The sky was filled with falling stars, forged from magecraft.
One by one, the heroic spirits—revered as mighty in the eyes of spectators—were struck down. None could stand against them!
Yet this hooded figure, who had just appeared, effortlessly shielded the Argo beneath a safe sky.
Endless magical energy raged violently, seeking to utterly consume and annihilate everything.
Yet.
The devastating magecraft stars that could effortlessly slay heroic spirits could not harm him in the slightest.
As if—he were the supreme sovereign of magecraft, before whom even the mightiest spells could only bow in submission!
Kirschtaria frowned as he stared at the figure. "You—"
"How troublesome. You always disrupt my plans. I suppose this ever-changing world is simply the nature of life," the hooded figure replied.
His back was turned to everyone in Chaldea, as well as to all the spectators—his face remained unseen.
Yet everyone knew without a doubt—this was the Demon God King, Goetia!
The barrage of comments exploded in real-time—
[Holy hell, Goetia actually stepped in to save Nameless?!]
[This is insane! Goetia protecting Chaldea, while Kirschtaria—a Chaldea Master candidate—tries to wipe them all out!]
[So what the hell does Goetia even want?]
[Who knows? Maybe he really did fall for Nameless? Otherwise, why chase him across four Lostbelts and even show up to help him?!]
[Earlier, Nameless and Jason mocked Caenis for being a masochist… but Goetia seems even worse, no?]
...
Back in the real Chaldea.
Mashu's expression was equally bewildered. "What is happening?"
Before, Goetia's pursuit across the Lostbelts could still be explained as research or experimentation.
But now—he had actively appeared before her and her Senpai!
"I don't know. Could it be that when they reached the Root together, Nameless said something to him?" Da Vinci shook her head.
The grand undertaking that the other party had painstakingly planned for three thousand years was personally destroyed by Nameless.
Logically, he should harbor extreme hatred toward Nameless and would try to kill him on sight.
Yet now, not only did he not attack Nameless, but he even shielded him from the captain's terrifying celestial magecraft.
So, the only explanation was that Nameless and Goetia must have said something to each other in the Root.
Mash curiously looked at the nerdy doctor beside her and asked, "Doctor, do you know anything about this?"
"I'm not entirely sure either. It seems like he's trying to study and imitate humans." Dr. Roman also shook his head.
Back when he was King Solomon, he wielded the Ten Rings and commanded the 72 Demon Gods.
Among the 72 Demon Gods, they were either devoted to the king or twisted in their devotion.
Their reverence was no less than that of the Knights of the Round Table for King Arthur.
The [Incinerate Human Order] was initiated precisely because they couldn't tolerate him dying as a human.
They believed humans were too ugly and short-lived, and after witnessing the future [Freezing of Human Order],
they concluded that modern humanity was doomed to destruction. Thus, they sought to return to the origin and create an eternal new world.
Using his corpse as King Solomon as the core, they gathered the power of the 72 Demon Gods and transformed into the Beast of Pity.
Back in the [Temple of Time], Dr. Roman had sternly rebuked the collective entity of the Demon Gods.
But the other party showed no remorse whatsoever.
Could it be that he also wanted to become human?
Dr. Roman's expression turned subtly complicated.
Back then, it was precisely because he grew weary of his omniscient and omnipotent life, like a puppet,
that he abandoned everything to become an ordinary human.
Now, it seemed this collective entity of the 72 Demon Gods was also attempting to become human.
His manner of speaking after appearing was strikingly similar to his own.
As if he had been imitating him all along.
It gave Dr. Roman the sudden feeling that the other had somehow become his own child.
After all, as the saying goes, parents are a child's first teachers.
Which raised the question:
If Goetia were to truly manifest in reality, where would he be?
Dr. Roman glanced at the ring on his finger.
The omnipotent power of the King of Mages was rapidly returning.
He was about to become a Grand Caster once again.
This time, he would use this omnipotent power to assist Nameless in protecting human history.
That guy deserved a break more than he did!
The video continued.
On the Argo.
Mash turned to Nameless in surprise. "Senpai, how—how did he appear here?"
"He must have been following us all along," Nameless replied calmly.
Needless to say, the newcomer was none other than the Demon God King Goetia!
After the battle in the [Temple of Time],
Nameless and he had journeyed to the Root together, only to unexpectedly break free and return for the time being.
Nameless wanted to use the power of [Alaya] to extend his own life, allowing him to pierce through the Lostbelts before rebooting the world.
