Chapter 215: Meltryllis and Lip
A massive sword formed from dazzling golden light crashed down onto Mash's shield.
The overwhelming power of the Sun's Holy Sword was nearly too much for Mash to bear.
"Damn it!"
Tohsaka Rin, blocked from the inside, immediately ordered Elizabeth to attack.
"LAAAAA————————!!!"
The shockwave from Elizabeth's voice didn't even cause the wall to tremble in the slightest.
"Move aside!!!"
Draco, furious, thrust her hand forward — a surge of magical energy blasted straight ahead!
"GRAHHHH————————!!!"
At the same time, three Phantasmal Beasts appeared behind her!
"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM————————!!!"
In an instant, three waves of dragon breath fired directly at the wall.
But even such a fierce assault couldn't break through the barrier.
"Down, Everlasting Hell Realm of Blossom Severance!!!"
Tamamo-no-Mae hurled several talismans, slapping them onto the wall and triggering a massive explosion!
As the smoke cleared—there was not a single scratch on the wall.
"Oh my, could this spell be truly unbreakable?"
Seeing her attack rendered completely ineffective, Tamamo-no-Mae exclaimed in astonishment.
"Damn Western European Conglomerate… to think they could acquire such ancient sorcery… and Leonardo even managed to convert it fully into Digital Magecraft."
Tohsaka Rin bit her lip in frustration, eyes locked on Mash and Ethan still struggling under the weight of the Holy Sword.
"To bring this spell down… we'd need at least three minutes."
"Hmph, just more pathetic human tricks!"
Draco's expression darkened. Under her command, seven Beasts simultaneously appeared and began an all-out assault on the wall!
Meanwhile, inside the barrier, Mash was gradually being overwhelmed by the force of the Holy Sword.
Her body was being pressed downward, and the ground beneath her was crumbling fast.
"I can't… let Senpai… fall here…"
Mash gritted her teeth, desperately holding back Gawain's Noble Phantasm, but its strength was now far beyond her limit.
'System! I use a Command Spell and accumulated points to restore Mash's Saint Graph!!!'
Seeing that Mash was about to collapse, Ethan issued an immediate command.
[Request accepted. Command Spell and points consumed to restore Saint Graph and fully recharge Servant's mana!]
As the system message echoed, one of the Command Spells on Ethan's hand vanished.
"Senpai… thank you…"
As mana surged back into her, Mash once again stabilized the front line.
"Mash, just a bit more!"
Even in the Digital Ocean, a Servant's mana isn't infinite.
As long as they survived this assault—once the wall fell, they could finally enjoy a proper Fate Jump.
"I'm sorry, but your efforts… end here."
From high above, Leonardo raised his hand toward the two below. Instantly, glowing dots began to appear along his arm.
"BOOM————————!!!"
Suddenly, the ground beneath Ethan and Mash collapsed!!!
"——————————?!"
Before they could react, Ethan and Mash fell straight down below!!!
"Senpai!!!"
The last thing Ethan saw was Mash, reaching out and calling his name with all her strength from above.
"Mash!"
In the final moment, Mash caught Ethan's hand — and together, the two vanished from the fourth floor of the Labyrinth.
…
Drip.
Drip.
Pain…
A dull ache spread across his body...
"Haa… haa…"
The sound of a beast echoed in his ears.
Ethan's eyes flew open—only to be met by a wave of dizziness.
Instinctively, he tried to stand and assess his surroundings.
In the midst of hazy vision, Ethan could only make out the blur of a sharp figure in motion, followed by the painful growls of a dying beast.
"Oh? You're awake? Tough bastard, aren't you."
A cold voice came from the side.
"Who's there?!"
Ethan stepped back, about to demand an answer—
—when he suddenly tripped over something.
Looking down—he saw half of a dead Chimera's corpse sprawled on the ground, its body reeking with a thick, rotting stench.
"————————?!"
The horrific sight snapped Ethan back to full alert.
He quickly scanned the surroundings and found the area was littered with the corpses of unknown creatures—and even some prehistoric oceanic beasts, their mountain-sized bodies forming a massive graveyard. Gigantic bones were piled in heaps that stretched all the way to the horizon.
"Are you afraid now, human???"
A chilling voice rang out from the girl standing before him—her long, icy violet hair fluttering as she stared down at him.
The upper half of her body looked like a graceful maiden, but her legs were shaped like razor-sharp blades.
Meltryllis?!
Why was she here?! Wait a second… where am I?!
"What is this place? And the girl who fell with me—what happened to her? Where is Mash???"
Ethan immediately demanded from the girl before him.
"You're not afraid of me, and you still dare question me???"
Clearly, Meltryllis hadn't expected that.
"Withdraw your arrogance! You humans—lowly beings—have no right to question an AI!"
Meltryllis snapped directly at Ethan without the slightest hesitation.
"Besides, this place has no name. Would you go and name a trash heap?"
"Trash heap?!"
Ethan's eyes widened in disbelief.
"This is the lowest layer of the Moon's Far Side—where all beings who failed the competition fall to."
Meltryllis said this as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Behind her lay the freshly slain body of a Black Hound.
"So I've… died?"
"Died?"
Meltryllis seemed genuinely confused by Ethan's question.
"In MoonCell, there is only 'retrieval'. The concept of 'death' doesn't exist here."
She then stomped one of her blade-like heels down on the struggling Black Hound, crushing it flat, and kicked the corpse aside.
"Every creature here will be fully reclaimed by MoonCell. When necessary, their personalities are reassigned, their resources restructured."
Hearing Meltryllis speak so casually, Ethan realized there was still a chance for him.
"If you're here… that means you failed too, didn't you?"
"Hmph. Unnecessary sharpness."
Meltryllis said no more, simply turning to walk away.
