Originally ten golden wings:
The colors are also changing.
The gold has faded.
Instead, dark colors were used.
A deep, oppressive darkness that seemed to devour all light.
No longer like the wings of an angel.
It's more like something crawling out of some abyss.
But this is not the end.
Immediately afterwards, a jet-black energy identical to the one before enveloped Origami's entire body.
Dark energy converged from all directions, enveloping the Origami like a cocoon.
The energy density is constantly increasing.
The volume is constantly increasing.
It transformed from a human figure into a blurry sphere.
Finally, it transformed into a jet-black sphere.
It is approximately twenty meters in diameter.
The sphere floated in mid-air, its surface shimmering with dark purple patterns.
The sphere did not shatter or continue to change.
It just hung there quietly.
Everyone on the battlefield stopped moving.
Richard halted his charge.
The Bull of Heaven stopped roaring.
Sajyou Manaka stood at a distance, her smile vanishing for the first time.
She stared at the dark, round sphere, her eyes widening slightly.
Then.
A phantom image appeared outside the sphere.
It's purplish-black.
At first, it was just a vague outline, like a distortion in a heatwave.
But the illusory image gradually solidified.
The outline is becoming clearer.
paw.
wing.
Skull.
Seven crowns.
A purplish-black dragon-shaped phantom gradually solidified from the outside of the sphere.
Its body is deep purple, covered with golden spikes and exoskeleton patterns.
Its head has seven crowns, each representing a sin.
Its front paws cradled the jet-black sphere.
It has several irregular, jet-black wing membranes that slowly unfold in the air.
The sharp spikes at the end of its long tail slicing through the air with a piercing sound.
The instant it becomes a true entity.
The oppressive force it unleashed was unparalleled.
That wasn't the Servant could exude.
That was a more ancient, more profound, and more desperate existence.
The dragon let out only one roar.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Sound waves were released from the dragon's mouth and spread in all directions.
Richard had lost all his strength.
His knees buckled, and he knelt directly on the ground.
The Crimson Heaven Sword slipped from his hand.
He lay on the ground, his whole body feeling as heavy as lead.
He could feel that he was still conscious.
But my body wouldn't obey me at all.
He couldn't even move a single finger.
"What... what is this...?"
Richard's voice was forced out from deep in his throat.
Alcides's form wasn't much better either.
He, too, had lost all his strength.
The Sword of Wayland slipped from his hand and stuck in the ground.
His burly body staggered a couple of steps before collapsing to the ground.
His power, the protection of the God Hand, and the Underworld authority stolen by the Usurper of the Heavenly Wind.
All of that was meaningless in the face of the dragon's overwhelming power.
He lay on the ground, struggling to resist the terrifying pressure with his remaining consciousness.
Even the Bull of Heaven was not spared.
Although the mythical beast was still standing, its limbs were trembling violently.
It lowered its enormous head, not daring to look directly at the demonic dragon.
Instinctive fear.
A fear deeper than facing the Underworld.
Sajyou Manaka is the only one still standing.
But it wasn't easy for her either.
Her legs were trembling slightly.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
She gritted her teeth and used all her willpower to stay upright.
"So strong."
This was her honest judgment.
She is connected to the Root.
She could see something behind the dragon.
That is--
Satan.
The world-destroying dragon in the Book of Revelation.
Sephira Origami Tobiichi protected by Satan.
When she abandoned her defenses, her disguise, and her Spirit Core was severed.
Then the demon king who was protecting her descended.
The dragon hovered in mid-air, its seven crowns gleaming ominously in the dark light.
Its gaze swept downwards.
Richard.
Alcides.
The Bull of Heaven.
Sajyou Manaka.
Every life that it gazes upon feels a kind of despair, as if being stared at from the abyss.
Then.
The dragon opened its mouth.
A stream of Flame of Purification gushed from its mouth.
However, they did not attack anyone present.
This is it announcing its arrival to the world.
A pillar of flame shot into the sky, turning the entire sky dark red.
All the satellites and familiars monitoring this battlefield were rendered useless the instant the dragon took shape.
Both the surveillance screens in Orlando and Faldeus's reconnaissance network went black at the same time.
Police station.
Orlando stood in the monitoring center, watching all the screens in front of him simultaneously turn into static.
"What happened?!"
"All signals have been lost! Satellites, reconnaissance familiars, and ground cameras on the west side have all lost contact!"
Orlando's face turned deathly pale.
Faldeus also received the report at the outpost.
"All surveillance systems on the western front have failed. We have absolutely no idea what's happening there."
"..."
Faldeus remained silent for a long time.
Then he said something.
Pray.
The dragon's oppressive aura enveloped the entire Snowfield City.
And it continues to expand outwards.
The suffocating sense of oppression could be felt in every corner of the city.
It was a shiver that came from the depths of one's soul.
Inside the Western-style mansion.
Tsubaki Kuruoka huddled in the corner of the sofa.
Her body was trembling violently.
The oppressive aura penetrated through the walls of the mansion and into the air, reaching directly into her body.
That's terrifying.
What is that?
She had never experienced such a presence before.
It felt like something was watching her.
Something could crush her at any moment.
Tears welled up in Chun's eyes.
She couldn't help but cry.
"Waaaaaahhhhhh..."
She was afraid.
She wanted to go home.
She wanted Mr. Black to protect her.
"Waaaaaah... Mr. Black... Mr. Black..."
She called that name over and over again.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, wetting her sleeves.
Although the Pale Rider's Spirit Origin collapsed, the bond between it and Tsubaki never broke.
Chun's cry for help was like a pebble thrown into a lake, awakening a dormant power.
Worldwide.
The concept of plague was rapidly gathering over Snowfield City.
From the depths of the Amazon Rainforest.
From the edge of the Sahara Desert.
From the permafrost of Siberia.
From the seabed of the ocean.
All forces associated with the concept of "plague" transcended spatial barriers and converged at the same coordinate.
Above Snowfield City.
Darkness is gathering.
It was as if a dark cloud appeared in the void and then rapidly expanded.
A shape gradually appeared in the dark clouds.
A long white robe.
Pale face.
Pale warhorse.
The Pale Rider.
It slowly descended from the sky.
But this time is different from before.
It has no concrete, solid body.
It was more like a white mist composed of countless tiny particles, barely maintaining the outlines of a human and a horse.
This time, it wasn't summoned by the Holy Grail.
Instead, it was the Pale Rider himself who responded to Tsubaki Kuruoka's cry for help.
It violated the rules of the Servant system.
It arrives on its own in the form of a concept.
It landed in the courtyard outside the mansion.
The Pale warhorse's hooves pounded the grass without making a sound.
It turned its head and looked in the direction where Chun was.
It wanted to protect her.
That is its sole purpose in existence.
Then it raised its head.
They looked towards the demonic dragon to the west of Snowfield City.
The deep purple dragon, cradling a black sphere and wearing seven crowns on its head.
The Pale Rider's silhouette trembled slightly.
An emotion it had never felt before rose from its core.
despair.
It's like an ant gazing up at the sky.
The gap is too big.
The Pale Rider's sense of self was already weak.
Faced with the overwhelming pressure from the demonic dragon, its thoughts almost came to a standstill.
It wants to move forward.
I want to protect Chun.