The live broadcast showed it all.
Nameless, a mere human figure, appeared so insignificant against the backdrop of the entire Earth.
Towering thousands of meters high, the Vanguard radiated a pressure as heavy as a mountain.
Now that her true form had awakened—just like the Lion King before her—she denied all ties with Nameless.
Once more, she shed her human identity as Attila the Hun, reverting to a cold, emotionless weapon of destruction.
Yet, despite her name and mission, her appearance wasn't monstrous at all.
She bore the flawless form of a perfect human.
Those crimson eyes watched the world with godlike indifference—devoid of emotion, filled only with divine detachment.
Her bronze skin, even magnified to her titanic form, showed not a single imperfection.
Perfection—so absolute it was unsettling.
A layer of silver-white armor covered her form, and in her hands, she wielded the Photon Ray.
Snow-white hair flowed freely behind her, shimmering like the wings of a pure angel under the moonlight.
But—
When that same cold, merciless being swung her sword and cleaved through the Great Wall of Space, countless spectators felt a chill run down their spines.
====
The Space Wall had been cleaved in half.
Fragments scattered and burned, turning into countless meteors raining down toward Earth.
Several Heroic Spirits immediately moved, intercepting each falling piece midair.
Though these fragments were far smaller than those from the Lostbelts, it still took over a hundred Heroic Spirits combining their power to perfectly defend the planet.
As everyone watched with tense breaths, the colossal giant looked down upon them all.
"I am the Vanguard of the Umbral Star, tasked with reaping your civilization. I do not think. I do not feel. I only fight. I only kill."
From the start, she made no effort to hide her merciless nature—The true enemy of civilization itself.
Nameless raised his sword toward her.
"How long would it take you to erase this civilization?"
"Less than seven days," the giant replied coldly.
"Do you even know how old this planet is?"
His tone was calm—Just like a teacher speaking to a student from long ago, back when they rode across the great steppes together.
"I don't know. Such trivial details can be measured easily," she said indifferently.
"This planet is 4.6 billion years old. Life appeared over three billion years ago. Back then, your civilization didn't even exist."
He pointed down toward the Earth beneath his feet.
"It has endured all those ages to finally give birth to what stands today. And you would destroy it all in a matter of days—does that mean nothing to you?"
"Oh? What am I supposed to feel?" she replied. "It's just another civilization. The universe is full of them—countless worlds, countless stars. Many far greater than this one."
Attila gestured toward a fallen tree below.
"How long did it take you to cut that tree down?"
"Less than a minute," someone replied Cheng from the crowd of heroic spirits honestly.
"How old was it?"
"I don't know. You could count the rings, I guess?"
"I've already counted them," said Attila. "It was planted a thousand years ago. It endured countless storms before today."
Then she pointed at the felled tree.
"To me, your civilization is no different. A tree that grows for ages, only to be cut down when it's full-grown."
Her tone was utterly calm—
Yet it left the audience speechless and cold to their bones.
That was the fundamental difference in their view of existence.
To her, humanity, trees, and beasts were all the same—prey to be culled, wood to be harvested.
She said nothing more.
Her Photon Ray flared to life, unleashing blinding prismatic light.
In Chaldea, Dr. Roman's voice trembled,
"That attack… it's pure destruction! She's aiming to sink all of Fuyuki City in a single strike!"
To sink a city—
Even the most powerful nuclear weapons could never do such a thing. They could level, they could scorch, but not sink.
Yet her sword could. With ease.
Facing this apocalyptic strike, Shikotei's projection appeared atop the Great Wall of Space.
"While I yet stand, my empire shall endure for eternity! In the name of the First Sovereign, manifest our eternal defense! What surrounds my legacy—shall now awaken as my will!"
Behind him, an enormous dragon materialized, merging with the Great Wall itself.
The Dragon of Human Order.
The broken segments of the Great Wall instantly reconnected, coming alive—Transforming into a colossal dragon stretching 130,000 kilometers long!
Hundreds of orbital cannons aligned within its body, their muzzles forming the dragon's open jaws.
Shikotei glared at the Vanguard and roared:
"Unleash it—[Dragon's Roar!]"
