As the Noble Phantasms of two Grand Servants clashed, the heart of the Temple of Time was carved apart, becoming a forbidden domain that defied even the laws of nature. At that decisive moment, the tide of battle shifted irrevocably.
Thanks to Artoria's intervention, the ultimate combatants—Lord Logres and Grand Archer Gilgamesh—were successfully sealed away into another battle of gods zone. Finally, Chaldea's forces had seized the chance they had long yearned for: a once-in-a-lifetime shot at uniting their collective power to challenge the ultimate mastermind seated upon the throne.
"Amazing... Saber and King Gilgamesh are..."
Fujimaru Ritsuka gazed across the battlefield, bathed in golden light. A flash of anxiety flickered across his face, but it hardened into resolve. "We can't lose either!"
Of all present, Goetia himself felt the greatest sense of exhilaration—finally freed from the one-sided humiliation visited upon him. For a brief moment, his thoughts were consumed by the two Grand Servants; only then could he turn his burning gaze of vengeance to his fated nemesis, King Solomon, who haunted his dreams.
A tense, almost manic grin of relief and exultation danced across the face of the false Solomon.
"At last... Finally, it's just the two of us left, Solomon!"
Goetia roared, abandoning all trickery. He channeled the complex, vast power of the seventy-two demon gods directly into his limbs and bones. Casting aside the combat style of the King of Magecraft, he chose instead the most primal, emotion-fueled method: close-quarters combat.
Boom!
The ground beneath him cracked in an instant. Goetia shot through the air like a black cannonball, racing straight for Solomon on the throne. His right fist burned with the flames of the demon god Bathin and smoldered with the regenerative power of Phenex. Just one punch filled the air with the scent of singed flesh.
Facing this sudden, point-blank onslaught, Solomon's brows knitted slightly. He was facing unprecedented pressure. Firstly, Goetia's resistance was direct and overwhelming; every punch and kick brimmed not just with physical force, but also the concepts represented by each Demon Pillar—curses of Aamon, sovereignty of Baal, the revelation of all knowledge by Buer...
Combined in the cruelest manner, these attacks forced Solomon to divert enormous energy into magical defense and bodily evasion—all with the nimble physical abilities equal to his finest defense spells. For the first time, the regal white robe adorning him appeared tousled amid this ferocious brawl.
Secondly came the ceaseless interference from Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash Kyrielight. Infused with Steve's "Memory of the Future," Ritsuka was no longer a greenhorn relying solely on Mash. Like a seasoned commander, they stood quietly at the rear, both hands aglow with Command Spell light, constantly summoning Shadow Servants from nothingness.
"—Lancer, Gae Bolg Alternative!"(Scáthach)
"—Saber, Caladbolg!"(Fergus)
"—Rider, Chariot My Love!"(Medb)
Ritsuka now treated Noble Phantasms, each usable just once, as mere consumables—mercilessly launching them at every gap in Solomon's defenses. Meanwhile, Mash functioned as an unyielding fortress; her sole duty was to intercept every attack from Marisbury Animusphere.
As for the lord of the Animusphere family, his complexion was a ghastly pale. Without Solomon's support or prior preparation, he could no longer deploy Anima Animusphere in an instant, leaving him a mere expert magus. Firing barrages of black Gandr bullets from his fingertips or tossing rune-engraved stones, he sought to bypass Goetia and snipe Ritsuka—the core of all tactics. But every strike was unerringly blocked by Mash's mighty shield, which seemed itself to possess the ability to predict each trajectory.
The last, and most destructive, pressure came from Olga Marie Animusphere. Once deemed a failure by her father, she now delivered the decisive finishing blow. Unlike Ritsuka, she could neither summon Noble Phantasms, nor, as a pseudo-servant, could she unleash her own after using the Cosmic Class Card. Nonetheless, her deep mastery of celestial magecraft let her wreak the most subtle and potent interference—constantly generating ultra-gravity zones along Solomon's route or warping spatial coordinates just as he began chanting.
Though these disruptions did not directly wound him, they greatly slowed and encumbered every single one of Solomon's actions, often causing his spells to fizzle as coordinates shifted mid-casting. Like a dancer forced to perform ballet on a muddy swamp, all his superb skills were enfeebled.
To maintain magical supply and support for Lord Logres, counter Goetia's conceptual punches at close quarters, evade Ritsuka's ceaseless barrage of Noble Phantasms, shield against Olga Marie's spatial interference, and protect Marisbury from Mash's looming counterattacks—he bore simultaneous pressure on five fronts while most of his core Servant abilities were sealed.
In the end, barely dodging another illusory spiral sword and glancing aside Goetia's freezing fist with his elbow, for the first time, a bead of luminous sweat trickled down Solomon's once-impassive brow. He was tired. His human-machine mode had always functioned with supercomputer-like precision; now, overloaded calculations finally created momentary lag, a hesitation.
Goetia spotted the flaw immediately.
"Now!"
With a bellow, Goetia abandoned all defense and poured every ounce of strength into his right arm. The devastating elbow strike, carrying the vengeful curses of the seventy-two Demon Gods, crashed into Solomon's chest with supernatural speed and force.
"Puff—!"
Even the foundational spirits of the Grand Servants, embodying the resolve of the King of Humanity, shuddered under this blow, uttering unbearable cries of tension. Solomon, losing equilibrium for the first time, staggered several steps backward. Marisbury Animusphere, who stood behind, was flung to the ground by the shockwave in a sorry heap.
Though the battlefield remained deadlocked, this single, decisive strike tipped the balance—slowly but surely—entirely in Chaldea's favor!
From aside, Steve, having witnessed everything through the fog of battle, finally broke into a proud, paternal smile. Those children he'd once forced to grow up too soon had, at last, earned this long-awaited dawn through their own efforts.
…