Beautiful lyrics and melody.
She composed and wrote them all herself, and each one was exceptionally outstanding.
Guided by the Ether resonance of her singing, Astra Yao, floating in the air, was supported by the surrounding performers like a figure stepping out from a painting.
Beautiful lyrics and melody.
But just as the music was about to reach its climax, Andrew suddenly felt an unnatural vibration from the structure beneath his feet.
In an instant, he snapped to attention, fully alert.
Sensing the source of the vibration, Andrew immediately looked in that direction.
Imperceptible cracks began appearing on the walls at the edge of the venue, making Andrew realize something was wrong.
Feeling the all-too-familiar vibration frequency underfoot, Andrew narrowed his eyes slightly and quickly recalled where he had sensed this before.
At the same time, thanks to the commanding view from the private box, Andrew swiftly scanned the entire venue.
His powerful visual perception quickly pinpointed the anomaly—the cracks emerging and widening at the base of the walls.
The originally intact building foundation had, at some unknown point, begun to bulge continuously, as if some colossal beast was digging and moving below.
The moment these traces combined, Andrew's vast experience allowed him to instantly recognize what monster had caused this.
Without hesitation, he pressed his earpiece, directly connecting to Astra Yao's in-ear monitor.
"Astra, danger! Lift all the performers into the air with full power! The higher, the better!"
Though she didn't understand the reason for Andrew's order, Astra Yao, who had long placed unconditional trust in him, immediately channeled the Ether core in front of her at full strength, riding the music's climax resonance.
The pale purple light beams from the small platforms instantly transformed into massive jet flames under Astra Yao's urging, rocketing the other performers into the sky like missiles.
But in her full focus on controlling the other platforms, Astra Yao overlooked her own ascent speed.
In an instant, her platform became the lowest among everyone.
While the others were still confused, the bulging that had started at the edge had rapidly reached the center of the venue.
The next moment, the Diablos burst out from underground.
Its ferocious maw opened to its maximum the instant it leaped from the ground, its thick, razor-sharp teeth ready to bisect anyone they caught, while its two protruding, deadly fangs brimmed with infinite aggression.
Its target was clear: the people airborne above.
But after Andrew's warning, realizing it couldn't reach the others, its focus sharpened intensely—straight on the lowest-positioned Astra Yao.
"Young Miss!!!"
From below, Evelyn watched the devilish monster leap toward Astra Yao with its gaping jaws and cried out in alarm.
But it was too late—impossibly so.
Evelyn was simply too far from the venue's center.
The backstage-to-center distance was just over two hundred meters, yet it felt like another dimension, impossible to cross.
Though her feet pounded the ground in a sprint, a crushing sense of helplessness surged in her heart.
Even if she made it—what then?
Could she really save the Young Miss from that monster with her own strength?
'I can't do anything...'
Regardless of Evelyn's swirling thoughts, the Diablos pressed on without pause, its goal unwavering.
Propelled by its powerful hind legs, it rocketed from underground, its body launching into the air with immense force.
The distance to Astra Yao shrank relentlessly.
No matter how hard she pushed her platform, she couldn't pull away, panic flickering across Astra Yao's face.
But there was no regret.
Watching the Diablos nearly reach her platform's underside, Astra Yao—having poured everything into her effort with no escape—began to resign herself.
She couldn't help glancing toward Evelyn and Andrew's positions, a faint apology flashing in her heart.
"The victory feast we planned for tonight... I might have to break that promise..."
But no matter her inner strength, she was just an eighteen-year-old girl—how could she remain unmoved facing such peril?
The Diablos' jaws began to close, the lethal threat making everything around Astra Yao feel agonizingly slow.
She observed it all with a strange sense of novelty.
They say senses slow down before death—turns out it's true.
I'll die miserably, but if I survive, I have to write a song inspired by this.
Just as she felt death's scythe at her neck, a roar pierced the shroud of death enveloping her.
"Gouram!"
Like a thunderbolt, it shattered the despair.
As Andrew's words fell, the Gouram—parked steadily in the garage—transformed in an instant.
The next moment, it unleashed its limit of 320 kilometers per hour.
Sensing Andrew's urgency, the tailpipe subtly morphed into booster-like structures, Dragon Gem energy surging into them.
At the cost of halving the Dragon Gem's sustainability—pure brute-force logic—it gained an even greater speed boost.
In the next instant, pale purple fluorescent stripes turned to streaking light as it blasted from the garage.
With its blistering speed, Gouram shot onto the thick steel cables anchored around the stadium for structural reinforcement.
Though ropes, they were like flat ground.
The streak flashed by—in less than a second, it reached the open-air venue's canopy.
Meanwhile, Andrew—alerted via earpiece—arrived via grapple hook, awaiting his mount.
Facing the empty sky ahead, Gouram showed no sign of slowing, as if in perfect sync.
As it rushed past Andrew, his dynamic vision locked on; he seized the handlebars.
In the next instant, propelled by Gouram's momentum, Andrew was firmly seated.
The lance on his back unfolded, gleaming with unbreakable chill under the sunset, pointing alongside Gouram's ram straight at the Diablos' snarling head.
Astra Yao, who had thought no one could save her, exclaimed in shock:
"Andrew?!"
With her cry, Andrew charged in with overwhelming momentum.
The fully armed hunter with his lance was like a Western knight, the ferocious heavy motorcycle his steed.
Pale purple glow compressed the air ahead into a thin barrier at supersonic speeds.
Then—breakthrough!
Gouram's charge slammed infinite kinetic force into the Diablos' head, the godlike descent etching deep into their eyes and her heart.
"BOOM!!!"
The Diablos took a massive right hook to the face, its motion warping instantly.
It let out a wail, its vestigial wings offering no midair leverage; it crashed heavily to the ground.
"BOOM!!!"
As the Diablos hit, Andrew on Gouram landed alongside.
Andrew was unscathed, but Gouram...
Two brutal impacts, even with lost nanometal reinforcements, drew a strained groan from it.
But its mission was complete. Andrew dismounted, stroking its metal hood.
"Find a safe spot to self-repair. If the fight needs you later, I'll call again."
With that, Gouram nodded humanely. Before Andrew could activate, the Grammeowster Chef's tune auto-played.
Successfully buffing Andrew, Gouram accelerated and vanished from the venue center.
Only then did the petrified audience react.
Countless panicked screams erupted—half from the monster, half from the cracking foundations.
Terror spread through the stands.
The frantic crowd scrambled chaotically, seeking escape.
But all tacitly ignored vaulting the front barriers onto the central open ground.
No one wanted to be the monster's plaything.
With the venue crumbling, who knew if returning inside meant burial under rubble?
Everyone jammed the rear; the tiered stands' height made jumping suicide, yet none dared the front.
As the fallen Diablos rose and shook its head, the chaotic stands fell pin-drop silent.
No one wanted to draw its ire.
The Diablos, dizzy from the impact, shook off the haze.
This familiar weapon size, this iron-bullet-like flesh... this was one of those threatening humans from before!
Rage ignited as it locked on Andrew, utmost vigilance rising.
Back then, hunter sieges had left it truly near-death, prideful horn and tail halved in agony.
That pain was unforgettable.
And now, far stronger.
Seeing similar weapons from past assaults, battle lessons flashed.
If it beat them once, it would again.
Ambushed unprepared before, but head-on? Never feared any!
____
New Story: FGO: Building a Lostbelt from Scratch, the Winner is Canon
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