Chapter 114. Has Kaguya reset three hundred million times already?
[Mount Fuyuki, a towering black tower like a sword piercing straight into the heavens.]
[In the sky, amidst the sequence of resounding booms caused by continuously compressed air, along with the clattering footsteps, a young girl dressed in black with an exquisite face appeared at the top of the high tower.]
[A gloomy, violent wind blew past, smoothing her somewhat indifferent eyebrows.]
[This moment, she had experienced countless times.]
[She had once failed.]
[She had once been lost.]
[She had once been sorrowful.]
[She had once been in despair.]
[Yet... through endless years of tempering, everything returned to silence.]
[This time, the great undertaking will surely succeed...]
["Tack!"]
[In the very next moment, amidst a faint groan.]
[Shinomiya Kaguya staggered, bracing against the smooth wall, her slender, fair wrist showing protruding blue veins.]
...
What just happened?
Many people were bewildered, even professional advisory teams from various nations looked puzzled. No matter how intelligent, they couldn't deduce the truth from such scant information.
Suddenly, a scornful, arrogant laugh echoed.
...
["Hmph~ mongrel, finally in so much pain you can't endure it anymore, huh?"]
[A brilliant golden beam of light descended from the clouds, falling into the black tower.]
[Immediately after, as golden particles gathered, the Oldest King clad in gleaming golden armor stood tall.]
[His gaze was filled with contempt, arms crossed as if letting out a cold snort, his tone could not hide the gloating at others' misfortune.]
[As a collaborator, he only acknowledged the goal, but absolutely did not acknowledge the woman named Shinomiya Kaguya.]
[The acknowledgment of a King is by no means so cheap...]
[Gilgamesh let out a light scoff, thinking of a dear friend who was like an emerald fairy, his mood improved slightly.]
[In the darkness where not even five fingers could be seen.]
[Kaguya bit her upper lip tightly, her blood-red eyes let out a low groan.]
[A black flame symbolizing calamity was burning on her body.]
[There was no compassion.]
[There was no malice.]
[Only indifference, ruthlessly incinerating her existence.]
[Those scattered remnants were also her, yet they had not merged into the concept of "Shinomiya Kaguya".]
[That pain was more terrifying than having her soul torn apart piece by piece.]
["Forcibly merging too many personalities, turning contradictions and incompatibilities... into a total incineration of one's own existence..."]
[Gilgamesh raised his wine cup, arrogantly seated on the throne, one leg crossed over the other, raising his brow and smirking as he said: "Then in the end, even if your grand wish is fulfilled, would the one on that throne still be you?"]
[He mocked, he scorned, but he had the right to be arrogant.]
[As the King of Heroes, the oldest Heroic Spirit, he had known it all from the very beginning.]
[Using the EX-rank Noble Phantasm he possessed, 『Sha Naqba Imuru: The Omniscient Omnipotent Star』, he saw countless soul fragments hidden deep within the one named "Shinomiya Kaguya" — a "monster".]
[Even the soul weight of a Heroic Spirit bearing the title King of Heroes was only equivalent to several hundred thousand people, yet that girl had crushed, fused, and burned three hundred seventy million versions of herself to complete the ultimate transcendence!!]
[Kaguya raised her head coldly, in pain surpassing human limits, she still calmly spoke: "Is that all you wanted to say?"]
[Even Gilgamesh was momentarily stunned.]
[Truly unaffected?]
[A long while later, he quietly placed the golden wine cup down, and only then slowly said: "I'm starting to admire you a little."]
[However.]
[Without paying any attention to the praise from that Ancient King, Kaguya rose from the burning black mud, her long waterfall-like hair flowing freely, her figure — no one knew since when — had become tall and imposing, as if she had aged ten years in just a moment.]
[Her gaze swept past Gilgamesh, lifting her snow-white chin to look toward the empty void beside her: "You finally arrived? Still haven't improved one bit, Yukinoshita."]
[Immediately after, she calmly glanced at Gilgamesh, her eyes carrying an undeniable command.]
["...Hmph, getting more and more audacious, daring to make this King deal with such vermin."]
[Gilgamesh immediately frowned with displeasure, yet still transformed into a golden light and dispersed.]
["I will wait at the final gate, if they can even make it here."]
[The dark hall once again returned to silence.]
[Only the cold flame continued to burn upon a human form.]
[A long time later.]
["This scene again, huh…"]
[A tall woman stepped out of the sea of flames, a long flexible tail had at some point appeared and wrapped around the cloak beside her, and from her forehead bones, it was as if horns were starting to grow.]
[Draped in a grand robe, Kaguya slowly walked toward the throne.]
["Then let us continue — the three hundred seventy millionth time, our end."]
[Behind her.]
[GRAAAHHH!!!]
[Amidst the frenzied roar.]
[Black mud exploded, two ferocious silhouettes charged out.]
[The tyrant wielding an evil sword broke through the clouds, the giant with pitch-black skin and marble-like muscles shot upward, crashing into the heavy wall, roaring as he burst out of the Black Tower, rushing toward the distant aura.]
...
The background music surged violently, and as people watched the two Servants in terrifying corrupted forms, reality fell into dead silence — humans stared blankly at the sky.
Insane.
Completely insane.
No one could react — no matter how powerful a youkai or demon, even they were frozen in shock!
Across the entire world — Paris, London, New York, Seoul... countless people were horrified, unable to believe their eyes, feeling as if their souls had been frozen, cold to the bone, with Shinomiya Kaguya's words madly echoing in their minds:
"Three hundred seventy million times, our end…"
Motherfucker.
Their whole bodies froze, eyes blank, brains trembling uncontrollably!!
