Buzz—!
The manifested colossal goddess crushed the courtyard buildings of Ryuudou Temple beneath her. The terrifying tide of magical energy seemed to obliterate everything, engulfing the barrier that sealed the temple grounds. It now fluttered like dry leaves in a storm, on the verge of collapse.
"Hahahahaha—! Magnificent! Truly magnificent!! What a beautiful, powerful, and enchanting form this is—"
A storm laden with debris from the shattered buildings roared past at close range. The oppressive force pressed against every inch of skin, and even Caster Medea couldn't help but begin to retreat.
As a fellow Greek, Medea naturally knew the story of Medusa and the Gorgon sisters all too well. Even without being chosen as a vessel by a divine will, Medusa, empowered by the liberated Golden Fleece (Argon Coin), was already a genuine beast goddess.
And yet, the figure of Lev—wearing a green overcoat and tall top hat—remained completely still, utterly unafraid.
His face, twisted into a grotesque expression of feral ecstasy, was horrifying to behold. Lev spread his arms wide like a mad medieval zealot, emotions surging, wild and hysterical.
"This ignorant, hopeless, and despair-ridden world—I can't bear to let it go on for another moment!"
"The world shall return to its proper course and once again receive the favor of the King!"
Rip!
As he shouted, Lev's right hand, trembling with excitement and bulging veins, plunged deep into his own chest.
His finely crafted overcoat stretched taut from the force of his grip and then tore. His fingernails pierced his own flesh, staining the fabric with blood.
"Your Majesty, if it is you, then Our long-cherished wish is no mere dream! Let the world and laws of the past be revived in the modern age!!"
"With this body, with this spiritual foundation, with the authority belonging to the goddess of creation!"
His speech accelerated, his expression grew increasingly frenzied. Lev dragged his own fingers across his face, even cutting the skin. Blood streamed down, but he didn't care. In his mad, blasphemous eyes shimmered the delight and satisfaction of seeing his long-sought wish finally about to come true.
"I am high beyond belief!!!"
Seeing this, Caster Medea instinctively stepped farther away from Lev. Now she was certain—this wild-haired magus was no longer human!
In the next moment, the storm abruptly ceased.
The magic storm that had raged in all directions suddenly reversed as if time itself had rewound, collapsing inward. The near-collapsing barrier regained its stability once more.
"Lev, enough with the ridiculous side performance. When the true new era arrives, you may show it again."
As the ash settled, the once-majestic and sacred shrine had completely vanished. In its place was a disaster zone of rubble and shattered stone, like the aftermath of an earthquake.
Shattered Honkai crystals lay scattered everywhere, dazzling yet chaotic.
"As you command, Your Majesty."
Removing his tall hat, Lev's demeanor suddenly shifted back to that of the composed, scholarly mentor he once was, as if he suffered from split personality. With elegance and propriety, he bowed with one hand on his chest before the towering goddess.
This form of Selene, now before Lev, was not the same as her full descent during the Holy Grail War in Romania. This was a form closer to spiritual possession and transformation.
The vessel she had chosen to possess was none other than Rider Medusa's altered body—the one that had transformed into the Avenger-class Gorgon.
"This body..." Selene lifted a clawed hand, continuing to examine her new form.
Judging by the upper body alone, this form was the epitome of the golden ratio. Her snow-white skin was smooth as milk, and her voluptuous chest heaved slightly with each breath, trembling softly.
Gorgon (Iron Bomb).jpg
However, her form was far too massive. Human upper body, serpent lower body, standing at a height of at least ninety meters with a total length approaching eight hundred meters. Just the coiled tail alone nearly filled the entire inner cavern of Mount Enzou where Ryuudou Temple was located.
Her long, violet hair swayed in the wind, spreading across the ground. Upon closer inspection, the strands of hair had twisted into serpentine heads—like living, hissing giant snakes.
Six wings spread from her back. Unlike the original Avenger-class Gorgon's wings, these were made of bony, blade-like scales—even more terrifying and grotesque.
Her cheeks and neck were covered in a layer of shimmering, violet-red scales—resembling armor and adding a wild, exotic beauty.
