“What?
You’re inciting sisters to fight each other?”
“You’re actually laying a hand on your Master’s family?”
Saint George’s brows furrowed so tightly they were practically knotted together.
Sebastian Lucifer couldn’t be bothered to waste any more words on him.
He didn’t care whether the man hated him or not.
He was a Master, while George was a Heroic Spirit summoned by a rival Master.
More importantly, Sebastian was a Devil, and George was a hero affiliated with the Heaven faction.
From the very root, they were natural enemies.
Even if Sebastian talked until his lips fell off, they would still have to fight.
So…
if a battle was inevitable, why talk so much?
Sebastian gripped the hilt of Yamato with both hands and slammed his blade violently against Saint George’s longsword.
In terms of raw physical strength, Sebastian wasn’t much stronger than the legendary hero.
But when it came to speed, they weren’t even on the same level.
Six rapid slashes struck Saint George’s blade almost simultaneously.
The light of the edge exploded like a blooming flower, pinning George down completely and forcing him backward by raw force, even though he held his sword with both hands.
Taking a step back, Sebastian gripped the hilt with one hand and slowly sheathed Yamato with the other.
“My power shall be absolute.”
Clang—
The sound of the blade ringing out was like a sweeping gale, sharp and piercing.
To a bystander, it looked as if Sebastian had simply sheathed his weapon, letting the steel slide smoothly into its scabbard.
But in reality, dozens of dimensional slash marks had already crisscrossed through the air, wrapping Saint George tightly from every angle and locking his sword so he couldn’t move.
Saint George’s eyes widened sharply.
A golden radiance exploded from his body, and the divine glory surrounding him collided with the incoming slashes, sparking blinding flashes.
Yet, George knew these basic attacks wouldn’t stop the Devil before him.
Taking advantage of the brief opening, George poured his demonic-slaying magic into his weapon, igniting blue flames along the blade.
“Very well!
Then let me open your eyes!” George roared.
Surging with strength, Saint George tore through the spatial slashes in front of him.
He brandished his burning holy sword, leaving dozens of afterimages as he blocked the dense barrage of attacks.
Logically, the sharp, space-cutting strikes of Yamato weren’t something an ordinary weapon could withstand.
Sensing this, Sebastian flicked his wrist, sending four glowing Summoned Swords flying toward his opponent.
With his magic reaching its absolute peak, Saint George ignored the phantom blades, letting them crash directly into his holy aura.
The Summoned Swords struck his shield of divine glory, deflecting harmlessly and shattering into light across the ground.
George assumed the classic stance of a knight executing a severe judgment.
His voice echoed with conviction: “This is the true form of Ascalon!
You are a dragon!
You are guilty!
Sword of blessing, be absolute in strength!”
Golden magic flooded the holy sword, wrapping it entirely in light until it resembled a glowing cross.
It was blindingly holy and intensely oppressive.
The sheer pressure drowned out the wind, compressing the air until it produced a low, booming roar.
It was the ultimate trump card specifically designed to destroy Dragons and Devils alike—a lethal poison to any fiend of the Underworld.
“The outcome is decided!
Devil, fall!” George cried out.
The golden longsword descended from high above, aiming straight for Sebastian’s neck in a sharp, diagonal slash.
Sebastian stood completely motionless, looking as though he had been frozen by fear.
Though Saint George felt a momentary flicker of suspicion, the blow was already fully committed and couldn’t be pulled back.
The holy sword struck Sebastian’s neck.
Simultaneously, Sebastian’s Yamato rested lightly against George’s throat.
Saint George paid no attention to the blade at his neck.
As a Heroic Spirit, his physical body was temporary.
If he could trade his life to eliminate the Lucifer heir, it would be a massive victory for Heaven.
Clang!
Saint George’s holy sword struck Sebastian’s skin—and failed to leave even a single scratch.
The golden light had looked imposing, but in front of Sebastian, it faded like a faint star in the midday sun.
[Traits of the Morningstar: Complete immunity to light and holy damage.]
Sebastian offered a calm smile.
Saint George’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
How could this be?
How could a Devil exist in this world who doesn’t fear Holy Light?!
Before he could process the impossible truth, it was already too late.
Yamato sliced smoothly across his neck.
George’s vision tilted wildly as his body dissolved into golden dust, scattering into the night wind.
Watching the Heroic Spirit fade away, Sebastian casually sheathed his sword.
“Sigh…
I wanted to give you a more respectful death, but stabbing you through the heart with Yamato felt like bad luck.
My apologies.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, blue specks of light drifted away from his body.
His True Devil Form deactivated, and a sudden wave of weakness washed over him.
It had looked like an effortless victory, but every step had required careful precision.
Sebastian didn’t possess a massive pool of magic power to begin with, and this brief duel had consumed half of his reserves.
[Check-in Reward Claimed: Magic Amplification.]
Clang!
Farther across the battlefield, a spear collided with an arrow, creating a deafening shockwave that sounded like heavy artillery.
Lightning and fire intertwined, tearing violently at the surrounding space.
The sheer destruction dragged the area back to ancient times, bringing legendary mythical battles to life.
