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If it were an ordinary day, Alaric might still have the leisure to comment on such an outrageous attack style after witnessing this scene. But now that Alaric himself had become the target of the attack, his mindset was completely different.
The attack resembled a replica of the Gate of Babylon, with such an overwhelming barrage of projectile Noble Phantasms that even Alaric could not possibly block them all.
What's more, each of these projectile attacks carried immense power, enough to cause significant injuries to Alaric!
Yet, faced with such a perilous situation, Alaric's heart burned with even greater fervor!
"You're quite spirited, Kingu!"
With this surge of emotion, Alaric swung his holy lance with one hand, deflecting all the silver-white chains that aimed to bind his limbs to the front in an instant!
Clang!
The gentle, crisp sound of the silver chains colliding reverberated in ALaric's ears, like forest spirits softly whispering the essence of life—
Battle!
Shing!
In the moment Alaric used the holy lance to sweep all the silver-white chains into a single location, the dozens of earthen weapons beneath Kingu suddenly launched—
And then, from the tip of the holy lance Rhongomyniad, a pitch-black radiance of extreme light erupted with a roar!
Kingu's numerous attacks were simply too overwhelming. Even with Alaric's multi-threaded processing ability, he couldn't ensure that his continuous Holy Judgments would have enough power to completely cancel out the attacks. Those chains of heaven, formed by Kingu's mana, were already formidable enough to trouble LAlaric, let alone the dozens of blades and spears summoned through the collective wisdom of mankind.
Thus, Alaric decided to deal with all these chaotic attacks—
In one fell swoop!
[Holy Judgment —Reloaded]
Surging mana poured into the holy lance, fusing with the energy already waiting inside it, forming an even larger mass of magical power.
The acceleration process, which had been run hundreds of times before, was completed in an instant, ejecting this mass of mana!
A scene that had once unfolded at the Northern Wall now re-emerged in this black pine forest.
At first, the pitch-black ray of light was no thicker than a strand of hair. In the blink of an eye, its size expanded rapidly, completely overtaking Alaric's field of vision!
The resulting black beam, with a diameter of ten meters, engulfed the silver-white chains and the dozens of weapons Kingu had fired!
The torrent of light roared through the black pine forest, consuming everything in its path and reducing it all to dust.
The earth melted, and the forest was instantly set ablaze!
Meanwhile, the dozens of weapon constructs summoned by Kingu's Age of Babylon, each comparable to Noble Phantasms, collapsed silently in the destruction!
Even after successfully landing this strike, Alaric felt no delight. The alarms that had been ringing in his mind continued to urge him onward.
Whoosh!
The holy lance, still radiating residual heat, tore through the air as Alaric spun around and thrust it backward in a sudden counterattack, meeting a cold, sharp hand blade coming straight for him!
[Thunder Flash!]
At the moment of impact, a surge of mana coursed through Alaric's body, converting into raw strength that significantly boosted his physical power.
In that instant, Alaric was able to match Kingu's strength!
Boom!
A shockwave erupted, roaring upwards and outward, blowing through both Alaric's and Kingu's hair. Alaric's pure white hair and Kingu's vibrant green locks, teeming with life, formed a stark contrast as they swayed in the gale.
Once again, their gazes locked.
"You've got some skill, old human!"
Kingu stood like an immovable mountain. No matter how much force Alaric exerted, he wouldn't take a single step back. However, the seemingly mocking smile on Kingu's face appeared to Alaric as nothing more than a facade.
"You're not all that, Kingu—"
Similarly, Alaric, gripping the holy lance with one hand, stood as firm as a towering peak. Though unable to force Kingu to retreat, he managed to bring the two of them into a brief deadlock!
For Kingu, the fact that Alaric, who should have been at a disadvantage, could match him was intolerable—even if Kingu hadn't been using his full power.
What made it worse was the unclear, ambiguous connection this old human seemed to share with his mother!
"If you spill the truth, I'll spare you once. Otherwise, the next attack won't be this easy to handle—"
Despite his growing dissatisfaction, Kingu held back his full fury, continuing to threaten Alaric. After all, getting information about his mother from Alaric was his top priority; everything else could wait.
"Is that so? Then I'll have to think it over carefully."
To maintain this fragile balance against Kingu, Alaric's mana was depleting at an astonishing rate. Even with the holy lance and his dragon heart providing support, he was quickly reaching his limit within just a few breaths.
