Chat group, if you have anything to say to my Holy Sword,

"why?"

Xiling stopped and tilted her head, smiling as she looked at the other person.

Don't you think... you've asked this question many times already?

Yes... he asked countless times! But this monster in front of him never gave him a clear and serious answer!

Goetia's voice suddenly rose, filled with absolute certainty and incomprehensible anger:

"You are clearly not human! You are not even a creature of this world!"

Goetia was certain that the other party could not possibly be from this world! Such an existence could never have been born on this planet!

"You who have absolutely no connection to this planet, humanity, or any of this! Why? Why are you standing in our way, on the path to our great cause that is destined to change everything?"

“Why on earth is this happening?”

Goetia's voice resounded throughout the ruined Temple of Time:

"Tell me! This planet itself is a huge mistake! And the humans who live on this planet are nothing but filthy waste piled up from these mistakes!"

"Slaughter! Deception! Hatred! Arrogance! Madness!... Their history is filthy, their future is worthless!"

"Tell me!!! Why are you hindering my great undertaking of burning everything and rebuilding everything for these worthless specks, who are less than dust! Answer me—!!!"

Faced with Getia's roar and questioning, Xiling's face showed helplessness.

"Sigh..." Xiling sighed.

"You people always talk about ambition, ideals, and great achievements... Who can understand those convoluted, high-sounding principles?"

"In the end, I'm just an ordinary hero. What do you have to do with my holy sword... oh, the holy sword isn't here."

"...But it's alright! You don't need to force yourself to talk to the Holy Sword! Just say whatever you want to say to this sword—it understands!"

Xiling conjured a sword in her hand and pointed it at Goetia above.

"And even if it strikes you, it won't hurt as much as the Holy Sword, will it?"

Seeing Xiling's unyielding attitude and complete disregard for his profound questions, Goetia's last shred of reason in trying to understand the other person completely collapsed!

"Enough!!!" Goetia roared like thunder. "You're not human, yet you've perfectly learned all the despicable, base, stupid, and arrogant traits of humanity!!"

He spread his arms, and the aura of the Demon God Pillar erupted like a tsunami!

"A blasphemous being like you should be thrown into the flames that burn everything, along with all the filth on this flawed planet, for complete purification!"

The conversation is completely over! All that remains is a fight to the death!

Goetia abandoned the last vestige of pretense to maintain her human form!

An indescribable, terrifying vortex of magical power erupted from the center of Goetia!

At this moment, one of humanity's evils emerges—the beast of mercy.

in force!

"I am the Humanity-Incinerating Formation—Demon King Goetia"

"Unknown being! You are far too dangerous! Your very existence is the greatest threat to our great cause and to our new future!"

Goetia raised his hand high, and at that moment the black sun burned with terrifying light, a structural light band formed by the thermal energy of the entire planet's biological combustion every second of 3000 years of human history.

At this moment, with the will of Goetia, it burst forth with an unprecedented light!

The terrifying energy fluctuations caused the entire Temple of Time to begin to crumble!

"Destroy! Unleash the Third Noble Phantasm! [The time of birth has come; with this—correct all things]!"

Om-! ! !

A massive, cross-shaped beam of annihilation, tearing everything apart, hurtled towards Xiling!

Seeing Goetia activate her Noble Phantasm... Xiling smiled.

next second!

Xiling's figure was instantly submerged, disintegrated, and vanished without a trace.

done?

However, Goetia felt no joy upon seeing this scene, only horror!

The reason is simple—in the brilliance of that incinerating treasure…

He felt it!

He sensed something piercing through the destructive torrent, step by step, with unparalleled stability, clarity, and reality... walking towards him!

impossible!

Nothing should remain there except the brilliance of his Noble Phantasm! Everything should be erased by the power of the Noble Phantasm!

There can only be absolute nothingness there!

But the steady footsteps, one after another, were clearly imprinted on his senses! This terrified him more than any attack!

The light from the light cannon finally ran out.

In the core area of ​​the Temple of Time, a chilling void appeared, and everything vanished completely in the cross-shaped flames.

