Fate: How About a New Savior? Chapter 995 - 72: Conflagration

"The black mud of the Holy Grail."

Shiomi recognized it at once.

"Observed through multiple lenses shaped by three different religions. Different views of life and death, incompatible anguish over salvation, all of it changed . Hah… though this body has undergone all manner of ascetic suffering, I have never known pain like this before. My flowing blood feels as if it has turned into fire. This will be my final resting place. Without a doubt, this is the true end of the man called Kirei Kotomine."

Wrapped in black mud, his figure obscured from sight, Kirei's calm voice drifted out.

"Within , besides Father Gregory, there are also the two Divine Spirits Aži Dahāka and Balu of the Moon. At the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War, I was killed by that Black Grail and soaked in its mud. Before I could be completely consud, you destroyed the manifested Grail."

"And then you survived through the power of Balu of the Moon."

Shiomi understood.

Or rather, it could also be said that the 'Alien God' had used that thod to turn Kirei Kotomine into an Apostle.

"You look pretty happy right now," he said to Kirei.

"The self I had built up, the faith I had established, all of it was burned away and reduced to ash. But it did not beco nothing. In that heat, many things were born anew. To witness once more the highest point of life, this one and only 'soul at its peak,' is sothing worth rejoicing in."

Kirei spoke again.

The black mud began to surge toward Shiomi under his command.

"A futile struggle. Even if, as an incarnated Alter Ego, you've mixed two Divine Spirits into yourself, you are still nothing more than a Servant who rely possesses the power of a god."

Shiomi flicked his spear and stepped toward the oncoming black mud.

It had already reached his feet. It should have swallowed him whole in the next instant. Yet the mont Shiomi's foot ca down, the mud split apart as if in fear, its flow suddenly changing direction.

With every step Shiomi took, the black mud receded out of control like a retreating tide, revealing the desert beneath once more.

Even the black mud of the Holy Grail had to keep its distance from the god standing here.

"If this is all your so-called true power amounts to…"

As he spoke, Shiomi swung his spear at the mass of mud enveloping Kirei.

The cylindrical shell made of black mud was sliced cleanly in two. The pitch-black curse could not cling to Longinus in the slightest.

And yet Kirei Kotomine's body had not been cut along with it.

It was empty.

"This black mud has beco like my own limbs. Which ans I am everywhere."

Kirei's voice sounded from behind him.

He could move freely anywhere the mud had spread, and with his sight obscured, even Shiomi had failed to detect him.

A sharp hand thrust from behind. It struck Shiomi's body, but failed to pierce through and tear out his heart. That result left Kirei visibly shocked.

"Didn't I tell you? Your rank isn't high enough," Shiomi said impatiently as he threw a punch.

The hand gripping the spear slamd into Kirei's body. The priest coughed up blood and tumbled backward.

His black priestly robes had already vanished. Now he was bare-chested, while his lower body was covered by black mud that had taken the shape of strange garnts.

Sinister runes were carved across his body. On his chest was a pattern like a black sun, as if it were connected to the void itself.

And as Kirei fully released the output of his Spirit Origin, his black hair turned white.

"So even my attacks can't reach you. Is this what a god is?" Kirei clutched the wounded part of his body as blood kept spilling from the corner of his mouth. "What a troubleso opponent."

"I told you, didn't I? I'm not letting you escape."

Shiomi turned around and walked toward Kirei again.

He moved slowly, almost as if taking a leisurely stroll, yet Kirei knew all too well that there would be no chance to pull away from him again. So he pressed both hands against the mud-covered desert, causing the black mud to boil, rise into the sky, and transform into countless black spears that ca raining down.

Those black spears, packed with malignant information, dissolved the instant they neared Shiomi.

The divine domain surrounding Shiomi was still expanding. Anything that entered his vicinity would be subjected to trial.

Human, Servant, Phantasmal Species, no form of life could withstand the divine majesty he now radiated.

"I offered up all my Authorities as a sacrifice, turning this body into the hollow shell of a god without Authorities," Shiomi said. "It was only ant to be a convenient shortcut, but it led to an unexpected answer."

"I see. Like the great god Odin sacrificing himself to gain wisdom, you sacrificed all your Authorities, and within that hollow divine vessel, new Authorities were born?" Kirei grasped the heart of it at once.

He had assud that without Authorities, Shiomi's strength would decline.

But the truth was the exact opposite.

The mont Shiomi surrendered his last Authority, his divinity had already begun ascending toward a still higher realm.

"Three-headed demon, threefold death, co forth. Overflow, scatter, flood, and soak the earth!"

Kirei had no intention of waiting quietly for death. Even now, he would et his enemy head-on.

No matter how powerful the foe before him had beco, Kirei's iron will did not waver.

Overflowing Heart of Darkness - Zazhiganiye Angra Mainyu!

A malignant Anti-World Noble Phantasm that spread chaos through the world, using a three-headed serpent, or rather what could be called a dragon, as its catalyst.

The overflowing curse possessed mass. It beca the evil thoughts of those it touched, and the flas that burned to nothing the flesh of those who repeated evil deeds.

Whether one possessed goodness or wickedness, anyone facing this Noble Phantasm would be subjected to trendous suffering.

Demonic priest, evil dragon, mocker.

The Composite Divinity of those three had gathered within Kirei Kotomine, giving birth to this Anti-World Noble Phantasm.

"Mictlan is a world beneath the earth, a paradise beyond the world. Even if one day it is fated to be destroyed, that destruction should co quietly, like soone passing away in their sleep, not by being corroded by the evil you summoned."

Shiomi slowly reached out and placed his hand on Kirei's head, covering his entire face in his grasp.

[Inflaming Divinity].

A power originally used to protect his companions could, in turn, beco a power that burned his enemies away.

That was the result he had gained after emptying his divine vessel.

Kirei Kotomine's body ignited. The black mud at his feet ignited.

The four black mud dragons that had been spiraling upward behind Shiomi also froze for an instant, then were swallowed by the flas.

He could not even let out a cry of struggle. Or rather, the first thing to be burned away was his voice.

Whether Kirei wished it or not, flas that scorched even the soul covered his body and burned without end.

Shiomi stood before him without expression, watching as the kneeling man gradually lost his human shape within the flas and turned into a lump of charred black matter.

Then even that continued to burn, until not even ashes remained.

Only after Shiomi waved his arm once more did the flas slowly die down.

A long wind swept across the battlefield, leaving behind nothing but endless yellow sand.