What made matters worse was Kingu's oppressive presence, which prevented Alaric from freely absorbing the True Ether of the Age of Gods to recover himself.
Under these constrained circumstances, Alaric swiftly calculated how long he could sustain this level of effort in combat.
Three minutes!
Although he wouldn't suddenly collapse after three minutes, Alaric was certain that if he didn't disappear from Kingu's sight on his terms, the outcome awaiting him would be nothing short of catastrophic.
"Still not enough!"
Three minutes was far too short. To Alaric, it might as well have been five seconds.
Thus—
"Then use your strength to make me submit, Kingu!"
As Alaric spoke, the dragon within him awakened.
Under Kingu's watchful gaze, Alaric suddenly erupted with the overwhelming presence of a red dragon, like a humanoid dragon waking from its slumber.
He roared to the heavens and the earth!
Unleashing all his latent power, Alaric fully activated his strength. At this moment, he was fighting with all his might, even surpassing the level he had displayed against Gawain!
With the exaltation of his dragon blood, Alaric transformed into an Ether vortex, absorbing all the Ether in the atmosphere into his holy lance and dragon heart, rapidly converting it into his mana resources!
This phenomenon was unstoppable, even for Kingu!
The roaring of the atmosphere, the visibly swirling Ether—it all surged toward Alaric, who devoured it!
But Kingu quickly discerned Alaric's intentions, and a cold smile appeared on his face. "Don't even think about it!"
Kingu had long since realized Alaric's mana consumption, or rather, it was so obvious that no analysis was needed.
In this world, no one could outlast him in a battle of attrition!
Even if Alaric tried to draw on Ether to recover his mana, it was a trivial matter for Kingu to counter.
And so, Kingu instantly ramped up the output of his mana!
The sudden increase in output shattered the fragile balance between them.
Bang!
Both figures vanished from their original positions, their godlike speed transforming them into streaks of light zipping through the black pine forest.
Flashes of fire erupted continuously within the forest, and the rapid clashing of metal tore apart the stillness of the black pine woods like a torrential downpour of sparks.
In this relentless exchange of blows, the fierce winds and metallic symphony wove a chilling melody filled with murderous intent.
Alaric and Kingu moved like lightning, their speed stretching time itself as if every second was infinitely prolonged. Both warriors, evenly matched in velocity, unleashed their peak martial skills in this deadly duel.
The power of the divine-era hero Enkidu was on full display in Kingu's hands, while Alaric, a man from a distant future who had inherited the knight skills of the Round Table, pushed the techniques passed down from Lancelot to their utmost limits!
Each time their figures crossed paths, a cold, beautiful flower of blood bloomed, only to vanish instantly in the whirlwind of their clashing blades and spears.
Even with his extraordinary martial prowess, Alaric couldn't emerge unscathed against an opponent like Kingu, a being of the highest caliber!
But those wounds, under Alaric's excessive supply of magical energy, healed themselves in less than a breath!
Clang clang!!
With near-future-seeing instincts, Alaric should have been able to dodge all those attacks, but Kingu's offensive was too fierce. Even with Alaric exerting all his strength, his skin was still torn apart by Kingu's hand blade!
Although neither side carried killing intent, every single attack was a fatal strike capable of ending the other!
Not to mention that Kingu himself was akin to a Noble Phantasm, an existence with unparalleled defense. If Alaric were severely injured, the fragile balance between them would immediately collapse.
As the battle reached the 60th second, the environment around Alaric and Kingu abruptly emptied. A familiar battlefield unfolded before their eyes.
It turned out that in this relentless chase, they had somehow circled back to the starting point!
Clang!
Another violent clash ensued, but just as the two were about to explode into action, they locked into a stalemate, neither budging an inch.
Clatter.
The Chains of Heaven materialized and instantly wrapped around both Alaric and Kingu, cutting off any escape route for Alaric!
"Let's see how you'll escape now!"
Seeing that Alaric didn't even attempt to resist, Kingu smirked as the Chains of Heaven began to enclose the area further.
A smile spread across Kingu's face as his thoughts took shape. The silver chains lunged toward Alaric's limbs!
But in the next instant, Alarc's actions froze Kingu's smile.
"Trace on."
An incomprehensible chant accompanied a surge of magical energy, and in Alaric's hand, a strange black sword appeared.
At this moment, Alaric held the holy spear Rhongomyniad in one hand and the projected Sword of End in the other.
However, this Sword End was entirely different from the true sword of holy sword. The one in Alaric's hand was nothing more than a hollow counterfeit.
