Note: The official posting site blocked the previous chapter. I tried looking for the chapter on other sites but couldn't find it
"..."
"So this one is actually pretty cute..."
Within the burning city, Fujimaru Ritsuka couldn't help but say this as she looked at the petite Beast Nero.
The originally imposing girl was now like a little puppy, clinging to Ian.
"I love your scent—"
"It smells so good."
"You appeared here just so I could smell this scent, didn't you?"
"Right? Right? Right?"
With three consecutive questions, Beast Nero sat right down on Ian's shoulder, completely shedding the ferocious look she had when she wanted to bare her teeth at everyone.
"Ye-Yes, that's right..."
Seeing Beast Nero's harmless appearance, Mash's tense mood also relaxed considerably.
However—
The moment her hand was about to reach Beast Nero's head, the other girl suddenly turned back and stared at Mash.
"Don't touch me."
"Eh, this?"
Mash immediately retracted her hand.
"Hehe~ Let me try!"
"It should be okay for me to pet you, right?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka extended her hand with a grin, but she too was met with a fierce stare from Beast Nero.
"You don't touch me either."
"Eh, why?!"
"I'm not interested in you two—"
Beast Nero's gaze returned to Ian.
"I only care about this one."
"..."
"..."
Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash's gazes fell on Ian in unison.
The former looked pitiful, while the latter looked embarrassed.
"You two, wait a moment."
Ian stopped Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash, who still wanted to approach.
"Nero, do you know what you are doing right now?"
"Of course I do."
"I am destroying Rome, burning everything in Rome. This itself is the fate Rome deserves."
Sitting on Ian's shoulder, Beast Nero showed not a trace of hesitation.
"This is a process that all prosperous civilizations must go through."
"I am merely completing what must be done."
A 'Beast' drawn out by the prosperity of civilization? Is that it?
Ian finally confirmed the reason for the other's appearance.
"You've asked me so many questions, shouldn't it be my turn to ask you now?"
"I want to know..."
Beast Nero stared at the man before her.
"Why does your body have a scent so similar to mine? I like you very much."
"That's probably..."
Also inhaling the scent from Beast Nero's body, Ian answered the question with great composure.
"Because I am very similar to you—"
"'Similar'?"
Beast Nero tilted her head slightly.
"But I should be unique. There shouldn't be any so-called similar existences."
"Then shall we test it out?"
The man extended his arm.
"Besides, you really want to try my taste, don't you?"
"..."
Beast Nero's eyes widened a few degrees.
Clearly, Ian's words had hit the mark.
"Then I won't be polite."
With a munch, right in front of Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash, Beast Nero bit down on Ian's arm.
In just a moment, black patterns appeared on the man's hand.
"Ian..."
"It's fine." The man stopped Fujimaru Ritsuka, who wanted to come up and help. "It just looks scary. This one is much cuter than she appears."
And that was indeed the case.
Although she was constantly emitting powerful magical energy, Ian could feel that Beast Nero's teeth biting him were actually no different from a little puppy's.
Perhaps because she still possessed Nero's Spirit Origin, the biting force that should have seemed somewhat fierce was instead weakened a bit.
Gulp—
Gulp—
Gulp—
Beast Nero drank something in several gulps.
Then, her blood-red eyes immediately became excited.
"You really are... just as I imagined, an existence with that kind of taste."
"Is that so?"
"Then in that case, shall we do something more?"
"Do something more...?"
The way Beast Nero looked at the man clearly became a bit strange.
"Yes, something that will definitely suit your tastes."
[GNT_PBREA]"I do!"
"Of course I want to!"
"Then Morgan—"
Ian looked at the Witch, who had become silent yet excited after enjoying that humiliation.
"I'll leave Ritsuka and Mash in your care for now."
"..."
Knowing that the man was definitely going to do something 'bad' again, Morgan revealed a knowing smile.
"Understood, Master."
"Please be careful."
"You don't need to remind me of that, Morgan."
Trusting everything to the Morgan who had already fully experienced pleasure, Ian picked up Beast Nero and walked towards the deeper parts of the theater.
The golden theater was originally a place Nero used for performing musical dances and praising her own achievements.
However, after Rome reached extreme prosperity, it became the starting point of all destruction.
All burning began from here;
All destruction of splendor also began from here.
And now, as Ian carried Beast Nero in, the flames symbolizing destruction gradually grew more intense.
They were inextricably linked to the Beast, reflecting the Beast's own state at every moment.
"What are you going to do?"
Beast Nero was somewhat puzzled.
Because generally speaking, a normal person would not want to enter this theater that symbolized destruction.
Unless—
That person was seeking death.
But, that should be impossible for this one.
"You'll know in a moment, won't you?"
Ian placed Beast Nero on the ground.
"Come on—"
"Let's start a competition of conquest—"
At that moment, the man no longer hid his appearance.
A chaotic black shadow enveloped and devoured him, then completely changed his form.
It was the form of a giant beast, yet far more terrifying than that.
"You've wanted to do this for a long time, haven't you?"
As the Beast of Desire, Beast Nero's origin was the same as Ian's—which was also why Morgan could successfully stop Beast Nero just by sacrificing her own shame.
But just doing that wasn't enough.
To eliminate the Singularity, the Grail that caused all this had to be retrieved.
The simplest way was naturally to perceive the Grail's existence during contact with the other party.
After all—
Since she was a Beast, she must have an intricate relationship with the Singularity itself.
"If I win, I can eat you, right?"
Beast Nero said this, her entire body beginning to turn crimson.
Her originally petite form also gradually transformed in this agitated state into a form on the same level as Ian's.
"I will not be polite!"
A fierce battle began.
Fire and black shadow trembled against each other, causing even the golden theater to shake violently.
