The final mastermind had arrived!
Without hesitation, the figure revealed its name—proof it viewed everyone present as utterly insignificant.
In truth.
The claim wasn't wrong.
The world in the footage had already been set ablaze, reduced to ashes.
Only Chaldea, hiding within the gaps of time like pitiful strays, used every means to evade pursuit.
The Grand Caster, Solomon, now stood before Nameless and the others for the first time.
The sheer, unbridled dominance on display was enough to make every viewer shudder—
[This is terrifying! Just watching the footage, I feel suffocated!]
[Same here. It's like my life could be snuffed out at any moment—pure horror!]
[Is this the ultimate evil that burned human history? Among all the Beasts, this one seems uniquely hellbent on humanity's annihilation!]
[Even through the screen, the dread is overwhelming. No wonder Shakespeare and Andersen wanted to flee!]
...
In the living room.
Roya's eyes widened in awe: "The mastermind is absurdly strong! Strong enough to plunge those Servants into despair!"
Such overwhelming power!
Even through the screen, the sheer magnitude of that presence was palpable.
"Indeed formidable," Souma remarked with a glance.
He felt a slight relief.
Clearly, the brat hadn't regained any memories from the footage.
Or perhaps.
Only after the video concluded would those memories resurface.
This was likely a safeguard provided by [Alaya].
As Souma watched the false "Solomon" on screen, memories of his own past astonishment surfaced.
A despair-inducing strength.
One that left Chaldea and every Servant without a shred of hope for victory!
Illya shrank back slightly: "Truly monstrous... and the most humanity-hating among all the Evils of Humanity!"
Previous videos had shown one terrifying Evil after another.
Among them, the fourth Beast of Comparison, Fou, needs no introduction.
As a juvenile, Fou is nothing more than an adorable mascot.
Despite being hailed as the "Primate Murder," it shows no hostility toward humans whatsoever.
From its first appearance until now, it has been relentlessly cute.
It even willingly served as a mount, allowing Mash to become a Grand Rider, all to assist Nameless in protecting humanity.
Is this the so-called "Ultra-Menacing Beast of Humanity"?
Its overwhelming cuteness has led to a surge in merchandise, with countless people wanting to keep a Fou as a pet.
Then there's Tiamat, the Primordial Mother Goddess who appeared in Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia. From the very beginning, she imposed a [Self-Sealing] upon herself, suppressing over 90% of her power.
Most crucially, even after returning from the Imaginary Number Space, she never fought at full strength.
Yet, despite this, she forced Nameless to assemble an all-star lineup—Grand Assassin King Hassan, Grand Caster Merlin, the Wise King Gilgamesh, Ereshkigal, and several other deities—just to oppose her.
In the end, Tiamat also relinquished her power and assisted Nameless in repairing the Singularity to safeguard humanity.
As for that golden-furred, white-faced nine-tailed fox, she never intended to destroy humanity at all.
Instead, she sought to subdue and conquer Nameless, desiring to possess him for herself.
Even Zeus, the one who devoured the gods of the United States Council to become the Omnipotent Supreme Deity, only wanted to domesticate humanity, ruling over them for eternity.
But the King Solomon in the video was different.
He directly ignited human history, seeking to burn all of humanity to ashes—returning everything to the primordial origin!
Miyu couldn't help but worry: "How on earth will Big Brother manage to defeat her?"
The enemy displayed overwhelming, terror-inducing power.
So strong it was despair-inducing.
There wasn't even a glimmer of hope for victory!
Roya nodded in agreement. "No wonder she's the mastermind who forced Nameless to reset the world just to stop her from annihilating humanity. She's absurdly strong!"
Strangely, amidst this suffocating might, she felt her entire body stirring with restless energy.
An inexplicable call emerged within her.
As if… she, too, could wield such immense power!
Am I really about to become a Heroic Spirit?
Roya's heartbeat suddenly skyrocketed.
Over the past few days, she had begun to realize she was becoming less and less ordinary.
Since childhood, her obsessive fascination with Heroic Spirits had left her constantly yearning to become one herself.
If she truly became a Heroic Spirit, it would mean she was once a great hero who saved the world in her past life.
Tch, at that point, even Nameless would be pulling her onto his team.