Rebooting the world would only alter Earth's timeline, leaving the rest of the universe unaffected.
It still wouldn't be enough to stop the arrival of the Alien God.
Nameless returned to Chaldea and embarked on his journey through the Lostbelts.
Meanwhile, the Demon God King Goetia followed behind him, traversing each Lostbelt as well.
It seemed he was making an effort to understand humans and grasp the true meaning of life.
Nameless had no reason to stop him.
If the other party was willing to become a guardian deity for humanity, then humanity would be completely safe.
And he could finally retire and take it easy.
Alas, all of this seemed too much like a pipe dream.
Dr. Roman stared solemnly at the other party.
Originally, he should have responded to the summoning of his Master, descending into the Lostbelt to assist in combating this enemy.
But now, stripped of all his powers, he could only hide in the rear as an ordinary person.
The once formidable foe had suddenly extended a helping hand to Chaldea.
This left Dr. Roman in silence, utterly at a loss for words.
Captain Kirschtaria snorted coldly, "So you're the one who roams the Lostbelt, calling yourself 'the one from Chaldea.'"
"Why appear here? I understand your purpose, but there seems to be no need for you to aid them, does there?"
His Celestial Magecraft, inherited from the ancient Age of Gods,
could harness the power of the celestial stars, transforming it into the strongest magecraft formation to obliterate all enemies.
However.
No matter how potent his magecraft, it still fell short of posing a threat to the figure before him.
Kirschtaria was a prodigy, hailed as the strongest contender for the title of Lord of the Clock Tower.
Yet the Clock Tower itself was built by the other's disciples, meant to pass down magecraft and protect humanity!
This figure was the supreme emperor of magecraft.
The progenitor of magecraft!
Upon the appearance of this hooded figure, the magical stars began to dissipate one by one.
Vanishing without a sound.
The celestial dome, which had formed a vast magecraft formation, was returning to normal.
The frenzied magical energy in the world was also gradually calming.
In response, the hooded figure retorted, "Your words are strange, Kirschtaria. Do I need a reason to help Chaldea?"
"That's truly a matter-of-fact reply. Logically speaking, shouldn't you despise those people?"
Kirschtaria grew increasingly perplexed.
No matter how he speculated, he couldn't understand why the other party had intervened.
Under normal circumstances, shouldn't they have joined forces to completely annihilate Chaldea?
"Kirschtaria, back then, you were saved once by the Alien God from the abyss of death."
The hooded figure continued calmly, "And they, too, were saved by me from the brink of death. Now, everything is even. You stand on the same fair starting line."
"Hah, you really do twist logic to suit yourself."
Kirschtaria snorted coldly.
Back then,
when the [Grand Order] plan was initiated, 47 Master candidates were nearly wiped out by Lev's bomb.
In truth, the bomb Lev used wasn't overwhelmingly powerful.
It was simply detonated at the most opportune moment, with the most precise timing.
At that time, he was in the middle of a Rayshift, completely defenseless.
He had almost been humiliatingly obliterated.
Just as he was about to die, the Alien God descended and saved him.
Given that the other party was an existence on par with the Alien God, this reasoning wasn't entirely wrong.
Kirschtaria frowned and asked, "If everything is even, then let Chaldea survive once more. May I leave now?"
The figure before him was arguably his greatest counter.
Even if he exhausted everything to defeat them, Zeus would seize the opportunity to strike.
The gain wouldn't be worth the loss.
"Of course. I, too, wish to avoid a troublesome battle. Why don't we both take a step back?"
The hooded figure remained as composed as ever. "If you withdraw, I will leave as well. Not just from here, but from this Lostbelt entirely."
"Then farewell… One last thing—you're terrible at impersonating others!"
After saying this, Kirschtaria teleported away without another word.
After his departure,
the hooded figure, still with their back turned to the Chaldea members, spoke: "If you wish to survive, you must overcome three obstacles: Artemis, Odysseus, and Poseidon."
"Only after you defeat the King of the Lostbelt, Zeus, will you earn the right to live!"
Then,
their figure gradually faded away as well.
They had truly left this Lostbelt.
A crisis that could have wiped them all out had been resolved just like that!
Leaving the spectators utterly stunned—
[Damn, if Goetia hadn't shown up, the Captain would've solo-wiped them all, huh?]
[The Lostbelt's Captain is terrifying! How are we supposed to take down those gods?]
