[Dragon Valley]

The adventurers who had arrived covered in dust took off their cloaks, revealing faces a little worn from the long journey.

"You've finally arrived, Princess Riveria," An elf mage from a magic nation saluted the elven princess.

"How's the seal holding up?", Riveria asked as she made her way toward the camp.

"At most until the day after tomorrow, this seal will completely fail," The small white-haired elf, Friana, stepped out of the camp and said.

"Were we the last to arrive?" Riveria asked.

Friana: "No, only the Freya Familia's advance messenger, the [Goddess' Chariot], came early. The others will arrive tonight."

The Loki Familia and the Freya Familia were each responsible for subjugating one of the two Lv.8 ancient monsters. For the great familias that had Riveria and Ottar, the task of slaying the dragons was acceptable in difficulty, but going back and forth would inevitably take time.

Also, before heading into Dragon Valley, they needed to return to the Labyrinth City once to have the gods update their stats.

However, at the moment the Labyrinth City had essentially disappeared. The only remaining part of Orario was the small area protected by the [Silent Divine Realm], the stronghold left for the adventurers who remained in the city to suppress the dungeon.

"Riveria!", Ais stepped forward and hugged the elven princess excitedly.

"Mm, I'm here," Riveria paused for a moment, then gently stroked the girl's hair.

"What's the matter?", Riveria asked.

Ais shook her head lightly and simply nestled against the elf princess's soft chest.

"You're so much kinder to me than those from the Hestia Familia, Riveria."

"Ah... I see," Riveria forced a smile.

"How rude of me," A woman with long golden hair, wearing a pristine white saint's robe and a golden eyepatch, walked over with measured steps.

Walking beside her was a silver-haired fox girl in a fitted white kimono.

"Little Ais, you saying that breaks mama's heart, mama takes such good care of you~"

Riveria softly read their titles, "[Sword Saint], [Celestial Fox]."

[Sword Saint] Melvette, Lv.8

[Celestial Fox] Ichijo Mashiro, Lv.8

Both of them had been peak Lv.7 powerhouses before the black dragon subjugation; after a night where they cut down their inner demons, they achieved a level ascension.

Nearly fifteen years had passed since the battle where the Hestia and Zeus familias hunted the black dragon; only now had later generations in the city barely caught up to them.

'If it weren't for Emiya, we'd have no hope of challenging the black dragon,' Riveria thought inwardly, while Ais cautiously hid behind the elven princess.

Compared to the women of the Hestia Familia, Riveria really was a kindly, reasonable mother figure... Of course, Ais missed her master most of all.

"Has Master not come?", Not seeing the reassuring silhouette she expected, Ais couldn't help but ask.

At first, Ais had thought Emiya was off acting alongside Ryuu and the others, hunting Yamata no Orochi.

But Ryuu and company had arrived early, and Emiya was not among them.

"Shirou isn't here," Riveria said softly, "He has other matters to take care of."

Ais's pretty face went blank for a moment, "Master's not here?"

Before worrying whether they could defeat the black dragon without Emiya, the first thought that crossed Ais's mind was whether her master might once more be facing some even more terrifying opponent alone.

Like last time, when he single-handedly hunted down the most dangerous masked man among the remnants of the Evilus, [Ein].

"What? Emiya-sama isn't here?", The [Sword Saint] Melvette removed the cloth wrapped over her eyes, revealing magic eyes that glittered with rainbow light.

The [Celestial Fox] Mashiro breathed a sigh of relief, and without another word she untied the sash at her waist and smoothed the already slender waist into a neat, gathered silhouette.

"I'll go change, kimonos are such a hassle," The fox girl said, then turned back toward the tents; the [Sword Saint] left with her.

Riveria: "..."

On closer look, their white saint robes and kimonos looked so much like wedding dresses and pure-white brides' ceremonial kimonos.

The elf princess let out a long sigh.

"Shirou stayed behind in the Labyrinth City. Only he can keep that place under control."

"The Tower of Babel is gone."

With the lid that had suppressed the dungeon removed, the labyrinth beneath Orario had returned to the state it was in before the age of the gods.

Or rather, it should now be called, [The Great Void].

Dragon Valley had but one black dragon, and in theory, the Great Void could at any moment vomit out several monsters of the same grade.

The allied familias set against the black dragon could easily be annihilated if they were placed there. The only one they could truly trust was the [Grand Saber].

"So Master won't be joining us...", Ais felt a fluttering unease inside.

The girl began worrying, 'Can we really win without master?'

