Incomprehensible.
Vortigern had absolute confidence in the darkness enveloping his body. Just as he possessed Mana equivalent to the entire island of Britain, the layer of darkness on his body was enough to swallow all of Britain—a perfect defense that King Arthur could never breach.
But why…
["Why am I getting injured?"]
In the previous battle, he was pierced by Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, sustaining severe injuries—that should've been a one-time exception. But now, facing only three Holy Sword wielders, they shouldn't have been able to harm him.
*ZZZZZZZ—!*
A sound like boiling lava erupted from where his dragon wings were torn. The horrific wound visibly healed under the effects of the Holy Grail and his immense Mana.
["No, this isn't worth worrying about."]
It didn't matter if he was injured; this body no longer cared about wounds. His powerful Mana could instantly regenerate. Even if his dragon wings were torn off, it would only take a few breaths to recover.
Even without regenerating his wings, it wasn't an issue. With his current power, he could easily crush the insect on his body!
However—
*CRACK!*
Before the wing wound fully healed, a fierce cold suddenly flowed into it. The extreme low temperature even halted the flow of magic within Vortigern's body!
Imaginary Manifestation · Absolute Zero Zone!
"I told you, I won't let you fly again!"
Naoki, his entire body radiating absolute zero cold, tightly gripped Vortigern's body. Freezing ice spread rapidly from his palms across Vortigern's dragon form, visibly encasing every part of his body!
["Ugh—! Arrogant insect!"]
["Mere thin ice means nothing under this hellfire!"]
*SHUA!*
In response to Vortigern's roar, the darkness covering his body suddenly erupted in blazing flames. The ice layer formed by Naoki's cold began to crack bit by bit under the burning fire!
Not melting, but cracking.
(This fire… it has the same properties as the darkness! Though its effect isn't as strong against the Holy Sword, it's swallowing this ice too! I can't freeze him!)
The thought flashed through Naoki's mind like lightning. Without hesitation, he raised both hands high, and as he did, the crater where Vortigern had just fallen transformed instantly into a scorching volcanic crater!
Boiling lava submerged half of Vortigern's body. His four limbs, plunged into the fiery red river, glowed red-hot simultaneously, continuously burning and cracking!
Soaring nearly a thousand meters into the sky, Naoki gazed down at Vortigern, slowly sinking into the lava.
"Take a nice bath in the lava."
["Truly remarkable…"]
Arthur's Holy Sword in his hand flickered.
["I thought your Imaginary Manifestation, capable of manifesting the moon, was already your full power. I didn't expect you could manifest a volcanic crater like this… You really held back when fighting me, didn't you?"]
"No, back then I was truly going all out. You didn't give me time to think carefully. If you'd been just one second slower, I could've sliced you into pieces."
In other words, to fight the current Naoki, not even a single second's opening could be allowed?
That was an almost impossible condition to meet. The reason Arthur managed it earlier was partly because Naoki had no intention of killing him—he came to save him, not send him back to Avalon.
"But even if it's Vortigern, he won't be able to stand again if this keeps up, right?" Artoria looked at Vortigern, almost fully submerged.
Though he still had spatial displacement, it was useless with Naoki present—if he dared use it, Naoki would instantly drop a meteor on his head to physically stun him!
He was very good at that.
"No, it's not enough."
Naoki shook his head. "It's not safe enough. If he uses spatial displacement after being fully submerged in lava, I won't have time to interrupt him—sinking him into a volcanic crater is just to keep him from escaping. To truly obliterate him, this is what's needed."
*TRING—!*
The sky, which should've been clear, was suddenly bathed in crimson moonlight. Above the Singularity, a massive Blood Red Moon appeared without warning!
Imaginary Manifestation · Moon Fall!
"I'll use this technique to crush Vortigern to death!"
"Fall! Blood Red Moon!"
*WHOOSHHHHH!*
Under gravitational pull, the blazing red moon plummeted to the ground with a thunderous roar!
The compressed atmosphere let out a pained groan.
The ground, on the verge of collapse, trembled violently.
At that moment, everyone in the entire Singularity clearly saw the Blood Red Moon slowly descending.
Vortigern was no exception.
This wasn't an attack he could withstand. Under the crimson moonlight, everything would be shattered and crushed, leaving no trace behind!
Even he, the incarnation of Britain's end, capable of swallowing all of Britain, had no power to resist this Blood Red Moon. Even spatial displacement… if this Blood Red Moon fell, the entire Singularity would be its impact zone. Even if he teleported to the Singularity's edge, he couldn't escape a single strike from the Blood Red Moon!
["This isn't the power of a Holy Sword wielder."]
Neither Arthur, who had defeated him before, nor Artoria from this parallel world could possess such power. So, the only thing he could think of was—
["Is this your power, the new Holy Sword wielder… I didn't expect you to be a fairy."]
["How pitiful! How pitiful! No, it's even ironic!"]
The Star's Holy Sword was a weapon to save the world. Its wielder was a savior meant to save the world. At this moment, when the Human Order was being incinerated, it was the perfect time for him to save the world.
But—
["A fairy can never save the world. A fairy can never defeat a Beast."]
["A Holy Sword wielder who can't save the world, the future you seek is utterly unattainable by your hands!"]
At the final moment before the Blood Red Moon's direct impact, Vortigern stared intently at the blazing red dragon-man.
Then…
*BOOOMMMMM!*
A world-shattering impact finally struck!