IBHJ 1054

"For our own sake, why not?" Archbishop Moirae glared at her. "You and your followers are hypocrites. You use false pretenses to cover up the true nature of life. You use fake benevolence to restrict people's thoughts, and that is why people have become so weak."

He continued, his voice rising with every word. "Remember the trial to become a priest? Facing those magical beasts, only one in a hundred survived. That is how I know the truth—the world is a dark and brutal place where the strong prey on the weak, and the victors take everything. We must use everything at our disposal. Living for oneself is the essence of life. Aren't you the same? Why pretend to be righteous?"

Enos was silent for a moment. Then she looked at Archbishop and asked, "Do you truly believe our ancestors never considered using the Gandharans?"

Archbishop's eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean?"

"In ancient times," Enos began, "the Gandharans came to this land. They had advanced technology, vast riches, and superior wisdom. They quickly established themselves here and shared their knowledge and wealth with our primitive ancestors. But later, our ancestors betrayed them, driven by greed for even more wealth. They drove Gandharans to the brink of extinction..."

Enos looked up at the sky swarming with evil spirits. "But their destruction brought retribution. Just like today. Their hatred covered the land, poisoning the soil, killing the plants..." Her voice was heavy with sorrow. "For the sake of their descendants' survival, our ancestors chose to make amends with blood. They made a pact with the remaining Gandharans, and finally, their hatred subsided."

She looked at Moirae. "Foreigners, foreigners..." she shook her head slowly, her voice thick with disappointment. "Don't you understand? It wasn't invaders who twisted this world. It was our own greed and prejudice."

"Enough with these pointless words!" Archbishop shouted. "Their evil spirits have awakened, and the invaders are about to deliver their judgment. You and your followers have achieved nothing! But we," he declared, his voice ringing with conviction, "we will create the Giant God King and reclaim the world and era that belong to us!"

Archbishop turned to Shirou, his voice filled with unshakeable confidence. "The Giant God King is invincible!"

"Invincible?" Shirou scoffed. "That thing you call invincible was destroyed three times by those invaders before ancient times."

"Impossible!" Archbishop's eyes widened in disbelief. "Giant God King is invincible!"

"Shirou is right." Heaven's Corpse said. "Umbral Star's Vanguard shot down three of them 14,000 years ago. And the one you found," she pointed at herself with a smile, "is the one I shot down."

She continued, "And you should know, once a Vanguard is activated, it will inevitably destroy civilization. You claim you want to reclaim your world, but in the end, you will only destroy it."

"That's impossible!" Moirae's face was pale, but his voice was still firm. He refused to believe it.

Just then, ghostly howls pierced the air outside. A wave of terror washed over everyone in the room.

A guard stumbled in, his face ashen. "P-Priestess Enos," he stammered, "outside, outside—"

He gasped for breath, his eyes wide with fear, clearly too terrified to speak.

"Child, calm yourself," Enos said gently, taking a step toward him with an outstretched hand.

The guard took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. But just as he was about to speak, his body convulsed violently. He doubled over and vomited - not bile, but a writhing black evil spirit that clawed its way out of his throat and burst into the air.

The group, unfazed by the sight, immediately attacked the evil spirit. It evaded them and escaped outside, leaving a trail of hateful miasma.

Shirou strode to the door and flung it open. The sky swarmed with evil spirits, and a haze of miasma shrouded the land. Hatred and the thirst for revenge had consumed the ancient holy land.

Black mud writhed in the shadows. He considered using his black mud to absorb the hatred, but hesitated. The Gandharans were connected to the Lord of Salvation, and his mud contained its power. He might inadvertently trigger a counterattack. Shirou quickly abandoned the idea.

"Grrrooooaaarrrr!!"

A deafening roar ripped through the sky. A colossal wooden dragon appeared from the miasma, its breath scorching the earth below. Mountains crumbled, lakes evaporated, and cities turned to dust in its wake. Civilization was reduced to ruins.

