As a disaster created by humanity and the one that could most effectively exploit human history, Goetia's goal was naturally not just to annihilate humanity and destroy human history.
The annihilation of humanity and the destruction of human history were nothing more than the means to achieve its true goal.
By exploiting human history and the massive mana obtained from the Incineration of Humanity, Goetia sought only one thing.
"What exactly is your goal, Demon God King Goetia!?"
Mash, resisting the fierce mana surging from Goetia's body, shouted her question loudly.
In response, Goetia did not hide it any longer but instead replied straightforwardly.
"Our purpose as the Seventy-Two Demon Gods is to reach the ultimate summit—that is, to become the sole existence upon this planet."
So Goetia declared.
"To become the sole existence upon this planet?"
Mash was stunned.
Only Rozen somewhat understood Goetia's intent.
For without doubt, Goetia despised and hated humanity—but what it hated was not human stupidity or ignorance. What it loathed was this race's imperfection.
"Solomon, knowing of humanity's hopelessness and ugliness, chose not to correct it, and ultimately accepted death."
"But the Demon Gods did not agree. We did not agree."
"Having witnessed all of human history, the conclusion we reached was that humanity, and the future of this race, held no value whatsoever."
So Goetia grandly proclaimed.
"To survive, they plunder."
"To plunder, they slaughter."
"To slaughter for greed."
"To die for greed."
"Human lives are filled with countless sins, countless karmas, yet in the end, they perish leaving behind nothing but these sins and karmas, unable to carry anything with them."
"Yes, from the moment humans are born, they are destined to die."
"They have lifespans."
"They have weaknesses."
"And despite this, they continue to harm others for survival, even destroying the planet and the environment itself. Yet they dare to label their deeds as 'ambition,' 'desire,' 'salvation,' 'pursuit,' and so on, indulging themselves to do whatever they wish, only to die leaving nothing behind."
"What meaning does such behavior have?"
"What meaning does such a life have?"
"None! Absolutely none!"
Goetia roared.
"If existence only ends in destruction, then why live at all?"
"In the brief span of mere decades, even if they grow and mature, once they die, isn't it all meaningless?"
"If that is so, then why survive?"
"If that is so, then why grow?"
"From the very beginning, humanity as a lifeform was a mistake—without any value whatsoever!"
"Thus we redefined our purpose of serving humanity. We must prove that we alone are the highest existence upon this planet, to reach the summit even Solomon himself failed to reach!"
"All humanity must be killed—slaughtered, and incinerated!"
"Upon this planet's surface, not even a single living being can remain!"
"If you ask why, it is because that is the utmost meaning of human existence—the most valuable end!"
Saying this, Goetia spread his arms, body rising and hovering, standing tall upon the heavens.
Behind him loomed the band of light, blackened like a solar eclipse.
"This light is the accumulation of several millennia of human history. After burning away all humans and all history spanning thousands of years, it condensed into heat, refined into mana, and finally formed into this Noble Phantasm."
"Within this Noble Phantasm exist hundreds of millions of heat rays, each ray a column of light whose destructive power rivals the Holy Sword itself. All of them gathered together—on this planet, no being or concept can surpass it."
"It is the light band that declares the end of humanity, capable of incinerating the Earth's surface and piercing the planet itself."
"And by concentrating this light band, accelerating and compressing it, with this mana, with this energy, one can even accomplish time travel across the ages."
"This is the Anti-Human Noble Phantasm—[The Time of Birth Hath Come, I Am the Remedy of Eternity (Ars Almadel Salomonis)]."
At those words, Rozen's eyes flashed coldly, while Mash drew in a sharp breath.
Though they already knew the light band was extraordinary, they hadn't imagined its terror could reach such a scale.
It could incinerate the Earth's surface.
It could pierce the planet itself.
Such a power was far beyond human capability—even gods, even the Grand Servants or Beasts, should not possess such magnitude of strength.
Goetia had spent thousands of years, through countless arrangements and preparations, to bring it into reality.
The disaster that could most effectively exploit human history had gathered the accumulated power of human history itself to create this terrible light band.
"At this point, I care nothing for humanity, nor for its future."
"What we seek is to rewind 4.6 billion years before this planet's birth, to traverse the longest time journey, to return to the very moment this celestial body was born, and claim all of its energy as our own."
"In other words, we shall become a new celestial body, and create a new world without death."
This was Goetia's goal, the goal of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods, the final objective of the Incineration of Humanity.
"Such a scale of time travel requires an immense amount of mana."
"Thus we targeted humanity, targeted human history, collecting all the accumulated mana from thousands of years of human order. We converted all human history from 1000 BC to 2020 AD into mana, that we might leap to the Origin of the Stars."
"The purpose of humanity's annihilation and incineration—nothing more."
"You are merely our thrusters to reach the origin of the cosmos, no different than manned rockets."
Goetia belittled humanity to the utmost, scorned humanity, even trampled upon human history beneath his feet.
"Humanity should feel honored, for we discovered the sole value in their worthless existence, allowing them to realize that single value and be put to effective use."
"We shall prove this. We shall prove Solomon's mistake. We shall prove the uselessness of that foolish king."
"And at the same time, I commend you for persevering to this point—puppets of Chaldea."
"If it is you, then surely you understand just how detestable humanity truly is, don't you?"
Goetia's words rendered both Rozen and Mash silent.
For in this one matter, they could not refute him.
After all, they too were existences created by humanity to fulfill its purposes.
Whether Mash or Rozen, both were the same.
"You are, in truth, innocent."
"By humanity's ignorance and foolishness, you nearly died young, cut off before your time."
"Thus, you must understand how pitiful, how hateful humanity is."
"They have no understanding of the true preciousness of life."
"And so, you nearly perished early, left only to live on through an ephemeral miracle."
"They have no value to save. Why fight for them to this extent?"
Every word of Goetia's pierced directly into Rozen and Mash's hearts.
Only—
"An ephemeral miracle?" Rozen raised his head and said, "Do you truly believe miracles are ephemeral?"
Rozen asked such a question.
"Of course."
Goetia answered without hesitation.
At this, Rozen smiled.
It was a calm, quiet smile.
"Then I will prove you wrong."
That was all.
"Miracles are absolutely not ephemeral things."