For Kevin, fighting others didn't require much reason, but upon learning Artoria's identity, his gaze towards her held a subtle and peculiar quality.
"Arthur... a nostalgic name."
"...You know me?"
"I suppose so."
"My companions and I once guided a young man named Arthur."
"Back then, I was called Merlin."
Kevin stated this.
Upon hearing this, Artoria, who had initially been interested in chatting more, found her eyes sharpening.
Mystery solved! No wonder she felt an inexplicable rage when looking at this man, just like when she saw that useless incubus.
So, this one was a Merlin too!
Misunderstanding cleared. To arms!
Miss Duvet-King, who held no fondness for a certain worthless dream demon, was eager to beat up this Merlin before her to get a feel for the old days. Beating up an otherworldly Merlin should be a unique experience, right?
That was her thought, however...
"A defensive mechanism similar to the Cosmic Juggernaut?"
Unlike a certain easy-to-bully incubus that anyone could step on, Kevin, though nostalgic for the past, would never hold back. With his combat prowess, he quickly discerned the true nature of Saber's tortoise shell defense.
By teaming up with his good brother Su, they could easily dismantle this troublesome shell.
As for the other Knights of the Round Table, their situation was even more awkward.
While there were hardly any weaklings among the Knights of the Round Table, asking them to challenge the superstar team of Flame-Chasers summoned by Elysia was asking a bit too much.
With Lancelot absent, the strongest, Gawain, was being chased and kicked in the rear by Kalpas.
The sorrowful Tristan was hard-controlled into a daze by Aponia.
Even Gareth, while trying to pick on a perceived weakling, was frightened unconscious by Kosma.
In a very short time, the Knights of the Round Table were almost completely wiped out.
As for why it wasn't a complete wipeout...
Because Galahad didn't participate in the battle at all, instead watching from the sidelines and reaching a strange peace agreement with the non-combative Pardofelis.
Until... this foul magical energy swept over.
The Flame-Chasers paused their actions, as did Elysia, who had been taking the opportunity to settle a personal score with Miss Mobius.
"That is..."
"Mmm, it seems something has happened on bad Jiang Qiao's side."
"This feeling... it's... a Beast!" Saber exclaimed, gritting her teeth.
There was no mistaking it!
Although she wasn't a Grand Servant, as a Servant, Saber was naturally instilled with information about the Evils of Humanity—not to mention she was a wielder of a Holy Sword.
The mission of a Holy Sword wielder was to eliminate threats to the planet.
This applied to alien threats, and of course, the Evils of Humanity were no exception.
"Evils of Humanity?"
Miss Illya, on the scene, also heard this name from Miss Jeanne's mouth.
"What's that?"
"Well, it's a great disaster born from an excessive love for humanity, an evil flower whose mere existence will lead to the severance of human history."
"It develops along with human development, and one day becomes an obstacle that humanity must overcome."
The youthful voice spoke of the current Manaka. The girl's gaze fell on her beautiful face, and she sighed:
"Although I knew your plan, I didn't expect it to end up like this, Manaka."
"Hehe, I suppose this is my miscalculation."
"Originally, I didn't want you to see me like this at all, my prince."
Although Manaka Sajyou's initial goal was to summon a larva of the Beast of Sodom to create a devastating fighting force, unfortunately, she had completely misjudged twice.
Being tricked by the Flying Princess was one thing, but even her own Servant was trying to snatch her prince.
It had to be said, Morgan was quite ruthless when she struck. Not only did she use a holy sword in a sneak attack, but even more cruelly, she had somehow coated it with Hydra venom and a curse that suppressed magical circuits. The result was that Manaka Sajyou had almost completely lost her ability to resist.
But obviously.
She was not willing to lose just like that.
Not to mention that even if she died, Manaka didn't want to be separated from her prince. The mere thought of her prince being taken advantage of by that big home-wrecker, Illya the little home-wrecker Cat, and Morgan the damn traitorous home-wrecker cat, being pushed down and dominated... let alone not being dead, even if she were dead, the thought of it would enrage Miss Manaka enough to come back to life.
In this desperate situation, Manaka Sajyou could only choose to go all in, taking the path she was most unwilling to choose.
—Using herself as a sacrifice.
Then, she would replace the egg incubating in the Fall of the Holy City and transform into... a Beast!
"You didn't have to go this far."
"Of course I did—after all, my prince is my everything~"
Manaka denied it, her affirmation firm, her face flushed with intoxication as she cupped her cheeks.
She was an omniscient genius, the princess of the Root.
Therefore, everything in the world was meaningless to her.
Family, friends... even herself, Manaka Sajyou couldn't feel any meaning from them.
Only in [Illya].
Even though they had only met a few times, hadn't talked much, and were now on opposing sides... it was hard to say her current situation had nothing to do with "Illya," but Manaka felt no resentment, only joy.
After all.
For her, this prince who had captured her heart was her entire world, her everything, the meaning of her life.
"..."
[Illya]—Mr. Jiang Qiao felt a little helpless about this.
He had just happened to come to this world, and he ended up attracting an ultimate yandere...
How should he put it... love truly is the most twisted emotion in the world.
To this, Miss Illya was also greatly shocked.
Love and magic, the former seemed to have manifested in a strange way!
"Now—my prince, please wait for me just a little longer."
"I will clear away all the obstacles in this Holy Grail War!"
"Starting now."
A turbid magical energy shot up into the sky, almost submerging the entire sky.
At this moment, the entire city of Fuyuki took on an apocalyptic scene.
The Good that is Covetousness—Manaka Sajyou, manifests here.