"It's Uranus!"

Shirou frowned and turned to Heaven's Corpse. She stared at the dragon in stunned silence, her face pale with shock.

"This... this can't be happening. What were Saturn and the others doing?" she stammered.

"What is it, Heaven's Corpse?" Shirou pressed, his brow furrowing. As a Ultimate One, she clearly perceived something he didn't.

"That dragon... it's not just Uranus anymore! Mercury, Venus, Mars... I can sense all of them within it!" Heaven's Corpse stumbled back a step, her voice trembling with disbelief. "Even Gaia!"

"What!?"

Everyone gasped.

"That thing... it may not be as destructive as Saturn, but I sense my siblings within it. There's no mistaking it – that thing is essentially the Ultimate One of the solar system now." She turned to him. "Lævateinn won't be enough to defeat it!"

Shirou looked up at Uranus's dragon soaring through the sea of hatred, his frown deepening. "So this is Saturn's answer..."

For some reason, Saturn had been hesitant to gamble with Tethys and had imprisoned Uranus in the Sanctuary. Now, Uranus had returned with this new power – this was undoubtedly Saturn's response.

"Ort—it's Ort!" Heaven's Corpse suddenly cried out, pointing at the dragon's core.

Shirou followed her finger and saw that at the heart of the dragon, beside the Gandharan girl, was the God's Brain, Ort, who had been captured by Venus.

She was sleeping with her head bowed, bound by Uranus's wooden restraints.

"I see. I'll try to take it down."

Shirou drew Evil Blossom, transforming it into a pair of black wings. With a powerful beat that shattered the ground beneath him, he launched himself into the air.

Lævateinn materialized in his hand, its blade erupting in apocalyptic flames that turned the surrounding space red. He swung it downwards towards the dragon.

Just as Lævateinn was about to strike, Saturn's image appeared on the dragon's body. Several dimensional rifts opened in the void, and crystalline pillars shot out, blocking the sword with a deafening clang that sent shockwaves rippling through the air. Flames scattered against the scales but couldn't penetrate them.

He immediately flew back, putting distance between himself and the dragon. He regarded it with a thoughtful expression, assessing the situation.

As Heaven's Corpse had warned, the dragon, now imbued with a piece of the power of every Ultimate One, was no longer vulnerable to Lævateinn.

The dragon didn't pursue him. Instead, it unleashed its destructive breath upon the land, driving the evil spirits to slaughter the humans below.

Hatred and death spread like wildfire.

"It's not attacking Shirou," Heaven's Corpse murmured, her frown deepening. "What does it want?"

Not just her—everyone was confused. Shirou had caused serious problems for Uranus with Lævateinn. Now that the dragon had gained more power, revenge seemed like the obvious goal. But it was completely ignoring him.

The dragon circled overhead, then roared and plunged towards the lake.

"The Holy Lake!" Enos's face paled.

The dragon reached the lake, unleashing its fiery breath. The heat was intense, like a miniature sun burning the ground.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

The lake water hissed and bubbled violently, quickly turning to steam and vanishing into the air.

With another powerful roar, the dragon swept its fiery breath across the shoreline, incinerating the ancient holy land. Then it turned towards the distance, leaving a trail of destruction and a swarm of evil spirits in its wake.

Enos sighed, her shoulders slumping. "The evil spirits will destroy everything."

"The Giant God King!" Archbishop's voice rose sharply. "Only he can stop this! He's the true savior, and I am the god who will create him!"

"Moirae..." Enos looked at him with a complex expression.

"There's no time for this." Shirou landed beside them, his arm outstretched towards the sky. "Look!"

Everyone followed his gaze. A giant hourglass had appeared in the pale sky, its sand falling rapidly, grain by grain.

"What's that?" A young man in the crowd frowned in confusion.

Heaven's Corpse's face paled. She took a step back. "It's UOs's countdown."