The Herrscher of Origin—Elysia. She sowed the seeds of humanity's beauty across the land, expelling the evil from people's hearts.
For humanity, that pink light, which had come from nowhere, was nothing short of a gift from the gods, restoring the sky that had been torn asunder.
And for the heartless magi, regardless of what had happened, they had at least survived. Aside from a few exceptionally powerful magi, no one could have escaped the Incineration of Human Order.
It seemed that even with their twisted values, magi still feared death, feared oblivion.
By now, the Clock Tower was likely in an uproar. They were sitting peacefully at home, only to nearly experience a world-ending event.
Although most magi, with few exceptions, were not good people, it had to be admitted that as the headquarters of modern magecraft, they possessed the necessary power and efficiency. The Clock Tower quickly pinpointed that the Incineration of Human Order had originated from Fuyuki City.
It probably wouldn't be long before they dispatched an extraordinarily powerful magus. However, given the Clock Tower's efficiency, by the time they selected a candidate and set out, the Holy Grail War would have long been over.
---o---
Fuyuki Grand Bridge—
After countless hardships, Saint Jeanne d'Arc had finally arrived at the battlefield.
In truth, less than an hour had passed since she first manifested, but the events that had transpired felt like they should have taken days to resolve.
"The King of Magic—Solomon!"
Solomon's figure was reflected in her blue pupils. Jeanne was exceptionally shocked. As the Ruler of this Holy Grail War, she had the authority to see through the True Names of all Servants.
But she had been unable to discern Caster's True Name, due to his unfathomable mastery of magecraft and his immense magical energy. But now... she knew. The King of Israel, one of the masterminds behind this Holy Grail War—Solomon.
Manifesting with a Grand Saint Graph, creating a terrifying Noble Phantasm capable of annihilating the Human Order, and trampling the rules of the Holy Grail War underfoot—no matter how you looked at it, the actions of this Sage King had severely impacted the proceedings of the war.
The consequences he had caused could not be resolved with a mere warning. As the Ruler, she had the right to make Solomon withdraw once more.
"A Ruler? Was that feeling of restraint just now her doing? The Saint of France..."
Solomon also noticed the arrival of Saint Jeanne. Even with her special privileges, she had no means of restraining him.
To Solomon, Saint Jeanne was insignificant. The most important person was Elysia.
"She's here..." he thought to himself, his gaze shifting away from Jeanne.
One ray... two rays... countless rays—
In the sky above, innumerable rays of light appeared. In terms of quality, the power contained within these rays was not as potent as the single strike that had shattered the Incineration of Human Order, but their strength lay in their sheer number, making them impossible to fully defend against.
However, these rays of light were not aimed at Solomon, but at—the seal beneath the Fuyuki Grand Bridge.
BOOM—
The attack, powerful enough to rewrite reality, struck the magic formation that Solomon had spent three days creating. In the next instant, the magic array that an ordinary magus couldn't crack in several lifetimes simply dissipated into the air.
Rather than attacking Solomon, Elysia had chosen to prioritize rescuing the restrained King of Heroes.
The camera focused on Gilgamesh.
As the formation was destroyed, the King of Heroes finally broke free from his bonds, though he was not in good shape.
Due to the suppression and damage from the array, his golden armor had long since dissipated into magical energy, revealing his muscular torso.
Although his eyes still held their wild arrogance, a trace of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth proved that the King of Heroes was not as composed as he appeared.
His Spiritual Core was almost completely destroyed. It was only through sheer willpower that he was still maintaining his form.
Right now, let alone Solomon, even an ordinary human could easily defeat this proud king.
"Can you tell me where your power comes from?"
Paying no mind to the freed King of Heroes—even though Gilgamesh's formidable will had prevented his array from completely suppressing him—Solomon now only wanted to know about the law-like power Elysia possessed.
In the sky, the hem of Elysia's pink and white dress swayed freely. Her gaze was like that of a god, filled with divinity. Under Solomon's stare, she slowly opened her mouth. "Do you think I would reveal my Authority to an enemy?"
Her gaze alone, fixed upon Solomon, made him feel an irresistible pressure. In theory, this should have been an illusion, as Elysia did not possess the absolute power to suppress him. But in the clash of auras, Solomon had already lost to Elysia.
The ancient King of Magic closed his eyes slightly, sensing the gradually approaching presence, and asked, "Are you confident? In facing that kind of existence?"
It wasn't that he didn't believe in Elysia, but that the Outer Gods were too powerful, so powerful that even the Age of Gods would have had difficulty resisting them. The greatest among them were beings that even God was powerless against, let alone other living creatures.
Power and despair were synonymous with the Outer Gods. Even the weakest of them required seven Grand and divine spirit-level Servants to fight back.
Even if Elysia put her life on the line, what could she do? Rather than letting humanity die in agony under the rampage of the Outer Gods, it was better to give them a quick end. At least, that was what Solomon thought.
To this, Elysia just shook her head gently and said, "If I were only a Herrscher, perhaps I could not do it. But because I am human, I am certain I can."
In truth... regarding Solomon's first question, she didn't know where her Authority came from either. If she had to say, she was simply born with it.
In the first half of her life, Elysia had also wondered if she was human or a Herrscher.
If she was human, then how could she have a Honkai energy adaptability greater than Kevin's, and how could her current state be considered human? But if she was a Herrscher... not only would Elysia not become an enemy of civilization like the others, but she also didn't emit intense Honkai energy, and even the most advanced technology of the Fire Moths had failed to discover her identity as a Herrscher.
But now, Elysia was at peace with it. Even if she wasn't human, the emotions she received from humanity were not fake. Even if she truly was an enemy of civilization, she would still do everything in her power to protect humanity.
