You Can Stay Here and Eat Cake
Higashino Makoto stood at the entrance of the Chaldea Dining Hall, holding a tray in his hand.
On the tray sits a strawberry cake, its cream a pale pink, with strawberries cut in half and arranged on top like two red jewels.
Rome Archman sat in a corner of the cafeteria, a pile of documents spread out in front of him.
His fingers traced lines on the paper, his brow furrowed, and his lips moved slightly, as if he were silently reciting something.
His coffee had gone cold, and a brownish stain clung to the inside of the cup.
Higashino Makoto walked over and placed the tray on the table.
Rome looked up at the cake, then at Higashino Makoto.
"This is?"
"Strawberry cake, custom-made, you can't buy it anywhere else."
Rome was clearly tempted, but after touching the ring on his hand, he decided to refuse, since now was not the time for cake.
"I don't remember ordering a cake."
"It's on me."
Rome's fingers paused on the document. He looked at the cake and remained silent for a moment.
"Mr. Higashino, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Have."
Higashino Makoto sat down opposite him.
"Don't even think about self-destructing. I'll handle Solomon Goetia. If you insist on doing it, wait until I lose, although I don't think I'll lose."
Rome's fingers tightened suddenly, the document crumpling between his fingers with a soft clicking sound.
His lips opened and closed, closed and opened again.
"What... what did you say?"
"I said, don't self-destruct. I already know your self-destruction routine. Solomon's first Noble Phantasm, 'The Time for Farewell Has Arrived,' is used by a man who relinquishes the world, to detonate his own existence as a bomb, blowing up Goetia along with himself."
Rome's face turned pale.
How did you know...?
I know a lot.
Higashino Makoto leaned back in his chair.
"I'll handle Goetia; you can stay here and enjoy your cake."
Rome looked down at the cake.
The strawberries gleamed red under the light, and the cream had a thin halo on its surface.
He stood up, his expression serious.
"Higashino, since you know this, you should also understand just how powerful Goetia, right? He has Noble Phantasm capable of traversing planets and traveling through billions of years of time, he has the Authority of anti-summoning that prevents Heroic Spirits from fighting him, and he is immortal as long as the Temple of Time is destroyed."
"I know, I even know your identity, how could I not know Goetia's abilities?"
Rome looked up and gazed into those golden eyes.
"Then why did you still go?"
"I won't lose."
Higashino Makoto didn't say anything more. He stood up, turned around, and walked towards the door.
Rome watched his retreating figure.
"Mr. Higashino."
Higashino Makoto stopped in his tracks.
Why are you helping me?
Higashino Makoto remained silent for a moment.
"I'll help if I want to, do I need a reason?"
He stepped out of the cafeteria, his footsteps fading into the distance in the corridor.
Rome sat in his chair, looking at the cake.
He picked up his fork, cut off a small piece, and put it in his mouth.
The cream melted on my tongue, and it tasted better than anything I'd eaten before.
The Final Singularity, Solomon Temple of Time.
Higashino Makoto emerged from the spatial rift, his feet landing on the stone slabs of the temple, the air thick with the smells of fire and sulfur.
Seventy-two Demon God Pillars surrounded the temple, each one burning, flames leaping from their surfaces and licking the air.
Like Goetia, or rather, they constitute Goetia.
Therefore, as long as the Temple of Time remain standing, they can be reborn continuously.
Not wanting to waste time, Higashino Makoto didn't bother looking at the Demon God Pillars and directly cleared a path through the Great Catastrophe.
He stepped forward and walked toward the center of the temple.
The Degradation Aura unfolded, and red and black light surged from his body, spreading in all directions. Wherever the light passed, flames began to extinguish, stone slabs began to crack, and the air became murky.
The Demon God Pillars closest to him began to crumble, cracks appearing on their surfaces and spreading in all directions.
The golden flames flickered a few times within the cracks before extinguishing, and the pillar shattered into fragments, scattering across the ground.
The Degradation Aura continued to expand, and when combined with the Garden Arrogance's Authority, even though the Authority arrogance wasn't 100% effective due to the different worlds, it greatly suppressed their resurrection speed.