The sky trembled.
A deafening roar erupted as a blinding golden beam burst from the dragon's mouth.
At the same time—The Vanguard's own Photon Ray descended.
The two cataclysmic lights collided.
BOOM!
The sky ignited.
Night over the east turned to day, a newborn sun rising—blazing, divine, unstoppable.
…
But when the blinding light faded—
The Photon Ray stood untouched.
Even that world-ending strike hadn't harmed her.
No—she wasn't merely unharmed.
She had overpowered the Dragon's might.
A true enemy of civilization—
Born solely to destroy.
Shikotei sighed softly.
"My apologies. She, like the Mother of Creation herself, is immune to all physical and energy attacks."
The Great Wall of Space—constructed to resist beings like her—Had merged with the Dragon of Human Order to reach its peak potential.
But even so… it could only defend.
Never destroy.
Moreover—
The Cannons required time to recharge.
Even with the aid of the Dragon of Human Order, Shikotei could only shorten that time by ninety percent; unlimited, continuous firing was still impossible.
"You've already done enough," Nameless said reassuringly.
Compared to him, that prideful golden maniac—Gilgamesh—was completely drained when he fired 360 of his Cannons at once.
Of course, that fool had insisted on supplying all the mana himself.
It was only natural that he nearly killed himself doing it.
Shikotei, on the other hand, was far wiser.
He linked the collective consciousness of two billion people to the Dragon of Human Order, allowing a continuous and near-infinite flow of energy.
Even if he commanded thousands of Great Wall Cannons simultaneously, it barely strained his own mana reserves.
If you compared it directly—Gilgamesh would have to fire a hundred times more cannons just to match it, and he'd still be completely drained in an instant.
Nameless's voice turned serious.
"Then it's time. You should speak to the people."
Once, when he became the first Sword Saint to face the Vanguard, he carried the blessings of both planetary counter forces.
But now—
He was blessed only by Alaya.
Without Gaia's favor, he could no longer draw on the planet's true power.
The Sword of the Stars remained partially sealed, unable to fully counter the Vanguard.
To defeat her now, he had to do it the hard way—head-on combat.
"Very well."
Shikotei nodded.
In the next moment—the entire land began to move.
Komei instantly linked every communication network, broadcasting the scene to every corner of the empire.
Before an audience of two billion, Shikotei looked upon his people and declared:
"By my name as the First Emperor—I speak to all of my people!"
The people, gripped by fear, despair, and uncertainty, fell silent all at once.
He was the one who had guarded them—who had descended as a Heroic Spirit to save their land from disaster and built an era of peace.
"I told you all before—the enemy of civilization would come. Yet you chose to trust me, to trust the Imperial Teacher, and every Heroic Spirit who fights to protect humanity!"
He spread his arms as if to embrace the entire land.
"I dreamed of an empire at peace, blessed with endless tomorrows. Now, the greatest trial has arrived—the moment to face the enemy of civilization itself, and seize the boundless future of humankind!
Hear me, my proudest people! This is not just my battle—this is the battle for the survival of all humanity!
Offer your lives, your souls, everything you are—to me, and to the one who fights beside me!"
His voice echoed across the entire land.
Two billion hearts ignited as one.
And beyond that—the whole world heard him.
The whole world trembled with awe.
"Even if only a single life remains, we will carry the flame of human civilization forward!
My people—rage!
My people—roar!
My people—fight!"
As Shikotei's voice thundered through every broadcast, the Dragon of Human Order, once pressured by the Vanguard, burst once more into blinding radiance.
Across the world—millions of people shouted as one:
"FIGHT!"
"FIGHT!"
"FIGHT!"
The cries rose like a storm.
The dragon's scales broke apart, splintering into countless smaller dragons that flowed across the land, merging with the mountains, rivers, and the hearts of the people.
Shikotei unleashed his ultimate Noble Phantasm once again:
[The Domination Beginning: The First Emperor]
In that instant, the entire Empire was enveloped in divine protection.
As long as Shikotei stood, no citizen would die by the hands of the Vanguard.