Because she liked humanity. She loved humanity. As long as that love remained... Elysia was invincible!
Forget the Outer Gods, even if a stronger existence threatened humanity, Elysia would defeat it!
"Is that so?" Solomon's eyes remained closed, as if deep in thought. "The help I can offer you is limited, Elysia. But I can promise you this... should you fail, I will carry out the Incineration of Human Order, at the cost of burning my own Spiritual Core."
In the end, Solomon still couldn't believe that Elysia had the ability to stop the Outer God. But... he chose to give her a chance. In probability theory, zero does not exist. Even if it was a one-in-a-hundred-million chance, Solomon was willing to take the gamble.
As for his own Spiritual Core? It was nothing. The title of Grand was not something he needed. The title of King of Magic needed only that world-ending band of light as proof.
Immediately, Solomon's body vanished in a flash of blue light.
This scene stunned the distant Jeanne. Even she, the Ruler, hadn't detected any flow of magical energy. He had just left, so brazenly?
On the bridge, the King of Heroes became instantly enraged upon seeing Solomon disappear, as if he had been greatly humiliated.
However, with his Spiritual Core damaged, he no longer had the ability to fight. The shirtless King of Heroes could do nothing but show off his physique and rage impotently.
---o---
The camera then shifted to Marisbury's location.
A helpless expression appeared on the man's face as he sighed. "It seems it was a failure..."
Then, Solomon appeared beside Marisbury in a flash of white light.
Evidently, this was Solomon's teleportation magic. After the Incineration of Human Order failed, he returned to Marisbury's side.
Judging by Marisbury's attitude, Solomon's use of the Noble Phantasm had been authorized by him. After all, as long as their contract existed, Solomon would obey his orders almost unconditionally.
Solomon's true strength remained a mystery; even he, the Master, did not know where Solomon's limits lay.
But from the commotion just now, it seemed he had underestimated him. It was a good thing the world wasn't destroyed, or he would have been in for a hard time.
After all... although Solomon wouldn't go so far as to kill him, no one could survive on a planet that had already been destroyed.
"The Outer God..."
After returning to Marisbury's side, Solomon spoke only those two words, then fixed his gaze on the mid-air.
The coming existence would become an indelible page in the new history of mankind!
Marisbury's gaze followed his—
In the sky not far from the Fuyuki Grand Bridge, cracks had appeared. An ominous aura seeped out from the fissures.
First, it spread across the sky above Fuyuki, then it entered thousands of households.
How could ordinary people withstand the aura of an Outer God?
In just a moment, countless humans were transformed by this aura into creatures similar to the Sea Devils and tentacle monsters Bluebeard had summoned previously.
The transformation was incredibly fast, so fast that it was complete before the naked eye could even react.
"Is it this dangerous even before its full descent?"
Solomon thought helplessly to himself. Instantly, he deployed his magecraft. Powerful magical energy spread out from him as a center, using the flow of mana to contain the Outer God's aura to the area around the Fuyuki Grand Bridge.
If this aura were allowed to spread, a biological crisis would unfold across the globe in less than a day.
"Now... Elysia, you should have witnessed the terror of this power. So... how will you respond?"
This vision of despair... how will you face it—Elysia!
---o---
The descent of the Outer God did not take much time. To it, the barrier of the world was like paper.
The cracks in the sky rapidly underwent a massive change.
As if an endless liquid were pouring out, it 'flowed' forth and began to spread, forming a giant black curtain.
Finally, when it reached a width of fifty meters, the expansion stopped.
The black curtain then rapidly changed form, and in an instant, it had completely transformed into a strangely shaped creature.
It was pitch-black all over, its body wrapped in a dark substance. It wore a black mask on its face, revealing only a mouth. A pair of giant horns grew from its head. Giant, tendril-like tentacles on its back acted like hair, swaying slowly in the air.
Its lower body was entirely composed of noodle-like matter, exuding an incomprehensibly bizarre aura. On its body, countless streams of black liquid flowed slowly, looking quite unsettling.
It was this alien existence, standing on the surface of the sea. Its massive body, just the part above the water, was fifty meters tall. Under the moonlight, it was clearly visible to the entire city of Fuyuki.
It was even clearly visible from dozens of kilometers away.
This was a god!
The moment they saw it, the audience outside the light screen and the living beings within it came to the same understanding of the unknown giant.
A god!
A god that had just descended upon the world!
Even if it was an evil god, it was still a true god, a state that humanity could never hope to reach.
How absurd. The final figure that human civilization would witness was an evil god.
After all, according to previous anthropological studies, so-called gods were supposed to be things fabricated by people as a repository for their faith.
But now, that view had been overturned by the appearance of the Outer God in the light screen projection.
No one had ever seen the true form of a god. Humanity's only understanding of them came from written records, but the authenticity of those records could not even be guaranteed.
Whether through reference or various flights of fancy, one could never truly replicate the feeling of facing a god directly.
Until now.
A god had truly descended.
Albeit an evil one.
But...
A god is a god.
For humans, who prided themselves as being at the top of the planet's food chain, the life form of a god was too high. It was something that, with a single glance, would instill an instinctive sense of awe and a feeling of insignificance in ninety-nine percent of ordinary people, making them feel they could only look up.
Of course, for those with strong minds, while the Outer God in the light screen brought immense pressure, it also ignited their will to fight back.
This was the courage that humanity had developed over countless years, emerging from nature to finally reach the top of the food chain, a courage to fight against nature and the world, engraved in their very DNA.
Perhaps not everyone possessed such courage, but the most outstanding among humanity would never lack it.