It could be felt that at this moment, a disconnect had occurred between Fuyuki and the outside world. Without a doubt...
"It's become a Singularity."
[Illya] looked up at the dark sky, understanding what had happened.
With the manifestation of the Beast, this Fuyuki City had become a major Singularity, like the Absolute Demonic Front, that if not overcome, would lead to the destruction of the entire world's human history.
He could feel that, having sensed this magical energy, the surviving Servants in this Holy Grail War were already heading here.
And this was obviously what Manaka Sajyou wanted to see.
After all, it was much more convenient to gather everyone together and take them out in one go than to eliminate them one by one.
And facing a Beast, Servants would absolutely not cower.
Amidst the thunder, the great king, driving his chariot with Waver, arrived almost simultaneously with Ishtar.
At the same time, the dark sun boat, like a scorching sun, sailed out of the haze, revealing Ramesses II's arrogant face.
There were also Mordred and Saber.
But, there was still no sign of the Flying Princess's Servant, Kama, or a certain gymnastics prince with very little presence—obviously, they had collectively decided to cower.
"I had a feeling when I saw this woman before, but I didn't expect it to turn out like this, honestly."
"Well... the Holy Grail War has produced such a troublesome existence. Sigh... that being said, dealing with such things is also our duty."
"Then, let this king go first! To strike the first blow in this great evil crusade!"
"Ionioi Hetairoi!"
The surrounding scenery began to change.
The next moment, the Macedonian army appeared on the endless wasteland.
"Eh eh eh! Is this that uncle's Reality Marble? There are even more people than in Saber's Reality Marble!"
"Mmm, this Reality Marble contains many existences that are even stronger than Iskandar himself, and even..." [Illya]'s gaze fell on certain people in the army, and he pouted.
If their Spirit Origins weren't limiting their strength, some of the people here could even fight a Beast single-handedly.
Of course... the most dramatic part was that person... for Mr. Ham, who had always been proud of his identity as a pharaoh, what could be more dramatic than meeting the ancestors of the pharaohs?
"But, although it's a very powerful Noble Phantasm, it can't defeat that child."
[Illya]'s opinion of the great king starting with Ionioi Hetairoi was not optimistic.
In other words, a normal Spirit Origin couldn't fight an existence like a Beast.
Not to mention, that child's authority as a Beast was completely opposed to Ionioi Hetairoi.
As if to prove [Illya]'s words, upon seeing the army of Servants, Manaka Sajyou just scoffed:
"Hehe~"
The next moment...
A surge of magical energy flowed from her, instantly affecting all the Servants.
In the great king's astonished eyes, his loyal subordinates, though some were struggling, the majority of them actually turned their spears towards him.
"...Anti-Messiah."
The girl sighed.
Just like the inherent authority of a Beast, just as the First Beast, Goetia, had Anti-Summoning, an absolute counter to Heroic Spirits, and the Second Beast, Tiamat, had Nega-Genesis, an absolute reversal of the present... based on the embryo of the Sixth Beast, Manaka Sajyou, who could already replicate the Ten Crowns authority of the 666 Beast, naturally possessed Anti-Messiah/Anti-God/Anti-Faith.
This "faith" naturally included "loyalty."
It might be slightly different for the Beast of Sodom, but for Manaka Sajyou, it manifested in this way.
Those with loyalty and faith would be directly shaken when facing Manaka Sajyou. They would be turned—of course, this effect would be less effective if the target was sufficiently determined, and would manifest in other ways.
But, for the great king's Macedonian army... this Ionioi Hetairoi itself was the crystallization of his subordinates' faith in him.
It directly ran into the barrel of the Anti-Messiah gun.
And what was worse...
Almost instantly, the ground became like a swamp, and the Servants summoned by the great king sank into the mire one by one... and then... when they reappeared, they could only be called "it."
The effect of the Monster Princess, after Manaka transformed into a Beast, had almost reached the level of Tiamat's Nega-Genesis.
The quality of those Servants themselves could be called shoddy, but after being transformed by the Monster Princess, they all reached the level of Phantasmal Species, and some were even comparable to some Demon God Pillars.
"Eh eh eh!"
One could see a certain goddess who always messes things up trying to launch a fierce attack, only to perform her signature move of jumping and then falling asleep. Watching Ishtar being entangled in the black mud and trying to break free, [Illya] pouted.
"Master, what should we do?"
"Pure heat attacks should be effective."
Pure heat?
Got it!
Miss Illya instantly mustered her courage, took out the Firefly card, and began her Ruby transformation.
"Ikuze, Ruby!"
Good news.
The heat attack was effective.
Bad news.
Illya's attack had little effect.
"Master, you said heat attacks would be effective."
Miss Illya, who was being chased, was teary-eyed.
The stats provided by the Firefly card were enough for her to fight these monsters head-on, but... there were just too many of them! She couldn't win, she couldn't win at all, and for some reason, she couldn't unleash her full power!
To this, [Illya]'s expression was a little strange.
He glanced at the extremely joyous Manaka Sajyou.
Anti-Messiah/Anti-Faith: Power gained through faith will be directly nullified, faith will collapse under doubt and be turned... with Manaka Sajyou's exclusive addition: All you home-wrecker Cats can go to hell!
Mystery solved!
The previous authority was actually just something Manaka had obtained from the Beast of Sodom and replicated in her own way. In reality, Manaka's true Beast authority should be...
Anti-Home-Wrecker Cats: The power of cats will be suppressed and greatly reduced when facing you. The more home-wreckers there are, the stronger your power will become.
Anti-Messiah (False), Anti-Home-Wrecker (True).