To destroy his empire—one would have to step over his corpse.
At that moment, he embodied the full might of his EX-rank Charisma from the Lostbelt—a power that made all who heard him willingly give their hearts and souls.
Fear and despair vanished from the people's hearts, leaving only unshakable resolve. Even before the enemy of civilization itself, no one would bow or beg for mercy.
====
Hearing the roar of the people fueled Shikotei's power even further.
His Noble Phantasm drew its strength from the will of the people—and their faith now burned brighter than ever.
Nameless watched with quiet pride.
All his effort in the Lostbelt—defeating this emperor who once ruled as a cold tyrant—had not been in vain.
That same man now stood as the true protector of his people—someone who no longer saw them as livestock, but as equals worth dying for.
This was the emperor worthy of eternal reverence.
Shikotei smiled.
"Teacher, the field is yours. Fight with all your might."
The Vanguard, the enemy of all civilizations, was capable of mass destruction—enough to obliterate an entire nation, or even a planet, in one strike.
Because of that, Nameless had always held back—fighting to protect rather than destroy.
One wrong move, and millions could die in an instant. And if that happened, those left behind would cry out in rage—
But he was not the kind of hero who would sacrifice a few to save the many.
To him, misfortune was never fate—it was weakness that must be overcome.
The weak choose one or the other.
The strong choose both.
He would protect them all.
Now, with the nation fully shielded, the final battle could truly begin.
Beside him appeared a young girl with short lavender hair and a white creature perched on her arm.
"Senpai," she said softly, smiling, "Fou and I are here."
"Fou!" (I'm here to help! Say thank you to Fou, hurry up!) the little beast cried, tail flicking.
It was Mash and Fou.
When she fought Zeus before, she had accepted Noah's Saint Graph, ascending to the rank of Grand Shielder.
Now, combined with Fou's Authority of Comparison, no matter how strong the enemy's attack,her defense would always be stronger.
If the opponent's power was 9,999—hers became 10,000.
Always higher.
Always unbroken.
It granted Mash an absurd, near-invincible defense—strong enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
Many speculated: if her defense faced the Grand Assassin, King Hassan, the strongest spear versus the strongest shield—could even he break through?
But now wasn't the time for that duel.
This time, they would face the Vanguard—the perfect chance to test that indestructible shield.
Gilgamesh appeared as well, smirking.
"The last time we fought together like this… was against the Mother of Creation, wasn't it?"
Against a threat beyond gods and kings, only a united front could carry the hope of humanity.
A righteous brawl for the fate of civilization itself.
But the Vanguard only glared down coldly.
"It's useless. Everything you do is useless."
Even the gods themselves couldn't defeat her—how could mere humans hope to?
She swung her Photon Ray, unleashing a blinding arc of rainbow light—a single stroke meant to erase them all.
And under that terrible radiance—the battle truly began.
Mash did not hesitate to raise her shield.
"True name unleashed — I will stand on the seat of catastrophe!"
"That which heals all wounds and grudges, our glorious homeland!"
"Manifest—!"
[Lord Camelot: Now is a Castle of Distant Ideals]
From her shoulder, Fou radiated an enormous surge of magical energy.
The power of [Comparison] poured into the shield, granting it a defense beyond all measure.
A brilliant white wall rose instantly, encasing everyone within its sanctuary.
At the same time—
Artoria Pendragon, the King of Knights, raised her holy spear.
"In my name as the King of Knights, I bestow upon you the Oath of the Round Table — all my knights stand with you!"
The pure white walls of Camelot were the symbol of the Round Table's resolve — to resist every calamity and protect the people.
And the shield in Mash's hands represented the Round Table's ideals of equality and freedom.
With the King's oath upon her, Mash's shield blazed with even greater knightly will.
BOOM!
A dazzling prismatic beam clashed against the white wall of Camelot.
The combined might of the Grand Shielder and the Embodiment of Human Evil, aided by Artoria and her knights, met the strike of the Vanguard head-on.
They held the line!
The cataclysmic assault was repelled — if only for a moment.
But—
The Vanguard sneered.
"So this is all you can do?"
