CRASH!!!
The final war where blood is splatters. It's almost being settled.
"I'll infiltrate the castle!"
"Then right away──"
"No, I'll go alone. I feel uneasy... Take care of Nero!"
"... Understood."
Artoria seemed somewhat suspicious, but since I felt the same way, I infiltrated alone. I entered the castle of the alliance army shaking from the shock of war, and from the castle to the king's room, I smashed through the ceiling and climbed up in an instant.
BANG...!
"... Finally meeting you, Flauros."
Sitting arrogantly on the throne was Lev. He greeted me with a sneering smile.
"You've come, Grand Saber."
"What are you plotting? Did you really think you could stop Artoria and me with just this much force?"
"Her intrusion was unexpected. No, her very existence from the start was a variable. To think she'd be an ally rather than an enemy to you. Truly regrettable. But, it's only a small disappointment."
He stood up from the throne and walked towards me, making tapping sounds with his shoes. This bastard...
"You bastard, where's the Holy Grail?"
"Suddenly getting impatient? Is it a hero's intuition, Fergus mac Róich? To think a Grand Class would protect a beast, it's truly absurd. An enemy embracing an enemy? There's no more ridiculous sight than this. From the beginning, it's an impossible relationship; you can never be together."
"Tell me... What were you doing while blinding Artoria and my eyes?"
Blinding the all-seeing eye. With that alone, he was restraining Artoria and me. No, precisely, he was focusing on restraining me...
"No matter how powerful the Holy Grail is, it's merely an ability exercised with a mass of magical energy. Blinding an eye that has reached the Root for this long is impossible. Tell me, what were you doing... Where is the Holy Grail?"
"Heh, hehe... hehehe... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"..."
"They say the darkest place is under the candlestick! Isn't that right, Grand Saber! You, knowing one thing but not the other. You were defeated by me from the very beginning. Whenever you came, it didn't matter. I am not the master of this Singularity. From the moment I handed over the Holy Grail, I was merely a collaborator."
"What...?"
"You moved exactly as we thought you would. Whether you killed the emperor or not, it wasn't that important! You, always carried that thing with you when fighting. Thanks to that, the ugly human souls gathered even faster..."
"... You, you bastard, don't tell me...!?"
"You asked why I blinded your eyes? Simple... To prevent you from noticing the gathering of souls, human."
BANG!!!!!!!!!!!
I immediately threw Caladbolg and erased Lev from this world. And quickly broke through the castle wall and came outside. This, had he set up a bounded field from the start! To hide the situation outside! For me not to detect it... This isn't a magical bounded field. This is a bounded field of evil...
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
"Nero!"
Black light illuminated the land. Centered on Nero floating high in the sky, the black light illuminated the land and seemed to swallow it. Her golden cup was emitting an ominous light and spewing out black mud. And, Nero's chest shone with a golden light...
That's the Holy Grail...
It wasn't just because Nero was a vessel for the beast... Not the characteristic of Beast VI, but the Holy Grail? I didn't notice the Holy Grail's magical energy?
He said "we". That means...
"Everyone, evade!!!"
Artoria quickly deployed her Holy Spear and manifested Camelot, blocking the black mud. Mud of evil... Just like Angra Mainyu. Even if it's a Servant, touching it would melt and be absorbed. At best, only Grand Classes like me or divine spirits can withstand it...
"Nero!!!"
"It's dangerous! You mustn't get close! If you do, you'll be swept away!"
"Damn it..."
Shit... I've been properly fooled. The darkest place is under the candlestick... Fuck.
BANG!!!
"Fergus!!!"
I broke through Camelot and ran towards Nero. Still, I can still reverse it...! I jumped up towards her floating in the air and reached out my hand to her.
"Nero!"
"Fe, Fergus..."
Beyond the blurring vision, Nero with closing eyes stretched out a trembling hand to me, but soon the mud from the golden cup swallowed her.
KABOOOOOM!!!
"Kuh!"
At the same time, an intense black light shockwave erupted and blew me away. The alliance castle was destroyed by the impact, and I too suffered some damage, with blood flowing from my mouth...
From the golden cup floating high in the sky, the evil mud flowed down. And from within, slowly revealing itself...
That's not Nero... I know who it is, but I should ask. As if wishing for it.
"Who are you?"