"This..."
Feeling the very earth tremble, Fujimaru Ritsuka naturally couldn't just stand by and watch.
"Mash, we—"
Halfway through her sentence, Morgan extended her staff and stopped the two.
"Don't go back."
The Witch of Britain said coldly.
"Just wait here."
"But Ian is in danger!" Fujimaru Ritsuka argued reasonably. "Didn't you just... with him?"
"It is precisely because of that that I'm telling you not to go."
Morgan's sharp gaze intimidated Fujimaru Ritsuka.
"Do you have any Command Spells left?"
"No, none left..."
Fujimaru Ritsuka hid her already empty arm.
"Is Mash qualified to challenge a 'Beast'-level enemy?"
"No..."
Although she hated to admit it, Mash knew Morgan was right.
The current Beast Nero was absolutely not someone she could touch.
"Since that's the case, then don't go in and become a burden, alright?"
Morgan smiled faintly.
"You two have already helped a lot this time—taking care of that venom-filled person is enough for you to receive Master's praise when you return to Chaldea."
"So next..."
The Witch of Britain set up her staff.
"Trust my Master."
"Such a wonderful man will absolutely not sacrifice himself for nothing."
Deep within the theater.
The sound of rapid breathing echoed continuously here.
Part of it came from Ian;
And the other part came from Beast Nero.
"You really do have many similarities with me—"
Revealing a dragon-like form, Beast Nero confronted the Ian who had turned into a giant beast, her voice becoming chaotic.
"Become one with me."
"I... will bring you endless prosperity and glory, and also bring you absolute desire."
"Are you tempting me?"
"Temptation?"
Beast Nero shook her head.
"I never need to tempt—because I know, I am the right choice for everyone. Those who choose me are definitely the right ones."
"Come, embrace me... embrace prosperity and destruction."
Beast Nero's soul opened its arms.
"..."
"Then I will be polite."
Covered in black shadow, Ian directly lowered his body and began to accept Beast Nero's embrace.
However—
The Beast who had appeared here in place of Nero felt that something was not quite right.
"What are you doing to me?"
"Carrying out the greatest and simplest of human affairs—"
Ian looked directly into Beast Nero's soul.
"Procreation."
"No!"
The moment she heard those words, Beast Nero immediately began to resist.
Thrashing her body, she spewed countless flames of destruction.
But—
Even so, the giant beast that had already embraced her did not let go.
"Beasts do not produce offspring!"
"And I do not need this kind of act!"
"Experience it first, Beast of Desire." Pinning down the dragon-like existence beneath him, Ian began to exert his sinful atrocities with all his might. The prosperity of humanity is not such a simple thing.
"How could I possibly..."
Beast Nero stopped halfway through her sentence.
Because she found that the situation seemed a bit off.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing."
Able to peer into each other's souls due to their shared origin, Ian caressed that petite form.
"I just used the simplest method to fill your emptiness."
"But... why is it so warm?"
Beast Nero was somewhat puzzled.
"Because this is the most interesting thing about humans. Though each life is so weak and fleeting, they still search for a way out through such a process."
"Constantly accumulating and growing, finally passing all the results on to the next generation."
"So-called prosperity is itself the result of procreation."
"And you chose destruction... of course you couldn't feel this kind of warmth."
Ian's hand gently stroked Beast Nero's hair.
Because of their shared origin, he could feel that the other party might have just misunderstood certain things—a dead end he himself had once been trapped in.
"Nero, you can accomplish many things. You don't need to use the destruction of prosperity to prove your existence."
"I... don't need to prove my existence like that?"
Her body firmly locked onto a certain place, the petite Nero became even more confused.
The more she wanted to escape this fallacy, the more she found she couldn't get off no matter what, as if she and he had completely merged.
In the end—
Beast Nero stopped thinking.
"I was born to destroy splendor... if I abandon this act, wouldn't my existence, my meaning, be completely negated?"
"I never said you should stop destroying, Nero."
Ian looked directly at her.
He knew that Beast Nero was gradually walking down the same path of thought as himself.
"You can come and destroy me—"
"Destroy you?"
"No, I can't bear to!"
Beast Nero rejected this possibility almost instantly.
"I won't destroy you!"
"Don't be so quick to say that. It's not certain if you can do it yet."
Ian looked at Beast Nero, who had gradually returned to her petite form out of interest, his expression subtle.
"You said just now that you really like that warmth, right?"
"Mm..." Beast Nero nodded.
"I like it very much."
"Then what if I told you that I have more of the warmth you like here—if you can find a way to get it from me, wouldn't that be equivalent to destroying me?"
"Eh?"
Beast Nero's interest was piqued at once.
"Is that really okay?"
"Of course."
"As long as you can do it."
The vitality of a Beast seemed to far exceed imagination.
Having rediscovered her reason for existence, Beast Nero began to become active in front of the man.
"Why do I feel a bit dizzy?"
"Feeling dizzy is normal—because right now, you are still immature... unable to completely accept what should be accepted."
"No, I don't believe you."
"Then shall we try?"
"No, wait!"
Finally—
After completely acknowledging that she couldn't do certain things, Beast Nero collapsed there.
And beneath her was something intertwined from two kinds of [Desire].
"It seems I really can't do it."
"It's okay, you can still come to Chaldea to find me—a Singularity is not a place for infinite attempts."
"Are you serious?"
"I'll bring out my super amazing body then."
"Yes, you are absolutely welcome." Ian smiled indifferently.
"Since that's the case..."
"I have to go back and prepare—"
Beast Nero staggered to her feet.
With a flash of golden light, a Grail appeared in her hand.
"Take this."
"I will go to Chaldea to find you soon!"
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