In her hands, a radiant whip tens of kilometers long took shape and lashed forward.
[Divine Whip]
It possessed the power to nullify all defenses.
Under its terrifying strike, cracks splintered across the white walls of Camelot.
CRACK—!
The fortress shattered.
"Mash! Quickly, drop the defense!" Nameless he shouted.
The Divine Whip was made to annihilate shields — it could not be met with defense. If it shattered the wall completely, Mash would suffer grievous injury, perhaps even death.
"If I lower my shield, then you'll be the one hurt!" Mash's voice trembled, but she refused to retreat.
"No — trust me!" Nameless roared.
At that instant—
The Vanguard, born as a weapon of annihilation, seized its chance.
Raising the Photon Ray, it brought down a massive swing.
Shikotei was bound to protect the people — if Camelot fell, none could stand in its path!
That strike would cleave the shield-maiden and all the heroes within to dust.
In that desperate instant, Nameless drew forth Excalibur, its golden radiance flaring, and swung.
The countless viewers watching erupted in hope.
It was with that very sword that he once struck down Sephar!
If he could unleash its true might, the crisis could be ended in an instant.
The prismatic swordlight blazed toward the colossal god—Attila flinched, retreating a step—then smiled.
"Oh, I see now, Nameless. You wield no blessing from Gaia, do you?"
That sword—lacking the Earth's primal power—was merely a Noble Phantasm, not the true Sword of the Planet.
That was her only true weakness.
She laughed, realization dawning.
"So that's why I felt no rejection upon descending to this world! The planet's will… has fallen silent. The planetary will, Gaia, has long since fused with Human Evil itself — it no longer watches over humanity!"
Her words turned the world's hope to dust.
Blorbo-[So that's it… Goetia truly became Gaia itself!]
YoMamaBeenSlobin-[No way… the Demon King actually succeeded?!]
HungryGames-[Then how did Nameless defeat him before?]
GoatedBalls-[Without Gaia's aid, the Sword of the Planet can't restrain the Vanguard!]
For ages, people had debated whether the Demon King's bid to become the planet's will had failed.If it hadn't, the world would never have needed to be rebooted.
Now, Attila's words confirmed the truth.
Goetia had succeeded.
He had devoured Gaia and become invincible.
As long as humanity lived on Earth, he could not be destroyed.
Without Gaia's support, the Sword of the Planet could no longer counter the Vanguard.
The light of hope dimmed across every watching face.
"How can we possibly win now…?"
From afar, Merry watched and murmured,
"The Vanguard grows stronger by devouring civilization itself. That means—so long as the battle happens on Earth, it will only keep growing."
Tamamo's eyes widened.
"Then that's just suicide!"
This enemy was beyond even the concept of Human Evil.
Human Evil grew with civilization.
This one fed on it.
And the avatar that nearly destroyed Earth before?
That had only been a fragment of this being.
Ten thousand years of devouring gods and worlds—until it overwhelmed Uruk, Greece, and every divine pantheon.
Once it consumed all life, it could destroy the very planet.
Merry smiled faintly.
"Simple, really. Civilization exists only where life exists. So—fight where no life remains."
Tamamo blinked.
"Like… the underworld? Just like Tiamat back in Babylon? But that's impossible now! The gods can't even manifest in this age!"
Merry's smile deepened.
"Then… we'll open a door."
Tamamo's ears twitched.
"A door?" She glared. "You damned voyeur, stop being so cryptic!"
She despised two kinds of people: those who spoke half-truths—and those who acted smug while doing it.
"Watch," Merry said simply. "You'll see."
That bastard Nameless really was something, she thought. Even the vessel of an eldritch god fell for him.
As Tamamo fumed, the camera returned to the battlefield.
Faced with Attila's taunting laughter, Nameless only lowered his head slightly, then raised his sword again.
"Oh? So what if that's true?"
He had never once relied on Gaia's blessing.
To expect nothing… was to never despair.
Quietly, he spoke:
"En, I'll be counting on you again."
A hum filled the air.
From the sky, countless golden chains poured forth — Enkidu's Chains of Heaven.
