Bzzz—!
Brilliant golden motes of magical energy blotted out the sunlight and completely obscured Selene's vision. Within the rift that tore open the sky lay the star-filled cosmos, countless stars flickering within it.
Among them, one immense star shone the brightest, positioned at the very center of that cosmic expanse.
At the very first glance, its concept surfaced within Selene's mind.
It was the Morning Star—the brightest natural celestial body in Earth's night sky aside from the sun and the moon, the ever-shining star—Venus.
Because of its overwhelming brilliance, it most easily inspired the imagination of ancient peoples, becoming a vessel for countless myths. Yet across cultures, it invariably symbolized beauty and love.
True to its name, it was a star as precious and radiant as gold.
In Roman mythology, the goddess Venus; in Greek mythology, Aphrodite; in Aztec mythology, Quetzalcoatl... without exception, Venus upon them symbolized beauty and brilliance.
Naturally, as the most beloved goddess of beauty in Mesopotamian mythology, Ishtar also claimed this dazzling star as her own.
However, Ishtar's approach differed somewhat from the benevolent beauty praised in those myths... she was a bit more... crude.
According to Mesopotamian myth, Ishtar's most destructive and cruel act—done simply because "she didn't like it"—was the ravaging of Mount Ebiḫ, a sacred peak feared even by the king of gods, annihilating it entirely. This legend became her Noble Phantasm.
In the tale, Ishtar marched straight into Mount Ebiḫ, her divine authority increasing with every step, until she seized the mountain's peak with her own hands and thrust a spear into the heart of its leyline, completely destroying the mountain range.
Based on this legend, when Ishtar activates her Noble Phantasm, she first teleports to Venus, uses her administrator authority to take hold of the planet's concept, and loads it as a conceptual planet into the magazine of the Boat of Heaven—Maanna.
Then, in a savage, terrifying, utterly unreasonable manner—she fires it directly at the ground!
This is an act that even gods would fear.
"Hmph! Romani, you said it yourself—don't blame me if I cause too much destruction. This island is practically sinking into the sea anyway!"
All thoughts of environmental protection or concern for mortal lives had vanished from Ishtar's mind. She had already gone all-in. With both Ritsuka Fujimaru and Shirou Emiya placing their hopes on her, the two aspects of her personality reached an unspoken agreement.
In her eyes now, there was only the Demonic Beast Goddess dwelling within the Imaginary Numbers Space.
Even knowing that forcibly wielding divine authority beyond the limits of her Saint Graph would inevitably shatter Selene's Saint Graph and force her to withdraw, Ishtar could no longer wait to become the greatest contributor—basking in praise, flowers, and offerings.
After all, Selene was clearly weakened. Opportunity like this would never come again. If she could force Selene to withdraw now, Ishtar had a strong premonition—this was the optimal solution.
Who knew whether Selene would unleash something catastrophic before her departure?
At the same time, the divine-era environment created by the fusion of Selene and Tiamat's Saint Graph acted as a reverse buff, allowing Ishtar's Noble Phantasm to unleash its full power for the first time—erupting with a terrifying might unseen even by those in Chaldea.
"At this level... it's far more terrifying than during the Seventh Singularity, Babylonia."
"The soil here has reverted to a state even older than the late Sumerian–Akkadian period during King Gilgamesh's reign (3500 BCE—2000 BCE)."
"This isn't the era when gods and humans parted ways. This is a true Age of Gods!"
Da Vinci turned to look at Romani.
"In this environment, modern human heroes may be suppressed. But conversely, heroes from before the Middle Ages will be greatly enhanced. Aside from class limitations, Servants may be nearly as strong as they were in life."
The resurgence of mystery enhanced Heroic Spirits and Servants—but fundamentally, mystery originates from transcendent beings. In other words, gods, demigods, and divine spirits benefited the most.
Clang—!
Within the terrifying golden light, mixed with blue motes and violet sparks, power rapidly condensed. The air trembled violently under surging magical energy, and a sound like clashing weapons tore through space. "Venus" transformed into a massive, resplendent arrow of power.
"You... are you looking down on me, Ishtar?!"