"We will definitely win."

"Ryuu-san."

An elven girl approached; following her were Haruhime, Tsubaki, and the five-stripe Mistuki (Gojou Mutsuki) who had come to Dragon Valley with them.

Melvette and Ichijo Mashiro, having changed clothes, reappeared. Seeing Haruhime, they couldn't help but exclaim.

"[Uchide no Kozuchi], huh."

Sanjou Haruhime, after the Yamata no Orochi subjugation, Amaterasu and Inari appointed Haruhime as the new head of the Sanjou family, so her surname reverted from Sanjouno back to Sanjou.

As punishment for disrespecting the family head, Haruhime's father was exiled and "no" was added to the family name marker.

Of course, Haruhime herself cared little for being family head, she only wanted to be Emiya's attendant. Amaterasu guided her, saying that as a noble family head she should serve that man to give her lord more sense of accomplishment, and Haruhime reluctantly accepted.

Without question, this Lv.3 girl who looked harmless was the most terrifying adventurer in the world next to Emiya.

Her skill's cheat degree even surpassed Ryuu's [Astrea Summon].

[Uchide no Kozuchi] combined with [Kokonoe] could temporarily raise nine adventurers' levels by one for thirty minutes.

If, during the black dragon hunt, Haruhime had been in their party, the Hestia and Zeus familias' combat strength could have resembled one Lv.10 (Hippolyta), three Lv.9s (vice captains of Hestia and the main and vice captains of Zeus), and five Lv.8s.

'This girl being born in this era is, in a way, fate, she had to appear now to slay the black dragon,' Mashiro thought.

On the way to Dragon Valley, Ryuu and the others had also brought Nina Tulle.

Nina had support magic that extended the duration of "enchantment" type magics. By itself, the spell was strong, but not top-tier.

However, it could affect [Uchide no Kozuchi}, extending its duration by five minutes.

But Ryuu, who knew Haruhime better, had another thought.

Though [Uchide no Kozuchi] and [Kokonoe] were formidable, Haruhime's strongest magic was still [Water-Heaven Sunlight · Amaterasu-Eight-Field Settling Stone].

Because that magic could ignore distance and summon Emiya's strike.

At dusk, the Freya Familia arrived at Dragon Valley and the lineup for subjugating the black dragon was finally complete.

Lv.8 five: Riveria, Ottar, Melvette, Ichijo Mashiro, Leon

Lv.7 eight: Ryuu, Finn, Ais, Gareth, Hedin, Hogni, Allen, Friana

Plus many Lv.5 and Lv.6 supporters, Lv.3 Haruhime, Lv.2 Nina.

"At dawn, open the seal," The commander, the [Hero], ordered.

"[Pitch-Black End] will from today become history!"

———

Several celestial spirits closed their eyes and knelt upon the altar, offering prayers.

The black dragon was sealed by a wind-spirit, Aria, who had used her life to construct the storm barrier.

A thousand years ago, this wind spirit had been swallowed by the black dragon; the dragon absorbed the spirit's power and grew to the level of an "Calamity." Yet Aria's will never completely dissolved.

Fifteen years ago when adventurers from the Labyrinth City pulled Ais back from the dungeon, Aria's consciousness began to slowly wake.

In the Hestia and Zeus familias' subjugation of the black dragon, the dragon was injured and Aria fully awakened; with her final will she ignited her life and wove the storm barrier that sealed the black dragon.

But most of Aria's power had already been absorbed by the dragon. At most it could imprison the dragon for twenty years, and that period shortened due to the resonance effects of the dungeon's upheaval.

Now, the wind barrier had finally reached its limit.

Ais raised her head high and gazed at the storm that had raged over Dragon Valley for ten unending years, gripping her sword tightly.

Beside her, Haruhime began to chant.

"This is our country, the divine land, the middle-land of abundant waters and bountiful harvests."

"The nation casts water to Utsuho, circling the high heavens, circling the yellow springs, finally converging into water-heaven sunlight."

"I illuminate the abundant Sakura country; ring upon ring of eight, this is Kokonoe, this is Amaterasu!"

"Water-Heaven Sunlight Amaterasu Eight-Field Settling Stone!"

Haruhime's chant coincided with the spirits' unsealing ritual; at the instant the seal broke, the girl's magic completed as well.

A holy mirror hung high in the sky.

The freed black dragon instinctively tried to roar, but when it raised its head its eyes betrayed a momentary confusion.

Through the [Sacred Scripture Utsuho Mirror], Emiya looked at it with pity.

