~"...Kal'ethil finel..."~My prayer continued as the Moon of my Patron appeared high above me.
I lost my ability to draw upon the power of the Planet for obvious reasons, so I had to invoke my Patron to be able to sustain my Divine Core. The Darnassian continued flowing from my mouth, and the shadow of Azure Dream appeared around me. It existed in a layer beneath this space, exactly in the same spot, but in a different dimension.
At the same time, the shadow of the Garden of Eden also appeared around, overlapping with both Azure Dream and this space, another layer, another dimension. Gaia continued trying their best to prevent it, but my preparations weren't for naught. The almost full separation from the world restricted their ability to affect me, even making the use of most of Gaia's Defensive Mechanisms impossible.
This strange situation with different spaces overlapping continued until the formations in Eden and Azure Dream fully fused, a long and arduous first step, but it allowed me to get a foot in the door. Now I only needed to steal Eden from Gaia.
To do so, severing its connection from the Planet was necessary, and this could be achieved with a little sleight of hand. The tablets left in Eden were filled by me with the power of Nature, the same type of energy as Gaia utilized. While that energy was far from comparable to the part of Counter Force, as the formation set there allowed the tablets' energy to permeate the Eden much more easily, it allowed a quick replacement of the source of energy, creating a brief moment where Eden was out of Gaia's influence. In that time, I should be able to fuse Eden into my Azure Dream, bringing its power along.
And so I did just that, severing Eden from the Planet and bringing it into this space, turning the previous 'shadows' real. But this had its consequences, as now the flaming sword hanging above was also real. It instantly attacked me, bringing down the wrath of God upon me. I met it in the air, my sword shimmering with Starlight, clashing with the flames.
Strike after strike, each clash sending a ripple that made the whole space shake. Each strike of that sword was at least as strong as Solomon's ray of light I blocked previously, but with my divinity and Bestowal of Seven Sins, I was able to manage somehow. But it quickly became obvious that it wouldn't be me who broke first, but rather this space.
As a Reality Marble constructed with mostly my Remembrance, it was quite solid, but no matter how solid it was, the countles clashed reaching the rank of Anti-Human Order Noble Phantasm are too much to bear. Seeing the cracks appear around me, I quickly reached behind me, taking out the shards of Jeanne's standard, throwing them into the air.
Under my control, they flew into nodes of the formation supporting this space, strengthening it. Without repairing the standard, I couldn't use it directly, but the parts of the power still existed there, so they could stabilise and repair this dimension. As one of the strongest barrier Noble Phantasms, even part of its power was nothing to scoff at.
Such a delicate situation continued until all of Eden manifested around, turning the ashen battlefield into a vibrant garden filled with life. But I couldn't appreciate it, as the flaming sword never ceased its attacks. My armor was already cracked in some places, my right arm burned off clean, leaving only crystal bones behind. Each blocked attack left its mark on me, accumulating more and more damage. But it was too late to end now, so I continued, fighting in the air while the world below solidified in preparations for the next step.
With the Eden side of the plan done, now I need to manifest Azure Dream, and it'll be almost a done deal. So I floated above the centre of the formation, my sword brought before me as the walls of my fortress appeared around. There were no people appearing, as I was outside the time axis, but everything that was present in the Azure Dream manifested here. The crystal forest, the towering tree that overlapped with Eden's Tree of Life, the rain clouds covering everything from above it's conopy.
And all of that happened as the flaming sword tried to shatter it, its flames burning away the very space trying to stop me. This was a proof of desperation, as destroying the space like that would also harm Eden, but Gaia had no other way now. I also couldn't stop them from doing so, as such, I could only watch how the shard of Jeanne's standard after the shard was burned away, its ashes fusing into the formation. Soon, the space collapsed to the point where the separation between Camelot Singularity and me collapsed, allowing outsiders to see everything clearly.