Within the Imaginary Numbers Space, Selene remained reclining on her side, propping up her chin, even letting out a lazy yawn. Her nonchalant attitude ignited Ishtar's fury—she truly wanted to blast Selene into nothingness.
"Take your arrogance with you and disappear! Foreign god!!"
Bathed in radiant light, Ishtar appeared incomparably noble. Confidence filled her beautiful face as she raised her hand like a pistol and said, "Bang!"
In that instant, the Boat of Heaven converted magical energy into a brilliance surpassing any jewel. The world was reduced to a single color.
A rose-gold streak of light surged forward, plunging downward in wild acceleration. "The Mountain-Shaking Star of Conquest" shone with unparalleled brilliance.
It descended in a straight line—an unmistakable spectacle of a meteor impact... no, more accurately, Venus colliding with Earth.
BOOOOOOOOOMMMMM—!!
The canyon terrain surrounding Selene disintegrated instantly under the terrifying force of Venus' descent. Even the Imaginary Numbers Space was blown apart by the pressure, revealing beneath it a serpentine body riddled with icy cracks and blood-red fissures. The sound of cracking echoed continuously.
"The goddess of Venus... other Venus goddesses symbolize beauty and happiness. Perhaps Ishtar is the only one famous for her tyranny and forceful plundering."
As Selene spoke as if to no one, at that very moment, a narrow yet inviolably sacred pure-white radiance lit up before her.
"The goddess of Venus... daughter of the Sumerian king of gods... savior of humanity?" A deep, authoritative male voice resounded.
In the next instant, a man clad in red-and-white mage robes appeared before Selene, standing between her and the descending rose-gold torrent.
"If you can't block it, say so."
Selene's lazy voice echoed.
"There is no need for Your Majesty's concern. A Servant is no match for me."
Beep—beep—beep—
The moment the silver-haired man appeared, alarms blared across Chaldea. The Phenomenon Recording Cyber-Daemon [LAPLACE], the Simulated Global Environment Model [CHALDEAS], and the Near-Future Observation Lens [SHEBA] all flashed red simultaneously.
The piercing alarm blared throughout the entirety of Chaldea's facility.
"...It's him. There's no mistake!" Swallowing hard, a staff member stared at the man appearing on the screen and spoke in shock.
He was a man with white hair.
His blood-red eyes were deep and frenzied. Within those eyes—capable of seeing through all things—seemed to reside boundless wisdom. His skin was slightly dark, and he wore luxurious robes. Yet terrifying, grotesque black patterns covered the exposed skin of his hands.
Behind him, blood-colored, tentacle-like particles writhed and drifted. Simply standing there, he exuded an oppressive aura that made one's chest tighten.
Most striking of all, each of his ten fingers bore a silver ring. With such a distinctive feature—and the suffocating tension filling Chaldea's facility like the arrival of a final boss—his identity was self-evident.
"The King of Magecraft—Solomon!"
On the screen, the "Solomon" standing before Selene spread his hands. All ten rings shone with golden light, and the radiance of the incoming Noble Phantasm collapsed instantly upon nearing him.
Bzzz—crack crack—!
The thin barrier before "Solomon" resembled an insurmountable chasm. No matter how the sky-piercing torrent writhed or struggled to press forward, it could not move even a fraction.
"How can this be...!?"
Seeing her near-maximum attack in Servant form blocked so effortlessly, Ishtar's expression darkened to the extreme.
"I refuse to believe it!"
"Maanna!"
BOOM—!
The golden pillar of light connecting heaven and earth thickened once more, shaking the devastated land.
"Ishtar. Compared to your complete form... that pitiful human soul has reduced you to this state."
"Solomon" fell silent for a moment. His crimson eyes flickered faintly, as if seeing through the composition of the being known as Ishtar.
Intrinsic Skill—Solomon's Rings: EX
The rings bestowed by God, worn upon ten fingers. They are also the proof of the origin of magecraft—the King. When all ten rings are gathered, they can nullify all human magecraft and bring it under his command.
Guided by the composite summoning ritual, summoned through possession of a human, and connected by magical supply to Chaldea's Guardian Heroic Spirit Summoning System—"FATE"...
These imprints caused Ishtar to suffer a severe disadvantage against "Solomon," her attacks rendered exceptionally weak.
