"Mystic Eye of Death Perception..."
Seeing Ryougi Shiki radiating an aura of icy killing intent from her entire body, beads of cold sweat involuntarily formed on Mash's forehead.
Frankly speaking, in terms of sheer strength as a Servant, Ryougi Shiki was not remarkable at all — the only things worth noting were her exceptional speed and combat intuition.
However, being stared at by those ice-blue eyes, patterned with multicolored spirals, brought with it a pressure that was impossible to put into words.
That was because those eyes looked upon death. They looked upon ends. They saw the vital points that could erase one's very existence.
The people in Chaldea were so shocked that they cried out without thinking.
"You're saying that's the Mystic Eye of Death Perception...!?"
"That's impossible!"
"Doesn't that mean the divine authority of a god is in the hands of that kimono-clad girl!?"
Olga Marie, Da Vinci, and Roman all lost their composure at once.
In Celtic mythology, there was once an evil god with a cursed eye — the king of the Fomorian race.
His name was Balor.
Legend had it that this Evil Eye King possessed a single eye that was always shut.
Once opened, anything — be it man or god — caught in its gaze would die instantly.
With this single eye, even an army formed by the gods themselves could be slaughtered in an instant. He was a terrifying and immensely powerful demon god.
This eye, capable of granting death to gods and demons alike, was the very prototype of the Mystic Eye of Death Perception.
Upon learning that Ryougi Shiki possessed a pair of such eyes, how could the people of Chaldea not be shaken?
Especially Olga Marie — for a noble descendant of the Mage's Association, this was a mystery that should only exist within the divine realm, a mystery that ultimately led to the highest grade of Mystic Eyes — the Rainbow Mystic Eyes.
For such eyes to appear on the body of a Servant was utterly astonishing.
It might even mean that a human had gained the authority of the demon god Balor!
However—
"These eyes aren't as amazing as you think."
Ryougi Shiki spoke bluntly.
"I can't kill a target with just my gaze, and I can't affect multiple targets at once. All I can do is see the lines of death on everything in my vision — in other words, the easiest places to kill them."
All things in this world have a beginning and an end.
From the moment something comes into existence, its eventual end and disappearance are already determined.
This predestined end is what is called its death date.
If there is a beginning, there must be an end. Thus, all things ultimately return to nothingness.
The Mystic Eye of Death Perception allows its wielder to interfere with the concept of this death date, enabling them to see "lines" — the lines of death.
By cutting along these lines, one can unconditionally reach that object's death, inflicting damage that cannot be healed, defended against, or resisted.
This was why Merlin's barrier was broken by Ryougi Shiki — she had simply followed the barrier's line of death and "killed" it.
It wasn't limited to barriers. As long as she cut along the lines of death, Ryougi Shiki could kill magecraft, curses, spiritual powers, psychic abilities — anything.
On the flip side—
"If I can't cut the line, I can't do anything. So for humans, having these eyes or not makes little difference."
What she said was true.
Since she must physically cut the line to kill her target, when facing humans, the Mystic Eye made little difference — humans are fragile enough that a strike to a vital spot would likely kill them even without such an ability.
However, when the target was something non-human, then in the face of these eyes, all things — whether man or object — were equal.
"As long as it's alive, even if it's a god, I can kill it."
With those words, Ryougi Shiki once again closed the distance.
"Ugh...!"
Mash had no choice but to evade, not daring to face her head-on.
In an instant, knife-light like blades and shield-shadows like wheels whirled about, the two girls constantly changing directions and altitude, leaping back and forth across the rocky pillars in a fierce chase and battle.
In this clash, Mash was clearly at a disadvantage.
For her, this was perhaps the worst match-up she had ever faced.
Because of the Mystic Eye of Death Perception, Mash couldn't defend herself — whether she blocked with her shield or mana, they would be cut apart.
She couldn't allow herself to be struck at all. If her line of death was cut, her death date — a concept already set in stone — would be reached, and nothing could heal her.
Of course, even if she were to have her line of death cut, that didn't mean Mash would truly die.
Even if she were killed now, her very existence had already been recorded in Rozen's soul, and Rozen could summon her again at any time.
But that would still mean Mash would have to die once.
To avoid that outcome, Mash had to fight with all her strength.
"Mash!"
In midair, Rozen — still carrying a brilliant dust of fire and clad in a black haori — dodged the incoming rocky pillars while catching sight of Mash's predicament. Instinctively, he wanted to move in and support her.
Unfortunately—
"Your opponent is me!"
Ereshkigal once again raised the spear in her hands, and countless rocky pillars formed, turning into a torrential downpour that covered the sky, completely engulfing Rozen.
This time, Rozen had no way to dodge all of them.
It wasn't because he couldn't read the trajectory of the rocky pillars — it was precisely the opposite.
Because he had read them all, Rozen knew that this time, all of his possible escape routes had been sealed off by the pillars, leaving him with no room to evade.
This was the underground, not the vast, boundless sky.
Space was limited — once surrounded, there was nowhere to escape to.
Fortunately—
"Ereshkigal! My Servants aren't limited to just one!"
Rozen no longer held back.
"Come forth! Altera!"
At Rozen's call, Ereshkigal's pupils shrank, her expression becoming more grave than ever before.
With a hum, in front of Rozen, ripples of spirit light shimmered like mist, and a white-haired girl suddenly appeared.
The countless rocky pillars came crashing down like a storm.
Seeing this, the white girl standing before Rozen spoke coldly:
"Destroy."
In midair, a band of destructive light appeared, sweeping out like a streaking ribbon.
BOOOOOOOM...!
With an earth-shaking roar, everything in the path of that band of light — all the rocky pillars — was utterly annihilated, shattered and pulverized into nothingness.
"...!"
Seeing the light sweep toward her, Ereshkigal's heart jolted, and she hurriedly leapt to the side.
BOOM—!
With a rumble that shook the wasteland, in the deepest reaches of the Underworld's temple, a bottomless chasm like the maw of an abyss split open in the ground, sending countless plumes of dust and rubble into the air.