Fate: How About a New Savior?

Tenkei Shiomi had been through countless battles, but there were only a handful that truly counted as hard fights.

His Master. The King of Heroes. Only a few opponents had ever truly pushed him.

That was why he could instantly tell when an enemy was going to be difficult.

The Primordial Runes resonated strongly with Shiomi's will, surging in response to his resolve and the anticipation of the coming clash.

The King of Magecraft—the origin of all human Magecraft.

At Shiomi's side, Morgan had already changed into her battle attire. Silver hair danced in the wind, black garments fluttering around her.

All three gathered here were Magus who had surpassed their time. This battle was inevitable.

Caster raised a hand, fingers partially curled. A faint golden glow shimmered from the ring on his finger, catching the eye despite the darkness.

It was the divine ring granted to the King of Magecraft by the gods, a symbol of his role as the progenitor and sovereign of Magecraft.

A burst of fire shot into the air, igniting the slope leading to the church. The night wind stretched it into a blazing trail.

Morgan reacted instantly. A shockwave of frost burst outward from her like expanding ripples, clashing with the flames and transforming the collision into dense steam.

Above the red firelight, Shiomi spotted several figures descending.

Gripping his crimson spear, he charged into the oncoming assault.

Four enemies in total—none of them like the ones they had faced in the forest earlier.

These were different Demon Gods.

Shiomi left the Magecraft duel to Morgan. He would deal with these Demon Gods himself while looking for an opening to close in and engage Caster at close range.

He was confident in his Magecraft, but this battlefield held more than just the three of them. That made Morgan the better choice to handle the Magecraft duel.

Amid the thick fog, Morgan could hear the sharp clangs of Shiomi's spear colliding with the Demon Gods' attacks. Any dark projectiles aimed her way were swiftly intercepted by Shiomi's watchful eye.

With that assurance, Morgan stopped worrying about the Demon Gods—beings on par with ordinary Servants—and instead focused entirely on the King of Magecraft.

This was her first true confrontation with him.

At this level, flames and frost were mere parlor tricks in the hands of master Magus. What she wanted to know was—would he attack or defend?

Legend said King Solomon had only ever performed one miracle during his life. After that, he never revealed his divine gifts again—until the moment of his death, when he returned them to the heavens.

Beyond his unparalleled summoning arts, Morgan needed to understand what other Magecraft the King of Magecraft possessed.

Mist began to gather in midair, thickening until visibility vanished.

A gale erupted from the ground. A massive beast with a silver mane rode the wind, its howl piercing the sky.

The earth quaked, and mountains trembled as a flurry of six-pointed snowflakes swept across the sky.

Reality Marble!

In an instant, the slope outside the church shifted, transforming into a Reality Marble.

At some point, the clouds had scattered. From a rift above, a dark teal torrent surged downward—a primordial flood capable of drowning the world. It poured across a boundless, snow-covered plain.

Morgan wasn't surprised.

That the King of Magecraft could wield a forbidden technique capable of warping reality through mental imagery—this much was expected.

If it had only been a Reality Marble, Morgan might have even been disappointed.

The great flood crashed over ancient, unmelting ice, shattering it into fragments, then swept through the valley in an unstoppable tide, surging toward the plains.

Shiomi had sensed the shift long ago. While battling the Demon Gods, he had drawn the fight nearly a hundred meters into the sky, darting through them as stepping stones, weaving left and right. Beneath them, the flood surged forward, roaring straight toward Morgan.

The northern wind howled in his ears, merging with the flood's furious roar.

But it wasn't just that—the Mana surging within the barrier was cold, sorrowful, and slowly seeping into her mind.

The silver-maned beast standing atop the flood raised its head and stretched, its form expanding with each passing second.

In the blink of an eye, its eyes flared with killing intent. Lowering its body, it dove with the flood, sweeping down with wind and snow in tow, its force enough to obliterate all in its path.

Then the flood completely engulfed Morgan.

She slowly closed her eyes. Though the deluge blanketed the land, it couldn't touch her. Within a sphere just a few meters wide, the torrent couldn't reach her. Ice strong enough to shatter skyscrapers shattered against the edge of that space, unable to draw near.

Morgan stood unmoved, unfazed, calmly watching the Reality Marble's onslaught.

The beast plunged deeper, tearing through the flood laced with countless shards of solid ice. Baring its fangs, it lunged at Morgan, intending to rip her apart with claw and tooth.

The witch's eyes remained shut, a quiet smile on her face.

There was no defense. The enemy had made no move to guard themselves—there was nothing to scheme against.

The intention was obvious. There was only one answer: a direct, full-force clash.

Resting on her spear, she raised her left hand. Beneath the monstrous waves, the entire Reality Marble quaked in response. The ancient frozen earth beneath her began to fracture, threatening to drag her into a chasm at any moment.

This was the world of the King of Magecraft. Within it, he was absolute.

Even the primordial flame could not escape its fate of extinction here.

A fist-sized emerald light pulsed once, then erupted violently. Billions of luminous arcs burst outward.

The beast, the flood, the very Reality Marble—all shattered into uncountable fragments.

This wasn't the King of Magecraft's true inner world. And that meant, as long as Morgan seized the momentary gap, she could tear it apart.

But clearly, the shattering of the ice field was only the beginning.

As the crystalline landscape vanished, the slope outside the church did not reappear. In its place stretched an endless wilderness.

There was another Reality Marble—a second layer wrapped around the first.

Morgan didn't give the King of Magecraft a moment to recover. Over a hundred magical spears rose behind her, surging skyward like a storm of arrows. They tore through the dark sky and closed in on the King of Magecraft in an instant.

An invisible wall of Magecraft caught the barrage, erupting into a chain of explosions.

"To someone like you, human Magecraft must seem like a child's toy. Nothing more than tricks you can dispel with a flick of your hand."

Morgan's tone was cold, her words cutting as she spoke the truth.

"Even as a Servant, I am not human."

The King of Magecraft didn't look surprised. He responded only with a calm, knowing murmur.

"Yes, I know. When your companions refrained from using Magecraft offensively, the answer was already obvious."

Before the smoke of the explosion had even cleared, a swarm of black, deathly raptors burst forth, weaving together into a net meant to consume all life.

This dead wilderness had long been stripped of all vitality—devoured by these creatures. Anything living that fell into this domain would become their prey.

"For a world shaped by the King of Magecraft, this one's awfully hostile!"

Shiomi's voice rang out as he descended from above. With his crimson spear in hand, he streaked down like a red comet, cleaving the web of dark raptors from above. A massive shockwave rippled outward from his impact, and the world trembled.

The second Reality Marble began to fall apart.