"Finally... gone?" This thought rose uncontrollably in Goetia's chaotic consciousness, carrying a trace of luck that even he himself despised.

however--

thump.

Another extremely faint footstep sounded!

He suddenly looked around, but no matter how he looked, he couldn't see anyone.

Goetia's demonic body trembled violently! His gaze swept in all directions!

null! null! null!

There was no energy reaction, no matter fluctuation, and nothing observable!

But the footsteps continued.

Boom...boom...boom...

Each sound was like a drumbeat trampling on Goetia's reason. An emotion he thought he would never possess—the fear inherent in humanity—began to grow wildly like a poisonous vine.

He felt an absurd suffocation, an oppression stemming from the unknown!

Just as this ever-accumulating fear, threatening to crush him, reached its peak—

The footsteps stopped directly in front of him.

In that void that had just been plowed by the Noble Phantasm, a void that should have been absolutely lifeless.

A calm voice rang out clearly:

Do you know... what a hero is?

hum-

Accompanying the words were scattered points of light! It wasn't magic, nor energy, but rather... the glow of some concept itself! Countless tiny points of light appeared out of thin air and began to converge towards the center!

The light grew brighter and more concentrated.

"I am."

The light spots outlined a blurry human figure.

"So-called heroes are just a bunch of self-centered madmen."

"They firmly believed they could save the world," the point of light solidified, and Xiling's figure materialized, as if he had never left the spot. His clothes were intact, not even a single hair was disheveled, and his face still wore that faint smile that now froze Goetia's soul. "No matter if the road ahead is full of thorns, or leads to the end of hell..."

Xiling slightly raised her hand, as if touching the embers of the treasure that had not yet completely dissipated, the movement as casual as brushing dust off her shoulder.

"...I don't care."

Goetia's vision froze.

The person in front of me is in perfect condition! My strongest attack has no effect whatsoever!

"I have only one goal."

"That is to save the world."

"That is my mission, and also... my ideal."

The light completely subsided, revealing Xiling's figure in its entirety.

"And until my ideals, my mission, are fulfilled—"

"Death will never come to me!"

"This is our hero—"

Xiling leaned forward slightly, and the smile on her face seemed to widen a little.

"—The enemy you are about to face!"

The moment Xiling appeared fully in sight—

Goetia uncontrollably moved back two full steps!

This is not an instinctive avoidance of combat!

This is retreat!

It originates from the most primal and fundamental aspect of life—fear!

The emotions he regarded as the worst aspects of human nature now surged forth like a burst dam, overwhelming all his rational defenses!

"impossible--!!!"

A piercing roar erupted from Goetia's mouth!

This roar was not only to deny what was in front of him, but also to deny the uncontrollable fear in his heart!

To completely dispel this shameful weakness, Goetia raised his arm towards the suffocating white figure before him—

He threw a powerful punch!

His fist failed to land on Xiling because the Starry Cloak automatically blocked the opponent's attack.

At this moment, Xiling completely ignored Getia's meaning and walked past him with a smile.

As Xiling moved forward, the ruins of the Temple of Time were restored like sand flowing backward in an hourglass.

As Xiling ascended the throne, turned around, and plopped down on it, smiling as she looked down at Getia, who seemed to have discovered something and was standing there dumbfounded, Xiling spoke with a smile.

"After fighting for so long, you finally unleashed your Noble Phantasm? Are you blind to the future?"

These words pierced Goetia's heart like a sharp knife.

His "futuristic vision" has indeed disappeared.

No, to be more precise, it was "covered up".

"You shouldn't be afraid, and you shouldn't forget to resist my invasion."

"Sorry, our battle is over." Xiling snapped her fingers lightly.

"The current master of the Temple of Time—"

"It's time to replace him."

click-

Some invisible shackles have shattered.

Goetia looked down sharply and saw his body disintegrating—one by one, the seventy-two demons detached from his body, not daring to make a sound, like lambs being targeted by their natural enemies.

"What's going on!"

"Oh, this?" Xiling tilted her head and chuckled. "If you're scared, you can't expect them not to be, can you?"