Is he bluffing me?!
Goetia was the first to have this thought. Then, a sudden, astonishing chill rose up inside him, his body shuddered violently, and he jerked his head around to look.
He finally remembered something at that very moment.
Damn it, he had underestimated his enemy!
Lan Ze's Noble Phantasm could not truly do much to him, but the Chains of Heaven had undeniably restricted his movements.
Yet after that, what truly awaited him was not Lan Ze's Excalibur, but—
Old Man of the Mountain!
When Goetia whipped his head around, he saw that the assassin, clad in black armor, had been standing behind him since who knew when.
A black aura of death permeated the man's body, and an intimidating light shone from within his skull.
He held a shield in one hand and a sword in the other, his figure imposing.
Rather than an assassin, he looked more like a berserker.
At that exact moment, an ancient and weathered voice slowly rang out.
"The title of Grand is not what I seek. The proof of the strongest need only be vested in this single strike."
Old Man of the Mountain! Crowned Assassin had infiltrated from the very beginning, even swaggering in with his greatsword and great shield... yet no one had noticed!
He truly was an assassin, revealing his true form only at the final, crucial moment. The blow that forsook the Grand title had not fallen upon Tiamat, but had been delivered to Goetia instead!
He raised his unadorned, ordinary greatsword, and a deeper, more intense ghostly blue light flared in his eyes, resembling a will-o'-the-wisp in the dark.
"Hear the toll. The evening bell has revealed your name."
Faintly, the surrounding environment shifted all at once. It felt as though this were no longer Uruk, but a desolate wasteland where light feathers drifted past in the wind. As the ancient bell tolled, Old Man of the Mountain raised his greatsword.
"Angel of Death!"
When that strike of Old Man of the Mountain, symbolizing the Grand, descended, Goetia's—or rather, the King of Magecraft's—body seemed to fracture. A wave of intense pain forced a startling cry from him.
The binding of the Chains of Heaven had long since vanished, but Goetia remained completely immobile. The blade of Old Man of the Mountain pierced straight through Goetia's heart. The man who had orchestrated everything from behind the scenes stiffened slightly, clutched his chest, and slowly took two steps back.
"Is it over...?" Ishtar muttered softly.
A faint jolt ran through Lan Ze's heart, and he thought, Why do I have this lingering feeling that she just raised a flag?!
Under the intense gaze of everyone present, Goetia's body suddenly flickered with complex, image-like distortions.
"No..."
Gilgamesh's eyes slowly widened a fraction, his red pupils filled with astonishment.
"He is still alive..."
The moment those words dropped, everyone's bodies tightened as their gazes fixed dead upon the man who had clearly been heavily wounded.
"Aaa."
Tiamat let out a low chant, instinctively moving to shield Lan Ze while keeping her eyes locked on the battered man before her.
Clearly, his body had been devastated to the extreme by Old Man of the Mountain; clearly, his life was already like a candle in the wind—yet right now, an even stronger life force and magical energy faintly radiated from Goetia!
That terrifying volume of magical energy was far, far greater than it had been just moments ago!
"I must admit, you are indeed strong."
At that moment, Goetia spoke up. Though the body of the King of Magecraft was in such a ruined state, a deep, powerful force still resonated in his voice, and the Demon God Pillars danced wildly in midair.
Goetia slowly hovered beneath the gloomy sky.
He suddenly grinned, revealing a bantering smile.
"So be it. Since things have evolved to this state, running away tail tucked between my legs isn't really my style."
He slowly raised his right hand. "Let me play with you a little longer..."
"In my true form!"
Rumble!
Lightning flashed across the gloomy sky. The shattered body of the King of Magecraft suddenly vanished, replaced by a creature with an extraordinarily terrifying exterior.
Yes, only the word terrifying could describe it.
Because its appearance was completely different from the previous Solomon; it did not even belong to the realm of humanity.
This was the true Beast, the Beast of Pity—
Goetia!
At this very moment, it had finally manifested in its true form!
Lan Ze's body instantly tensed. He felt an unprecedented sense of oppression. Even though most of the pressure was currently being offset by Tiamat, just looking at the creature before him sent an indescribable wave of dread washing over him.
"Beast I, Goetia?" Gilgamesh gazed calmly at Goetia, his usual cool demeanor tinged with solemnity.
He had not expected it to drop its disguise and reveal its true face so quickly.
Having borrowed Solomon's body to present itself to the world, its true form was none other than this First Beast, Goetia.
After being imbued with the concept of death by that sword strike from Old Man of the Mountain, it had finally manifested in its true form.
Tiamat's gaze likewise turned grave to the extreme.
While this Creation Mother Goddess was naturally also a Beast, she had already performed a self-seal with the system's help.
Even for this Creation Mother Goddess, dealing with Goetia as he was now would likely require her to forcibly unseal her Spiritron Dress.
Everyone else was also nursing varying degrees of injuries, but what made things hopeless was that Goetia had manifested at practically full capacity.
...No, this was not even his peak state. Old Man of the Mountain's strike had undoubtedly hit Goetia's vital spot, meaning Goetia was heavily wounded right now as well.
Yet even in a heavily wounded state, he was beyond anything the others could compare to.
Simply because he was a Beast!
"Hand over your head!"
Just as everyone was plunged into extreme shock, Old Man of the Mountain moved first, raising his greatsword to slash at Goetia.
