---o---
To become the Herrscher of Finality of the Nasuverse?
As Elysia's plan was revealed, it was like a stone cast into a calm lake, creating a thousand ripples and drawing widespread attention.
This didn't seem like a strategy Elysia would come up with on her own.
After all, having survived the high-pressure era of the Previous Era, Elysia, much like Kevin, mostly followed Dr. MEI's directives.
In fact, almost all the Flame-Chasers followed Dr. MEI's command in most situations. After all, she was always able to make the most correct decisions.
A plan like having Elysia become the Herrscher of Finality seemed less like something Elysia would devise and more like a strategy conceived by a great mind like Dr. MEI.
Only someone so supremely rational would come up with such an insane plan!
In the Light Curtain's comments—
Eden: "To have Elysia... become the Herrscher of Finality. To use an enemy of the world to fight an enemy of the world... I do not know the consequences of such an act, but... if it is Elysia's choice, then I will give her my support."
In the Elysian Realm, although Eden was worried for Elysia's safety, as her dearest friend, she would support any decision Elysia made without hesitation, even if it meant offering up everything she had.
Kevin: "The Herrscher of Finality..."
No one understood the meaning of the Herrscher of Finality better than Kevin. Finality was the end of civilization, the destruction of all things. If it were truly the Herrscher of Finality, then an Outer God of the level shown in the projection could be annihilated with a mere wave of the hand.
One had to remember, not even Kevin in his prime was a match for Finality. Even the combined strength of several Flame-Chasers could not halt its advance.
Mobius: "The Herrscher of Finality... hehe~ Yes, now this is interesting. Let me see just what form the Finality achieved by Elysia will take~"
---o---
[Inside the Light Curtain—
On the Fuyuki Grand Bridge, Elysia and Jeanne d'Arc were watching the battle between the Spirit of Origin and the Outer God.
In the end, in a contest of physical might, the Spirit of Origin lost to the Outer God. The entity had defeated the Judgment-class Honkai Beast by simply remaining in place, simultaneously healing its wounds and using the power of its own body.
And now, due to its excessive contact with the Outer God's body, the Spirit of Origin was faintly showing signs of being corrupted into an evil creature. That would be a disaster.
If even the Spirit of Origin fell, then Elysia and the others would have to face two colossal behemoths.
Therefore, Elysia chose to recall the Spirit of Origin immediately, preventing it from further contact with the Outer God's body.
Then... gazing at the Outer God's form, she frowned deeply, a sense of powerlessness welling up inside her.
Because Emiya Shirou and Saber were taking too long to retrieve the Holy Grail, the Outer God had gradually recovered to its peak state.
So... Elysia had to make a new decision. This battle had already dragged on for far too long.
However, before she could say anything more, a deafening roar erupted from the Outer God's maw.
"WYYYYY—!!!"
With its body restored, the Outer God once again let out an ear-piercing shriek, a scream that sounded like the whispers of demons in hell.
The mere propagation of the sound caused the massive barrier surrounding all of Fuyuki City, created by the Grand Caster Solomon, to vibrate violently.
The resulting soundwave completely tore up the ground of Fuyuki City. The meaning behind such a commotion was obvious!
The Outer God... was beginning to move—
A black fluid crawled over the Outer God's chaotic, pitch-black body. In an extremely contorted posture, the Outer God rose from the water, its massive form blotting out the sky.
It had no humanoid limbs like legs to aid its movement. Instead, it moved forward like a reptile, such as a snake, relying on undulation and friction.
"This is trouble!"
The Outer God began to walk upon the land. The foul miasma it radiated would inevitably spread across the world. When that happened, the losses would no longer be confined to Fuyuki City.
It had to be stopped!
"BOOM—"
As the thought flashed through her mind, Elysia's next attack had already struck the lower half of the Outer God's body, attempting to break through its defenses.
However... unlike before, this attack was completely useless?
Impossible!
Everyone, from the audience outside the light curtain to the characters within it, including Elysia, was utterly astonished.
This wasn't the first time Elysia had used her powers. Previously, an attack of this level would have been able to wound the Outer God's body, but now it suddenly had no effect.
"Wait—Miss Elysia, this thing's condition... something's not right!"
After a brief moment of shock, Jeanne immediately warned Elysia, who was still unleashing a constant barrage.
The Outer God's state was extremely abnormal. In addition to the original black fog, red ripples began to emanate from around it.
That vivid, red, mist-like power grew more and more distinct, as if it were about to materialize.
Then, as the two watched, the mist enveloped the Outer God's body. The surrounding space shattered like glass, revealing the essence of nothingness.
Is this... the end of the world?
Space shattered into fragments like a broken mirror, revealing what looked like an endless, black void.
That's right. The Outer God's true nature was to destroy the world. And now, as time passed, it could finally unleash its true power upon this land. The fundamental power that could turn the world to ash was gradually revealing itself to all.
With its body as a singularity, it would turn the entire world into nothingness.
"As if I'd let you do that!"
Elysia whispered. This was not her world, but it was a world she was desperately trying to save. How could she possibly let the Outer God destroy it?
Her eyes shone with a pink light, and everything in the world seemed to respond to her will. The beautiful, colorful sky glowed, the stars looking as if they were about to fall, blooming with a dazzling brilliance.
Elysia was a child of God, loved by all creation. With the power of the Herrscher of Origin, the world itself desperately resisted the Outer God's world-ending advance!
"You stopped it!" Jeanne's face lit up with joy. The situation just now had been critical. A single misstep, and once space had completely collapsed, resisting it would have been impossible.
However... looking at Elysia beside her, Jeanne's expression suddenly turned grave. She possessed a Divine Revelation from God; her eyes could see things that ordinary people could not.
