IBHJ 1156

At the heart of the devastation, Galahad lifted his head and scanned the area, his gaze falling on Shirou, Mordred, Merlin, Ambrosius, Bedivere, and the others.

His crystal eyes flared with an evil red glow. "All of you—eliminate!"

His body, forged from pure Orichalcum, pulsed with a dark, menacing aura that made him look like a demon from the abyss.

Shirou slowly projected the holy lance Rhongomyniad.

Without the Vortex or black mud, this lance was now his strongest weapon.

Mordred's grip tightened on her sword as strange patterns from her Grail spread across her body. Her blade could kill Apostles—but would it be enough to destroy the Empire's UO, Galahad?

"Amitabha..."

In the temple, Xuanzang's face was pale with sweat as she clutched her prayer beads, reciting Buddhist sutras to calm her mounting fear.

Just then, a black gate materialized from thin air.

Goetia and his group stepped through, and Shirou felt a wave of relief wash over him. "You finally made it."

"Hmph, how pathetic. Is this how Eternal King carries himself? What a joke." Goetia scoffed with crossed arms. "How can you possibly be worthy of leading our alliance?"

"That's enough, Goetia." Kama cut him off before turning to Shirou. "Please excuse him, Eternal King. You know how he is."

Shirou shook his head, he knew he'd messed up this time, and he was just grateful Goetia had arrived at all. Besides, this wasn't the time for infighting. If they needed to sort out their problems, it could wait until after they'd reclaimed Pan-Human History.

"So this is the Empire's Galahad? Pathetic. And you're all trembling before such a weak thing? Watch how easily I, Goetia, crush this insect!" The massive Goetia, towering at three meters tall, strode toward Galahad.

"Goetia, stop!" Shirou called out in alarm. "You can't face him alone!"

But it was too late. Goetia had already launched himself at Galahad. His usual caution seemed completely forgotten, replaced by confidence, arrogance, and pride—but that wasn't quite true.

Goetia knew exactly what he was doing. He clearly knew that right now, only he—only he who wore the ten rings—could face Galahad in direct combat. Anyone else would be finished with just one touch from Galahad.

He could clearly sense this because this Galahad gave off the same aura as those monsters from the South American connection point.

A supreme monster!

"Cover Goetia!" Shirou shouted, raising his holy lance.

He realized they had no choice now but to let Goetia serve as their tank against Galahad. He'd wanted to form a plan first, but Goetia had already thrown himself into battle.

This was the fundamental difference between him and Goetia—even when they reached the same conclusion, their approaches and attitudes were completely different.

At least Gaia's quick thinking had protected them from the worst of Galahad's devastating impact. Now they could still provide backup for Goetia's charge.

Their support wasn't as coordinated as it could have been without proper preparation, but with Goetia's power, he should have been able to hold off Galahad's initial assault.

And coincidentally, this was exactly what Goetia thought too.

While Beasts weren't quite on the level of UOs, the strongest among them like the Beast of the End could still go toe-to-toe with them.

But then—

BOOM!

Goetia's earth-shattering punch connected with Galahad's chest. A blow that would send even Apostles with physical immunity from Imperial Armor staggering back hit Galahad like a meteor striking a planet, but he didn't budge an inch.

"Impossible..." Goetia froze.

In that split second, Galahad casually raised his hand and swatted Goetia aside like an annoying fly. With a thunderous crash, Goetia slammed into the ground, his face bloody and swollen.

Goetia pushed himself up, his eyes burning with rage as he glared at Galahad. "To make me, Goetia, bow before you—this is unforgivable—"

The ultimate machine didn't even acknowledge Goetia's fury. Instead, Galahad simply lifted his fist and brought it crashing down on Goetia's head with the force of a falling star.

BOOM!

The ground shattered beneath the impact, sending massive chunks of earth flying into the sky like fragments of broken mountains.

Through the deafening roar came a sickening crack.

Goetia lay there broken, blood flowing freely from his body. Countless fractures spread across his once-mighty form like a spiderweb. His eyes, now red with burst vessels, bulged from their sockets.

On his head was a deep crater—all from a single punch.

"This can't be... impossible... I, Goetia... ugh—"

Blood continued to pour from the countless cracks spreading across his body.

But wasn't it obvious? Even if a Beast could destroy the Foundation of Human Order, what chance did it have against a UO—the ultimate weapon created by a civilization that could dominate the universe itself?

Just as Galahad was about to deliver the final blow, a voice suddenly rang out—

"Rhongomyniad—!"

A torrent of light surged toward his head.

Yet even this brilliant flood couldn't penetrate Galahad's armor. His core was built from Tethys' relic, and his body forged from ultra-rare metals like Orichalcum.

Orichalcum wasn't native to Earth, it had been brought to Atlantis by Greek machine gods millennia ago. In Pan-Human History, this precious metal had vanished beneath the waves when Altera destroyed Atlantis. But in the Eternal Empire's world, the Emperor had salvaged it from Atlantis's sunken ruins. Combined with other legendary metals from the Age of Gods, it had become the foundation of Galahad's impenetrable armor.

Still, the Holy Lance's strike served its purpose; it made Galahad pause for a moment, just long enough for Abigail to pull Goetia to safety.

But it was all pointless. Strategy only works when the power gap isn't too wide, and against the Emperor's UO, no one here came close to matching its power.

If Arcueid or Shirou's Vortex were still around, they wouldn't be struggling like this against the Empire and its Wall, Galahad.

"Damn you, worthless scum—!"

Rage burned in Goetia's eyes. To be so easily beaten into the ground by Galahad was more than his pride could bear.

His eyes blazed as a halo bright as the sun rose behind him. Then, like a storm of deadly flowers, countless beams of light streaked toward Galahad.

"Die—!"

Goetia's roar was filled with rage and humiliation. Though his pride was no less than Gilgamesh's, he hadn't lost his rationality.

This Noble Phantasm was the manifestation of Human Order Correction, capable of correcting any distortion or disaster that threatened the Human Order. While useless against Imperial Armor on its own, when infused with Ambrosius's Primordial Fairy Arts, it might be able to pierce through Galahad's armor.

Just like they'd done with Ector.

Although Goetia couldn't fully wrap his Noble Phantasm in [Primordial Fairy Arts], he wasn't concerned. If anyone knew what to do next, it would be that guy.

"Ambrosius, lend him your power—!"

As Shirou called out, he started weaving his amateur secret arts, threading [Destruction] into Goetia's Noble Phantasm.

Although they had never fought side by side before, Shirou's battle instincts and experiences let him move in perfect harmony with Goetia's attacks.

Ambrosius let out a soft sigh of resignation before lifting her hand, layering the same [Destruction] arts over Goetia's Noble Phantasm.

Their combined powers transformed the sun-like halo behind Goetia, making it shimmer with ancient symbols—now capable of breaking through Imperial Armor.

At this moment, Shirou glanced at Merlin.

Merlin immediately understood. He lowered his staff and began his rapid incantation.

For all his claims about not rapid-casting spells for fear of biting his tongue, the truth was that he just liked to slack off. As someone worthy of the Grand Caster title, his magical accomplishments were no less impressive than Morgan's.

Now, under everyone's watchful eyes, countless beams rained down on Galahad's massive form.

RUMBLE!

The earth cracked and the air itself seemed to disappear. The already twisted space broke apart even more as the brilliant rays tore through it.

Goetia's laughter boomed across the battlefield. "How do you like that? Now you know the price of crossing this king, you Imperial filth—"

But his words died in his throat as countless beams suddenly reflected back through the settling dust, flying straight back at him. In a split second, they ripped through his body, turning him into a human sieve.