Yet Goetia had already cast off his restraints, and his speed was a vast margin faster than before. The two clashed from the ground all the way up into midair, where one could faintly see only two flashes of light crossing and erupting with stunning sounds.
"The one who wanted to incinerate Humanity's Order wasn't Solomon, but... the First Beast?"
At that moment, Fujimaru Ritsuka watched the battle erupting in midair, falling into a daze.
Tiamat gently tugged at Lan Ze's sleeve and said in a low voice, "I will unseal my Spiritron Dress to help."
"No! Your Spiritron Dress was just sealed. If you unseal it now, you'll go right back to the way you were." Lan Ze immediately shook his head in refusal.
Once Tiamat unsealed her Spiritron Dress, this Singularity would likely transform from Hell difficulty into Super Hell difficulty.
Goetia as he was now was already troublesome enough; if Tiamat unsealed her Spiritron Dress and lost control of her consciousness, two Beasts making a ruckus in this Seventh Singularity would lead to consequences simply too horrific to contemplate.
Tiamat looked aggrieved, lowering her head as she shook her two horns, wearing a rather dejected expression.
Lan Ze shifted his gaze back to midair.
Even so, King Hassan alone likely was no match for Goetia in his current state...
If things kept going this way, probably none of them would be able to leave this Singularity.
Unless...
The real Solomon arrived to stop Goetia.
But if that happened... the Doctor would be gone.
At that moment, an astonishing noise erupted from the ground. The two combatants crashed down from midair, Old Man of the Mountain's greatsword plunging into Goetia's chest while his own once-pitch-black armor was crushed by Goetia, leaving his entire suit of heavy plate utterly ruined.
"As expected of the Crowned Assassin. Even without the title of Grand, you are just as difficult to deal with."
Goetia spoke coldly, shoving aside the greatsword in his chest. He gasped for air, his cold gaze locked onto Old Man of the Mountain.
"However, this ends here."
High above, a wheel of light slowly revolved. When several layers of light bands peeled away from that wheel, Lan Ze instinctively stepped forward, only to be held back by Tiamat.
She could tell that whether in magical energy or physical stamina, her child had long since reached his absolute limit. He had previously broken through the Sea of Life, and then expended a massive amount of energy to deal with Goetia, leaving him essentially like a candle in the wind by now.
Trying to force his way up to stop Goetia now was entirely unrealistic.
"Leave it to me," Tiamat whispered softly.
Surging magical energy gathered around her—the telltale sign that Tiamat was about to unseal her Spiritron Dress.
"Intending to fight for the protection of Humanity's Order in the guise of the Beast of Regression?" Goetia noticed the situation over here and suddenly laughed.
"Don't you find this ironic, Tiamat?"
"Clearly a Beast that obstructs Humanity's Order, yet now you wish to protect it..."
It seemed to have victory in its grasp as it spoke unhurriedly, "Or... do you simply wish to protect that person by your side?"
Tiamat did not speak; she only gazed at Goetia.
"How truly pathetic. The mighty Second Beast, now standing on the opposite side of a fellow Beast purely for the sake of a human." Goetia reached a hand out toward Tiamat.
"Since we are both Beasts, why not join me in destroying this wretched planet and reshaping a beautiful one?"
Tiamat gave Goetia no reply, but the surging magical energy around her had reached nearly its absolute peak, on the verge of shattering the seal on her Spiritron Dress.
"Emotions truly make people blind, after all." Goetia shook his head in regret. He raised a finger, and several bands of light condensed at his fingertip into a sphere of light teeming with terrifying magical energy.
Lan Ze's body tightened as he grabbed Tiamat's hand.
Absolutely not—if she unsealed her Spiritron Dress now, everything would be completely ruined!
Yet Goetia as he was right now was no longer someone who could be handled casually.
Seeing those multiple light bands in midair—each easily rivaling Excalibur—about to rage downward from the sky, Lan Ze rapidly drew upon the Holy Grail's magical energy and raised the holy sword once more.
Goetia merely smiled coldly, pointing a finger toward the ground as he prepared to hurl that sphere of light.
Yet at that instant, his actions froze dead in place.
"Can't be helped, you see. That's just what love is."
Because he suddenly heard a calm, crisp, and pleasantly melodic voice ring out right beside his ear.
Goetia's body seized up violently, and he slowly turned his head to look.
The next moment, that person raised a hand and slapped him across the face.
Goetia's pupils contracted, and he quickly threw his hands up, a Magic Barrier shrouding the top of his head. But that single slap shattered multiple Magic Barriers in one go, and then—before Goetia's slowly widening eyes—she grabbed him by the head and slammed him straight down into the ground!
The instant a massive explosion rang out, dust and smoke billowed across the earth.
Tiamat, who had intended to make her move, froze, and Lan Ze beside her froze as well.
Gilgamesh, who was just about to pull out Ea for a desperate final strike, had the exact same look of shock reflected in his red eyes.
No one had expected that a third entity, easily the match of Goetia and Tiamat, would appear!
That person seemed to be a Beast as well... yet she clearly possessed the appearance of a young girl.
She wore a pretty dress, looking as cute as a porcelain doll, her pale golden hair swaying gently in the breeze.
"Who... are you?"
Goetia spat out a mouthful of blood, his gaze locked onto the girl. Recognizing her appearance, he uttered an incredulous voice: "The Root?!"
"...You are connected to the Root?!"
Before you continue