[And this is just the entry-level challenge… Later, Olympus is packed with Heroic Spirits, entire armies of them!]
[Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine! If we keep fighting like this, are we really going to get wiped out?]
[Who knows how many Heroic Spirits will be sacrificed along the way? Might as well call this the Sea of Wipeouts!]
...
With the terrifying enemy gone,
Nameless took a deep breath and addressed the group: "To defeat the Moon Goddess, I'll need a sufficiently powerful weapon. For that, let's seek out the God of Fire and Forging first."
"Wait, you're sure he'll help us?" Jason blinked in surprise.
That guy was part of the gods' faction too. Wouldn't this be like delivering themselves straight to the enemy?
"Don't worry. He's always despised Zeus—he'll definitely be willing to aid us!" Nameless replied.
Back during the civil war among the Olympian gods,
Hephaestus had been one of the dissenters.
Unfortunately, under Zeus's suppression, he stood no chance.
In despair, he chose to self-destruct, cutting off any chance for Zeus to seize his Authority.
The area under its dominion was completely shrouded in darkness, barring entry to those aligned with Zeus.
"Understood. Then let's set sail!"
Jason nodded upon hearing this.
After witnessing the overwhelming power of Captain Kirschtaria firsthand, he had fully realized that he had once again been dragged onto Nameless' warship.
This time, the difficulty was dozens—no, hundreds—of times worse than when he had sought the Golden Fleece!
No, even descending into hell would be infinitely easier than this!
Faced with this desperate situation, the usually carefree and irreverent Jason instantly became reliable.
It was as if he had become a completely different person!
The Argo ventured deep into the ocean, eventually discovering an island hidden within the dark mist.
A dilapidated temple stood there, on the verge of being swallowed by time.
Nameless inquired, "Lord Hephaestus, I need your help!"
In response, a mechanical voice rang out—
[In the final battle, Athena, Apollo, Ares, Hades, Hestia, and Hephaestus were slain!]
[Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Artemis have been subjugated by Zeus!]
[I, Hephaestus, have lost part of my divine authority. Human, state your wish.]
The Machine God manifested in a form of absolute, cold rationality.
"I wish to slay the subjugated gods," Nameless replied solemnly.
The mechanical voice spoke again—
[To slay the Moon Goddess, your current weapons are insufficient... A divine construct must be forged... but materials are lacking!]
[The known materials require locating a Greek Heroic Spirit—Achilles.]
[Bring me his divine armor and shield, and I shall forge for you a weapon capable of felling Artemis!]
The God of Fire and Forging even helpfully provided a map—marking Achilles' location.
The Argo set sail once more.
As they passed by the island of Heracles, Nameless suddenly ordered the ship to halt at a distance and went ashore alone.
Then, to the audience's bewilderment, he walked to the center of the island and began lighting a fire to roast meat.
The tense and thrilling god-slaying war had abruptly turned into a leisurely outdoor picnic.
Just as all the spectators were utterly confused, a familiar figure quietly appeared.
She had long, silver-white hair that shimmered like moonlight, and a tall, graceful figure.
Her ample bosom was particularly eye-catching.
It was none other than the Moon Goddess, Artemis!
To everyone's astonishment, Artemis showed no intention of attacking. Instead, she spoke calmly, "Human, why have you come here?"
"To survive. I wanted to see if I could talk with you."
Nameless handed her a skewer of roasted meat. "Here, try my cooking."
"I do not require sustenance. I am merely Artemis' human terminal. You may regard me as a weapon," Artemis replied.
Nameless smiled. "A weapon? I have a friend who also called himself a weapon, but in the end, he became human."
This friend, of course, was not him.
It was the Divine Construct, Enkidu.
Born to restrain the King of Heroes and keep him subservient to the gods.
Yet, everything had been disrupted—the Divine Construct betrayed the gods.
And joined forces with him to oppose the divine.
"Pointless. Humans are too ugly, too filthy. There is no need to understand them," Artemis retorted.
Yet even as she said this, she reached out, took the skewer, and took a small bite.
His eyes suddenly gleamed with an unusual brilliance.
"Isn't it delicious?"
Nameless handed over the second skewer of grilled meat: "Facing the existence of death and severance with finite life. Knowing that an end will come, yet endlessly repeating partings and encounters."
"A brilliant, dazzling journey as fleeting as a shooting star—that is humanity."
"Since you've taken human form as a terminal, why not try to understand humans?"