Dark golden scales, neatly aligned, wrapped her entire arm. Her fingers ended in elongated, razor-sharp claws, no less dangerous than any legendary sword.
Her metallic fangs glinted, and her entire tail was lined with glowing, blood-red scale patterns that seemed to grow from within her flesh. Upon her head were vicious, jagged horns....
Wait, horns? And the divine power of a goddess of creation...
This state made Selene frown slightly. "I see... this body is a hybrid shell, a fusion of various spirit origins."
There was no doubt the body was primarily based on the Avenger-class Gorgon. The "holy relic" used by Lev to connect with Selene originated from the Rider-class version of her that descended during the Romanian Holy Grail War.
Because it was left behind during her Rider-class form, the magic used in the relic included energy from her mount Ao—a dragon-type Danger Beast known as the Dragon of the Eastern Clouds, Cross-Tail Dragon. After distinguishing between spirit types, compatible energy was fused into the current vessel.
But the other incomplete spirit origin that had fused into Selene along with the underground leyline mana was far more significant.
Still, Selene rather liked it.
This incarnation? Hm, not bad. A new kind of experience could be fun too.
The terrifying goddess rose partially upright, her gaze passing over the nearly paralyzed Caster Medea below. "Lev, this gift... I am quite pleased."
"As long as Your Majesty is pleased."
Receiving Selene's praise gladly, Lev smiled and bowed slightly once more.
"Only in your hands could it fulfill its true potential. Otherwise, wouldn't it be too tragic for the Mesopotamian goddess of creation, abandoned by her hypocritical, sanctimonious descendants, to leave behind nothing at all in this world?"
The core of the magical array Lev had embedded in the leylines beneath Fuyuki City—meant to link and infect all of Japan's leyline network, then the western Pacific, and ultimately the entire planet—was none other than...
The incomplete spirit origin of Tiamat, the creation mother goddess, Beast II of the Seventh Singularity in Babylonia. The beast of [Return], a calamity most reviled by human history, cast aside by humanity itself.
Though she had been cleaved in two by Saber Attila in the Seven Hills City of the Second Singularity, Lev—now a Demon God Pillar, once one of Solomon's seventy-two demon gods, Flauros—was far from dead. After faking his death and escaping, he continued monitoring Chaldea in secret.
When Chaldea's final Master, Fujimaru Ritsuka, restored the foundation of the Seventh Singularity, Lev, frustrated in a rift between dimensions, unexpectedly observed a mysterious anomaly that abruptly appeared in a modern human history timeline.
Before becoming a Demon God Pillar, Lev had been a rare magus possessing the imaginary number attribute. To put it simply—he could reach into dimensional gaps, a true infiltrator.
It was a mystery Lev had never observed within human history—new, vibrant, and rising: a nascent Age of the Gods.
With the intent of cooperation and foresight for spiritual descent, Lev retrieved the last lingering trace of the creation goddess from the imaginary number sea of the Persian Gulf, where Tiamat had descended in the Seventh Singularity. He seized it just before the Singularity collapsed.
"You shall be the creation deity of the new Age of the Gods!"
"A flattering title. I shall accept it for now."
With a soft chuckle, Selene turned and lowered her massive body, glaring down with divine mystic eyes that dwarfed Caster Medea herself. "Medea, I shall fulfill Our promise. You and your little lover shall be spared."
Under that gaze, which seemed to petrify even the soul, Caster Medea finally received the one promise she most longed to hear. She could no longer hold back her tears and collapsed in gratitude.
"Thank you... Your Majesty."
Except for deities who embody deception, lies, and mischief, most ruling gods—regardless of pantheon or region—are notoriously bound by their word. Those of god-king tier, even more so.
With Selene's explicit assurance, Caster Medea finally released the tension she'd held for Souichirou-sama.
Waving her hand to let Medea go find her beloved, Selene quickly lost interest in the star-crossed lovers.
"I'm feeling a bit restless. I'd like to stretch a bit. Lev, how is the plan's progress?"
"My apologies, Your Majesty. Please be patient a while longer—give me two more days. Soon, the leyline networks of Fuyuki City and the Pacific region will be fully linked. With the resulting chain reaction, the entire planetary leyline system will activate. When that is complete, the Temple of Time shall descend as well."