From the mud, the distorted voices of several women flowed out.
""We are the seven crowns of the beast, we are the seven heads of the dragon. Those without ambition, denying their own awakening, wishing to live as humans, reject their pitiful master. Hiding desires, abandoning the master who denies. From the moment they wish for death, opposing Luoyang (death) and awakening. In her place, we shall descend as beasts. We shall replacethat one.""
Slowly revealing itself from the waterfall of mud, one beast emerges... The voice becomes one.
"Our name is Beast Draco... Beast of Sodom. Beast VI/S, Beast of Corruption. Beast Draco."
Evil of Humanity Manifestation
"...."
It has awakened... The Sixth Beast. The red dragon of the apocalypse...
The Sixth Beast, like the Third Beast, forms a balance with two Beasts existing. One is the Beast 666 I dealt with in Tokyo. And this is the other half...
Nero has seven familiars. Similar to Solomon's 72 Demon Gods, the seven familiars called Beast Hacks.
Like Solomon, after Solomon's death, the dissatisfied Demon Gods, centered on the collective Goetia, wore Solomon's corpse and united to awaken as the Demon God King, another King Solomon and the First Beast.
The Beast Hacks are the same... Since Nero didn't want to awaken, they rebelled beforehand and took the Holy Grail even before I came to the Singularity. Using the Holy Grail, they absorbed the spiritual cores of the Servants I defeated, took the souls of the alliance army I killed, and the Beast Hacks gained power beyond Nero's incomplete awakening as a beast.
Having roughly made a body, they sucked up all the remaining nutrients. Without me and Nero knowing... And now, when the time came, they stole Nero's body.
And, they awakened. As a new beast... If I had known earlier...
"Fergus. If it has come to this, there's no choice but to subdue it..."
"...."
Even if Nero dies, she will become a Heroic Spirit. I know, I know... Since it has become a beast, subduing it is the role of the Grand Class.
But what can I do.
"I promised. To protect Nero."
"Fergus..."
"But that's not Nero. It's just Nero's familiars. Inside that evil mud-made body, the real Nero is trapped."
"Do you think it's possible?"
"If it's impossible, I'll make it possible. Why, do you think I can't do it?"
"... Heh, if that is your choice, I will simply follow."
I still think she can be saved. I am confident of that.
"Fergus mac Róich... I will give you a chance. Won't you join us?"
"Eat shit. You fucking ■■■■ bastards. ■■■■■■ damn it. Do you know what I hate and find most disgusting? Betrayal, you ■■-like vermin."
"......"
Artoria and Beast Draco are taken aback by my barrage of foul language. Why was Hephaestus's me known for having a dirty personality? Because I can be like that too.
"Artoria, buy me some time. I'll bring Nero back."
"Fergus, the spiritual scale of that Beast is first-class planetary level. No matter how strong I've become as a divine spirit... alone, I'll die. I can't win."
I know... Even the Demon God King Goetia's scale is second-class planetary level, and that immense power is lower than Beast Draco's. That is, in terms of power alone, it's a monster that surpasses Goetia, the boss of Part 1. The fact that all seven Grand Classes are needed refers to this level.
"I know. Just buy me a little time. I'm asking because I trust you."
"... Come back quickly."
"Of course. I'll be back soon, with Nero."
I changed Caladbolg into staff form and opened all the primordial runes. And, immediately threw it at Beast Draco.
"Is this what you call an attack?"
"Isn't it?"
"!"
Just before reaching Beast Draco, I leaped forward with the runes, and as the runes shone with a brilliant light, I cut through space with all my might. What can this do...?
This is a magecraft that enters the target's dreams. With this, I can pierce through the armor called Beast Draco and enter Nero's subconscious.
"Petty tricks..."
BANG!!!!
"I'm sorry... but no one can obstruct his path."
Beast Draco tried to use its power to stop me, but the goddess's Holy Spear struck with a brilliant light and blocked it. I safely entered the subconscious world.
Tap...
"Is this the place..."
A space as dark as pitch black. This is Nero's SG (Secret Garden)... The unconscious, I suppose.
Grrrr...
And, from the pitch-black space, the Beast Hacks appear.
"You cannot advance beyond this point..."
"Hey... if I get angry... even Scáthach gets scared... So, I'll kill you and move on, you bastards."
Today, no one can stop me.