Seeing her leave, Ethan quickly followed after her.
On either side of the path were heaps of corpses—most reduced to bleached white bones, others clearly freshly dead.
Among them were bodies of giants, and many of humans as well.
They all wore the uniforms of Tsukumihara Academy, long since dead, with pained expressions still frozen on their faces.
"These are the weaklings who failed in the competition. They were not worthy of existing in SE.RA.PH."
After turning into a narrow passageway, Meltryllis continued walking.
"If I'm not dead… then there must be a way out of here, right?"
"Do you truly want to leave this place? Even though you're a failure?"
Meltryllis stopped walking, blunt and unapologetic.
"I have a reason that compels me to fight."
Now wasn't the time to give up.
Ethan had already tried: communications were completely down here.
Neither Chaldea nor Sakura could be reached.
"This is the place for discarded things. There is no road back to the surface."
Meltryllis kept walking.
"But…"
BOOM————————!!!
Suddenly, the pile of white bones next to them began to shift in a strange, unsettling manner.
In the next moment, a massive creature appeared.
Its entire body was covered in eyes—a towering, red-and-black pillar of flesh?!
Was that not a Demon God Pillar!!!
"Found you… found you… fou… nd… y… ou…"
It emitted strange, stammering sounds, its rotted eyes glued viciously to Ethan, making it even more grotesque.
As it babbled, it lunged straight toward Ethan to attack!
"——————————?!"
With no Servant to help him, Ethan could do nothing but throw his full strength into dodging!
WHOOSH————————!!!
Just as the Demon God Pillar's body lunged forward—a flash of movement streaked across, slicing through the tendrils reaching for Ethan!
From the wound burst a blackish-green fluid, reeking with a foul, putrid stench.
Meltryllis?!
Meltryllis had directly blocked the Demon God Pillar's attack aimed at Ethan.
"Just another piece of trash that failed. Lie still like the garbage you are."
Immediately after, Meltryllis's razor-sharp heel sliced through the air, and in the very next moment—cracks exploded across the body of the Demon God Pillar, as it was torn apart!!!
"AAAAAA… KILL KILL KILL KILL————————!!!"
The Demon God Pillar shrieked with an ear-piercing screech, unleashing its full power in a desperate frenzy!!!
BEEP BEEP————————!!!
From its rotting eyes, it began firing a barrage of black beams in every direction!!!
There was no time to dodge—Ethan was about to be hit by those black beams!
BOOM————————!!!
Something suddenly leapt in front of Ethan to block them.
"Don't you dare harm him!!!"
Two enormous claws shot forward, crushing the black beams as they collided.
Part of the Demon God Pillar's body was also crushed into chunks under the force.
"Lip!!!"
Ethan couldn't hide his surprise at the girl who appeared before him.
"Sorry… I'm a little late…"
Hearing Ethan call her name, Lip's cheeks turned slightly red.
"Why are you here?!"
"Let's deal with this monster first… I'll explain after…"
With that, she tore into the Demon God Pillar's body with her claws. At the same time, Meltryllis drove her blade-like legs clean through its torso.
"F…or… give… me… king… not… kill… no…"
Under the joint assault of the two Alter Egos, the Demon God Pillar began writhing uncontrollably, babbling in broken, incoherent words.
"Shut it up, Lip!"
At Meltryllis's command, Lip immediately clamped down on the creature's body. It began shrinking, compressing rapidly—
In mere moments, it had been reduced to a cube no bigger than a book.
Just as Lip was about to stash it away inside her chest, Meltryllis snatched it, slammed it to the ground, and crushed it under her heel.
The mass of digital data instantly shattered into fragments, dissolving away.
"Lip, stuffing random things inside your body is going to make you sick."
"I'm an AI… I can't get sick…"
Lip replied timidly to her sister's scolding.
"AIs can get sick too—MoonCell and BB are already sick."
Then Meltryllis walked up to Ethan, her tone still cold.
"Human, you're still alive, huh."
"Thanks to you two for saving me earlier."
Ethan quickly bowed his head in gratitude.
"Hmph. I only wanted to shut that thing up."
Unlike the bashful Lip, Meltryllis simply let out a disdainful snort, then turned and walked off again.
"U-um… let's get out of here first…"
Seeing that Meltryllis had no intention of stopping, Lip hurriedly urged Ethan to follow.
"Right… but why are you two even here?"
If this place was where failures were discarded, why were they here?
Especially Lip.Had she been thrown down here by BB in anger after helping Ethan reach the upper level?
While Ethan was still puzzled, the group soon arrived at a cave.
Just as it came into view, a familiar pink-haired girl rushed into sight.
"Senpai?!"
The girl ran toward him with joy.
"Mash?!"
Ethan immediately recognized her.
"Thank goodness, you're alright, Senpai…"
After confirming Ethan was safe, Mash immediately bowed deeply to Lip standing beside him.
"Lip-san, you really found Senpai! Thank you, thank you so much!!!"
"N-no… I only…"
Faced with Mash's heartfelt thanks, Lip blushed slightly, clearly flustered.
"To think you can still laugh in a place like this, how precious."
Meltryllis said from the side with clear disdain:
"Especially you, Lip. Refusing to discard your memories and voluntarily coming here—have you spent so much time with humans that you're malfunctioning like them?"
"Because those memories… are precious to me. I absolutely won't throw them away…"
Lip's voice carried a gentle reverence, as if speaking of a treasured treasure. A faint smile graced her face.
As she spoke, she stole a quick glance at Ethan.
"So Mash was found by them?"
"Yes, Senpai! It was Lip-san and Meltryllis-san who saved me."
Mash suddenly remembered something, and excitedly pointed toward the back of the cave:
"Also, Senpai, look who else is here?!"