"I believe the Mage King, King Solomon, will not disappoint you."
"Very well. I shall grant you two days."
A faint chill flickered in Selene's mesmerizing, blood-red eyes. She spoke meaningfully, "The divine revelation Solomon received from heaven... I am are very curious about it."
"Still, Lev, I hope you don't mind if I take a walk in the meantime."
"..." Lev raised his gaze to look at Selene's current form, now significantly larger and even more overwhelming in raw Servant data than the original Avenger-class Gorgon.
True Name: Selene
Class: Foreigner / Avenger / Beast
Strength: EX
Endurance: EX
Agility: A+
Mana: EX
Luck: A+
Noble Phantasm: EX
Alignment: Heaven
A divine spirit descended and degraded into a Heroic Spirit—an embodiment of the divine, of myth, and of the laws of the macrocosm.
Order: Chaotic Evil (Note: Chaotic Evil here does not imply true evil, but rather that in the broad contemporary understanding, Selene's existence and the world she governs fundamentally negate modern laws and public order.)
Class Skills:
Riding: E-
Originally possessing high-level Riding skill, capable of riding many phantasmal species including dragons and pegasi. However, due to sheer overwhelming size, almost no mount can now support Selene.
Magic Resistance: A
Beast Authority: B-
Personal Skills:
Divine Core of the God-Emperor: B++
Due to Medusa's monstrous form and the integration of Tiamat's corrupted Spirit Origin, a normal Servant should have no divine attribute at all. But Selene's status as a supreme deity of all races, things, dimensions, and universes forcibly cancels out the negative divinity and reasserts it.
Mana Burst (Honkai Energy): A++
Monstrous Strength: A++
An ability characteristic of demon gods. Temporarily boosts physical power to nearly the highest level possible.
Mystic Eyes: A++
Possesses the highest-grade Mystic Eyes: "Cybele."
Dreadful Roar: A++ A terrifying roar that induces instinctive fear in all living beings. Applies fear, sustained defense reduction, massive temporary defense debuff, and curse status to all enemies.
Gourmet: B
Golden Rule: A
Imperial Privilege: EX
Frozen Sun: EX
Imaginary Sea: EX
Noble Phantasm
Honkai Dimension: EX Type: Anti-World, Anti-Star, Anti-Civilization Noble Phantasm Effective Range: ??? Maximum Targets: ???
...
A whole chain of eye-popping A, A++, and EX ranks. Lev couldn't help but wonder: with that body of Yours just taking a stroll outside, how in the world is a supposedly secret Holy Grail War even going to remain hidden? Even the Holy Church and every local power combined wouldn't be able to suppress it.
"While not ideal for subtlety, still..."
The thought sparked a feeling Lev hadn't felt in a long time—delight.
"As you will."
...
Meanwhile, back at the private Homurahara Academy—
BOOM—!
The ground around the clash point of two mana torrents instantly turned into a fractured battlefield, riddled with deep scars from the overwhelming impact.
"Berserker is the strongest!"
Watching the lone knightess stand firm against a whole group, Illya clenched her fists tightly.
She could clearly see that Durandal had focused the brunt of her offense on her Berserker.
That dazzling silver armor was just too overpowered. Without divinity and lacking a weapon on the level of a holy sword, there was no way to inflict meaningful damage—Durandal's defense threshold couldn't be breached otherwise.
As a result, even when under siege, Durandal handled the situation effortlessly. She expertly defended against Berserker and Saber, while blatantly ignoring the attacks from Archer, Shielder, and the Masters like they were mere nuisances.
"Berserker, you have to win!" That was the only thought Illya held onto.
Unfortunately, her hope was doomed to be shattered.
"Ugh..."
At that moment, Illya felt as though her entire bloodstream had started to boil—especially in her chest. The magical energy within her flared like it was set aflame, throwing her magical circuits into complete disarray.
"Wah—!"
She suddenly collapsed to the ground, her delicate face twisted in pain as she clutched at her chest. "What... is this...?!"
"Hey! Einzbern girl, what's wrong with you?!"
"Miss Illya!"
"The Greater Grail... it's activating..."
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