If Selene's fighting style was overwhelming, head-on force, then battling "Solomon" was suffocating in an entirely different way.
Fundamentally, the modern Servant system—summoning, maintenance, Command Spells, and Master-Servant contracts—can all be traced back to Solomon. The effect of "nullifying all human magecraft" was simply too overwhelming.
Fortunately, this "Solomon" lacked one ring. The incompleteness was fatal—the nullification effect had degraded into suppression, and the ability to fully command all human magecraft was entirely absent.
Otherwise, since Chaldea's summoning system "FATE" is ultimately human magecraft, a single thought from "Solomon" could have caused every summoned Servant to betray them. In that case, there would be no battle left to fight.
"Hmph! What business is it of yours? I'll do as I please! Mortals have no right to criticize a goddess!"
"Heh..."
Letting out a soft chuckle, the King of Magecraft exuded an untouchable divine bearing as he flicked his finger.
"Disperse."
Standing high in the sky, the surrounding Demon God Pillar tentacles immediately behaved like loyal hounds before their master—prostrating themselves, becoming utterly quiet and docile.
"Ugh..."
No matter how hard Ishtar tried, she could not break through Solomon's blockade. In the end, even with environmental amplification, such prolonged, high-intensity Noble Phantasm usage drained her divine core immensely. Panting heavily, she reluctantly canceled the attack.
"Damn it!"
"Withdraw. Having lost your dignity, this form of yours brings shame to the true Ishtar."
Smiling, "Solomon" revealed inhuman, fang-like teeth.
"ROOOOAR—!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom boom boom!
Sensing their master's anger, the Demon God Pillars erupted from the ground one after another with explosive force, shooting toward the sky.
As if drilling up from beneath the earth, a chain reaction followed. Amid continuous detonations, countless black tentacles filled the heavens.
"Terrible taste."
Watching the grotesque scene—slime splattering, eyeballs bursting, crimson tendrils writhing and twisting—Selene rubbed her eyes in discomfort.
This was practically a form of mental pollution. Her sanity felt like it was plummeting.
The seventy-two Demon God Pillars were supposed to be something presentable—couldn't he choose a better form? Demons, dragons, fallen fae—anything would be better than this mass of tentacles.
Selene did not oppose diversity among her subordinates. Her standards were quite low. But those that represented her image reflected her aesthetics, her pride, her face. Just imagining tentacle monsters among her Imperial Guard made her shudder.
No thanks. A prison warden or torturer's post would suit them far better.
Gurgle... sizzle...
Countless tentacles bearing blood-red eyes emerged, like eldritch gods descending. The eyes rotated, then flared with light.
Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
In an instant, innumerable beams shot out in all directions—toward the ocean, cliffs, even the sky itself, which was shattered.
Realizing too late, Ishtar tried to evade, but all escape routes were sealed. In the next moment, a massive combined beam surged straight toward her beautiful face.
"Ah—!" She immediately covered her head in defense, nearly about to roll across the ground in utter disgrace.
WOOOOOSH—!!
The cloudless sky suddenly erupted with violent winds. All the beams were drawn in, even the massive pillar about to strike Ishtar. None could escape—they twisted, were devoured, and swallowed into the center of a thunderstorm vortex.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
"That is... a doomsday weapon forged by the gods. No wonder—it is unaffected by my influence and can easily devour my attacks."
"The Bull of Heaven—Gugalanna."
At the horizon within Selene's gaze, a massive thunderstorm vortex churned, dense enough to block out all light.
Rumble—!
"Break time is over, Solomon. Deploy the barrier and fulfill the wish you've long desired. As for that... leave it to me."
Selene's words halted "Solomon's" movements.
Her massive serpent body rose once more. Crimson, chaotic tides flowed over her pale, smooth skin, tracing the curves of her form—creating a breathtaking yet terrifying scene.
"Though your vessel has recovered, your Saint Graph is already half shattered, Your Majesty Selene. The optimal course would be to reduce your use of divine authority and nurture your Saint Graph."
"That is your optimal solution—not mine."
"The real battle is only just beginning!"
Splurt—!
As soon as she finished speaking, under "Solomon's" astonished gaze, Selene raised her radiant claw and plunged it straight into her own chest.
"You..."