IBHJ 1245

"Just futile resistance," the Incarnation said calmly as she watched the massive army of Heroic Spirits charging toward her from all sides.

The moment those words left her mouth, beams of divine light shot from her eyes, instantly turning Vlad III and all his wooden stakes to ash before he could even get close. Then she grabbed Gungnir with her small hand, swung it gracefully, and sliced clean through both Karna's God-Slaying Spear and his right arm. Divine blood splattered everywhere, soaking the ground beneath them.

Trying to cover for Karna, Arjuna quickly drew his bow and fired a destructive arrow at the Incarnation. Without even looking, she turned and deflected it with a single thrust of her spear—sending it crashing into Cu Chulainn and Diarmuid, completely obliterating them both.

Astolfo swooped in on his Hippogriff, aiming his special lance—the one that could topple absolutely anything it touched—at the Incarnation's ankle, hoping to slow her down. But the second the Hippogriff got close enough to see her cold, terrifying gaze, the beast panicked and took off, leaving poor Astolfo behind.

As Astolfo hit the ground and tried to scramble away, the Incarnation grabbed him by his braid and simply used him like a hammer, swinging him around and smashing him into Charlemagne, Charles, and a bunch of other Heroic Spirits, sending them all flying like bowling pins.

"Spear-tip of the Star Traversing the Skies!" Achilles shouted, seizing his chance to hurl his spear at the Incarnation while trying to trap her in his duel arena to cancel out her powers. But her magical signature was just too overwhelming—his Reality Marble crumbled apart without her even having to lift a finger.

And it wasn't just his. Nero's Golden Theater, EMIYA's Unlimited Blade Works—every single Reality Marble that anyone tried to use against her just collapsed on its own. None of them could contain her massive magical signature.

"This is impossible!" Achilles growled through clenched teeth. "She's practically a divinity among divinities...!"

With a deafening roar, the legendary hero Heracles suddenly appeared before the Incarnation. His massive hand came crashing down with enough force to level mountains, but she simply raised one hand to effortlessly block his immense strength.

Just then, the battlefield grew dark as an enormous shadow covered the ground. Looking up, the Incarnation saw a massive pyramid suspended in the sky above her. There was no mistaking it, Ramesses II had summoned his Great Pyramid.

"Behold my Great Temple as it crushes you to dust! Hahaha—"

The Incarnation just looked calmly at Ramesses II while he was laughing, then without warning, she yanked Heracles' arm clean off and hurled it straight at the massive pyramid floating in the sky.

BOOM!

The force behind the throw was unbelievable. Heracles' severed arm smashed through the pyramid's barrier like it was nothing and punched a hole straight through the entire structure.

"My... my temple..."

Ramesses II's laughter cut off mid-sentence as he stared in complete shock at his now-pierced pyramid. If she had destroyed it with some kind of Noble Phantasm, that would've been one thing, but this?

It was just Heracles' arm!

How was that even possible?

This was absolutely terrifying!

The Great Pyramid wasn't just any weapon—it was an exceptional Noble Phantasm on par with the God-Slaying Spear and the Sword of Rupture. That's why Ramesses II stood among the Golden Three alongside Gilgamesh and Karna.

But the Incarnation had just demolished his temple with nothing more than a severed arm. She'd destroyed it with pure physical force!

Incredible!

This was way beyond incredible!

But it was happening right in front of their eyes!

"Something this powerful should only exist in the deepest corners of the universe... I can't believe it's actually here on Earth," Tiamat sighed.

Of everyone there, she knew the most about these things—she was a colonial ship that had established the origin of civilization. That's exactly why she was so surprised right now.

From her perspective, the Incarnation completely destroyed the natural balance of Earth—no, the entire solar system.

Even if she was born on this planet, she should have transcended like Buddha and left mortal affairs behind. But the Incarnation didn't do that. Not only did she refuse to ascend to the realm beyond, she actually sank herself deeper into the mortal world. She forcibly interfered with the planet, drove out the UOs, and even allowed Pan-Human History to perish just so she could bring back the Eternal Kingdom!

Her existence had reached the realm of transcendents, but her soul was still fighting and struggling in the mortal world.

And this made her the enemy standing in the way of Pan-Human History!

"Black Barrel—!" Jeanne said sharply as she pulled the trigger. The rifle—one of the seven superweapons from the Atlas Institute—fired a black beam straight at the Incarnation.

Black Barrel was just its nickname. What this weapon really did was serve as a "Conceptual Weapon of natural life-span." It delivered attacks proportional to the target's lifespan—strong against powerful beings, weak against weaker ones. If you shot an ordinary human with it, it wouldn't be any different from a regular rifle. But if you aimed it at someone like UO, it would at least send them to the edge of the afterlife. That's why the Black Barrel had another name: Longinus.

But could even this legendary "Longinus" take down the Incarnation?

The answer was negative.

With just a quick slashing sound, the Incarnation simply cut through the Black Barrel's lifespan black beam using Gungnir like it was nothing special.

Jeanne pressed her lips together, clutching the rifle tightly in her hands. The Incarnation just stared back calmly, not even slightly surprised.

"Heroes, just give up," she said. "On this planet—no, in this entire star system—nothing exists that can defeat me. Even if all nine planets combined their power, it would just be pointless resistance. Yes, Pan-Human History may have perished, but my dynasty will rise again on this land, on this planet. I'm willing to let you become human again and start new lives here—all you need to do is stop fighting."

She extended her hand toward all the Heroic Spirits.

They stared back at her, hesitating.

She was just too powerful—impossibly powerful. So overwhelming that they could barely even find the will to keep fighting.

Everyone fell silent.

But then—BOOM!

A strange beam of altered divine light suddenly cut through the night sky, striking directly at the Incarnation.

She tore apart the divine light with her bare hands and clenched her fist, turning toward wherever the attack had come from. Everyone followed her gaze and saw Shirou standing there, Caliburn in his hand glowing with mysterious, destructive energy.

"Don't make me do this..."

The Incarnation clenched her fist tightly. If it had been anyone else, she would have torn them apart just like she did to Heracles. But this was Shirou, and that's the only reason she held herself back.

It was Shirou who had single-handedly kept the Kingdom from falling apart. Shirou who had built the Eternal Kingdom in the first place. And ironically, it was because of him that she—the weakest Counter Force even existed. In a way, she was literally born because of him.

Everyone in the Eternal Kingdom worshipped and admired the Eternal King, and she wasn't any different. Because of their connection, she could put up with almost anything Shirou did, even when he walked away from the Eternal Kingdom.

But now he stood against her.

And that was the one thing she couldn't handle.

Her voice trembled. "Please don't force my hand...!"

Shirou glanced at her, his eyes lingering on the golden crown she wore—the symbol of the Eternal King, representing all the hope and trust of his former subjects and everything from the past. Then he looked at all the Heroic Spirits staring back at him—they represented Pan-Human History, the faith and love of friends and family, everything about the future.

Step back, and he'd betray his homeland and loved ones. Step forward, and he'd betray the subjects who had trusted him.

The past or the future?

Such a cruel choice. How could anyone decide?

But…

Shirou raised Caliburn and said with deep conviction. "I'm fighting for the future!"

The Kingdom was already gone. All that remained were the spirits of those who couldn't let go, spirits filled with hatred.

He couldn't allow his past accomplishments to become weapons of hatred that hurt innocent people and erased his friends and family from existence. Instead, he would carry the burden of that destruction while facing toward the sunrise of tomorrow. He would make sure the kingdom's story lived on, so that everyone who had lived there would be remembered in history.