"My dream is to make sure everyone can find happiness!"
Roya decided to keep it a secret for now.
She would wait until she fully possessed the immense power of a Heroic Spirit before telling Souma.
By then, he would undoubtedly be overjoyed and rush to cling to her leg!
Just imagining herself sitting on a throne, watching him willingly kneel to kiss her toes, sent shivers of excitement through her body.
Ah, what a delightful prospect!
Souma watched her, sensing the troublemaker was plotting something.
Could the seal really be breaking?
The video continued.
Dr. Roman, who remained at Chaldea, exclaimed in shock, "Solomon??? Nameless, did he really call himself that?"
"Yes, he claimed to be Solomon, sharing the name of that 10th-century BC king of Israel!" Nameless confirmed.
"No way! How could it be Solomon?"
Dr. Roman's voice was thick with disbelief.
Unfortunately, after the entity's manifestation, he couldn't see its form—only hear its voice.
Mash furrowed her brows at the intruder. "So, you were summoned as a Heroic Spirit... only to seek humanity's destruction?"
"Hahaha! Foolish creatures, don't lump me together with your pathetic kind!"
The being laughed wildly, its voice dripping with arrogance. "I ascended to Heroic Spirit status through my own power after death!"
"Ascended through your own power?" Dr. Roman grew even more astonished.
"I am both a Heroic Spirit and a living being. No Master in this world stands above me!"
The intruder's tone oozed contempt, as if addressing insects. "I act solely by my will—to burn away the foolish history of mankind!"
Heroic Spirits were meant to be guardians of humanity, ascended after death.
But now...
This mastermind hadn't been summoned at all.
It had forcibly descended in Heroic Spirit form!
Meaning it possessed technology rivaling Chaldea's Spiritron Transfer—
No!
Far surpassing Chaldea's so-called advancements!
After all, the former director had sacrificed everything just to create Demi-Servant Mash by chance.
A far cry from a true Heroic Spirit!
Nameless glared at the intruder. "Give it up. We won't let you destroy humanity."
Anyone could hear the boundless fury in his voice.
Countless battles, endless struggles—all to protect mankind.
And this being was the true culprit.
The root of all evil!
"Your resistance is meaningless," Solomon sneered. "The 72 Demon Gods have already annihilated your world across time!"
"No... impossible! Those grotesque flesh masses couldn't possibly be Solomon's familiars!" Dr. Roman's composure shattered.
Never had he imagined his "most revered" King Solomon would command such repulsive monstrosities.
They should have been true Demon Gods!
"How pitiful. The Demon Gods have already been reborn, casting anchors across every era."
King Solomon gazed at the doctor with increasing pity. "They are but wedges to halt this planet's rotation—much like the Heaven's Wedge, Gilgamesh."
"The luminous bands circling the heavens are the true form of my Noble Phantasm!"
In every Singularity, one could see these luminous bands swirling across the sky.
As if burning a massive hole through the firmament, yet with no Nüwa left to mend the heavens.
Mash grew increasingly awestruck: "Heavens... those rings of spacetime light... are actually your Noble Phantasm?"
"Correct! That is my third Noble Phantasm—[The Time of Birth Hath Come, He Is the One Who Masters All (Ars Almadel Salomonis)]!"
Solomon's laughter grew ever more maniacal: "Each luminous band possesses energy equivalent to that of a holy sword. The total scale equals the cumulative release of King Arthur's Excalibur hundreds of millions of times over—the same King Arthur you previously fought!"
"This is a Noble Phantasm against Human Order!"
Simple words, yet they instantly sent all viewers into an uproar—
[WTF, did you get the unit wrong? How could there be hundreds of millions of luminous bands rivaling King Arthur's holy sword?]
[Th-this... even someone as powerful as King Arthur has been reduced to a unit of measurement???]
[Absolutely unbelievable! What kind of terrifying concept is hundreds of millions of King Arthurs unleashing their ultimate attacks simultaneously?!]
[Too horrifying! No wonder King Solomon dares to arrogantly declare he'll revert Earth to its state 4.6 billion years ago!]
[Hundreds of millions... Even Qin Shi Huang's Great Wall Orbital Cannon can only fire a few thousand shots at once. How could anyone possibly resist attacks powerful enough to blast Earth apart?]