And my appearance now was all but pleasant, most of my body was covered by wounds, if not burned off directly, leaving mostly the crystal skeleton visible, even my face had a rather ugly scar that burned off half of its left side, the crystal skull exposed. Even my sword, the blade that accompanied me since my knighting in Caria, was chipped and on the verge of breaking, but my strength never diminished. My attack power might be far from being worth the Planetary class, but my resistances and reserves were long above the requirement, my immortality suppressing even Gaia or Alaya themselves.
With how the situation developed, I also needed to take some drastic actions. While I was acting against Gaia, I never intended to burn this bridge down, so most of my actions still had a limit, but now, with such desperate resistance, I had to act accordingly.
So I gathered my blue flame, no longer planning to use Starlight to stop the flaming sword, but Night to destroy it. I flew into the air, striking the sword for the first time instead of only blocking it. The clash sent me flying back, but it also pushed the sword, leaving a visible crack on its blade. With the situation flipped now, I pushed my offense, not relenting for a moment.
And it quickly paid off, as when the who-knows-what number clash, the harsh sound of shattering metal echoed around, as both my Carian sword and the flaming sword of Eden broke apart, sending the shards raining everywhere. And as if it was the final struggle against me, the biggest shard, the core of the sword, flew directly at me, who knew was fully open, without a way to defend, as my weapon also broke.
I could only watch as the splinter pierced my chest, lodging deep into my Primal Glintstone, not shattering it, though that was a small comfort. Instantly, my body lost control; the pain of the soul splitting was not something I wished to feel again. I took all my strength to not lose control over the formation, yet with my Primal Glintstone slowly cracking, I was in a bad position. Artoria quickly moved to my side, helping me up with a face full of worry.
-"Eno."
-"Ugh."-I couldn't respond to her, my consciousness slipping away.
I had to take a few deep breaths before I managed to speak.
-"Spear."-I muttered.-"Take me…. Center… Form…at…"
She managed to understand and helped me to the center of the formation, placing her spear next to me. She continued looking at me with worry, but stepped back, allowing me to do what I wanted to do. Grasping the spear not to fall down, I gathered part of its light into the palm of my hand, placing it on my chest, right where my Primal Glintstone was.
After one last deep breath, I clenched my fist, shattering the crystal in it. But it wasn't my Primal Glintstone; it was something that existed in the same spot, but hidden from reality, my Divine Core. Instantly, all strength tried to leave me, a fall from divine back to mortal, but I stopped it, the formation siphoning the divinity back into me.
The shards of the core gathered back together, but I couldn't feel it, as my consciousness had finally succumbed to the pain. The rest was in the hands of the formation that was now controlled by Promulgator and Otto, both trying their best to make sure nothing went wrong.
Even Gaia stopped their resistance now, knowing that Eden was lost, they recalculated the approach and decided that keeping me in exchange for that dimension was better than losing both. Without their opposition, the formation managed to fuse everything together, but as it looked like all was well and done, an issue occurred.
The formation was working too well, fusing more than planned. Azure Dream and Eden were one thing; I even planned to recycle the divinity I would lose to strengthen them, but the formation absorbed the Divine Core itself, along with now shattered Ten Commandments and the shards of Luminosité Eternelle, even Artoria's spear, Rhongomyniad, got dragged along.
I drifted in and out of consciousness, feeling the changes around me and knowing that I was in trouble. Worst yet, my Primal Glintstone also got mixed into the fusion, truly endangering me for the first time. As I was planning how to escape with my life, I felt something leave me yet again. But this time, it didn't cause me harm; instead, it gathered outside of the formation.
-"Those are?"-I could hear Sakura asking.
-"Souls."-Artoria answered her, her eyes filling with tears.-"He…"
-"Impossible!"-A male voice sounded from the screen floating next to them.
-"What's going on?"-Rin asked, not following their thoughts.
-"Ehem"-A woman whose voice I recognised from the screen answered her.-"Remember the Holy Selection?"
-"Yes, what of it?"
-"We assumed that all who failed it died, but it would seem that we were mistaken. He gathered all their souls and saved them in the Grail, ensuring that they could exist after we repaired the Singularity, saving them all."
-"Why would he…"-Luvia was about to ask, before looking at the Lion King.-"Ah… I guess I can understand now."