Karna and Arjuna fought in complete silence.
They weren’t acting like the tragic, dramatic brothers bound by fate in stories; neither of them roared or shouted.
Karna was naturally quiet, and Arjuna refused to waste a single word on his rival.
Both focused entirely on the kill.
A single second of lost concentration would mean immediate death.
Because both combatants went all-out from the very beginning, the duel moved toward its climax at breakneck speed.
“Let’s decide the outcome with this strike!” Arjuna declared.
He loosed a final arrow and discarded his bow.
“Roar of the Fire God!”
A portion of the flames controlled by Karna broke free from his command, swirling rapidly around Arjuna.
The temperature soared, shifting the fire from bright red to an intense, burning blue.
Karna’s gaze remained cold and steady.
He adjusted his grip, pointing the tip of his spear directly at the swirling blue inferno.
A massive turret of condensed flame materialized around Arjuna.
Standing at the peak, he locked his sights onto Karna below.
Whoosh—
A beam of hyper-compressed blue light blasted forward the instant the target was set.
Karna shifted his weight to brace for the impact, but the sheer force drove him backward, plowing a deep trench into the earth and sending him flying.
As blue smoke billowed and flames scorched the air, Arjuna caught a faint flicker of red light within the haze.
He immediately realigned his ultimate attack, locking onto the red glow.
Before he could fire again, a calm, undeniable voice pierced through the roar of the flames.
“O Brahma, curse my body.”
The surrounding temperature spiked drastically as the red light flared like a dying star.
Crimson flames wrapped around Karna’s spear, and he hurled it with absolute precision.
The blast swept away the thick smoke faster than the naked eye could follow.
Arjuna pressed his hands against his flaming turret, watching the golden spear hurtle toward him.
Without hesitation, he abandoned the structure and leaped backward to escape.
The spear struck the center of the turret.
A roaring explosion erupted, shattering Arjuna’s construct into scattered embers.
“Damn it…!” Arjuna gritted his teeth.
Before he could regain his footing, Karna’s fist slammed heavily into his face.
The force knocked him backward, but Arjuna used the momentum to snap his leg upward, striking Karna hard under the chin.
Karna took the blow without flinching, stepping heavily onto Arjuna’s foot to lock him in place while shattering the ground beneath them.
A barrage of heavy strikes rained down.
Anticipating the close-quarters rush, Arjuna wrapped his arm around Karna’s striking wrist like a serpent and slammed his open palm against Karna’s chest.
Karna was protected by his legendary golden armor, Kavacha and Kundala, making it impossible for Arjuna to pierce his defense in his current state.
However, Arjuna released a short, concentrated burst of magic power to blast them apart.
Boom!
The two warriors created distance once more, both now completely disarmed.
Arjuna knew his situation was dire.
As an Archer-class combatant, staying trapped in hand-to-hand combat against a Lancer would mean absolute defeat.
He could not afford to lose here.
A pitch-black sphere of energy materialized in his palm.
Black lightning crawled up from the shattered ground, wrapping around his arms before concentrating entirely into his hand.
“Holy domain expansion…
space stabilization…
divine punishment execution set…
all authorizations approved!”
As Karna recovered from the pushback, he caught sight of the dark energy gathering in Arjuna’s hand and let out a quiet sigh.
He could never understand why Arjuna fought so desperately for empty notions of karma and pride.
But since his opponent was throwing everything into this final strike, he would match it with equal respect.
“Witness the mercy of the King of Gods—”
Flames erupted across Karna’s body once more.
His divine golden armor dissolved into liquid light, flowing down his arms and gathering into a single point above his hand.
A spear of light—brighter and hotter than the sun itself—formed in his palm, capable of reducing even gods to ash.
At that exact moment, the two normally quiet warriors roared in unison.
“Perish within the wrath of Shiva!
[Hand of the Destroyer]!”
“Destruction is the ultimate truth—burn to ashes!
[Vasavi Shakti]!”
Two catastrophic forces collided with a deafening roar.
As the night drew to a close, a second sun crashed onto the earth, swallowing the horizon in blinding light.
Meanwhile, in another part of the battlefield, Artoria stood completely still, her holy sword held low.
The wind-based illusion, Invisible Air, had been deactivated.
Her revealed blade, Excalibur, had driven straight through Sir Lancelot’s chest, shattering his dark armor and carving a fatal wound.
Golden specks of light began to drift away from his fading form.
Artoria remained frozen in her stance.
Her bangs fell over her eyes, concealing the deep sorrow on her face.
She couldn’t understand it.
No matter how much she pondered, she couldn’t fathom how deep the hatred and madness in Sir Lancelot’s heart had to be for him to manifest as a corrupted berserker just to seek vengeance against her.
Had her leadership as King failed her knights so completely?
The moment the holy blade pierced his heart, Lancelot’s violent rampage ceased entirely.
The dark sword slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground.
As his body began to dissolve into light, the madness cleared from his eyes, leaving behind a moment of peaceful clarity.
Looking at his King one last time, Lancelot offered a gentle smile.
“…My King…”
Hearing that familiar, respectful voice, Artoria’s body stiffened in grief.