Combined with the narrative, and the judgment of the Heroes King through the Noble Phantasm『Sha Naqba Imuru: The Omniscient Omnipotent Star』.
My god — the dozens of reincarnation theories they had argued over... truly childish play in comparison.
This was a reincarnation cycle reaching nine digits — through that endless repetition, just what kind of terrifying monster had this Holy Grail War birthed...
As the nations remained silent, the perspective once again returned to the battlefield, where smoke and fire raged endlessly.
...
[In the vast primeval forest, a young girl wrapped in her arm the saint shroud, Reinforcement deployed, she soared through the sky like a bird.]
[Yukinoshita Yukino could clearly see how magnificently and brutally this land had been ravaged.]
[Because at the center, where the Black Tower had emerged from the ground, after that magnificent structure rose to the heavens, a radius stretching for dozens of kilometers had been completely reduced to shattered ruins.]
[That was the scar this Holy Grail War had left on the planet.]
[And she, Yukinoshita Yukino...]
[Had come to end all of these battles.]
[After Origin awakened, with just a light push she could shoot high into the sky, a deep breath alone could carry her a thousand meters forward, power surging endlessly from within her body.]
[Grasping a sharp blade, it felt as though she could cleave mountains, tear the earth apart at any moment.]
["Is this... a Heroic Spirit?"]
[She whispered softly.]
[So powerful ~~]
[So free…]
[Yukinoshita Yukino spread her arms wide, like a bird soaring through the sky.]
[Embracing the wind, feeling a domain no mortal could ever reach.]
[A realm that once belonged to demigods of the ancient ages.]
[Later on, it was said that at some unknown point, a Holy King had created the Throne of Heroes…]
[That's right.]
[In the history she knew, the Throne of Heroes — transcending both time and space — was something created by mankind.]
[It allowed mortals, after death, to ascend through great deeds, reaching the realm of demigods, even standing equal to true God Kings.]
(Note: Seriously, I'm completely confused, I have no idea what the author is trying to cook up here...)
[But...]
[That was a power meant only for the dead.]
[A taboo that the living must never touch...]
[Crack————]
[With a sound like shattering steel, the girl's expression changed. She clutched her arm and hastily landed on a nearby hillside.]
[Bright red blood seeped through her fingers. She could vaguely see a sharp blade — like a sword — growing from the tombstone called her "body." Her long black hair had, at some unknown point, turned stark white.]
[A grayish white, exactly like the hair of Heroic Spirit Yukino.]
[Origin rampage!]
[This was power that belonged solely to the dead.]
[The closer she approached Heroic Spirit, the closer she approached death — an unshakable iron law, unless the Holy King who created the Throne of Heroes personally...]
[Yukinoshita Yukino's expression changed. Her whole body trembled. Without time to think, a blue light flashed in her palm, forming a sword — a Noble Phantasm — which she immediately hurled into the sky.]
[At the same time, sensing an eerie chill, she launched herself into the air, dashing toward the right hillside to evade.]
[In the next instant——]
["GRAAAAAHHH!!!!"]
[The heavens roared, accompanied by an earth-shaking roar of rage!]
[A ferocious black shadow stormed down from the sky.]
[His blazing red eyes exuded savagery and fury, as he unleashed peerless combat technique, swinging a massive axe that tore through the air, in an instant creating countless gleaming axe arcs.]
[His muscular body bulged with power, each sinewy curve like rippling waves, radiating dominance.]
[Immediately afterward, his axe collided with the Noble Phantasm that had been thrown, and a crisp shatter resounded!]
[The force of the impact spread downward, like heavenly thunder crashing into the ruined earth.]
["BOOM BOOM BOOM!!"]
[In the blink of an eye, within a radius of several kilometers, violent compression explosions echoed, the ground splitting into deep crevices dozens of zhang deep, igniting strange black flames that could not be extinguished, releasing an aura of terror!]
[Fortunately, the girl — who had inherited the technique of Heroic Spirit Yukino — had retreated in time, avoiding serious injury.]
["Kaguya, is this your welcome gift to me..."]
[From a distant mountaintop, Yukino panted heavily, her eyes tense as she looked in that direction.]
[That tall and wild figure stood towering atop the desolate mound, his chest heaving, his presence overwhelming.]
[He was Kaguya's Sentinel — the son of Zeus corrupted by the Black Holy Grail — 『Heracles』, the God of Strength!]
...
"So it's come to this already, huh..."
Amidst the clouds, the mistress of Ōe-yama — Shuten Douji — softly sighed, "That girl… does she really intend to face a foe that cannot possibly be defeated?"
The fog surrounding the Holy Grail War had been pulled back.
From Yukinoshita Yukino's standpoint, she could not feel even a sliver of hope for victory. Everything felt predestined — and that despair sent chills down one's spine.
Even if she defeated Heracles, so what? Other formidable enemies were still lurking in the shadows.
At this moment, was there still a need to keep fighting?
Now, there were quite a few people silently praying for Yukinoshita Yukino.
Upon seeing that snow-like girl choose to shoulder everything, charging alone into the storm like a solitary warrior — who wouldn't feel sympathy?
...
"It's over, it's over, Hayasaka, I've turned into a full-blown villain..."
Inside the Shinomiya estate, someone was biting a hand towel in despair.
Her good reputation had gone up in smoke.
She had become the wicked girl who destroyed the world and drove a wedge between the main couple!
"Kaguya-sama, this too was something unavoidable."
The blonde maid beside her spoke with a calm gaze, as if comforting the young lady — though the corners of her lips were slightly curved.
Kaguya-sama really is too cute~