Green hair fluttering, Enkidu smiled softly, eyes shining with resolve.
"Leave it to me."
The air trembled.
An ocean of radiant chains surged outward, the divine fetters that once bound even gods.
"Mother Earth, grant me your strength!"
Enkidu raised her hands high.
"Mother's fury is a thing of the past. Now I will awaken the breath of the planet—"
[Enuma Elish: O' Humans, Let Us Restrain The Gods!]
Once, they had burned their life and soul to bind Tiamat herself.
Now, the once-vengeful Mother had become their greatest ally.
Bathed in her vast power, Enkidu unleashed strength that surpassed even her former self — divine, radiant, and boundless.
The golden chains blazed, turning into serpentine dragons that coiled tightly around the colossal body of the Vanguard, binding it layer upon layer.
"Let me go!" roared the Vanguard.
But it was useless.
No matter how much it struggled, it could not tear through the chains.
The Chains of Heaven—an existence beyond the limits of power—had even the Vanguard completely restrained, if only for a time.
"Vanguard, look! We stand before you, yet you cannot take a single step forward!"
Gilgamesh burst into laughter.
"Does it infuriate you? It should. My dearest friend once bound the Mother of Creation herself—what makes you think a destroyer like you would be any different?"
In the singularities of old, he had twice watched his friend depart before his eyes—once when the connection between gods and men was severed, and again in the battle against the Mother Goddess.
Yet fate had been merciful.
Neither had perished.
Now, in this resplendent age of Heroic Spirits, they stood side by side once more, and he could mock freely, his laughter echoing with genuine joy.
====
Illya huffed coldly.
"That guy's showing off again."
Countless people had been charmed by the Wise King's charisma during the Absolute Demonic Front, but not her.
Her hatred had mellowed into cold hostility, but it remained.
She still remembered the events of the Unlimited Blade Works timeline—how he severed the arms of her two caretakers, and tore out their hearts.
That sort of grudge doesn't fade.
Miyu, however, remained calm.
"It's only natural he's pleased. It's been so long since he could fight alongside his brother and the Chains of Heaven again."
A proud man, who hid deep sentiment beneath arrogance—his joy now was too obvious to conceal.
Heracles, watching the broadcast, felt his blood boil.
But he didn't rush to battle.
He had a daughter to protect.
According to Sanjiro's plan, he and Jeanne were to defend the city of Fuyuki as the last bastion.
If the Star Vanguard broke through, they would be humanity's final resistance.
The Guardian of Humanity had already foreseen everything.
Against an enemy that devoured civilizations, numbers were meaningless.
Sending in hordes of Heroic Spirits would only feed it—each Heroic Spirit, after all, was the crystallization of human civilization.
The Vanguard existed to consume such brilliance.
Thus, they could only rely on a few—not to overwhelm it, but to endure it.
Before the eyes of all, Enkidu's chains bound the Vanguard tighter and tighter, its massive body wrapped layer after layer in radiant coils, a shining, divine imprisonment.
But Enkidu's voice echoed, grave and urgent:
"I can only hold it for ten minutes!"
Even with the Mother Goddess's gift of power beyond the limit, binding such an entity was nearly impossible.
"Ten minutes is enough," Nameless replied, smiling faintly.
He had prepared for the worst—even a single minute would have sufficed.
His gaze turned toward the assembled Heroic Spirits.
"Everyone—your turn."
"Understood!"
The Heroic Spirits roared in unison.
Battle-hardened generals, each forged in blood and conquest, finally unleashed after being forced to watch from the sidelines.
On the grand plaza, twelve golden statues stood waiting.
Twelve legendary generals took their positions.
Ryofu Hōsen raised his weapon and bellowed,
"I'll form the head!"
Merging with one of the golden colossi, his massive form became the gleaming head— dozens of meters across, shining like the sun.
Next came Kou.
"Then I'll be the heart!"
His immense magic energy—limitless, surging— became the heart that drove the giant's power.
Then other three Heroic Spirits said in unison:
"We'll form the body!"
One after another, the heroes fused with the golden constructs, their auras blazing together into a radiant colossus.
