads finally took shape. A portion of the storm, over 500 kilometers in diameter, began to writhe, sprouting spikes like the tips of scythes. Amidst the swirling clouds and mist, a giant bull appeared, lifted its hooves, and stomped down heavily toward them!

Indeed, the so-called Holy Grail War.

It had ceased to exist the moment Li Ke entered the fray!

And this was all happening several dozen seconds before...

"Tokiomi!!"

The King's furious voice erupted within Tokiomi Tohsaka's mansion. Yet, the very moment golden motes of light manifested in the room, Gilgamesh saw the countless gems shimmering with magical energy scattered across the floor, and Tokiomi Tohsaka collapsed on the ground, the Command Spells on his hand vanished.

The potion of youth he had bestowed upon the man was now clutched in the hands of his young daughter—no, it should be said, in the hands of the goddess Ishtar!

The young girl's body, slightly smaller than Li Ke's, flashed a smile at the stunned Gilgamesh.

"Long time no see, Gilgamesh. When exactly did you deactivate the Star of Omniscience and Omnipotence? I'm so curious."

Gilgamesh widened his eyes. He realized it now: the goddess before him had descended by utilizing the magical energy generated from their clash, right when he had deactivated the Star of Omniscience and Omnipotence to focus entirely on his battle with Enkidu!

And that lingering magical storm must have served as nourishment for her Gugalanna at this very moment!

Damn it! He shouldn't have deactivated the Star of Omniscience and Omnipotence!

"Ishtar!"

Countless golden ripples appeared behind Gilgamesh, various Noble Phantasms ready to be projected to pierce the person before him. But the next moment, the young body of Rin Tohsaka, manipulated by the goddess, wore a wicked grin.

"By the Command Spell, I command you, Gilgamesh: seal your treasures!"

I'm not writing that so-called Banquet of Kings; it's too boring.

Heroic Spirits are only interesting when they're fighting!