He swung the sword in his hand.

Not the dragon-slaying magic sword [Balmung], not his usual Hero Sword [Hundred-Shot Bow], not even the [Excalibur] .

That blade, rather, the dagger Emiya wielded, was called [Rule Breaker].

The great age mage, the witch Medea's Noble Phantasm.

Unlike other Heroic Spirit treasures that have distinct weapon-like functions, this Noble Phantasm's combat performance as a weapon is essentially nil; instead, whatever blade pierces its target will "break the contract" of all magic within that target.

The things it can break are objects strengthened by mana, things based on pacts of magic, or life forms born through the use of mana. It can reset them to the state before the magic was used.

It is the ultimate anti-magic Noble Phantasm, the embodiment of the betrayer witch goddess's nature.

Emiya swung the rainbow-glimmering dagger and traced the black dragon's body in the mirror.

The black dragon's massive bulk stalled for a moment, then it let out a frenzied, bestial roar.

There were no wounds on its body, and its strength did not seem diminished; yet the sensation the dragon gave every adventurer present was completely different.

If one had to describe it, the single giant eye seemed to have lost divine intellect, left only with instinctive rage; that spine-tingling sense of divine pressure that chilled people to the bone had vanished.

Emiya had not slain the black dragon. What he did was separate from it the "authority" of the creator goddess that the last ancient monster had possessed and devoured.

At the moment the dragon was split from its fate, the "Beast · Tiamat" immediately reclaimed her authority, and the dragon, having lost those powers, could no longer be called the "Pitch-Black End."

Now it was merely a Lv.10 monster, nothing more.

A shining spear of light fell from the heavens and pierced the dragon's wing, while Haruhime chanted, Riveria had readied her magic.

[End · Rhongomyniad]

"Ais," Riveria looked at the dragon-slaying spear's main force, Ais, and discovered an incredible thing happening to the girl.

Ais stood motionless, and at the same time countless pale-cyan motes of light gathered toward her body.

This was the magic constituting the storm barrier.

Wind mana surged into Ais as if racing, and ultimately gathered into the girl's longsword.

Riveria saw this and made a split decision, "Buy Ais some time!"

———

Emiya took Tiamat's hand and stepped out of the Emiya residence.

Before today, Emiya had completely cleared the Labyrinth City; aside from him and the goddess Tiamat, all adventurers had been driven out of Orario.

All the Amazons obeyed his orders unconditionally; even unreasonable commands met no dissent.

The adventurers who had stayed in the city had been mostly Amazons; under their coercion, all adventurers were driven out. Those who refused to leave were simply disabled, their limbs broken and carried away.

At this moment the black dragon was not dead, yet it was as good as dead; its carcass conveniently delayed Ryuu, Riveria, and the others out on the field.

"The time has come", Emiya murmured.

All the permissions of the "Three Great Calamities" returned; the "Beast · Tiamat" fully awakened.

The ground began to collapse; the entire Labyrinth City and the surrounding area caved in and fell into the demonic realm.

This was the ancient era's "Great Void," the true original form of the dungeon.

Emiya held the goddess's hand and floated into the sky; he lowered his head slightly to look toward the center of the Great Void.

With the highest-grade vision of [Clairvoyance], he could see clearly what was happening there.

The "Hole" had finally opened; black, ink-like mud began to pour out at incredible speed.

The beast Tiamat's true body lay on the far side of the planet in a space called the "Imaginary Number Sea."

In theory, even descending to the deepest dungeon layers you could not view Tiamat; as long as the world's gate remained closed, Tiamat would be isolated outside the world.

But now the "Hole" had opened, Tiamat would use her divine power and authority to replace the world.

Emiya and Tiamat began to descend into the Great Void.

Stone walls cracked, black mud boiled, and countless monsters began to spawn. Some Emiya had fought, like the [Mighty Dragon] and [Balor], and many other twisted beings Emiya had never seen.

Emiya softly chanted—

"I am the bone of my sword."

["Activating the development of skill 'Fate'."]

["World calamity confirmed. True spirit-descent ritual: Heroic Spirit Summoning initiated. Servant seat record confirmed."]

["Opening spirit foundation permission: Emiya Shirou · Grand Saber."]

This time it was not the Imaginary World's invasion and replacement of the real world; it was fusion. In other words, his "Bounded Field" truly reflected onto reality.

Above the Great Void, endless swords and blades appeared out of nothing; swordlight fell, an unending rain of light that swallowed all the monsters whole.

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