An item created through Projection Magecraft is always a fake, suitable only for low-intensity applications like ceremonial rituals.
Since it was merely a hollow shell, why didn't Alaric pick something more aesthetically pleasing?
As a gemstone-like brilliance flickered in ALaric's eyes, a power capable of perceiving the death of all things was unveiled before the child of the earth.
'What is that?'
Kingu, newly born and unfamiliar with the world, had no understanding of the power flowing in Alaric's eyes. He couldn't comprehend what kind of force those eyes contained.
But Kingu's instincts screamed at him to get as far away from Alaric as possible!
How could Kingu accept this?
A fleeting sense of unwillingness arose in his heart, but Kingu still decisively withdrew before Alaric's sword could reach him.
In the brief moment when Kingu retreated, Alaric swung the counterfeit holy sword.
Clatter!
Those chains, capable of binding even gods, were effortlessly severed by the hollow sword Alaric had projected!
Seeing this, Kingu's eyes widened in shock. Only he could truly sense how easily those chains had been split in two.
There was no resistance at all, as if they had simply... died.
"Power over death, is it? Just what are those eyes of yours?"
Kingu frowned and coldly asked, "If you won't tell me, I'll dig out your eyes myself and find out."
To Kingu's slight surprise, after cutting the Chains of Heaven, Alaric didn't continue to flee. Instead, he stood still, motionless.
Alaric, now wielding weapons in both hands, gazed at the green figure before him with his gemstone-like eyes.
But what truly caught Alaric's attention was the radiant point of light on the green figure's chest—a shining death point.
Alaric was all too familiar with that light. He had seen it countless times, a brilliance that had long accompanied him.
It was also the light that had saved Alaric many times, pulling him back from the brink of death.
"The Holy Grail—so it's with you, huh?"
Having possessed the Holy Grail for half a year, Alaric was intimately familiar with that radiance. It was the light of death unique to the Magus King's Holy Grail.
Once the Holy Grail is absorbed into a body, it doesn't leak magical energy unless someone like Alaric uses its power on a large scale, making its presence detectable to others.
And even then, it's more speculation than true detection.
After all, no ordinary person could possess such an absurd amount of magical energy.
As for Kingu—being Enkidu, a weapon crafted by the gods, created to rival the greatest ancient hero, Gilgamesh, and supported by the earth's magical energy—it was natural for him to have such extraordinary levels of magical power.
This had initially led Alaric to overlook the possibility of the Holy Grail being connected to Kingu. Little did he expect it had been right under his nose all along.
The Holy Grail was in Kingu's possession—something far beyond Alaric's predictions.
After all, Alaric had speculated that the Holy Grail was most likely in the hands of Gorgon or Tiamat.
'Did they use the Holy Grail to revive Enkidu's body and replace his soul?'
At this moment, Alaric seemed to understand the truth behind Kingu's creation. If that were the case, then from the beginning, the Holy Grail must have been in Tiamat's possession.
Was the Holy Grail that the Magus King sent back to the past handed to Tiamat?
Alaric's brief contemplation ended in an instant. Staring at Kingu, he smiled and said, "It seems we won't be able to settle this peacefully. How about this—you give me the Holy Grail, and I'll tell you about Tiamat."
Now that the Holy Grail was in Kingu's possession, Alaric knew that delaying would only worsen the situation.
With the Holy Grail, Kingu could accomplish far too much. If he truly managed to resurrect Tiamat, it would be a disaster of unimaginable proportions for the world.
Could Gilgamesh and Uruk defeat Tiamat?
Could he defeat Tiamat?
Countless self-questions flashed through Alaric's mind, and the conclusion quickly became clear:
'I can't. I absolutely can't.'
With only the current strength of Uruk and himself, defeating Tiamat would be impossible. If they could gather the aid of the goddesses, there might be a sliver of hope for victory.
But with just Alaric and Gilgamesh's Uruk, it was utterly hopeless.
Thus, no matter what Kingu's plans for reviving Tiamat were, Alaric couldn't allow him to succeed.
The Holy Grail had to be in his hands—
'The Holy Grail belongs to me alone.'
Alaric's gaze locked onto Kingu—or rather, the Holy Grail within Kingu. If he could obtain the Holy Grail, a fully restored Alaric could even defeat gods!
As Alaric revealed the existence of the Holy Grail, Kingu's expression darkened.
Magic power, as overwhelming as that of the gods, exploded from him in an instant!