Others followed—
"I'll take the right arm!"
"I'll be the left!"
Soon, twelve heroes and twelve golden giants became one.
A thousand-meter-tall being of radiant gold stood upon the earth.
And then—
A shadow appeared beside them.
Headless.
Eyes upon its chest.
A mouth upon its stomach.
A monstrous figure, wielding a massive axe—
The war god of ancient myth—Xing Tian.
He lifted his axe, and it grew— larger and larger, until it spanned a full kilometer.
The colossal golden titan now held the weapon, becoming like the primordial giant who split the heavens—a second coming of the Creator.
The world trembled beneath its presence.
The ultimate fusion technique—
"Primordial Form."
It had taken mere seconds.
A thousand-meter colossus now stood above the battlefield, axe raised high against the Vanguard's monstrous frame.
The audience erupted in awe—
Even the Heroic Spirits themselves were awestruck.
They had never imagined the Emperor held such a weapon.
A being embodying the act of creation itself—a spark of the same power that once forged worlds.
Mordred stared, unsettled.
"That aura… it's real. It's the power of creation."
Artoria nodded.
"Yes. Twelve heroes combined their might to call forth a fragment of that force."
Even she, a king of a proud and ancient isle, could only admit it— before such depth of history and myth, her homeland was but a child.
"If the Vanguard had descended on Britain…" she murmured, "what could we have done?"
Then Gawain suddenly pointed.
"Wait—look there! Isn't that the envoy of the Outer God?"
A small, pale figure had appeared at the edge of the battlefield—a girl with long golden hair, clad in black gothic dress, and a single lock-shaped mark upon her forehead.
The envoy of the Great Old Ones—
Abigail Williams.
None expected her return.
Mordred blinked.
"Don't tell me… she's here because that guy won her over too?"
This was the envoy of an Outer God — the embodiment of chaos itself.
How could anyone possibly win her over?
Gawain twitched at the corner of his mouth.
"At this point, forget the envoy — even if that bastard charmed an actual Outer God, I wouldn't be surprised anymore."
That damned man truly lived up to the title of Grand Beauty.
It didn't matter if they were male or female, human or divine, saint or sin — he'd somehow managed to win over every single one of them.
Under everyone's incredulous gazes, the envoy of the Outer Gods smiled softly as she appeared before them.
"Nameless," she said, her tone gentle, "I've come."
"Good," Nameless replied calmly. "I need your help."
Their goal was to cast the Vanguard into the underworld — to strip it completely of its right to devour civilizations.
Within that realm of death, it would only grow weaker and weaker, its power to consume and recover forever sealed away.
That was the plan: to defeat it completely.
"As you wish."
Abigail clasped her delicate hands together, her voice solemn with reverence.
"I hold in my hand the silver key. It appears from the void, and I touch it with my fingertips.
God, my Father."
"I will transcend beyond the sleep of roses and reach the gate of the ultimate power!"
[Qliphoth Rhizome: Hollow Tree Filled by a Remnant of Light!]
Hum—
A gate materialized beneath the Vanguard.
Whispers of madness and chaos flooded the air, voices clawing at the minds of all who heard them.
The immense, alien power of the Outer Gods descended in full force, tearing open a gateway into darkness itself.
From beyond the gate surged an overwhelming aura of death.
On the other side, the gentle goddess of the underworld, Ereshkigal, was burning her own divinity to hold the gate open as wide as possible.
Everything was in place.
The thousand-meter-tall giant in its Primordial Form raised its mythic axe — the weapon of creation itself — and brought it down with divine fury upon the Vanguard.
BOOM—!
The strike carried the raw power of creation — splitting the skies, widening the gate to the underworld until it swallowed light itself.
Boundless divine force crashed upon the Vanguard, and even that apocalyptic being could not resist.
The Vanguard was struck head-on—and hurled screaming into the abyss.
"No! You will not imprison me!"
The godlike weapon clawed at the edges of the gate, trying to wrench herself free from the underworld's pull—
—but then, from the darkness below, a pair of slender hands reached up, grasping her bare, flawless feet.
The owner of those hands—
Tiamat.