More Demon God Pillars began to disintegrate; some broke at the base, some collapsed at the top, and some exploded in the middle.
The fragments fell to the ground with a dull thud.
The fragments then began to reassemble, preparing for resurrection.
They could have been revived immediately, but due to Higashino Makoto's Authority, their resurrection became extremely slow.
Goetia stood in the center of the temple, his white robes gleaming golden in the flames.
His pupils were fixed on Higashino Makoto, his fingers tightening slightly at his sides.
This is a formidable opponent, but he doesn't believe he will lose.
"You've come."
Higashino Makoto stopped in front of him.
"I'm here, so are you ready?"
Goetia's lips curled up slightly, showing some pleasure as she was mentally prepared for what the other person was about to say.
"What are you going to prepare?"
"Go to hell."
Goetia did not answer.
He raised his hand, and a golden light appeared in his palm. Hundreds of millions of light bands in the sky changed with his movement.
He was already prepared!
Noble Phantasm Unveiled--
"The time of its birth has come. It is to rectify all things."
Higashino Makoto did not sit idly by and wait for his doom.
The Void Demon King unfolds.
Dark mist surged from his body and spread in all directions.
Wherever the mist passed, light was swallowed up, flames were extinguished, and space began to distort.
The fragments of those Demon God Pillars turned into powder in the black mist, and the powder then vanished into Void.
Goetia's beam of light collided with the black mist.
The golden light collided with the pitch-black mist, but there was no explosion, no roar.
The light began to disappear the moment it came into contact with the mist, as if it were being devoured from within.
The beam of light disappeared segment by segment, starting from the tip, at a slow but steady pace.
Goetia's expression remained unchanged; he had expected this.
He raised his other hand, and another ball of light appeared in his palm. Two beams of light shot towards Higashino Makoto at the same time, one to the left and one to the right, blocking his retreat.
Higashino Makoto did not back down.
The Degradation Aura contracted and concentrated around his body, forming a barrier.
The beam of light struck the barrier, emitting a piercing hiss.
The barrier trembled, but did not shatter.
He raised his hand, Law Demon King unfolded.
Eternal Miasma Prison.
The laws of the temple began to be rewritten, the direction of gravity changed, and the stone slabs flew off the ground and floated into the sky.
The temperature changed from scorching hot to freezing cold, and the moisture in the air condensed into ice crystals, which fell onto the stone slab with a soft crackling sound.
Goetia's body trembled slightly; his chanting was interrupted, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes.
"Interesting."
His body suddenly accelerated and floated backward.
He distanced himself, standing at the deepest part of the temple, his hands crossed in front of him.
The light wheel began to spin again.
Hundreds of millions of ribbons of light poured down from the light wheel, covering the sky and blotting out the sun.
Each beam of light carried enough power to pierce through a planet.
Higashino Makoto looked up.
This is a bit troublesome. He dares not take this level of attack head-on and can only focus on resisting it.
The Void Demon King was devouring the bands of light, but there were too many bands, and the rate of devouring couldn't keep up with the rate at which the bands of light were falling.
The Degradation Aura weakens the power of the light band, but the light band's power is too great; even after being weakened, it still poses a threat to him.
Well, it's just a threat; it's unlikely he'd actually kill himself.
On the other side, Goetia's body began to glow.
He is separating himself from this world, embarking on time travel, preparing to arrive at the beginning of the planet's birth, and become the planet itself.
Higashino Makoto saw his body fading, like a painting that was losing its color.
His features began to blur, his aura began to weaken, and his presence began to disappear.
He realized that the attacks on him were more about buying time than about killing him.
We can't let him succeed!
Higashino Makoto gritted his teeth.
But he couldn't chase it immediately, because if he did, the light band would fall down; if he didn't chase it, Goetia would succeed.
The light bands continued to fall, with only about ten bands attacking him each time, mainly to hinder his movements. Most of the energy was used by Goetia for time travel!
The Void Demon King was devouring, and the Degradation Aura was weakening. With both combined, he was almost invincible, but he wasn't fast enough.