Chapter 484: [484] Bashmu, the Saintly Maiden and the Sage, the Primordial Giant

The stalemate in the Hanging Gardens was shattered by a crimson lightning bolt.

"What?!"

All Servants were stunned by this unexpected assault—except for Artoria. With a swift sidestep, she effortlessly evaded the petite knight charging at her like a gale. Scarlet electricity crackled along the greatsword as a slash capable of cleaving anything in two was deflected by the holy spear.

"Red Saber!"

"...I see."

Amakusa immediately understood, wearing a bitter smile as he gazed at the rebellious knight’s defiant expression.

"Is this because of your father, King Arthur?"

"Don’t you dare speak that name!" The crimson lightning grew even more violent as Mordred leaped backward to dodge the spear thrust, landing at the forefront of the Black Faction. She pointed her sword at the young priest with overwhelming intensity.

"Besides, are you an idiot?! You’re the traitors here! Weren’t you the ones scheming to kill my Master earlier?! From that moment on, you became my enemies!"

With this domineering declaration, a crescent-shaped slash flashed through the chapel as if to draw a dividing line. Artoria’s holy sword parried the strike, but the floor suffered severe damage, sending wood splinters and stone fragments flying in all directions.

"Seems King Arthur’s gone senile to join your side. I’m nothing like her!"

Senile... Artoria’s eyebrow twitched. Her saintly blue eyes pierced through the dust cloud as she looked down (her liberated form granting her a height advantage) at Mordred.

Gorgeously radiant golden hair, wild eyes brimming with spirit, and—a fearless grin.

This wasn’t mere petulance. She’d made her resolve before choosing to face her directly.

Such determination undeniably pleased Artoria, and as reward for that satisfaction, her fighting spirit soared.

Spear in her right hand, left gripping the sword at her waist, the legendary King Arthur stood tall, radiating brilliance.

"Setting aside that the priest is merely suspect without concrete evidence, my actions follow my Master’s orders, upholding a knight’s loyalty... Since you’ve raised your sword against me, I assume you’re prepared, Sir Mordred?"

The gathered heroes held their breath, yielding the stage to the clashing legends—the myth and its destroyer. Hearing Artoria’s words, Mordred’s grin widened.

"Of course! The only one who can defeat you is me, Mordred!"

"Oh? The knight who was so thoroughly beaten in Romania dares raise arms against me again?"

As their auras collided, Artoria involuntarily stepped forward—like lighting a fuse. Mordred shouted "Let’s find out!" and lunged at her father-king with sword raised!

"Charge! Reclaim the Grail!" With Vlad III fallen, the Black Faction’s strategist Chiron temporarily assumed command. Seeing Britain’s infamous pair already at each other’s throats, the Black Faction launched their assault without hesitation.

Now was their chance to seize the Grail while the Red Faction stood divided!

At this moment, Artoria was locked in combat with Mordred, while the Empress’s demonic beasts only hindered Astolfo and Atalanta’s advance. Achilles and Siegfried nimbly dodged each attack, thrusting their spears and swords toward Amakusa!

"Don’t even think about it!"

Within the Hanging Gardens, Semiramis’s control was already supreme, and now, fueled by rage, her spellcasting speed increased further:

"Fill, manifest!"

With just two chants, a grand magecraft took form. Emerging from the magic circle was a monstrous entity surpassing even divine schools of fish.

Mesopotamian mythology speaks of Tiamat, the primordial mother goddess who birthed the gods, also creating eleven monstrous beasts to oppose those who rebelled against her.

Now, the Empress’s grand magecraft materialized one of them.

It was a colossal serpent said to have been born in the sea, adorned with vividly colored twin horns and forelimbs—a terrifying monstrosity whose rank rivaled even dragon gods: Bashmu. Its head emerged from the depths of darkness. Its fangs carried venom deadlier than the Hydra’s, capable of inflicting fatal wounds with the slightest graze—a weapon even the Empress hesitated to wield lightly.

"Let me see you writhe in madness, traitors!!"

Divine creations inherently retained divinity, and even dragon-blooded bodies couldn’t resist the toxin’s invasion. Would the two heroes swing their swords in terrified frenzy or flee in disgrace? Either way, they could not be allowed to survive.

"What—?!"

"Such power...!"

Achilles and Siegfried had underestimated the Empress’s might. Staggering back in shock, they narrowly avoided the serpent’s tail lash and venomous strikes—but Bashmu opened its abyssal maw, spewing a deluge of lethal poison—

"Scorching heavens, smother the earth!"

The flames of the sun god incinerated the venom, while the foul stench was dispersed by a figure clad in black robes. The young man gazed at the grotesque child of Tiamat, his eyes flashing with iridescent blue excitement.

