"Bring Bagst back."
Gazing into the distant scene, Guinevere spoke slowly:
"She has already done enough. Moreover, she pointed out to us the direction of the divine core."
Looking at the passage that the disaster-corrupted Bagst had chewed open in Cernunnos' body, Guinevere drew Vic's spear and the sword of the Knight of Calia.
"This passage should lead directly to the divine core. In other words, as long as we follow this path with our attacks, we will reach the core."
"And as a human, the Mors curse has no effect on me. With Grim's blessing as well, I should be the one to clear the path ahead—"
Before he could finish, Lancelot, who had been circling above, understood his intention. Without hesitation, she dove at full speed, directly charging toward Cernunnos.
Though she herself was also an unmanifested great calamity, she wouldn't undergo Morsification. Yet, if she were tainted by Cernunnos' curse, she risked the same fate. Added to that, her fighting style was melee-based, making her poorly suited against Cernunnos.
She knew this well, which was why in earlier battles she had mostly held back, circling like a drone above the skies, waiting for her chance. But the moment she heard Guinevere was preparing to throw himself into danger—she could no longer endure it.
To let Guinevere put himself at risk? How could she ever accept that?!
This dangerous battle was hers to fight in his stead!
So, without a shred of hesitation, Lancelot rushed in.
While flying at full speed, she began chanting quickly:
"One strike, instant conclusion—sword technique, commence!"
At those words, massive magical energy burst from her back, boosting her already meteoric speed. Like a shooting star, she plunged into Cernunnos' body, following the bloody passage Bagst had carved out.
She crossed her twin swords before her, body leaning forward, transforming herself into a spearpoint—those two blades becoming the sharpest tip.
"Sink into oblivion, you unknown, untainted lake light—Aroundight!"
At that, Lancelot pierced through the fleshy passage in an instant, bypassed the black hound lying incapacitated at its end, and slammed against the writhing inner wall. On her replicated Arondight, formed from her fairy magic, magical power spun at extreme speed like a chainsaw, shredding and annihilating flesh before her.
The moment the decayed flesh burst apart, a surge of thick curse energy engulfed her. Yet the fairy knight paid no mind, drilling forward like a relentless auger.
She carved hundreds of meters through the flesh, about a third of Bagst's earlier tunnel, when suddenly Arondight struck something impossibly hard. She couldn't advance an inch further. At the same moment, an immense repulsive force burst out, and a torrent of curses—far stronger than before—erupted, flinging her away violently.
Steadying herself in the air, Lancelot fixed her gaze—and saw it.
A purple core.
It radiated ominous light, the very thing that had blocked her advance.
Sensing the terrifying curse from it, she glanced inward, gauging the state of her own body. Her curse resistance was nearly at its limit.
Even so, she raised a hand suddenly. Crimson lightning erupted in her palm, chaotic lines twisting together by some unseen force, forged into a massive lightning blade. She lifted it high.
"In the name of the ancient dragon—I command the thunder, shaped as my blade!"
"Lightning Blade of Lann Sanctus!"
With a violent swing, she cleaved toward the divine core.
Without even checking the result, she immediately turned back, azure magic bursting from her back once more to propel her to maximum speed.
Bursting out from Cernunnos' body through her freshly-carved exit, she shouted toward Artoria and the others in the distance:
"Hey! Did you see that?! I found the divine core! It's exposed now! While it's vulnerable—blast it to pieces!"
"Beautifully done, Lancelot!"
Even Artoria, who often complained about the fairy knight, could not help but cheer aloud, seeing her complete Bagst's work and expose the core.
Without hesitation, Artoria clicked her pocket watch. A flash of light brought Bagst, now reverted to human form, back before her. But the hound collapsed unconscious immediately, drained by the toll of her disaster state.
Artoria wasted no time. Transforming into her exalted form, she quickly shifted further, into her Saber-class self—the Ahoge King—raising the Sword of Promised Victory high.
She had learned that multiplying herself didn't increase the combined firepower of her attacks. So instead, she went all in as Saber, drawing Excalibur aloft.
"Knocknarea!"
At her call, Knocknarea instantly buffed her with the Solar Straight Sword Creation and Flame Formation.
Confident, Artoria began her chant:
"This radiance is the hope of the stars, the proof of life illuminating the earth! Bear witness—the Sword of Promised Victory!"
Unleashing her full power, she swung down. A storm of magic and gales roared, and a blazing light burst from her blade, blasting straight down the tunnel at the ominous purple core.
The world seemed to dim, leaving only that central pillar of light. The torrent of starlight engulfed the core. Though it flared, resisting desperately, within mere breaths it crumbled.
The Sword of Promised Victory in her Saber form—while not the unbound original held by the "Savior of the Holy Sword"—was still supported by A+ rank mana. In terms of standard Holy Grail War firepower, it was at the pinnacle. Against the battered divine core of Cernunnos, resistance was futile.
Bathed in blazing light, the core of Cernunnos was erased from existence.
"We did it!"
Though Artoria collapsed from mana depletion, falling out of her exalted form, she immediately leapt up in joy, bounding toward Guinevere:
"Guinevere! Did you see?! I destroyed the great calamity's divine core! We won! Sure, it was thanks to everyone, but I did pretty well this time, didn't I?!"
"Indeed."
Seeing the core destroyed and Cernunnos cease all movement, Guinevere exhaled in relief, his furrowed brows finally relaxing. He reached out and gave her a high-five.
Watching her try to wake the unconscious Bagst—only to be restrained by Knocknarea—Guinevere shook his head, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Then, raising his gaze, he sought Lancelot's figure in the sky.
She had fought desperately, for him no less. Even if he resisted her presence, it was only right to show gratitude. Surely she'd now fly over, demanding praise—
But she didn't.
Instead, Lancelot hovered in midair, staring suspiciously at Cernunnos' corpse.
Her dragon-born senses had picked up something terribly wrong.
Guinevere felt it too. A chilling thought struck him, and he quickly opened his system to confirm.
But no notification came.
No "Calamity Subjugated" message.
"…What?"
Then, from the abyss, a roar like an ancient behemoth erupted. The land quaked once more.
Guinevere's stiff neck turned toward the sound.
Cernunnos—who should have vanished with his core—was moving again.
The gaping wounds they had carved into him writhed, regenerating as fleshy growths filled in. Even the cavity where the core had been was rapidly swelling with new flesh.
"Impossible!" Grim shouted. "The core was destroyed! How is it moving?!"
"What the hell's going on?!" Guinevere shouted back. "Didn't you say destroying the core would kill it? Did you screw up?! Can it live without a core?!"
"Ridiculous!" Grim snapped. "The divine core is where a god's soul resides! It's both processor and energy source—the brain and the heart! Without it, movement is impossible!"
"Then what's this?!" Guinevere pointed, horrified, as the flesh regrew even faster. "It's alive and growing!"
"…No."
Grim's eyes narrowed. After staring for a while, he exclaimed:
"This… its regenerating flesh carries no curse power. It's just multiplying meat!"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Guinevere asked.
"Before, its regeneration relied on the curse, accelerating rot into expansion. Without the endless curse, it shouldn't regenerate at all!" Grim explained.
"Now it has no core, no soul, no curse, no hatred. It's nothing but a giant lump of multiplying meat… I see it now!"
Recalling the strange divine energy he'd sensed before the battle, Grim clenched his teeth.
"This thing—was modified by that god behind the scenes… turned into a massive super-zombie?!"