Asuka and Artoria exchanged a glance, both nodding in silent agreement before charging out from an opening in the Bounded Field.
Behind them, the deafening battle cries of Ionioi Hetairoi shook the heavens and earth, firmly pinning down the sea of monsters and buying them time to locate the spellcasters.
However, the outside world had not completely settled down.
The river had stopped flowing, and the riverbank was eerily quiet.
*Gurgle.*
An unsettling, massive bubble burst on the water's surface.
Then a second, and a third.
Soon, bubbles continuously erupted across the entire river, the water turning as thick and viscous as boiling asphalt.
Under their watchful eyes, the center of the Mion River completely exploded.
"..."
Artoria subconsciously took a half-step back, the unseen blade in her hands humming in warning.
"...It seems we have another important guest yet to make their entrance," Asuka muttered, his face turning ashen.
Some colossal entity forcefully ruptured the earth's crust and the riverbed. With a deafening roar, an object as massive as a skyscraper breached the water!
Tens of thousands of tons of viscous river water were displaced, flooding the coastal roads.
Amidst that murky waterfall, a mountain rose.
It was a gigantic mass of flesh large enough to blot out the sky.
Its surface was slick, wreathed in green slime, and its skin was covered in thousands of writhing eyeballs and pores spewing toxic gas.
Its height even surpassed the Fuyuki City Bridge spanning the two banks. The massive shadow it cast plunged the already pitch-black city into an even deeper darkness.
"What a massive beast..." Asuka muttered, gripping his Zanpakuto tightly. He tilted his head back, staring up at the twisted monster that stood nearly a hundred meters tall. "How are we supposed to deal with something like a Menos?"
"We absolutely cannot let it reach the shore!"
Artoria stared at the dark red glow emanating from the behemoth, her expression grave. "This thing is far stronger than the previous familiars, and its regenerative abilities are likely even greater. If we don't kill it in a single strike, it will probably split into even more troublesome pieces."
As they spoke, Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets streaked across the sky.
The anomaly at the riverbank and the crash of the first wave of reconnaissance helicopters had long since alerted the authorities.
Several fighter jets flew low, locking onto the giant beast in the river.
Inside the cockpit, a pilot gasped at the sight before him. "Ground report confirmed. Unidentified giant biological entity at the riverbank... This is not an illusion! Requesting backup!"
*Boom!*
He fired a missile that struck the monster's tentacles, blasting apart a burst of green sap.
But just as Artoria had predicted, the wound writhed and regenerated rapidly. The tentacle whipped backward, ensnaring the jet in a single strike and hurling it toward the riverbank.
*Crash!*
The fiery explosion illuminated the night sky as debris scattered in all directions!
News media helicopters were also circling above the bridge.
A reporter trembled as he broadcasted live through the camera. "An unidentified explosion has occurred at the Mion River, suspected to be a terrorist attack or industrial accident... Wait, pan the camera over there!"
"Oh my god... A Self-Defense Force jet was just shot down! Is... is that a Super Beast? Viewers, are you seeing this?"
In his panic, the reporter even blurted out a term from special effects shows, leaving the audience staring at their screens in utter confusion.
Just as people were debating whether this was real news or some kind of movie promotion, the signal abruptly cut off. The screen went black before switching to an emergency weather forecast broadcast.
In the television station's control room, a staff member wiped his sweat. "Orders from the top! Cut the live feed! This is a state secret; we can't cause a panic!"
"Then how do we explain this to the viewers?"
"...Just go along with what the reporter said! Tell them it's a new theatrical release from Tsuburaya Productions!"
Watching the other two jets being driven off by the monster, Asuka spoke coldly. "They can't handle something like this. We need to interrupt the spellcasting as soon as possible."
He once again turned his gaze toward the twins high up on the bridge, tightening his grip on Nugata.
Artoria held her sword with both hands and began to regulate her breathing. "...I will destroy it."
"By yourself? Can you do it?"
"I... will release the holy sword."
Artoria's voice was resolute as her body began to radiate a dazzling golden light.
That was the Breath of the Planet, the light of hope illuminating the darkness.
The Invisible Air was dispelled, and the unseen blade previously shrouded in gale-force winds slowly revealed its true form—
Excalibur, the Sword of Promised Victory.
"Go, Avenger!"
She raised the holy sword high, magical energy surging into the blade like a torrent as she prepared for a fatal strike.
Although Asuka didn't know if she was just putting on a brave front, their relationship wasn't close enough to warrant living and dying together. Without hesitation, he replied, "Be careful. The mental contamination from this thing is incredibly strong. Don't let it affect your sanity."
With that, he sprinted toward the bridge.
Meanwhile.
*Rumble—!!!*
The sky above them split open.
All ambient noise was drowned out in that instant.
A grander, more primal roar poured directly into the depths of every living creature's soul.
Asuka looked up mid-sprint.
The massive black water sphere, several kilometers in diameter, that had previously shrouded the sky—the Bankai domain unleashed by Metastacia—now looked like a violently crushed glass bead, covered in blinding red cracks.
"That is..." Even the twins on the bridge couldn't help but look up.
From within those cracks, a berserk red spiritual pressure erupted like divine punishment.
"Look up, mongrels!!!"
"Enuma Elish—!!"
Accompanied by that supremely arrogant roar, a pillar of red and black light that defied direct sight pierced through the night sky!
Before this Anti-World Noble Phantasm capable of tearing the world apart, the deep sea domain that could originally devour everything seemed incredibly fragile.
The black seawater was instantly reduced to primordial Reishi. The massive water sphere disintegrated tens of thousands of meters in the air, transforming into a torrential black rain that blanketed the entire city.
*Splash, splash, splash—*
Midair.
The black rain poured down, every drop carrying a biting Spiritual Pressure.
But the battle was not over.
In the center of the shattered domain, a golden Vimana—missing half its wing and billowing thick black smoke—hovered precariously in the sky.
Gilgamesh stood at the ruined bow, his golden armor stained with what could be his own blood or the enemy's black mud.
In those ruby-like eyes, his killing intent had boiled to its absolute peak.
And opposite him.
The figure wearing the bone mask, despite enduring the aftershocks of Ea, had surprisingly not fallen.
Only, his condition was even more terrifying.
His original Shihakusho was completely shredded, exposing pale skin and a pitch-black Hollow hole in his chest.
The right half of his body had been almost entirely mangled, yet driven by some eerie power, it frantically proliferated a white bone shell to fill the wounds at a visible rate.
He let out a hoarse roar that sounded like a mix of crying and laughing.
The trident in his hand had snapped, but he directly plunged the broken tip into his own arm, merging it with the white bone shell to form an even more grotesque weapon.
Gilgamesh glared at the monster charging at him once again, veins bulging on his forehead. "You reckless mad dog!"
Freed from the restrictions of the high-density Reishi sea, hundreds of high-ranking Noble Phantasms shot out from the treasury behind him in an instant!
Faced with this dense barrage, the opponent seemed entirely unafraid.
*Buzz!*
The air let out an explosive pop.
The air beneath his feet compressed into a tangible foothold, his figure flashing erratically through the sky!
Sonído!