It was like a play that had taken a disastrous turn, a novel abruptly abandoned by its author, or even a deus ex machinaâwhat had just happened was not only unexpected but so absurd that it made one want to slam the table and curse.
What kind of third-rate ending was this?!
The Command Spell on Dracoâs hand had been an open card from the very beginning. With Sakatsukiâs personality, how could he not have prepared for it?
Yet, the impossible had happened.
Draco used her Command Spell.
Dracoâs Command Spell took effect.
Sakatsuki crushed his own Spirit Core.
GG.
It was like a rehearsed easter egg, except the suicidal protagonist wouldnât cheerfully stand back up to bow before his relieved audience.
This was true annihilationâthe Martial Lord would return to the Throne of Heroes, while Sakatsuki himself would be protected and transported to Illyaâs world, completely severed from this Singularity.
And what remained here... was the Beast, Draco.
"Heh... Hahahahaâ!"
The freed beast laughed wildly, her body erupting with surging mana as her presence climbed higher and higher. This time, there would be no bottleneck to force her back.
Instead, she would break through the seal in one go, shattering her restraints completely!
The newborn Beast of the Apocalypse roared, and in that instantâ
The earth overturned.
A massive city emerged from nothingness, conjured from mana and salt, surrounding and trapping the humans within. Countless manifestations of malice took shape as ghostly entities, filling the entire space.
Then, salt descended like a blizzard, followed by sulfur and fire raining from the heavens, covering the sinful city entirely.
The fall of Sodom, the city of sin, was now reenacted!
Amid the spreading flames of destruction, forests of salt pillars rose from the groundâmonuments to sinners who, even under Yahwehâs wrath, remained unrepentant, bowing in reverence to the great harlot at the cityâs center. The seven deadly sins mocked each other in glee.
The Whore of Babylon, recorded in the Book of Revelationâthe Antichrist, the greatest evil in Christianity.
Unlike the Red Dragon of Britain, this was the Dragon of Sin, equated with Satan himself.
The Evil of Humanity, applause!
"No... How is this possible?!" The doctorâs voice crackled through the communicator in shock. "Not only has she broken the seal, but sheâs fully regained her original form! The readings are over a hundred times stronger than before!"
"Be careful, Fujimaru! What stands before you now is the true larval form of a BeastâDraco, the Beast of Depravity!"
"How did this happen, Doctor?!" Fujimaru shouted as he directed the Servants to tighten their formation. "Didnât Sakatsuki seal Draco? Even if the seal was broken, she should still need Neroâs body to exist! How could sheâ"
How could she manifest this embryonic form of world-ending destruction?!
"About that... I have a theory." Instead of the doctor, a pleasant female voice answered Fujimaruâs question.
"Even if she couldnât consume the collapse of the United Roman Empire... what about Qin? The Qin that swept through both Romes, unrivalled in its glory?"
"Butâthat was just an excuse Sakatsuki made up! The whole ânationâ thing was just a front!" Fujimaru protested.
Back in Chaldea, the beautiful face of "Da Vinci" leaned closer to the screen, her tone grave. "Youâre misunderstanding, Fujimaru. What Draco consumes isnât nationsâitâs the prosperity before the collapse."
And the core of Qinâthe God-Slaying Martial Lordâhadnât she personally buried him?
Wasnât this the perfect nourishment for Draco?!
"Did you foresee this future, O Chaldea that has lost its star-seeing knight?!"
Bathed in surging malice, Draco stretched her limbs, her form gradually growing taller and more voluptuous. A dazzling red dress clung to her flawless figure, her upper body nearly bare save for crimson patterns flowing across her chest, neck, and finally her cheeks.
The ears of a beastâsymbols of depravityâgrew in, completing the final piece of her monstrous form.
The woman known as the Whore of Babylon covered her lips with a hand, her childishly gleaming eyes reflecting the starlight of those who stood against her.
"Though the maiden of pure heart has been lost, I shall still ask you this, O stars of Chaldea!"
As the sun was devoured, swallowed by the hellish spectacle of an eclipse, Draco whispered:
"All things must come to an endâthis is true. But tell me... when everything vanishes, who will bear witness to their demise?"
"Thisâ" Fujimaru instinctively tried to answer, but his experience was still too shallow. He could only repeat, "This..."
"Indeed! There is nothing sadder, nothing more tragic!" The Masterâs silence only widened Dracoâs triumphant grin. "I am the evil born to dispel this sorrow!"
"Human Order, human historyâyou speak of them as grand things, and indeed they are. Even as mere mortals, you walk among legends, fighting alongside heroes of old."
"Yet even so, you cannot deny my existence! For I am the incarnation of humanityâs unconscious desiresâthe devourer who feasts upon the most prosperous cities at the end of civilization!"
The impossibly beautiful woman spread her hands, cradling something intangible as she declared:
"Am I not the one who most delightfully savours the very last drop?"
This was the Evil of Humanityâboth the driving force of civilization and the manner of its destruction!
Endless greed seeped from Dracoâs words, a chill crawling up the spines of all who heard her. It was as if the demonic beast had opened her shining, innocent eyes, gazing upon them with nothing but pure hunger.
There was no maliceâjust as humans felt no murderous intent toward bread or cabbage.
Only pure, unadulterated joy.
And that very innocence was what made it all the more terrifying!
Gazing upon this depraved and monstrous form, one couldnât help but recall the legends of the Whore of Babylon.
No one knewâit was not Yahweh who had destroyed Sodom.
It was Draco herself who had annihilated the most prosperous, most depraved city of that era!
After all, wasnât it the Cauldron of Desire in her hands that had secretly nurtured that cityâs prosperity from the shadows?!
"Bad newsâthe Holy Grail!" The doctor forcefully cut into the conversation, his voice urgent. "Fujimaru, you canât let Draco take the Holy Grail from Sakatsuki! If she corrupts that pure mana source, itâll become a degenerate Grail that endlessly boils human desires!"
"Hahahaâtoo late!" Before Fujimaru could react, Draco burst into laughter, flicking her fingers to summon the golden chalice from the voidâ
âonly for it to fade like mist.
Under everyoneâs stunned gazes, the Holy Grail that sustained the Singularity dissipated like foam, as though it had chosen to vanish alongside Sakatsukiâs death.
After a long silence, Dracoâs lips curled into a cold smile.
She licked her lips.
"As expected of you... Sakatsuki."
***
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