Those souls, now freed due to my Divine Core that was created by the Grail shattering, gathered around, expressing their thanks and praying, filling me with the power of faith. But it was far from enough to change the situation, a mere drop in the bucket. When I lost consciousness one more time, I was sure that everything was about to collapse, yet I suddenly felt a strange relief flooding me.
Unbeknownst to me, another person interfered in the situation, someone I never even imagined would act. Deep from within my Originium Glintstone, my 'Creator' watched everything around me with amusement, but also some worry.
-"Sigh. They say that parents need to throw their hatchlings from their nests to make them learn to fly, but it would seem that I'm too overprotective of a mother."-There was a strange kind of attachment in her voice, not like between mother and son, more like between an artist and their masterpiece.-"But he still can't understand how to use Originium correctly. Well, let me help you one more time."
Instantly, an amber hue appeared deep within my Originium Glintstone, and a strange feeling enveloped me. It was as if I was back in Laterano, all the emotions and thoughts of Sankta surrounding me once again. Their faith, incomparably greater than that of those few souls before, fills me.
The amber hue also spreads out to the surroundings, the whole sky turning into a sea of gold. Figures of people appear around, most were Sankta, but other believers of the Lateran Church are also present. Their presence changed something in the formation. I couldn't quite understand what it was, but the fusion calmed down, no longer being so unstable.
When I opened my eyes again, the pain was gone. I stood up slowly, looking at the crowd surrounding me. Even though I know that those were only constructs from some memories, I couldn't help but feel blessed by being supported by so many people. Then I hear a voice that makes me doubt if everything was even real.
-"You look quite worn out. Need a hand?"
I turned to the side, where Laqeramaline stands with a worry in her eyes.
-"I do need it, but how are you even here. Don't tell me…"
-"I'm not dead."-She stopped me.-"I don't quite understand how it works, but I just appeared like that."
-"I might have an idea, but it'll have to wait."-I looked at the fusion still happening in front of us.
I stepped forward and stood in front of it, my hands raised forward. Laqeramaline also approached, standing next to me. I focused my attention and took control over the fusion, a sound of solemn orchestra appearing around. Laqeramaline also started to sing, her voice permeating every soul and spirit, showing the reason why she was the leader of Elegiac Court.
~"Oh Pange, Oh Pange lingua redemptio. / De mean carem, Carem mysterium. / Sanguinisque pretiosi mei."
Her words controlled the faith present everywhere, making it flow toward the formation. Seeing this, I also joined her hymn.
~"Praesertim quae, Quae mi-hi imortale. / Oh fructus, Oh fructus ventris generosi. / Rex effúdit géntium."
I felt my blood boil as a shadow different from others appeared around me, their voices joining with ours in harmony.
~"Oh Pange, Oh Pange lingua redemptio."
I could feel that those were past members of the Elegiac Court, understanding that this meant that, for some reason, I must have awakened part of my blood belonging to Banshees, but those thoughts were pushed back as the hymn continued.
~"Tantum ergo sacraméntum. / Venerémur cérnui. / Et antíquum documéntum."~Laqeramaline sang together with the Elegiac Court's choir.
I could feel the fusion finishing, everything slowly returning to normal as a strange, palm-sized object floated in the formation. On first glance, it looked like a cube, but then it seemed to be an octahedron, next an icosahedron, and a dodecahedron, before suddenly turning into a tetrahedron. It morphed between all of those shapes without any peculiar order, creating a strange hyperdimensional shape.
~"Novo cedat rítue. / Ad firmándum cor sincérum. / Sola fides sufficit."~I sang as I grasped the object with my hands.
Then the whole power that was fused into it flowed into me, returning me to the Divine position, if not even greater power. I was then surrounded by a light, the same light that had previously constructed Camelot, the light of true Rhongomyniad. As everything faded away, I could hear the chorus still singing the hymn.
~"Oh Pange, Oh Pange lingua redemptio."
I felt the emotions of CHALDEAS, but more importantly, of Artoria and Laqeramaline. I knew that there shouldn't be more danger, so I closed my eyes, letting the new power fill me.