"Unbounded Variation: Mystic Eyes of Death Perception!"

His spear’s blade pierced the serpent’s flesh, seizing the faint lines of death hidden within. As the beast shrieked in agony, Sakatsuki carved out a massive chunk of its body, already raising his left hand—ready to unleash the sword of Zababa, another weapon from Mesopotamian myth.

When dealing with colossal monsters, nothing beat the thrill of cleaving through them with a greatsword!

But just as Sakatsuki prepared to deliver the killing blow, the Hanging Gardens trembled violently. The quaking didn’t originate from within the gardens—but from the earth below, near the Fortress of Millennia of the Black faction!

The tremor was so immense it shook the Empress’s floating palace itself!

"What’s happening?!" Chiron transformed into a swift breeze, effortlessly crossing the chapel to peer over the garden’s edge. Through his ’Clairvoyance,’ he glimpsed a towering, fifteen-meter-tall silhouette of a giant.

—On this day, humanity was once again reminded of the terror of being dominated by giants.

"It seems we haven’t explained this to you." With a sweeping strike that forced Mordred back, Artoria remarked calmly:

"Black Caster, Avicebron, has secretly pledged allegiance to my Master. In other words, the one causing the commotion below must be—"

"Damn it!" Before Artoria could finish, Chiron, Astolfo, and Siegfried all paled dramatically. Without hesitation, they abandoned the battlefield before them and turned to rush toward the exit.

"No need for such trouble." The Empress’s mocking voice echoed through the courtyard. "Allow me to send you on your way."

The next moment, all the Servants opposing the Red Faction felt their footing vanish. Looking down, they saw the Fortress of Millennia on the ground below through the courtyard—and then they began to fall.

"Waaaaaah—!" Amid Astolfo’s uniquely dramatic scream, the opposing Servants were all rejected by the courtyard and vanished from sight. Even the breathless Basilisk dissipated. The only ones left standing in the chapel were Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, Artoria, and... the Ruler of this Holy Grail War.

"Miss Jeanne d’Arc." Artoria nodded to her, sheathing her weapon and stepping aside to signal her non-involvement. Understanding, Jeanne took a step forward, silently meeting the young priest’s amethyst eyes before parting her lips.

"You... are the Ruler summoned in the Third Holy Grail War of Fuyuki, aren’t you?"

As a Ruler, Jeanne was acutely aware of her role. When conflict arose within the Red Faction, she observed (and watched the spectacle). When the Red and Black Factions underwent a major reshuffling, she observed (and watched the spectacle). When the two sides clashed, she still observed (and watched the spectacle).

But now, having confirmed that her actions wouldn’t interfere with the Holy Grail War’s proper progression, Jeanne stood before Amakusa Shirou Tokisada—the Ruler summoned in the Third Holy Grail War—and began her interrogation.

"Yes. Before this, meeting you would have caused significant trouble. After all, you hold Command Spells. If you had discovered me, all my efforts would have been in vain. I absolutely cannot allow anyone to obstruct my dream."

Amakusa regained his composure amidst the relentless upheavals, answering with an unshaken smile. There was no hatred in the boy’s voice, only unwavering resolve. Persuasion was impossible—unless killed, this boy would never stop. Jeanne became certain of this.

Looking back now, her summoning had been abnormal from the start. A possession-based summoning, borrowing a human body. At first, she had assumed it was a side effect of the unprecedented summoning of fourteen Servants. But upon reflection, it was the opposite.

Under circumstances where numerous Servants were bound to descend into chaos, the Greater Grail should have ensured the Ruler was properly summoned at all costs.

The reason it ultimately failed was because the Greater Grail’s perception had been thrown into disarray. And the reason this young priest had been avoiding her was precisely because she, too, was a Ruler. One of the Ruler’s class skills, a privilege of the class, was "Revelation."

This skill, capable of discerning a Servant’s class and true name, would naturally be effective even against someone who had regained a physical body. If they had met on the battlefield, the boy’s plans would surely have been ruined.

"—What is your goal, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada?"

"Isn’t it obvious? The salvation of all humanity, Jeanne d’Arc."

A boy and a girl, hailed as "miracles" by the unrewarded commoners and the soldiers chasing their shadows.

In two questions and two answers, they quietly gazed at each other, both convinced the other was an existence they could never tolerate.

————

By the lake brimming with clear water, a golden-masked magi walked step by step into the water, holding a heart in his hands, devout as a seeker of truth.

Unmindful of his robes soaking in the lake, Avicebron silently plunged the "furnace core" given by Reika Rikudou into the ground, then knelt to immerse his hands in the water.

