"That crest…"
At this moment, staring at Rozen who was floating before him, Goetia's heart was filled with shock.
The reason was simple—Goetia had not realized at all when Rozen had appeared behind him.
By rights, this was Goetia's temple, his domain, the space he controlled. Even a great spell on the level of spatial transfer should not have been able to slip past the perception of Goetia, who bore King Solomon's rings.
What's more, Goetia was an omnipotent one beyond even Solomon, so it should have been impossible for him to remain completely unaware.
Yet the fact was that Goetia could not perceive Rozen's actions in the slightest, nor could he grasp that mysterious power radiating from Mash.
Even more, the crest shining now upon Rozen's right arm—Goetia could only tell it was a Magic Crest, but could not discern what type of Magic Crest it was.
With the same sight as the Mage King Solomon, and possessing the rings of the Mage King, this omnipotent being nevertheless felt as though he were seeing through a mist when trying to observe a single Magic Crest. He even felt a kind of dizziness, unable to comprehend its structure, unable to recognize its formulas. This alone shook Goetia to his core.
On the surface, however, Goetia could not help but laugh in mockery.
"As a mere human, to abandon the protection of a Servant and appear alone before me—you are simply seeking death!"
With those words, Goetia leapt, his figure like a cannonball, surging toward Rozen at terrifying speed.
"No matter what power you have gained, if I kill you, then everything ends here!"
Without hesitation, Goetia swung his fist.
The roar stirred by that punch was like a typhoon sweeping past, incomparably fierce.
Yet in the face of this blow, Rozen did not dodge or evade, only gazed calmly at Goetia.
"Boom!"
With a thunderous detonation, Goetia's fist slammed through Rozen's body, unleashing a gale like a shockwave.
But that punch passed directly through Rozen's form.
An illusion?
As the thought flashed across his mind, the Rozen who had just been struck through suddenly threw a punch of his own.
"Bang!"
With a muffled impact, Rozen's fist crashed squarely into Goetia's cheek. Goetia's body was sent flying like a cannonball, smashing into the ground, raising a storm of dust.
"This…"
Feeling the pain spreading across his face, Goetia was completely dumbfounded.
Before he could even understand what had just happened, Rozen swept his hand through the air, and an overwhelming, terrifying magical flame instantly erupted in the heavens, descending like a rain of meteors.
The heat of that flame was so intense that even Goetia could feel it clearly.
"Magecraft…!?"
Goetia reflexively raised both hands, upon which ten rings gleamed.
With Solomon's rings—even if one among them was a replica—all magecraft in the world should be rendered ineffective against him.
Unfortunately…
"Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—!!!"
As the meteor-fire rained down, the temple shook violently, explosions resounding in a relentless chain.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH…!"
The rings upon Goetia's hands proved utterly useless. He was struck directly by countless meteors, seared and blasted until he howled in pain, his body sent hurtling and rolling wretchedly across the ground.
"Wh… Why…?"
Goetia's heart held only disbelief.
He could clearly sense that Rozen was using magecraft—so why did Solomon's rings not work?
Back at the Fifth Singularity, those same rings had indeed nullified Rozen's magecraft.
But now…
"Save your breath. This isn't magecraft—it's Magic."
With his right hand glowing faintly, Rozen looked down upon Goetia and spoke coldly.
"I have fully awakened this Magic known as Cleansing. I can now wield this forbidden curse capable of transforming the world itself. If I unleash it at full strength, I could erase this Temple of Time in an instant, even erase you from existence outright. This is true omniscience and omnipotence—you cannot win against me."
And so it was.
Having successfully refined Foreign Mana, Rozen could now fully manifest the power of Cleansing.
This was power capable of creating the world with a single thought, or annihilating it with another—a power of true omnipotence.
The only limitation was that it consumed Foreign Mana proportional to the scale of its effect.
In other words, the greater the effect, the more Foreign Mana was required.
But Rozen now possessed an infinite supply of mana—Foreign Mana included.
Therefore, this battle had already been decided the moment Rozen completed his sublimation and refined Foreign Mana.
For Rozen now, there was nothing he could not do.
If he wished, he could erase the disaster known as the Incineration of Humanity in an instant, and restore human history in the blink of an eye.
That he did not was only because, as he had said, he wanted to bring closure with his own hands.
Of course, when Goetia heard these words, he burst out laughing.
"There exists no such Magic as Cleansing in this world. No new Magic has been born. You might deceive anyone else—but you cannot deceive me!"
As the one who had inherited the power of the Mage King, if a Sixth Magic truly existed, if new Magic had been born in this world, then Goetia could not possibly have failed to perceive it, nor could he fail to recognize it.
"The fact that I, who have inherited the Mage King's power and am omnipotent, cannot even comprehend your so-called power—means it absolutely cannot be Magic!"
Goetia stood back up.
"I do not know from where you gained that strange power—but if you think you can defeat me with it, you are nothing but a fool!"
With those words, Goetia's figure flashed and vanished, reappearing high in the heavens.
Behind him, a band of light descended.
"Rumble…"
The sky itself quaked, as though wailing.
It was as if a black sun were falling, and in that instant, all of heaven and earth trembled.
Rozen's gaze sharpened, eyes deep as he watched Goetia.
But Goetia only sneered.
"Now I shall show you—the end of your journey, the end of human history, the power to rebuild this very planet!"
His voice echoed across the world.
"Anti-Humanity Noble Phantasm—release!"
Yes.
Goetia was preparing to use his Noble Phantasm.
"This is the heat that can scorch the planet's surface!"
"This is the mana that can pierce the planet itself!"
"Come forth!"
"Now, burn like the trash you are!"
Within that dark band of light, terrifying mana and searing heat converged, raising the temperature of the entire world to its limit.
"Ars Almadel Salomonis!"
In the next moment, Goetia released the true name of his Noble Phantasm.
The terrible power gathered within the light band erupted forth all at once.