Although Elysia was not a Servant, as long as she wasn't deliberately shielding herself, Jeanne still possessed the ability to see through her.
In her eyes, the young lady was assisting the world in resisting a foreign enemy with her own body, but that same body was being consumed as fuel in the exchange of power.
The power known as Honkai Energy was continuously draining from Elysia. If she weren't a Herrscher, if she weren't a MANTIS, she would have likely turned to nothing in an instant.
To be willing to offer her life for a world she barely knew?
A great maiden... this was the highest praise the illiterate Jeanne could think of. Elysia had no obligation to save a world that was supposed to perish, yet she chose to do so. This resolve and will were by no means false.
However... she, a Saint, was like a mere bystander at this moment. Her frail body could be of no use and would only get in Elysia's way!
What a disgrace. Compared to her, Elysia was far more suited to the title of Saint.
Thinking this, Jeanne willingly stepped forward. The fate of the world lay in the hands of its living beings. And though she was but a deceased spirit, she still possessed the resolve to sacrifice herself for it!
"O Lord, O my banner, grant me the resolve and courage to overcome this trial! Please protect the maiden before me!"
Her hair flowing freely, the Saint Jeanne d'Arc offered one last prayer. She then placed her right hand on Elysia's shoulder. Her Spiritual Core burned away at a visible rate as she transferred all of her magical energy, all of the 'fuel' generated from burning her very core, to Elysia.
However... it was not over. Even with her Spiritual Core destroyed, Jeanne still stood firm upon the earth.
This was not an exception. The King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, had also survived for a considerable time after his Spiritual Core was destroyed, relying on sheer force of will.
Her broken body had no chance of recovery. Even the God she worshipped was powerless now.
Having lost all her magical energy and the Spiritual Core that sustained her existence, what use was there for Jeanne to remain alive?
A longsword appeared in the Saint's hand, seemingly from nowhere. Compared to King Arthur's holy sword, it was not particularly remarkable. Its blade was thinner and longer, looking more like a work of art than a weapon.
"The heavens declare the glory of the Lord, the firmament proclaims the work of His hands."
The lines of the chant formed on her lips, a world of difference from her previous Noble Phantasm, [Luminosité Eternelle].
"Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge."
"There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their warmth spreads across the land, reaching to the very ends of the world."
The more she chanted, the more transparent her body became. In her current state, it was hard to imagine if she could even finish the chant before completely fading away.
"It rises from one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other. My heart grew hot within me; while I meditated, the fire burned."
"My end is here. My fate is here. My life is here."
Flames... began to burn. Flames suddenly erupted on Jeanne's body, on the rapier-like sword that looked like a work of art!
"My life is as nothing, I wander like a shadow."
"My bow I cannot trust, nor can my sword save me."
The fire grew, spreading until even the surrounding buildings were set alight. The Saint's body did not waver in the slightest. She stared, unblinking, at the evil god that would destroy the world.
"With the only thing I have left, I wish to protect her path."
"O Lord, I commit this body to you."
At this moment, Jeanne's body could finally bear it no longer and was consumed by the sea of fire. Through the spreading flames, one could almost see the scene of Jeanne's execution.
"After despair comes hope."
With those final words—the figure of the Saint Jeanne d'Arc vanished completely into the flames. With her dying words as the activation chant, the holy sword erupted in fire.
It was a conceptual crystallized armament, born from a reinterpretation of Jeanne's execution by fire as an offensive attack. It was a subspecies of an Intrinsic Bounded Field, a sword born from the crystallization of one's inner world. This sword could be said to be Jeanne herself. Once this Noble Phantasm was used, Jeanne would vanish after the battle.
Since she was going to disappear anyway, she might as well use the last of her body's value to its absolute limit. This was the Saint's final thought.
Thus, with her magical energy depleted, her Spiritual Core destroyed, and her very body turned to nothing in her final Noble Phantasm, the Saint Jeanne d'Arc had pushed her body to its absolute limit on the journey to fight the Outer God!
[La Pucelle: The Crimson Saint] —This Noble Phantasm shot forward, impacting the Outer God's body with its full force!
It was fire, the same fire that had once burned the Saint's body. Empowered by its concept, these flames actually devoured the void, burning fiercely in the nothingness without any fuel.
It devoured the void, it devoured the red mist surrounding the Outer God, and then... it devoured the Outer God's body!
Under the scorching of the ferocious flames, even the body of the Outer God began to writhe, trying to escape the fire. This was not a fear born from the physical sensation of burning.
The Outer God could not feel pain; it did not possess the physical senses that humans imagined. But... the burning sensation from the depths of its soul was unmistakable.
Within these flames that targeted the soul, its nigh-invincible body could offer no help. It could only twist and turn in an attempt to break free from the sacred fire!
"Jeanne?" By the time Elysia came back to her senses from resisting the Outer God's essence, Jeanne had already scattered with the wind.
Feeling the mysterious power that had appeared within her, Elysia knew it was Jeanne's final gift of magical energy. Against the impossibly powerful Outer God, that energy might not amount to much.
But... the sacred aura it contained was constantly healing Elysia's weakened body.
Gazing at the Outer God, though Jeanne was gone, her flames still burned in the void, searing the Outer God's soul.
The Saint Jeanne d'Arc had never once failed to live up to her title. Though she and Elysia had known each other for less than a day... Elysia had already carved the maiden's image into her heart...
Thus, Jeanne d'Arc made her exit. Aside from the strictly neutral Solomon, the only Servants supporting Elysia were Saber and Emiya Shirou, who were on their way to retrieve the Holy Grail...