Facing the mirror-like lake, the black Caster began to recite clearly:

"Born of earth (mother), devoured by wind (wisdom), filled with water (life)."

These were divine words to bestow life upon clay.

"Wielded by fire (weapon), disease (demon) departs. Cruelty shatters one’s own skull; righteousness guides one’s blood to purity."

This land, these trees, this body—all were offerings to the Lord. A realm of mystery only a man who sought neither fame nor power could create.

"A form vast as sacred peaks, steadfast as rocky mountains. With the visage to protect, rule, and dominate all people."

It was already a crystallized miracle surpassing the realm of Noble Phantasms.

"Though of clay, you are not clay; though human, you are not human. You who stand in paradise, who rule paradise. You are our dream, our hope, our love."

The materialized faith of a suffering people.

A recreation of the Lord’s miracle—a puppet bearing the duty to rewrite the world.

"Embrace the divine spirit. Your name is the Primordial Man—Adam."

The foundation of Kabbalistic magecraft manifested through the chant, as the Three Pillars and Twenty-Two Paths transformed into seeds merging with the lake’s surface. The once calm waters suddenly bubbled with a "glug." Hidden beneath lay Avicebron’s life’s work since manifesting in this world—the most faithful to the origin, the first Golem.

What, fundamentally, is a Golem? Common knowledge defines it as an artificial lifeform created through magecraft. But this is only half true.

The term "Golem" originally meant "fetus" or "unformed matter." In other words, it refers to the secret art the Lord used to create mankind.

Shape clay into human form, breathe life into it. Yet most magi stop there—understandably so. The higher realm beyond is the ultimate aspiration of all Kabbalists, a domain one should never enter without absolute resolve. Moreover, the deeper one delves into Golemcraft, the more the Golem becomes something contrary to the magi’s desires.

The supreme Golem is, simply put, a recreation of Adam. He is the king who guided the suffering people through hardship to paradise, and their guardian.

A massive arm emerged from the lake waters. Its materials were rock, soil, and trees—all elements with considerable history, natural resources never used for city walls or lumber. Darnic had spent nearly thirty percent of his assets to gather these materials.

Among them, Sakatsuki, who possessed the Projection magecraft, had secretly contributed by adding many rare materials he had encountered before.

Soon, the upper body with the architectural style of an ancient city had fully surfaced. Then, its movements halted—the most crucial component was next.

The malicious, first-rate magus heart taken from Celenike melted into Adam’s chest. The earthen mass enveloping the heart began to erode and assimilate it. The sensation of every cell dissolving seemed to terrify the heart, making it pound violently—until the artificially imposed human traits were wiped clean, leaving only the most fundamental function of a ’core.’

That is, the central system sustaining the giant’s operation.

The moment it obtained the ’core,’ the golem’s eyes ignited with light. Its massive foot, lifted from the lake, landed steadily upon the earth. How magnificent—Avicebron marveled inwardly.

Though merely an artificial construct of wood, stone, soil, and human flesh, its grandeur seemed to embody the majesty of nature itself, inspiring awe in all who beheld it.

Then, the first ’miracle’ occurred. The earth beneath its feet sang in praise of the giant, while the surrounding flora flourished wildly. Trees touched by the giant instantly bore fruit, which ripened, fell, and sprouted into even more trees.

And not just that—

Yggdmillennia had long since laid down barriers to repel animals, yet birds and beasts now emerged from seemingly nowhere. Like insects drawn to light, the creatures flocked to the giant without hesitation.

Upon contact, even the last drop of their blood was broken down—absorbed into the giant as pure energy. This was their own doing. Creatures without intellect could not resist the primal urge to merge with it.

Then, the surrounding landscape—including the earth itself—began to awaken. The air grew thick with a saccharine fragrance, filling the lungs with overwhelming bliss.

"Ah—this is paradise. I have finally created it."

The magi’s voice trembled with emotion. Indeed, this was the supreme golem sought by countless Kabbalists—the ultimate, perfected form. A being whose mere existence could rewrite the world into paradise.

In other words, this was an autonomous Reality Marble—the true nature of ’Keter Malkuth.’

As long as this giant remained, the world would continue to be rewritten. The rewritten world would be called ’Eden’—the land where the original humans once lived, bestowed by the gods of old.

"Let us go. To erase all sorrow, through battle, slaughter, and destruction, we shall build paradise. Then these meaningless battles will finally end, and this tedious society shall meet its conclusion."

As if responding to its creator’s words, the giant Adam roared, effortlessly scaling the steep cliff to stand at its summit, gazing down upon the heroes falling like rain from the sky.