[Temporary Noble Phantasm Projection: Heavenly Fire Judgment]
[—For the one I love, I am willing to offer my life.]
[Noble Phantasm Rank: C]
[Because this is only a very low-output temporary projection, the rank is greatly reduced.]
[Anti-Personnel Noble Phantasm / Anti-Army Noble Phantasm]
[An armament that exists somewhere in a distant universe, capable of manifesting the authority of a "god," and praised as possessing the most destructive power.]
[It is said that when this armament's power reaches its limit, only the brilliance of a dying star could rival its light.]
[Its true form should be two handguns; only when fully unleashed does it appear as a sword. However, this essentially exists only as a few projection fragments—right now you can only use its phantom sword form. Even so, whereas the full release would normally burn away the user's lifeforce, this temporary projection can be used continuously.]
[When used at low output, it can imbue a real sword with some of its attributes, greatly enhancing its attack power and adding fire-element damage, though doing so drains the user's physical strength heavily. Multiple uses will shorten the user's lifespan.]
[If used properly, it will automatically transform the wielder's sword into its "Heavenly Fire Unsheathed" form, instantly consuming 100% of the user's life force, summoning its projection for one final slashing strike. That strike's power scales with the user's Strength and Endurance—at minimum it counts as Anti-Army, and in theory its upper limit is Anti-Nation. Further rank upgrades would unlock even higher potential.]
[After using Heavenly Fire Unsheathed once, this Noble Phantasm is removed.]
[The current bearer's lore entry for Heavenly Fire Judgment is "Sacrifice."]
[If the bearer obtains more lore entries for Heavenly Fire Judgment, its rank will increase and more usage options will unlock.]
[Until the bearer exhausts this temporary projection in reality, they will have one usage per simulation.]
"…Holy shit."
Having read through that long description, Guinevere's first reaction was: "Holy shit, so many restrictions!"
His second reaction was: "Holy shit, System-bro, you're actually giving me Heavenly Fire?"
Heavenly Fire! The Key of God! That badass Greatsword that lets you unleash a kick-ass attack! The very weapon of Ancient Kevin, the divine sword that could split the Earth in half!
Even as just a projection, this thing is Anti-Army tier—if his stats were higher, he might even pull off mutual destruction and cut the entire Fairy Kingdom in one slash. How awesome would that be?
Honestly, Guinevere felt like he'd done pretty well in the second simulation: he'd managed the Round Table Army brilliantly in the early stages, and in the war against Woodworth's forces he followed the enemy's playbook perfectly. He had the entire Round Table's morale soaring, and all of London and Tintagel were singing his praises… and then he died. After all that, the system's reward was still just one random draw.
So he lazily did a single roll—and got a three-star Craft Essence.
His blood pressure spiked right then.
Now, three-star Craft Essences aren't inherently useless—there are some pretty solid ones in that pool, like "Blazing Sword" or "Infinite Blade Works." Pulling one of those can really send you flying.
But what he got was…
[Craft Essence: AZOTH Sword]
[Rarity: R]
[The basic ritual tool of a magus, also used as a ceremonial staff for performing magecraft rites.]
["AZOTH" is the alchemical term for mercury. In the Mage's Association, the AZOTH Sword is a popular gift—something parents or teachers give as a keepsake during coming-of-age ceremonies.]
If that description sounds confusing and meaningless, wait until you hear its nicknames among anime fans… things like "The Master-Stabbing Sword" or "The Sword That Whoever Gifts It Gets Stabbed By."
Yep. It's the same damn "stab-a-teacher" sword that Mamo used to off Shichen.
To be fair, that sword isn't completely useless—if he ever ran into Woodworth again, Guinevere could just kowtow, beg Woodworth to become his master, slip that sword into his hands, and arrange for Woodworth to gift it back to him. Then, thanks to some twisted causal loop, Woodworth would end up cursing himself to death.
…Yeah, right! What kind of bullshit is that?!
Compared to that, Heavenly Fire Judgment was so much better.
With a look of utter contempt, Guinevere sent the AZOTH Sword back to the system's gift storage, then immediately equipped Heavenly Fire Judgment.
But when he finally held that stylish flame-enchanted greatsword in his hands, for some reason, he didn't feel as thrilled as he'd expected. Well… it was understandable. When he'd been playing normal games, getting loot felt natural, but now the game system was handing out crazy rewards just for playing. It felt unreal.
Honestly, Guinevere had already sensed that his in-simulation performance was… weird. After all, he'd died three times in a row, each time heroically sacrificing himself for love. His character practically screamed "obsessed romantic," like the kind of guy who cries "I'd die for you" in a karaoke bar while belting out love ballads. But he knew himself: he was just an otaku who liked 2D waifus—he wouldn't actually sacrifice himself in real life. He was a lazy guy, the type who always stayed in his comfort zone, a chronic procrastinator hoping to live as a happy couch potato.
No matter how you looked at it, "get married and fight to the death for my beloved" didn't fit him at all.
He'd always felt the system's personality assessment was off. …Probably.
Thinking that, Guinevere stared at the fiery greatsword and felt it was somehow tasteless. He realized he was jealous—jealous of that simulated self who actually had a lover by his side.
In real life, there were so many messy things he wanted to share with a real, tangible girl, not a cardboard cutout in a game.
"I really wish the simulation had a memory inheritance feature…"
Guinevere sighed.
Still, when he saw the prompt on the simulator screen asking, "Would you like to run the simulation again?", he didn't hesitate to hit "Confirm."
At least tonight, he wanted to have one more date with Artoria.